Jake ran back to his apartment and closed the door. He looked around and realized it was a real mess. He hurriedly tried to clean it up. He grabbed all the dirty clothes and threw them in the closet. The dirty dishes he hid as well. He was not a good housecleaner. God the bathroom, did he have any cleaner? Girls used the bathroom a lot and expected it to be clean. He looked under the sink and found a little cleaner. He ran into the bathroom and tried his best to make it look good. Did he have any clean towels? He found one thankfully.

He ran out and swept the floor, took out the garbage and then looked around. Did he have any candles? The place smelled a little as well. He hunted around till he found one and lit it. Not bad. He thought.

“Why are you working so hard?” asked Hal.

“Humans want people to have a good first impression. If the girls walked in and the place was a dive, they would run away.” Thought Jake. “And I do not know what will happen with Laurie and now Cindy. Have you gotten anywhere with the analysis?”

“Dive, to plunge head first into water with one's arms raised over one's head” said Hal “(of an aircraft or bird) to plunge steeply downwards through the air…”

“STOP, neither of those.” Thought Jake. “It is slang for sleazy or in poor upkeep. People have a low opinion of dives. I want them to like me. I do not have many friends, and I would like to get to know them. Wait, why am I thinking like this? I never wanted to get to know people before. Is this a result of your DNA thing?”

“It is possible.” Replied Hal. “My creators were social in their groups. Remember one male and many females. This may be a similar thing, where your behaviour is changing. In the past there was strife between males as they tried to steal each others females. They would spray the female using a special gland and they caused the female to really want them for the next 48 hours. Usually the female would not leave the males side. Frequent insemination would occur, imprinting the female and making her part of his clan. A possible hypothesis is when you touched them, it was the same as the use of the male gland. The females are not following you around however and you have not inseminated either. We will have to monitor this closely, and you will have to avoid touching anyone else.”

“Both were accidental. I will try and avoid contact with females. Did you say the males fought as well?” thought Jake. “Because Brett was a bully but never hit me before, and when he did I never retaliated, I just took it. I never touched him.”

“You may have to come back to the ship for further tests.” Said Hal. “It may be a pheromone, which could be very dangerous. The touch could be like the male gland. I will research further into my creators past to see if this happened to them.”

“I have the girls coming over.” Thought Jake. “And we need to get some money started. I have no vehicle capable of getting there now as well. Any luck on the lawyer?

“Yes, I sent you an email with the information. You can call them now if you want to set up an appointment.” Said Hal. “The law firm is a new one that has just started and she has few customers. She graduated top of her class however and has an excellent background in business and international law. She had been practicing law for a number of years in Ontario with a prestigious law firm but has just moved back to Newfoundland.”

Jake took out his phone and opened his email. He punched the link to her website, and looked over it. She looked very nice in the picture, like a runway model, and her experience looked incredible for someone so young. Susan O’Rourke and Associates.

“Yes, she looks very qualified.” Thought Jake.

He looked at the number and punched it in.

The phone rang a couple of times, and then a pleasant voice answered. “O’Rourke and Associates, Claudia speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hi Claudia, this is Jake Field calling.” Said Jake “I would like to make an appointment with Susan O’Rourke please.”

“Hi Mr. Field.” Said Claudia. “Have you had any dealings with Ms. O’Rourke before?”

“No.” said Jake. “I am looking for some legal advice.”

“Mr. Field, you are aware that we practice business and international law.” Said Claudia. “We do not handle criminal law.”

“Yes, I saw that on your website.” Answered Jake. “Is she available around 1 tomorrow?”

“One minute Mr. Field, I will check he calendar.” Answered Claudia. “Yes she is available, will I pencil you in?”

“Please do.” Said Jake. “I will be there.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with Mr. Field?” asked Claudia.

“No thank you.” Answered Jake.

“Then thank you for calling O’Rourke and Associates, and I will see you tomorrow.” Said Claudia.

“Thank you and good bye.” Answered Jake.

He hung up the phone and looked around the small apartment. It looked ok but not great. It looked and smelled better. Ok time to get a shower.

“We have an appointment for tomorrow at 1 PM Hal.” Thought Jake.

“Ok after you finish supper we can talk about the plan will be.” Said Hal. “Please do not keep them here long. Limit their exposure, we are not sure what your pheromones will do.”

“Will do.” Thought Jake, as he made his way to the bathroom. “And now time for a long, hot shower.”