excited.
“That sounds great,” he said.
“So you’ll be there?”
“Absolutely, count us in.”
“I’m so glad! And don’t worry about dinner, we cater the whole thing. Oh! And before I forget, would it be possible to bring your pixie friend? As I said, everyone’s jealous. We promise, nothing invasive.”
SIX
The Holitix factory was on what Rick called an industrial road , and it wasn’t difficult to understand why. Every building on the road was a corporate structure of some sort, each announced with large stone-and-metal signs at the base of long drives leading away from the road. It reminded Eve of war battlements: fortresses of soldiers established far from population centers, ready to strike out on long campaigns with a word from the emperor.
The building itself was less fortress-like. The designers didn’t appear concerned with siege engines or defensive measures against heavy infantry. There was also none of the security measures she expected, like tall fences or a gated lot. She and Rick simply left the road, drove up the hill and around a corner, and arrived in their parking area.
It was toward the end of the business day, so most of the workers were at the same time driving down the hill and away from the office park, which made finding a spot for the car that was near the entrance simple enough.
“Doesn’t look all that ominous,” Rick said, as they climbed out.
“You were expecting something else?”
“Maybe, yeah. More mad-scientist-y.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant. A movie reference, possibly.
“You were concerned. I know you joke, but you were concerned.”
He squinted at the building—the setting sun was lighting up the windows—rather than looking at her. It was a behavior she learned to expect when he spoke of serious matters. He preferred to address a non-specific area in the distance instead of the person he was addressing. It was a curious quirk.
“I was, and I guess I am still. I mean, here , this is where this meeting is happening, right? It feels dumb to think like this because we’re, you know, in the real world, but I’d have been a whole lot more relaxed if Dr. Marks had given us just about any other address. Like, if this weren’t me and I was watching me do this I’d be screaming, ‘it’s a trap, Rick, don’t go in there!’”
“We don’t have to go in, we can just leave.”
“Can’t do that, because I’m an adult. It’s like when you’re alone in the dark and you talk yourself into there being something in the room with you, but then you remember you’re not a kid, and you don’t get to be afraid of the dark any more.”
“Sometimes the dark does hide things. It’s a good instinct.”
“Yeah, remind me not to share childhood stories with you.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
“We don’t have to go in only to satisfy my curiosity, but if we do and you’re concerned, I can protect you.”
He laughed, and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks, that’s sweet. Let’s just go in, I feel stupid worrying about a super-villain lair while overweight white guys are driving past me in Hondas.”
Dee buzzed past his head.
“Yeah, you too, c’mon.”
A glass entryway led to a reception desk manned by a portly man with a cloth version of a badge sewn into his shirt. Rick approached the desk to introduce them, but only got as far as his name before he was interrupted.
“Yes, we were told to expect you,” he said, with the perfunctory smile of a man whose job didn’t depend on his courtesy seeming genuine. He placed two plastic VISITOR badges on the counter. “Have a seat, someone will be down to fetch you in a minute.”
He pointed them to a lounge area defined only by furniture that, when used, turned out to be much too firm to be truly comfortable.
“It’s like I’m here for a job interview,” Rick said with a smile. “Weird how these places make a person
“That sounds great,” he said.
“So you’ll be there?”
“Absolutely, count us in.”
“I’m so glad! And don’t worry about dinner, we cater the whole thing. Oh! And before I forget, would it be possible to bring your pixie friend? As I said, everyone’s jealous. We promise, nothing invasive.”
SIX
The Holitix factory was on what Rick called an industrial road , and it wasn’t difficult to understand why. Every building on the road was a corporate structure of some sort, each announced with large stone-and-metal signs at the base of long drives leading away from the road. It reminded Eve of war battlements: fortresses of soldiers established far from population centers, ready to strike out on long campaigns with a word from the emperor.
The building itself was less fortress-like. The designers didn’t appear concerned with siege engines or defensive measures against heavy infantry. There was also none of the security measures she expected, like tall fences or a gated lot. She and Rick simply left the road, drove up the hill and around a corner, and arrived in their parking area.
It was toward the end of the business day, so most of the workers were at the same time driving down the hill and away from the office park, which made finding a spot for the car that was near the entrance simple enough.
“Doesn’t look all that ominous,” Rick said, as they climbed out.
“You were expecting something else?”
“Maybe, yeah. More mad-scientist-y.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant. A movie reference, possibly.
“You were concerned. I know you joke, but you were concerned.”
He squinted at the building—the setting sun was lighting up the windows—rather than looking at her. It was a behavior she learned to expect when he spoke of serious matters. He preferred to address a non-specific area in the distance instead of the person he was addressing. It was a curious quirk.
“I was, and I guess I am still. I mean, here , this is where this meeting is happening, right? It feels dumb to think like this because we’re, you know, in the real world, but I’d have been a whole lot more relaxed if Dr. Marks had given us just about any other address. Like, if this weren’t me and I was watching me do this I’d be screaming, ‘it’s a trap, Rick, don’t go in there!’”
“We don’t have to go in, we can just leave.”
“Can’t do that, because I’m an adult. It’s like when you’re alone in the dark and you talk yourself into there being something in the room with you, but then you remember you’re not a kid, and you don’t get to be afraid of the dark any more.”
“Sometimes the dark does hide things. It’s a good instinct.”
“Yeah, remind me not to share childhood stories with you.”
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
“We don’t have to go in only to satisfy my curiosity, but if we do and you’re concerned, I can protect you.”
He laughed, and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks, that’s sweet. Let’s just go in, I feel stupid worrying about a super-villain lair while overweight white guys are driving past me in Hondas.”
Dee buzzed past his head.
“Yeah, you too, c’mon.”
A glass entryway led to a reception desk manned by a portly man with a cloth version of a badge sewn into his shirt. Rick approached the desk to introduce them, but only got as far as his name before he was interrupted.
“Yes, we were told to expect you,” he said, with the perfunctory smile of a man whose job didn’t depend on his courtesy seeming genuine. He placed two plastic VISITOR badges on the counter. “Have a seat, someone will be down to fetch you in a minute.”
He pointed them to a lounge area defined only by furniture that, when used, turned out to be much too firm to be truly comfortable.
“It’s like I’m here for a job interview,” Rick said with a smile. “Weird how these places make a person
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