David sat in the kayak. The water was still around him. The pink fin circled him.

"Do you ever stay still?" He thought this.

"We are always moving. Onward upward forward into the future." How do you describe a voice in your mind? Hers had a certain resonance. Each of their voices were distinct.

David started rowing. This kayak had foot pedals and an unfurled sail. David felt like rowing. "So how do you keep them away?"

"Much like Micha did."

"I don't see how your mind can do that."

"We cast about and feel the presence. When we find a mind we simply change it. They do not remember. There are also more of us than Micha."

"So was Micha's mind more powerful than yours?" Did the dolphin jump — Just slightly, or was that something David felt from her mind?

"We are different." Did her voice sound a little terse?

David rowed in silence for a bit. He started rowing out to sea. She swam along side moving along at the same speed. She would sometimes move in a slight S. David wasn't sure if she did this because she had a hard time swimming as slow as David rowed, or out of a sense of play. He would have asked, but he wasn't in the mood.

She tried to tell David her name, but somehow he never understood. All that happened was that he always got a headache when she tried. David always thought 'Pink' when he thought of her, but that seemed to upset her. She seemed sensitive about her coloration. She also felt uncomfortable taking a name that was based any other personal characteristic since that was too vain. They were at an impasse, so David did not call her anything, and tried to minimize the times he thought the name Pink.

David looked to his right and saw Michelle standing on the shore. She had a towel wrapped around her. He tried to convince her to wear a swim suit when she swam. It wasn't like she had no sense of morality or modesty; Michelle seemed to have a greater sense of these than David did. David guessed that Siri had a greater influence on Michelle than the culture had. Apparently Michelle had spent quite a bit of time in Europe.

Michelle waved at David. He had stopped rowing when he saw her, the waves were pretty calm, so David was not in any danger of tipping.

"So, she is pretty?"

David broke out of his reverie. "Very."

"Why do you not mate?"

"I am not ready"

There are no other, she is unbound."

"I don't know if she is interested."

"She is interested — very."

"I don't want to hear that from you."

"I don't understand the mating rituals of humans."

"I'm not sure if this is a good time for a baby. I don't think she wants children."

"She is far from being past her time for children."

"She is over 120 years old."

"And that is not too old for her. Do you not look at her as a woman in her twenties? That is your age."

"Why would she be interested in me? No woman has ever been interested in me."

"That is not true. You know that is not true. Why do humans lie to themselves? Why do humans lie?"

David started peddling. Pink swam next to him in silence. Was she not thinking, or did she block her mind from his? Michelle had gone back into the house. David was thinking about her. What was she doing now? Did Pink know what David was thinking, was feeling?

"Yes."

David kept peddling.