The last one had a high collar, a kind of truncated turtleneck, it was sleeveless, with leggings that ended in the mid-low calf. Not bad but not great, and again, I’d need accessories.

Urg.

“The two construction groups are collaborating, banding together, the areas rezoned, contracts reworked. They say workers signed and agreed, and there are no longer ‘dibs’, as you put it.”

“For something that matters as much as home and shelter, with that many employees, you’d think someone would have read the contract thoroughly enough to figure that out.”

“I have no idea,” Crystal said.

“Sounds like someone’s not being honest.”

“Again, Victoria, I don’t know,” Crystal said, sounding a little exasperated. “I’m—we’re, if you’re coming, we’re not going there or being invited there to arbitrate or negotiate. We’re not solving that particular problem. We’re there to stand between the two sides, keep the peace.”

I glanced at her jacket. “Just following orders.”

“Following orders, keeping things simple, letting others handle things,” Crystal said. “Yeah.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

I picked up the second costume, with the low neck, short sleeves, and short leggings, and held it up against my front.

“Go for it,” she said. “You definitely need to dress that up.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m going to go get changed and see if I can find footwear. If you have a minute, could you find any belts?”

“Utility or regular?”

“Either or. I like the idea of utility more, I think, for how I think I’ll be dressing up.”

I stepped out of Crystal’s room, pulled the curtain closed by the balcony door and quickly stripped out of my top and the skirt. I picked both up and put them with my other clothes.

I experienced a brief moment of displaced emotion, as if my head and body were in Crystal’s apartment, and my heart was somewhere in the past. In an exposed, open area that wasn’t mine, wasn’t comfortable, where someone could happen to step in and see me exposed at any moment.

The latent feeling of the hospital room. Of being in the care home.

Pulling the costume on helped. Deep breaths, the pull of the zipper as it closed at my back and pulled material tight against my chest and stomach. I fixed the legs, checked for bunching and wrinkles, and deemed it satisfactory. Not perfect in the way a costume made explicitly for me would be, but satisfactory.

I dug in boxes. I’d packed my things with shoes and boots at the bottom, clothes on top.

“Belts,” Crystal said. I heard the clatter as the things were tossed onto the couch. “Masks. Armband.”

The bag rustled as it bounced off the couch and landed on the floor. The armband landed on the couch near the belts. A black band with the Gold Morning symbol on it.