Whispering Knoll

The American Magazine

Below on this page is Part 2 of a science fiction story called "Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments". Previously, in Part 1, Eddy, Azynov and Yōd were investigating the mysterious Reynette Cummings, a scientist who lived for a short time in the Ekcolir Reality. Reynette's origin is a mystery. She was inserted into Earth's culture in 1914, having been trained for a technology development mission: providing Earth with advanced alien technology. Reynette is an artificial life-form, a replicoid, with a body composed of nanites that exactly simulate the form of a human body.

Part 2 of Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments (Part 1)

The duplicate copy of Rey was eager to talk to the original Reynette. She told Eddy, "Drive me to my house so I can talk to myself." This copy of Rey had made a synapex connection to another copy of Eddy and she understood his reason for visiting the Ekcolir Reality. Now they both wanted to know how Rey's mission on Earth had been thwarted. Or would be. Imagining what she would say to her copy, Rey tried to clear her thoughts of the confusion that had been created in her mind when Azynov had shown her the future.

Eddy's head was swimming; he was slowly recovering from the group synapex telepathy trance. What this Rey was calling the 'original' Rey was apparently also a copy, freshly created by Manny to replace the dead Rey. The inactivated copy of Rey. Eddy shook his head and tried to forget about the feel of his erection inside Rey. That had been his copy, although the erotic sensations had reached him by way of the group mind connection. Mercifully, the Yōd copy and Eddy's copy back at Azynov's workshop had now completed their little side-project. Those two finally broke their Synapex connection and faded from Eddy's thoughts. They had learned from Glisten that Yōd's daughter, Roxzel, was just fine, but eager for Yōd's return. 

Earlier, when Azynov was trying to telepathically bore down into the core of Rey's mind, Glisten and Jantiff had intruded upon the big group synapex trance by accident; they just happened to be in an orgasm trance and Glisten had found herself inside the group mind space. 

Now, Eddy had a chance to let his erection fade. He got his suit out of the closet and went into the bathroom. He took a cold shower and tried to clear his mind of thoughts about Yōd. What had gotten into her? She seemed almost out of control, even more horny than her usual lustful self. Eddy's thought stream shifted to the planet Zeck. Thinking about the telepathic linkage to Glisten that he had experienced, Eddy had the strange idea that maybe there had been some other mind patterns lurking there in the fringes during the group synapex trance, possibly including both his wife's and Rylla's patterns. However, it was hard to isolate the mind threads of particular individuals from the larger fabric of a group mind trance.

mind clone network

But I pieced all of that together later, after I'd had a chance to talk everything through with Eddy. At the time of the group mind trance, I was back in the real world where I had been nursing my daughter Marda. Zeta and I were experimenting with high levels of oxypathin when I became aware of a weak telepathic linkage to Eddy's mind. Zeta was there near me in the living room, in the other chair, nursing Tihri.

Since my recent arrival in Arizona, Zeta had been experimenting and trying to establish a synapex link to her daughter. She had dozed and slid into an altered state of consciousness. Now she was emerging from that mini-telepathic trance. "That was strange." She asked me, "Did we just connect to Alpha and Beta?"

I was just recovering normal consciousness after my own mini-trance and I was trying to guess if I was starting to form a synapex link to my daughter. Marda got out of my lap and went to play with Tihri. I mumbled, "Ed... Eddy..." I looked at Zeta and waited a minute to regain my ability to speak. Zeta was seven months pregnant and getting quite plump. I watched Zeta; she was rubbing her hands on her belly. I knew that she was in constant telepathic contact to her unborn child who we had begun to call Gamma. Finally, I said, "I thought I had a weak link to your husband."

"Yes, he was there, too. There was quite a crowd of minds there with us in that group mind space." Zeta stood up and went to her husband's computer. She sat down in the chair in front of the big monitor and looked at the Index settings for the Simulation System. 

I got up out of my chair and went to look over Zeta's shoulder at the Index. Since arriving in Arizona, I'd been repeatedly asking Zeta if I could join her husband inside the Simulator. She'd been reluctant to let me try to enter the Simulation. In the past, only Eddy had used the Index to gain access to the Simulation System. 

Now Zeta seemed to have had a change of mind about using the Index. She told me, "I could sense that he was thinking about you. I could also sense frustration in his mind."

I suggested, "Maybe he is waiting for me to enter the Simulation. Maybe he needs my help in there."

Zeta pointed to the data screen that held the Index settings. "He went to investigate how science and technology were accelerated in the 20th century of the Ekcolir Reality. Don't worry about him. He'd come back here if he needed help with anything."

I was intrigued by the Index. This was my first look at the unusual software that could give access to the Simulation System. I quickly read the data that was on the screen and complained, "There is not much information here. Exactly where is he right now?"

Zeta laughed, "Based on what I 'saw' during that group mind trance, I think he's in Florida. Remember, in the Ekcolir Reality, Florida is part of Espanola."

Earth's Reality Chain

I reached over Zeta's shoulder and scrolled up and down the bookmarked Index page that held clues to Eddy's destination within the Simulation System. "There's nothing here about Florida. It only mentions Menlo Park, New Jersey." I was struggling to remember what little I knew about the Ekcolir Reality and wondering if New Jersey had even existed in that Reality.

Zeta nodded. "That's where he wanted to go. To Edison's research facility."

I tried the computer mouse and clicked on 'Menlo Park', but nothing happened. "This is crazy. There must be a way to alter the settings so that I can go to Florida. But exactly where in Florida? And Exactly when?" I could see the time setting was on January 1, 1914.

Just then, Eddy said, "Ah, Rylla."

I turned and saw Eddy, just returned from inside the Simulator. 

Zeta ran to Eddy and they embraced. Zeta took her husband down the hallway to their bedroom and I heard the door thump shut. I entertained Marda and Tihri for half an hour, then Eddy returned to the living room and sat down at his computer. Eddy was wearing a bathrobe and a pair of slippers. He told me, "Zeta is taking a nap. This pregnancy is wearing her out."

I pointed at the computer screen and asked, "Were you in Menlo Park or Florida?" I could see that Eddy's penis was still erect and pressing out against the fabric of his robe. With all the oxypathin I had in my system, I found it impossible to keep from staring at that big bulge in his robe.

Zeta (image source)

"Florida." Eddy was staring at me and undressing me with his eyes. We had a weak telepathic connection and no doubt that we were both extremely horny. Making an effort to stick to business, he said, "So, that was you I felt telepathically from within the Simulator."

"Yes, I felt a weak link to you. You ran into some trouble in there?"

Eddy sighed. "I really should explain it all to you, but..." He pulled his eyes off of me and began making a new page full of settings for the Index. Watching over Eddy's shoulder, I tried to follow what he was doing, but his hands flew over the keyboard, adjusting the Simulation settings quickly and efficiently. He'd been using the controls for many months and had become quite comfortable with how to pick a new destination for his visits to Deep Time. Since Nyrtia had made the Index available to Eddy, we had learned many new things about Earth's history and how aliens had guided Humanity towards the future.

Eddy went and played with Tihri until Zeta woke from her nap. I ate lunch. I'd been ravenous since starting to experiment with high doses of oxypathin. When Zeta emerged from her bedroom after a nice nap, Tihri immediately went to nurse and Marda climbed into my lap. After both kids were latched onto nipples, Zeta told Eddy, "Don't do it."

Eddy picked up their argument which they had earlier begun in the privacy of their bedroom. "Look, Rylla came to Arizona so that she could try using the Simulator. This Edison Intervention is pretty interesting."

orgasm trances

I told Zeta, "I know it would be an imposition to leave you here alone with the kids, but curiosity is killing me. Just give me a time limit. I'll stay in there only as long as you say..."

Zeta told Eddy, "I think I can now communicate between here and inside the Simulation." She quickly told him about our experiments with purified oxypathin.

Eddy said, "I sounds like your experimental results have not been very consistent. There seems to be some random factor..."

I said, "It can't be truly random. We just don't know all of the variables and we are still adjusting our brains to a high level of oxypathin. I'm still confused about these Simulated Realities... what does it mean for two orgasms to occur simultaneously... out here and inside a Simulation?"

Eddy added, "The synapex links are the most reliable way of amplifying telepathy."

Zeta went into the kitchen and returned with a pill bottle. It was the bottle of synthesized oxypathin that I'd had made and bottled in pill form before leaving Australia. Zeta said, "Let me try something. Bring Marda here." Zeta swallowed two more of the pills. The ninth and tenth since my arrival. She handed to bottle to Eddy.

Gohrlay Clones (image source)

I got up and saw that Zeta was pointing at her second breast. I popped Marda off my nipple and set her on the floor. Marda knew what to do and latched onto Zeta's free nipple. Zeta said, "Let's link up, girls."

Eddy told me, "She's had dual synapex connections to Alpha and Beta, inside the Simulator."

Zeta said, "Don't put us in the Simulation. I want to try..."

I saw Zeta's eyes close. Marda was still holding my hand, and through her I could sense that Zeta had gone into a telepathic trance. I told Eddy, "She did it! She's got a synapex link to both of them."

Eddy put his hands on either side of Zeta's head. "She's not there! I mean, she's in a group mind space with the kids."

I understood what he meant. It was no longer possible to detect Zeta's mind pattern; it was lost in a new pattern that was generated by the linked minds of Zeta, Tihri, Marda and Gamma. Marda took her mouth off of Zeta's breast and told me, "You can go, mommy."

Tihri popped off the nipple and said to me, "Have fun."

Tihri and Marda returned to their toys. Zeta emerged from her trance and covered up her breasts. She proclaimed, "I knew I could do it. It was the oxypathin." She sat there stoking her stiff nipples where they poked outwards against the fabric of her shirt. I'd been trying to ignore my own erect nipples and the hot, dripping wet state of my vagina. The higher my blood oxypathin level went, the more my thoughts were dwelling on erotic fantasies.

Eddy handed the bottle of oxypathin back to Zeta and asked me, "I don't like turning Z into a test animal. Who knows what the side effects of such huge dosses might be?"

synapex connections

"It is the same as what Yōd has been experiencing." Zeta reached out a hand towards Eddy and he took hold. "Besides a near constant state of horniness, I've noticed nothing unusual."

Eddy asked, "Yōd?"

"Didn't she tell you? She and Glisten have started drinking their own milk. That's their source of oxypathin. They've both been experiencing heightened sexual desires." Zeta looked at me, "Rylla won't admit to me what her symptoms have been."

I told Zeta, "Don't worry about me. I have my team of vibrators that allow me to keep my lust under control." I asked Eddy, "So, you intend to return to the Ekcolir Reality?"

Eddy gave Zeta and I quick summary of events inside the Simulation. "I took the Rey copy to Rey's house so they could talk, then I returned here. I'm curious to learn what they were able to decide. With their help, we may have a chance to discover the location of Nyrtia's secret headquarters. There's also the mystery of how Rey's mission on Earth was thwarted."

Zeta held Eddy tight in her arms and kissed him. Finally she relaxed her embrace and said, "Go ahead. I'll 'call' you if I need you back here."

Eddy complained, "We can't be sure that I'll receive your telepathic signal."

"Yōd will know. As clones, she and I share a strong telepathic link."

Eddy went to the computer and activated the Index. He walked across the room and took hold of my hand. I asked, "I don't understand; how you can precisely target a destination inside the Simulation?"

We departed from Arizona and then we were sitting inside a dark car, its engine running. We were now both dressed appropriately for the early 20th century of the Ekcolir Reality. "The Simulation seems to have access to my mind. I just think about the desired destination and -poof-, we arrive." He pointed through the windshield. "That's Rey's house."

There were no lights showing. I glanced at Eddy in the moonlight and could see that he was not in his 60-year-old body. The night air was thick with moisture and it was a dramatic change from the dry Arizona air we had just been breathing. I asked, "How long since you dropped Rey2 off here?"

Eddy checked his watch. "Time is flowing here at the normal rate. The same amount of time passed here as for us in Arizona."

I was trying to estimate how long Eddy had spent in Arizona. The moist, stuffy air in the car was annoying me, so I rolled down my window and deeply inhaled the fresh outside air. With a high level of oxypathin in by body, I felt my erect nipples press against my blouse. My body had been altered and now I only had my top two breasts and they seemed bigger than usual. Was this a trick by Nyrtia, welcoming me into her Simulation System? As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I noticed that there was some light coming from inside the house. Candle light? Eddy turned off the engine, got out of the car and was walking towards Rey's front door. I followed along, wondering what he was planning to do.

Eddy knocked on the door and we waited about a minute. A copy of Rey finally opened the door. She was naked, but she said to Eddy, "Come in." She looked at me and asked, "Who is this?" Rey closed the door and in that very dark room I was afraid to walk for fear of tripping over something. A flickering candle provided a small amount of light.

The other copy of Rey called from the couch, "She's like him... from outside."

Eddy said, "This is Rylla, my research assistant."

Rey2 led us to Rey1 who was also naked and there on the couch. Rey2 explained, "We have a very strong telepathic link. Finding ourselves in a positive feedback loop, we were both very horny, so... we tried to deal with it..." She sat next to Rey1 and they put their arms around each-other's backs. 

Eddy and I sat down in chairs. Eddy said, "Yōd has been using her medical nanites to make you both feel sexually aroused. There is a link between sex and telepathy. We were using all of our tools to try to get access to your deep memories. Forget all that. The point is, I can't help but be curious about where Nyrtia's base of operations is located. I suspect it is hidden inside the Hierion Domain. I'd be grateful if you'd tell me that little secret."

Rey2 said, "We can't tell you that. Nyrtia has never revealed that to the aliens. I suspect that if you tried to pull that secret out of our minds, you'd cause our defense systems to engage. That might lead to our cognitive systems being shutdown."

"Yes, we've already tried to forcibly pull your secrets out of your mind. Unfortunately, our efforts have led to the destruction of several copies of you... complete inactivation. Fortunately, this is all inside the Simulation System and so we can just reset the Simulation... or we can make copies of you."

Replicoids

Rey1 complained, "So, you destroyed my mind? That's why I have a gap in my memory?"

Eddy told Rey1, "Nyrtia made you. You are a copy of the original Rey. I don't know when that duplication took place. What is the last thing you remember?"

Rey1 replied, "I remember that we were eating dinner, and arguing about the absurdity of your claims... that we are inside a Reality Simulation." She insisted, "Everything seems quite normal to me. It is very hard for me to believe that this is a simulation... although I have seen the evidence in her mind." Rey1 gestured towards Rey2.

Rey2 said, "Yes, it is true. Azynov showed me the future. He took us five years ahead. I saw that our mission here on Earth failed. Now I want to know why it failed."

Rey1 asked, "Even if we could figure that out, would it make any difference?"

Rey2 said, "I have to try."

Eddy said to Rey1, "I would be most grateful for your cooperation. I suspect that Manny sent one of her agents here to block you from giving knowledge of hierions to Mr. Edison. Is there anyone you know who seems out of place? Someone in Edison's organization who has made you suspicious?"

Reality Simulation

Rey1 laughed. "Several of Edison's friends don't like me. They can't understand how I so quickly became Edison's golden girl."

Rey2 explained, "I'm a mind clone of Edison, but also, half my brain matches that of his wife, Mina. Many of her friends are jealous of how I so quickly became Mina's close friend. Of course, I can telepathically influence the thoughts of both Tom and Mina."

I asked Eddy, "Rey is a positronic robot?"

Eddy shrugged. "I can't tell. She has some sort of telepathic screen. I've not really seen the true pattern of her mind, even while we shared a synapex linkage. Nyrtia has some way of protecting the minds of her agents."

Rey2 said, "Azynov asked me the same thing... what is a positronic robot?"

I explained, "Nyrtia is a positronic robot. It would make sense that she deployed one of her own kind on Earth for this Edison Intervention." I asked Eddy, "Have you ever heard of a positronic robot who did not know it was a robot?"

Eddy chuckled. "Asimov did write a story about that."

I said, "I don't think I ever read it."

Eddy explained, "It is a strange story. Asimov described some positronic robots who had artificial biological bodies and the ability to reproduce. Of course, writing in the 1940s, he did not describe them as replicoids, but that seems to be what we have here." Eddy pointed at Rey. "She could be a positronic robot while not being aware how Nyrtia programs her positronic brain and thus controls her behavior."

Glisten on the planet Zeck

Just then, Azynov appeared in the room, creating a small gust. His arrival stirred the hot air that smelled of Rey's sweat. The candle flickered and cast our fuzzy shadows on the wall. Azynov told me, "Welcome to Florida, Rylla." He held up a hand to forestall questions. "Yōd and I are in a bit of a rush. We're going back to Zeck. However, you don't need me poking around this God-forsaken Reality any more."

Azynov approached Eddy. "I've found Manny's agent, four years in the future. Her name is Angel Suarez." He reached a hand out towards Eddy. "I'll leave it to you and Rylla to sort out the details."

Eddy stood up and shook Azynov's hand. "Thank you for all of your help."

The Simulation seemed to twist around us and suddenly Eddy, Rey2 and I were in 1918, but we were back inside the same 1914 automobile that had been used by Eddy in Florida. However, now we were in Raritan, New Jersey, the town that was the site of Edison's main research lab, commonly described as being located in Menlo Park. Rey2 said, "This is the mansion of Mickey Suarez, the sugar cane magnate from Cuba."

Eddy and I looked over our shoulders into the back seat. Eddy asked Rey2, "How do you know?"

"Mrs. Suarez is a good friend of Edison's wife, Mina. Tom, Mina, their son Theodore and I attended the wedding of Mikey's daughter, Maria, here." Rey2 pointed towards the mansion.

The eastern sky was just starting to brighten, revealing the grand proportions of the Suarez mansion. There was a newspaper there on the seat between Eddy and I. I picked it up and in the dim light I could see it was from September 1918. I said, "We've been shifted to 1918." 

Eddy opened up the glove compartment and found the vehicle's registration. He mused, "Is it possible... that other copy of me has lived through the past four years inside this Simulation?"

Eddy started up the car and with help from Rey2, drove directly to the nearby address that was on the registration. Eddy said enigmatically, "He's here." The three of us walked up to the front door of the big house and Eddy rang the doorbell. 

A copy of Eddy opened the door and said, "You finally arrived." He took us inside and there was a copy of Yōd just coming down the stairway from the second floor. Both Yōd and the Ed2 were wrapped in colorful silk robes which failed to hide the perky profiles of Ed2's erection and Yōd's stiff nipples.

Yōd turned on the room lights and then put an arm around Ed2's waist and complained to Ed1, "You owe me an orgasm."

Ed1 smiled and said, "Sorry to interrupt your sexplay, but I ask you to forgive me. Remember, I'm here on a research mission."

1918 in the Ekcolir Reality

Ed2 said, "I have not forgotten, but Yōd and I have grown comfortable here in the Ekcolir Reality."

Ed1 said, "You can be comfortable, but I'm going to have to explain this to Zeta."

Yōd told Ed1, "Tell Zeta that this is my turn."

Ed1 said, "Zeta thinks she owns me. All copies of me."

Yōd waved a hand as if dismissing Zeta's quaint opinions. She asked me, "How long have you been inside the simulation, Rylla?"

"I just arrived here. We are looking for Manny's agent, Angel."

Ed2 and Yōd looked at each-other. Yōd said, "Angel?"

I explained, "Azynov told us that Manny's agent is named Angel Suarez."

Ed2 asked, "Angelique?"

Ed1 echoed, "You know an Angelique?"

Yōd explained, "Angelique is the new wife of Mikey Suarez."

Rey2 asked, "New wife?"

Yōd explained, "His former wife died about a year ago. He married Angelique last month."

Ed1 said, "That fits." He said to Rey2, "This Angelique must be the one who sabotages your mission."

Ed2 told us, "I now work at the Edison Electronics research facility. We are getting close to having a hierion detector that might allow us to detect the femtobot endosymbionts that are hidden inside people." He gestured towards Rey2, "What's going on? You look... different."

Ed1 told Ed2, "This is not the Rey that you know from 1918. We just arrived from 1914."

"Ah, that's it. You look a bit younger, and your mind pattern is a bit different." Ed2 repeated, "What's going on?"

Ed1 said, "Azynov sent us here. This would seem to be the critical time when Angel will prevent Rey from completing work on the hierion detector. This copy of Rey will help with my investigation."

Yōd looked at Rey2 and said, "I don't trust her. Reynette has become the tyrant of Menlo Park. She's got her fingers in every aspect of Edison's empire and is throwing vast sums of Edison's money into the detector project."

Rey2 laughed, "Yes, that sounds like me. This is the expected outcome, the anticipated future that I Viewed during my training. 1918 was to be the year when the world would learn of the existence of endosymbionts."

Ed1 said, "It was, but not any more. Something has changed the timeline. This feels like another battle in the Time Travel War. We now know that Angel will prevent you from building a functioning hierion detector."

Ed1 said, "We already have functioning detectors that are just good enough to show that there are hierions inside people. Edison is waiting impatiently for the next generation detector that will have ten times more sensitivity and then we will be able to publish solid hierion data."

I asked Ed1, "Can you get us an invitation to meet Mrs. Suarez?"

He replied, "I'm not really in that social circle, the upper crust of Menlo Park. I'm just a grunt in the lab."

Rey2 looked speculatively at me and said, "I have an idea." 

I could sense that Rey was telepathically pushing at my mind and her eyes were tracing up and down my body. She asked Ed2, "I recall Mikey as being into fast living and heavy drinking."

Ed2 said, "All true, but rumor has it that he's mellowed a bit since marrying Angelique."

Rey2 telephoned the Suarez estate on Whispering Knoll and spoke to the chief of staff and then someone else. Rylla's name was mentioned. After a long time on the phone, Rey2 finally hung up and told me, "I got us an appointment with Mikey, at 10:00. He's got quite an eye for young ladies and now you must play the role of my cousin. You are now a dancer, an apprentice in the Boston Ballet, here visiting for a week."

I laughed and said, "You set me up with some creepy old man?"

"He's not all that old." Rey2 giggled. "Who knows? Make a good impression and you might be his next wife." Rey 2 told Ed1, "If we play our cards right, I might get to meet Angelique."

___________

This image is available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
see "Library 3" by pandoracat-photo

At 10:00, Rey and I were led into the spacious library inside the Suarez mansion by the chief butler. There in the room was Mina Edison. Mina told Rey, "Mikey invited me over because I'm a big supporter of the arts. He and I are trying to bring ballet to New Jersey." After some quick introductions, Mina asked me, "Where did you learn to dance?"

I decided not to risk formulating any additional lies that I would have to remember. "In Australia."

"They have ballet in Australia?"

I dodged that question, uncertain about when ballet might have started in Australia in the Ekcolir Reality. "That's were I learned to dance. When I got interested in ballet, I moved to New England."

Mr. Suarez came into the library and hugged Mina then took Rey's hand. Gazing a Rylla, who Rey had carefully dressed for the occasion, he asked Rey, "This is your cousin the dancer?"

I said, "Rylla. Nice to meet you, sir."

He took hold of my hand. "Call me Mikey." 

Into the room came Mrs. Suarez. "Good morning, Mina. I thought I saw your car in the driveway."

The two women shook hands rather formally and Mikey reluctantly let my hand drop. Mina told Angelique, "Sorry to sneak into your home unannounced, but I'm here on arts business with Mikey." Mina gestured towards Rylla. "Did you know that Rey's cousin is in the ballet?"

MIT

Angelique raked me up and down with a critical eye and then asked Rey, "Do I know you?"

Rey shrugged. "You may have seen me around. I work for Mr. Edison."

"Of course." Angelique spoke without any conviction. "Then you may know my daughter. She just started her new job last week as a scientist at the research center."

Mikey put an arm around Angelique and said, "The brainy side of the family."

I asked, "Your daughter is a scientist?"

Angelique replied, "Angel is an electrical engineer. She's an expert in signal processing. Don't ask me the details, I suspect her new job is tied into secret war research."

I said, "You named your daughter Angel?"

Angelique laughed. "I know. You can condemn my lack of imagination, but in my defense, Angel was a miracle baby. I'd been told that I was infertile, then... well the doctors were wrong."

I realized that this was the perfect way for Manny to place an agent on Earth, as a child born to a woman who could not have children of her own. Mikey and Mina were discussing their plans and schemes for improving the arts in New Jersey and the financing of a new theater in Atlantic City. 

Atlantic City

Meanwhile, I was thinking furiously, trying to imagine how to meet Angel. I took hold of Angelique's arm and said, "I'm visiting Rey for a week. I'd like to meet some people my own age."

Angelique said, "I wish my Angel was more social. She seems to spend all her time at work. I suppose she's trying to get off to a good start in her new position."

"She's not all work no play. She caught my son's eye." Mina asked Angelique, "Did you know that my Teddy is in town, on leave?"

Rey2 told me, "Mrs. Edison's youngest child, Theodore."

I asked Angelique, "How old is your daughter?"

"25, and still single. Of course, with her career, she'll probably end up an old maid." Angelique placed a hand on her husband's chest. "But why worry? Mikey took me at age 45."

Mr. Suarez affectionately squeezed his wife's shoulders with his arm and said, "It still boggles my mind. The way we met. I was so depressed... drinking too much... but you've turned me into a new man."

"I don't believe it." Mina told Angelique, "He hasn't changed, the old goat wore out his last three wives and now he's working on you."

Mikey laughed, "Really Mina, I can't call it work. Angelique is irresistible."

"You know how it is." Angelique told Mina, "I've heard that you were a very hot item when you were a young girl... and you even made Mr. Edison a father when he was in his 50s."

"When you get older, I recommend getting a vacation home in Florida. I blame hot Spanish food and exotic music for Ted's existence." Mina added, "Our last child was something of a miracle, just like your Angel. An after-thought, so to speak." She shook her head in wonder at the passage of time. "And now Theodore's going off to MIT next year."

I asked, "Another scientist in the making?"

"I suppose so, but there's no denying that Teddy has an eye for cute girls." Mina told me, "I'll invite both you and Angel to dinner tonight. Tom and Ted will both be pleased to see your pretty faces, and other parts, around the table." Mina again looked at my cleavage as put on display by the low-cut dress that Rey had dressed me in.

Next: Part 3 of Edison's Endosymbiont Experiments.

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