Chapter 10

Elias looked at his watch again, tapping his foot as he waited for Kristie after work. "She's never this late," he grumbled. Not willing to wait any longer, he headed to her classroom.

Kristie sat staring at the desk in front of her, not moving.

"Kristie?" Elias looked around the empty classroom before approaching her. "What are you doing?" He waved his hand in front of her face, and she jumped.

"Oh! When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. What's up with you?"

"I was lost in thought. That detective came around—"

"He didn't do anything to you, did he? You're still here, so I guess he didn't bring you in for an interrogation like he did for me."

"Not really; I think I fooled him into thinking I knew nothing about it..." Kristie trailed off when she remembered she was at school, and AI was always listening there. "Let's not talk here."

Elias nodded. "Let's go."

"I'm home," Elias said as he entered his apartment with Kristie. "Or should I say we're home?"

"We, I guess. I live right across from you." Kristie shrugged. "Wait, where is he?"

"Jae?" Elias checked through the whole house. "He's not here? Where would he go?"

Ice crawled through Kristie's veins. "What if they already got to him? We always said they have eyes and ears almost everywhere. I mean... I thought they kept them outside homes for privacy, but... maybe they're just quiet about it. That dumbwaiter could be listening in all the time." She looked over at the display beside it.

Curious, Elias poked at the list on the dumbwaiter. "He's been ordering some weird things."

"You're not going to get mad at him for spending, are you?"

"Not that it is any of your business, since he's not your boyfriend or anything, but no. I told him he could use it, but not to order too much or it might be flagged. Unlike you, I don't spend much, so there're plenty of credits. What?"

Kristie frowned up at him. "I like to collect things."

"I know, and if they'd let you, you'd have wall to wall stuff."

"And I'd love it. As long as our cleaning robots still worked. Anyway, what do you think he's up to? Should we search for him? I'm going to search for him." She turned to leave, and Elias grabbed her arm.

"Before you wander around like you're looking for a lost puppy, how about I track that old watch of yours?"

"Wait, you can track it? But doesn't that mean they can track it?"

"Nope; this is off their radar." Elias pulled out a different tablet than the one Jae had been using from a drawer.

"Why can you track it, then?"

The front door opened.

"Jae?" Kristie eagerly turned around, and her eyes widened. What the hell? Is that him?

He took his fedora off and ran his hand through his hair, which now had a dirty blond colour. Jae took the cotton balls out of his cheeks to return his face to normal. "Bleh. Not the best way to do this, but it does help change my face shape a bit," Jae said.

"And the peroxide plus those spices and whatnot were you changing your hair colour without dye?" Elias asked.

"Not the best, but it's hard to change black hair to a lighter colour."

"Okay, I get why you ordered this stuff, but what were you doing outside?"

"Testing it. Several of those drones passed by overhead, none of which stopped to look at me, as far as I can tell, anyway."

"That was pretty dangerous. What would you have done if it recognized you? I haven't set up your watch with a new identity yet. I talked to my guy at work, and he said he could get me one, but it'd cost quite a bit."

"Do you need more credits?" Kristie asked. "I can help."

Elias shook his head. "These deals don't take credit. They trade gold, tech, and other goods. Don't worry about that; I've got it."

Kristie raised an eyebrow. "I swear, it's like I don't even know you."

"I figured it was best to keep that side away from you. You're not the best at keeping a secret, and if you knew, you'd want to delve into it too much."

Arms crossed and cheeks puffed, she glared at Elias. "That's one way to say you don't trust me. I did well with that detective, though."

"Yes, you did." As far as he was told.

Jae looked between the two of them and shook his head. "When can you meet with them? And what can I do to pay you back? I don't like owing people."

"We'll figure that out in the future. For now, focus on figuring out your life. And I'm going to meet with them after I eat supper."

"Can I come?"

Elias stared at him for a moment. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"But backroom deals can be dangerous, and I'd be good backup."

"Be that as it may, us being seen together would make it easier to catch you."

Jae sighed. "With all this trouble I'm causing, I'm wondering if it'd be better to be caught. Maybe they're refreeze me for later. It's not like I have anything in this world."

Kristie grabbed his hand. "You have us, your new friends."

"Kristie, I don't think that's enough to keep him here. He has to want to live for himself," Elias said. The look in her eyes screamed at him. "But she's right; you have us now."

"Thank you, but I'm not sure I'm worth the burden." Jae pulled his hand away. "I don't even know why they bothered to freeze me. Last I remember, I was injured, and I remember flickers of doctors trying to keep me alive."

Elias nodded. "I looked into you more today—"

"I thought you were against that," Kristie complained.

"They've already brought me into this, so whatever. You were fatally wounded in the field. They were struggling to keep you alive, and used you as one of the early adaptors to the cryo pods. Once technology advanced, they used that to heal you and others like you, but feared trying to awaken you."

"Feared it?"

"They thought you might not awaken from the freeze, or you'd be a risk if you did wake up. There wasn't much more listed than that."

Jae nodded. "Thank you for that."

Elias glanced at his watch. "I was going to eat first, but I think I'd be better off leaving now." He went into his bedroom to grab something and came back out. "You two be good." He pointed at them. "I don't want to come back and find a mess, or trouble."

"Yes, sir."

"Kristie?"

She shrugged. "Fine; I won't cause trouble in your apartment."

Elias narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you say it like that? Never mind; I've got to go." He headed off.

Kristie waited a moment and approached the door.

"What are you doing?" Jae asked.

"I'm just going to go."

"You're going to follow him, aren't you?"

Kristie froze with her foot in the air. Crap. "Um... Well..."

"I'm coming, too."