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He felt Joey’s gaze on the side of his face. “It sucks,” she said. “In some other universe, you and Mia would’ve been great together.”
Evan said, “I’m gonna have a shower.”
“Fine.” She looked peeved. Or perhaps that was just her face.
She resumed riding the keyboard as if it were a wild mustang in need of breaking. Evan felt a pang of empathy for it.
He hesitated halfway through the concealed door, one foot in the Vault and the other in the shower. “Please keep this door closed.”
“Of course. Gross. No one needs that. Like, the worst thingeverwould be seeing you naked.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d gouge my eyes out with sporks like Oedipus.”
“I believe he used gold hair pins—”
“It’d be like birth control forlife.”
“Understood.”
“Literally, I’d probably never want to—”
“Got it, Joey.”
He closed the door, muffling her next reply.
Freshly showered, Evan returned to the Vault.
Joey didn’t look up from her keyboard. “Did the shower cool your raging OCD?”
Evan stared at her dirty toes curled around the edge of the desk, one near the mouse pad, the other close to Vera III, who seemed to be relishing Evan’s discomfort. He stood behind Joey and stared at the screens, understanding very little of what she was doing. “Devine’s system is pretty robust,” he said. “The Faraday cage, plus—”
“Can I, like, save us some time?”
“Sure.”
“Cool-cool.” Joey snapped her gum and kept clacking at her MX Cherry Blues. It seemed impossible that she was typing with any accuracy, and yet the system continued to obey her every command. “Pretend I explain a bunch of tech stuff to you. Then you get all confuzzled and say ‘Huh’ and pretend you have any clue what I’m talking about. Then I make fun of you in, like, a super-funny way you don’t fully get because: limitations. Then you tell me I can’t break into this network, that it’s impossible. And I go, ‘Yeah. You’re right.’ But! Then I come up with something awesome. I show you how I’ll save the day. Then you’re chastened and humbled by my superior being.”
He was reluctant to acknowledge that that was in fact how most of their conversations went.
“So, X?” Another gum snap. “Just stay outta my way and I’ll tell you when it’s time to go get the bad guys.”
Vera III seemed to find this all exceedingly amusing.
“Look,” Evan said, “I have to get some idea what you’re doing.”
Joey’s hands stopped, the abrupt silence intimidating. “Why? You don’t trust me?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“So I, you know … keep up to date with it.”
Joey bounced forward, popping to her feet. “Awww, X. That’s totes adorbs. Are you having a tough time keepin’ up with the kray-kray kidz these days?”
“Josephine.”
