Chemistry
by James Patrick Kelly
© 1993 by Davis Publications, Inc. First Published in
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, June, 1993.
"I'm going to fall in love tonight," said Marja, "and
this time you're coming with me."
Lily had been staring without comprehension at Screen 8
of 23/Brain Mechanisms in Mating. It was too hot for
neurobiology; the spex with their heavy displays kept
sliding down her nose. When she pushed them back up,
Screen 8 flickered. "I have to study," she said, trying
to remember the last time she'd heard a man whisper her
name in the dark.
"Face it, Lily, you think too damn much. What your
synapses need is a nice warm norepinephrine bath." Marja
Zoltowski had snuggled into a nest of pillows and tilted
the top of her head backwards against the wall to keep
her spex in place. Her Adam's apple bobbed when she
spoke.
"You Poles are such romantics." Lily shivered the way
she used to when Glenn touched her face. "What is
tonight, anyway?"
"I don't know. Monday?"
Lily blinked at the calendar icon and waited a second
for the spex to retrieve her tickler from memory. "Okay,
tomorrow we have day two of Freddy's virtual autopsy,"
she said, "and Wednesday is the immunology test. We
hardly have time to sleep, much less fall for
strangers."
"Listen to yourself." Marja shook her head. "Do you call
this a life?"
"Nah," said Lily. Screen 9 of 12 was a diagram of the
septo hypothalamic-mesencelphalic continuum. "I call it
med school."
"We could try that new place on Densmore Street. It's
supposed to be grade."
"We? These are your urges, not mine. Why don't you just
program a window shirt to flash available and hang out
at Wally's?"
"This isn't about sex, Lily, it's about feelings.
Believe me, after they crank your hypothalamus you won't
be able tell the difference between neuromance and the
real thing."
"Says you."
"Emotions aren't magic, doctor. They are reproducible
brain states."
This was something Lily knew to be true, but preferred
not to think about -- like the correlation between
cheesecake and adipose tissue. "Anyway," she said, "we
