There was a lot of trash in the living room. Amy had to separate the paper and plastic into separate bags for the recycling truck, but still, she filled two entire bags before she could see the floor in some areas of the room. She even revealed two proper trash cans in the living room that were full, and there was plenty of trash left around the computer. Her arms and back were sore just from the tedious task of bending over so many times to pick up the waste.

Hal cleaned up the mess in the hallway, announcing to her that he believed it was only melted ice cream, and then he went to work helping clean the kitchen. While the kitchen was not as littered as the living room, it was clear from the amount of dirt that Hal swept up that it had not cleaned in quite some time. Amy wondered what had happened to his robot vacuum.

There was a loud thud, and then some cursing. Amy thought to stop Hal from rushing to check on Dero in the tub, but he moved faster than the thought had entered her mind. Hal peeked into the bathroom, and there was a high-pitched scream.

"Who are you?" Dero called in a hoarse voice.

Amy, despite knowing that Dero felt he was in genuine danger, failed to suppress a grin from her face.

"My name is Hal."

"Hal? What—? Who—?"

"Don't worry," Amy called. "He's with me."

Amy told Hal to step away, and she moved into Dero's view. The poor man was sprawled in the bathtub, hands gripping the wall and side of the tub. His eyes—very pretty large blue eyes that looked like they belonged on a doll—were wide with fear. Then, his eyebrows came together when he realized who had just appeared in the doorway.

"Amy?" he said.

"Hey, buddy, you left the door open, so I just let myself in. Turns out you were unconscious on the floor. I had Hal dump you in the tub."

Dero just laid in the tub, blinking his eyes and staring at her as he tried to comprehend the situation.

"That behemoth's with you?" he said after a while.

"Yeah, sorry he scared you. Geordi built him for me."

"Geordi? Where is she?"

Dero seemed to forget to be scared, and he leaned forward to peer around the door in search for her, eyebrows squishing together.

"She stayed at home. She's been working all night on Hal, and I don't think it’s wise for her to leave the house more than she has to right now.”

“Why’s that?”

“The police connected her to a crime scene.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Take a shower, buddy. Hal and I will finish cleaning up your mess.”

Amy told Hal to close the door, and then she went back into the living room to finish cleaning up the huge pile of wrappers. She had Hal dump the recycling bins into the larger bins in the backyard, and then he helped her clean the rest of the mess. After a couple of minutes, she heard the bathroom door open, and then she looked up in time to find Dero with a towel wrapped around his waist and sprinting out of the bathroom and down the hall to his bedroom.

When Dero joined them in the living room, all of the wrappers had been cleaned off the floor, revealing a carpet that desperately needed to be vacuumed. Hal was washing his dishes, which Amy had been too low to notice herself. Dero was wearing something Amy had never seen him wear before: a T-shirt and sweatpants. Both were black, but the T-shirt, which zombified goat’s head on the front and a list of cities on the back, had faded to a dark gray. There were dark red splatters on the pants. His black hair was damp from the shower, but he let it fall loose, leaving it a long, curling mass around his head.

Dero was a thin man, but Amy knew from the sheer number of wrappers on the floor that he had not achieved it through unhealthy means.

There were two full-sleeve tattoos on his arms. He had a colorful, yakuza-style phoenix that took up his entire arm, and on the other arm, there was a collage of characters from horror shows, movies, etc.

Dero stared at Hal as he washed the dishes, and he jumped when Hal turned to greet him. The robot kept a friendly smile on his face, and he made no comment of Dero’s fear of him.

“Hal’s half plastic,” Amy said, “so he’s only half as scary as he looks. Besides that, he’s programmed to help me. He’s big like a combat android, but he’s not really one.”

Dero looked away from Hal, but when he looked at Amy, his jaw dropped.

“You’re in a wheelchair,” he said, somehow noticing it for the first time.

Amy sighed, and she nodded.

“Yeah, I guess I haven’t seen you since it happened.”

“Since *what* happened?”

“Well, I don’t remember, actually. I hit my head pretty hard, and I only know what Geordi told me. We were collecting parts at a place in Bloomington, and there was some guy there. He was acting weird. We tried to avoid him, but apparently, he saw me. Somehow I ended up falling over a railing. Geordi found me unconscious, and when I woke up, I couldn’t move the lower half of my body.”

Dero tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, and his face resembled that of a boy who just watched someone kick his puppy. His eyes were wide and full of tears.

“Oh, shit,” he said. “That’s—I’m so sorry.”

Amy shrugged her shoulders.

“You always told us what we did could get dangerous. I just got unlucky.”

Dero frowned, averting his eyes, and he ran his hand through his hair. He just stood there and thought for a moment, and then he plopped into his computer chair.

“How long ago was this?” he asked,

“Six months ago, I think? The days all seem to blur together anymore.”

“That’s when I gave you that tip about those parts, isn’t it? You were there because of what I said.”

“It wasn’t your fault what happened, Dero. In fact, you’ve always told us to stay away from cities, so we’re to blame for not listening to you.”

“And yet I gave you that tip.”

Amy shrugged, knowing there was nothing she could say to alleviate the guilt.

“Who’s that, by the way?” Amy asked to change the subject, and she pointed toward the blond hidden under the blankets on the couch. “I tried waking him a few times, but he just lays there.”

Dero stood from his chair, and then he flung back the blankets on the blond, revealing a dude dressed in only a gray tank top and tight jeans. He leaned over the person and shook his shoulder. When there was no response, he gave his whole body a more vigorous shake. Still no response.

“I have no idea who this is,” Dero admitted.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, but they’re alive. I’ll give them a little while longer before I get them into a hospital.”

Dero threw the blanket back over the person, and then he plopped back into his chair, letting his leg dangle over the arm of the chair.

“So, why are you here?” Dero said, picking at a red spot on his knee. “I assume it has something to do with the police looking for Geordi.”

“Yes, that’s exactly why I’m here.”

“I’m not hacking into the database to delete records and shit.”

Amy let out a surprised chuckle at that.

“No, no, that would just create more problems for you, and I don’t want that.”

“What do you need me to do, then?”

“Well, you’re legal now, right? So, I just need you to pretend you’re checking cybersecurity for the police and look at the evidence for me.”

“There are some protocols I normally have to go through to do that, you know."

"Oh, will you get in trouble?"

"I'll be reprimanded. Possibly even fired, since I'm not exactly well-loved at the station."

"I-I didn't necessarily expect you to help me right now. I just came here to ask if you would look into it. I don't know if you'd find anything that would help us, but—"

Dero waved a dismissive hand, and he turned in his chair toward his computer, lowering his foot onto the ground so he could sit properly at his desk.

"It's all right," he said. "I just need some time."

"Do you want us to leave and come back some other time?"

"You don't have to. It won't take me *that* long. Unless someone tries to stop me."

Amy turned to look at Hal, who was organizing Dero's kitchen cabinets.

"I suppose Hal and I could continue cleaning your house while we wait if you don't mind."

Dero paused in typing on his computer, and he looked around the room. His eyebrows lifted when he looked at the floor.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "I haven't cleaned in a while. You two did all of this?"

"Yep, it's the least we could do. You've done a lot for us."

Dero narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't you act innocent. I know you were just going use it to guilt me into helping you."

Amy let out a dramatic gasp, and she pressed her hands over her heart.

"Sir, I did this out of the kindness of my own heart."

"I'll pretend to believe you if you have Goliath take Aurora into the guest room for me."

"Yes, will do."

Dero turned back to his computer, and Amy called to Hal to do as her friend had requested. Then, she went in search of a vacuum.