I got my 2nd dose 4/22. I should have been able to get it in January, but getting an appointment was impossible. I almost had one in March, but while I was figuring out which button to push, the screen jumped to a "no appointments available" message.

This has been an utterly fascinating discussion. I only just found it today.
One thing I have been thinking of , regarding Atevi manchi, is zebras.
Only a few years ago I learned that many attempts to domesticate zebras had been tried and all failed. The reason is that a zebra family is inseparable. You can't take one zebra from a herd segment. All the rest of the family come after the stolen member and break down barriers to reclaim that member. So what are the zebras thinking? This sounds a lot like mecheiti, but also like the bond between a lord and his clan members. Unbreakable bond that will not tolerate separation.
Humans can have unbreakable bonds with individuals who are not part of his family or his political allegiance. To Atevi these bonds are incomprehensible, and provoke unanticipated and unpredictable actions. Bren loves Banichi, but he can't say it.
Bren attracts manchi, possibly because his protectiveness towards his staff causes him to act in ways that look a lot like a lord's downward manchi, taking care of his people.
 

I can remember an event with my first cat. I got a letter in the mail with a hand written address. The cat immediately grabbed it out of my hand and started clawing at it. Pairs of punctures happened. When I openied it, a lace friend had sent a catnip sprig from her garden, special for the cat. Who got the message.

well, yes. That fits in with my idea that she is doing more than writing entertaining stories.

star - I have enjoyed the Cyteen series, with reservations. The creativity of her ideas in that series is beyond dispute. But I have a problem with manipulative governments that use people. The slave aspect of the azi also troubles me.  You appear to be a hard science kind of guy. I'm more of a social science kind of person. That may account for our differences on which Cherryh books we favor.  I suppose I go for books in which the story and characters act in accordance with my personal ethics, or display the world as I see it, from where I'm standing. Thus I can enjoy Balzac event though many of his characters are indefensible. His world matches up with the darker side of what I see around me.