No Sleep

3

"Hi. How did you get in?" Xander placed his apple on the counter.

The officer smiled, "Are you feeling alright, Mr. Long?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Ma'am, how did you get into my apartment?"

"Detective Jerrie Shaw, Mr. Long. I'm sure you have nothing to hide. There's been some concerns about your computer history. Do you recall what you did when you got home two nights ago?"

"Uh, yeah. I got home, got in the shower, and went to bed." Xander took a cup out of a cabinet and filled the cup with water through his refrigerator door.

"Did you do anything else while you were in bed?"

"I was on my computer for a little."

"For a little?" Xander shrugged while Detective Shaw wrote something down. "There were some hiccups in the search engine. Unreliable sites. You know how that goes, right? Can't catch them all."

He looked at the Detective and then at his dining table. A half-empty glass sat on the table. With ice. "Yeah."

"You seem a little agitated. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I didn't realize you already got some water."

"I appreciate the hospitality. Moving on, why would a guy like you have any interest even clicking on such a thing? You know sometimes even I slip into where I'm not supposed to. What was it? An accidental click?"

"Is there something wrong?" He started to wipe down his countertops.

"Like I said. Unreliable site."

"Ehh it looked pretty reliable to me. Lots of statistics and numbers."

"Those could have easily been made up."

He tossed the cloth over his shoulders and turned to her. "Then why are you here?"

Detective Shaw pursed her lips. "Listen, Xander, I'm here to help you. Now that you're a Lieutenant we just have to check up on you. Keep you on the right track. Just remember everything we do for you. That's all."

"Yes ma'am," Xander said as he opened the door.

"You have a wonderful night, Mr. Long." He gave a pressed smile before closing the door on her heels. He waited a little bit before letting out a huff of air. I'm sure you have nothing to hide, she said. She had plenty of time to help herself to water, let alone find anything "to hide." The damn S.A.S.S. system obviously reported anything there is "to hide."

There wasn't even an off button on the main console. No matter how you twisted and turned it, nothing changed about the cylinder or apartment. It didn't feel right to look anything up at that point. He pictured Detective Shaw taking a swift u-turn back. Maybe she'd have another glass of water while she was at it.

"S.A.S.S. Off," Xander talked into the cylinder.

"Don't be silly, Xander," the S.A.S.S. said over the speakers. "That'd be like turning your electric off!" Xander slammed the device down. There wasn't anyone to talk to about his curiosity. Even if he did, whoever the S.A.S.S. reported to would know about it. He examined the corners of the apartment. Where exactly were those cameras hiding? They couldn't have put it into any of his furniture. That would be over the line.

He sunk into his couch while pinching his nose. The TV was the only thing that would clear his mind. His favorite cartoon, The Bright and The Bolt, came on around that time. It always reminded him of his friendship with Lupita. The show was about two kids that stumbled their way into trouble every day. He thought it was hilarious. Lupita thought it was stupid.

The next commercial break almost made him throw the remote. KaiHue Inc. was back at it again with the Upgrade Initiative. They must've formulated different ads for different channels since this one was rather goofy. The ad started with a kid playing with a toy robot and a toy kaiju. The camera panned out to show that those incredibly small hands actually belonged to a man. The man had messy hair, huge glasses, and a crooked smile. It was Harland Kaihue Jr., founder of the Upgrade Initiative and next-in-line to become the KaiHue Inc. CEO. His father, Harland Kaihue Sr., joined his son to pat him on the back. What a lovely family of plastic smiles.

Xander laid down on the couch and looked at his arm. He stretched his fingers over and over, watching his forearm muscles flex. Eventually, he gave up.

"When do you go to sleep?" Lupita answered the phone.

"Was there a detective in your house when you got home?"

"No."

"Okay well, there was one in mine."

"Did you do something?"

"Did I do something? What would I do so a detective was already in my house? She just sat there at my kitchen table with a glass of water like she was my aunt visiting or something."

"Was she cute?"

"Lupita, I'm serious. She even put ice in her water. I eventually just asked why she was there."

"You talked to a Maka detective like that?"

"How do you mean?"

"Nothing, rich boy. You had to do something for her to come."

"Okay. I might've looked at some websites about KaiHue Inc. but that was just to research it."

"Don't do that then."

"Why couldn't they send someone after I got home?"

"They shouldn't really have to ask permission."

"Okay well, the way I was raised, you do. And you either serve a visitor water automatically or you don't just help yourself to anything in the pantry."

"Longshot, your gonna give yourself a heart attack with this crazy paranoia. Go. To. Sleep." She hung up abruptly again. Xander sighed and flopped away from the TV screen. He fell asleep twisting and turning his arm as the KaiHue Inc. commercial played in a loop behind him.