Botanicaust

remember. All she knew was she ’ d have done anything to avoid eating any more people.
    Allowing her legs to collapse into a squat, she slumped against the wall, head spinning with thoughts and increasing UV-induced alkaloids. A familiar whistling drew her head up as Mo rounded the corner.
    “ Hey, baby! What ’ re you doing home? ” He offered her a hand to help her stand.
    “ You ’ re home early. ”
    “ Duster problems. I brought us a treat. ” He held up a blue baggie.
    She took it and peeked inside. Four longhorned beetles, each as large as her thumb, crawled over each other. They were a rare delicacy. Levi ’ s people must survive eating like this all the time.
    “ Found them in a stand of tamarisk submerged by the river. There were more, but once Pib found out I had them, I had to share. ” He put an arm around her shoulder and guided her into the house. Affected by the sunlight-produced chemicals, she swayed a little. “ Whoa. How long you been out here? Usually you ’ re the one holding me up. ”
    “ Things went badly today at the lab. ”
    He shut the door to the apartment before taking her hands to rub her fingers, his golden eyes full of sympathy she ’ d seen many times. “ They finally take him? ”
    Tula knit her brows. “ No! ” She pulled her hands away and walked to the sofa. She didn ’ t want to think about it. “ I ’ ll find a way to make him want to convert. ”
    “ He said no? ” Mo raised his brows.
    Burying her face in her hands, she breathed through the welling of grief rising from deep in her chest.
    “ Baby, you knew converting an adult was a long shot. They ’ re too set in their ways. ”
    “ Levi ’ s not a cannibal! ” She glared at him. “ People in the Reaches can survive without eating each other. ”
    “ Yeah, like those Fosselite weirdos. I know. ” He flopped onto the sofa next to her and swung his legs up across her lap.
    The Fosselites had survived the Botanicaust. Literally. Four hundred years ago, they ’ d found the secret to immortality. They would not share the formula, but they did barter enzymes for raw materials. One of the enzymes, telomerase, had revolutionized conversion by aiding the cells in reconditioning themselves during plasmid injection. Without the Fosselites, the Protectorate would still be no more than a double handful of communal nuvoplast houses. With the influx of converts, the Protectorate had expanded into new mining territories, acquired more items for trade, and converted even more outsiders.
    Tula sighed. “ He ’ s not a Fosselite, either. Less technologically advanced. Something about him is so familiar. He ’ s … different. He was actually disgusted with me today, like he couldn ’ t bear to look at me. ”
    “ Whoa, baby. You got a little thing going on with that outsider? ”
    “ If by ‘ thing ’ you mean relationship, then yes. I have a relationship with all my patients. To help them convert, I have to get inside their heads. You know that. ”
    “ Yeah, but sounds like this guy hurt your feelings. You always get attached, but I haven ’ t seen you care what your patients think of you . ”
    Tula pushed his legs off her lap and clomped to the refrigerator. “ I do, too. ” She pulled a bottle of water from inside, pausing with the open door blocking her vision of Mo. He had a point. Maybe she had lost her distance on this one. But there was more to it than hurt feelings. How could Levi be so opposed to conversion? Her green skin was a gift she ’ d never regretted. She had to make him see the value.
    “ You aren ’ t objective any more. Why not assign him to another doctor? ”
    “ He ’ s scheduled to die in ten days! There ’ s not enough time for someone else to take over. ”
    Mo shook his head. “ Tula — ”
    “ I have to get back to the lab. There ’ s no time to waste. ” She gulped a last swallow of water and flung the half empty container into the recycle chute. “ Don ’ t wait up for me. ”
    As she stomped out the door, Mo called, “ Fine! I ’ m going to eat these beetles all by myself! ”

    Tula reached the Liebert building in spite of her unsteady gait. The euphoric high from the alkaloids didn ’ t give her any pleasure at the moment, just blurry vision and a tiny headache at the back of her skull. She planned to do as much research on pre-Botanicaust culture as possible and find similarities to cross-reference what she knew about Levi ’ s people.
    In her