Skodla, Part 3

As part of the Overmind, Binoda also knew she had to make Rome set the kitten down. But she hesitated. It was then that Fridone came to see why his wife and daughter were standing by the front door. Rome looked up at him and spoke aloud since her father was mandasurte, mind-deaf, and verbal communication was the only way he could know what she was thinking.

     “May I keep him?” Rome asked her father.
     “Fridone,” Binoda said. “It would not be…”
     Fridone held up his hand. Binoda stopped speaking. “You may,” Fridone said, “but you must accept the responsibility of taking care of the animal. You must feed it and keep it safe. Can you do this, Rome?”
     “Of course, Beo,” Rome said. “It would be good training for me. Mea’s primary responsibility is to liaison with mandasurte regarding care of animals. Mea?”

Rome knew she did not have to speak aloud. She and her mother were connected via the Overmind but Rome had long since learned to verbalize her interactions when her father was around. Binoda’s eyes narrowed. Rome could hear the turmoil the Overmind imposed upon her mother’s brain. At last, Binoda spoke.
     “Yes,” she thought toward Rome then aloud, “yes but you must be serious in keeping it healthy.”
     “I will, Mea,” Rome said. “Thank you.”
     All this time, the kitten was reveling in the warmth emanating from Rome’s body. It had never stopped purring even while all this went on.
     “I will call him Skodla,” she said and she walked past her parents, into the house, proudly carrying her new-found possession.

Rome took the cat into the cooking area and gave it a bowl of water and a few treats from the food synthesizer. It was then that the Overmind imposed itself and gave her one choice. It would allow her to keep the cat if Rome would finally submit to "second sight" which meant the Overmind would supply her with sensory input. She was to ignore what she was actually seeing and hearing.

All Rome could think about was keeping the kitten. So she agreed. But the reality was, nothing the Overmind said or did could affect Rome deep within her soul. The very hypocrisy of Vuduri society was exposed to her and while it took a long time for her to act, it eventually became Rome's Revolution.

Tomorrow, Skodla reappears in Part 3.