Stick man was none the wiser, like she told Donner but he was still pissed. Luna wasn’t listening to him anymore. Bladder empty, she fell asleep, ignored him for the rest of the night, and in the morning a surprise awaited them because they were going to work with Ungle.

Also, there was something wrong with Georgia, but neither Ungle nor Ant appeared to notice at first.

“That’s memory work,” Donner said. “She’s young enough that her mind isn’t so full, but there are broken things in there now and there’s no telling how she’ll be affected long-term. Stay away from her.”

That was easy enough because Georgie had to get ready for school and she was slower about it than usual. Her eyes were glassy and Ant finally decided she must be sick after she hardly ate anything so Luna guessed there would be no classroom star stickers today, but she was hauled off into the car seat and on the road before she could get a closer look.

It was Take Your Child to Work Day, but Georgia had school, was sick instead, and had gone before anyway so Luna was up for the fieldtrip. She’d never gone to work with Pink before.

“Obviously.”

He was going to be surly all day.

Ungle’s car was a blue sedan, four-door, and very responsible. It was free of cigarette smoke smell or fast-food brown bags. In short, nothing like Pink’s car. She wondered what happened to it.

He drove with the flow of traffic from the suburbs into the city and parked in a four-story garage with the name of his company hung up on the side from which they entered. He used an ID card to get in without having to pay and had a parking spot with his name on it near the doorway. Reginald Gold.

She wished they had to park up on top, but it wasn’t fated and Donner didn’t care even a little bit.

She thought he must be scared of heights.

“I’m not!” His furious roar made her stumble stepping up the curb so Ungle carried her the rest of the way. Within the office, people asked who she was and he seemed proud to introduce her as his niece who had come to live with his family.

As she’d thought before, Ungle was a good guy.

The offices of Pacific Systems Strategies were full of machinery stacks with blinking lights and tangled wires, paperclips, and chewing gum. She didn’t know what any of it meant, but Ungle talked to his coworkers like it all made perfect sense so she wasn’t worried about it.

“And the...” he glanced down at her. “AI?”

She was deemed a non-threatening presence and that was a mistake because she did know what artificial intelligence was, though she had little interest.

“You should have more interest,” Donner scolded, “because what your uncle has been talking to coworkers about is no small matter. This is the kind of thing private businesses aren’t long allowed to work on. Not without consequences.”

“Then why am I here?” she asked silently. “They shouldn’t be talking about things like this in front of anyone if it’s that important.”

“No, they shouldn’t,” he affirmed. “But you are a child and compared to your aunt, who has begun to suspect you by the way, your uncle hasn’t spent much time with you. As far as he knows you're about as dumb as Georgia undoubtedly was at four.”

“What do you mean she suspects me? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Not technically, but she’s had conversations with you that are on a level far above that of the typical preschooler and she isn’t stupid. She knows you’re at least beyond Georgia's kindergarten level. If she hasn’t had much experience with children, which seems likely given she’s not had you tested yet, then you may get away with it until you’re enrolled in whatever God-forsaken institution that’s taken in your cousin. They will know immediately that you aren’t normal. What they’ll do about it no one can say.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Except a fortune teller.”

“Who are few and far between. Even if you manage to get in contact with the real deal, the chances they’ll see anything you care about are remote.”

She looked around the office as Donner fell into personal reflection. There were potted plants in the corners that almost looked real, but not quite. They had a waxy sheen that gave the truth away. These nerds weren’t going to keep actual oxygen producers alive for long and gosh did they look the part. Glasses with thick lenses, pocket protectors, and their hair slicked back. Some hadn’t shaved since yesterday and none of them had a child to bring to work so Luna was on her own. No doubt they were stereotypical, anti-social geeks.

Eventually, they left the main offices, an open concept for collaboration and much-needed socialization, for another room toward the back of the building. There was a single desk along with a small seating area with a coffee table. There were also donuts.

“Oh,” she said. “So, this is where you keep the good stuff.”

Donner was exasperated. “And there goes whatever cover you had. Blowing in the wind.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Wow, you said that out loud, this day keeps getting better!”

Ungle did feel forced to comment then. “Who, exactly, was being dramatic, Luna?”

She weighed his tone and facial expression. He wasn’t condescending or accusatory, rather it sounded like the way he talked to Georgia after school. He also asked Luna all about her days but seemed too awkward to hold a long conversation, which was fine. He tried, but lately, Donner had been telling her to keep her mouth shut which made things even more awkward.

She and her family hardly knew each other, after all, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“My imaginary friend.” She could feel him seething; it was in her mind, right at the front. A pulsing. “His name is Donner.”

“I see,” Ungle nodded as if he did, though she doubted it. “Like one of Santa's reindeer.”

She shook her head, “No, like the Donner Party.” He didn’t know what to say to that, so she continued. “Because he’s pretty depressed about having to live inside my head, which is how I imagine the people on that train felt about their situation.”

“On a train…?”

“Yeah!” Her enthusiasm was building. “You know, they were heading west on a train that got stopped by an avalanche and had to turn cannibalistic to survive. Sadly, there were no survivors. We know their story thanks to records people kept of the experience before they died of starvation and freezing.”

“If you keep telling that lie, people like your uncle, who don’t know the truth, will believe your nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, that’s the exact true story.”

“It is not and I told you what happened! They were traveling with a wagon train and they did not all die!”

That part of the conversation, an argument that continued for several minutes, was silent and it gave Reginald some time to think about the situation.

Reginald Gold the Third was smarter than his wife, by a rather large margin when it came down to it, and some might think the imbalance a recipe for disaster but it wasn’t. For one thing, they were hardly ever together in situations that could take a turn for the problematic. He had his work and she had hers and they both enjoyed themselves in their pursuits. They rarely fought and life at home was happy and peaceful because they did love one another and they took their roles seriously. It wasn’t that they didn’t have to work for it, in those early years above all, but they’d gotten to a restful place.

When the news about Autumn’s long-estranged younger sister arrived there was no question they would see to the funeral, such as it was, and the child left behind. They knew their peace would be interrupted and understandably so. A four-year-old left orphan after living that kind of life? Honestly, they weren’t sure what they were in for, but Luna was added to the insurance policies and eligible for therapy sessions. They were prepared for the long haul.

He hated to think of the plastic bag incident. So did Autumn. Worst moments of his life.

Beyond that though, nothing much happened. She was a content child who played well by herself. She and Georgia had tussles but that was no surprise given their ages and circumstances.

This talk of imaginary friends was new and he wasn’t sure what she thought she knew about the Donner Party or even if what she said was correct. She spoke on the subject with such authority that he didn’t dare question her and he supposed it didn’t hurt even if she had it wrong. Children had ideas about things and later found out what was right, one way or another, and he remembered hearing that imaginary friends were a sign of intelligence so that was positive.

Autumn’s descriptions of the child were basic things about what she did during the day and what she seemed interested in. They’d quickly learned of her aversion to screens and supposed it had something to do with her past, living with Arizona, whom Luna called Pink. As it was, neither of them were making any attempts to dig into the past. She wasn’t suffering from nightmares or extreme introverted behavior, neither was she overly outgoing. Her steady personality might not last and he did worry it might be because she didn’t feel safe to act out, but so far there’d been no major causes for alarm.

Except that one time with the plastic bag which he would try not to think of.

Again.