“So what do we do?” Dane asked, sipping on coffee while Reggie dug into his food.

“Well.. we eat this lovely food and then we head out again to one of the good stores and find you some things-- what did you actually want?” Reggie’s mouth was completely full.

“Just a few things to fill the void in the room and to make life easier. Another mattress pad, a lamp, maybe a collapsible desk for my laptop..”

Reggie nodded, “I gotcha. I guess you need your own towel and shit, too-- it’s weird shopping for mundane things like regular people. You’re not regular anymore, either.”

Dane blinked, “What’s that mean?”

“You’re gonna’ help us break into the place where Deka’s android is, you’re going to help us navigate and fight with your AI. And besides.. Just existing here is a fight to survive. You can’t get too comfortable.”

“Is nobody here rich and powerful?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely! But they’re big targets. The best thing to do here is to look poor and small. But not too small..” Reggie sipped his own coffee. “I dunno.. maybe our best bet is to like so big and powerful nobody will want to screw with us. Like the arbiters. Everyone keeps their distance, but… there is a peaceful group or two no one messes with. Maybe it’s reputation.”

Dane sighed, “So you’re saying survival is random?”

“Yep!”

Reggie paid and shook his head, continuing, “It’ll be fine. We’ll teach you some stuff, okay? You have a better chance with us than if you were just sitting on the street waiting to die--”

“Alright, let’s not.”