Sao was questioned and dismissed with what felt like exaggerated promptness for the gravity of the situation. A woman was dismembered. Attacker and possible accomplice were missing. And his supervisor matched an anonymous tipster’s description of a suspicious figure lurking around the victim’s room.

“You’re free to go,” the officer repeated. Slower, as if Sao hadn’t understood.

Stepping out of the station onto the sunburnt street, the sky a miasma the color of old grout, he was begrudgingly grateful that he hadn’t been detained for longer. But nobody had recorded or written down his statements. Wasn’t this always the case? Know nothing and the police and the press would hound you to the ends of the earth. Be a willing informer, and you were out the door. 

Everyone just lived to defy one another. Ancient defensive instinct gone utterly haywire. Nobody saying what they meant; when they did, ears were covered, or else it was too late.

He wasn’t innocent in that regard, either. Perhaps that was why the investigation hadn’t gotten very far.

He thought of what Maya said of Hazel, her experience with confinement in the psychiatric ward. The barren, spiritless rooms where they tied down the ill until they got better or spoke the right passphrase. According to Hazel, complimenting the place and asking loudly to stay was proof of a sound mind. Or a lost cause.

There was something defensive about that story too.

Rai was still being questioned. The receptionist and loitering patrolman in the station lobby would probably get rough if he went in to protest again. And waiting for Rai under the greasy sky wasn’t much of a prospect.

Sao buttoned up his jacket to hide the streaks left by Maya’s zombified blood, and called a taxi to take him to Mainline Hospital.

—

Flaxen cloth curtains had been installed over the floor-to-ceiling windows of the waiting room so that it was pleasantly sun-bathed, rather than sun-cooked. There appeared to be even more visitors today, or maybe they had just distributed themselves more evenly across the room thanks to the additional shade.

Sao made his way tentatively to the stairs that led to the basement, but was stopped by a guard telling him there was some business going on downstairs and non-staff weren’t permitted at the moment.

He left the guard with a message for Cadmus, and returned to the waiting room to help himself a cup of tea at the lobby refreshment stand. Then he retreated to a cool corner to doze off.

That was what he intended, but submitting himself to his dreams had become more difficult lately. He found himself stirring at every small noise and movement. A metallic ringing lingered in his ears, stinging when there was nothing else to focus on.

His eyes flew open in time to see someone about to wake him. “Axelle. How good to see you.”

She straightened up quickly, adjusting the ribbons in her hair, small scarlet coils that reminded him gift wrapping. “I just refreshed stock at the tea station, if you wanted a refill. Are you waiting for someone?”

Wasn’t he always? Sao smiled. “Cadmus or Rai, either would do. Rai’s having it out with the Interstate police and I hear Cadmus may be busy for a while.”

“He’ll have to take a break eventually. Cadmus will, anyhow.” She blushed, faintly, then asked in a muffled whisper, “How is Rai doing?”

Sao considered the question. His instinct was to breezily state all was well, but Axelle had done enough for both he and Rai to deserve better. Sao gestured to her to follow him to the empty hallway leading to the conference rooms. “He’s taking the case rather hard. Personally, I feel we’ve leaned a fair bit, and the fact that these women didn’t really die is something of a comfort. But I think he’s affected by the idea that they made suicide attempts at all. Their goodbyes, some of the recordings, they are rather startling.”

“You should tell Cadmus.”

“I think we effectively have, he’s quite heavily involved now.”

“Oh, of course.” Axelle blushed again, her face as hot as her hair ribbons. “And, ah, how have you been taking it?”

“I’m a little surprised that Rai is so stricken by the situation. Sometimes he looks like he’s going to collapse out of exhaustion, and for him that’s extremely out of the ordinary. In front of Orchid and Maya he was… strangely docile. I mean, you’ve seen him work too, whether he’s jumping in his seat or trying to tamp down the extra energy, he always has just that - energy. I suppose it’s unfair to compare real cases to all the gory films he watches. I thought the implication of the undead was the reason he was interested in the case, at first.”

“That’s not what I meant when…” Her shoulders sagged with a sigh. “Actually, Rai’s situation reminds me a little of Cole’s.”

“Orchid’s surgeon? How so?”

“He’s assigned the surgeon to the girl who just came in, too. Cole always had his nose in those supernatural sighting tabloids, and he wasn’t shy about it. He loved to talk about how impractical and unreliable any kind of luridly written magical phenomena was, even if it was something tiny, like a lightshow or modifying flowers... Rumor has it he tried to get into magic courses as a kid, but couldn’t - I don’t doubt he was studious, but he just didn’t have any magical capability. It was a contrarian interest. I think that’s why he jumped at the chance to treat - maybe the better word is ‘experiment on’ what he calls a - um - zombie.”

“That is indeed the term. Imagine that. It was even used in the court case versus the military.”

Axelle was not especially uplifted by that factoid. “Well, don’t wave this in his face, but I think he’s changed. He’s still making inappropriate jokes and boasting that anyone who doubts him should step up, but his heart's in it now. He really worries about how they’re going to help Orchid. They’re practically bosom buddies, it’s kind of cute, and at the same time he’s somehow become more professional around her. He’s bracing himself; he’s had people die on the operating table despite his best efforts and it takes the wind out of him every time. He might have thought that there was no danger with this one, she’d already been through the worst of it. But her condition worsened. And then Aquila came in and her state worried him alot. And now, there’s Maya…”

“We’ll find a way to right this.”

“I wish it wasn’t on your shoulders. I heard the police have requested aid from the military. The hospital’s doing the same, but it’s all secrets and silence.” She looked him in the eye for a while. Her lashes were thick, feathery and precarious, about to fall or else take flight. “You look tired. Why don’t you take a nap in the staff lounge?”

—

He woke to a clatter of cups and plates.

“Thank fuck for Maya,” Rai was grumbling, setting up a cup under the rumbling beast of a coffee machine. Unlike the basement and upstairs rooms, the ground-floor staff lounge was spacious and well-furnished, with a large curved sofa and a circular table centerpiece, always loaded with sweets and snacks. “And I’m not just thankful because she kept calling to firmly say I wasn’t the attacker. She apparently swallowed her supply of E34 pills right before we visited, just in time to save her hands. Said she was paranoid…”

“You might call it prescient.”

“Exactly.” Rai was plowing through a basket of flavored capsules for his coffee. “What do you think is better, vanilla or caramel?”

“Make two cups and try them both.” Sao unfolded his arms and extended his stiff legs. “What time is it?”

“Still early.” After Rai set another cup under the machine’s nozzle and the scent of vanilla began to waft out. “Just glad to be out of there. Today was a real mess. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“My fault. I was supposed to stop person who attacked Maya.”

“I was a fucking idiot to walk into that without backup in the first place. It might have been better if we’d just ignored her requests and sent in the military.” Rai slouched over the sofa opposite from Sao. He had taken off his jacket, and since he was down one glove, he’d decided to forego them and handle his coffee barehanded. In nothing but a t-shirt and scuffed jeans, he looked bizzarely youthful. “Would you have been able to do anything, had he come after you with a knife?”

His doubt was reasonable, as much as Sao wanted to deny it. “Probably not, but I like to think I could have gotten a few words in.”

“At least you weren’t cut up.” Rai flashed a smile, but when he realized what he’d said, it was snuffed instantly. “I mean that, I don’t think I would have been able to handle getting nailed for two victims. The guy I chased was definitely an E34 zombie. His face was heavily damaged - I think he’s the friend of Aquila’s that Cas mentioned. He panicked a little when I mentioned her.”

“And went off an overpass.” Sao slung himself toward the table, and searched the treat bowl for chocolate. “That might have been our mystery caller, or the distributor. The attacker I saw, who cut her hands… I don’t think Maya recognized him. The caller convinced her to come out of hiding - I would have thought she’d be able to identify him.”

“She puts a lot of stock in online chat - remember, she had arranged with her friends for someone to help come stage - er, guide - the suicides, but she didn’t know what this person was like, either. Signs point to the guide being Aquila, but Maya didn’t recognize her.”

“Maya fled before meeting this person.” Sao began unwrapping his chocolate bar. “But Orchid didn’t.”

“Oh, right - Cole confirmed what we learned, about a guide being expected. But Orchid said she didn’t recognize Aquila either. We’re not leaving today without talking to her.” Rai swirled his coffee, sniffed the results of his chosen capsules. He was looking relatively tranquil, moreso than Sao felt himself. “I wonder who the anonymous tipster was, who called the cops saying I was the culprit.”

“The hooded attacker was wearing a similar jacket. And… it’s likely staff or guests saw us enter the room.”

This seemed to settle Rai long enough for him to finish his mug. He was having another sift through the basket of flavors when Cadmus, corkscrew curls and pockmarked skin both flaring, pushed through the door. “Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.” He had a laptop under his arm which he threw down on the sofa. He glanced at Rai who was wrist-deep in coffee capsules, then at Sao. “What happened to you?”

Sao’s jacket had come undone during his nap, revealing the tainted bloodstains on his white shirt. They’d melted and smudged in the heat, and even faded a little, now resembling murky gray clouds. “Maya’s blood from the scene. I’m surprised you knew what it was.”

“I didn’t know it was blood. Affected by E34 - that explains the color. No, I just thought it was odd, on you of the ordinarily pristine dress shirt.” Cadmus seated himself neatly where the sofa was closest to the table. He opened the laptop and called to Rai, “Stop playing with those cups and get over here. I have a meeting in less than an hour.”

Rai ambled over, a sheepish child under grandpa’s stern eye.

“First,” Cadmus said, making himself appropriately sober, “I must apologize for not sorting this all out sooner. Someone will be held accountable, but I won’t bore you with that unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately I do have to reiterate that both Jasmine and Hazel’s bodies are not here. They are two of the three bodies allocated to the morgue, which we were now unable to locate.”

“There was a third?” Rai asked.

“He was taken in on the 13th. An older man, estimated to be 60 years old, no identification. He was hit by a container truck on the road to the north side of the bridge. The driver and pedestrians who saw it claimed he jumped into the street. His neck was broken and ribs shattered. He was dead before the ambulance arrived.”

“No autopsy?”

“No. The cause of death was determined without one, and nobody ever came to claim the body. But I imagine that’s not what you’d be interested in. Nothing unusual about the blood was noted and his vitals were clearly gone. No movement. Some photos were sent to the police for ID.”

Cadmus pulled up an image of the man from the shoulders up. He was not particularly thin or scarred or pale, but screamed of lifelong poor health. His skin was a muddy, almost mustard yellow, lined with wrinkles that were slightly swollen which made him look tense, as if pain had not dissipated even in death. His skin was just half tone lighter than his stringy, unwashed hair. With the overblown light - camera flash reflected off a metal gurney - drowning out the nuances, his smeared coloration and blunted features resembled an incomplete (or slightly crushed) figure made of clay.

“According to the notes, he didn’t seem to have any external characteristics of our other E34 patients, such as black veins or gums,” Cadmus added. “When it comes to internal injuries, no in-depth examination was done.”

Rai was staring down the picture with such force Sao wondered if the man on the screen would be forced to wake up. The glowing veins within Rai’s forearms flickered slightly, like a pulse. “He came in on the 13th. Hazel was here the evening before that, and Jasmine four days later.”

“I hope I can make up for my poor management by helping with your timeline,” Cadmus said. “We took a good, long look through security footage and I think we found the moment of escape.”

He opened a few video files, each one a grid of four, showing the basement all at various angles.

“First one - evening the elderly John Doe came in. At this time, he and Hazel were in the mortuary storage. It’s also the night of the staff room robberies. We saw the thieves, large bags held over them like hoods, break into the staff room. We assumed they came from the fire exit, that someone had left it propped open by accident; it wouldn’t have been the first time - but that wasn’t the case.”

All four views were so still that may as well have been photographs, remaining so for a few hours as Cadmus panned the footage along. At 11.31, the mortuary room door opened and a gurney wheeled out, apparently of its own accord.

Rai was grinning. Sao thought he’d like it, it was a scene right out of a ghostly movie. But upon closer inspection, there was somebody - perhaps more than one person - ducked behind the self-propeled gurney.

“The mortuary rooms are locked at night. But individual body storage drawers aren’t,” Cadmus looked upon the chilling image with a cynical sigh. “They came from the inside.”

Caught by another camera, two figures ducked down and, cloaked in body bags, dashed to the staff room.

“Bypassed the card scan and picked the lock with tools from the medical room they’d come from. No cameras in there. People use it for changing…”

The walking corpses vanished into the room and came out moments later, still with the bags held up as shields, but there were the pilfered sweatpants, and the hem of a brown coat floating over bony bare legs.

“And then they really did take the fire escape out.” Agitated by this conclusion, Cadmus closed the file and immediately opened another. “The one’s the 18th. Day after Jasmine came in.”

The clock read midday. The halls were busy; bodies rolling in and out via the elevator. In the midst of the movement, an attendant led a tall woman, her long braid and thin-strapped handbag swinging in tandem, to the front of the showing room, a few doors away from mortuary storage.

“That’s Orchid,” Sao said.

“She came to see her mother’s body that day. With her cousin.”

Said cousin was a short, lanky figure with a drawstring gym bag and a baggy, sleeveless hooded shirt, a cap wedged over close-cropped hair. Sao wished he hadn’t laid so much importance into the look of hair when it came to their lineup. But years of painting over his own face gave him a natural suspicion of the faces of others. When the face on the footage crooked at an angle - looking at the cameras, they knew where they were - he saw the resemblance.

To three sneering stone imprints.

Orchid went to the room to view her mother’s body. The ‘tipping point’ she’d identified for her suicide. (How awful to have to inventory one’s life to identify the worst of it.) The cousin came out a moment later, waving. The attendant pointed to the end of the hall close to the staircase. Bathroom break.

But as soon as the door closed, the cousin strode straight to body storage and disappeared inside the unlocked door. Perhaps a minute later, they were chased out, apologizing, bouncing with nerves - fear or delight, Sao couldn’t say. Said cousin had managed to lose their drawstring bag in the process.

They jogged back to the viewing room and an hour later, Orchid and the alleged cousin emerged and strode away.

Cadmus regarded the events with a flinty stare and panned on. Eleven p.m. The mortuary door opened and into the dark hall walked a small figure in a dusty green jumper - large hood pulled up, naturally - and shorts. Sliding along the wall, she made a run for the fire exit and vanished. “The bag was hidden in the room. Looking back, it probably contained clothing, contact details, money - anything an escaping corpse might need, no need to rob the lockers this time.” Cadmus let the recording play on, but sat back, done with his presentations. “And that’s all we found.”

Rai reached for the computer, multitasking with the phone in the opposite hand. “You really came through. We would have had to work through these ourselves.”

Gratitude wasn’t doing much for Cadmus, who checked his watch. Sao noticed his forehead beaded with sweat. “I’ll need that back, unfortunately. It’s part of the meeting. I have a feeling it’s going to get ugly.”

“Just a minute.” Rai switched windows and rolled the footage of what was presumably Hazel and an accomplice, doing their staff room infiltration. He nudged the video scrubber back and forth. Trying to get a view of the accomplice. “That’s probably John Doe. I just wonder… maybe he’s the person I chased.”

“Are you two done for now?” Cadmus asked. He sounded drained.

How fitting, Sao mused, their zombies didn’t bite but they did seem to infect with exhaustion, even when separated by cameras, time and space. “Can I look over one more moment myself? I really appreciate this, Cadmus, it’s a great help.”

Cadmus flipped a hand at him. Not agreement, but resignation.

Sao shuffled along in the second video to a shot of Orchid and her alleged cousin. “That one’s Hazel.”

“You’re kidding.” Rai lunged forward, then back when he saw Sao flinch, and forward again when Sao cleared the way. “She shaved her head.”

“And she came back.” Sao made an attempt to button his jacket again. “You were right when you said Orchid knows much more than she’s admitted to.”

The laptop snapped shut, nearly taking Rai’s nose with it. “Cole’s been on and on about that too,” Cadmus said, wedging the computer under his arm. “You’ll want to talk to her ASAP. Cole’s not sure how long her condition will hold up.”

Remembering Axelle’s words, Sao felt his stomach drop. Cole seemed so put-together, like he was coasting on life, although he couldn’t possibly be. He must have been surrounded by sickness and suffering every day. With Orchid, he thought he’d found a patient he couldn’t lose, but he alone had been the one to discover this may not be true.

And Sao remembered Axelle’s words about Cadmus and Rai too. But Cadmus had already left for his meeting.

—

To hear her speak, Orchid was not at all close to death’s door, or even death’s driveway.

Maya being allocated a bed in the same large, private (now semi-private) room had her talking up a storm.

The head on the pillow whooped like a sports announcer, “Five million, did you hear? My recording's on track for platinum, baby. Too bad that video can never be monetized. I’m just surprised nobody figured I didn’t do it on my own. I was high as fuck, like hell I was going to be able to cut and tie and weld wire to the ceiling. Y’know I really have to thank this guide, whoever he was.”

“I keep telling you! It was supposed to be a woman, the Investigators said, but for some reason a strange man turned up. And he wasn’t professional at all.” Maya slapped her arms down, at the ends of which were her hands, tacked back on with stitches and bandages and wrapped in plastic film. The fingers of her right hand had regained a tiny bit of movement, the left was still numb. It was doubtful that waving and slamming them down over the course of conversation was doing much for recovery.

“No need to be so testy, I know you aren’t big on men.”

“I’m not being a man-hater. I’m saying it was a man who attacked me and he had his face covered, so he didn’t seem like a good person. You saw that Aquila lady’s picture; did the person who helped you with your wire look like a woman?”

“Didn’t look like the ex-spy, but might have been a woman. I don’t judge, and didn’t feel like ripping off her clothes and interrogating.”

“That’s so crass. I would have preferred to meet Aquila. I read that she pretended to be three different men’s mistresses simultaneously in a solo mission that consumed six years of her life. I can’t believe I’d never heard about her. Nobody talks about her even in the really indie spy groups–”

“How are you even getting online?” Cole asked, sitting in his usual visitor’s chair with his legs crossed. “You aren’t removing the plastic wraps, are you?”

“No,” Maya said.

“Don’t need to,” Orchid chimed in, smugly.

“You can get back to whatever you’re doing after this,” Rai cut in. “Maya, I wanted to apologize for today.”

“No need. It was quite an adventure. And I think I’m safe here, safer than when I was traveling alone, at any rate.” It sounded heartfelt. She swung up her severed hands with a smile. “And it’s a bit of a relief… I think Hazel would like the look of this, actually.”

Rai opted to study his shoes instead. “Yeah, Hazel and the others… I wanted to explain a couple of things that we’ve found out. Maya, today we met you because we got a call from someone who was involved in the ‘project’. Hazel’s project. I don’t fully understand yet, but I get the idea was for each of you to commit suicide, publicly.”

Cole's chair scratched across the floor as he turned to listen.

“Your reasons,” Rai continued, “I’m sure you had them. Your lives haven’t been easy. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. We know that there was a fifth person who joined your meetings after Sapphire’s death, and this person is the cause of the project in some way. After Jasmine’s difficult suicide, Aquila was called in by this person or Hazel to help… guide the rest. Make them smoother. How did that work?”

The women flashed a quick look at each other and Orchid responded. “We had to use this encrypting phone app. We chatted a bit and told her - uh, whoever the guide was - what we wanted. Then set a time and place. Mine was at home. We were supposed to delete the chat as soon as that was confirmed.”

“Makes sense. Covering tracks. And importantly, you wouldn’t permanently die. Because of a military drug, E34, that you somehow got your hands on.” Rai wedged his flickering hands in his pockets. Everyone was looking at them. “Correct me if I’m wrong. You take at least 12 pills, all at once, before the attempt.”

“It’s what Hazel did,” Maya said. “It was the safe bet, for the effects to take hold in time.”

“Did Hazel give you the drugs too?”

“Yes,” Orchid said, before Maya could sort out her own answer.

“Where did she get them from?”

No response.

“Her friend? The group newcomer?” Rai sighed and seated himself slowly onto one of the spare beds. “Orchid, on security footage we saw you and Hazel help Jasmine out of the mortuary under the pretense of viewing your mom’s body. That must have been hard. I guess this project is important to you.”

“Ask Hazel. You’re sick of hearing that, I know. But she’ll call. She’ll turn up. It was her idea and she’s like a pit bull when it comes to what’s hers. She doesn’t let go.”

Sao thought Rai would scowl hard enough to burst into flames, but he didn’t. He only slumped, heaved a sigh. “I just can’t imagine doing that to my mom. Using her dead body as part of some social media stunt.”

“Grow up. Your mom’s immortal, you’ll probably die before h-”

Maya gasped. Orchid let out a smaller gasp and stopped herself mid-word. The black tube coming from her neck shrivelled briefly as if in pain.

“We also have footage of the night Hazel left the morgue, one day after she ‘died’, with an unidentified man who also, coincidentally, died that morning. So we’ve got a mysterious attacker, some kind of drug distributor, and the motivation for you all embarking on this project.” Rai drew out the photo he’d snapped of the computer showing John Doe’s drab, dead face. “Who is this?”

Both women recoiled. Out of recognition or disgust, Sao couldn’t say. Cole let out a little cluck of displeasure too.

Rai turned his phone back so he could see it. “This is one of the people who came to the motel, Maya. The one I chased. I didn’t get a great look at him before he jumped, but his face was all beaten up.”

Maya was back to her trembling woodland self. “But he wasn’t the one to attack me. Maybe he saw the other guy had a knife, and tried to help…”

“He was wearing a bag on his head. And he leapt off an overpass to get away.” Rai swiveled. “Orchid.”

“I mean… he isn’t the guy I met at my house, for sure. Not the guide, or whatever you call it. That one looked more like you. Or even Cole.”

“Yeah,” Maya said, “the attacker wasn’t quite so… yellow. He had dark hair, I saw a little bit of that. And he was, I don’t know. Scary.”

“A big guy. Scarred face.”

“You saw his whole face?” Maya squeaked.

“I didn’t have my head on straight and it was dark, but I do remember the scars. Big ones here - wish I had my hands - imagine I’m making a claw and just ripping down my cheek - graah—”

Rai’s voice was strained. “You’re changing the topic. I’m talking about the man I chased. The man who Sao chased, the one who attacked Maya, is a different person. Do you know who either was?”

Several sets of bleary eyes turned to Sao as if he were the one responsible for the the whole ordeal.

Rai groaned. “I feel like everywhere I turn it’s a brick wall. The army won’t talk, and neither will you. The caller has reason to be worried, the military has reason to want to catch and bury any sign of their failed zombification experiment. They’re crawling all over the investigation, Orchid, you saw them. Any one of your friends who aren’t accounted for could be in real danger. Aquila was just an obvious first target.”

“You know all this,” Orchid said slowly, “then why are you bothering us? We’re victims in this now, aren’t we? How much research did you do into the old court cases before coming at us for - what? - not dying when we were trying to kill ourselves? Have you tried looking for the older survivors, even thought about why you might not be able to find them? Honestly, the way things have gone, I think you getting more involved will put everyone in even more danger.” She said it all with eerie, instructive kindness, like a school teacher at the end of her rope.

Sao said softly, “Are you sure you’ve never met Aquila?”

“Never. I wish I did, but I also kind of wish she never got involved. Look at what happened to her.”

“She was called in because Jasmine’s suicide was traumatic.” Rai had his hands out of his pockets, clenching fists and releasing repeatedly. All eyes on them again. “Jasmine’s the reason a guide was called at all, right? Couldn’t commit suicide properly and got another person hurt trying to clean up her mess. It’s a shame because it could have ended well, in my opinion. Aquila’s friend, the one who put her in touch with you, had told her that she’d like you. All of you.”

The silence was thick. Sao thought he could feel the mood sinking. He was kept afloat by how startled he was at Rai’s handling of things. Jasmine was now the target.

“You trust each other a lot. But the point is, there’s an invader in your project now. It might have worked out okay for you, Orchid, but Maya didn’t even get to record a goodbye. I’ve got some understanding that Hazel, Jasmine and your fifth member are working as one. But the attacker, this false guide, we don’t know what he’s up to, but it’s likely he’s involved with the military. I feel silly for going after a group who are willingly taking on death, but you want a choice when it comes to ending your life, right? You don’t want to be murdered. To submit to that is...”

“Orchid,” Maya muttered. “Maybe Jas…”

“Yeah. She’s weak, but not damaged like Hazel.”

Sao took that as a rallying on behalf of poor Jasmine. Rai did not.

“Exactly. When you talk about Hazel it’s like she’s been through hell and back. Jasmine, less so, but she was willing to follow you all down. She was shortsighted, even if there were good intentions.” As the eyes around him grew wide, Rai only stared at his hands. “Hazel escaped with a friend, but Jasmine walked out alone. I’m afraid of her getting caught by he fake guide, with nobody to chase him off, her arms and legs chopped off or some shit. Then we won’t even be able to get in touch with her, even if she wants us to.”

“Jas is a good person. But I think Hazel pushed her…” Without her hands to fidget with, Maya’s feet padded one over the other. “It’s weird that we never got any updates from her.”

“Speak for yourself. Jas didn’t run off,” Orchid muttered.

“Look,” Maya said, taking on a teacherly tone of her own. “I always thought Jas wasn’t a good fit. You said it yourself. There were times where she was faking to fit in.”

Orchid’s faded eyes looked up at them, and for the first time, Sao thought she looked distinctly tired. “You’d better not let anything happen to her,” she muttered.

“I say the same, gentlemen. I want to meet this Jasmine too. If something takes her out, I’ll throw a big stink,” Cole said. “Hell, if someone gets in here and messes with anyone, I’d do the same, considering all the time I’ve been forced to invest in this ‘project’.”

Orchid smiled at him, her black-crusted teeth poking from between gray lips. “He gets it.” Then to Maya, “go get em.”

Maya nudged aside her pillow and pulled out her phone with her. Then she leaned close and said quietly but clearly, “Mel, Call Jasmine.”

Cole groaned. “Voice commands. I should have guessed.”

“Going straight to her, huh?” Orchid muttered.

“Better if… Hazel doesn’t know.” Quickly, Maya entreated the baffled men in the room. “She’s not answered any messages from me so far.”

“You’ve been making calls, too?” Cole threw himself over one of the unused beds in a mock faint. The sheet was a mess, it was evidently not the first time.

Jasmine, or what could be assumed as her, stopped their little act. With a tiny click, the line picked up, though there was no greeting. “Hey, Jas,” Orchid called across from a bed’s distance away. “It’s Orchid. Guess who joined me today. Well, we’re calling from her phone, so–”

“Jas, we have some investigators who really need to talk to you. Something’s gone wrong with the… project. The, um, the hired help, that is, the guide isn’t who we thought she’d be. Perhaps you can meet the detectives in a safe place, they want to know more. Stuff we wouldn’t know.”

“Stuff you can check with Hazel, if you want,” Orchid added.

“We’d like to meet in place with people, if possible,” Rai said. “Safety in a crowd or something. Uh, hey. I’m Rai, the Investigator. My assistant is here with me, Sao.”

“And Cole’s here,” Orchid yelled. “He’s our doctor, he’s alright. Cole, say hi.”

“I’d say I look forward to seeing you, but…” Cole laughed.

Everyone looked so sunny despite the absolute silence on the other end. Sao felt like he’d burst. “Is she okay?”

Maya hung up. “Yeah, we agreed to work like this. You don’t think it sounded fake, did you?”

Sao wondered why she’d directed the question only to him. He didn’t push, and soon enough, a message came. Maya read it off. “Check Neocam?” Alright. She leaned close again and dictated to the device, ‘open Neocam.’ She remained bent low as Rai tried to peer over her shoulder. “Nothing.”

“Hope she didn’t send anything to me, I don’t even know where my damn phone is. Butler, you wouldn’t happen to have a computer handy…?”

Cole sighed operatically. Maya waved her dangling hands to pull Orchid’s attention back. “I can log you in.”

“I’m not giving you my password, and definitely not screaming it in front of everyone here.”

Sao frowned and reached into his own pocket after feeling the tiny vibration that came with a notification. The burner had nothing new to show, but his original phone had a message - one that came via Neocam.

A reply to the message he’d send Jasmine, when he thought she was dead. Hoping to scare a ghost, he’d written

I know where you are.

And now in reply there was:

Want to know where I am now?

p4p

“What’s P-4-P?” Sao asked.

Rai grabbed Maya and Cole before they could trample over and mow Sao down for a look.

“She wants a picture,” Orchid said. “Lucky her. She messaged the looker. Bet you know how to take a really good one. Wait - what’s your Neocam profile like?”

“There’s nothing on it,” Sao said. He held the camera up. “So what do I–?” In the camera’s viewfinder, milling about behind him like a theater troupe he saw Orchid bouncing to show her best angle, and Maya combing her hair back with her dead sealed hands. Rai tried to peer over Sao’s shoulder and stay out of the frame at the same time, and failed. Cole settled back in his seat, looking statuesque, or statue-like. His coloration made him look carved from granite. Sao smiled, and shifted the lens so he could capture them all.

Another ping. “She sent one back.”

It was Jasmine, a close-up shot of her face, wreathed in dyed lavender strands. Her face was red and her mouth upturned. Eyes bright. Vestiges of laughter. Behind her, hanging on the wall, was a painting of a sunset, a cool, pastel drift of color over billowing wheat fields. Sao felt like he had come upon a portal into a fantastical world. A better place.