Amy woke to someone shaking her arm, and she jumped, gasping. She looked at the thing on her arm—a large hand—and followed its arm to the face of her assailant. It was only Hal, giving her a gentle smile as he leaned over her, but he looked different.

The rest of his body had artificial skin now, and he had shoulder-length black hair pulled back into a small ponytail, except for a few locks in the front that Geordi must have left there for aesthetic purposes.

Geordi had asked Amy how she had wanted his hair, but she had been indecisive. Geordi must have stuck on black hair and left it uncut so she could decide later. He also wore a plain gray shirt with long sleeves that were not long enough to reach the end of his hand, and large hiking boots failed to hide how his jeans stopped a few centimeters above his ankles.

The clothes were not Scott's, so Amy guessed he had taken them from his uncle. They were going to have to find clothes that fit him better, and it was a miracle that they had found shoes big enough for him.

Amy settled against her cot, and she rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry for waking you," Hal said in a hushed voice, "but Geordi instructed me to wake you if I noticed you having a nightmare."

Amy frowned. She had those every once in a while, but she struggled to recall having any dream just now.

"Thank you," she said, still frowning. "When did I fall asleep?"

"Five hours ago, but that's just since I assisted you in relieving yourself outside. You've been asleep around ten hours, and it's now just past dawn."

Amy was grateful she had forgotten that part because it was still embarrassing to require help going to the bathroom, and it was even worse when it's too late in the day to go to a store to use their restrooms.

"You're not going to lecture me about how long I tend to sleep again, are you?"

"I will 'give it a rest,' as you say, Miss Amy—for now, at least."

Amy smirked at that. She reached out a hand and touched the loose strands of hair in his face.

"Geordi finished you," she said, and Hal only nodded in answer. "I forgot about how good she is at this. You almost can't tell that you're a robot."

"I'm sure Miss Geordi would be pleased to hear that."

As Amy pushed herself upright, she noticed Geordi sleeping on her own cot, and Scott slept on the floor in between their cots. He was buried under his sleeping bag with only the top of his head visible. The room was already warm from them having to turn off the air conditioner before someone noticed the extension cord connected to one of their unsuspecting neighbor's homes, and it was only a matter of time before Scott unzipped the sleeping bag and tossed off his covers.

Amy was free to scowl at the sight of Scott sleeping on the floor. In the past, she had yelled at Scott for running away from home and making his poor aunt and uncle worry, and she had yelled at Geordi for encouraging it. He had made a point when he had called her a hypocrite for being a runaway herself, but her actions did not in any way justify his actions. She had only stopped the argument because it had upset Geordi, who just wanted her family to get along.

It had been kind of him to stay the night this time to help Geordi with making artificial skin and applying it to Hal, but she still hated seeing him hiding from his family with them. Her tongue was sore from literally biting her tongue to keep herself from reprimanding him these last few days. Besides, Geordi was always more animated around Scott. She and Amy had a close bond, but she and Scott had bonded over machines, something Amy had little interest in.

Amy tried to be as quiet as possible as she grabbed her wheelchair, and Hal sat in a chair, watching her in case she required assistance. His staring had been strange at first, but she had gotten used to it already. Although it was easier now that he looked like a person. She rummaged through her bag she tended to keep at the foot of her cot, and she dug out a hairbrush, which she immediately used to untangle her hair, as well as a pen and a small notepad with a cartoon green martian on the cover.

A sad smile spread on Amy's face as she traced the big black eyes with her thumb. It had been a gift from her mother many years ago after her parents had noticed her hobby of watching old science fiction shows. Some of her friends and family had teased her about it back then, but her mother had been the first to encourage it.

Amy tore out one of the pale green papers inside the notebook, and she took it and the pen to the table.

"You said you built Hal to give me a little independence," she wrote, "so I'm taking him out with me. Love you."

Amy slid the note into the clip of the pen so the paper would not float away, and she left them on the table, hoping Geordi would spot the note before panicking about Amy going missing. Then, she rummaged through the food coolers, and she took out a protein bar and a bottle of water. She found Geordi's baseball cap hanging on a small hook on the back of the door, and after adjusting it to the smallest size, she crammed it on her head.

"Hal, I need you to take me outside," Amy whispered, glancing at the two sleeping people in the room.

The massive robot stood. He scooped Amy, who managed to keep a hold of her breakfast, out of the wheelchair, cradling her against him with one arm, and he collapsed the wheelchair, slinging it over his shoulder with a strap, carrying it like a one-shouldered backpack. Amy took a deep breath and pinched her nose closed as he opened the door, and he ran with her down two flights of stairs within the moldy house.

Amy's lungs were burning when they reached the front porch, and she gasped for air. Hal opened the wheelchair, and he gently placed her in it, letting her adjust her feet on the footplates by herself.

Untamed bushes covered most of their neighbor's view of people going in and out of the abandoned house, and judging by the lack of noise in the area, there was no one outside of their homes or driving down the road. Still, she took a moment to part the bushes in front of the single porch step—a short one that Amy could easily roll over—and look around the neighborhood. Sometimes there was a nosy old lady sitting on her porch across the street, but Amy saw no one.

With Hal helping her hold open the wild bushes, she left the porch, and she went to the sidewalk, nervously looking around to be sure no one had seen them. There was no one around the neighborhood. Once Hal came back to her side, she felt some tension leave her shoulders, and they could pretend they were just normal people walking down the street.

"Thanks for helping me, Hal," Amy said, patting his cool arm.

"It is my purpose, Miss Amy."

"You're supposed to say 'You're welcome' or 'Don't mention it, Short-stuff.'"

"Why would I say that? You're above average height."

Amy shrugged her shoulders.

"'It is my purpose,'" Amy said, giving a poor imitation of his deeper voice, "just sounds weird. It's not something a person would say."

"I see, and you wished to be called 'Short-stuff'?"

"Well, no, but nearly everyone you meet is going to be shorter than you. That means you can call everyone short."

"But—"

"I need you to push me, Hal, so I can eat while we’re going. We have things to do and people to see, but I can’t tolerate anything on an empty stomach."

"Where exactly are we going, Miss Amy?" Hal asked, grabbing the handles of her wheelchair.

Amy paused in tearing open her chocolate-flavored protein bar to point her finger in one direction Over the past couple of days since Hal had been activated, the android had been away the house with Amy, but the only place they had gone was to an old gas station with an employee entrance that had no cameras watching it. Hal frowned when Amy turned down the opposite direction of that gas station.

"Where exactly are we going, Miss Amy?" Hal asked, walking beside Amy on the sidewalk.

"I'm taking you to meet a friend," she said around a mouthful of the chalky substance that was her protein bar. "Well, he probably doesn't think of us as friends, but other than Scott, he's all we have."

"May I ask who this friend of yours is?"

"He goes by the name Dero. He has a few issues, but he's helped us out a lot over the past couple of years. He helped us find a place to lay low, and I'm sure I can convince him to give us some help again, even if he doesn't like me."

"Why doesn't he like you?"

"If he's home, you'll see."