.SH
ALIX GRAVES IN MIRACLE WORLD
.R

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A thin pink line.  Wider.  Dividing the horizon from itself, ready to
suggest new possibilities in Piro's field of vision.  He resisted the
urge, declined to acknowledge the expanded percept capability, even
for his own edification.  He would not be distracted.
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Not that anything about this had been easy, he would readily
concede.  Distractions, technical and otherwise, had nearly carried
him away.  Nothing in his wide experience had prepared him for the day
when his mother would finally die.
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.I
Now
.R
how would they get home?
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Of course there would come no reply from his companion of so many
years.  The woman was dead.  Unresponsive.  And now he would have to
find his own way.  It had been much the same when his father had
abandoned him to her care in the first place.  What had he been
thinking?  What was Piro supposed to do with all this pink?
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Whining about it was not going to change anything.  Dead was dead, and
pink was pink.  At least where her kind were concerned.  It was
actually rather remarkable that she had survived as long as she did,
up there in the Earth's atmosphere.  In this economy.
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This soliloquy was going nowhere.

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Alix retraced his steps.  He'd left the laundry room and wandered into
reception.  He'd taken the stairs all the way down to the first floor.
Everyone was gone.  Half of the building was gone.  What was going on?
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He was going to have to figure it out on his own.
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Just how he liked it.
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He liked to feel he was earning his money.  While it was true most of
his clients could barely articulate what they wanted from him, he made
it a point of pride to secure their approval of his work.  This
approach also cut down on lawsuits.
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Standing in the rubble of the Chrysler Building, Alix was no longer
sure what he was doing.  Had the client even survived?

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Tom spotted Alix, still standing there, obviously not knowing what to
do.  He walked over and said hi.
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.I
"Alix... my main...number one... guy..."
.R
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"I don't know what you want me to do here, anymore.  The building's
gone.  What's left to surveil?"

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.ps 10
Five years later.  Not much had changed.  Some of the rubble had been
cleared away.  The Actron Team was now based primarily out of New San
Francisco.  Alix maintained his mostly silent vigil at the scene of
the crime.
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Most days were pretty slow.
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Aside from the occasional text he rarely heard from his employers.
He was starting to think he should look for other work.

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"You what," Tom said, instead of asking. Their mom was making him mad.
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"I took a leave of absence."
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"We thought you were dead."
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"I might as well have been," was all she would say.
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"I think we all need a bit of time to process this," Piro suggested.
Clearly the only level head in the room.
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"I don't care what anyone says, I need to get reimbursed for travel
expenses." Now she wanted to be \fIpaid\fR for her mothering.
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Piro shook his head as Tom stormed out of the room.
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"Mom, he's right.  Our budget was thrown completely out of whack.
First Plinth, then you.  We didn't know what to do. And now we're broke."
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The RAGNAROK had half a mind to take off again.  This time for good.

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Alix knew his services were costing Actron, Inc. more than they could
possibly hope to recoup.