Bob said mildly, "You're emoting, dear."
"It doesn't matter," Alice said curtly. "You know that. The point is" — and she continued chewing on the school-bond issue. But her gaze wandered around the room, eventually riveting on Robert. It was not a friendly gaze, and even though her words were unrelated to Robert Gu there was a sharpness in her voice. Then, for almost two seconds, she was wearing a civilian business suit with an old-fashioned ID lanyard. The ID bore a familiar seal and the letters DHS. Robert knew what that meant. It was all he could do not to flinch back. She can't know everything ! He wondered if Alice and Bob were silently coordinating all the scary signs, conspiring to panic him into confession. Somehow, he didn't think Bob was that adept.
So Robert just nodded and glanced casually around. Miri had been quieter than usual. She was staring off into the distance, and looked as bored as a thirteen-year-old can look when she's trapped at home with her parents rattling on about Things Not Important. But this was Miri Gu, and this was not the twentieth century. Most likely she was surfing, though usually she disguised such absences when she was at the dinner table.
Alice slapped the table, and Robert's eyes jerked back to her. She was glaring at him. "Don't you agree, Robert?"
Even Louise Chumlig couldn't glare more aggressively than that.
"Sorry. My mind wandered, Alice."
She waved her hand abruptly. "It doesn't matter."
And then golden letters spread silently across the air. Miri — > Robert: <sm>Don't worry. She's not mad at you.</sm>
Miri was still gazing into nowhere. Her hands were in plain sight and motionless. She was that good with her clothes. Okay, but what in hell is going on here ? That was the message he wanted to send back, but short of finger tapping, the best he could do was give her a quizzical look.
Alice rattled on, interrupted occasionally by Bob, but now Robert was not living in stark terror. He waited another three or four minutes, and then excused himself.
Bob looked a little relieved. "We don't have to talk so much about the bond issue, Robert. There are other — "
"No, that's okay. I'm the fellow with homework these days." Robert pasted on a smile and retreated up the stairs. He felt Alice's rifled gaze following him every step. If not for Miri's silent message, he would have run up the stairs.
And so far, Alice hadn't ventured near the front bathroom.
He did have homework. Juan came over and distracted him for almost half an hour with his explanations of immersive outlines. Robert was supposed to have such an outline ready for tomorrow's progress report in Chumlig's class. Juan went away pleased. So was Robert; he had made up for several days of inattention. He fooled around with Juan's templates till he could implement everything. By God, we should be getting an A for cross-support . The kid's prose had become almost serviceable — and this immersive he had constructed, it was beautiful. He was aware of Miri helping to clean up after dinner and then coming up to her room. Bob and Alice were just sitting in the living room. He set an activity alarm on the first floor, and for a while he forgot himself in the making of more and better refinements to his graphics.
Lord ! An hour had passed! He took a quick glance downstairs. Nobody had been to the front John. There was a pending message from Tommie Parker. The cabal wanted to know when or if he was going to come through with his contribution.
He looked downstairs again. Strange. He couldn't see into the living room anymore. Normally that was on the house menu, but now it was as private as the bedrooms. He stood and walked over to the door, quietly eased it open half an inch, snooping the good old-fashioned way.
They were arguing! And Bob was white-hot. His voice grew louder and louder, finally breaking into enraged shouting. "I don't give a fuck if they do need you! It's always just one more time. But this time you've — "
Bob hesitated in midflame. Robert leaned forward, ear to the door. Nothing. Not even the mumble of circumspect speech. Son and daughter-in-law had taken their spat into ethereal realms. But Robert continued to listen. He could hear the two moving around. At one point, there was the sound of a hand slapping down like a pistol shot. Alice whacking the dinner table? There was half a minute of silence and then a door slammed.
Vision returned a second after that. Bob was alone in the living room, staring at the door of the ground-floor den. He stood there for a few moments, then circled the living room and dropped himself down in his favorite chair. He pulled a book off the coffee table. That was one of the three physical books downstairs — and even it was a just-in-time fake.
Robert Gu quietly shut his bedroom door and returned to his chair. He thought a moment, then tapped on his virtual keypad.
Robert — > Miri: <sm>What was that all about?</sm>
Miri was twenty feet down the hall. So why didn't he just walk a few feet and knock on her door? Or present virtually? Maybe it was the habit of staying out of her way. Maybe it was easier to hide behind words.
Maybe he wasn't the only one hiding. It was almost a minute before a reply floated back.
Miri — > Robert: <sm>They're not mad at you.</sm>
Robert — > Miri: <sm>Okay. But what is the problem?</sm>
Miri — > Robert: <sm>There is no problem.</sm> That was the whole message, but then Miri sent another.
Miri — > Robert: <sm>Alice is getting ready for some new job. That's always hard on her. And then Bob gets mad.</sm> There was another pause.
Miri — > Robert: <sm>This is Corps business, Robert. I'm not supposed to know about it. You're even more not. I'm sorry. EOR</sm>
EOR That was space cadet for "that's all she wrote." Robert waited; nothing more came. But this had been more real conversation with Miri than he'd had in two months. What did that little girl do with her secrets? They were surely more significant than he had ever guessed. She had better communications facilities than all of twentieth-century civilization, but her prissy standards kept her from sharing her pain. Or maybe she has friends she can talk to ?
Robert Gu, Sr., didn't have any friends, but he didn't need any; tonight he had plenty of crisis and suspense to distract him. He kept an eye on the front bathroom, and another on the door to the den. Bob was still reading, every so often sliding a look of his own at the den.
"Is now a good time for us to talk, Professor?" The voice came from just behind his shoulder.
The shock all but levitated Robert from his chair. He swung on the sound. "Jeez!"
It was Zulfikar Sharif.
Sharif backed away, startlement in his face.
"You could have knocked," Robert said.
"I did, Professor." Sharif sounded faintly hurt.
"Yes, yes." Robert still hadn't figured out all the quirks of Epiphany's "circle of friends" feature. He gestured for Sharif to stay. "What's on your mind?"