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page0083.mm
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<p>Page 83.</p>
<p>“The first thing I’d like
to lay on the table,” said Cassandra Cautery when the elevator
doors closed, “just so it’s out there, is that we’ve
made a fairly significant investment in Lola Banks. That life-saving
operation did not come cheap.”</p>
<p>“The life-saving operation she
needed after Carl shot her,” I said. “That’s the
one you mean.”</p>
<p>Her eyes remained fixed on the floor
numbers ticking over on the elevator panel screen. “The second
thing is we’ve made a significant investment in <em>you</em>. In
providing the resources you need, to do what you want to do.”</p>
<p>“There’s something in
Lola’s chest. Something that’s not a heart. What is it?”</p>
<p>“Charlie...” There was
something odd in her tone: a tightness. “I’ve tried to do
the right thing by you. I really have. When you asked me to dispose
of Carl, did I quibble? Did I say, <em>Gee, that’s a little
heartless, he’s a ten-year employee with no arms?</em>
No. I did not.”</p>
<p>“Fire,”
I said, to clarify.</p>
<p>She glanced at me.
“What?”</p>
<p>“I
asked you to <em>fire</em>
Carl.”</p>
<p>“Actually,
your precise words were <em>get rid of</em>.”</p>
<p>“That’s
the same thing.”</p>
<p>She hesitated. “Of
course it is. But the point is, I’ve done my best to provide
you with a supportive environment. I’ve sheltered you from
painful decisions that had to be made. And there have been painful
decisions, Charlie. There have been many.”</p>
<p>The elevator doors
opened. We were not on the labs sublevel. We were somewhere else.</p>
<p>“But you had
to go and excite Miss Banks. Well, now I can’t shelter you any
more.” I realized what the tightness was in Cassandra Cautery’s
voice. It was nerves. “Now we’re all going to get a
little reality check.”</p>
<p>I could see myself:
on the wall outside the elevator hung a huge, ornate silver mirror.
To one side sat a little table bearing a lamp and a vase of white
flowers; to the other was a life-sized statue of a woman with an
outstretched arm and blank eyes. Some kind of goddess, I am guessing.</p>
<p>“Now
management wants to see us,” said Cassandra Cautery. “After
you.”</p>