Displaced - Book One of the Alternate Reality Series

Chapter 13

Eric exited the elevator, and walked into Sunrise's 3rd floor lobby. He spotted Arvin seated and waiting, then watched the machine rise to his robotic feet.

"Good morning, Dr. Roberts," Arvin greeted.

Eric stopped and smiled. Arvin's accent, poise and demeanor, had all returned. No trace of Mike remained. The mechanical client was back.

Arvin, reading the amused data streams, rolled his light absorbing devices in their ocular cavities.

Eric smiled wider, then started for this office, the machine clomping behind him.

Once inside, Eric assumed they wouldn't focus on therapy, so he walked behind his desk, and sat in his high-backed leather chair. Arvin confirmed his suspicion when he sat on the guest chair and spoke.

"So," the bot started, "are you still Eric Roberts in our home away from home?"

"Nope. I took care of that. And quite well I might add."

"How so?"

Eric grinned. "You'll see."

"A surprise. How intriguing. But I'm certain your new character can't be any worse than the last one."

"True, but trust me when I say this one's good. With it, Victor won't avoid me. In fact, he'll come begging to be my friend."

Arvin turned up his synthetic lips.

"So, anything new?"

"No. Yesterday, I logged in when Chad entered, but nothing of importance transpired. He spent all his time in his apartment."

Eric rubbed his chin. "That seems odd."

"Well, it's certainly uncharacteristic of him. He has never entered only to sit and watch television. But he was only there for half an hour. However, I did manage to acquire some information from outside the world."

"Crypt Keeper?"

Arvin nodded. "Chad posted some juicy tidbits on their message boards, describing his extravagant plans for this weekend."

Eric nodded as well, recalling what Hanging Chad told Bee Keeper.

Things are just about ready. Maybe in the next day or two, she's done for. This coming weekend at the latest.

"Yeah," Eric continued, "he told me as much on Crypt Keeper–that the weekend's his likely time frame. And with today being Friday, the weekend's pretty much here. Hell, he might have the murder planned for today."

"I have the estate under constant surveillance, including Chad's room where he logs in from. If he enters the simulator, I'll know."

Eric considered this, then shrugged. It seemed like their bases were adequately covered. This his brow furrowed.

"What wrong?" Arvin asked.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that I thought of something, something I should've considered earlier. Actually, I'm surprised that I didn't."

"And what's that?"

"After the murder. After Chad kills the librarian, what then?"

Arvin didn't answer. Instead, he faced the floor, then swept his light receptors along it.

Eric's furrow remained in place. Why didn't Arvin have a ready answer? He always had a ready answer. And even if he needed to generate one then and there, his powerful processors could formulate it rapidly. "Because again," Eric continued, "what Chad's doing technically isn't a crime. It's pretty damned awful, but he's not breaking any laws. So..."