Chapter Text
“Congrats, everyone. There were some rough ones in there.” Riley slides another drink over to Suzie, who giggles and takes a sip.
“Yeah, I’m glad I took the Dungeon Meshi one out. I did keep the Madoka one though!” Zoey grins, and Riley rolls their eyes.
“And how well did that turn out for you?”
“Leah got it!”
“And like, three other people.”
“So, Zoey,” Suzie slurs so slightly Grant thinks he might be imagining it, “how’d you come up with that last question? I didn’t know you knew about that place.”
Grant’s ears perk up as he turns his attention to them.
“Oh, it was on the bus route I used to take to work!” Zoey smiles. “The bus broke down one morning right around there, and I poked my head in while we waited for a replacement.” She pops a fry in her mouth. “Kind of a creepy old building, but it was hot and I wanted some shade. The big C&A logos everywhere just stuck in my head.” She laughs. “To be honest, I didn’t think anyone was gonna get it.”
“Yeah, it’s uh… lucky, I guess.” Leah mumbles.
“How about you? How do you all know about the place? I really thought I would stump people with it. I know Riley knows about it from just random urban exploration.”
“I was trying to sell that property, back in the day,” Suzie says.
“I, uh… Slept there. One night.” Leah buries her head in her chest, and Sam gives her a hug.
“I also did urbex there. It’s a fun little building, lots of old tech.”
Zoey turns to look at him. “What about you, Grant? I saw you reach for it too.”
He clears his throat. “I… actually used to work there, back in the ‘90s.”
He’s not quite sure which person at the table says which variation of “no way” or “you’re kidding,” but all of them contribute at least one.
“Yeah, what are the odds, right?”
“What did they do? I tried to research for the question, but all I got was ‘computer stuff’,” Zoey asks.
“Well, that’s not wrong,” Grant smiles, “we were an artificial intelligence company. Working on advancing creative AI. We were doing pretty okay too, but…” He trails off. “Something happened, and I left soon after that.”
Suzie normally wouldn’t pry, but she’s a couple of drinks in, so she dares to ask, “It’s not anything… bad, right?”
“Oh, no! No, we were just doing the research. I just…” Grant sighs. “Sorry, I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”
“Oh my god I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Suzie, you’re okay, just breathe.” Grant smiles at her. “I’m not mad at you. It’s just… a sore subject.”
Suzie breathes out a sigh of relief. “Okay good, because I really couldn’t handle it if you were mad at me right now.”
Abby turns to Riley. “Hey, Riley, could you get us some water? I think Suze needs to pace herself a bit.”
Suzie bats her girlfriend on the forehead. “I’m fine, just a little anxious. Forgot my meds this morning. I can handle myself.” She pauses for a moment. “I will take the water, though. Thirsty.”
“Okay, I’m trusting you on that.” Riley disappears to get them all something to drink.
Grant sits and thinks. This is too strange.
“And hey, that building got us together, so it’s got some bonus relevance!”
Grant starts. “Sorry, what was that, Abby? What do you mean?”
“Oh,” Abby says, “well, I sometimes take videos of my trips and post them online. Suzie just happened to find one of them one day, and it was the one where I went in that building. And she commented remembering it, and I emailed her when I… saw her face and email on the side of a bus, and then we accidentally met here, and…” She smiles at Suzie, who gives her a peck on the cheek. “Well, the rest is history.”
Suzie blushes. “Hey, it wasn’t just dumb luck. I never would’ve seen it if I didn’t get that weird email.”
Leah tilts her head. “Weird email?”
“Yeah, oh, thanks Riles.” Riley places a stack of glasses on the table and a pitcher of water, and Suzie immediately serves herself, downing half the glass. “Yeah, just, out of the blue one day, just a random email from someone at ‘canda.com’ that just had the link to Abby’s video. No subject or anything. I thought it was a client showing off a property or something, but…” She finally returns Abigail’s smile. “I’m really glad I opened it and checked it out.”
“Kinda weird the six of us have all been there, actually,” Riley offers. “Sorry Sam. Guess it’s time for you to do some exploring.”
Grant starts to say something, then trails off.
canda.com
Something doesn’t add up.