["This isn't how things were supposed to go. I'm a traveling historian."] Marto sat up on the bed in Zeke's guest room, messaging privately with Helen who lay next to him. ["I don't want to become the center of a cultural conundrum."] The room was filled with the sweat of their day's farm work and the salty odors of their more recent exertions.

["I don't really understand what the big deal is,"] Helen said, still a bit put off by the unsatisfactory brevity of their awkward intercourse. However charming Marto was, his lovemaking skills left something to be desired, quite literally. ["I mean, I have had no problems feeling at home in tribal life now. I feel more and more comfortable all the time, and aren't I someone from a family of greedy takers?"]

["It's not the same,"] Marto said, looking out the window of the second story room toward the ripened crops. ["I've done research on your family, you know. It's what I do. Do you know what your predecessors did before The Vengeance? Your great-grandfather was a landscaper. He looked after the grounds at Baywood estate. The real owners, the Haywoods, were all killed. Their money came from mining coal, almost the same as my father's family. After the violence, your family took over the home and worked their way into power over the city. Did you know Pittsburgh had a huge interconnected community back then? It was a progressive and forward-looking place. The Reynolds drove them all off, and forced the rest of the populace to pay them tribute."]

["Okay, so I come from a line of opportunists. Are they really so different from your distant relatives? So, you said your family got rich from mining and oil. Both of those enterprises started with gritty land grabbers and low scruples. It's the story of the American West. You and I are the same."]

["But you've always known where you came from and I just found out. I didn't even know I had a living mother until a few days ago. I thought my mother was a woman named Maria who died giving birth to me. I didn't know anything about my real father until yesterday. I thought he was a man named Rex who died at the hands of the Raiders when I was four. Now I know my father's name is Ignatius. Before I met you, I was a motherless, fatherless child and it never bothered me, because I had my tribe. The Interconnected have been all the family I've ever needed. Now I don't even have them."]

She put her hand on his back. His skin was cooler than hers. He had a nice back. Maybe they just needed practice. ["Marto,"] she started.

["It's Matthew,"] he sent. His message style was bitter. ["As far as I can tell, my name isn't Marto « Maria « Denise « Marta « Joia « etc, as I have known since I can remember. My name is really Matthew « Emily « Joan « Somebody « Somebody « etc. I'm terrified of the interconnection coming back up, because I will find out the name of my maternal grandmother's mother, and also her mother, and my entire lineage will have references and histories, and everyone following me will know I have been a fraud all these years."]

["Can they really see that? Stuff you are just looking up?"]

["Sure, if they want to. It's all open, the data we use and share. I'm certain the super-mods will be on it the second I make the query."]

["So don't make the query!"] Helen was starting to think that getting him back under her was a lost cause. ["If you just go on the way you were, who's to know?"]

["You mean lie? That's a horrific idea. Lie to all my followers while I espouse the benefits of interconnected life? You want me to lie about my own history while I travel about and give the histories of all these towns and peoples? It would be hypocritical. Moreover, I will be bad at it. I don't have much experience with lying, or hiding anything. I will let it all slip out in under a week. I'm certain."]

They stopped messaging for a while. Matthew's back was expanding more with each of his breaths. He might have been crying. Helen reached over and pulled him close to her. He curled himself up under her right arm and reached a hand across to cup her left breast. She felt a little too maternal with him in this position to be amorous. Awkward as it was, it gave her an idea.

["What about the descendants of other families like yours? They must be out there. Perhaps distant cousins or great-grandchildren like yourself? You can't be the only one."]

Marto sat up again. He looked at her. ["Maybe. I've never researched it before. The Vengeance was pretty thorough, but if history tells us anything, it's that a few people always find a way to survive. They may have hidden their identities. I suppose I could find some of them if we ever get the data back. But in my experience, the Interconnected would be prejudiced against the offspring of ecological betrayers like me. Green is a key color for them. High Merit is coded in forms of pure green. Extremely low Merit is black, like coal. We have made great progress toward reversing the damage done by families like mine. Carbon capture, the resurrection of species, and minimizing the footprint of the tribes are just a few our victories. I'm not sure how we... they will react to knowledge of my true origins, but I do know how I would react to someone like me. I would be judgmental and suspicious. The thought of me would bring up the crimes we have worked so hard to undo. It's not a logical distrust, it's just the connected data. I know I'm not culpable for my great grandmother's actions, but my lineage would conjure up a reflexive distaste by association."]

["So, does that mean, no more wandering stories?"] Helen felt genuinely sad at this idea.

["I can't really see how. I don't know. My followership would drop through the floor. I might not be able to stay in Reverside, or be welcomed into places like Sherwood again. I might have to settle down in a place like Glenville."] He looked at her. ["You know you must never tell anyone about this. Just knowing what you know about me could put you in danger."]

["I know. You are safe with me."] Helen hugged him, reassuringly. He did not seem to be reassured.

["I'm serious,"] he said. ["Never reveal this to anyone. The wrong sort of person could use you to get at me."]

["So what are you going to do?"] Helen saw he was looking at his clothes.

["First, I'm going to get a bath, or I guess a shower. Zeke has an outdoor shower, on the side of the house. Then I will look for some food in the kitchen. Then, I really don't know."]

["Well, I think we should try that shower together. I know it's small, but all the more reason."] Helen put her hand on his stomach.

Marto/Matthew turned to kiss her, and then he kissed her again. She pulled him on top of her. ["Come on xombie boy,"] she thought to him, ["try to do better this time, okay?"]

He didn't pull away. ["Yeah, I know. Sorry. I guess I'm kind of a virgin with this real-life sex thing. I have no idea what to do with my clumsy body."]

["Remember how uncomfortable those skates were? Try to focus on that."] They passed the rest of the late afternoon away in bed.

Maxtor was seated at the dining room table along with Zeke, his wives, and the ninjas when Helen and Marto finally came down from their room. There was no more space at the table. Zeke watched them as they descended the stairs.

"Well, I hope you've rested up because I'm afraid your stay here ends tomorrow." He said this with a light sincerity. "Meanwhile, Karaugh, Deborah, Allie, Martika and myself are just finishing up. You can have our seats in a minute. There's plates and dinner in the kitchen. Serve yourselves."

"What happened?" Asked Helen. "Are we not welcome here? Why?"

"That thing your friend Maxtor gave me has been blinking on and off all afternoon. You know the rule here, both of you. Use your words."

"But it was private! We weren't getting in touch with anyone outside, we can't! I don't think it's fair."

"Them's the rules here, boys and girls. No gizmo talk. No brain to brain stuff. Just good old-fashioned speech. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. It's a hard-and-fast rule."

"But did you record what we said up there?" Marto was suddenly afraid his secret had escaped. He had only told Helen what happened to him in the storm shelter. He couldn't afford for Maxtor or the ninjas to know.

"It's just a little blue light that blinks on when the 'thexting' thing happens. I was not eavesdropping. Not interested in what you said to each other, just enforcing the rules here."

"I'm interested," Maxtor broke in with his mouth full of mashed potatoes. "what were you two beauties talking about? Hey, were you doing the physical intercourse? Like mashing your middle body parts together?" He scrunched up his face. "What was that like?"

"Not at the table, please," said Martika. "Zeke..."

Zeke looked uncomfortable under Martika's gaze. "Yeah. Well, so as it turns out, you all have to get going tomorrow. Sorry about that. You've been a pleasure having around, but you know what they say about fish."

"They are making a great recovery in the northern waters?" said Zha-Zha expectedly.

"No, it's an old saying about house guests and fish. I can't remember the whole thing, but the point is, it's time for all of you to be moving on – at daylight." Zeke picked up his plate and walked back to the kitchen. "Oh, and I'd like you to do the dishes tonight if you don't mind."

"Hai!" said the ninjas in unison.

Karaugh, Deborah, Allie, and Martika all eyed them suspiciously.