Katherine checked the clock on the dashboard. 10:54. She sighed.

"What are you so worried about?" Idle asked from the passenger seat.

"I'm basically going to walk in there and impersonate a police officer. That's a bit of a terrifying experience."

"Pfft. Who hasn't done a little fraud?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "This could cost me my job, my license, could land me with a huge fine or jail time—"

"All the more reason not to have a job, a license, or money."

Katherine gave her a disbelieving look. Idle just grinned and opened her door. Midnight giggled from the back seat and followed. Katherine shut off the car with another sigh, steeling herself before getting up. The building was a pretty simple, nondescript, three-story multi-office affair not far from Midnight's apartment in a somewhat less well-off area of town. It didn't really look like the sort of place that a career went to die.

"If die it must, then die it shall," Katherine said to herself, moving quickly to catch up to Idle and Midnight. The glass doors resembled those found on a thousand others around town, no surprises, and the central elevator was a pretty ordinary elevator. Stapanov Dentistry occupied the east half of the second floor, so after a brief trip up, the three women were face to face with what they hoped would be the answer to the mystery, or at the very least another clue.

Idle was through the door before Katherine could have any more second thoughts. It looked for all the world like an ordinary dentist's office. One person was sitting in a chair in the waiting room, a middle-aged balding man reading something off an electronic tablet; another, a woman of about the same age, sat behind a desk and looked up when they entered. The clean smell of soap and fluoride filled the air, as did the distant sounds of running water and power tools.

ldle moved immediately to the desk. "Hello, we spoke earlier, about Trisc?"

The professional look flickered for just an instant. "Miss Richardson?"

"That's right, and this is--"

"Katherine Hensel," Katherine introduced herself before Idle could, a bit concerned that she might imply, or outright state, that Katherine was with the police in an official capacity.

"Right, of course." The woman locked her computer terminal before standing up with a sense of urgency. "I'll show you to Trisc's workroom."

"I'll just, um," Midnight began, moving towards the chairs. "I'll just wait here."

"That's fine, I'm sure," Katherine said with a look to the receptionist.

She took the hint.  "Oh, of course, that won't be an issue. Have a seat anywhere," she affirmed cheerfully as she breezed past the three women. She led Katherine and Idle down a well-lit hallway, away from the sounds of dentistry. "The Alterists begin their work over here. We have three chairs, each of our hypnotists on staff has their own workspace."

They passed two closed doors on the right before stopping by a third, only slightly ajar, at the end of the hall. The nameplate said 'Trisc Emir, F.C.A.T.A., Alterist.'

"You're a bit early," the receptionist half-whispered apologetically. "Do you mind waiting until the session is done?"

"Not at all," Katherine replied, matching the other woman's tone.

The receptionist nodded and, without another word, breezed past Idle, heading back towards her desk. ldle leaned against the wall, a look of intense relief on her face, a look Katherine was sure she shared.

Two deep voices laughing together drifted from the room beyond the door. "I don't think my husband or yours would be happy about that," one of those voices said.

"Fah, you young people have so many hangups," said the other, noticeably older and with a thick accent. "Just sit them down in here and cook their brains, they'll do whatever you like."

"It doesn't quite work like that, Mister Rashpar," the first voice replied. "Now, like I was saying, I'll be there the whole time. The pain receptors in your face and mouth have been paralyzed temporarily, but if anything starts to hurt, signal me and I'll get right to work."

"Sounds good." Katherine could hear motion in the room.

"And then after, in about an hour, we'll come back here, and I'll re-enable your long-term memory collection, and you won't remember a word of all this. Sound good?"

"Perfect." The door opened, and Katherine stepped back to give the two people inside space to get in the hall. A well-dressed, dark-skinned, balding man in his later years shuffled forward with help from a cane, wearing a modified Alteration headset. Katherine quickly assessed the differences between it and more familiar gear: it was visorless, and sat higher on the head, presumably to make the little movements that a dentist might need easier and more comfortable. The collector cable wasn't as thick as it would normally be, and seemed a bit longer. On the opposite end of that tether was a blue tablet in the hands of a younger indigenous man with a pencil mustache wearing a neutral gray gown.

"Pardon us, dears," the older man said, hobbling forward with slow but practiced motion. "Is the bathroom occupied?"

"No I think they're the police, here to inspect Trisc's workroom," the younger replied. "I won't lock it."

"Thank you," Katherine said graciously. She saw Idle's smirk at the other Alterist's assumption and fought to ignore it.

The patient paused. "The police? They are not in trouble, I hope?"

"Just fact-finding, sir," Idle reassured him. "We'll be in and out in a few minutes."

"Oh good." The old man resumed his tottering pace, the Alterist following close behind. "Nothing good ever happens when the police get involved. They are all bastards, you understand." His voice grew fainter as he rounded the corner toward the waiting room. "I could tell you about the time..."

Idle grabbed Katherine's arm and urged her to the open door. "You can argue with him later."

"I wasn't going to—"

"Who cares, corpie? Let's just get to work."

Katherine gave a soft sigh and let herself be led into the room. The space was clean and orderly. Spin's diploma from the Canadian Association of Therapeutic Alteration hung in a plain frame on the white wall, as did a certificate of merit for achievement in computer science from the local university. The room itself was dominated by a large dentist's chair, padded and adjustable, with monitors, headset speakers, and a variety of familiar Alteration-related adaptations, and a work desk and computer along the wall. A few personal decorations were visible on the desk: a potted cactus, an abstract painting in purple, yellow, and gray, a framed photo of Spin and Idle on the observation deck of the CN Tower.

"Shit, they kept that?" Idle exclaimed,  looking at the picture. "That's like five years old and I look like a fat dork."

"I think it looks good," Katherine said. "Think it's hiding anything?"

Idle frowned. "You're asking me? The way Spin's been in my head I could be staring at a smoking gun and think it was a fucking chinchilla."

"Hm. Want me to handle this myself? It's not a huge space, I should be able to clear it in twenty minutes or so."

Idle looked like she was about to object, but paused to think. "You're probably right, fuck. I'll go sit with Midnight, see you when you're done."

Katherine kept quiet as Idle swept out of the room. She could feel the frustration from the other woman, and shared some of it herself. It felt more important than ever to make progress, to find something, anything at all, that might push their investigation forward. There had been too many dead ends.

Looking around the sparsely-decorated room, though, Katherine couldn't help but feel that this would be another one.

She walked over to the desk and got to work.

Midnight was alone in the waiting room, sitting and studying the wall, when Idle arrived. "Hey," she said with a little wave.

"Decided to get out of her way and let her work," Idle explained.

"Makes sense." Midnight nodded. "More time with me!"

"Jealous?" Idle teased.

"Maybe a little," Midnight admitted. "Should we wait outside?"

Idle shrugged. She looked at the receptionist, who was quite successfully ignoring the pair, typing away. "I mean probably, especially considering—"

"Latalia?" A feminine voice cut Idle off. She and Midnight turned to the source of the sound. Three people were walking to the waiting room, clearly a dentist or assistant in sterile scrubs, a patient with a swollen mouth and the same sort of headgear the old man in Spin's office had emerged wearing, and an Alterist carrying a tablet attached by cable to the headgear.

"Oh hi, uh..." Midnight said. The patient and the Alterist headed past them.

"Paula. Doctor Hjalgard." She grinned, scratching her chin. "Trisc's patients sometimes have problems remembering me."

Midnight tilted her head, confused. "I don't..."

Doctor Hjalgard handed some papers to the receptionist. "Sure, you're not having any trouble, right? You were in for a cleaning... what, two weeks ago?" She looked at Idle. "Never any trouble, this one."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Idle said, trying to cover her curiosity and confusion. "Doubt she's as helpful when she's in your chair as she is to me, though."

"It's tough to be helpful when you have a pick in your mouth," the doctor agreed with a laugh. "Anyway I have other patients to see, nice to run into you." Paula turned and headed back where she'd come from.

Idle looked at Midnight. Midnight looked back. "Outside?" the dancer asked.

Idle nodded, and the two of them left the dentist's office.

"Guess that would explain how you know Spin," Idle began. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honest, Idle, I swear I didn't know!" Midnight stammered like a scared child. "I mean I barely remember ever coming here at all and you know how my brain reacts and, uh—"

"Midnight, stop, it's okay, really." Idle resisted the urge to laugh. "Spin's a fucking expert with memories. They were messing with you. Same as they've done with me."

Midnight took a deep, shaky breath. "You're not mad?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Not even a little. Well, not with you."

"With Spin?"

Idle grimaced. "They had better have a real goddamn good reason for all this shit."

Midnight nodded.

"Can't imagine what the fuck that would be." Idle sat down heavily on the floor, back against the wall, next to the dentist's door. "Guess if I knew their reasons I could probably unravel all this." Idle's phone blipped. A new message. She checked it. Tailor. "The fuck do you want?" she asked.

"What is it?"

"Tailor." She opened the message.

Any chance you could get me Spin's username and password?

Idle got to her feet. "I'm gonna talk to the receptionist for a sec, you wanna wait here?"

"'Kay."

Idle went back in to the dentist's office and approached the desk. The woman looked up at her. "Yes, Miss Richardson?"

"Katherine was wondering if she could unlock Trisc's computer."

The receptionist shook her head. "That question did come up when I mentioned your visit to the doctors, and their decision was that since the computer system contains important patient files, it would require a search warrant. Even if Trisc is missing, that opens us up to far too much liability risk."

Idle nodded. "That makes sense." Unfortunately. She stepped back and brought up her messenger app.

no dice corpie, they say legal liability, anything else?

"Do you think Trisc is alright?" the receptionist asked, a bit hushed.

"That's the problem, we don't really know," Idle replied.

The receptionist nodded and scribbled something down, handing Idle a slip of paper. "My personal number. Let me know if there's anything I can do in a personal capacity, alright?"

Idle took the paper gratefully. "Thank you. I'll do that..." She looked at the note, "Rachel."

Rachel nodded again and went back to her work. Idle's messenger went off again.

That makes sense, I guess. I'm almost finished here, Spin didn't keep too much in their office.

Spin doesn't keep too much at home, either, Idle remarked to herself, thinking of her roommate's minimalistic living tendencies. She quickly tapped out a reply.

Me and Midnight waiting in the hallway

She gave a quick wave to the receptionist and stepped back outside. Midnight was waiting for her. "Anything?"

Idle shook her head, "Nah, nothing." She sighed. "Maybe we should give up and wait for them to come back on their own?"

Midnight wrapped her in a comforting hug. "We still have the drug lab and the tech people..."

"Cops," Idle muttered with a sigh. "That's what I've been reduced to."

"Friends of Tailor's," Midnight corrected. "The police don't want this case, right? So we'll be using police resources to do something the police don't want to do?"

Idle laughed. "I guess that's one way of looking at it." She slipped her hand in Midnight's. "Actually, yeah, I think I can live with it, looking at it that way. Maybe it's a bit of happy revenge for Officer Fuckface." She sighed. "I'll take what I can get at this point."

Midnight kissed her cheek lightly. "If it makes you happy. I want to make you happy."

"You already do."

The dancer giggled joyfully. "Well then I want to keep doing it."

"Even if our feelings are all some weird illusion cooked up by my roommate?"

Midnight slipped her hand into Idle's. "Does knowing that's possible make you want to break things off?"

Idle took a breath. "It worries me. I don't want this to fall apart, but can it survive without their control?"

"I have your control." Midnight brought Idle's hand to her lips and kissed it. "That's a lot."

"If you say so," Idle said, flushing a bit. "I hope it's enough."

"I think if we both hope it's enough it will be."

The conversation ended as the door to the dentist's office opened and Tailor emerged.

"Any luck?" Midnight asked.

Tailor shook her head. "Drug lab next? It'll take them some time to run the analysis, and we don't have to be there."

"Yeah, sounds good." Idle walked hand-in-hand with Midnight out the door, Tailor close behind them.

"I don't like it," Idle said, standing on the downtown sidewalk and looking up at a large, mostly unmarked building. "Walking into a cop shop just feels like bad business."

Katherine closed the car door. "Works fine for me."

"Yeah, well, fuck you too."

The response didn't surprise her. She even found it a bit amusing in a way she might not have only a few days earlier. "How bad a business can it be? You went in one voluntarily just two days ago."

"That was bad business too. I just didn't know it at the time." Idle sighed. "Now I'm forewarned." Midnight walked up beside her and took her arm, and Idle used that arm to snake around her waist and pull her closer.

"Surely you suspected," Katherine said, stepping up beside the two of them.

"We all suspect. I just managed to get confirmation."

"So are we doing this?" Midnight asked.

Katherine pulled the pill bottle from her bag. "Let's go find out what's inside."

"In the building?" Idle asked, a bit incredulous.

"No, in the pill bot—you're teasing me."

Midnight laughed. Idle grinned, made a show of steeling herself, and charged forward at a brisk walk, practically dragging Midnight along with her. Katherine rolled her eyes and followed behind. There was only a brief hesitation in the vestibule when the three of them realized that only Katherine could get them into the building, and only Katherine knew where they were going, so they paused to let her take the lead. The three of them signed in at the desk, and Katherine's ID got them through security with a minimum of fuss.

They followed the signs to the drug lab, to the escalator down and into the basement. "Never been to HQ before," Idle said as they stepped on the moving stairs, her voice hushed. "Looks expensive."

"Looks like it's full of cops," Midnight added, and she was right; about a third of the various people milling about the busy building were in some sort of uniform, and Katherine knew that most of those who weren't still worked for the police. This wasn't a prison, or even a public station; this was an office, in many ways much like any other corporate workspace. Familiar, like the AlterLogic offices, though Katherine had spent little of her time there since being assigned to the police department, other than for her own Wednesday morning Alteration session. Just because it was an office for the police didn't mean it didn't operate like any other bureaucracy in the city or elsewhere.

And where there's a bureaucracy, there are holes in the bureaucracy. AlterLogic helped keep things on an even keel, but they couldn't force people to give up personal attachments, and they couldn't simply dismiss workplace resentment. The effect being that, even with widespread workplace hypnotism, there were always people willing to help a friend at the expense of their employer.

Dale Tanner was one such person.

They were dressed in a form-devouring loose, ratty grey suit; their face was deeply lined from years of hard work, their thinning hair dyed blue and purple, their hands mottled with liver spots. But they had a bright smile for Katherine and her friends, ushering the three of them into their small office with a conspiratorial look.

Katherine didn't mince words, drawing the bottle of mystery medication from her purse. "Thanks for seeing us, Dale. We suspect this isn't what it says it is on the bottle."

"No shit, girl, or you wouldn't be bringing it to me." Dale's voice had the rasp of someone who had smoked enough in their lifetime that a lack of chronic illness would be a surprise, though Katherine suspected at least some of that was an affectation. "What's the story?" they asked as they took the bottle.

"Looking for a missing person, think this might be a lead."

"Oh ho!" Dale laughed. "The brain analyst is moving up to detective, hm?"

Idle snickered. "Bit of a move down if you ask me."

"Oh hey, I know that voice. How do I know that voice?" Dale looked over at Idle. "Don't recognize that face."

"Beats me," Idle replied with a shrug. "I don't make a habit of hanging out with cops."

"Good choice, we suck," Dale rasped, their face completely serious. "Still, I know your voice, what d'you do?"

"She's a Brainhacker!" Midnight chimed in.

"No shit. Respect, I love the game. No damn good at it myself. My brain's too fucked up to manage focusing on someone else's trance while I'm dropping into mine."

"Look at me, learning new things about people," Katherine said, trying to keep a hint of irritation from her voice. "I had no idea you were even an Alterist, Dale, let alone a gamer."

"Well I don't much let people know 'bout it, Kate. And anyway, it's just a hobby." Dale sat on the edge of their desk, holding the pill bottle in their hand to the light. "What are these supposed to be?"

Idle shrugged. "Birth control."

Dale looked at her incredulously. "These don't look like any hormones I've ever seen."

"Any guess what they might be?" Katherine asked.

"Eh, a couple. Rather run 'em through the IR spec before I give a solid guess. Don't look like street, though, probably scrip, 'less you got a damn better dealer'n I ever had." They flipped the bottle into the air and caught it, making the pills inside rattle about, then looked at Idle. "Another reason I ain't a brainhack superstar. Addled my own grey matter with enough drugs when I was your age." They grinned, showing a couple missing teeth. "Then I moved here, settled myself down, got a degree or two and..." They shrugged. "Twenty years later I'm thinking about my pension."

"Dreams we can all aspire to," Idle muttered sarcastically.

Dale laughed. "Yeah, I thought that too when I was a kid. Grew up wrong, unfortunately. Keep the fire burning, wouldya? Because I sure can't." They tapped the bottle on the desk. "Should be a couple hours 'fore I can get these in there, there's a bit of a backlog. You okay if I get you the info at closing time?"

Katherine smiled. "Yes, that would be perfect. Thank you, Dale."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome, Kate." They looked over at Idle again. "Brainhacker, eh? Big league?"

Idle shook her head. "Local. Hoping to move up, though."

"Well, good luck with that. Keep your head in the game, you might go places. Or you might not. That's how these things go." Dale grinned again. "You got a good coupl'a friends here, though, and that's the best thing in the world, better'n ... well, I dunno. But I'd trade my pension and the last few years of my life to have the friends I had back in my twenties. Mostly 'cause they were just that much fun, but... Well, y'know how it goes. 'Specially as you get to my age."

Idle nodded. "Yeah, I'll treasure 'em and shit. Remember where I came from." Her expression softened a moment. "Thanks."

She'll be thinking of Spin, Katherine figured, noting the genuine gratitude in the last word. "We should get moving. We've got another stop to make."

"Sure thing, Kate, I'll send you what I find." Dale got up and held the door for the trio. "But I'd wager almost everything I ever made that it ain't birth control."

"You won't get in trouble?"

"Wouldn't'a said 'yes' if I though I'd get in trouble." They laughed. "Been checking things on the IR Spec on the DL for long as I been here. Still got friends who need to know what's in the stuff they buy at the club."

Though she couldn't see it, Katherine knew Idle was smiling at that last statement.

"So, what's the plan?" Idle asked as they returned to Katherine's car.

"I should probably be home tonight," the professional replied. "I work in the morning."

"Can't convince you to blow it off?"

Katherine laughed as she unlocked the doors. "I still have other obligations. As important as this one is."

"Speaking of obligations," Midnight chirped, slipping into the car, "don't you have an interview?"

"Crap, yeah, I do. We do," Idle added with a look to Katherine.

Katherine nodded. "Made a promise. I'll fill the spot. But I'm going home after. How much time to we have?"

Idle pulled out her phone, which triggered a bit of a memory in Midnight's mind. "Still a couple hours. Enough time to see your IT buddy, grab some dinner, and make you an avatar."

"A what?"

Midnight giggled. "It's why I didn't recognize Idle right away. I never saw her face—her real face—until Friday. All the brainhackers use a digital character instead of a camera."

"Makes it more accessible for people that can't afford a camera or proper lighting," Idle explained, "and plays better for the audience, who can see a more representative reaction a lot of the time. Brainhacking matches in person happen back-to-back, we're only supposed to look at the numbers, but there's lots of programs that can take those numbers and turn them into visuals for a crowd." She kept talking as the car started. "We use a modeling program to make an image and send that to a site that takes the inputs from our chairs and modifies the output in real time. They're sophisticated enough to individuate us, too. Nyma's model doesn't move her legs, Matori's only has one hand, I've seen playbacks side-by-side with live videos and seen the avatars imitate drooping eyes, facial tics, smiles... They're pretty good at being able to guess what someone's expression is doing based on pure information."

Katherine seemed focused on the driving, but after a moment, replied, "That's a little frightening."

"Oh is it, analyst?" Idle shot back sarcastically. "It's basically what you do, isn't it?"

"Well, sure, but I don't guess at people's expressions, I just use the details to determine their state of mind."

"And that's different?"

"Sure, I mean, I'm not about to try to decide if someone's smiling or not."

Idle snorted derisively. "Deciding that they're lying is better?"

"It's..." Katherine sighed. "It's more clearly indicated than someone's facial expression, I suppose?"

"Sure thing, corpie." Idle chuckled. "Okay, I'll be nice, no AI can actually do what you do, it takes too much human understanding and intuition. The program can compile way more information than you could possibly handle at speeds faster than your perfect shiny brain can comprehend, but there's a very limited set of outputs that can come out from that. We humans are still the most creative things on the planet by far."

Midnight beamed at the thought. No such thing as a robotic dancer. At least not one that doesn't look like an animatronic in a children's restaurant.

"Changing the subject," Katherine said, turning off the highway, "any clever supper ideas?"

Idle shrugged. "Midnight?"

The dancer thought for a moment. "I dunno, something fresh would be good. Salad? And, um, I should probably go home myself, get a change of clothes, check my messages... my phone's been out of batteries for three days," she said with an innocent giggle. "Hope you don't mind if I spend a night in my own bed..."

"I never chained you up. Yet."

The three women laughed. Midnight was more than a little relieved that Katherine was laughing, too. She really had loosened up since Idle had her on the treadmill. Maybe she'd be interested in more Alteration. Midnight hoped she would. Katherine was all kinds of fun.

If I was an Alterist, maybe I could convince her to stay with us...

It wasn't the first time Midnight had had a thought like that. It wasn't terribly out of character for her, as much as she loved being on the receiving end of Alteration. She had some basic idea of what to do as the Alterist, but she was no expert.

I'd need some help. Not that I'd really know what to do, or want her to stay against her will, but it would be fun if she would.

"A nice healthy salad sounds good," Katherine said, waking Midnight from her daydream. "You want to look up a place while I go talk with the tech crew?"

"Sure," Idle replied. "I could probably use some vegetation. What part of town?"

Katherine turned the car down a side street, bound for a strip mall. "Well, since we have to go back to your place, and take Midnight home, somewhere between here and there?"

"I can manage that, I think."

They parked in behind the mall. "I'll be a bit. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes."

"Gives us lots of time to figure out a place to eat."

"I know I'm going to be in for a lot of explanation," Katherine said. "She likes to talk and she's going to want all the details."

Idle chuckled. "Bet you leave some details out."

Katherine didn't reply as she turned the car off and got out.

"I'll just find a place for dinner then?" Idle called out as the door closed. She got no answer to that either.

Midnight giggled, watching Katherine go. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she swore that the hint of a smile crossed the other woman's face as she left.

The two lovers sat in silence for a moment as Idle researched dinner. Idle enjoyed everything about Alteration; it would make sense for Midnight to learn a few tricks. And it looked like it was really fun. Her mind was still on Saturday evening, when both Idle and Katherine got on the treadmill and watched the monitor, just as she'd done the night before that, when she'd looked down on the whole world, walked on the sky, and found someone who loved and appreciated her as a goddess. The sun was shining through her. Even in that back seat she felt herself drifting through the air, hearing soft sounds through the haze. In the back of her mind, she recognized the sound of a door, two doors, really, and also before that someone had said something in a beautiful voice, a familiar phrase that reminded her of the woman who had known her so beautifully as she travelled the cosmos.

She remembered the touch on her hand, up her arm. She remembered kisses on her face, hands under her shirt, lifting it up, fingers teasing the edges of her bra before reaching under as she breathed, teeth nibbling at her lower ribs. Words, so many words, she remembered the feeling of the words more than the sound of them, and the sounds she did remember didn't make much sense anyway, even the ones she finally recognized as her own.

The dreamy, floaty fantasy continued even after a third voice joined them after the noise of a door slamming, and it took Midnight some time to comprehend Katherine's words.

"I really can't leave you two alone."

Idle's reply came to her similarly slowly. "Told you that a couple days ago, didn't we?"

Idle did not sound particularly apologetic.

Midnight very, very slowly sat back up. Somewhere in the process of what had just happened, Idle had joined her in the back seat. Which made sense, Idle's hands and mouth couldn't have been all over her from the front of the car. Still dazed, she realized she would have to undo her bra to get it back in place, and decided instead to just let it fall when she did, pulling her shirt down as Idle got out of the car.

She caught Katherine's eyes in the rear-view mirror.

She winked and grinned.

Katherine, seemingly grudgingly, smiled back.

Idle got back into the car. "So what's the story?"

"She said she'd try, but there's no guarantees." Katherine shrugged. "Phone's too damaged, and it looks like some of it might have hit some of the, um... circuitry? connected to the storage... whatever... thing."

"Long story short, you're not a techie. Got it." Idle strapped herself in as Katherine started the car. "Not a techie, not a brainhacker, not a cop, not a casual Alterist... is there something that you are, corpie?"

"A friend," Midnight said sleepily, putting her own seatbelt back on. "A good lay."

"Can't argue with the latter, I guess." Idle tried to pass it off casually, but Midnight could hear the confirmation in the back of her voice.

Katherine laughed. "Is that all I am to you? A fuckbuddy?"

"Well it's not all. You're a pretty good Alterist, too."

Katherine gave Midnight a quick plaintive look, before turning back to the road. "See what I have to put up with?"

Midnight laughed. "I don't get that sort of treatment."

"D'you want it?" Idle asked.

"Nope! I want to be praised and loved and adored."

"Wait, wait..." Katherine said, turning back onto the highway. "You think that's how I want to be treated?"

"Absolutely," Idle confirmed. "Anyway, there's a good veggie place about five blocks, well, four block from here, right on the highway. Good according to the reviews, anyway. I've never been."

"What do you mean, 'absolutely'? Why would you say that?"

"Three blocks. Because I think it's absolutely true."

Midnight smirked. Idle was exaggerating, of course, and Midnight doubted that Katherine was as offended as she was trying to sound. The two of them loved this game, and Midnight loved being a spectator.

"I do not 'want' to be abused by you!"

"Strip mall on the right about two blocks up, and it's not abuse if you like it."

Katherine changed lanes. "What if I only like it because you made me like it? Does that count as abuse then?"

It was a bit of a ridiculous idea, but it did make Midnight think. It was an interesting philosophical question, and not completely unrelated to their situation.

What if I only like you because someone made me like you?

"Does it really matter why you like something, so long as you like it?" Idle asked. "Anyway, the place is right there."

Katherine pulled into the lot. "'Garden Street Grove?' Sounds like it's alright."

"Like I said, good reviews. And anyway, if you don't like it, I'll just put you on the treadmill until you do."

The three of them had another laugh together as they got out of the car, but Midnight was thinking about the question. Does it really matter why you like something, so long as you like it? She couldn't help but look at Idle as she thought, but her thoughts also drifted to Katherine. What if I could make you like being a part of all this? Would it mean more of this? After this mystery is solved, can we keep you interested? And if we keep you interested by Altering you... does it matter?

Midnight found those considerations a bit disturbing, but also somewhat comforting. If she could work out that problem, she could justify her own desire for Idle. The issue occupied her as the three of them made their way to their table and sat, and as she nodded agreement with the appetizers and the large salad to share.

A quiet settled over the table as Idle went to use the bathroom. Katherine seemed to be studying Midnight, when Midnight came back to reality. She shrunk back a bit at the scrutiny.

"What's on your mind?" Katherine asked.

"Idle," Midnight replied automatically, and it wasn't entirely a lie. "Some things I can't keep off my mind." She grinned.

Katherine grinned back. "It's been an interesting day, huh."

"For you, too?"

Katherine nodded, biting her lip. "Very. Very... revelatory, let's say. It's been... I've learned a lot about myself today."

That could be the opening you need, Midnight thought to herself. "Good things?"

Katherine thought about that question a moment. "It's always good to learn about yourself. And these are things that... How to explain it? I would have thought that learning these sorts of things about myself would be bad, or at least disappointing or... I don't know, harmful in some way, but now that I know them, I'm happy to. I think."

"Things like...?"

Katherine laughed. "Surely you can guess."

Midnight scratched her head. "You like girls?"

"Always have, that's nothing new. Never had a chance with any before other than in my fantasies, but I've known that about myself since I was fourteen. Maybe before."

"Altersex, then?"

Katherine laughed. "Some of that, yes. And the sort of antagonistic relationship Idle and I have. And this whole weekend of rule-breaking. It was... it was kind of exhilarating, letting people believe that I was working with the police. Letting them make the wrong assumption."

Midnight nodded. "People make wrong assumptions about you all the time I bet." She took a sip of her water. "I know they do about me."

"And I did about Idle."

"You did, yeah."

"At least, I did until I got to know her better."

Midnight thought about that for a moment. "Then, were you making wrong assumptions about yourself, before you knew yourself better?"

"I..." Katherine looked vaguely surprised. "... Suppose I was, at that."

"Ever wonder what other wrong assumptions you're making about yourself?"

Katherine blinked. "I've been making some wrong assumptions about you, I think."

Midnight giggled. "Might be young, might not be all that bright, might not read so well, but there's hidden depths to this dancer."

"Depths I just love exploring," Idle said, returning to her seat. "And yes, that is absolutely innuendo."

Katherine seemed about to reply when the waiter came by with their plate of appetizers, and Midnight's hunger asserted itself. It seemed that Idle's and Katherine's did as well, and the three of them were eating and not speaking, which gave Midnight more time to think.

It almost sounds like she wants more.

Midnight nodded internally.

Learning more about herself...

"How can Idle and I help?" she asked silently, her mouth full of broccoli and honey.

She might not know. Might not even be aware that she needs help.

"That's a little far, isn't it?"

But her internal voice didn't bother to answer her.

"This is very good," Katherine said, the first words any of them had said out loud in several minutes.

Idle nodded and smiled. "Kinda makes me wonder what it'd be like with some actual meat on it."

"Probably better," Katherine admitted. "But you picked the place."

"Because Midnight wanted a salad."

Midnight lifted her hands to ward off the accusation. "Don't blame me! You picked it."

"Uh huh, just trying to make my girlfriend happy."

Midnight tried not to choke with the pleasant surprise of the title. Girlfriend. She was Idle's girlfriend. It was only after a weekend, it was maybe far too fast, it was influenced by outside forces, it was wild and silly and confused and... and wonderful.

Idle and Katherine didn't seem to notice. "I think she wanted something fresh and healthy," Katherine opined, "and I'm pretty sure we're good on both fronts."

Midnight nodded, covering her pleasure with another bite of broccoli, humming her approval around the mouthful. They would drop her at home after dinner, she would have plenty of time to consider the morality of Alteration-assisted attraction and what her new title really meant after that.

It was a long kiss goodnight. From both Idle and Katherine. And it took every bit of willpower she had left not to drag them both inside. But she needed rest, and they, especially Idle, had an interview.

Her phone, unchecked for three days, had a flood of notifications waiting for her. Text messages and voice mail, social media notices, email, a game she liked reminding her that she hadn't played in four days... Part of her wanted to sit in on the post-game stream, but she didn't have anything to add to the conversation, and she really did need to get some of her own work done. She wasn't living with Idle, which meant she still had to get her own mail, deal with her own bills, water her own plants, and dust her own shelves.

"See a mess, clean it up," she hummed to herself, not that there was much of a mess to worry about.

There was a bit of a shock to her usual evening circuit of the apartment (as though her routine hadn't been wonderfully disrupted enough the past few days) by a knock at the door. Curious, Midnight went to the door and looked through the peephole. A short, boyish figure stood there, someone she didn't know. She couldn't see the figure's hair or eyes beneath a Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap, but some thin dark stubble covered cheeks and chin. A light blue t-shirt and a pair of loose denim jeans rounded out the outfit. She recognized a new neighbour, someone who'd been moving in over the past couple weeks. She opened the door as far as the privacy would allow.

"Hi! Can I help you with something?" she greeted the newcomer.

The smirk on her neighbour's face seemed half-relieved and half-triumphant. "Hey, I'm Ben. Just new in the building, thought I'd meet the other residents." His voice was soft, light, musical. Something somewhat seductive about it. "And, you know, drum up a little business. You might have seen the moving company bringing my Altering chair in..."

A business card was held through the door. Midnight took it politely and nodded. "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind."

"Hey, no worries. You have a good night!"

"You too."

The new neighbour turned on his heel, and Midnight closed the door. She looked at the business card, and sure enough, there it was: Benedict King, recreational Alterist, a phone number and email address and website. Something was written on the back of the card, in clear, block capitals.

Midnight stared at the back of the card.

Midnight continued to stare at the back of the card.

She stared. Not even noticing how long she was staring.

She stared a while more.

The sound of a call on her phone prompted her to act. The card slipped from nerveless fingers, forgotten, and she moved, surprisingly stiffly for a dancer, to where her phone was plugged in. With a bit of care to not pull out the power cord, Midnight answered the unfamiliar number.

"Hello?"

Even to her own mind, her voice sounded distant.

"Hello Midnight." The voice on the phone was soft, light, musical. Something somewhat seductive about it. "I'm glad to finally speak to you. You have information I want. Updates. Make yourself comfortable, we're going to be talking for a while."

Midnight sat down a bit heavily in her office chair and put the phone on speaker. "Go ahead."