“Who are you coupled to?”“No one.”“You were unable to choose?”“In a way.”“But did not the Council select someone for you?”“No.”“But when you do not choose, the Council always selects. It is the law.”He did not want to lie to her. “My world is different than yours,” was all he could think of to say.This time the line did not satisfy her; she fidgeted on the boulder. He glanced down at his opant jacket. He did not have to let the cat out of the bag but maybe he could show its tail. He removed the coat and pressed the hidden on-switch beneath the collar. The jacket began to glow. She stared, amazed, hesitating to put it on until he reassured her that it was safe. As he was considerably bigger than she and since she couldn’t put her injured arm through the right sleeve, the fit was loose, but good enough to allow the coat’s sensors to get a grip on her emotions. Were his motives entirely pure? he wondered. She was unaware that the opant could give him a Peeping Tom’s insight into her feelings, maybe even her feelings about him.
