Page 2 of I Dated the Lost Song

Cadence understood. “My lifestyle isn’t suitable to be a surrogate. I forget meals, like deli meat, way too much, and drink coffee like it is the last potable liquid on the planet. I don’t even exercise.”

Arcady chuckled. “You sound like me.”

Zera looked at her, and Cadence knew what she knew.

Cadence sighed. “There is a reason for that. Hi, big sis.”

Arcady stared. “You are joking. This is a horrible joke. Zera.”

Cadence shrugged. “I left three years after you. I activated, and they did not hesitate to confirm I was unwelcome. Thomas didn’t want me nearby. I wasn’t useful. So, I got into the foster system of Aksalla and grew up here.”

Arcady stared at her. “Oh, wow. That’s my face. My old face.”

Cadence snorted. “Please. It is a version. I am just a different child from the same parents. Don’t worry. I am not here to have fun family times. I am not inserting myself into your life.”

Zera nodded. “Right. Cadence, so if we can arrange an apartment, food, and a gym membership, would you be willing to consider the surrogate position?”

“On my back with my feet in stirrups?”

Arcady grinned and pointed. “That’s just like me.”

Cadence snorted. “With a lot less shiny shit. You look like a tree ornament.”

Arcady grinned again. “Oh, we are so going for dinner. Do you have time for dinner?”

“Uh. It’s just me and Mortimer most nights. Yes, I have embraced the stereotype, and I have a cat.” She shrugged. “Sort of. He’s a robot.”

Zera blinked. “Oh, soyouare the one with the prototype.”

“Yes. I needed to know how it moved and played. To write an advertising summary, I had to live with him, and he refused to leave. They brought him back here, scrubbed his memory, and he continued breaking into my house. So, I bring him in for checkups and downloads every six months, and the research team gets to see way too much of me running around in my underwear.”

Zera brought up the file and snorted. “He’s attached to you. Very attached to you.”

“Yeah. If I am five minutes late getting home, he’s in the hall and heading for the elevator. Any more than that and he shows up at the functions I have set up.”

Arcady blinked. “Wait, you work in advertising?”

“Yes, I write copy and forward it to marketing, as well as setting up public product launches and focus groups.”

Zera paused. “You will need to go on leave for the duration of this process.”

“But I like my job.”

“It will be waiting for you after you have completed recovery. I will put it in the contract.”

“How long will I be given after delivery to recover?”

“We will have Khytten assist you at that point, but until then, the contract requires you to do the pregnancy the long way around with a photo shoot every month to track the pregnancy for his family.”

“That seems invasive.”

“We will blur out your face.”

“So, I am literally just an incubator.”

“An incubator with sonic resonance,” Zera said softly. “This is important, and it’s the only option we have for this situation.”

“So, if this is a matter of urgency, why not use Khytten’s accelerator?”

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