and beckoned Ragnhildur and
Inez to follow her. “Now, we
have champagne and I introduce
you to people.”
Inez’s phone buzzed on her
wrist. She looked down, keenly
aware in this moment that if
she were a normal person, she’d
have a jewelphone in her ear. A
jewelphone wasn’t a real augment
and yet she’d never been able to
bring herself to have that fight
with her parents.
Which was who was calling.
She tapped it off, knowing what
they were going to say.
“Something?” Sóldís stood
next to her, with her head tilted
to the side as she peered through
her grey curls.
“Hm? No. No.” But maybe she
could get them to make a change.
“Actually... well. Yes. The twelve
fingers. That... that was a surprise.”
“For me as well. But it is
exciting, yes?”
“Well. But... I mean, is it really
necessary? To have twelve fingers,
I mean.”
Sóldís steered her a little away
from the table where they’d been
for the press conference, leading
her to face the windows so that
their backs were to the room.
“Is it a problem?”
Yes, of course it was a problem.
Inez didn’t even have pierced
ears, much less any sort of
augmentation. But her heart
started to push against her ribs
and the large room seemed to
tighten around her.
Leaning down, Sóldís’s lips
were pursed as she studied Inez.“You ask if it is necessary. Surely
you are not suggesting that we
suppress Ragnhildur’s vision.”
“No. No, of course not.” She
swallowed and sweat beaded at
the back of her neck under her
hair. “I was just surprised. It’s... it’s
not something that I’m entirely
comfortable with.”
“I can see this troubles you.”
Straightening, Sóldís faced the
water, fingers steepled in front of
her as if she were contemplating
a score. “Here is my thinking...
If you feel strongly that this is
something you do not wish to
do, we will not, of course, force
you. You can return the money
and we can award it to one of
the runners-up.”
“Oh. I didn’t mean... I just wish
that someone had asked.”
“Yes. Of course... Of course, I also
wish that you had mentioned in
your interviews that you had
some parameters under which
you would not work.”
“I didn’t say that.” The pain
between her eyes crept around to
her temple. She couldn’t afford to
return the money. And even if she
could, the grant came with a visa
and she needed that. She needed
this whole thing as a stepping
stone to get citizenship in Iceland.
She swallowed and tried again.
“The fact is that I don’t have
robotic thumbs and I... I can’t
afford them. Not anything that
you could play a concert with.”
Beaming, Sóldís spread her
hands. “Is that the only obstacle?
But of course, we will provide
them. We have a sponsor and
you will have the very best
quality thumbs.”
“Great.” Inez’s smile probably
looked as ill as the sweat slicking
her back. “That solves everything.”
Except her family.
#
Inez was crouching in front of
her apartment’s tiny refrigerator
with a bag of groceries on the floor
when her phone rang. Her parents.
Sighing, she tucked the skyr
into an empty spot next to the
ab-mjólk. There was only so
long she could avoid her folks.
She transfered the call to thekitchen’s wall screen. “Hi, Mom
and Dad.”
“Hi pumpkin!” Her father’s
cheery voice made her shoulders
relax. “What are you doing
down there?”
“Putting away groceries.” She
slid the frozen plokkfiskur into
the even tinier freezer cubby.
“Show me your hands.” Her
mother’s voice sounded crisp and
monied and was complete artifice.
It was the “I’m very angry voice.”
“Seriously?” Inez swiveled on
her heels, peering up at the screenher parents were on. She lifted
her hands and waved at them.
Ten fingers total and only two
of them were thumbs. “Happy?”
“No. I am not happy.” Her
mother shook her head. “I told
your grandmother to watch that
news conference. The only thing
saving us is that she was at bingo
this morning. Twelve fingers!
Do you have any idea what that
would have done to her?”
“Sarah...” Her dad put his
hand on her mom’s and leaned
toward the camera. “We’re just
confused. Twelve fingers... Is that
like four hands. A second pianist
plays with you or... What does
that mean, exactly?”
She stood up, dragging the bag
of groceries with her. She wasn’t
going to look up like a child to
have this conversation with them.
“Solo piano. The piece requires
thumb augments.”
He sighed. “I’m disappointed
to hear that.”
Inez winced and put the bag
on the counter. “It’s not like it’s
a permanent augment. It’s just
temporary.”
True and also, to really hit
professional performance levels,
she was going to have to wear
them 24/7. They would have to
become completely natural to her.
She pulled the granola out of the“ Yes, of course it was
a problem. Inez didn’t
even have pierced ears,
much less any sort
of augmentation”>18/25 December 2021 | New Scientist | 39