4: Experiments in EmbryosSmith’s new bantling sat in the chair opposite Smith’s hospital bed, a line of drool reaching from Stepp’s lips to the floor.
Smith laid motionless, staring at the ceiling and listening to the machine that beeped in time with his heartbeat. Wires and tubes extended from his nose and arms. “Are you … a punishment for me, or am I a … punishment for you?” Smith asked, his voice hoarse and cracking. “Or does she … hate us equally now?”
Smith didn’t expect a response—at least not one that involved words. He already missed Tony’s chirps and grunts as replies. He wondered what kind of bantling Stepp would prove to be, or, better yet, how Smith could dismiss Stepp so Smith could live the rest of his life without taking care of anything in Anya’s world.
Except, he knew t
