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Chapter 12

Lifebooks have their own magic that no one talks about. They stay where the connected avatar puts them. If another avatar manages to move it, the Lifebook will find a way to return to its own avatar. How this is accomplished, we do not understand. If we understood this, we might then come to understand why a bond interrupts this magic and leaves the Lifebook immobile. Avatar kind does not know what they do not know.

The LEIT hovered into the circular drive, deftly maneuvering itself around the other law enforcement and medica vehicles already there. Yellow-green uniforms and white robes both moved away from the incoming headlights as they cut through the rain. All this for one avatar? Val thought as he watched the two-story house rise above his windshield. The walls were smooth with twisting slickstone columns framing the entryway. His LEIT pulled close to the doors and stopped. Val stepped into the rain and turned his hat to better protect his face as he glanced around.

A tac hustled up to him in full gear. "Inspector Watts."

He recognized the voice. "Astrid." Rain plunked loudly against her helmet, and Val almost missed her next words.

"How did you know?"

Val smiled. "It's one of the reasons they made me an inspector. Where's the binder?"

Astrid jerked her head towards the house. "Come in out of the rain."

He followed her past the horde of meds and tacs into the house. The room he entered was warm and brightly lit. Marbled gray tiles covered the floor and paintings littered the walls, throwing splashes of color into the otherwise drab room. Val approved of them, and he was annoyed at himself for it. Binder Tarse was pompous and curmudgey, and Val hated seeing eye to eye with the man on anything. He removed his hat and flicked water droplets onto the white and gray rug at his feet. Astrid removed her helmet just as Val replaced his hat.

"The binder refused to leave the house," Astrid said, nodding toward a grand stairwell with polished metal railings. "They are tending to his injuries in the bedchamber."

Val nodded, a thought occurred to him. "Are you lead here?"

"Tac second, remember? Head Tac is running down leads on the attackers."

He observed her face as she answered but didn't press the subject. "Give me the rundown on the binder's story."

Astrid straightened. "Yes, Inspector. Binder Tarse was in his reading nook when he heard a commotion outside. Physical blows disabled his guard bots. The attackers gained entry and assaulted him. They asked about his patients at the clinic. He did not recognize them."

Val eyed the paintings again but glanced back at Astrid as she finished. "That's all he said?"

Astrid pulled a tablet out of her pocket and tapped the screen. "Yes, he was very brief."

"Odd?" Val muttered to himself.

"Sorry," Astrid said, "what's odd?"

Val held her gaze. "The timing." Did his encounter at Pennway set this off? "Where is the binder's room?"

"Upstairs and to the left. Last room on your right."

He nodded and ascended the stairs, leaving Astrid standing beside the door. Each step on the smooth stairs echoed despite the paintings. At the landing, he turned and walked down the hall. He passed fewer paintings here than were in the main entry, throwing longing glances at each of them. Paintings of the sky during different times of the day filled many of the frames. Val paused by one where the asteroid belt splashed across the canvas in purples, blues, and greens. There was also a painting of the southern grasslands. The dark figure of an avatar walked through the grasses, parting the blue-orange stalks with their body.