Then, he was honest.
“I need to take a break,” he said. “I’m going to go take a shower and regroup, so I’m not a dick. I’m struggling with this, clearly.”
With that, he walked out.
When Gene went to follow, Chris stopped him.
“I’ve got this one. I know how he feels, and right now, he needs to know that he’s not the only one feeling like this. I’ll talk to him, so he can mellow out a bit. Going at Elizabeth while angry never ends well. I know that from personal experience.”
As he got up to leave, no one tried to stop him.
Why?
Well, because Ethan was like a box of chocolates when he was angry. You knew you were getting something, but just not sure what it would be. Would it be a yummy caramel, or would it be one of those crappy cream ones that tasted like artificial fruit?
It was a crapshoot.
So, they would let Chris play Ethan roulette.
When Chris left, Gene flopped down on the couch. He knew what he needed to do, and it had everything to do with staying busy.
“MATE,” he said, making the AI return.
She looked around like she was trying to find the person about to verbally neuter her.
While she didn’t have emotions, MATE was evolving and was learning like any human child would.
Now she learned that Ethan was not to be poked.
“He’s gone. I need a favor,” he stated.
She stared at him.
“What?” she asked.
“I want electronic copies of notes—her notes—the ones on her drive. I know by now she’s making them on the crime scene. She wouldn’t keep that from us, so send them over. I’m going to help her work on this. Normally, we have full access.”
She blinked.
Oh, and he knew why. It was time to outthink their AI to get what he needed.
“She said we could help via information but not in person, right?” he asked.
MATE nodded.
“So, giving us access to her notes in her electronic file isn’t going against her rules, right?”
MATE looked as if she was about to glitch out.
So, he pushed.
“Her words, right?” Gene kept saying, trying to persuade her. If they could get her information real time, they’d know where she was, and that would help them.
It would calm Ethan down.
When MATE was still considering it, he used the big guns to make her agree. It was a dirty trick, but this was AI. That was on her for not seeing it coming.
“I’m her field partner. Do you want her to get hurt and possibly die?” he asked.
