“Morning Zoe,” Claire said when she came in to check on her the following morning. “How are you feeling?”

“Good morning to you too,” Zoe replied. “I’m feeling great.”

“No issues with the new Kaisers?” Claire asked as she checked Zoe’s readouts.

“None,” Zoe answered.

“That’s good,” Doc Brown said.

“I do have a question or three though.”

“Or three?” Claire repeated, giving Zoe a smile. “Alright. Shoot.”

“I read the V4.5 readme file last night,” Zoe said. “It was interesting reading.”

“Uh huh,” Claire replied disinterestedly even though her lips twitched.

“Did you know all optional options are standard features including being able to change my irises to cat’s irises, hearts, or whatever?”

“No, but I’m not surprised. Kaiser had to justify the cost somehow,” Doc Brown answered noncommittedly.

“What was most interesting is that the V4.5s are only authorized for high-ranking corporate executive and military officer use,” Zoe said. Claire’s lip twitch had continued as they talked and now it turned into a full-blown grin.

“That is interesting,” Doc agreed. “Looks like I made a mistake. If you won’t tell anyone, I promise I won’t either.”

“Thank you, Claire,” Zoe said with tears in her eyes. She got out of bed and walked over to Doc Brown. Zoe pulled Claire into a hug.

“You’re welcome, Zoe,” Claire replied returning the hug. “As I said before, I want you to live.”

“Can I get in on the hug action too?” Zane asked from the doorway. He was holding a tray filled with Zoe’s breakfast on it. Claire blinked away her own tears as Zoe wiped her eyes.

“Sure,” Zoe said, walking over to the muscle-bound man and hugged him. He returned the hug one handed.

“Thanks. Hugs are always nice,” Zane said. “Anyway, here are some grits, eggs, toast, and two slices of bacon for you.”

“Only two?” Claire asked while giving her husband a disproving look.

“One hit the floor and had to be disposed of,” a sheepish Zane replied.

“Right,” Zoe and Claire said at the same time. Zane’s grin grew as he sat the tray down on the bedside stand and turned to leave without saying another word.

“Anyway, eat up,” Doc Brown said. “Sonya will be in shortly to take you on a morning run before starting on your VR training.”

“A run would be nice,” Zoe replied. “It’s been since before the marina fire since I went on one, but I don’t have any running gear except my shoes.”

“Sonya is bringing you some new stuff,” Claire said.

“You guys don’t have to do that,” Zoe protested.

“We’re not,” Claire replied as she walked to the door. She turned and winked at Zoe. “It’s going on your bill.”

“Figures,” Zoe muttered as a laughing Doc Brown walked away.

*

“So, when are we going to start talking about VR?” Zoe asked Sonya as they jogged away from Doc Brown’s clinic.

“Once we get back,” the nurse replied.

“I really don’t see the reason I need training though,” Zoe said. “It’s supposed to be like MR after all and I can use that just fine.”

“The virtual net is different from mixed reality. It’s similar, but also a lot different at the same time,” Sonya replied.

“That sort of sounds confusing,” Zoe mused.

“You’ll see what I mean once we start,” Sonya promised. She started to pick up her pace. “Let’s just enjoy the run.”

“Works for me,” Zoe replied as she increased her pace to match the nurse’s. She dodged around a homeless woman pushing a fully packed cart. After running together for a while in silence, Zoe spoke up and pointed to an alley opening. There was a tent set up in it. “Sonya, what’s with all the people living on the streets?”

“Homelessness has always been an issue,” Sonya answered.

“No, I mean I’m seeing more of them lately,” Zoe replied.

“Ah. Maybe that’s just your new Kaisers in action,” Sonya teased.

“Come on. I’m not joking,” Zoe said.

“I know. Joking aside, are you just noticing them now?” Sonya replied.

“I’m not sure. I’ve known there have always been homeless people in New York and other cities, and I spotted them when I first moved here, but…” Zoe shrugged.

“They faded into the background and just became part of the background,” Sonya said.

“I guess.”

“A lot of us just want to live our lives and concentrate on just doing that,” Sonya said. “It’s easy to dismiss others and to trick ourselves into not seeing problems that exist.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Zoe sighed.

“The problem is getting worse though,” Sonya said.

“I guess I’m lucky I took that mob loan after all,” Zoe said. “If I hadn’t, I probably would have ended up homeless too.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re planning what you’re planning,” the nurse said distracting Zoe from her thoughts.

“Why is that?”

“You can use part of your gains to help them,” Sonya said.

“That’s actually a good idea,” Zoe replied. Sonya nodded in agreement and the pair fell back into a companionable silence as they continued to run.

*

Movement in the shadows of the alley they were nearing drew Zoe’s eyes like a hawk. Two men stood there pointing at her and Sonya. A second later, she noticed the gleam of light on steel and knew the man on the right in the alley had just pulled out a knife. Sonya was running on Zoe’s left.

“Knife!” Zoe shouted while pulling her P750 from the small of her back. She aimed at the man as crosshairs appeared in her vision. They settled over his heart. His eyes widened and he dropped the knife. In the corner of Zoe’s vision, she noticed Sonya pull a pistol from the small of her back a second later and aimed at the man on the left.

“I don’t want any trouble!” the man Zoe had drawn on exclaimed. She started scanning both.

“Then why did you pull that long knife out for after you two pointed at us?” Zoe asked him.

“Uh…”

“Both of you are wanted for robbery and assault!” Zoe said as her heart rate spiked before the man could think of any BS to tell them.

“Let’s go man,” the other guy said.

“The police are on their way,” Sonya said calmly.

The two started to turn and run. Zoe shot the one on the right and then the one on the left since Sonya hadn’t.

“Why didn’t you shoot?” Zoe asked Sonya.

“I only carry lethal rounds,” the nurse replied. She then gestured to the two twitching men on the ground. “And I know you carry the non-lethal stuff. Shock rounds are nice toys.”

“Oh, ok,” Zoe said shaking her head. They holstered their guns as sirens approached. “What about the cops?”

“Don’t worry about them,” Sonya replied. “I’ll talk to them, and Claire’s rep will make sure there are no problems.”

“Must be nice,” Zoe said as her adrenaline left her, and she started shaking.

“It can be,” a smiling Sonya agreed. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Zoe replied bending over.

“Take deep breaths,” Sonya said as she started rubbing Zoe’s back. “You didn’t kill anyone and only acted in self-defense.”

“Ok,” Zoe replied hesitantly.

“You spotted them quicker than I did,” Sonya said as a police cruiser stopped on the street beside them. The nurse waved at the police. “I’m definitely going to have to get that V4.5 upgrade.”