nonhumans talking about the differences

They are walking around the lake at the hotel riga, it’s sometime after he was attacked and his body has more or less recovered from the damage the bullets had caused. Can we say he has got used to the nonhumanness of his reconstructed mind? The changes to his no longer human body? It may be too early to tell. The two of them who inhabit his body and brain are very similar, so many years of shared experience, decades of identical lives and memories. Though the virus which she infected his body with brought some of her memories with it gradually these have been assimilated and when they are talking it seems clear to her which is the original steve and which is the virus, which for some reason makes her smile. Anyway, neither of them think it’s a problem, rather they are both glad to be walking around the lake with her. Have you got more used to it? she asks him, one half of her watching the children the other talking to him. Oh yes, I think I feel almost as nonhuman as you do now, I’m trying to understand the differences but its difficult. She nods and looks seriously at him and says a little hesitantly Even after after after all this time I don’t understand the precise differences between us and the humans… I think its to do with the the human community limit of 150. We simply aren’t determined in that way… He said. How many is it for us then? She asked him, walking along the edge of the water on the large flag stones. I’m not absolutely certain but I think for nonhumans like us its at least 300 and possibly more, 400 or so. After all there are two of us in here. He says tapping his head. We won’t know until there are enough nonhumans to test. And as you said before we don’t know whether there are any long term unidentifiable risks associated with being nonhuman, with our becoming nonhuman. That implies you don’t think its a matter of our being more intelligent, physically different then. That’s right, are we different? yes, though our sample is small and you have been careful not to infect people, we don’t know whether its detrimental or not yet. And we, I always want to do what you tell me… Idiot she said looking at him. I always did, why should we be any different. Our children are probably better equipped to judge the value of our nonhuman differences. Will there be pograms/ Only if we tell them we exist, as it happens eventually they will become extinct. Not a bad thing, he says. Philosopher, she says laughing. The smaller child, the boy, her non-human boy is charging across the grass towards them shouting. One of the non-cat cats is on the bench its ears twitching as her daughter sits down next to it…