ref: a00feb029ddcea6188f4324169e5f2b6a389de4e
dir: /troff/av5-005.ms/
.SH ALIX GRAVES IN MIRACLE WORLD .R .PP .ps 10 A thin pink line. Wider. Dividing the horizon from itself, ready to suggest new possibilities in Piro's field of vision. He resisted the urge, declined to acknowledge the expanded percept capability, even for his own edification. He would not be distracted. .PP .ps 10 Not that anything about this had been easy, he would readily concede. Distractions, technical and otherwise, had nearly carried him away. Nothing in his wide experience had prepared him for the day when his mother would finally die. .PP .ps 10 .I Now .R how would they get home? .PP .ps 10 Of course there would come no reply from his companion of so many years. The woman was dead. Unresponsive. And now he would have to find his own way. It had been much the same when his father had abandoned him to her care in the first place. What had he been thinking? What was Piro supposed to do with all this pink? .PP .ps 10 Whining about it was not going to change anything. Dead was dead, and pink was pink. At least where her kind were concerned. It was actually rather remarkable that she had survived as long as she did, up there in the Earth's atmosphere. In this economy. .PP .ps 10 This soliloquy was going nowhere. .PP .ps 10 Alix retraced his steps. He'd left the laundry room and wandered into reception. He'd taken the stairs all the way down to the first floor. Everyone was gone. Half of the building was gone. What was going on? .PP .ps 10 He was going to have to figure it out on his own. .PP .ps 10 Just how he liked it. .PP .ps 10 He liked to feel he was earning his money. While it was true most of his clients could barely articulate what they wanted from him, he made it a point of pride to secure their approval of his work. This approach also cut down on lawsuits. .PP .ps 10 Standing in the rubble of the Chrysler Building, Alix was no longer sure what he was doing. Had the client even survived? .PP .ps 10 Tom spotted Alix, still standing there, obviously not knowing what to do. He walked over and said hi. .PP .ps 10 .I "Alix... my main...number one... guy..." .R .PP .ps 10 "I don't know what you want me to do here, anymore. The building's gone. What's left to surveil?" .PP .ps 10 Five years later. Not much had changed. Some of the rubble had been cleared away. The Actron Team was now based primarily out of New San Francisco. Alix maintained his mostly silent vigil at the scene of the crime. .PP .ps 10 Most days were pretty slow. .PP .ps 10 Aside from the occasional text he rarely heard from his employers. He was starting to think he should look for other work. .PP .ps 10 "You what," Tom said, instead of asking. Their mom was making him mad. .PP .ps 10 "I took a leave of absence." .PP .ps 10 "We thought you were dead." .PP .ps 10 "I might as well have been," was all she would say. .PP .ps 10 "I think we all need a bit of time to process this," Piro suggested. Clearly the only level head in the room. .PP .ps 10 "I don't care what anyone says, I need to get reimbursed for travel expenses." Now she wanted to be \fIpaid\fR for her mothering. .PP .ps 10 Piro shook his head as Tom stormed out of the room. .PP .ps 10 "Mom, he's right. Our budget was thrown completely out of whack. First Plinth, then you. We didn't know what to do. And now we're broke." .PP .ps 10 The RAGNAROK had half a mind to take off again. This time for good. .PP .ps 10 Alix knew his services were costing Actron, Inc. more than they could possibly hope to recoup.