"What you're looking at is a constellation." A holographic cat snarls at me from behind a ficus. Maybe I don't wanna know why it smells like catlitter if the cat's not real.
"This sounds really familiar are you sure you didn't get this from a Whitney Cummings and Dave Grohl podcast?" I snarl back at the cat and it morphs into Puss in Boots. The eye to head ratio precipitating an "aww." That's not fair.
"Who's Dave Grohl?" Science Sam ain't that pop culture savvy. However retrograde the trend richochets.
"Good point."
His office has the typical sciencey stuff. Lots of screens. Always on. Predates the Publink system. Invisible or selectively visible being just as easy to manipulate. Lots of beakers of varying sizes filled with stuff you probably shouldn't drink. But I'm sure there's something around here to negate the effect even if you did.
"Close your eyes. And leave my cat alone."
I close them. The smell of the kitty litter intensifing. Artificially so. Sensoriums been modified. Some of it by request others not so much. "Are you going to kiss me?"
"Imagine the night sky. How many stars can you see?"
"Just the ones I want to fuck. Speaking of which I hope that's not what the cat's for."
"I have a girlfriend. And not those types of stars."
"Does she go to different scho-" Focus. "Too many to count." I open my eyes. The plot points on the map now only showing two.
He takes on a lecturey tone. "Even if you only see two points. And the connection between them-"
"You need a thicker pencil. Bet that's not the first time you've heard that."
He clears his throat. "Even if you only see two points and the connection between them. They are still separated by time and space. A path is nothing more than steps strung together."
"Okay."
"And for your information I don't need need a thicker pencil. It's all related. If in the grand scheme of things it all comes from the same place."
"Didnt take you for a man of faith Science Sam." Shit. Fuck. Damnit. "I mean Sam. Sorry forgot you're not really a scientist. And I'm not really a detective."
"My point is Interpol has been tracking the-" he does that thing where someone is momentarily distracted while they confirm with a search engine.
"Supermercados."
"That's not their name. Even if you see the two points. Who they're going to flip next. No matter how separated they are. There's no way to prove it. They have to show everyone else. Or maybe they don't. Who knows."