Unnaturals Read Online Free PDF Page A

statement, she looked at Meliora as if she wanted to give her relaxation pills.
    Meliora huddled into her soft seat, as if that would make her invisible. She didn't even know why she'd said that. She didn't know it for truth. She hadn't even read it anywhere. It had just come out. Like her shoving from before.
    She remembered Nicolas, his pointed shouting, the sharpness in his eyes. He'd been fifteen, she was fifteen now, and the teachers said that a child changed upon becoming an adult. This must be it. She and Nicolas must be what happened when an unnatural child became an adult.
    She hated it. The doctors might say that hate was bad for you, but she hated it—she hated everything. This city, for example. It was supposed to be new to her. Supposed to be different, but taking people to so-called great art that turned out be just like an advertisement for a strawberry computer wasn't different! Neither was it different that it was the strawberry and not pear this week in Annabella, and that it was the cherry in Clementina and butternut squash in Sylvanna.
    She didn't hit anyone, didn't break anything. There was a doctor on the train, as well as a medstat, and they had pills and shots.
    ***
    She went to a shopping mall. It was a part of the new-city experience. Her guide came with her, though she'd have preferred him to leave her. He might be from Annabella, but he was nothing like Nicolas. She should not be surprised. Yet, she hated him.
    "I want to go to the mate selection store," she told him.
    "What for?" He looked a bit surprised. "Do you want a mate already?" She could have one if she wanted to. She was an adult. Usually, however, people waited for a year or two.
    "I don't. But I want to see the process before I go through it myself." Seeing this was just one of the things she thought she should do as an adult. She didn't particularly care for it right now, but she wanted to pass the time somehow, before Gilbert would take her to a hotel and leave her alone for the night.
    "But it will be a different thing in Lucasta. The cities are different, you know."
    You wish.
    "Do you want to move to Annabella? Wait till that time, then."
    "I told you, I just want to look. We are in the mall anyway, and right now I don't care for clothes."
    "We can see the shoes, they have a new design in YourFeetAreOurs, LLC..."
    "Gilbert, let's go to the mating store. "
    Now she cared to go there.
    When they finally entered the store, Gilbert, so reluctant to come a moment ago, was entranced by the advertisements. There was a beautiful blonde woman on a moving screen on the wall, smiling as if especially at Gilbert, waving at him. Gilbert waved back. Even Mel was uncertain if that was a recorded movie or a real woman in the other room. The woman also waved at Mel, and Mel smiled politely.
    "Well, find me a mate if you would please," Gilbert told the man behind the counter. "I am here, anyway, so I might as well do it."
    Oh, so she'd see the real thing, not just advertisements.
    "First, do you have anyone in particular in mind, sir?"
    Gilbert shrugged, then remembered something and pointed to the woman on the wall.
    "Hmm, let's see now..." The counter man typed something on a big keyboard in front of him. Typing, Mel noticed. Neither humming, nor thoughts or emotions. It made sense. Typing was words, and words were imperfect, but they must be better than thoughts and feelings just now. Mel edged in to have a closer look. The counter man's own feelings or thoughts didn't matter, he sought a partner for Gilbert. Even Gilbert's thoughts and feelings didn't matter. Feelings were momentary, and so were most thoughts, while the choice of a partner was serious. It lasted until...until whatever happened when people stopped posting on their feeds and disappeared from their homes.
    Like Nicolas had disappeared. Or Mel's dad.
    She sent a message to her mom (again, she'd sent many from Annabella) to tell her where she was and what was going on. And, for the