The morning's weather was no better than yesterday's as Chris hurried back to NEIS headquarters. The wind tugged at his clothes, its chilling touch seeking ways to reach his body and causing him to shrug reflexively. But instead of warding off the cold, hunching into the jacket he was wearing only prompted something to wriggle underneath it.
"Are you okay?" he asked out loud, carefully jogging across the busy road.
"Mmmph," came the squeaky reply. Chris undid the zip a little and two bunches of deep red hair popped out.
"Phwa!" Titch gasped, tugging her arms free and comically waving a hand in front of her face. "It smells in there!" she giggled, flashing him a warm smile and surveying their surroundings. The smile faded quickly as her wide eyes drank in the busy street.
"...What?" Chris replied, bewildered. Titch didn't respond, so distracted was she by their surroundings. It was the first time she had been outside, save for the fire assembly point at NEIS headquarters. The passing cars in particular seemed to be of great interest to her; enormous, unfamiliar lumps of coloured metal trundling past in slow procession, disappearing into the unknown.
"Titch?" Chris prodded. With a jolt of realisation the little persocom squeaked in dismay, spinning around in her makeshift pouch, holding up her hands and waving them placatingly. "Oh! I-It's a joke! I'm joking Chris! You don't smell! Not at all!"
"I know I don't, I just… didn't think you could smell things."
"I can't!" Titch said, grabbing her tiny nose for emphasis and trailing nto silence. "It was - I meant - I just wanted to make you laugh…"
"Um... Can I ask why?"
"Your average word utterance per hour is 50% lower than yesterday's. I've concluded you are unhappy. Am I making you sad? Should I make more jokes?"
"You're not making me sad, don't be silly. And that's nice of you to offer, but I think I'm okay."
"Is it because of the trouble I caused yesterday?" Titch asked quietly.
Chris smiled in spite of himself. "I'm just not a morning person, that's all."
"WiODA unavailable. Please clarify?" Titch said, puzzled, "You are not a person in the morning?"
"It means I don't like early mornings, so I might be a bit quiet and reserved until later."
"Oh. Updating idioms." Titch chirped, eyes flashing for an instant. "Was I wrong to wake you? Your old keychain had an alarm set for six fourty-five."
"No, not at all. If you hadn't I'd have overslept. Even if I'm not a morning person, it doesn't mean I get to sleep in every morning. Listen, you should hide now; we're getting close."
"Right!" Titch nodded, burrowing beneath the jacket once more. Chris zipped it up behind her as NEIS headquarters loomed in the distance. It hadn't even been a full day yet, but he was fast getting used to having a persocom. It didn't feel so strange to talk to Titch any more. It had been, at first. Most interactions he'd had with persocoms up until yesterday had been limited in scope, since his immediate friends and family didn't own any. Most of his experience had been purely functional; making transactions at a store for instance, or being served at a restaurant or a bank. But Titch had no such specific purpose, and unbound by the social specificities of such roles it was uncanny how well she could hold her own in a conversation and interact with others. He'd never noticed that about miniature units or indeed persocoms in general before. Interacting with them the way he had yesterday was a novel experience, but to do so with a tiny, doll-like unit like Titch was downright surreal.
Of course, there were limitations. Her contributions to a conversation were simple, childlike even, and they became even more so when the subject strayed outside her narrow pool of knowledge. As a result there was an air of helpless naivete about her. But she had barely been active a single day; she was still young, insofar as a persocom could age. Her simple nature might never change -such were the basic capabilities of portable units, he was sure- but the odd questions would fade, and were probably to be expected until she filled the gaps in her general knowledge, especially now she had deliberately cut herself off from the wealth of information on the net.
Chris nodded to himself. Disabling WiODA had been wise of Holly to suggest; connecting via a company-owned WiODA account would provide evidence Titch was still active. He looked up at their destination; the huge NEIS building took up much of his field of vision now, but instead of yesterday morning's excitement, he felt only a sense of foreboding.
That realisation brought with it a small twinge of guilt. It wasn't like he lied to Titch. Not exactly. He wasn't much of a morning person, after all… but this wasn't morning blues. Having slept on it, his actions yesterday seemed outright insane. What was he thinking? Not only could he lose the new job, he could go to prison! There was a target painted on his back, he was sure. As he drew closer a security van drove by on its lazy path around the side of the building. He tried not to hurry towards the main entrance, shaking his head grumpily; as if he should feel guilty for lying to machines anyway!
If it was busy on the streets around the business park, it was even more so outside NEIS. Chris approached the main atrium doors, mingling with the rest of the morning's traffic. He hadn't expected to be going this way; when Holly told him over the phone that he'd have a specific route to follow, he'd envisaged some sort of secret side entrance. Perhaps his expectations had been coloured by the crazy events of the previous day! It did seem to keep to the lower levels as long as possible though, travelling anti-clockwise around the circular building's halls. He followed the intended route, turning right and threading his way through the crowd along the atrium's enormous ground floor, but didn't make it more than a few dozen feet before his path was blocked by an unfamiliar figure.
He was tall in stature, but his slender frame seemed a little strange swaddled as it was in a formal, expensive-looking suit. The smile he wore didn't seem to match his face properly either, failing to reach his eyes; those strangely colourless, gray irises seemed lifeless and dull. He was clearly a persocom, as evidenced by his rounded plastic ear modules. Chris eyed him warily, wondering if he'd found himself face to face with a particularly eerie example of Sarah's behavioural software projects.
"Good morning." the persocom spoke, his mellifluous voice gentle and pleasant, as he glided forward and extended a hand in greeting. It was yet another thing about him that didn't seem quite right. "Our new hire, I presume? Nice to meet you, Chris."
Chris offered his hand in return. The persocom's grip was firmer than his wiry appearance would have suggested. Two measured shakes. "Uh, likewise. Sorry, you appear to know my name, but who might you be?"
"I'm the Neurologic System's Operator. NSO, for short. It's a rather important role. I keep LOKI happy at all times to ensure effective operation." The smile painted on the persocom's face widened slightly. "You may call me Mordecai."
"Hi, Mordecai. What can I do for you today?" Chris smiled back, feeling his stomach drop precipitously. There was only one reason this conversation would occur.
"You were in LOKI's chamber yesterday, were you not?"
"Uh... yes, I was."
"Marvellous. Then you will recall that security protocol was breached when a persocom made an unauthorised connection to LOKI's systems, yes?"
"Sure, I remember... Like it was yesterday, haha..." Chris laughed weakly. Mordecai's smile grew wider still as he took another step forward, his empty eyes fixated on Chris. He spoke his next words with deliberate slowness.
"Where is that persocom, Chris?"
Chris replied carefully, meeting Mordecai's gaze. "...It was confiscated. I haven't seen it since. I am led to believe it will be destroyed, if it hasn't been already." The slender persocom would not stop smiling. His hollow eyes made the expression seem aggressive, predatory even, as if he had just cornered his prey.
"That is an interesting response, considering the available data."
"Available data-" Chris began, as someone grabbed him by the arm. He stifled a shout, spinning to look at the security guard who would surely be stood beside him.
"You." A pink-haired persocom replied instead, eyeing him dangerously, "You won't get away with this, you know."
"C-Caz? What are you doing here?" Chris stammered, taken aback.
Mordecai seemed surprised too; his smile had abated somewhat as he looked at Caz in puzzlement, but in moments it had bounced back. "You know something, don't you?" he interjected, enthused. "Wonderful. My dear, it is of utmost importance you give me that information."
"I do know something! Chris broke the rules, and then some!" Caz said venomously, glowering at Chris. She still had a grip on his arm. The other held a brown satchel as if she were ready to swing it at his head. She looked furious… He could feel the panic rising inside him. Chris held up his free hand placatingly, desperately wishing he was better at improvising. "Uh… I… I can explain?"
"Go on then. I'm listening." Caz growled. The satchel swung gently from side to side as both persocoms looked at him expectantly. "This had better be good, Chris."
Caught right at the entrance… and technically red-handed, with Titch right there in his jacket! What was he going to say?! He found himself wishing that Holly was nearby. "Uh... um… well I haven't, uh, you see, yesterday… I mean, I didn't do anything, really-"
"Liar!" Caz barked, making him jump. "I'll tell you what he did, Mordecai. It was the most awful contravention of the rules, you'll never believe it." she paused, turning to the other persocom and scowling for dramatic effect. "He abandoned me in my own department yesterday, without a single decent photo! Imagine that!"
Chris and Mordecai blinked in surprise. "That's not what we were talking about." Mordecai said, his smile adjusting itself slightly. "Furthermore, I am unaware of the specific rules you're referring to."
"My rules, obviously! And he broke them completely!"
"That is of no importance. We were talking about a missing persocom. Now, if you have nothing to add-"
"Oh?" Caz broke into a mischievous grin, slinging the satchel over her shoulder and dragging Chris behind her across the atrium floor. She shouted over her shoulder as they disappeared into the crowd. "Sorry, guess I have no idea then! Bye, now!"
"Excuse me! Excuse me, we're not finished here-" Mordecai called after them, raising his voice, but Caz ignored him and quickened her pace. Chris was forced to trot after her so as to not fall flat on his nose.
"What's going on, Caz?"
"You're very easily flustered, aren't you Chris? It's adorable, but it makes me wonder… what did you think I was talking about?" she flashed him that mischievous grin again, her eyes twinkling with curiosity, but he didn't respond. He couldn't. Caz fielded conversations at a million miles per hour; he was certain she'd run circles around him and he'd somehow wind up revealing everything. True enough, she waited only a moment before concluding he wouldn't take the bait.
"You must keep your distance from Mordecai, he's awful. I'm gonna get you away from him, 'kay?" Caz let go of his arm and grabbed his hand instead, patting it reassuringly. "That's what's happening."
"Thanks, but haven't you done that already?" Chris said, peering through the crowd behind them. He really needed to get to James as quickly as possible.
"Oh no, he's definitely following us. He wants you for something." Caz said, reawakening that wave of panic in Chris's chest as she pulled him towards the atrium's reception desk. "Not to worry though! We'll sort out this little mess." When they emerged from the bustling passers-by, Mika spotted them and waved happily.
"Hi, Mika! Look what I found!" Caz cried, ducking the fabric-covered chain that served to close the entrance to the circular island. Unable to free his hand, Chris was forced to duck as well or risk garotting himself as she hauled him inside. She was surprisingly strong.
"Hi, you two!" Mika said softly, swivelling around in her seat. Her every movement seemed calm and gentle, as if she were the polar opposite of the wildly energetic Caz. "What can I help you with today?"
"As if you didn't know!" Caz scoffed, shooing Mika out of her seat and towards the island entrance. "You can help me make Chris smile. But first, we need to borrow you!"
"Wow, already?" Mika chuckled, her apparent lack of confusion only making Chris's worse. "I'm glad you're on top of things, Caz! You work quickly!" She smiled as she unhooked the reception's chain to let them out. "It's nice to see you again, Chris. I didn't think you'd visit so soon."
"Nice to see you too," he replied, bemused. They trotted from the island as a group, heading beneath the first level walkway to travel the innermost part of the atrium's curve, where the crowds were thinner. Not many people ventured this far in, what with the majority of the offices being on the upper levels. It risked exposure since they were easier to spot, but conversely allowed them faster passage.
Caz glanced repeatedly over her shoulder, scanning the crowd. "So where are you headed, Chris?"
"Uh… to James' office, actually."
"Perfect! You were given a route for it, right?"
"Yeah, um, how did you know-"
"Great! Better forget it though, 'cause we're changing course! Hard to port, me mateys!" Caz ducked through a set of double-doors, followed by the others. They immediately found themselves in the dimly lit corridors of the lower level. The crazy-haired persocom moved even faster now, maintaining a hard jog down the corridor. Chris hoped it would be enough. He had to believe that if he could get to James' office in time, everything would be okay.
"Hey, don't you have a persocom now?" Mika piped up. "I caught a glimpse of her yesterday; she looked absolutely wonderful!"
"Y-yeah… I'll have to introduce you, won't I?" Chris replied. Mika smiled warmly. Like Caz, her demeanour seemed light-hearted and conversational, as if they were both completely at ease with their current situation. But then they weren't aware of the stakes, were they? He couldn't tell them what was going on. Tell no-one, Holly had said.
"Oooh, you've seen her, Mika? She's wonderful?" Caz cooed, pushing through another set of doors. "Don't hide her from me Chris! Has she been in your pocket this whole time? Lemme see!"
"Oh, she's… in my office-"
"Wow!" Caz gasped and span around, jogging backwards down the corridor, "You got an office to yourself on your first day? Way to go, Chris! Hey, you must have really impressed them at the interviews, huh?"
"Ah, uh… well… home office, actually." Chris corrected quickly. Why was he so bad at improvising?
Caz tapped her chin in thought, weaving absent-mindedly around a corner. "Oh? But don't you live in a flat? I swear I overheard you saying that while you were strolling around with Holly yesterday, you know, ignoring me and all-"
"Oh, ah, well it's a very… small... office…"
"Wait, so you really left her at home? Alone? Chris!" Caz chided him. "Surely you're not that mean! Be honest: you forgot her, didn't you!"
"N-no! I mean, yes, she's at home, but it was intentional-"
Caz gasped without missing a beat, pointing an accusatory finger. "Then you abandoned her! Just like you did me yesterday!"
"Woa! No I didn't!" Chris waved his hands in desperation, scrambling for an excuse. Mika chuckled, and Caz grinned mischievously. Her eyes were flickering when she looked at him; was she taking pictures again? "I just didn't… I mean I'm getting used to… I keep worrying I'm going to drop her, you know? S-so I left her there and today I'll get a, I don't know, something to carry her with, maybe-"
"Ah yes, miniature models don't take up much space, do they?" Mika beamed. "That's by design, after all."
"That's right, Mika! But what could you use? Ooo I know, a cup holder would work! You could hook it onto a shirt pocket." Caz laughed at Chris's expression. "Well don't tell me you were thinking of putting her in a bag! Now that would be crazy!"
Mika nodded at that, "Miniatures aren't really meant to go in bags, Chris. I'm sure she'd be fine just perched on your shoulder. It's very kind of you to worry, but we're really not that fragile!"
"That's a… uh, a good point. Well, maybe I'll have to rethink that, then..." Chris mumbled.
"Mmm. I tried perching on shoulders once." Caz sighed wistfully, glancing down the corridor behind them. "It looked like fun."
"Oh yes, they updated company policy after that, didn't they?" Mika replied, "What was it again? 'No piggybacks, shoulder-riding, or other methods heretofore undescribed involving the carrying of full-sized persocoms by staff while on company premises'."
"Yeah that's it. Shame, I really thought I could just hop on up there." Caz's voice was tinged with regret.
Mika nodded. "Of course, it transpires miniature persocoms don't need to warn people when they climb them because they're so small."
"I never even got to apologise to that guy. Well, lesson learned!" Caz chuckled, "You know he's probably out of the hospital now, maybe if he learns to walk again we can make amends?"
"You put someone in the hospital?" Chris repeated, alarmed. The two persocoms giggled.
"We're only joking, Chris." Mika reassured him, "That would never happen. Caz is way too loud to sneak up on someone without a noisy atrium to cover her." She smiled again, and Chris couldn't help but return it properly this time. Atrium or not, Caz had certainly made him jump that morning!
"Aha, he smiled! Well, that was easy enough," Mika tinkled a little laugh.
"Aw… You were right Mika, he does have an adorable smile!" Caz laughed, prancing around them as they jogged, and surreptitiously capturing a few more images.
"You'll wear your eyes out, Caz." Mika warned her. Caz chuckled at that, but a moment later her face fell, as if she'd noticed something unpleasant behind them. Mika turned her head too, both of them looking back down the corridor.
"Oh dear, maybe we should concentrate a little." Caz murmured. "This isn't working."
"What do you mean?" Chris looked back anxiously. There was nothing to be seen in the gloom.
"I mean we need to run, 'kay?" Caz said cheerfully, tearing away down the corridor.
"Hurry now." Mika said gently, taking Chris by the arm and powering after the pink haired persocom. It really was alarming how fast they could move. Hard as it was for him to keep up, running didn't seem to be any effort for them at all. The doors ahead crashed apart as Caz plowed through them, spinning around to hold them open for the other two.
"Turn right!" she shouted gleefully, slamming the door shut after they thundered past her. Their feet hammered dully on the carpet as they rushed through the empty corridor, Caz humming happily under her breath.
"He's gaining on us." Mika remarked.
"This is impossible. He's catching up with us?" Chris gasped. He was rapidly running out of air.
"Yep." Caz chuckled, "Rapidly. Lucky he keeps in constant communication with LOKI, if he ever stopped transmitting I wouldn't be able to tell how close he was! Oh well, we better crank it up a notch!" she darted forward, shoving the door ahead of them open. "Mika?"
"Put your arm around me, Chris." Mika said, grabbing him by the waist and ignoring his protests. Despite her slender frame, she gripped him with surprising strength. "Use your feet to keep your weight off the ground as much as possible, okay?"
"What are you going to d- whoaaa!" Chris yelled as they accelerated, his feet practically skipping along the ground. There was no way he could have moved this fast on his own!
"Wheeeee!" Caz squealed, surging ahead. "Ah, it's good to stretch those servos every once in a while!"
"How can Mordecai be this fast?" Chris panted, his hair ruffled by the wind.
"No no, silly! The problem is we're being slow!" Caz giggled. She accelerated and dropped back a few times to illustrate the point. Chris couldn't guess at Mika's speed with him in tow, but it must have been beyond the limits of human athleticism. The only objects they whipped past were the doors leading off to various utilities on the lower level, presumably related to the running and operation of LOKI.
They barrelled around another corner only to skid to a halt in the middle of the narrow corridor. It was blocked by security persocoms further ahead; three of them, threatening forms just visible in the distant dimness.
"Mordecai set security on us! We'll be decommissioned!" Mika gasped, but Caz shook her head.
"No, he can't just do that. He's made something up to slow us down, I expect. Seems he really wants to catch you, Chris. I wonder why?" She held up her satchel, calling out to the guards. "Looking for this?"
The way the guards glared at the bag confirmed her suspicions. "See? He told them we've stolen something, I'm sure of it." she nodded in satisfaction, but Chris felt the panic bubbling within him again. It was technically true.
Mika glanced behind them. "What do you suggest, Caz?"
"Altitude!" Caz declared boldly, pointing further up the corridor. It was a door for a small stairwell to the upper levels. She grinned excitedly at the security guards, now advancing slowly towards them. They would soon block the path to that door. "Mika, if you could lead Chris the rest of the way?"
"No problem. You give Mordecai a run for his money!"
What was she doing? Chris tried to interrupt. "Hang on-"
Caz gave them a playful salute, shrugging her satchel from her shoulder and wielding it like a medieval flail. "I'll run rings around him! Thanks Mika, you're the best!"
"Caz, wait a second!"
The corridor exploded into action. Caz sprang towards the security persocoms, the carpet buckling behind the balls of her feet with every step. The guards leant into a sprint in response, hurtling forwards. Mika's arm dug into Chris as she hauled him towards the door in Caz's wake. They shot down the narrow passageway as the guards drew closer. In moments the two groups would collide.
Caz had built up enormous speed. Unclipping her satchel strap at one end, she leapt into the air, kicking the door to the stairwell open and propelling herself towards the opposite wall in one smooth motion. She pushed off the wall with her other foot, pivoting into a high arc that carried her upside-down over the heads of the guards, the strap of her satchel held taut between her outstretched arms. It caught them in the chest, pulling them to the ground. Caz tumbled roughly to the floor behind them before rolling to her feet and taking off again. The last Chris saw of her, she was bolting away down the corridor, cackling with glee and whirling her satchel over her head.
Mika and Chris darted through the door to the stairwell, slamming it shut behind them.
"Give me a hand with this, quickly!" Mika said, grabbing at the little door handle. They heaved at it together, snapping it off the door and revealing the spindle inside. Mika snatched it free not a moment too soon; as they ran up the stairwell, the door handle on the other side rattled angrily.
"What the - hell just - happened, Mika?!" Chris panted, "We're being chased - by security now? And Caz - what was that - I just saw? Can - all persocoms do that? Can you?"
"I've never tried!" Mika laughed. She was breathing hard too, but like Holly she seemed to be able to control it at will.
"The guards, will they-"
"I expect they'll chase her now that they think she's got these mysterious stolen goods, and Mordecai would have to break down that door to get back on our trail. We've bought ourselves some time."
"But security is - serious - is she going to - be okay?"
Mika nodded emphatically. "You should know, marketing's persocoms are unusual. Caz more than most! She's probably having more fun right now than she would've all year, otherwise. Let's focus on getting you to James." They reached a door that led to a passageway in a first-floor department Chris recognised as part of Neurolectrics. It was busy here; staff were still entering the area, pouring into their departments to start the working day. In all the bustle nobody paid a panting man and woman any heed. Chris felt his breath come back as they walked briskly through labs filled with unfamiliar electronics and test equipment.
It would have been fascinating in more relaxed circumstances. All this potential for good work, yet all he seemed to get in was trouble! Day one had been unbelievable. Its successor wasn't turning out any better, so far. Was it worth it? He sighed wearily. "I'm really not sure this is going to work out for me, career wise." he muttered, "There seems to be a lot of running and hiding involved."
Mika looked askance at him. "Did you do a lot of this yesterday?"
"Uh… I was late on the way in?" Chris replied, kicking himself.
"And the hiding?"
Hiding! Titch! Chris patted his jacket in a panic. In all the commotion he'd forgotten she was hidden under there. He felt her tap him on the chest and sighed in relief; she was okay. He noticed Mika looking at him expectantly. "Oh… neighbour's dog got out? Vicious little thing."
"...Is that so?" Mika said softly, smiling in amusement as she lead him towards another set of stairs. Chris winced. Even by his standards, that was an atrociously pathetic lie. But he couldn't tell her what really happened. It was of utmost importance that nobody know.
They traversed another flight of stairs, exiting at one of the Engineering departments encircling the Mechatronics factory floor. He could hear the noise of the factory quite clearly in here, and the corridors were messier than most others in the building, as if the people within them were too busy working to spend any time maintaining their environment. Chris anticipated a fair distance remained, but they had travelled so far around the building escaping Mordecai that it was only a couple of minutes before they arrived at James' personal office.
"Here we are." Mika beamed, her delicate voice filled with happiness. "Delivered safe and sound!"
"Thank you so much, Mika." Chris said, "I get the feeling you and Caz did me a big favour today."
"I'm pleased to hear it," Mika waved, turning to leave.
"Hang on... what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to help Caz. We'll try and keep Mordecai occupied while you lay low, okay? Hopefully he'll lose interest in you."
"I appreciate that, but please be careful." Chris found himself saying. "Don't take any big risks on my account."
"That's sweet of you to say." Mika smiled, pausing for a moment. "...You know it's strange… Your first day on the job, the whole building gets turned upside-down within hours. The second day, we're barely minutes into the morning and already playing hide and seek in the halls..."
Chris rubbed the back of his neck. "Aha, um… yeah… that's really strange…"
"That's not the strange bit. The strange bit is I find myself looking forward to tomorrow!" Mika's tinkly laugh floated after her as she headed for the stairs, and Chris shook his head in bemusement. In her own way, she was easily as odd as Caz. He had a feeling those two spent a lot of time together.