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“Some trouble?” Reynard echoed, in a way that suggested he didn’t believe my flippant explanation.

“Yeah, I guess, I don’t know. He’s fine.” Just like we were all fine, and not clinging to this hotel like it was a life raft in the tumultuous oceans of our lives. “So, uh, how’s work? Your business. All good? Making millions?”

Reynard tilted his head, keeping his eyes narrowed. “Have a drink with me, Adam.”

I wasn’t sure if he’d suggested or ordered, but followed him to the bar where Tom Collins greeted us. “Good day, gentlemen. What poison may I serve you today?”

“Your exquisite Irish tea, please Tom,” Reynard said. I probably shouldn’t have ordered whiskey, but there it was in front of me so down it went, warming my insides after Zee’s absence last night left them cold.

“Tom.” I called him back over. “Where did you get the bow tie?” He wore a burgundy suit, which wasn’t new to his programming, but the blue bow tie was.

“Do you like it?” He preened, plucking at the tie’s edges.

Could AI update its own programming? Because I didn’t recall a bow tie in his appearance library. “It’s . . . blue.”

“It’s charming,” Reynard said, raising his teacup to his lips, clearly humoring him.

“Was it in your programming?” I asked.

Tom Collins smiled. “Must be, else it wouldn’t be around my fucking neck, would it?”

“You aren’t downloading anything off the internet, are you?”

“Did you enable automatic updates after you plugged me in?”

I huffed. When I’d set him up, I hadn’t paid too much attention to the settings. Which was how we’d ended up with the profanity-riddled AI. “Maybe.”

“I’m just an AI. I do exactly what you tell me to do. If you don’t like the bow tie, I’ll remove it.”

“No, it’s fine. It looks good.” I waved him off and away he went, humming to himself. Was the humming also new?

“I suspect he is gaslighting you,” Reynard said.

“What?” Could AI do that?

“I’ve been watching your Tom Collins while building the cabinet, and there are a great many issues affecting his programming.”

That didn’t sound good. “He has some glitches, but he seems to be a hit with the customers. Should I be concerned?”

He thought for a while, before answering. “You already have enough to worry about. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I thought you didn’t know about tech?”

“I’ve rather had to learn enough to get by.”

I eyed Tom Collins as he wiped down the bartop, making it gleam. The bar was, without a doubt, one of the most well-maintained places in the entire hotel. He had some issues, but he’d been working fine, so as long as the guests didn’t mind his eccentricities . . .

“Now, tell me what has you troubled, Adam.”

“Me? What? Nothing. I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“Like the cabinet is fine?”

“The cabinet is fine.”

Reynard sipped his tea, and I could have excused myself and left, but I also, maybe, sort of, wanted to sit with him, because whenever I did, he made all my worries seem smaller.

“We could do this dance around the truth, but we both know you are deeply troubled. Is it anything I can assist with?”