proof I’m not Mia.”
“They’re not proof of anything.”
“They are. Well, they will be. I’ll prove that I’m better now. I’ll prove that I’m
“You won’t prove it to me.”
“We’ll see about that. What do you know, anyway? You’re rich and famous, and a lot of men adored you, and you’re one of the major art collectors of the twenty-first century. Big deal, what does all that prove? Tell me who’s your favorite photographer.”
“I’d have to think.” Helene thought about it. “Helmut Weisgerber.”
“What, the guy who did that Arctic landscape stuff? The mountain climber? You really like Weisgerber?”
“I liked him well enough to marry him.”
“You really think Weisgerber was better than Capasso? But Eric Capasso was so sensual and lively. Capasso must have been a lot of fun.”
“Capasso had a great gift, but he was melodramatic. At heart he was a stage designer. But Weisgerber— nothing can touch a classic Weisgerber.”
“I have to admit I really love Weisgerber’s
“I commissioned those.”
“Really, Helene? That must have been fantastic.… ”
There was a timid knock at the door.
“I ordered us a mineralka,” Helene explained. “They’re very slow here.” She raised her voice. “
The door opened. It was Brett.
“Come in, Brett. We were just having a little discussion on aesthetics.”
Brett put her backpack on the floor.
“Brett, this is Helene. Helene, Brett. I mean Natalie. Sorry.”
“This is a restricted area,” Helene said, rising from her chair. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“So I broke in,” Brett said, adjusting her spex. “I thought you might be beating her with a rubber hose or something, so I came in to document it.”
“We were talking about photography,” Maya said.
“She gonna give you behavior mod?”
“No, I think the plan is to shut down my extension treatment. Apparently it’s been causing a lot of civil trouble.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s real important. A bunch of rich gerontocrats and some twisted extension treatment. That must be really fascinating.” Brett wandered to the window and looked out. “Nice view. If you like power plants.”
Helene stared at her in astonishment. “Miss, this is a police interrogation. It’s confidential. You have no business here.”
“What are you going to do to those artifice kids?”
“That subject hasn’t come up yet,” Maya said.
“You mean, they’re disturbing the universe, and you two old cows are sitting here talking about photography.” Brett flipped the window latch with her thumb. “Typical.”
“I really must ask you to leave,” said Helene. “You’re not merely being rude, you are breaking the law.”
“If I only had a gun,” Brett said, “I’d kill both of you.” She opened the window.
“Brett, what are you doing?”
Brett ducked under the window frame and stepped out onto the ledge.
“Stop her,” Maya said quickly. “Arrest her!”
“Stop her how? I don’t have a weapon.”
“Why don’t you have a weapon, for heaven’s sake?”
“Do I look like I carry a weapon?” Helene walked to the window. “Young woman, please come in at once.”
“I’m going to jump,” Brett said indistinctly.
Maya rushed to the window. Brett sidled away rapidly out of their reach.
“Brett, this is stupid. Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this. You can talk to us, Brett. Come back inside now.”
“You don’t want to talk to me. I can’t say anything that matters to you. You just don’t want to be embarrassed, that’s all.”
“Please come in,” Maya begged. “I know you’re brave. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
Brett raised her cupped hands to her face. There was a stiff breeze outside and her hair was flying. “Hey, everybody!” she shouted down into the street. “I’m gonna jump!”
Maya and Helene jostled for space inside the window frame. “I’m going out after her,” Maya announced, putting her knee on the sill.
“No, you’re not. You’re in police custody. Sit down.”
“I won’t!”
Helene turned and said something in Francais to the dogs. The white dog left at a brisk little run, slipping through the open door. Plato stood up, fixed his silent eyes on Maya, and growled deep in his throat. Maya sat down.
Helene leaned out the window.
“Get out of my sight, cop,” shouted Brett. “I have a perfect right to kill myself. You can’t take that away from me.”
“I agree that is your civil right,” Helene said. “No one is trying to deprive you of your rights. But you’re not thinking clearly. You’re very distraught, and it’s clear you have been taking drugs. Killing yourself will not change anything.”
“Of course it will,” said Brett. “It will change everything, for me.”
“This is very wrong,” said Helene intensely. She was doing her best to be soothing. “It will hurt everyone who loves you. If you’re doing this for a cause, it will only discredit you in the eyes of all sensible people.” Helene glanced back hastily into the room. “Is she one of Paul’s people?” she hissed. “I’ve never seen her.”
“She’s just some kid,” Maya said.
“What was her name again?”
“Natalie.”
Helene stuck her head out again. “Natalie, look here! Natalie, stop it! Natalie, talk to me.”
“You think I want to live forever,” Natalie said. And she jumped.
Maya rushed to the window. Natalie was lying crushed in the midst of a distant little crowd. People were talking into netlinks, calling for help and advice.
“I can’t bear to look,” Helene said, and shuddered. She pulled back into the room, and took Maya by the arm.
Maya wrenched free.
“I’ve seen this so many times,” Helene said wearily. “They just do it. They just take possession of themselves and end their lives. It’s an act of enormous will.”
“You should have let me go out there after her.”
Helene shut the window with a bang. “You are in my charge, you are under arrest. You are not going anywhere, and you are not killing yourself. Sit down.”
Plato rose and began to bark. Helene caught at his collar. “Poor things,” she said, and wiped her eyes. “We have to let them go. There is no choice.… Poor things, they are only human beings.”
Maya slapped her face.
Helene looked at her in shocked surprise, then, slowly, turned her other cheek. “Do you feel better now, darling? Try the other one.”
