“His place is neater than hers,” Peabody observed. “Seems more organized, and more stylish.”
“She has her own organizational style, but yes, tidier.”
She moved onto his office, where Callendar was already at work on the comps. She said, “Yo.”
“Nice setup.”
“Nice? Baby, it’s rocket. Like total command center. From the main comp, he can control all the systems, the screens, even the ones in other rooms. He can multitask, no problem, but he adds to those capabilities with the aux. Workstation’s equipped with built-in smart screen. Oh, he gets hungry? He can command the AutoChef here or in any of the rooms. Have one of the droids serve it up.”
“How many droids?”
“He’s got three, no human replicas, straight mechanical. I haven’t gotten there yet, but my guess is cleaning, serving, security, that kind of deal.”
“Get me everything there is to get.”
Callendar wiggled her shoulders. “Good thing I’d be happy staying here all day.”
Eve stepped out.
“You can see why they’re friends.” Peabody gestured toward the bedroom closet. “Lots of costumes, lots of work gear. He’s got better clothes than the woman, but basically it’s the same deal. And like hers, and the vic’s for that matter, this room like the rest of them is set up for lots of play. Not bedroom type play, game play. Not bedroom game play, but—”
“I get it, Peabody.”
The bed, a roomy platform with a padded headboard, was neatly made with a good all-weather duvet and a few plumped pillows.
“No sex toys,” she announced. “Memo cubes, unused, a couple of handheld games, over-the-counter sleep aid.”
“Bathroom kicks ass,” Peabody called out. “Bubble tub, multi-jet steam shower, sauna deck, music, screen and VR systems built in, drying tube, the works.”
“Check for meds and illegals.”
She toured the rest, the second bedroom outfitted for games, a small, well-outfitted home gym, and as she’d expected, a holo-room.
She gave Callendar the same instructions as she had McNab, called Peabody, then headed out to check the last space.
“Baxter, Trueheart, and Feeney,” Peabody told her before she asked. “Feeney wanted in.”
“He just wants to play with the toys. Impressions so far?”
“They live and work as they please, and they live their work. She’s busy, likes to have several things going at once, so she’s got clutter because she doesn’t necessarily finish one thing before going to the next. She does a little cooking and since she doesn’t have to, she must like it. No droids, which is kind of odd given what she does. I think it’s that privacy issue. When she’s in her personal space, she wants to be alone. He’s more streamlined, and pays more attention to style. The second bedroom’s set up for gaming, but he’s got a convertible sleep chair in there, just in case.”
“Okay. There’s our shadow.” Eve jutted her chin.
Across the street, Benny stood on the steps of his building, watching them come. As they approached, he jammed his hands in his pockets, hunched his shoulders, then walked quickly in the direction of Var’s apartment.
“He’s mad, but he’s sad, too. At least I think so,” Peabody added.
“You can kill and be both.”
Benny had gone for a loft, too, with a space that occupied the rear of the building, on two levels.
Peabody gaped as they entered. “Wow. It’s Commander Black’s quarters.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Commander Black. Star Quest. This is a reproduction of his living quarters aboard the Intrepid.” Peabody ran her hand over the scrolled arm of a brown sofa. “It’s even got the burn marks from when Black had the blaster fight with Voltar. And look! That’s the old desk that was his great-grandfather’s, the first commander of the Intrepid.”
“He lives in a vid set?”