At the surface, Junior rolled his face through the water for a long moment, considering the man. His blowhole opened once as he exhaled. Then he turned to Cora, ready.

In front of this man, Junior did not squawk or slap water around, the class buffoon. Instead, he was the serious student, enunciating every word with concentration.

He recited the start of the alphabet. He requested the ball. He counted to three.

The best, however, was when she held up the blue square and asked—Talk. What?

Junior replied—Kh-are. Ewww.

Even Cora was surprised. He’d never put an adjective and a noun together before.

The man did not appear surprised. Instead his face filled with pride, as though this was his child’s recital, as though he had expected nothing less.

At the end of the presentation, the man inclined his head in respect. She didn’t know if the nod was for her or Junior, but both of them watched him as he walked away.

THIRTY-TWO
Homearium, Week 12

Blum called the local St. Thomas newspaper.
The reporter arrived and spent a while in the research center talking to the men. When he stepped into the homearium, he held a glass of what looked like water and ice, but maybe wasn’t since he drank it by sucking it in through his teeth with a lot of air. He walked around the pool for a while, photographing her and Junior, and then left.

Blum showed her the newspaper the next day. In the printed photo, her haircut had grown out enough to look sleek and daring, her eyes large in her face. She was sitting on the chair in the middle of the pool, looking at Junior, who had his beak open (as though he spoke with his mouth). The text mentioned twice that Blum was from Harvard, and the only quotes were from him.

The next day, a reporter from the Miami Herald called to schedule a visit.

* * *

The famous researcher also sent visitors. Within a week, two separate groups of scientists appeared, each staying for a day. This time none of them brought their children or wives. They flew in just to see this research. Cora knew they were important people because, showing them around, Blum had his shirt buttoned up.

The scientists started off inside the research center with Tibbet showing them the spectrograms and playing the audio, while Blum explained the work. Cora could see Blum through the window, expounding on the work. By the time he led the scientists into the homearium, they all regarded Junior with wide eyes. In response, he performed well in front of them.

These men looked at her in a different way too. She was an under-dressed, under-educated female with a tan that was suspiciously dark, but these distinguished men, the university professors, stood by her pool to watch her work. They watched her with their brows furrowed, not as though she was stupid, but as though she was something they couldn’t classify, some new type of life. Any questions they had, they did not ask her, but instead asked Blum, as though she were incapable of speech. She knew better than to answer for Blum, or to use her new vocab and concepts.