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Before she could answer that question, a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
“There you are!”
LJ-91 glared down at her.
“Oh, hi!” Lili said weakly, trying hard not to flinch as his sniffer growled menacingly at her. “Sorry I had to run out on you, but I was in kind of a hurry.”
“You’re committing Feel Crime!” the Dark Kindred guard snarled. “I know you are.”
“You’re mistaken,” Lili protested. “I…I feel nothing.”
“They why are you flinching away from my sniffer?” he demanded.
Lili had no answer for that. She was trying to hold her ground but the horrible memories of being attacked by the neighbor’s Doberman when she was little were front and center in her mind. And the way the sniffer was baring its metal teeth and growling right in her face was honestly scaring her to death. It looked like it was poised to rip her throat out at any second!
“I…I’m fine!” she protested weakly. “Really, I am.”
“You lie,” LJ-91 said. “I knew there was something wrong about you—something false. My sniffer knew it too, right from the start. He smells your Feel Crime!”
“He just doesn’t like me!” Lili said. “I…I’m not a dog person.”
“Not a ‘dog person’?” LJ-91’s visible eye narrowed. “You’re not even a true Dark Kindred! Why are you here on Z4? Are you a spy?”
“No—no!” Lili exclaimed, backing away. “Nothing like that! I was…was looking for a warrior I knew. Two warriors, actually. Maybe you know them—Fights Darkness and Treads Lightly? If I could just find them, I could explain everything,” she added hopefully.
LJ-91 shook his head.
“Negative—I have never heard of them. I must conclude that you are lying. Not to mention committing Feel Crime. For which you must be punished.”
“Please!” Lili pleaded, backing away further away from the snarling sniffer. “Please, just give me a chance to explain?—”
“No more ‘explanations’,” LJ-91 barked. “You will come with me and be seen by the Tribunal. Doubtless they will sentence you to immediate termination.”
And he grabbed Lili’s arm and dragged her away.
34
LIGHT
The siren going off outside got Light’s attention. He put down his spoon and frowned at Dark.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hmm?” Dark seemed to be deep in the contemplation of his nightly serving of garn. He cocked his head for a moment and then shrugged. “It’s nothing—the Authorities have caught another Feel Criminal, that’s all.”
“I suppose…” Light frowned. He picked back up his spoon but didn’t take another bite. Something felt off to him…felt wrong, but he didn’t know what it was. “Maybe we ought to go see what’s going on,” he said to Dark.
His brother shook his head.
“Nothing to see. It’s always the same—they drag the hapless bastard up before the Tribunal and assemble the sniffers. If two or more give the alert, the Tribunal Master orders immediate termination and the sniffers tear the poor fucker apart.”
“But what if it’s something different this time?” Light persisted. “We should go see!”
Dark frowned.
“Go all that way just to watch some Feel Criminal get ripped apart?” I don’t think so.”
“What if—” Light started.
