Page 52 of Anarchy Missing

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - LULU

ToyBox Inc is only about ten miles north of the Cathedral City Penitentiary, and even though it’s not quite lunchtime when Randy and I finish up with DickCage (I can’t help but run the two words together after a whole morning listening to him bitch and moan about Chief O’Neil’s demands) he’s so eager for me to get closer to Case and figure out how Lincoln Wade is involved in all this crap happening to the city right now, he’s dropping me off.

Yes. My boss is dropping me off at the office of the man I fucked outside the main cathedral last night, with strict instructions not to come back to work until I can add one more piece to the puzzle. At which time, he will probably fire me, per our plan. So I was basically ordered to get myself fired today.

I have been sorta daydreaming about how this lunch date will go down for hours.

When a guy invites you to lunch at his office that’s the same thing as a nooner, right?

I’m pretty sure guys think like that.

Pretty sure.

“OK,” Randy says, squeezing my shoulder like I need moral support. “You know what to do, right? Just go in there, flirt with him a little, get him talking about the old days and shit. And maybe,” Randy says, holding his thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart, “maybe you can add in a little more than just flirting. Just a little,” he says, making his point with his gesture.

I sigh, say nothing, and then grab my purse and get out of the car, slamming the door behind me.

The window rolls down and Randy yells, “Just a little.”

But I don’t turn around. I just walk up the long river-stone walkway that leads to the unusual cube-shaped buildings situated on the side of the mountain, and when I get to the doors I stop and stare at myself in the reflective silver-tinted glass of the doors as they open automatically.

Inside the place is darker than I imagined it would be, since the whole complex seems to be made of glass, and there is no one in the huge two-story lobby.

No one. Not even a receptionist.

“Hello?” I ask the emptiness.

“Hello,” a man’s voice says behind me, making me start and whirl.

“Um,” I say, eyeing the hologram, then waving my hand through it. “Hello? Are you real?”

“Miss Lightly, I presume. You’re Miss Lightly?” the image says.

“Yeeesss,” I say, unsure what to think of this… light show. It’s flickering erratically, which makes me look up to the beams of light that stream down from so many tiny projectors built into the ceiling. “I’m here to see Mr. Reider,” I say, my voice louder, so it echoes through the empty room.

“You don’t need to shout, Miss Lightly. I can hear just fine. Mr. Reider is still busy dealing with other matters at the moment, but I was told to escort you upstairs to his office where you can wait and help yourself to refreshments.”

“You were?” I ask, utterly bewildered. I knew Case made toys—hence the name of his company. Mostly video game systems. But I had no idea he was into… whatever this thing is. It makes me think of his friend, Lincoln Wade, for some reason. He’s the computer guy, right?

“I’m Steve,” the apparition says. “The ToyBox butler.” He holds his hand out to me in greeting.

I look at it dubiously.

“Go ahead,” he says, smiling. “Shake it. Take me for a spin.”

I giggle a little and then shrug. I shake his hand and experience a weird sensation of warmth as the light making up his fingers wraps around mine. He flickers at the same time. His whole—body, I guess—glows a warm yellow-orange color. Like he’s…happy.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“What are you?” I ask. “A computer?”

“I have an artificial intelligence chip inside my main component, but I am also programmed to respond to visual, auditory and emotional cues as well.”

“Huh,” I mumble. “Weird.”

“Yes,” he says brightly. “Most do find me slightly disconcerting at first. But I assure you, everyone ends up liking me. I’m an invaluable addition to the labor force here at ToyBox. Mr. Reider wouldn’t trust me to greet you if he didn’t agree with my self-assessment.”

“OK,” I say, shrugging. “Lead the way, Mr. Steve.”