It struck Kaveh how, well, normal this felt. He couldn’t see their government handlers, so it was easy to forget they were even there. They were just two friends hanging out in the woods, only one of them inhabited a natural, fleshy, hairy meat body, and the other the post-natural body of a giant cybernetic alien. Normal dudes hanging out. He almost felt downright buoyant, so removed from the stressors of the world down below, until Nikola said, “I BELIEVE MY BELOVED INTENDS TO DIE ON THIS PLANET.”

Kaveh let out a long sigh. He should have known any carefree moments wouldn’t last longer than thirty seconds. “Why do you call him ‘Beloved?’”

“AN HONORIFIC MEANING ‘VALUED ONE ABOVE ONE’S OWN STATION.’ IT DENOTES SUPERIORITY. I DO NOT THINK IT A PARTICULARLY ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF OUR TERM.”

Nikola was now staring down at him in the entrance of the fire scar Kaveh was sitting in, practically blocking him in. Kaveh had to crane his head up to look at him, and it struck him that he wasn’t even a little bit intimidated by this. “Do amygdalines experience love?”

“LOVE—A POLYSEME. IT IS A WORD WITH MANY MEANINGS.”

“In this context, I mean as a deep feeling of intense affection to someone you know very well—a mate, or a friend, or a parent. Affection, affinity. A deeper bond that only develops over a long period of time.”

“EMPATHETIC ATTACHMENT TO A CLOSE KIN OR A MATE. OF COURSE WE EXPERIENCE A FORM OF DEEP EMPATHETIC SOCIAL ATTACHMENT. IF THAT IS HOW YOU DEFINE LOVE, THEN WE EXPERIENCE IT, THOUGH I DON’T KNOW HOW IT COMPARES TO YOUR EXPERIENCE.”

“Do you love him?”

Nikola lowered himself next to Kaveh inside the fire scar, which was big enough to shelter both of them comfortably. “I DO NOT KNOW HIM ANYMORE. HE WON’T ALLOW ME TO KNOW HIM.”

“Cora does.” He shook his head, still bewildered by the whole thing. “She loves him so much.”

SHE HAS A STRANGE WAY OF SHOWING IT. IS SPILLING BLOOD A COMMON WAY TO SHOW AFFECTION?”

“No.” He wondered how, or even if, he should tell Cora about what had happened today with Ampersand. “She worries about him constantly.”

“HUMANS MUST DEVELOP FEELINGS OF LOVE QUICKLY. SHE HAS KNOWN HIM FOR SUCH A SHORT TIME.”

“I guess we have to develop feelings quickly. Our lives are so short compared to yours.”

“THEY DON’T NEED TO BE.”

He looked at Nikola, and he could practically see the gears turning in that lateral engineer’s intelligence, an alien Frankenstein with no scruples or regrets mapping schematics for what a post-natural Kaveh would look like.

“Does dynamic fusion bonding force you to love each other? Is that how it works?”

“I WOULD ASK, DOES MARRIAGE FORCE LOVE?”

“It certainly doesn’t force it.”