AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

Starbucks installed these. I bet they’re in all the Starbucks by now. The thought cheered him, the thought of all those terminals in all those Starbucks. The thought that disembodied people like him still needed the warmth of a meeting place warmed him as well.
    As much of a junkie as he was, he didn’t need to go online, but he did anyway and watched the number of users currently online change to 33.
    Yamaguchi spent the day primping. There wasn’t another word that would correctly describe her actions: she gave herself a manicure and pedicure (slightly grossed out by how long she’d allowed her toenails to get), removed the calluses from her feet (otherwise her dry skin would shred her hose), exercised on her stair stepper (while watching her TiVoed soaps) and then went to her hairdresser at 1 p.m.
    Afterward, she stopped at the dry cleaners and thanked God the alterations were done and the dress was ready and that she wouldn’t have to rely on her backup. She shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to take it in.
    Back home, she inspected herself in the mirror, holding the dress in front of her. Oh God, she thought, those hours at the gym were worth it.
    At 4 p.m., she took a quick shower and spent an hour fussing with her hair, once rewetting it because the flip on the left-hand side of her head went the wrong way. Finally, with the help of a hot brush and hair spray, she got the desired symmetrical effect and was pleased.
    Of course, now she was getting hot after the hot shower, the hair dryer and the hot brush. So hot, in fact, that despite the season she opened a window. Oh crap, this is why I don’t go through this too often. After a few minutes, she sneezed a few times and closed the window.
    By 5:30 p.m., she was starting to get worried, her eyes flicking back and forth between her watch and her face in the mirror as she applied her makeup. OK, don’t get rushed, plenty of time, Munroe won’t mind if I’m a couple of minutes late.
    Despite her worries and a sneeze that made her jab her eye with a mascara brush, her makeup was perfect by 5:40 p.m. She grabbed her bag, her coat ( I’m going to freeze in this thing ) and went out to her car, when she realized she’d forgotten her gun. She went back into her apartment, grabbed the fanny pack with her off-duty weapon and went back to the car. Fashionably late, that’s all I am, fashionably late.
    Munroe kept wandering back to the corner so he could see the clock on the City and County Building. 6:15 p.m. Come on Linda, where are you? You’re past fashionably late. He wandered back to the parking garage. Finally he saw her little car enter the garage. She pulled into her usual parking spot and reached across to open the door. Munroe got in quickly.
    “I’m in,” he told her.
    She reached across and essentially through him to close the door, a breach of etiquette she’d normally never commit.
    “You’re late.”
    “… and my gun so I had to go back and get it.” He’d lost part of what she said because the terminal on her armband kept changing positions as she closed the door and quickly backed up the car. The car came to an abrupt stop so he knew she was slamming the brakes.
    “But that’s no reason for you to drive like a maniac.”
    “I’m sorry, Alex. Just had a lot to do.”
    “I thought you said you had the whole day free?”
    “I had the whole day free to get ready. My beauty regimen is a little more involved than yours.”
    “Well, I did shave,” he joked. “And I picked a tie that brings out the color of my eyes.”
    “I’m sure you look quite dapper. So, what did you do today? Spend most of it online?”
    “No,” he lied. “I spent most of the day exploring beautiful downtown Denver.” In reality, he only spent four hours in the Starbucks online, and then another three at the downtown Tattered Cover bookstore, and then another hour watching a college football game at a sports bar. Essentially about the same sort of day he might have spent while alive, minus the cigarettes, caffeine and alcohol. He reflected that he had to die before taking his doctor’s advice.
    “Hey, are you going to wear your terminal on your arm like that the whole night? Won’t that clash with this killer outfit you promised?”
    “Don’t worry, I’m going to put it in my bag, and I’m going to use the wireless ear buds.”
    “Aren’t those the same ear buds you said pick up weird voices?” asked Munroe.
    “Oh, let’s not talk