Phoenix Phire

"After all that? It\'s natural causes?" Mason listened while Yu Yan filled her in on the latest news. It had been two weeks since the corpse had been found a few blocks away from their flat. The woman was estimated to be in her late 20s and had died shortly after midnight.

Yu Yan tried unsuccessfully to wave away the thick steam in their flats only bathroom. "One of those people who like to run at night, I guess, some sort of undiagnosed heart valve problem. Paper says she was dead before she hit the ground." The squeaking sound of Yu wiping the fog from the mirror filled in the conversational pause. "Use some cold water when you shower, holy crap..."

"Some like it hot," Mason replied, her tone unapologetic. "Steamy showers are my only vice."

"Clear out!" Ray\'s loud voice called from the doorway; her light brown hair was covered by a faded Minnesota Viking hat that she wore backward. A grungy tank top, cutoff shorts, and five-gallon bucket announced her intentions. It was cleaning day.

The three roommates split up chores into things they enjoyed. Ray was the clean freak, Yu liked to cook, and Mason did laundry. The later exited the shower and grabbed a towel before running toward her room, leaving a trail of water in her wake. She knew by experience that Ray would draft her into helping if she didn\'t hurry. "Not me!"

Thursday was the day when the flat did most of the chores. It was Mason\'s only day off, and the other two would clear their schedule to spend the day together. Over breakfast, they continued to discuss the mystery woman.

"Northside hasn\'t done laundry since the corpse was found." Mason dabbed the smallest bit of honey on her grapefruit half before cutting into it like it was a steak.

Ray paused, scrubbing long enough to poke her head out of the bathroom door. "Her heat has been running non-stop also. She has the same shitty radiator heating we have."

"Stop..." Yu Yan was always the voice of reason when Ray and Mason started making conspiracy theories. "How do you know she hasn\'t done laundry?" Their flat shared the top floor of the building with one other flat on the Northside. Both came with their own elevators, but they shared a common laundry room.

"I always leave the lid on the machine open; it keeps mold from growing inside. She leaves it shut... Even though I\'ve left her a few notes." Mason frowned at the memory; she never managed to run into the other tenant despite waiting several times.

Ray\'s tattooed arms stopped scrubbing for a moment as she backed out of the bathroom on her hands and knees. "We had that cold spell a few weeks ago, but now it\'s ungodly hot. Either she took a trip or..."

Chinatown in the summer was hot and humid most of the time. Before anyone could stop her, Mason made a beeline for their window. "Just a peek wouldn\'t hurt!" She squeezed nimbly through the window onto the fire escape, grinning when she heard the telltale footsteps of her roommates following. Their living room wall was a solid brick monument that separated the two flats. The Northside flat also shared the same fire escape.

"Mase!" Yu was the second one through the window. "Wait a sec... Listen, I saw a stasis capsule delivered to her place a few days before the incident."

Mason had already stepped through the dividing gate and was walking down the short catwalk. "You\'re saying she\'s a VR rat? Crap... that could be it too."

Yu nodded and failed to grab Ray as she snuck by her. "Don\'t peep."

The exotic dancer paused for a moment, her pretty face showing disappointment. "Kinda bursting my bubble here, Yu."

Yu nodded with a satisfied smile. "After this week\'s interviews, it feels good to stomp on someone elses dreams."

Mason stuck her tongue out and stubbornly took two more steps before ducking down... making room as Ray crowded in next to her. "That\'s the capsule, right?"

Ray nodded and looked back at Yu, who decided to follow them. "It\'s closed, can\'t tell if anyone is inside."

Mason gave the ink artist an innocent look. "Leaving the heat on could cause serious health problems for a VR rat." She tested the window with a slight pull; it slid open easily.

"No!" Yu grabbed Mason\'s arm to keep her from entering, but while she did that, Ray slid through the opening and disappeared into the flat.

Mason\'s eyes widened slightly; Ray was about as fearless as a person could be. "Props, girl..."

"Get back here, Ray." Yu kept a grip on Mason\'s arm, wrinkling her nose in disgust as the smell hit her. "What is that?"

"Looks like chocolate cake... hard to tell from the mold." Ray popped back into sight long enough to open the window wider. "Capsule is empty; it looks like she was prepping for an extended absence."

"Ten minutes, Yu. We scout out a bit, make sure everything is okay." Mason gave her roommate a pleading look; had they been on the first floor, she would have broken free fairly easily. "Good neighbors take care of each other."

Yu released her with a long sigh. "B & E isn\'t part of the good neighbor handbook." She frowned when Mason slipped into the flat, but after a few moments, she did the same. "Fine, ten minutes only. Clean up anything left out, turn down the heat and check the rest of the flat. We\'ll leave her a note in case she returns in a few days."

"Good idea, but not likely." Raya returned with a large picture frame in her hand. It was a caption of two women, one old and the other young. "Princess Cruiselines... Recognize the girl?"

"Shit..." Yu noticed the date on the boarding picture, nearly ten years ago. The younger woman was familiar; it was definitely the mystery Jane Doe from the news.

Raya motioned for Mason to return to the window. "We call the police and tell them. We can always say that we normally visit each other through the fire escape."

Mason nodded in agreement. "Right. No one knows different."

Yu stood motionlessly by the capsule. "This isn\'t your run-of-the-mill stasis capsule; this is cutting edge corporate gear."

Mason had seen the capsules in VR rooms but had never used one. "It\'s also a crime scene; let\'s get out of here now." She stepped through the window and exited easily before helping Raya do the same. "Yu?"

Yu hadn\'t moved from her spot next to the capsule. "Since her death was ruled an accident, this really isn\'t a crime scene."

Ray shared a confused glance with Mason before gesturing to Yu to follow them. "Enough, Yu. Time to go."

Yu shook her head. "I\'m tired... Tired of working so hard and not getting ahead. In three months, we could all be out on the street."

Ray stepped back in, and after a moment, Mason followed. "What\'s the plan?"

"She had no fingerprints or DNA on file; that only happens when people don\'t want to be found." Yu waited for a moment while she considered their option. "To investigate a bit. If someone is looking for her, then we\'ll drop things and notify the police."

Two days later, the trio sat around the Northside flat\'s coffee table. Yu was using Sera Mu\'s hud while perusing thru her financial history.

"How do you know how to do that?" Mason shook her head in either fear or surprise. It had taken Yu half a day to crack open Sera\'s security measures. Since then they\'d been gathering all the intel they could. She called in sick for two days, something her boss was not pleased about.

"I\'m a software engineer, Mase. If I want in, it\'s only a matter of time." Yu said it casually without looking up, she didn\'t catch the shared glance between her roommates.

"Does prison have good food?" Ray grinned when she said it. "Keep at it Yu, here\'s what we have so far." She sent the bio of the Northside flat\'s occupant to her two roommates.

Sera Mu, female Age 28

Race: Asian/ Causcasion

Birthplace: Unknown.

Known Relatives: Grandmother (Deceased)

Education: Unknown

Last Known Address: Chinatown, New York.

Mason read the short bio while shaking her head. "Our girl is a ghost. No job history, education, or social footprint. You dig up those emails?"

Yan nodded. "You can study them while I\'ll work this."