Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

while with whom she could be her real, perhaps somewhat odd, self. It helped that he was attractive.
    Jane had eventually curtailed the debate and found the choir. When she’d finished, she saw Adam still there, dedicated to making the best of an event she believed was a sham. She’d found something inviting about his enthusiasm and stayed to help him, even attending the dumb shindig and wasting her money on a contribution.
    After that, she’d met up with him often, since neither had any other real friends in the city. Adam was new in town, and Jane’s schoolmates had all returned to their homeworlds after graduation. She discovered she liked Adam’s company, despite her professed status as another Colt loner.
    About a week back, she’d found out from her father that Devin proposed to Sarah about two weeks before. Jane had been furious, not only because her dear brother hadn’t bothered telling her about his life-changing decision, but also because of how stupid she found the whole thing.
    Adam had noticed Jane’s crankiness when she’d met him at the seminary shortly after. “What’s wrong?”
    Jane responded with a tirade about how she probably knew more about the woman who sat near her at work than about her own brother. She waved her arms for emphasis as she marched down the campus path, too livid to care if she looked like a lunatic. “He’s barely known Sarah six months! Who marries someone they’ve only known for six months? It’s the most irrational, blockheaded thing ever ! I’ll bet he’s trying to seal the deal before she gets famous and some holodrama star steals her from him.”
    Jane paused in a huff and was about to launch into a fresh diatribe when Adam stepped in front of her.
    “Say, Jane, do you want to go out sometime?”
    Huh? She stopped in her tracks and stared dumbly, wondering if she’d heard him right. “But… But you’re my friend . Won’t it be weird?”
    “It doesn’t have to be.”
    “But…” Jane’s gaze fell on the seminary’s temple. “Are Counselors allowed to date? Aren’t they supposed to be married to the Absolute or something?”
    “Jane, you’re smarter than that. The Via have never had any celibacy laws. That’s Origin.”
    “Right…”
    Jane realized that she was fishing for excuses. She almost said, “Adam, you don’t want to date me. I’m obnoxious, volatile, insensitive… Ask any of my exes.”
    Truth be told, the thought of maybe, perhaps, potentially becoming more than friends had crossed her mind. She had been quick to dismiss it because she considered Adam to be more of a best friend type than boyfriend material. Then again, that was supposed to be the best kind. Her past romantic entanglements with fascinating artists and sophisticated charmers had ended up superficial, disappointing, and brief.
    So on a whim, she’d said, “Okay, let’s give it a shot.”

    Jane stepped onto the station platform of the airtrain she took every morning to work, thoughts of Adam still whirling in her head. Other than the fact they called their meet-ups “dates,” nothing had really changed between them. Which was a relief.
    The steel-gray airtrain snaked around the skyscrapers. The doors opened as soon as it pulled into the station. Jane shuffled inside with the other commuters and took the nearest seat. Even though technology had long ago made it possible to never leave home—work, shopping, and anything else one might want could all be done through the Net—most companies, including her own, encouraged commuting to maintain the psychological health of their workers.
    They probably had a point, but Jane, waiting for the train to move, still despised the daily ritual of sitting around with dozens of dull-eyed office workers. The journey itself only took a minute or so, but intersecting routes meant that the train sat at the station for several minutes waiting for the signal to go.
    She drummed her fingers impatiently, wondering why no one had