Ryan Lochte took a sip from the water bottle on the corner of the stage and returned to his previous position at its center. “While I was a swimmer, I focused on only one thing: speed. I wanted to be the fastest person in the pool, and if I wasn’t, I either got more determined or depressed. Most of the time, it was the latter. I threw everything into swimming during the season and partied constantly during breaks to avoid acknowledging my emotions, all while refusing to admit to my friends and family that I was in a dark place. This dangerous behavior came to a head at Rio in 2016.”
At that point, Arizona stopped listening. The rat, crouching nearly invisible in the far left corner, was more intriguing. It stared at Ryan Lochte unblinkingly; occasionally it seemed to frown a little bit. She wondered what it would say if it could speak English. It would probably say more interesting things than a disgraced swimming champion.
She caught herself. If her time on Earth had taught her anything about its culture, it was that ignoring people or their ideas without prior experience was rude. She tried to listen to the speaker again, but he had gone off on a tangent about swimming technique. In an effort to be a “decent human being”, as Agent Henry would say, she thought back to what he had already said. That bit about dangerous behavior and not telling your friends seemed to stab her a little bit in the bottom of her stomach. Arizona hadn’t told Agent Henry about her decision to go find the Nightwatcher. She didn’t want her to worry about her safety. She didn’t need other people looking out for her. She could do this herself.
Now the rat was staring at her. Silly little alien, it seemed to say. Too lonely to admit she’s alone. Or was that just her subconscious? It didn’t matter. The fearlessness she’d acquired after the storm was slowly diminishing. If she was going to do anything risky, like go after a professional criminal who wanted to kill her, now was the time. Arizona stood up abruptly. Heads turned as she walked quickly out of the auditorium, humming Mr. Rattlebone under her breath.
