Part 11

December 25th, 2154

"Merry Christmas!" Tika called repeatedly, running from den to den around the clearing, waking people excitedly.

"Breakfast at the Enclave house!" Davdan called.

Pausing only to wash and clean teeth, the group who'd slept at Tira's clearing trooped to the house, where they were met by Raz, Jena, Pina, Joey Paglieri, and the four Prodigies in custody.

Introductions were made, after which Tira asked Joey: "Shouldn't you be getting home for Christmas?"

"Nah." Joey smiled. "It won't be Christmas morning in Toronto for hours yet. I've got time to stay for breakfast, and I'll get some more sleep on the tube."

It was decided that the four under arrest would remain with Pina, Raz, and Naz that day, and stay close to Pina.

Christmas to the Tiger People is mainly a day to meet relatives and old friends that one has not seen since the Christmas before.

Tika had once asked Tira why they celebrated Christmas, instead of one of the traditional holidays from the Indian culture. Tira replied that when the Tiger People began, they should all share the same holiday, regardless of the traditional cultures of all the lands they were located in. Christmas was hosen because it was the most universal holiday.

Gatherings were held at the trading post and grounds of every zone, and arrangements were made in advance as to who was visiting at which trading post and when. Some Tiger People tubed between ten or more zones all over the continent on this single day to meet all their favored relatives. Gifts were occasionally exchanged, but only between those who were truly close. The exceptions were gifts of software in the form of family recordings, programs, movies, music and games, and of fine consumables such as foods, drinks, alcohol and other intoxicants. The few lasting gifts that were given were always small and valuable; handmade items or beautiful trinkets and jewelry chosen for high sentimental value. In general, the gift giving followed the Tiger People's tradition of non-materialism. Someone who gave a large or bulky gift was considered a boor, as the recipient would only have to pay to rent storage for it.

This Christmas was no exception. As per previous arrangements, after breakfast, (during which Tiz and the four confined adolescents called home), the entire group took the tube to the local trading post.

Though it was only a ride of three minutes duration, Tika was amazed, as it was her first ride in a normal tube car. Her only previous travel experience in the tubes had been on the construction cars, the day of the ground breaking. This time she got to see how the displays on the inside of the transport cars simulated windows, giving the illusion that they ran on a monorail just above the treetops.

"Look! It looks like we are outside, above the Enclave House!" she called excitedly as the doors closed and the car began to move. As it moved, the pictures on the displays moved rearward with the motion, giving a seamless illusion of aboveground travel. "It is amazing!" she breathed, fascinated. The display's three-dimensional aspect was flawless, and Tika pressed her cheek against it so she could look ahead.

"Yes." Tira agreed. "They use this system so people can navigate with real landmarks, and know where they are by recognizing the landscape. They make a holographic recording of the route from a flyer, from just above the trees, and alter it for the time of day and the season."

"You've never been on a tube before?" Eni asked in amazement.

"Just a construction car. Not one like this." Tika said.

"Now that's amazing." Eni laughed. "Sometimes it seems like I spend half my life on these things."

"I am only seven." Tika pointed out.

"Hey, no offense Tika!" Eni laughed. "I think it's just that Tiger People just don't travel much, compared to regular people."

"Regular people?" Tika asked. "You mean compared to techs?"

"Well ya, I guess, but we don't call ourselves techs. To us, we're just regular people. Or if you want an official designation, Citizens of the United Nation. To you, the word tech is short for technologist, someone who uses unlimited technology. But to me, it's short for technician, someone with about as much brains as a tradesman, usually a machine operator or repair type."

"Careful. I am a tradesman." Raz laughed.

"No you're not. You're an engineer; an applied scientist, who's also a tradesman."

"True." Raz granted.

"What do you call us?" Tika asked. "I mean, not Tiger People, but all of us who do ecoculture who are not techs?"

"Wild people, or predators, or animal people, or just animals. Or just crazy." Eni giggled.

"That is okay. We think you are crazy too." Tika assured her.

They stayed at their trading post for two hours, where they were met by Tira's maternal grandparents, her two uncles who were her mother's brothers, and their mates and children, as well as many relatives of Naz, Jela, and their children. The cafeteria in the trading post had prepared a traditional Christmas feast, and was serving free of charge both inside and outside on the Elders' ground, compliments of the Council of the zone. There were decorations everywhere, and tables of snacks and drinks were set up on all the grounds.

Then they boarded a tube for the River Zone of the Brahman Region, where Davdan and Menak's attentions were monopolized by their many relatives for almost the entire six hours they were there.

They all met more people than they could remember, and a great time was had by all. It was a routine gathering with no unusual events, but there was a twenty-minute period with special significance for the Green Band.

A boy of ten years had approached Raz at a juggling display. "Greetings. I am Randhi, from the Central Zone of the Upper Ganges Region."

"Greetings. I am Raz, from the Northern Zone of the Vishnu."

"I am here visiting my uncle and his family." Randhi volunteered.

"I am here with Menak and Elder Davdan." Raz returned.

Randhi did not recognize those names. "I see that you are still Prey. How dangerous are you?" he asked.

"I have not considered that for a while. Though I am big, I am only nine." Raz explained.

"Too bad." Randhi shrugged. "If you were close to Serious, I would have challenged you."

"Why?" Raz asked.

"Just for fun." Randhi shrugged again. "This is my third such gathering today. I grow bored of them."

Raz thought of the other challenges he had seen occurring occasionally at the edges of the gathering, and considered. "How long have you been Serious?" he asked.

"Six months." Randhi replied. "I made it just after I turned ten."

"Oh. Well, though I have not spent that many hours training to fight each day, I have had good trainers. I think I am ready to challenge for Serious. And I think we may be well matched." Raz stated. He stood up, and waited for Randhi to do the same. "I challenge you with honor, for testing, for status, and for fun." He intoned formally.

"Great! I accept." Randhi grinned. "Let me call Ranghi-Father. He will want to see this. I suppose many from my family will."

"I will also call those who accompanied me here." Raz said, taking out his screen. "If there is room, we shall fight by the trading post sign."

A little hinting by Davdan assured that there was room for their challenge. All those who were there with the two combatants gathered to watch, but few others did. Nine was a fairly young age to try to be judged Serious, but not incredibly so, so few were enticed to spectate at an unarmed challenge to third level injury between two children.

Randhi introduced his father, mother, and sister, then his uncle, aunt, and two cousins. Raz introduced those who had accompanied him. Most were eating or drinking something as they moved to stand in a circle for the fight.

Davdan announced the particulars and the participants, had them take their places, and called 'begin'.

Randhi immediately threw a straight left punch and connected with the side of Raz's head, while Raz kicked low and missed. Randhi connected with two more punches, one to Raz's jaw and one to his collar bone, and tried to tackle Raz to the ground, but Raz managed to brush him aside and sidestep his attack. Raz pressed the advantage as Randhi had to turn to renew his attack, and connected with a punch to Randhi's nose, making it bleed and watering his eyes, but not breaking it. Raz snap-kicked to his opponent's midsection and connected solidly, and as Randhi involuntarily bent forward, Raz bent over him and wrapped an arm around his throat. He cinched hard, choking Randhi out, who tapped out on his own belly.

"Victory, Raz." Davdan called. "His challenge to his status is also successful, and he will be granted the status of Serious.

"Victory! Yes! Viiiiictory!!!" Raz called, jumping up and down.

Everyone gathered around him to congratulate him and say well fought, while Randhi coughed a bit and wiped the blood from his nose with a tissue his sister had handed him.

"Do either of you require med?" Davdan asked, to which they both replied they were fine.

"Well fought." Randhi then stated, gripping forearms with Raz and grinning. "You have a very hard head. That first punch did not phase you at all, and I had counted on it being effective."

"Thank you. You also fought well." Raz returned, smiling. "I think it was close."

"Well if he can be judged Serious, I can do it too." Pina suddenly stated determinedly. "I am as dangerous as Raz, I am sure, and there is a boy over there who is recently Serious, and he has irritated me. Please wait here."

So she had marched off to make her challenge, with Tika tagging along. They returned with a boy of perhaps thirteen years, who for was surprisingly pale for one of the Tiger People.

"Do you wish to call your friends or relatives to witness this?" Pina asked.

"No. You will not be challenging enough to bother them to watch." the boy, whose name was Niv, stated arrogantly. "I will break your bones in a second, then return to the feast."

"See what I mean?" Pina said to her group, her eyes narrowing.

When all was ready and Davdan said 'begin', Pina jumped up and sidekicked Niv viciously in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him backward. Pina grabbed his leg and put him in an ankle lock. She poured on the pressure, and for a moment wondered whether it would break before the boy stopped yelling in pain and submitted, but it did not, and he tapped out on the ground.

"Victory, Pina." Davdan called. "Her performance easily justifies granting her the status of Serious. Get some med for the boy."

When Pina had finished her victory yells, Raz was the first to sweep her up in a playful hug and swing her around, offering his congratulations. "Well fought, sister! I am so proud of you!"

"Raz, would you stop being so nice! Can you not see I am being competitive with you!" Pina laughed.

"I am sure I am the proudest father here today!" Naz laughed as he scooped them both up in his arms. "Come! It is time to buy you some nice new armbands, to proclaim your new status to the world!" He headed for the trading post trailing Pina's four techs, who were still congratulating the twins.

"I had hoped I had seen enough broken noses for one week." Menak chuckled, thinking of the recording of the punishment of Pina's former employees.

"She learns well!" Tika laughed. "And you cannot argue with results! Raz almost broke one too, and though his opponent's nose was only bloodied, it was still enough to disable the boy's vision! That allowed the kick, and that allowed the choke for the win!"

"True. I had simply hoped to see more variety!" Menak laughed.

Davdan and Menak stayed at the Brahman when the others left, pledging to be home by eleven p.m.

The rest of them separated at the tube platform to travel to three different zones to meet more relatives.

Tira and Tika boarded a car to the Plateau Zone of the Brahman region, to visit Tira's uncle who was her father's brother and his family, and spent an hour there. Then they boarded another car to the Central Zone of the Vishnu Region to visit her aunt who was her father's sister and her family, and spent another hour there.

They returned to their home zone's gathering, where they re-united with Jela, Jena and Tiz. It was almost six-thirty then. Naz returned with Raz, Pina, and her four charges at eight. Raz and Pina spent much of the rest of their time at the gathering showing off their new status bands to their friends on the Adolescents' ground, and replaying recordings of their fights. The rest of the Green Band spent most of theirs dancing. Tira was already skilled enough at the tango to provide an entertaining display of it with Menak.

They returned to the Enclave house around ten-thirty, and were singing carols and drinking eggnog when Davdan and Menak returned from the Brahman.

They called it a night just after midnight, as everyone was happily exhausted. Tira checked for Tika and found her asleep on a couch. She tenderly picked her daughter up without waking her, said her good-byes, and left for her clearing with the rest of the Green Band. Only Tiz and the four Prodigies stayed at the Enclave house.

At the clearing, Tira did not go to bed right away, but instead walked slowly around the clearing for a while, smiling tenderly down at her daughter, asleep cradled in her arms.

Davdan joined her without speaking, and they paced silently around the clearing for a few laps before Tira spoke.

"I used to do this so often, especially when Tika was an infant. She was so excited all the time, she often had trouble sleeping, and I would walk around with her like this until she fell asleep. It is something we both love very much, and we get a special feeling of closeness. Though she sleeps, she knows I am holding her, there is no doubt. Look at how she cuddles against me, almost like she will suckle at my breast again, like she did so few years ago.

"Look at her, so small and pretty and soft. If you did not know her, she could be a five year old girl, not even out of infancy."

"She is very beautiful." Davdan agreed. "Though she will not look so young for long. In the last week or so she has begun growing rapidly, and gained perhaps a half inch in that time."

"I know." agreed Tira, wistfully. "Hard to believe she spent much of a night with a thirteen year old boy. Or that she has defeated the Magnificent."

"Ah, you think it hurts more to let go of your child a little early, Tira, but it does not. It always hurts to let your child go, and if it happens later, it only gives you more time to anticipate the loss."

"I know, you are right, Davdan. Still, I will treasure this night as long as I can. I feel like this may be one of the last times we spend time like this, if not the last time."

"Well, do not make it too late." Davdan advised softly. "You did not sleep much last night, either."

"I will not." Tira said.

"You know Tira, sometimes I still feel that way about you. I love you as one adult to another, but sometimes the memory of your childhood comes back so strongly, and it shows me that I still have all my love for the child that you were, and I ache to hold you in my arms as you hold Tika now. And I hold you as you are now, and guess what? It feels just as beautiful."

"Thank you, Davdan." Tira whispered, pausing in her walk so Davdan could embrace her and Tika together. "I love you so much."

"As much as I love you, Tira. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Davdan."

Tira walked with Tika for more than two hours, until her arms were so numb she was afraid she would drop her. Only then did she enter her den, tuck her daughter in against her side, pull a fur over them both, and sleep.

December 27th, 2154

Again, Tika and Pina were alone at Baya's old den, doing katas together. Tonight their kata had been gradually speeding up, as they tended to do when one of them were tense, and tonight they both were.

"I have felt strange sometimes lately." Tika said. "Sometimes, I dare not stop moving, because when I do, I can feel myself ... changing. I can feel things ... growing together ... in my body, and in my mind. Connections are being made, that are not ... normal. I wonder, what will I discover I can do tomorrow? What new kind of strangeness will I become?"

"I do not know, my friend. Raz and I have put a lot of work into the question, but applied genetics is a big field, and we have had to start almost at the beginning. I am glad he is working with me on it, we think well together. Damn, you know I love him more than ever! Despite my unworthy jealousy. This genetics project has truly brought us together. We both learn a completely new field together, because of our love for you, and it is our first project where we are not competitive. We trusted each other on this, and no other. Or I should say, until we got the Prodigies, no other outside the group. Jena has spent much of her study focused on biologies and anatomies, as the intellectual support to her hunting interest. She has contributed much. Davdan was knowledgeable on the subject when she was in her twenties, as she had interest in the source of her own talent, and she has given the occasional brilliant insight.

"But mostly, Raz and I had to educate ourselves, and check the work of the teams of tech geneticists who studied the problem for Davdan. Now we have the Prodigies, and they have helped us put many of the pieces together.

"I must tell you this, my friend, because I love you. Others already know this about you, and you do not know it, and there is a danger that this information will affect your life very soon." Pina said, and waited for her friend's response before continuing. The kata they performed continued to slowly increase in speed.

"Well, what?" Tika finally giggled.

Pina took a deep breath. "Tika, you are not a mutation. Your race was genetically engineered. There is no doubt."

"I ... I was created by some tech somewhere?" Tika asked in distaste.

"No. You were not created. You were the result of sexual mating between your father and your mother, the same as the rest of us." Pina stressed. "The intervention had to be at least as early as a paternal grandparent. Either your father's mother, or your father's father, already carried the seeds of your new species. We have not found out yet, because your father's true identity is hidden behind four separate legal shields. He is classified as a biohazard, there is a privacy shield on behalf of each of his parents, and his file is even sealed under an obsolete provision of military secrecy! And there has not been a military for seventy years!

"Davdan's legal teams are breaking the shields, on the grounds that it is your right to know the identity of your father and grandparents, and that you have the right to know what genetic diseases they may have carried that you may become susceptible to. Those who set the shields in place did not expect that your father would have children, and they did not prepare their shields for a legal attack by his child. We will get the answers, but it is a slow process."

"My father is well?" Tika asked.

"Yes, he is very well. The team that studied him was encamped outside his territory. He was studied passively, but his actions, location, and well-being were monitored constantly. He goes about his life much as your mother described it. His tiger is getting old, but it is still healthy."

"Studied passively?" Tika asked.

"He did not realize that they studied him. They did not interact with him. They watched him from a distance, and collected samples of his hair and dead skin from his den when he was not there, for genetic analysis."

"Ahh. And how do you know my father and I were engineered?" Tika asked.

"Well, it is like this, Tika; almost all of the genes that are active and functional in a human being have been known, and their functions identified, for over a hundred years. All the important ones, anyway. And you have all of those, all of them in their normal place, and they all seem to be functioning normally as they would in any human.

"But in a regular human there are many genes that do not seem to perform any identifiable function, and some that seem permanently inactive. They are thought of as 'junk genes', or 'inactive genes', or 'unidentified genes', by various schools of thought. Some think they are simply left over from previous stages of evolution.

"Your father and yourself are genetically different from the rest of us at most of these gene sites. Take my word for it, it is statistically impossible for such a complete mutation to affect only these non-critical sites, and none of the critical sites. Furthermore, about half of these gene sites are active in your father, and about eighty-five percent are active in yourself. We do not know what they are doing, but it seems to affect every system in your body. Some of the effects are obvious, like the talent that you share with your father, and some are not, like the fact that you both appear to be immune to attack by viruses, due to some kind of direct viral recognition by your T-cells or antibodies or something. I do not know, you would have to ask Joey Paglieri for further understanding on that.

"Anyway, it appears your father is a transitional form, and that the genetic designer intended that it would take at least two generations for his work to fully manifest. Your children may be more different yet, if the process has not stabilized with you. And it may not have. You do not share your father's mental shortcomings, and from the skill the genetic engineer has shown so far, your children may not share your albino condition either. It may also be that a problem occurred with your father, and the new systems are gradually correcting the damage through the generations." Pina concluded, her breath starting to come fast enough to make talking difficult as the kata continued to creep up in speed.

"So how am I in danger?" Tika asked.

"There are two dangers. If word gets out ... you may be declared ... a new species." Pina said, starting to pant. "If so, your exposure to danger ... from hunting and fighting ... may be restricted ... under the authority of ... the Rare Species Protection act.

"The other danger is ... the unknown. No one in human science ... can do the genetics ... that was done to produce ... you and your father. It is far beyond us. At least by fifty years. And it had to have begun ... at least a year ... before your father was born ... putting the technology ... another thirty-six years ahead at the time.

"There are two possibilities." she said, stopping the kata and placing her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

Tika stopped before her, crouching, only slightly breathing hard.

"One is that a human, or a group of humans, likely a bio-tech company, had a fundamental breakthrough in genetics over eighty years ago, and have managed to keep it hidden since.

"The only other possibility is that a non-human, or a group of non-humans, had the technology at least eighty years ago, and have managed to keep themselves hidden since.

"Both of these seem to be remote possibilities, yet one of them must be true. Either way, there was a great deal of effort expended to produce your father and yourself. And the two of you seem to be the only products of that effort.

"How do you feel about all this, my friend?" Pina finished, inspecting Tika with concern.

"It is good to know. I think if I was a mutation, there would be more chance that these changes happening to me could be bad. Since I was designed, I think it more likely that they will be improvements."

She stood, turning to look through the bushes at a herd of elephants on the meadow, most of them sleeping in the moonlight.

"Yes." Tika said. "That is right. I mean, the more I think of it, the more it feels right. That someone somewhere spent great effort to design these changes in me ... for some great purpose. But what? Your work and Raz's have made me see that there are more important things in the universe than being good at stabbing someone with a knife."

"If there is a purpose, it cannot be for you alone." Pina stated. "You are part of a project that has taken generations, my friend. And look at the changes in you. You are fast thinking and fast reacting. Your natural response to attack is to counter attack. You are small. You are albino. You mature early. And though you may not realize it, you are incredibly intelligent. If you had spent the same amount of time studying knowledge and mental skills that Raz and I have, I am sure that you would be at least as advanced intellectually as we are. I think the same is true of your hunting skills. You are the world's most dangerous fighter, I think, only because fighting is your mother's great interest, and by sharing it you have maximized your possible parental attention. But I think you could do anything, Tika. You are a general improvement over Homo Sapiens in many obvious ways. If your descendants breed true to your pattern, I have no doubt that eventually your descendants will out-compete Homo Sapiens, and drive us to extinction. They will be better, they will breed far faster, and they will thrive on less resources."

"No!" Tika barked. "My descendants will never be a threat to the rest of humanity! I am absolutely, one hundred percent, completely positive about that! I do not know why, but I am!"

"Well, that is good to hear." Pina smiled, to calm Tika's mood. "Still. Until we know more about your father, and who did this, and how, and why, we will have to try to guess your purpose from the clues provided by the changes in you, that have been given to you as tools to fulfill that purpose."

"True." Tika agreed. "Thank you, Pina."

"You are welcome, my beautiful friend. Now come with me to the Enclave house, and I will give you a present. We will all be going to dinner on tech land tonight, and I know you have never been to the tech zones. So, I have bought you a garment. It is not tiger fur though, as we will be incognito."

"Incognito! That is funny!" Tika laughed, and they ran off to the Enclave house.

They spent a few minutes admiring the smooth and silky feel of their new garments, then joined the others in trooping down to the tube station beneath the house, and boarded the tube car. All wore tech clothing, Tika and Pina in matching white sundresses.

The tech world was fascinating. Except for the occasional door that led outside to a fenced park of recreational land, it was an entirely indoor world, yet very natural seeming, with an abundance of plant life everywhere, most of it food-bearing, or productive of fibers, oils, or other plant products, and the rest functional as lawns, furniture, or signage. Artificial waterfalls and brooks trickled everywhere. The corridors from the tube station became a shopping mall as they passed through a retail area, then widened out into a huge enclosed space of indoor parkland in a residential block, only to constrict back to a very dignified hallway as they reached a small professional district, most of which was tenanted by various medical specialists.

"Every property is accessible three ways." Tira explained to Tika. "There are these pedestrian corridors, another system of corridors for bicycles, wheel skates, and electric scooters, and via the tube system. Beneath these subsurface commercial and residential levels are large, underground industrial and agricultural complexes. Right now there are few techs about, as it is close to midnight, but in the day the light streams in through all those windows and skylights, and these corridors are filled with techs.

"We do this now because of Pina's crowd phobia, and even I find this much more pleasant than it would be with the daytime crowds."

They enjoyed a delicious meal at a restaurant that featured Eastern European dishes, then spent another hour simply walking and talking together through the tech zones, enjoying the sights. Then they took the tube home again.

Davdan said goodnight as soon as they were back, and retired to her bedroom.

"Tira, Menak?" Jena asked. "If you are not going to sleep right away, could Raz and I join you?"

"Certainly, Jena." Tira chuckled. "Tika?"

"I will sleep here tonight, Tira-Mother."

"I will stay with her, Naz-Father." Pina said.

"All right. You girls will not stay up too late." Naz said as he hugged his daughter.

Tira kissed Tika, then Tika and Pina were left alone in the kitchen. They sat in silence, thinking, until Pina noticed her mug had been empty a while.

"Tika, are you bisexual?" she asked.

Tika giggled. "A little, I guess. Not much. I like boys, a lot, but I think it would be almost as nice to be kissed and licked by females as males. Why? Do you want to have sex with me?"

"I did not think I was bisexual at all, until I was one of the twelve in the oil den the other night." Pina hesitantly revealed. "I had been having great fun with the boys, except for once in a while one of us girls would kiss the other on the neck or something, mostly because there were seven girls and only five boys, so you could not help but touch each other, crammed in like that, and just to prove we were not too shy to do it, I guess. And then I was laying on my back with my eyes closed, just enjoying the sensation of rubbing and sliding against everyone, and someone started kissing me, and caressing my neck and shoulders, and wow, it was skillfully done! I opened my eyes and saw that it was Eni Suzuka! And it was great!