I arrive at the ancient, abandoned convenience store before the Android does. The building’s windows are layered in a thick coat of dust. One look inside reveals hundreds of vines where food and drinks used to be across shelves, who still don their price tags.

“Ah, I am so grateful to see that you could make it, Sir.” I turn around to face the voice. The Android smiles at me, as if nothing were amiss. How dare he. “Please, accept my humblest thanks.”

I hurl my foot into the trash can that stands next to my figure. It falls with a deafening ring. Rats who were once hidden behind the rotting steel go running, fast, into a deeper part of an alleyway’s sewers. “Why did you take him?” I shout. “Where is he? Where’s Fletcher?”

The Android furrows his brows. He parts his lips. Yet, he does not speak.

“Answer me, God damn it!” My voice is hoarse. I wish I had fresh water to drink, but I’ll probably have to wait a couple more hours before getting my hands on a bottle that’s even relatively clean. It’s ironic, I think, how we have more plastic than food covering the entire planet now.

“I… am sorry.” The Android purses his lips together. He looks saddened. Why that is, is beyond me. “I do not believe the name Fletcher is in my register.”

My heart drops. I was sure it was him. There was no other explanation. “That better not be a lie,” I say. “I’ll find out if it is. And my men will come for you.”

He shakes his head again. “Sir, I do not appreciate your hostility in this peaceful conversation we are trying to have. I am an honest person, I have never heard of this man—”

“Android,” I correct him. “You’re an Android.”

“I…”

People walk past us as the streets fill with their usual crowds. Our location isn’t the ideal place to be at this hour. I don’t care about what happens to the Android if a local gang observes him, and realize that he isn’t one of us, however… it’d be troublesome if I were to get caught in such a brawl. If we end up being associated as acquaintances, they’d accuse me of hiding more Androids, or parts, in the shadows.

“I have to go,” I turn, and ready myself to leave through the same alleyway those rats took earlier on. “This was a waste of my time.”

But the Android reaches for my wrist. He tries to hold me back. “With all due respect, Sir, I believe I am more than what you think I am,” he says.

“W-what’s that supposed to mean?” I curse my voice for shaking as it does; the way his tone went from being completely friendly to calculating, cold, causes cold sweats to run down my back.

“Perhaps,” the Android tells me, “if you would agree to working together on my case, I could show you what I mean. I also could assist you with finding your friend.”

“I don’t see how your case is related to my friend’s disappearance. You’re just trying to trick me into—”

“Have you heard of the latest Android murders?”

My eyes widen. I part my lips. What is he talking about? “Is that a threat?”

“No, it is not.” His grip tightens around my sleeve. “It is the subject of my investigation, Sir. And I am in dire need of an associate, such as yourself, who could assist me with finding the right set of humans to question, and the best locations to explore. I am new here, you see.”

I shake him off. “Fuck no. As if I’d believe that.”

It seems he doesn’t wish to cause a scene, for he immediately releases his grip“You, working against your own kind?” I spit onto the ground. I shove my hands back into my pockets. “Don’t make me laugh. Forget I ever said anything. I’ll find my friend without your help. You should leave me alone if you know what’s good for you, Android. And find someone else to play house with. I’m done with you.”

The Android doesn’t argue—he doesn’t stay silent though. “It would be in your best interest to reconsider, Sir.”

“Huh?”

He pauses for a moment, as if he’s lost in thought. Judging from the intensity of his stern glare, I wonder if he might threaten me, or worse. Yet… instead, his expression blooms into an elated grin, once a few seconds have passed. “I will wait here,” he tells me, “in the case that you change your mind, once you have given my offer some thought.”

I grit my teeth. “Sure, and I’ll definitely come back, you can count on me, we’re going to be great friends, you and I!”

He tilts his head. “Your tone does not seem very sincere, Sir…”

I don’t bother replying. He’s back at it with his customer-service tone again. It’s disturbing, and I walk away without having heard the end of his phrase.

Stupid Android. What’s the point of being polite to something that’s not even alive? I wave his words away. And I take off, into the night.

The air is hot against my face. I wish the government would at least try to do something about the weather instead of mass-producing Androids.

A sigh escapes my lips. That Android truly didn’t seem to be in on Fletcher’s disappearance though. He didn’t use him as a bargaining chip, nor did he kidnap me—it’d be surprising if he ended up being the culprit out of the way he acted tonight…

But if he’s not the one responsible, then…

I heave myself up onto a building’s rooftop to stare down at the ruins of a city that had once been built for greatness, yet crumbled under the cruel hand of the elements, in less than two decades.

Then, I think, as I take a deep breath and jump from one deteriorating apartment to another, my next stop is La Brume.