With umbrella in hand, she scurried through a surge of rainfall along the sidewalk. She found an awning in front of a boutique clothing store and twirled the water off the umbrella. Looking back into the deluge in the street, a shallow river cascaded along, and a spaced floating line of white plastic cups, a caravan, navigated the rapids.

There were a dozen import stores with neon signs on. Some animated, like the Red Rose cafe across the street, where blooming neon pedals gently opened, followed by a mild burst of white light from the center.

She heard a tap at the glass door entrance of the store behind her, and turned to see a hanging closed sign. The employee had just hung it. She watched a girl walking away, deeper into the store. La'Rio took a long breath. A rainy gust of wind turned her back around.

She looked for something in her purse while the umbrella rested at her shoulder. Her raincoat was frost white and foggy. There was a glimpse of the silk green cheongsam dress she wore underneath. She cupped her hands while lighting a cigarette and fixated then, concentrating on her surroundings, and then as quickly dove into a more focused stare. The lengthy cigarette smoke had oddly, and suddenly, froze next to her face, looking something of a Relief painting.

She crunched the data in Chronostasis. A single drop of rain slowed it's fall toward the sidewalk holding there at eye height. She closed in on the drop, and closer still, until she could see herself at the store entrance under the clear umbrella.

She stared at the street. The water had frozen over everything in a shining glassy-like clear coat.

I need a charge or at least some food. Ramen will do. Sannon will get us accounts, identities, histories. He said he would need time to operate and skim off some minute bank profits. Several thousand different banks, and that I would still need a job at some point for security, in case of an investigation, or if an accident should occur. I will find a place of my own, just like before... The Light Interior. They will be coming for me.

Before. But her thoughts of what happened before on Earth had fragmented. Everything now felt slightly new again, but with bad weather. She pulled a small piece of paper from her clear raincoat pocket:

WALK TO METRO LINES - CENTRALLY LOCATED - FIRST MONTH IS FREE

In daytime the Sentinel's Ghost will orbit, at around thirty one miles up. At night she'll be parked, literally at arms length from a rooftop, because in an emergency I'll need to touch the hull of the ship. The rest is autonomous.

She stepped out of the doorway, and raindrops assaulted her umbrella.

"Sannon - are you there?"

La'Rio spoke into a frost white gel band. Her personal Earth com-link. It looked like a circa 1980's digital watch, an early version with the yellow display module.

"Already lost? You've barely been gone an hour."

"I'm not coming back Sannon. I'm going to read to you an address and I would like some directions please."

"Didn't you used to live here?"

"Sannon."

_ _ _

"It's a one bedroom, has a fireplace, a small kitchen over there, and theres a little skylight that's kinda neat with the natural light during the daytime. But not in this mess."

He frowned a little just then and spoke as he stepped over to the white vertical hanging window slats and pulled on a cord. The room brightened in the gray light. But not a whole lot. The rain was still coming down.

What is with this LA weather?

His voice carried a light gravel and there was stubble on his face, and a small stain under his chin on his white shirt. His face was thin but not bony, and he wore black rimmed glasses that must be twenty or so years old. He was rail thin though, maybe even unhealthy so. His dark gray slacks and sport coat hung on him like on a hanger. He had a sparkle in his voice and the eyes behind those thick glasses projected a positive feeling La'Rio thought. Maybe it was just his mood at the moment, or just the rehearsed pitch that she liked. He raised up a lined hand.

"The bedroom's in there. Also in the agreement it states to be quiet from ten PM to eight AM, and I am very very adamant about that rule, so... if you like to party a lot, then I would you rather live someplace else."

"No... I'm not really that type, I'm a very quiet person."

"You look like your on your way to a party or something."
La'Rio smiled.

"Thank you. I was feeling... eccentric today, and I hadn't worn it in a while."

He walked into the bedroom. She followed and caught her reflection on a sliding mirrored closet door looked back. She stared for a moment adjusting her transparent coat.

"Did you know when you wanted to move in? I had another person asking me about it. There was an actor staying here a while back, but he left. He couldn't get any work. But he sure looked the part."

La'Rio smiled.

"I'm a nobody. Just looking for work, and I like the beach, and normally I would say I love the weather but..."

"The sun will be back. It always comes back in Los Angeles."

Rain pushed by wind pattered at the window. He walked over to the closet and slid the door across.

"It's big, so if you have a lot of clothes..."

She twisted her folded umbrella in her hand and peeked into the closet space from the opposite end.

It's a top floor, there's a stairwell to the roof down the hall! The Meteor could be parked above. Tuner should be here. This apartment would be perfect for me and Tuner. I have to find a way to get him here.

"First and last months deposit is required, and of course theres a credit check."

He handed her an envelope with a blue printed logo.

"Takes roughly three or four days for an approval, if you are approved. You can email it too, there's an address on the application."

She stared at the envelope, then flirted, tilting her head just so her crocodile greens would catch the light.

"Look... I don't really have much credit... what I do have is money, I could pay more, each month, because of the credit check thing."

He blinked, looking down at the papers.

"If everything checks out on the application you can move in, if not... Then I'm sorry, I have a job to do and I need to protect the other tenants. I'm sure you can understand that. Just think if you were living here already, you wouldn't want just anyone moving in... right?"

"Your right - I wouldn't... I'll get this back to you, today."

_ _ _

Sannon tapped on keys, a three dimensional display wrapped around him in glowing greens. His head turned away from her. He studied the accounts.

"Will he still rent it to me?... Sannon I really want that place it's a top floor and it's only a few blocks from my favorite place to eat, and the Meteor can fit above the building it's perfect... so... so can you make this happen or not?"

He tapped into the floating numbers.

"Sannon?"

He punched an exit key and the display faded to dark.

"La'Rio... I can make you the owner of that building in twenty four hours... but that wouldn't last long, someone would start to backtrack records, and eventually you would be found out. Understand?"

She nodded, and reached over touching his shoulder.

"I'm Sorry."

He turned the display back on.

"Give me a little more time before you send it in, I will tip the scale in your favor - it's not a problem."

_ _ _

She chewed but the original taste wasn't found. Maybe the noodles were never that good here. Did they change something? Her eyes landed on familiar objects inside the shop but they seemed superfluous now, placed, even invalid. Unknown faces were here, obviously not the students she had remembered, they had all moved on. They would have. Even out of college, or married, with families by now. It had been seven years after all.

She ate the noodles but silently vowed to find a new place, search for euphoria in a bowl. Someone would know. She remembered hearing a man on a train behind her, speaking of companies and their dollar saving tactics.

She sipped on a soda that was too sugary, through a straw in a light blue plastic cup, and stared over toward the entrance, where the small B&W TV set still played. At least that was still there. It faded in and out playing in black and white. All the while, rain and guests of wind continued to blow the hanging cloth at the entrance, and the gusts rattled the entrance door.

She turned around, looking past the square, steel counter, and peering into the back where she spotted her favorite circular window. It's red glow from behind filling the circle. It had sparked a fantasy in her. The tip of a dream. A starting off point where shadows moved behind the red glass window, silhouettes in love, kissing.

Using chopsticks she carefully laid more noodles into her spoon. Silence, alone in the noodle shop. Just there is where the bowl was dumped on my blouse. The rain blew against the windows, there was a slight sound of pans clanking together somewhere in the back, then they too fell silent. She cupped her hands around the warmth of the bowl and sat in silence, listening to the rain tapping at the windows.