Charlie's

13

I saw Sarah in the morning in the outpost. I got her breakfast, and she ate while I got ready to go out to check readings. We talked a bit about things she'd seen downtown. I asked if she wanted to come out, but she said she really didn't like the heat. When I got back she was already in her sim bed.

The next morning she was only barely awake and just mumbled at me while she ate. She was in town again when I returned. I checked the system log and saw she'd gone back in less than an hour after I'd left the outpost.

The following morning she didn't come out at all. Or the morning after that. Practically speaking, I knew she was fine; I'd spent far longer than that at a time in town, more than once. It was just strange seeing it from the outside.

I messaged her a few times while in the field, just to see how she was doing. Mostly the messages she sent back were variants of "gone shopping" or "at the movies", but even those responses petered out over time and eventually stopped altogether.

When I next went into town I checked in at Charlie's. Sarah wasn't there, but Tom said she'd been in a few times. She didn't answer the phone in her hotel room; when I checked the front desk I was told she'd asked not to be disturbed.

I wandered around town a bit, looking for her in the places we'd been together, but not catching a glimpse of her. I finally popped back out to the outpost to check the medical readout on her sim bed; everything read normal, and her brain activity indicated she was active and not distressed. I messaged her again with a "Call me", but otherwise forced myself to let her be.

I couldn't just find out what she was doing. The sim systems have privacy safeguards built in. I had administrator access, but that didn't allow me that level of detail. And it really wasn't my business what she did for fun.

Which didn't mean I couldn't ask around, like at the poker game at Eddie's place. I let a couple hands go by before I asked, "Hey, anyone seen Sarah?"

"You hadn't heard? She was on the news. Took a baseball bat to some glass sculpture down in Soho."

"Whoa, really? She get locked up for that?"

"Nah, the artist loved it. Said it made his work more 'participatory'."

"Tch. Artists."

"Hey, maybe she should be an artist. I can see it now...'Mixed media: louieville slugger on glass background.'"

We all laughed at that, "Seriously, though," I asked, "has anyone seen her around?"

"She goin' with Tony? Thought I saw 'em together."

"Heh, she dumped him the first night. He said he got her back to her place, but then she freaked out in bed. Started screamin' an' yellin' at him and threw him out. He never did know what for."

"Weird."

"Tch. Women."

Vic squirmed a bit, and said, "She kinda hit on me."

We all looked at Vic. He wasn't that old, and he wasn't that pudgy, and he maybe wasn't that bad looking in uniform, but he wasn't exactly a chick magnet either.

He shrugged, fiddling with his chips. "I was in the Side Street, over by the precinct, after patrol. She comes in wearing some excuse of a dress. I knew her, I'd seen her with you, Joe, so I waved her over. She comes over, gets close, gets closer, starts talking hot and melty with me, and wants me to come back to her place with her."

Phil found his voice first. "Did you go?"

"You kiddin'? Half the precinct hangs out in that bar. Besides, I'm a happily married man. Little less happily at the moment, though...one of the cops tells his wife, his wife tells Gracie, Gracie's got a lot to tell me when I get home. Even though nothing happened."

"Aw jeez, Vic, I'm sorry. Lemme talk to Sarah. I'll camp out at her hotel until I see her."

"S'okay, Joe, she hasn't been back. Guess she found herself another bar."

Eddie had been quiet through all this. He gave me a sideways glance, then went on with not saying anything as he shuffled and dealt.