Dulce rubbed her own head, checking. She laughed with a loud whooping sound. You come play Dulce.
The young gorilla clasped Sofia’s hand and abruptly pulled her forward, almost tugging her out of her chair.
“Whoa, whoa!” exclaimed DeeAnn. “Dulce go easy, remember?”
She looked up at DeeAnn, puzzled. Dulce easy.
“Easier.”
Sofia spoke up. “What do you want to play, Dulce?”
Check.
“Check? What’s-” Sofia started to ask, but stopped when she spotted an oversized checkerboard sitting idly in the shade of a Rosewood tree, one of the many native African plants in the habitat.
“Oh. You mean checkers!”
Dulce nodded and pulled again, more gently.
“Okay, hold on,” DeeAnn said. “We’ll move her.” She helped Alison move the chair forward over the rough ground and leaned in to tell Sofia something as they moved across the short grass.
“Don’t let her cuteness fool you,” she said with a wink. “Sometimes she cheats.”
“Really?”
“Well, it’s not cheating to her. She’s playing. But it may not be the same game you think you’re playing.”
They reached a large, square wooden box with red and black squares painted neatly on top. Round circular chips were also painted and strewn around the board. Sofia watched in amazement as Dulce carefully retrieved the pieces and grouped them into separate piles.
Chris Ramirez stood off to the side, watching with the others. His specialty was marine and aquatic life, but he found himself constantly fascinated watching DeeAnn’s work with Dulce. The young gorilla was adorable but even more than that, she moved in ways that were just so…human. Of course, DeeAnn had explained how very similar primate and human DNA were, but he was sure there was something else. Apes moving similarly were one thing, but there was definitely something else. Something he hadn’t quite been able to put his finger on, until now.
Lee’s discovery of the extra frequencies prompted Chris to rethink his many conversations with Alison about a certain cultural element which seemed to be missing in these translations. Something that suggested another level of connection. But now, watching Dulce again, the idea suddenly crystallized. It wasn’t just the movements of gorillas in general. He’d observed other primates many times before. Their actions were similar to humans but not exactly the same. With Dulce, her motions were very similar to their own. So close, in fact, that some of her gestures looked almost identical to a human child. And naturally the specific difference with Dulce was a superior form of communication. Standing there in the habitat, it finally hit Chris. Maybe what made humans human, was not just DNA. Maybe some of that humanity was inside the communication itself.
He continued watching Dulce and Sofia with a smile on his face, quietly pondering whether IMIS would ever discover deeper secrets within the communication of humans themselves.
He blinked and returned his focus to Dulce, who was studying the board carefully and examining every chip. Finally, she reached out and placed her chip on a new red square two spaces up.
Sofia wrinkled her brow and looked at DeeAnn again. “Is that allowed?”
“I usually just go with it.”
Sofia shrugged and reached forward, moving her own piece.
For the next thirty minutes, the two played every game Dulce had in the habitat, some twice. Eventually, Lee and Juan excused themselves to head back to the lab. The rest continued watching in amusement, but it was DeeAnn who was truly surprised. Dulce could be rather reckless when she played, especially given her growing level of strength. But not once had her recklessness come out with Sofia. She was as gentle as DeeAnn had ever seen her. As if she was worried about the girl.
Dulce spontaneously looked up at DeeAnn from where the two were playing and said a single word.
Friend.
DeeAnn smiled at Alison and eased the office door closed behind her. Alison turned to sit on the edge of her desk and folded her arms. She was beaming.
“That… was amazing!”
“It certainly was.”
“Did you see Sofia’s face when they left? She couldn’t stop smiling!”
DeeAnn laughed. “Pure happiness. You really did something incredible there, Ali.”
“We,” Alison corrected.
“Okay, we did something incredible.”
She took a deep breath and turned to stare out the window. “God, it just felt so good to do that for her. To give her something really special. To make a difference…”
DeeAnn tilted her head when Alison trailed off. “You mean before it’s too late.”
“Yes,” she replied, deflating. “Before it’s too late.” Her excitement was quickly tempered with the painful realization that Sofia was close to the end of her life. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair at all.
“What if… what if we could do this for other kids?” Alison’s eyes glanced back up, searching DeeAnn’s for her reaction.
“Now that would be something.” DeeAnn couldn’t tell whether Alison was using the word “we” intentionally. Was Alison subtly trying to coax her to stay?
“It’s funny,” DeeAnn said. “When I first got here, I had no idea what IMIS would be able to do. It’s just a computer. But it's connecting us in ways I don’t think any of us could have imagined.”
Alison nodded. “Did I ever tell you that when IBM came to us with the idea of IMIS, I never thought it would work?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I had no idea how far the capabilities of these supercomputers had come. I thought they were just used for beating us at chess and stuff.”
DeeAnn laughed. “The irony is that in some ways I think it may just teach us how to be better humans. It sure did today.”
“Who would have thought, right?”
“Just don’t tell Lee I said that.”
As Alison began to speak, they were suddenly interrupted.
“Good afternoon, ladies.”
They both turned to see Steve Caesare’s tanned and handsome face peering in through the door.
“Steve?!” Alison’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”
He smiled and pushed the door open, stepping inside. “Ah, I was in the neighborhood.” He noticed the slight flush in Alison’s face. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No, no. Just an emotional day. Come on in.”
She rose from her desk and covered the distance to give him a hug. Caesare then turned to DeeAnn. “How are you, Dee?”
DeeAnn gave him a friendly smirk. She hated that nickname, and he knew it. She hugged him and stepped back. “To what do we owe this surprise?”
Caesare grinned. He was glad their relationship hadn’t changed, even after what she’d been through. “I was just flying through,” he said with a shrug. “Thought I’d stop by to visit two of my favorite gals.”
Alison looked suspiciously at DeeAnn. Stopping by wasn’t something a person did easily from an airplane. “I see you’ve shaved off your mustache. Trying to impress anyone?”
Trying to blend in, actually. He chuckled and turned to DeeAnn. “How’s Dulce?”
“Good. Bouncing back faster than I expected.”
“And how about you?”
She frowned, nervously. “I’m a bit slower.”
Caesare simply nodded. “And how about the guys?”
“Pretty good. They’re all here if you want to stop by the lab.”
“I will.” He looked around the room, decorated with two large Wyland prints and a bookshelf beneath the window. When his focus came back to Alison and DeeAnn, both women were staring at him questioningly. “What?”