RENAISSANCE 2.0 - Book 2 - Sample Chapters

Chapter 65

She sipped her coffee, Robin surmised, as much to give Robin a chance to calm himself between the electric shocks Drew was sending through his system, as to give herself chance to decide what to do with the revelation of soon-to-be-female Robin seated before her. She set the cup down, and added, judiciously, "ACCCE, the lobbying group behind the campaign, is funded by coal-dependent utility companies like American Electric Power, and major coal companies like Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Consol Energy, and Peabody. GE Energy, a subsidiary of GE, also funds ACCCE."  

"You traditionally support them in your lobbying efforts in Washington." 

"I quietly withdrew my money from the politicians aligned with them and shifted it to those more-easily influenced," Drew said. 

"Drew, you didn't have to do this for me. I appreciate it enormously but-". 

She cut him off. "It would have been nobler if I'd taken you with me so you could see how it's done for yourself. You may not always have me around to rely on." 

The sentiment, which Robin found more sincere than calculated for effect, nonetheless shook Robin. He'd never once considered life without her, and found, even now, the thought intolerable.  

"Maybe going from female to male allows you to come at the world differently. Maybe from now on you'll debate the big picture with me less as a matter of good form, and more as something you enjoy. Maybe you'll help me keep track of and prioritize my own ideas now less for the political advantage it gives you in our relationship and more for upgrading my thinking based on its own merits." Robin had meant only to flatter, but could see from Drew's face, his familiar foot-in-mouth syndrome had done more injury than harm.  

Gingerly changing the subject, Drew said, "I hope you appreciate some of the eco-conscious changes I made around the house for you." 

"Honestly, I hadn't noticed, but thank you. You make me feel like I'm doing more to impact world change indirectly through you than through all my other efforts combined. About that-". 

She seemed to know what he was going to say next and waved him off. 

"Honestly, Drew, insecurity doesn't become you." 

Drew smiled charitably at the clumsy effort to make her feel better. "Marriages are always in part a contractual arrangement. Hopefully you'll think of me as doing no more than managing the business end of our relationship." 

"Just so you don't start substituting tofu for inch-and-a-half-thick steaks in the sauté pan on my account." 

Drew smiled less charitably this time. "Perish the thought. This is me being me, not me bending myself into something to please you. The fact I'm more me in your presence than in your absence is something of an aphrodisiac." 

"You mean I bring out your inner master manipulator. I'm not sure how to respond to that." 

Drew smiled. 

"I love KAC by the way." It took Drew a second to translate what he was saying.  

"Is that what you call her? Robin, you really need to learn to treat artificial life better than you do real people. Give her a name, a real name, or better yet, let her choose her own, not some acronym."  

Robin looked up and around, surprised when KAC didn't take advantage of the opportunity to whip out a smart-ass retort. "She must be giving me the silent treatment, considering a set up like that." 

Drew offered their lover's smile, finally, that Robin had been waiting for all this time, the expression relaying just how much delight she took in Robin.  

"KAC tells me Just Drew - the name for the doll-like replica of yourself - has broken off from her, and suffers from split personality." 

"You really have to stop traumatizing the home appliances, Robin. Besides, aren't you the one arguing for robots' rights all the time?" 

Robin's eyes filled with tears at the thought of someone knowing him well enough to make sure he toed the line better with regard to his own credos. Though Robin was sure once the trauma of making KAC and Just Drew's acquaintances had passed, he would have found his way past his emotional blinders to acting more nobly. 

"It's fine to ask me why I chose to become a woman in your absence, Drew." Robin expected Drew to turn a shade of pink, but even now, she was too much of a pro to be easily thrown.  

"Do you even know?" Drew asked. 

Touché, Robin thought. It was a little unnerving sometimes how Drew could know his own mind better than he did.  

"I thought it might help me shed my sexual bigotry and hang-ups over things as trivial as personal plumbing." 

"One small step for humanity, one really big step for you." 

"Ha-ha," Robin said. 

Drew smiled diplomatically, her eyes welling up. Robin still wasn't as good at reading people yet as Drew, so wasn't sure how much of those tears were appreciation for the depth of Robin's love, or guilt over what she'd driven him to do, or early stages of grief, struggling to deal with the loss of the male-Robin she had known and loved all these years. The tears might have been on account of all three, Robin realized finally. 

"I'm ashamed it never occurred to me," Drew said, "to use your pro-human-rights politics to suggest you get over your prejudices and predilections in this manner." 

Robin laughed. "Maybe you realized if I had the idea on my own, I'd be able to own it better." 

"No, Robin, while such a move isn't beneath me, I suppose the real reason I didn't think of it is my sex change is about holding on, not letting go. Leave us to approach the same topic from entirely opposite vantage points." 

When Drew said that, Robin instantly felt better and more assured than ever about this undertaking to wither his gonads. He realized that, instead of the two of them fighting clumsily and heroically against all odds to stay together, long after the blush had faded from the cheeks of their relationship, this was just them being them, forever caught in a yin-yang dance with each other as natural, and as unforced as yogic breathing. The same realization seemed to reach Drew's brain at the same time, perhaps by way of her face-reading that minimized on the need for dialogue, causing her to relax deeply and profoundly.  

The Zen moment would pass, Robin knew-this complete inner peace from within which it was easier to appreciate the true nature of their relationship. In its place would be the fleeting insecurities in ever new guises rushing to fill the void left the instant they drifted from mindfulness and downshifted into ordinary waking consciousness, and they became once again ego-identified. But this moment for now and forever forward would be there to anchor their relationship; it would be a place to which they could eternally return.