#SFF #AtoZChallenge Clean Hand Conundrum

A speculative fiction short story from a dreamer

A continuous #sff story during April. May Rose is the main character (🧑🏽 they/them pronouns).

Sweat formed on May's brow. May wondered why, as such proximity and affection were not new. It was part of the job description. 

"Come on, let's take those clean hands to your door." May patted Jade's hands dry. 

Jade was still playing with the towel when they crossed the room. "I didn't know a towel could be this soft and fluffy."

"Wonders never cease. Hand on the screen, please."

Jade pressed her clean palm to the screen. It, again, refused to register her.

"Clean hand conundrum," May remarked while pulling out a pocketed device. "Step one, wash the person's hands. Check. Step two, verify identity."

May clicked and scrolled to the locked file on the one named Jade. "Please verify these are your original details, prior to travel."

Jade looked at the screen, and then at May. "I don't read. My sister got the schooling. I got to help dad raise us."

"Who is your sister?"

May and Jade went back and forth, May noting every time that Jade's information did not line up on the screen. 

"Only your birthdate, place of origin, and location from which you were taken match this file. Everything else belongs to the one you refer to as your sister. That shouldn't be possible."

"Well, we are twins."

May stared at Jade. "There's no such thing. Not here, not among the chosen."

Jade laughed. "Twins, triplets, heck, I know about one woman who gave birth to eight babies at a time."

May took a step back. "This is bad. You should get in your room. No, wait, it doesn't recognize you. Even the sink won't turn on. Stay here a moment."

May walked to the closet, did an override, and gathered an armload of clothing. Motioning for Jade to follow along, they returned to May's quarters. 

"Register additional person to room, temporary status." The screen acknowledged May's command. Jade pressed her hand to the screen.

"Unknown person. Please provide an identifier."

"Identifier student Jade." May said.

"Error. Records do not match."

May grumbled to herself as she thought. The process was then repeated.

"Identifier student Jay-Aid"

"New record created. Welcome, Jay-Aid."

May lead Jade into the quarters. "Here, put your clothing in that closet over there. Then use my bathroom to get cleaned up."

"I don't have my own sink anymore, do I?'

"You're alive. You're presently safe. That has to be enough for the time being. I need to prepare for the next session."

I have visited 50 blogs so far, and took part in the chat. While it was on FB, Insta, and Twitter, I did the Twitter one.

Question: How many multi-birth people (twins, triplets, etc) do you know?

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