Tavi threw her hands in the air and let out an exasperated groan.“You are the absolute worst, you know that?”She held up a petite finger before he had a chance to speak.“I’m putting my instructor hat back on now.”She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.With the exhale, the vein that ran down the middle of her forehead disappeared, and a pleasant grin creased her cheeks.
The cheery pixie version of Tavi was more horrifying than the disappointed,annoyed-sisterversion he was growing accustomed to.
“How about we back off thehands-onlessons for a little bit?You can watch the containment protocol video while I figure out how to dumb down the rest of your assignments.”
Ah, yes.There was the Tavi he knew.And at least now he’d set the bar so low, simply walking into work on time would earn him points.
Aiden followed Tavi out of the lab and into a room filled with rows of evenly spaced desks and the same uncomfortable chairs found in Cath Scott’s office.Nearly everything in the MediCenter looked identical.The sameness of it all would have made it easy to get lost if he hadn’t worked on every floor just long enough to learn their nuances.
Tavi pointed to the small student desk nearest to the instructor’s broad desk, which sat at an angle at the front of the room.“Sit.”
Aiden dropped into the chair.It was just as uncomfortable as he remembered.“You don’t have to watch over me, you know.”
Tavi squinted.“SureI do.”
She set down her holopad and typed for a few moments before turning her attention back to Aiden.She’d lost her bright and cheery instructor smile before they’d even left the lab.“I was going to ask if you wanted to take any notes, but I feel like it would be a waste of a good holopad.”
Aiden cocked his head.“Actually, I prefer theage-oldmethod of pen to paper.”
She scrunched herface.
“What can I say, O Captain, My Captain?You’ve inspired me to be a better student.”Aiden said with a dramatic flourish of hishand.
Another scrunch.“You are so frickin’ weird.”She scooped up her holopad and, eyes narrowed, watched him as she headed for the door.“You’re up to something.I know you are.”She paused in the open doorway.“Try not to do anything too terrible before I getback.”
Aiden waited until the door to the classroom closed.The heavy doors leading back toward the reception area clanged shut before he kicked his feet up onto the small desk in front of him.“Hey, Holly?”
Haunting Holly flashed to life next to him, each pixel stacking on top of the one before until they’d formed a complete person.“Hello, Aiden.Octavia has bookmarked several lessons for you.Would you like to begin?”
“Not until the chief returns.”He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.“But I do need yourhelp.”
The hologram’s smile was all teeth.“Sure thing.”
“Can you bring up employee profiles for theLong-TermCare Unit nurses?”
He had probably scared her off, but if there was one thing Aiden had learned in all of his years of career hopping, it was that the only way to know whether or not you liked something was to try it.And hopefully the LTCU nurse was into trying new things.
XVII
The Pearl seemed to glide weightless down the street as Elodie stood outside theMediCenter.She glanced at her bracelet.Five minutes were left until its scheduled arrival time window, but it was only a block away.Astrid had been right about its punctuality.
It wasn’t difficult to see how the automated vehicle got its name.Its round, opalescent shell alternated between gleaming white and muted swirls of rainbow in the patchy sunlight.Each Pearl added a level of whimsy to Westfall’s otherwise serious palate of muted grays and aged whites.The only spots marring the car’s pristine coating were twohalf-moonshaped windows on either side as if the zippy vehicle had freed itself from a tight pinch and had its glimmering sides shearedoff.
The Pearl silently weaved around the clunky MAX train and paused for pedestrians with the intuitiveness of a human, but with the endless,split-secondcalculations of a computer.
Elodie leaned forward, then abruptly stopped herself.Astrid’s text had said to meet the Pearl outside, but not to approach the curb or the Pearl until it had made a complete stop and the door had opened.It was part of the testing for the newer, smarter prototype, and Astrid, who hated using exclamation points because they didn’t feel “emotionally specific” enough, had usedfive.
The Pearl smoothly transitioned to the right lane, slowing as soon as it reached the corner of Elodie’s block.It eerily crept along the curb.Its tinted window seemed to peer at the citizens entering and exiting the restaurant on the corner before it sped forward and came to a halt directly in front of Elodie.It had stopped so precisely that she only had to take a few steps to meet it at thecurb.
A chime sounded from the Pearl, and Elodie’s bracelet flashed brilliant white as the back door swept open.She slapped the passenger side window.Giggles burst from her lips as she waited.She never was good at scaring anyone.Anyone other than herself, that is.The window silently slid down.She’d expected to see Astrid in the “driver” seat.Instead the front seats were empty.Elodie bent over and poked her head inside thecar.
Astrid’s long legs and signature navy and green checkered shoes were the first things Elodie saw.
“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?”Astrid leaned forward from the backseat and winked.Her shimmery green eyeliner beautifully accentuated the delicate upturn of her eyes.She clicked her tongue and motioned for Elodie to join her inside.
“The Pearl was so accurate, I figured you’d be driving.”Elodie shrugged off her backpack and slid into the Pearl’s plush interior.
Astrid’s sleek ponytail brushed the headrest as she shook her head.“Nope.Observing slash meeting my best friend who I hardly ever see in the real.Work and play combined.”She interlocked her fingers.“Throw a little bit of work in there, and every hour becomes billable.”
