The Cold Steel Mind by Niall Teasdale Page A

the complex, while they had passed Copperhead within a couple of minutes of leaving the hotel. This, Aneka guessed, was where the locals came for their entertainment. Watching people getting turned away at the door by the two bulky looking bouncers, she was actually unsure of getting in, but one of the men gave them a quick glance and then waved them through without comment. They walked in through the matte black door, down a short corridor, and then through onto the club’s main floor. Aneka came to a stop, her mouth falling open.
    The ‘floor show’ was a group of four men and three women performing what could best be described as exhibition sex on a round stage in the middle of the large, more or less circular room. The rest of the floor area was tables with four to six chairs arranged around them. Several of the larger tables had dancers on them, all in various states of undress, and most of the customers appeared to be either locals or military. You could spot the navy types by their not-quite-uniforms of dark green T-shirt and slacks, and sometimes a jacket.
    ‘You get me dressed up as a hooker and then you bring me here?’ Aneka commented wryly.
    Shannon was already heading for an empty table, one of the larger ones. ‘Don’t worry, paid sex is on the next floor up.’
    ‘Comforting.’ Aneka followed her to the table and they sat down with a good view of the stage, though that was lost fairly quickly as a tall blonde wearing only high heels appeared, climbed nimbly onto the table, and began dancing. A topless waitress appeared for their drinks order almost as fast. Feathers obviously catered to a particular market: the sex-starved. Aneka was a little surprised that it had any customers.
    After a moment or two Aneka had given up on the stage and was watching the dancer. ‘Is that a particular dance style? Aside from “sensual.”’
    ‘It’s based heavily on the Torem mating dances,’ Ella supplied. ‘It’s actually quite difficult to learn for a Human. You have to be very flexible. My mother is great at it. I’m… not too bad. The dances evolved in low gravity, so this place is perfect for them.’
    Aneka nodded at their dancer. ‘Well she seems to be very good.’ The dancer smiled and appeared to add an extra bit of sensuality to the smooth, writhing motion of her movements.
    ‘You’ve made a friend,’ Al said and a window popped up in Aneka’s vision field. It contained contact details for the dancer; her name was Lena Backfall. As usual, Aneka was not really sure what to make of these overtures.
    ‘You’ve been quiet,’ she said to cover her mild embarrassment.
    ‘I haven’t. I’ve simply not been talking to you. I tapped into the local communications network and I’ve been talking to Cassandra. She finds this interplay between organics fascinating.’
    ‘I’m not organic.’
    ‘Lena thinks you are.’
    He had a point. Once again diverting the conversation she said, ‘You seem to spend a lot of time talking to Cassandra.’
    ‘She’s… fascinating. I’ve never encountered an emergent AI before. Xinti AIs were all created specifically and with a purpose. She created herself and, like any organic, has had to discover a purpose for herself.’
    ‘If she keeps talking, she must find you interesting.’
    ‘I believe she is interested in my purpose-driven nature as I find her nature compelling.’
    ‘Uh-huh. That’s it? Just a mutual interest in discovering more about your natures?’
    ‘Of course. Your drink has arrived. Watching Ella get drunk is always fascinating.’
    Aneka picked up her glass of wine and took a sip; it tasted about as much like wine as the coffee tasted like coffee. ‘And fast,’ she said. ‘She may be up there with the dancer before the evening’s out.’
    ‘As long as she isn’t on the stage.’
    ~~~
    With the second round of drinks the waitress brought a note that told Aneka that Lena would be finishing her shift in an hour. The girl was keen, that