Five
Constable Ezra Dane was pacing their office when Grace and Heron arrived. Grace did a quick review of the constable’s gender profile.
Today it was registered as they. Grace overwrote the present demifluid pronoun jer in her log and closed the door behind Heron.
The constable held up one finger, then pointed at the chairs opposite the bare desk. They sat and waited.
It was nearly five minutes before they turned their lit blue eyes on Grace. “Thank you for waiting. It was the Zone 8 mayor. I thought I was going to have to hang up on him.”
Their gaze slid off Grace and landed on Heron.
“This is your new assistant?” they asked, humor in their face. “A pleasure.”
Heron rose from his seat, extending his hand for a profile share. The constable accepted it, the backs of their hands bru
