Slant by Greg Bear Page B

acts, sexual acts; some are suspect or forbidden even in the context of culturally condoned relations. When we court and marry, however, part of the glue that binds us together is the delicious sensation of having shared in the violation of cultural standards--violations allowed in the name of love, commitment, total sharing. The couple stands outside the rules, bound by its own sense of specialness, and exclusivity. It discovers sex all over again, secure in the knowledge of its daring creativity.
    Jealousy arises at the contemplation of a partner engaging in sexual acts outside this
    protecting envelope. Sex with others, outside the couple, emotionally charged and
    A,,I- I1,, ,-I ,,n, n 'n r!efrnv thi ilhinn of shared and creative violation of
    / SLANT 41
    Reality intrudes: these acts are common, not special; they are natural, no matter how forbidden; the illusions that strengthened the commitment are suddenly revealed. The jealous partner feels duped, misled, unfairly coerced into an emotional bond based on romantic delusions.
    Trivial, perhaps; but from these passions have come murder, the end of kingdoms, brand new branches in the river of history. Never underestimate the ubiquitous power of sex.
    The Kiss of X, Alive Contains a Lie
    5 KILLING HUNGER
    Mary Choy, at thirty-five, has been a PD for thirteen years--ten in Los Angeles, the last three in Seattle. As far as she is concerned, her work is the most important factor in her life; but that focus may be changing. So much about her is changing.
    She reads from her pad--pure text--as she finishes a lunch of cheese and fruit in a small ninties-style cafe on North Promenade, in the shadow of the Bellevue Towers.
    Even her appearance is in flux. Since 2044, she has been a transform, increasing her height by a foot, customizing her bone structure and facial features, and turning her skin to satin ebony. But she is now reversing much of this transform. Her skin is slowly demelanizing to light nut brown; for now, she is mahogany. The satiny texture remains, but will in a few months dull to ordinary skin matte. She retains her height, but her facial features are flattening, becoming more those of her birth self. She never liked the looks she was born with, but since her mind has undergone changes--difficMties she calls them--she feels it is only right to assume a less striking appearance.
    Also, in Seattle, while open tolerance of transforms is mandated by federal and state law, there is an undercurrent of disapproval. And Seattle has been her home for three years, ever since her fall from high natural tatus to simple untherapied... The lapse of her brain's loci, the proportionil reshifting of
    personality, sub-personalities, agents, organons, and talents... The end of her brief marriage to artist E. Hassida... The pass-overs for promotion in the LAPD...
    Her resignation and transfer to Seattle Public Defense...
    The two-day-old breakup with her most recent boyfriend.
    Usually, thinking about all the changes darks her, but this afternoon she is
    42 GREG BEAR
    blue-gray Towers, the southernmost of the Eastside equivalents to the elongated ribbon combs that dominate central Seattle.
    After lunch, she will walk to a PD conference in Tillicum Tower on West Eighth, where she will present a speech on Corridor Public Defense Cooperation. She has been asked to handle inter-departmental relations until she is rated for full Third, which she is assured will happen any day now. Seattle PD is so much more casual about high natural vs. natural or untherapied, though if anything even less tolerant of high thymic or pathic imbalance.
    Reading for pleasure is a luxury she's come to enjoy in the past few years--though the lit she's perusing now affords her a few too many uncomfortable insights to be purely pleasurable.
    An arbeiter politely inquires if she is done with her repast. She hands the tray to the machine and reaches for her bag when her personal pad, still on the table, chimes.
    She