Like a Fox on the Run, стр. 116
Her infatuation with the creature troubled Lulah. Just as this furry femme fatale had obviously charmed the pants off Tiger, it now seemed to hold her daughter in a state of fascinated thrall. The two seemed mysteriously drawn to each other, as if some unseen connection had been established. It was as if she’d just adopted a new pet.
Lulah wondered if this was simply a natural reaction. Her daughter had always been an animal lover. Plush, snuggly animals and teddy bears filled her room. The family dog, Shep, a loving and affectionate chocolate Lab, had been Chris’ dog when they’d married. He’d allowed the kids to keep him after the divorce, but the faithful ol’ fella had died last year of old age. The kids had taken it hard, and she’d been hesitant to replace the animal with a new one until she felt they were ready. Lulah couldn’t help but wonder if this fox-girl, in her daughter’s eyes, had become a surrogate for what she’d lost. A magnificent stuffed animal come alive, or a replacement for her beloved pet.
For her part, the whatever-it-was that Tiger had named Amber seemed to bear a similar affection for her daughter. When she looked at the little girl, both Tiger and Lulah had sensed an almost maternal spark in those big, golden eyes.
She found this unsettling. What had Tiger brought into her house? Did this thing pose a threat to her and her family? Was the attention she was now paying her daughter due to an underlying motive? Should she … could she … trust some half-animal being? What was its true nature? How was anybody to know? Before yesterday, none of them even knew such a creature existed, much less what its disposition might be. These living sex dolls had only existed as urban legends and bizarre speculations, spawned by conspiracy theorists and purveyors of outlandish tales from the seamy underbelly of the ultranet.
So far, the vixen’s interest in Britt seemed wholly benevolent. The two now sat on the sofa in the media room. Britt joyfully occupied herself with putting pink ribbons in Amber’s hair and tail. The creature seemed to relish the attention the young girl gave her. After Britt ran out of ribbon, Amber was more than happy to return the favor. She reciprocated by brushing out the girl’s long, brown hair. She wore a soft, contented smile as she worked the brush down the girl’s hair with long, gentle strokes. As she did, her tail swished lazily in contentment.
Tiger found this interesting. For the last day or so, he’d seen her only as a sexual being, a living toy created solely for one purpose: to satisfy the whims of the rich loser who’d purchased her. A flesh-and-blood Andrea model with excessive body hair and a pulse. What he’d learned from the hack, as well as her own actions, seemed to have validated that belief. Yet, here with Britt, he was seeing something else; something he’d neglected to notice before. For the first time, he was seeing the human side of her. He’d been too busy rescuing her, too busy trying to figure out why she was in need of a rescue, and yes, even too busy banging her, to ever really notice it.
He felt a twinge of guilt. Here he was trying to save her from God-knew-what, and yet he himself did not fully appreciate everything she was. She truly was an enigma. An hour ago, he’d been nagged with doubts about what might be lying just below the surface. Was there a dark side he hadn’t seen yet? Watching her now, leaning against the doorframe that separated Lulah’s kitchen from her media room, he started to see things a bit clearer. It was almost an epiphany of sorts. She truly was more than just a plaything. She had feelings and emotions. She could care, love and feel compassion. She could also fear, hate, feel pain, and hurt. He now knew she could hurt others as well. But in all fairness, the only ones she’d hurt had been those trying to hurt her. Was she any different than any other human in that regard? Wasn’t self-preservation as much a human trait as it was that of any wild animal?
All this time, all he’d seen was a genetic experiment, and mostly the animal side of it, at that. He’d failed to see the flip side … the human side. All the time he’d been trying to save her, he’d never stopped to appreciate what exactly it was he’d been trying to protect. He’d never had the chance to. But now, standing here, with a moment to reflect and observe, it was all clearer. Not only was there a human being, albeit one spliced with fox DNA; there before him, was also a woman. Not just a female created to use as a man sought fit, but watching her with Britt, he knew now there was so much more.
Brittain was in the midst of reading to Amber from one of her holo-books. As she flipped the pages, images popped up in front of them, and the girl would stop and explain, in her sweet, childish way, each illustration. Amber listened eagerly, sometimes reaching out to try to touch the image that appeared before her. He couldn’t help but smile at the irony of it. How innocent and childish she seemed now. What a contrast to all he’d seen hours before. A lover. A fighter. A nurturer. Yes, a woman. In every sense of the word.
She felt his eyes on her and she looked