box. It tinkled along, catching her attention and
seeming very girly. That was her point, so it worked pretty well for her.
"Hello?" She didn't
give her name when people called her. Cindy was the only one that ever touched
her phone, so if they dialed the number, they got her. If they didn't know
that, it wasn't her fault.
"Cindy? Brian Yi here. We
met earlier, at the Library?"
It didn't take a master of the
world to understand that this was Proxy. The voice was the same, for one thing.
"I do remember that.
It's probably going to be a shock to you, but when the IPB shows up and outs
you at work, you tend to remember it." She let herself sound happy about
it, or at least wry.
There was a sharp inhalation
then.
"Fu... You didn't get fired,
did you?" The man actually sounded upset by the idea, which was kind of
nice to hear. It meant he wasn't an a-hole. Even if he was dangerous to her.
She shook her head, but got the
real idea. If she'd lost her job, it was going to be that much harder to get
her into the sack. Not that he'd been thinking that exactly.
"Nope. Glenda, my boss,
suspects Wally though. I think I managed that so far, but it isn't a great
thing. We need him though. He does about a sixth of the work
there." She paused and shrugged. Not that anyone could see her, being in
her own living room. "We have fifteen people on staff, so you get
the idea? If Wallace goes away were all going to be stuck doing our jobs. No
one wants that."
There was a polite chuckle then.
It was warm, and very nearly friendly seeming. That was a thing she'd noticed
before in her life. When she spoke on the phone Cin couldn't read what people
were thinking about, and what they meant. It forced her to focus on how they
sounded instead. That was more work, but she was smart enough to get the basics
of it. Most people lied, constantly, including to themselves.
In this case the man was probably
worried that he'd actually made Wally's life harder. Pissing off someone that
could ruin the world's weather if they decided to wasn't a wonderful plan. In
fact it made much more sense not to mess with him. In this case not getting him
fired had to be part of that.
Cleverly, Proxy changed the
topic.
"So, we were thinking about
just going to Denny's for dinner? I know, it's a bit high class, but Bridget's
paying and she eats a lot ." He sounded a bit wary.
Cindy didn't really care. After
all, she hadn't eaten all day, and someone else was paying. That worked for
her. Free food was a good thing. Plus, it wasn't really a date, they were
supposed to be getting together for some kind of professional reason. That was
a bit too shy, really. Proxy had been hurt though, recently enough that this
was nearly the first date that he'd had since his break up.
How she knew that, Cindy wasn't
all that certain. It was close to something that she'd read earlier, but not
exactly the same. It was right. She knew that, but how it was happening she
didn't understand. It wasn't until she looked up that she got it.
Even though they were talking on
the phone, she could see his words in front of her. Floating in the air, in
multiple colors. The things were big, and see-through, but normal enough that
she hadn't realized they were there at first. In fact, she'd been reading them
the whole time, not even being aware of it.
That had to be about her
level of focus on the man. She tried to concentrate on him, which did very
little, but when she stared at the words, the image became darker, and clearer
to her eyes.
The story wasn't that great of
one.
Proxy, Brian, had been ripped
around as far as relationships went. Women that he'd trusted had betrayed him,
and used him sexually. It was pretty much rape in at least a few cases, too.
Enough so that if he'd been a woman someone would be in prison at that point.
Instead they'd all walked, since no one really cared what happened to men that
way.
So he was recovering, on his own.
His last real relationship had been a trick, too.
seeming very girly. That was her point, so it worked pretty well for her.
"Hello?" She didn't
give her name when people called her. Cindy was the only one that ever touched
her phone, so if they dialed the number, they got her. If they didn't know
that, it wasn't her fault.
"Cindy? Brian Yi here. We
met earlier, at the Library?"
It didn't take a master of the
world to understand that this was Proxy. The voice was the same, for one thing.
"I do remember that.
It's probably going to be a shock to you, but when the IPB shows up and outs
you at work, you tend to remember it." She let herself sound happy about
it, or at least wry.
There was a sharp inhalation
then.
"Fu... You didn't get fired,
did you?" The man actually sounded upset by the idea, which was kind of
nice to hear. It meant he wasn't an a-hole. Even if he was dangerous to her.
She shook her head, but got the
real idea. If she'd lost her job, it was going to be that much harder to get
her into the sack. Not that he'd been thinking that exactly.
"Nope. Glenda, my boss,
suspects Wally though. I think I managed that so far, but it isn't a great
thing. We need him though. He does about a sixth of the work
there." She paused and shrugged. Not that anyone could see her, being in
her own living room. "We have fifteen people on staff, so you get
the idea? If Wallace goes away were all going to be stuck doing our jobs. No
one wants that."
There was a polite chuckle then.
It was warm, and very nearly friendly seeming. That was a thing she'd noticed
before in her life. When she spoke on the phone Cin couldn't read what people
were thinking about, and what they meant. It forced her to focus on how they
sounded instead. That was more work, but she was smart enough to get the basics
of it. Most people lied, constantly, including to themselves.
In this case the man was probably
worried that he'd actually made Wally's life harder. Pissing off someone that
could ruin the world's weather if they decided to wasn't a wonderful plan. In
fact it made much more sense not to mess with him. In this case not getting him
fired had to be part of that.
Cleverly, Proxy changed the
topic.
"So, we were thinking about
just going to Denny's for dinner? I know, it's a bit high class, but Bridget's
paying and she eats a lot ." He sounded a bit wary.
Cindy didn't really care. After
all, she hadn't eaten all day, and someone else was paying. That worked for
her. Free food was a good thing. Plus, it wasn't really a date, they were
supposed to be getting together for some kind of professional reason. That was
a bit too shy, really. Proxy had been hurt though, recently enough that this
was nearly the first date that he'd had since his break up.
How she knew that, Cindy wasn't
all that certain. It was close to something that she'd read earlier, but not
exactly the same. It was right. She knew that, but how it was happening she
didn't understand. It wasn't until she looked up that she got it.
Even though they were talking on
the phone, she could see his words in front of her. Floating in the air, in
multiple colors. The things were big, and see-through, but normal enough that
she hadn't realized they were there at first. In fact, she'd been reading them
the whole time, not even being aware of it.
That had to be about her
level of focus on the man. She tried to concentrate on him, which did very
little, but when she stared at the words, the image became darker, and clearer
to her eyes.
The story wasn't that great of
one.
Proxy, Brian, had been ripped
around as far as relationships went. Women that he'd trusted had betrayed him,
and used him sexually. It was pretty much rape in at least a few cases, too.
Enough so that if he'd been a woman someone would be in prison at that point.
Instead they'd all walked, since no one really cared what happened to men that
way.
So he was recovering, on his own.
His last real relationship had been a trick, too.
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