Hearing the girl's story helped the house understand some things about Bernardo. He must have left her just after the Bang, you're dead virus had first struck. He had turned off the infofeed so she wouldn't be infected. How brave of him to go back to the chaos of the world in his condition! He would save lives at the hospital, no doubt about that. She ought to be proud of him. Only why hadn't he come back, now that things were better? Had she done something to drive him away for good? And why couldn't she remember him leaving? Slipping reluctantly out the front door, turning for one last smile.
It was several days after Fly had fallen asleep in Louise's lap that they had their first fight. It was over Bernardo. Or rather his things. The house had tried to respect the privacy of Bernardo's study. Although she read some of his files over his shoulder, she had never thought to break the encryption on his desktop. And while she had been through most of his desk drawers, there was one that was locked that she had never tried to open.
Louise was in her kitchen, making lunch, but she was also following Fly with one of her rover cams. The girl had wandered into the study. The house was astonished to see her lift his diploma from Dartmouth Medical School and look at the wall behind it. She did the same to the picture of Bernardo shaking hands with the Secretary-General, then she plopped into his desk chair. She opened the trophy case and handled Bernardo's swimming medals from Duke. She picked up the Lasker trophy, which he won for research into the role of DNA methylation in endometrial cancer. It was a small golden winged victory perched on a teak base. She rolled around the room in the chair, waving it and making crow sounds. Caw-caw-caw. Then she put the Lasker down again—in the wrong place! In the top drawer of Bernardo's desk was the Waltham pocket watch his grandfather had left him. She shook it and listened for ticking. His Myaki thinkmate was in the bottom drawer. She popped the earstone in and said something to the CPU but quickly seemed to lose interest in its reply. Louise wanted to rush into the study to stop this violation, but was paralyzed by her own shocked fascination. The girl was a real person and could obviously do things that the house would never think of doing.
Nevertheless, Louise disapproved at lunch. “I don't like you going through Bernardo's desk. That's weewaw."
Fly almost choked on her cream cheese and jelly sandwich. “What you just said?"
“I don't like..."
“You said weewaw. Why you talking spang mouth like Fly?"
“I like the way you talk. It's buzzy."
“Fly talks like Fly.” She pushed her plate away. “Louise must talk like house.” She pointed a finger at Louise. “You spying me now?"
“I saw you in the study, yes.”
Fly leaned across the table. “You spy Bernardo the same?"
“No,” she lied, “Of course not."
“Slack him, not me?"
“I'm Bernardo's house, Fly. I told you that the first day."
“You Louise now.” She came around the table and tugged at the house's chair. “Come.” She steered her to the front hall. “Open door."
“Why?"
“We go out now. Look up sky."
“No, Fly, you don't understand."
“Most understand.” She put a hand on the house's shoulder. “Buzzy outside, Louise.” Fly smiled. “Come on."
It made the house woozy to leave herself, as if she were in two places at once. Bernardo had brought her outside just the once. He seemed relieved that she didn't like it. She had forgotten that outside was so big! So bright! There was so much air! She shielded her eyes with her hand and turned her gate cams up to their highest resolution.
Fly settled on a long, flat rock, one of the weathered bones of the mountain. She tucked her legs beneath her. “Now comes Louise's story.” She pointed at the rock next to her. “Fairy tale Louise."
Louise sat. “All right."
“Once on time,” said the girl, “Louise lives in that castle. Louise's Mom dies, don't say where her Dad goes. So Louise stuck with spang bitch taking care of her. That Louise castle got no door, only windows high and high. Now Louise got most hair.” Fly spread her arms wide. “Hair big as trees. When spang bitch want in, she call Louise. 'Louise, Louise, let down buzzy hair.’ Then spang bitch climb it up."
“Rapunzel,” said the house. “Her name was Rapunzel."
“Is Louise now.” The girl shook her head emphatically. “You know it then? Prince comes and tells Louise run away from spang bitch and they live buzzy always after?"
“You brought me outside to tell me a fairy tale?"
“Dink no.” Fly reached into the pocket of her flannel shirt. “Cause of you go fainting, we both safe here outside."
“Who said anything about fainting?"
The girl brought something out of her pocket in a closed fist. The house felt a chill, but there was no way to adjust the temperature of the entire world.
“Fly, what?"
She held the fist out to Louise. “Door in basement, you know?” She opened it to reveal a key. “Spang door? It opens."
The house immediately started all her rover cams for the basement. “Where did you find that?"
“In Bernardo's desk."
The house could hear the tick of nanoseconds as the closest cam crawled maddeningly down the stairs. Maybe real people could open doors like that, but not Louise. It seemed like an eternity before she could speak. “And?"
“You thinking Bernardo dead down there,” said the girl. “Locked in behind that door where all that wine should be."
For the first time she realized that the world was making noises. The wind whispered in the leaves and some creature was going chit-chit-chit and she wasn't sure whether it was a bird or a grasshopper and she didn't really care because at that moment the rover cam turned and saw the door....
“But you closed it again.” The house shivered. “Why? What did you see?"
Fly stared at Louise. “Nothing."
The house knew it was a lie. “Tell me."
“No fucking thing.” Fly closed her fist around the key again. “Bernardo been your spang bitch. So now run away from him.” She came over to Louise and hugged her. “Live buzzy after always with me."
“I'm a house,” said Louise. “How can I run away?"
“Not run away there.” The girl gestured dismissively at the woods. “World is spang.” She stood on tiptoes and rested a finger between Louise's eyes. “Run away here.” She nodded. “In your head."
She brought his dinner to the study, although she didn't know why exactly. He hadn't moved. Mist rose off the lake on his wallscape; the Alps surrounding it glowed in the serene waters. Chopin's Adieu Etude filled the room with its sublime melancholy. It had been playing over and over again since she had first come upon him. She couldn't bring herself to turn it off.
He had left a book of new poems, Ho Peng Kee's The Edge of the Sky, face down on the desk. She moved it now and put the ragout in its place. In front of him. Earlier she had taken the key from his desk and brought a bottle of the ‘28 Haut-Brion up from the wine closet in the basement. It had been breathing for twenty minutes.
“You took such good care of me,” she said.
With a flourish, she lifted the cover from the ragout but he didn't look. His head was back. His empty eyes were fixed on the ceiling. She couldn't believe how, even now, his presence filled the room. Filled her completely.
“I don't know how to live without you, Bernardo,” she said. “Why didn't you shut me off? I'm not real; I don't want to have these feelings. I'm just a house."
“Louise!"
The house was dreaming over the makings of spinach lasagna in the kitchen.
“Louise.” Fly called again from the playroom. “Come read me that buzzy book again. Hip, Hip, Hip Hippopotamus."
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Bernardo's House Page 3
