Soon she could hear Astrid setting the table downstairs.
And then she could hear Katrina and Shirley. They were arguing like two sisters should.
Good, fresh eggs have a smell. Katrina couldn’t name it, but the aroma seemed golden. Luxurious, rich, almost absurdly so.
“They just came from next door.” Astrid smiled.
“I’ll never get mad at the chickens again! Oh my god, this is so wonderf—” Katrina looked at Shirley. “Um, do you mind that I’m eating?”
“Are you bothered that I do not eat?”
“Well … this egg is really yummy.”
“I don’t require food, but I can taste it if you’d like. After all, I work in a donut shop.”
Shirley took Katrina’s fork, and dipped it into the egg, and brought it to her lips.
“Nice mouthfeel. Creamy. Not at all like the eggs that one might buy at the store. I assume this chicken ate worms in the garden.”
Shirley tasted again.
“Yes. These eggs. Definitely worms,” she said before passing the fork back to Katrina.
Katrina was about to say something rude. But then Miss Satomi entered the room.
“Good morning. How are we doing?”
“Miss Satomi! I hope you don’t mind. I brought the projector here so Shirley could join us.”
Shirley immediately stood up and bowed. “Ma’am, I am sorry for the trouble I caused.”
But Shizuka Satomi put up her hand and smiled.
“Stop that. There’s nothing wrong with being a runaway. We’ve all been there, right, Katrina?”
“Yes, Miss Satomi.”
Shirley tried to speak and failed. Was this the woman who was called the Queen of Hell? She seemed so … relaxed.
“Miss Satomi, so you spoke to Shirley’s mother?” Katrina asked.
Shirley stiffened, but she felt Katrina quickly latch on to her hand.
“Miss Satomi will protect you,” Katrina said. “Right?”
Shizuka nodded casually. At least she could be truthful here.
“Your mother thought it over. She wants you back at the donut shop. Only the donut shop.” Shizuka made sure to emphasize the last point.
“What about Markus?” Shirley ventured.
“Markus will remain in stasis until there is a better solution. But of immediate concern is Windee, who is now working in the kitchen. Lan said that you’d understand.”
“Windee is trying to make donuts?”
“Apparently so.”
“Thank you. I will prepare for transfer now.”
“Your preparations can wait for one last story.”
“Miss Satomi?”
Shizuka cut into a sausage.
“Once, in Budapest, I broke strings on my instrument, then the concertmaster’s Bergonzi. Finally, I grabbed someone’s viola and continued with that. The papers called my performance magnificent.”
“Of course it was!” Astrid said.
“Really? I thought I had failed. All I wanted was to finish without breaking another string and get off the stage. I had no idea of what the audience might be seeing. So whose experience was real?”
Shirley shifted uncomfortably. What did this have to do with her?
But the Queen of Hell seemed to read her mind. “You might ask what this has to do with you. Shirley, you can’t control how people see you. All you can do is accept it, right?”
Really?
Miss Satomi had seemed wise. But accepting how others saw you—as nice as that sounded—was wrong. For example, Katrina’s family insisted that she was a boy …
And why should Shirley accept what her mother thought of her?
“But what if their views don’t match what you know is true?” Shirley said, disappointedly.
“Well, if you feel that strongly about your truth, then there is no reason to worry about your existence, is there?”
Shirley paused, processing what Miss Satomi had said.
“Shirley, I am telling you this because I don’t trust people. When you go back to the shop, your family may still see you as a program. In fact, I think they will, I’m sorry to say. So when they do, remember what you just said.”
“Thank you, Miss Satomi.”
“Of course,” Shizuka said. “By the way, how are the eggs?”
“Tell her about the worms, Shirley,” Katrina deadpanned, just as Shizuka took her first bite.
Not long after they finished, there was a green flash in the living room.
Today Lan looked less like a mother and more like a commander. Her hair, her appearance, was crisp, creased. Pressed.