Cat

A child's birthday party is no easy feat to set up, run, and see through to completion. Nevertheless, Cat did her part. With just one hour to go before all the guests showed up, she swooped through the house like a raven, seeking out anything that might be out of place or too precious (and too tempting) to let Barry's peers have ready access to.

Rabbit lay on the floor, sprawled like a fur rug. She scooped him up and tossed him over her shoulder. “Thank you,” the stuffed toy muttered as she continued her flight. Like a valkyrie, she selected the items to put away and those to keep. She wasn't letting herself think about the party; think about the guest; think about how this would be the first time in a long time that she had seen her brother Jeremy. Missing and long thought dead, she'd never expected her husband Conor and other brother Frank to find him. Let alone so soon after Frank's death.

She plopped down on the couch and let out a sigh. Rabbit flopped down beside her. “My missing brother was just hiding in a megacorp,” she said to nobody in particular. “And my dead brother is a hologram,” she said.

Rabbit would have shrugged if the servos in his body still worked. The little gray and white dutch rabbit toy just gave a squeak of agreement.

Cat looked at the toy. “What a strange family we are,” she said. She picked up the stuffed toy and made her way to the boys’ room. There, she tossed Rabbit onto Barry's bed, and made a mental note to tell Renny to do a better job of making his bed.

She made one more sweep around the house, checked on the status of the cake and other food, double checked the decorations, and then finally let out the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

She was standing in the kitchen, and the bottle of wine was on the shelf next to her. She poured herself a glass, swirling the red liquid, promising herself that she'd only have one. The doorbell rang. The monitor in the kitchen showed Gloria standing outside her door carrying a bag. “Come in,” she said. The door slid open. Cat looked up from the kitchen counter toward the entryway. Gloria, her baby bump showing, smiled when she saw Cat. Frank had finally gotten her a real ring, instead of the holographic one she wore shortly after he had come back to life. It looked nice, which was to be expected, considering the salary Araiguma was paying him.

Cat took a sip from the wineglass. “I'm glad you're here,” she said. “A dozen or so children wired on cake and cartoons and a group of adults who don't know each other trying to find common interests while they wait for their kids to get tuckered out isn't exactly my idea of a good time.”

Gloria laughed. She set the bag down on the table and started unloading it.

“Can I get you anything,” Cat said.

Gloria looked at the glass in her hands. “No,” she said. “Just a glass of water.” She took out a wrapped present from her and Frank as well as a few prepacked food items. She set the vegetable tray down on the table. “I imagine this will be coming home with me,” she said, looking at the assortment of carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, and radishes.

Cat handed her a glass of water. “Barry's trying more new things,” she said. “Rabbit's a good influence on him. He's eating more vegetables.”

“Glad I could help,” said a voice in the other room.

“Normally he's got that thing stitched to his side, but I made him leave it at home,” Cat said, taking another drink before arranging the cookie tray. “He's out with his father right now, probably climbing artificial rocks or shooting each other with water pellets. I didn't want him to lose it.” She looked up at Gloria. “How are you?”

Gloria smiled again. “I'm fine,” she said. “Just getting bigger by the day. We're getting the nursery ready, which means that I'm having to do all the arranging. Frank got a LiftWaffe to help with the heavier things.”

Cat poured herself a second glass. “What a year,” she said, tossing herself back onto the couch.

Gloria sat beside her. “Don't I know it,” she said.

There was a knock on the door, loud and desperate.

Cat looked up at the clock. “That's a little early,” she said. She looked at the monitor. It was Dolores.

“Did you invite her?” Gloria said.

“No,” Cat said. “Come in,” she said.

The door slid open, and Dolores, wearing her Araiguma hoodie, burst in. Her mascara was running, her eyes were wild, and her hair was just a bit out of sorts. Only enough such that she still remained photogenic.

“I'm so glad you're both here,” she said. “Archie's missing!”

Cat and Gloria intercepted Dolores. “What?” Cat said.

“Missing?” Gloria said.

“What's going on?” they said simultaneously.

Dolores wrapped her arms around herself. “Archie was out last night, closing a deal, and usually when they close the deals, he and his coworkers celebrate and sometimes he's not home until the next morning. He never came home, but I didn't think anything of it. Then a police robot came by this morning and told me that his company had reported him as missing. They can't track him or his devices anywhere. I tried calling him, but I couldn't reach him. And to make matters worse, my cards and services aren't working anymore for some reason, so I had to walk here.” Cat handed her a glass of wine, which she drained quickly. “I have no idea what to do.” She slumped down on the couch, occupying the whole thing. She pulled the hood over her head and cinched it tight, so only Arai-kun's cartoon face was visible. Then she started crying.

Cat looked at Gloria and Gloria shrugged. “Did you bring your LiftWaffe?” she whispered. Gloria stifled a laugh.

Cat walked over to Dolores and sat on the edge of the couch. “Dolores, dear?” she said. “All this is terrible, and we'd really like to help, but we're expecting company very soon. If you need some money or a place to stay, we'll be glad to help you out, but in a few minutes, a group of young children and their parents are about to come over, and we can't have you crying on the couch while they're here.”

Dolores sat up, sniffed, uncinched the hood, and looked at Cat. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I'm being dramatic and selfish.” Then she started to cry again.

Cat put her arm around her. “It's okay. Why don't you get yourself cleaned up. If it will make you feel better, you're welcome to stick around, and after the party, we'll see what we can do to help out.”

Dolores wiped her eye on her sleeve. “Okay,” she said. She got up off the couch and made her way to the bathroom to make it look like she hadn't been crying. Cat gave Gloria a look, which Gloria returned with a shrug. Cat poured herself another drink.

The entry door slid open, and there was Conor with Barry on his shoulders, both grinning like maniacs. Cat looked over at him.

“How was the adventure room?” she said.

“Amazing,” said Conor. “We both had lots of fun.”

“I only wish I could have brought Rabbit along.” He said “Rabbit” as if it sounded almost like “Robert.” “Where is he? I want to tell him all about it.” He squirmed off his father's shoulders, and Conor helped him the rest of the way to the floor.

“He's in your room, on your bed,” said Cat. “You had left him in the middle of the floor for everybody to step on.”

Conor saw the glass in her hand. “You have to make sure you're picking up your toys,” he said. “You know that Rabbit's servos are all worn down, so he can't move on his own.”

Barry nodded. “Okay,” he said. He hurried off to his room to tell Rabbit all about his adventures.

“How many have you had?” Conor said.

Cat sipped the glass. “Just the one,” she said.

Conor looked at Gloria, but she just shrugged again.

“Dolores is in the bathroom,” Cat said, changing the subject. “She's worried that Archie is missing.”

Conor nodded. “Is she going to leave before the party starts?” he said.

“Probably not. I'll try to keep her out of the way though. Maybe she can just socialize with the parents, and after the party sort things out.”

Conor looked down the hallway. “What's going on with Archie?” he said.

Cat shrugged. “Dolores said that he's been missing since last night, and that all her money has been cut off.”

Conor took the empty glass from Cat and put it in the sink. He plugged the bottle with a cork, not commenting on how empty it looked. “That's not like him,” he said.

Just then, Frank came in through the door. Beside him hovered two taskrottas, and each one was attached to a leash. Each leach was attached to a child: Reny and Aud. He saw Gloria standing there. “Hey,” he said. “I think I've got this kid thing down.”

Gloria smiled. She went over to extricate the children from the leashes. Frank looked around the room. “Did I step into the middle of something?” he said.

“It's Archie,” said Conor.

“He's apparently missing,” said Cat.

“And Dolores is now our problem until we get it solved,” said Gloria.

“Huh,” said Frank. “Missing?”

“That's all we know,” said Cat.

“What a bad time for something like that to happen,” he said.

“Is it ever a good time?” Cat said to her brother.

He laughed. “I mean, the guests are on their way up.”