A week later, Shinji was in the air, taking full advantage of his business class ticket on the electromagnetic skygliding vehicle. The flight was long, but pleasant and the VIP treatment he received the moment he landed in Ivory, the capital, made him wonder what really awaited him. By the time the symposium opened the next morning, Shinji was almost bursting with curiosity.

The arrival of the participants was strictly scheduled and planned. As he and the other experts arrived to the High Constitutional Council’s headquarters, attendants in strict yet very elegant attire welcomed them in separated offices right off the main hall and ordered them to leave all of their personal belongings in self-encoded safes. The participants left everything behind except their current clothing and USS IDs, and were made to sign a 50-page-thick non-disclosure agreement in addition to risk-acceptance forms of various sizes and contents.

Any refusal to sign on without explanation led to an immediate dismissal from the conference. All in all, dealing with security took the whole morning.

At noon, Shinji received an attaché-case full of documents, articles from different research programs, and a job advertisement letter for an unspecified position in the government.

He and the other invitees also got notified that their respective bedrooms would have items identical to the ones they left in the safes. So, they would feel at ease using similar items to what they brought themselves. Then, they were taken to lunch in a separate wing of the building. There again, VIP attention was extended to them as they dined of the finest dishes.

At one point during his meal, Shinji noticed that apart from the attendants, they were all males. Slightly taken aback by the realization, he chalked it up to the national security matters, not having the qualifications needed, not being available, or whatever else. In fact, he didn’t care why. After all, the great Jarushan nation seldom allowed women in public or official positions.

By 2pm, the sessions directed by experts in related fields were set up and ongoing, each including members of the High Constitutional Council from the related committees, three councilors per session for the five sessions implemented. Sometimes in the afternoon of the first day, someone asked what position the job ad letter was for and the session officer replied that they would talk about it on the symposium’s last day.

Something in his voice sent that familiar prickle down Shinji’s back.

Why would this vague job ad letter make me so aware? He mused briefly before shrugging it off. Well, because it’s vague, right?! I’m already here. Let’s see it coming.

In each session, a member of the Secretary Office was always present taking notes, answering questions, or providing data or any support the experts asked for. They were always fast on their feet and quick in their wits. Shinji noticed with a certain comfort that Jenkins always had monitoring duties during his own sessions. The charming man was constantly at the top of his game and it seemed to Shinji that he paid him a closer attention.

They had a week of these brainstorming days. Shinji had special fun the first three days. The topics were interesting. The gathered brains -enhancing one another- had called forth amazing research ideas and greatly refined existing methodologies. The councilors were more involved in the discussions and more open-minded than Shinji hoped when he registered for the symposium.

And he let himself be sucked into the pace of the magnificent deployment of brain power, ignoring the small voice that talked about searching for Dr Amraani McAuliffe; the voice that said he should find Amraani so he could hide from him.

On the morning of the fourth day, as he walked down to the dining room for breakfast, he heard a group of people laugh and his heart missed its correct timing again. He could recognize one of those laughs among ten thousands.

His heart squeezed tightly once and took off racing.

Shinji felt himself trembling slightly. He walked closer to the group, craning his neck, both trying to be inconspicuous and trying to see how right he was. Without fail, the handsome man from Shinji’s memories was there, talking his audience into a laughing frenzy. Only this Amraani seemed a little taller and a lot more handsome than Shinji remembered.

Amraani stood a head above the circle, elegant yet comfortable attire covering, no enhancing, the firm muscles one expects of models, warriors, and outdoorsy guys. He looked relaxed in his skin. Gone was the good-looking teenager adulated by all in the university. Here was a man fully conscious of his charisma and in the course of using it. Yes, this Amraani was a lot more enticing than how Shinji recollected him. He knew well he shouldn’t feel like that since they were call-cloning often. Nevertheless, he just couldn’t help it. Shinji felt his heart squeezing again before settling into the usual duly ache that accompanied his remembrances of Amraani.

What the mocks?! We call each other regularly. I should be immune by now.

He fought down both the old feeling and the new attraction, squared his shoulders, and tried to walk into the group. Amraani was turning to exit it and he grabbed/dragged him away as he left.

“Misericord, Dr McAuliffe!” Shinji smiled, hoping his fair complexion wasn’t betraying the heat he felt rising to his face at Amraani’s contact.

Amraani replied with his warm tenor voice full of residual laughter “Shinji! Long time no see!”

“What are you talking about? We spent 40 min biophoning less than a week ago. You saw me.”

Biophoning was the communication innovation that allowed your respondent’s telephone’s biological databank to create a walking/ talking/ breathing clone of yourself when you dialed. The clone came fully clothed in standard design dress and lasted only while you called. The caller could interact with the physical space and persons –touching them, eating, etc. - at the destination of the call, via the clone, so long that the communication line was opened. It was like visiting in person without leaving your place.

“I always tell you that nothing beats meeting the real person.” Amraani was already steering Shinji toward another group. “Instead of biophoning, those telecom guys should have invented teleportation.”

“I know you don’t like that very much. But you are old enough to make do.”

“I never make do when it comes to you, Shinji and you know it!” Amraani quickly replied smiling. The speed at which he turned his face away, though, got Shinji thinking. They stepped into a group of Waijin University alumni. The conversation stayed low-key as they ate their buffet-style breakfast.

With Amraani –in the flesh- smiling and laughing right beside him, perfectly integrated in the group, Shinji felt the dull heartache plaguing him all along the feast. He managed to keep it under wraps as he talked, joked, and sparked a friendly contest on finding ways to demolecularize a dish under 3 minutes with one primary school lab item. After all, it was second nature to him now, hiding his unspeakable feelings around Amraani. Eight years of this regular exercise would make anyone an expert.

The day went on and each session resumed as usual, but Shinji didn’t get to talk much with Amraani afterwards. In a sense, it was good they stayed apart, but Shinji couldn’t decide if he appreciated the distance or resented it. Five years had passed since they last met person-to-person, and Shinji could have sworn his feelings for Amraani were almost dead.

So this sudden smoldering fire that is threatening to burn me anew is hardly understandable.

The last days of the conference, Shinji didn’t particularly shy away from his old friend, but he also didn’t stick too close. Amraani was visibly well-accepted and recognized in his field, almost one the stars of this conference. Watching him brought back bittersweet memories to Shinji’s mind.

The smart undergrad Amraani was, had quickly found their undergraduate program well below his level and his taste for risks had taken him away from the state of Nageria where they lived. Amraani had left Shinji to go see how big the world could be. He had left Shinji heartbroken that his devoted friendship –the desire he couldn’t voice, the love he wasn’t allowed to speak of- had not been enough for Amraani. It wasn't enough to keep Amraani by his side. Amraani went and made a name for himself as a pioneer of subatomic chemistry. And Shinji, trying to stick close, but not too close, had kept the long-distance friendship and professional parallelism going.

After a week of enthralling scientific debates regarding the state of the nation and its prospects, the final night of the symposium was supposed to be a gala. According to the program, anything would go. Less strict social conventions were expected and mingling was greatly encouraged. No intruders were allowed in the building though, which meant no plus-one. What with all the security measures taken to seclude the conference from the general population.

Diner was a little early that day and the scientists went back to their rooms to prepare for the ball. Three hours later, Shinji was waiting for Amraani in front of the elevators of the building's basement. They were directly across from the entrance of the ballroom. Once again, Shinji's thoughts went back to Amraani. Despite his best efforts to keep himself distracted, he caught himself grinning and blushing at the same time while imagining how handsome Amraani would be in his formal party attire. That earned him a few sneering glances and he blushed a deeper red trying to school his expression faster. He knew before the elevators doors opened that Amraani was coming out of them. How? He couldn't tell, but he knew for sure Amraani had come out  of it despite having his back to the elevator doors.

Then, the laughing voice of Amraani called to Shinji. And he turned.

“Shinji!! You look dashing!" He took Shinji by the shoulders, turned him back towards the ballroom entrance and pushed him. Shinji, with Amraani's hands on him, started blushing again, faster and deeper. Hoping to distract Amraani, he opened the ballroom doors. The music blew up to them.

Amraani's smile grew larger and happier.
"This party is fun! I knew we would have a private concert then a ball after the closing statement for the symposium, but I was expecting a more formal affair. This is the impossible mix between a debutante ball, a club party, and a karaoke. All in one room. They made smart use of the sound splitters.”

In one room, party-goers and dancers seemed to enjoy very different musical atmospheres in different sections. The sound splitters were basically small electromagmetic air separators that divided the room in various soundproof areas.

As they looked further inside the immense basement ballroom, Shinji agreed with a twinkle in the eyes that belied the calmness of his voice.

“Add gaming convention to that!” Shinji pointed to a place on their left. “That’s a vintage VII dancing game console I see set up there. Talk about ancient history. I told you those artists would make it happen. Amraani, you owe me a thousand diamonds!”

“Yeah, yeah! I give up.”

They stood to take in the sights longer. Brightly lit ballroom with its sparkling synthetic wood dance floor. Fusion décor that mixed West African animist designs with pure lines inspired from Japanese katana shapes. And cheerfully smiling young men and women that were having fun, all dressed in high-priced, elegant, designer evening attire. Strangely, Shinji had also noticed that most of the experts who came for the symposium were really, seriously handsome. Regardless of their height, build and ethnic backgrounds, they were young and attractive.

Shinji and Amraani started walking into the crowd of relaxed and/or relaxing experts.

“Let’s see what they have for drinks and entertainment. We regroup in an hour.” He wasn’t done talking when they got offered wines, cheese and other exquisite bites. Amraani was already leaving towards a couple of his other friends by the time Shinji managed to extract himself from the rather forceful offerings one of the servers was making.

He missed Amraani right away.

Oh well, it’s a party! Let’s make something out of it.

Shinji shrugged and threw himself into a group of biologists and renowned dancers discussing the merits of wearing traditional high heels versus lower limb muscle enhancing activators to dance classical ballroom dances.

Before he knew it, he had spent the hour waltzing all over the classical ballroom section of the dance floor with three different talented beauties. Each time he danced with one, they changed from high heels to removable implants that made them a few inches taller and he had to go spinning again on the floor.

In the end, feeling tired and frankly sick from all this twirling, Shinji excused himself for a moment and went leaning his graceful frame against one of the panels in the back. His eyes went back to watching the crowd. He whispered, taking his glass of punch to his firm lips

Seeing them all gorgeous like this, you would think there is a pageant or a fashion show in the works. How odd. It’s far away from representing the general population. I should egg those genetic and occupational statisticians on this. It would be a laugh if the research showed that the brighter the mind, the more striking the body.

Again- for the third time in less than a month- that tingling feeling ran across Shinji’s back and down his arms.

Seriously, this feeling is too recurrent. What is going on here?

He looked around but couldn’t see anything suspicious in the behavior of the attendants. Yet, he couldn’t calm down. He stepped out of the ballroom and ducked into one of the empty conference rooms. He quickly found a seat and slipped into that deep, calm, thinking state he liked to go into when an idea escaped his train of thought, and he had to struggle to catch it again.

This time, he began recalling all his travel in Ivory, from the airport right to this minute. He blocked his intellect’s attempts to catch details, but rather focused on getting his odd feelings brought to the surface. Then, he sank deeper in his musings, try to recall those instants where something -anything- had felt odd when there was apparently nothing to be bothered about. Everything that came to mind was easily explained without lingering feelings of foul play. Nothing else came jumping at his mind. He still deepened his relaxation and waited.

Again nothing. Half an hour later, he still had nothing coming to his mind. Then he suddenly remembered.