Karen walked down the long hall next to Pierce, his chair making a slight humming.

“Um, so… you seem very passionate about… police oversight?” Her voice rose on the last couple words, obviously not sure of the phrasing.

Pierce gave a short bark of a laugh, his face remaining pointed in the direction he was traveling, even as the rest of his body language said he was looking her in the eye and paying attention. She found herself unnerved by him, years studying human behavior, body language, and such thrown for a loop by the sudden dichotomy. “Police oversight. That’s one way to put it. Passionate? No. Angry. Very angry.”

“I have to wonder, wealthy white man, owning a third generation business based in a well to do part of town, anger at the police is... “ She trailed off, face twisting slightly as she caught herself, thinking about how to finish the sentence.

“Would I be so angry if I hadn’t personally had my life fundamentally altered? Careful Ms. Larson. That sounds a little more liberal than your station likes to hear.”

His posture changed again, that feeling of looking her in the eye. As it did, she caught movement from the back of his chair. Looking closer, she shrugged away the feeling, as the area was smooth black plastic, and not near the two cameras he had pointed out earlier.

“You’re absolutely right though. Much like so many celebrities take up causes for diseases you’ve never heard of only because someone they love has it, my focus is definitely created. Oh, I suppose there are some things that would have come to my attention and I would have done the right thing. The issue at our docks last year, for instance. But all the focus on policing the police? No. All the research into making our technology helpful to wheelchair users and people in need of accommodation devices like myself? No, probably not.”

“No profit in it?”

He laughed, full throated, and waved suddenly towards a window, a wave of greeting, not one designed to grab attention in that direction. He still didn't turn his head to look, Karen noticed, even though he was clearly waving at someone outside his line of site. Looking through the window, she could see a woman in a lab coat and safety goggles working at some kind of machine, looking up at the ceiling and waving at it. Following the lab worker’s gaze, she realized that a large lump was drooping down from the ceiling, a security camera of some kind.

“On the contrary Ms. Larson. The devices and technology we have begun producing are going to be amazingly profitable. Janet over there is testing several types of, well, plastic is the easiest word for them, to find one that has the flexibility and life we need for a joint used in gyro stabilization.”

“Gyro stabilization. Spinning disks used to help your drones keep down pointed down?”

Karen started as the answer came from behind her, not in front.

“Yes, exactly. You don’t want moody drones. You have to keep their attitude stable.”

The dry, deep voice behind her reminded her that Robert was following as well, lined up just after her and the cameraman in their impromptu caravan. She frowned at him as the pun resolved itself in her brain, and he chuckled softly, his laugh just as dry as his voice.

Pierce snorted in amusement. “See, the particular gyro we use for our water line of drones has also proven to be perfect for artificial legs. But there's a bit more weight and flex involved, so we need something strong to avoid making the part need to be replaced every few months. The legs though, once they’re ready for market? We’ll definitely profit.”

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“Water drones?”

“Oh yes. One of the things we pride ourselves on is modularity. The same parts used a dozen different ways give us a dozen different drones. Right behind me if you would?”

A large door slid open to their left, disappearing into the wall, and Pierce’s chair turned to go in. Karen followed close behind, coming into a large meeting room with displays covering the center table and lined up on top of cabinets around the room. Karen realized that the segue was planned.

“You see, we have a variety of chassis; flying, swimming, rolling, and different motors and sensors to put in each.” Pierce pointed as he named the items, and each one lit up with a spotlight for a moment. Looking up, Karen spotted a lump like the one she had seen in the lab they passed earlier, with a ring of lights that lit up whatever it was focusing on.

“Not to derail you, but, are you looking through that camera right now?”

Pierce paused in the middle of an obviously rehearsed speech about spray nozzles and their uses in both agriculture and underwater testing. “Yes, yes I am.”

Karen looked at him, then the camera, then the smooth patch of his chair where she had seen movement. “You pointed out cameras in your office that I couldn’t see, but these are obvious.”

“Well, these aren’t for security. It's useful for everyone to know where the person looking through the lens is staring.”

“Politeness, yes. Of course. But… you’re looking through all of them? At the same time?”

“Well, here, it's better to show than tell.” He took off his oversized glasses, and handed them to her, turning his body for the first time to actually face her. She realized as he did though, that he was still not looking her in the eyes, as his own were tightly shut.

“Are you all”

He cut her off mid sentence. “Yes, it’s just, very disorienting to break the view suddenly. It's easier to just close my eyes for a minute. Here, don’t put them on, just bring them close to your face.”

She reached out to take the glasses, saying “Thank you.” as soon as she had a good grip. He smiled, eyes still screwed tight, letting go of the glasses as she pulled them away from him and towards her own face. A dozen small images ringed the glasses when seen from this angle, with a larger image taking over almost half of what seemed to be a clear lens from the outside, but clearly wasn’t to the wearer. She saw herself from several angles, watched herself move. Stifling a curse, she reached behind and pulled on her dress, freeing a wrinkle of fabric that had bunched up, likely when she knelt down earlier. “So this is how you saw my notebook on the table. But... “ She handed the glasses back, pushing the arm against his waiting fingers to signal their return.

He gripped the arms. “Thank you.” With the words, he pulled the glasses to his face, falling easily out of her instantly loosened grip. “But?”

“How do you focus on all that. And, the main screens, they were on the outside edges. And… different images? Not stereoscopic?”

“Well spotted!” Glasses back on, Pierce turned his head and looked directly at her. She gasped and pulled back. His eyes were pointed both outwards, the pupils aimed in opposite directions. He looked, she thought, like a caricature of a cross eyed person. Or, maybe, someone doing a Peter Falk impersonation with both eyes at the same time. “Sorry, that can look a little, weird. But it’s quite a useful party trick. It takes some training, but the human brain is more than capable of focusing on and analyzing two different images at the same time.”

“How, how much training?”

“Oh, a few weeks really. And we don’t dare let anyone wear these while walking around. We find you can focus on one main screen, a couple peripheral, and the real world all at the same time. But two main screens, and you tend to miss the ground and fall over.” He slapped the side of his chair, tap tap tap. “As you can see though, I don’t have that issue.”