Science Fiction: Welcome to my Worlds

The man named as Herophilus looked up from making another cut. “It’s not torture child. We are trying to learn how the body works. And what would a scribe know of torture anyway?”

Calixte knew far more of it than she wanted. She had many uncles and one had a job in that very profession. He extracted confessions from suspected criminals, many of whom, she thought, would probably say anything just to get the torture to stop. Then there were her Visions, too, which often showed her things from contact with others that she would rather not have seen.

The two large men standing to either side of Herophilus—body guards, she supposed—moved toward Calixte menacingly. “No, no, leave her alone. She has done nothing wrong. Compassion is a positive quality. My dear, this work is born of compassion. One day you and the other nay-sayers will thank me for my curiosity and devotion to unraveling the nature of the human body. We shall be able to fix untold ailments and, yes, even extend the span of human life. Perhaps indefinitely.” He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. “You know, I could use an assistant. Someone with intelligence, smaller hands, and a delicate touch, like you. Would you be interested?

Violently she shook her head. “No, no, I couldn’t,” she managed to get out through teeth clenched to shut off the gorge rising in her throat. “I’m to work with Tellus on the Sumerian… Then she realized what he’d said. She. The fanatical light of his gaze pierced her and she felt completely naked. Worse than