"You are mistaken,” Sage Elvan lowered its voice. “This is not Giel Moti.”

“This person looks exactly like Giel,” she insisted.

“When did this theft occur?”

“About twelve years ago. In Kop. It stole money from me at the gaming table.”

“Ah, I see. You lost a bet,” Sage Elvan smiled warily.

“Giel cheated.”

“This is not Giel Moti. Please stand up, Jal.”

Jal stood. “Jal, I’d like you to meet Wenta Enuma. Enuma, this is Jal Jomari.”

She scrutinized Jal’s face. It stared at her impassively. “I might be mistaken. It was a long time ago.”

“Where did you meet Giel Moti?”

“I said, at the gaming tables. In Kop. We were throwing the dice.”

“Tell Enuma how old you are, Jal.”

“I’m five.”

“You see, this person couldn’t have been in Kop twelve years ago. It wasn’t even born.” She sputtered an apology and went off, still agitated.

Taryn pulled on Jal’s sleeve and it sat down. “How’s your head?” she whispered. “Does it still hurt?”

“Yes. But it's not as bad as it was.”

Taryn reached around Jal and pulled at his cape. “Jan, Jan!” she whispered. “Let’s have rum cake for dessert.”

“Good idea!” The sage waved to a server and said to her, “We’d like pieces of your rum cake. Vic, would you like one?”

“Yes, please.”

The waiter went around to Taryn, who had waved to her. “Would you please make my friend a piece with the special glaze?” Taryn whispered. “It’s never been here before.”

“Certainly.”

It wasn’t long before she was back with pieces of rum cake. “Be sure to drink plenty of water with it, Jal, or you’ll feel the alcoholic effects," Sage Elvan said.

Jal drank water and ate bites of the cake alternately. It wasn’t long before Jal’s face flushed and it began to feel confused. “What am I doing?” it said to Taryn. “I feel odd. Like I did when I woke up after the eye procedure.”

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” she smiled teasingly. “Want some more?”

“Sure! It’s delicious!”

Taryn waved to the server and asked for a second piece of cake. As Jal finished its second piece, it listened to the sage and Victor talk about the upcoming elections in Zibran. It copied the sage as it folded up its napkin and put it alongside the plate.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I’m sure we’ll see you at the evening meal,” Sage Elvan rose to its feet.

“I’ll see you then.” Victor went towards the door.

Jal tried to follow Sage Elvan through the crowd. But the room had begun to turn and move up and down. “Come on Jal,” Taryn said and took its hand. “Keep walking. We’re almost to the doors.”

“Why are all these people here?” Jal asked loudly. “It’s time for people to go home so I can find my way out of here.”

“Follow Sage Elvan,” Taryn urged.

“I can’t see it. Come here,” Jal said to her. It lifted her up just below her knees. “Do you see it?”

“Go out the door,” she directed. “It’s out there.”

“Now do you see it?” Jal said as they stood outside.

“No.”

“There it is!” Jal set her down and they walked toward a Stafriez.

“That’s not Sage Elvan,” Jal said. “This is an older Stafriez.”

“Put me up again,” she suggested. “I don’t remember there being such a big crowd.” Jal lifted Taryn and she sat on its shoulder. "Turn around.” Jal began to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster. “Jal!” she yelled. “Stop turning!” Jal kept spinning. “Jal, stop! Put me down! Jal!” Sage Elvan heard her shout, and saw what looked like, a very tall Taryn with long skinny legs. Jal’s face was hidden behind her skirt that had billowed out. “Put me down, Jal!” She smacked it on the head. “Put me down!”

Jal dropped her solidly onto her feet and swayed back and forth. “I’m not Jal. I’m Syp.”

“You are not Syp! You’re drunk, that’s what you are!”

“Why is Jal drunk, Taryn?” Sage Elvan joined the two.

“Because it had lots of rum cake,” she smiled broadly. “I wanted to see what a child Stafriez did when it was drunk.”

“Now you know,” Sage Elvan said dryly. “Are you satisfied?”

“No."

“Let’s get the child inside."

After Jal stumbled from the elevator to the apartment that they would be using for the next few days, Jal looked around wildly. “I need the toilet. Where is it? I’m going to be sick.” Taryn pointed and Jal ran into the bathroom. Vomit hit the water with great force as Jal emptied the contents of its stomach. When it was finished, it went to Taryn. “Do you have some rags so that I can clean up?”

“Taryn’s going to clean up,” Sage Elvan responded.

Sage Elvan led Jal to the bed and told it to lie down. The sage pulled the new boots off, tossed them on the floor, and loosened its tunic.

“That was interesting," Taryn said. "Part of coming to Nik is to watch drunk people at the restaurant downstairs.”

“So, that’s why you like this place so much! Well, the truth is out! You can get rid of any other wild ideas that you have. Jal is a child who needs guidance as it grows up and you will not use it for any more crazy experiments.”

“I bet it would be fun if we took Jal to the caves of Pyricell,” she muttered as she cleaned the bathroom a few minutes later. “We could leave it there. I never said I wanted a child around.”

“I heard that,” Sage Elvan said. “And you are not in charge of the decision whether to have children.”

“Children make extra work,” she grumbled. “There will be more food to cook, more laundry, more garden that I need to tend.”

“Oh, stop! When you’re done, you will go to the recharging station and remain there until I tell you that you're needed.

I’ll work here this afternoon.” It opened a case and set up a small computer.

Jal sat up suddenly several hours later. It covered its face. “I can’t believe I did that,” it muttered.

“You did what?”

“We were turning in circles in front of a restaurant looking for you. I was spinning and I couldn’t stop.”

“Yes, you were.”

“My name is Jal Jomari,” it said firmly. “I’m not Syp Bron. I can’t say that anymore. How can I put that part of my life out of my mind?”

"It was the alcohol. When it is in our systems, we lower our defenses and sometimes say and do things that we later regret.”

“I’ve never had alcohol before. So, I shouldn’t drink alcohol ever again?" Jal asked.

“I sometimes have a bit of it. The cake was soaked in rum. It was very tasty. It was Taryn’s idea to have the rum cake. She wanted to see what you would do.”

“I guess I could have done something more ridiculous.”

“You could have. Do your hairs still hurt?”

“No.”

“I need to go to my office.” Sage Elvan tapped its long fingers on its desk as it debated what to do. “Please wash your face and brush your teeth. Your things are over there, I believe. If you’d like to bring your electronic pad, you can do schoolwork while I take care of some things.”

Just a few minutes later, they stood on the sidewalk next to the sign for the World Peace Foundation. JaI followed Sage Elvan into the building, through the metal detector, and into the elevator.