Hylozoic Read Online Free PDF

roll. “Momotaro is supposed to chase us now,” he complained.
    â€œGame over,” said Momotaro, making a downward beep, an old-school video game sound.
    â€œCheer up, Chu,” said Jil. “We’re all going to Jayjay and Thuy’s party in the woods soon. Say hi to Jayjay and Sonic, kids.”
    â€œI need a drink of water,” said Chu in his flat voice. He turned and walked across the lawn to Nektar’s house. Although he’d been working to heal his brain’s defective empathy circuits, Chu still wasn’t all that sociable, even compared to other fourteen-year-olds.
    In the moment of silence they heard Nektar’s voice rising in the front yard. Something about a tree.
    â€œLive entertainment,” said Sonic. “Let’s go watch.”
    â€œIt won’t be interesting,” said Jil in a disgusted tone. “Nektar picks dumb fights to get attention. The diva. I guess it’s good for our show.” Like the others, Jil got her cut of the
Founders
royalties. “Sooner or later Nektar will boss Ond right back into her bed.”
    â€œNo way,” said Jayjay, wanting to reassure Jil. “Ond’s crazy about you.”
    â€œEnough about me,” said Jil. “Let’s pick on—Sonic! How come you never have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, Sonic?”
    â€œMostly I’m not really in my body,” said Sonic. “And—”
    â€œSonic’s a peeper!” yelled Momotaro. “Sonic watches Thuy and Jayjay doing it!”
    Sonic smiled crookedly, unhappily. With so much telepathy, there were few real secrets anymore, but it was impolite to ferret out—and to publicly air—other people’s intimate doings. “Little jerk,” he said. “Would you like me to talk about who you peep?”
    â€œMaaaabel?” crooned Bixie ever so softly before breaking into giggles.
    â€œShut up!” yelled Momotaro. “I’m sorry, Sonic! Never mind. Let’s all go watch Ond and Nektar argue!”
    Chu reemerged from Nektar’s house, carrying a wool overshirt. “I’m ready for the woods.”
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    The six of them walked through the narrow space between Nektar’s and Ond’s garages. Resting on blocks in front of the monster homes was the two-room cottage that Jayjay and Thuy had recently cobbled together. Seeing it, Jayjay felt a little rush of pride. The insulated, solar-celled roof had a generous overhang to shelter the projecting front porch; the wall’s planks fit together as neatly as puzzle parts; the floors gleamed with parquet; the drains led to a nanoseptic tank beneath the floor; and they’d even built some custom furniture: a big bed and a wardrobe, a table and benches, two desks and a kitchen nook. The house’s resident silp was pleasant and smart; Thuy called her Vrilla.
    â€œHi, Vrilla,” teeped Jayjay. “It’s almost time.”
    Beside the street, Ond and Nektar were standing toe-to-toe beneath a great spreading oak tree. Ond—a tall, tentative man with thinning blond hair—held a portable power saw and some kind of electrical outlet box. Nektar was wearing party clothes: a red silk skirt and jacket with black blouse, black tights and—as a concession to the fact they were heading for the wilderness—sensible black shoes.
    â€œI’m telling you to give this tree some respect!” Nektar was telling Ond. “She’s a hundred years old.”
    â€œI want to teach her to make electricity,” said Ond quietly. Ond always sounded calm and reasonable—even when his actions seemed utterly bonkers. “Let me implant this special socket into the oak’s side,” he continued. “She’ll heal.”
    â€œFiddle, fiddle, fiddle,” snapped Nektar, tossing her head so that her nanotinted blond ponytail flipped across her cheek, nicely framing a diamond in her ear. She had a flair for drama.