 Why was Charles in the actress's apartment?
A year ago she had been unattainable, a face to conjure with in erotic dreams, far beyond his ken. He touched buttons by the edge of the bed and the illumination quieted to a soft glow, wrapping her in a radiant halo. New York lay quietly below him. It was the hour of indecision when day has not quite made up its mind to leave and night has not yet attacked in force. She had given of herself freely, warmly, and Charles had accepted. Charles picked it up and folded it across her now cold breasts. A month later the meat animals, the birds and the household pets began dropping as rapidly as the flies which had dropped earlier. Congress was called into special session, as were all of the national governments around the world. But the lakes full of dead fish caused a great stink and residents along the coasts began to move inland. Less than a month ago no more than a few thousand people remained in New York. And now.... "I've got to find out," Charles told himself. Reaching the gigantic building, Charles pushed aside the body of a young man and walked into the main foyer. Only once, before the plague, had he seen the interior of this room. And again at the age of 10 each child returned to the Bureau for a recheck. It was for this latter recording that Charles had come to the Bureau some twenty-two years before and a friendly guard had let him peep briefly into the computer room.
 She wanted to be with someone one last time.
 She wanted to be with someone one last time.  They were working on curing the plague.  He thought he could find answers there.  They had been living together.