The Girl With Green Scales: A Gen M Novel

Chapter 25: True News

The minister takes his wife's hand.

"Thelp," Deirdre says, gesturing at me and Anton, "keep an eye on these hormonal time bombs. They aren't cleared for mating."

Despite her words, the demoiselle's tone is tinted with longing—as if she wished she were in our shoes.

"Love wins," Thelp claps.

"What about me?" Stinky asks.

The demoiselle looks at Stinky and grimaces. "Are you still here? Just ... stay out of sight."

Deirdre slides her spindly arm into the crook of Groff's massive elbow.

"All right Husband," she says, "let's go be mah-velous."

"Here, Lilianne," Thelp says. "I brought you some tea." She pours and hands me a cup. "You'll need to learn these duties," Thelp says to Stinky. "It won't be easy with those gloves, but you'll get it. I'll show you our room after the interview. Your barometric sleeping chamber will be installed next to mine."

I sip the tea, and the throbbing in my face dulls.

"Thank you," Anton says to me, "for getting me out of that place. I was going crazé. They wouldn't tell me what was going on. They drew every fluid they could from this," he waves up and down at himself. "When I say every fluid, I mean every fluid. It was horriblé."

"The broadcast is starting," Thelp interrupts.

She presses a remote and the hoverdisc that Anton and Stinky entered on projects a hologram about the importance of taking nutrient supplements as prescribed. As the music winds down, I hear someone counting from the living area in the apartment.

"... three ... two ..."

An infocast swirl of animation fills the screen, revealing the Second Minister and Demoiselle DuVent on their couch. An informant sits at an angle to them on a side chair. The minister's blue horn is huge and imposing.

Anton slides his hand into mine. We kiss gently—no more friend-zone for me!—then turn our attention to the infocast. Stinky takes my other hand. Her rubber glove sticks to my palm and makes squelching sounds. It hurts to smile, but I do it anyway.

Yesterday, I woke up a genetic dead-end, a halfie without hope for the future. Stinky was in containment and Anton was who knows where. I used every socialista trick Amma hammered into me; I may have made up a few of my own. Now look at me!

If you don't know that the old game is done, and a new one started, you've already lost. I remember writing those words from Amma's lips and slipping them into the porcelain jar with the nine-tailed fox. Groff's already said, my new life isn't free. He's given me everything; he's going to want no less in return.

The informant is a willowy woman with small antennae coming out of her forehead and insect wings folded behind her back. She wears a honeycomb dress. Out of focus taxidermy mutated animals and the busts of Supergenics rise behind her.

"Hello Jupitar City, this is Jeannette Hive with an important truenews update," the informant says. "We're here, live, with Second Minister Groff and his wife, Demoiselle DuVent, the Second Spouse of Jupitar Island, in their home overlooking Jupitar City."

"Welcome," Groff says.

"Minister Fighterman, your ranking in the polls continues to drop in the wake of the Doctor Dérangé scandal, protests against many of your policies are growing, and some of your biggest supporters, who helped you rise from Fourth to Second Minister, are now saying it's time for a cabinet shake-up, suggesting that, and I quote, 'your authoritarian approach is dated, your collaboration with Dr. Derangé is beyond disturbing, and it's time for fresh blood to lead us into a new era of prosperity.' On top of that, today, a flurry of new footage has been authenticated, raising more questions—and fears."