Chapter Forty-Six – The Next Move

"Thank you again for last night." Naru said as Yasuhara poured some cereal into his bowl. Mai was already sitting at the small breakfast bar in the studio apartment, eating slowly. The night before had been difficult. Mai had changed into some proper winter clothing, thick jeans, boots, a long sleeved top, faded grey hoodie and thick red coat. Her grandmother had been kind enough to give Naru one of her older coats and a woolly hat that lowered enough to hide his LED. With the weather appropriate clothing they'd slipped through the night, hiding in gardens or ducking into bus stops whenever a car rolled by. Yasuhara lived in a fairly popular area, so they'd had to blend into crowds and duck into doorways to avoid notice. At the apartment block Yasuhara had buzzed them in and waited at the door for them.

"You don't need to worry about that, but I'm not sure how I can help. I haven't heard anything personally yet, but I'm sure the police will start questioning people at the office soon, especially our team since you work with us." Yasuhara almost sighed. He was worried. Naru had told him the story last night, making the human wish more than ever he'd just stayed a little later. If he'd been there then perhaps their boss would have just headed home rather than taking Naru from the office. If he'd still insisted maybe Yasuhara could have followed behind and called the police. He'd spoken to Mai and she'd told him about the camera in the café. It would have footage of all three of them. They knew what Naru looked like, and it wouldn't take long to get his full model number once they spoke to the bank.

"I don't know where to go from here…" Naru confessed, deeply troubled by his own position. He had no worries about Mai, not now that she was here with Yasuhara. His own fate was troubling. If he handed himself in to the police he would certainly be destroyed as a deviant. If he went on the run he wasn't sure where to go or what to do. Simply remaining here and hiding wasn't an option. He would not put his human companions at risk.

"What about other deviants?" Yasuhara suggested, and Naru nodded his agreement. Finding a group of other deviants would be a start. They could at least perhaps offer some guidance on how to survive outside of his programming. Naru still wasn't used to it, the idea that he could give himself orders. He wasn't bound to obey humans anymore. He didn't have a purpose anymore, beyond his own desires. It was a little unsettling.

"How would we even go about finding them?" Mai asked thoughtfully.

"I imagine they'd hide somewhere…off the grid. I can check the local sewer networks, or the old warehouse districts, or any other abandoned sites." Naru replied, silently bringing up a map of the local area and looking over potential starting points. Mai watched his blue irises flicking up, down, left and right as he seemed to look at something that wasn't really there. It was probably a subconscious movement. He blinked and focused on the human girl as she placed a gentle hand on his knee.

"I'm coming with you." She insisted, knowing from the drop in his gaze he didn't want her to.

"I had planned on having you remain here with Yasuhara. It is my desire to keep you safe." He added, feeling a small spark of pleasure at the fact that he could say that and mean it. The pressure on his knee increased, warmth spreading out from where Mai was squeezing. She was about to argue when Yasuhara's voice interrupted them.

"Hey, you think you're leaving me out of this? You got me involved, I'm going with you too. We'll track down help together." The larger human insisted, a feeling of frustration and warmth mingling in Naru's chest. He was grateful for Yasuhara's kindness, as always. He didn't bother to argue since he'd run a scenario and found there was only a twenty percent chance the humans would back down and allow him to go alone.

"I suggest we begin with the sewer system. It is the place least likely to attract human eyes." Naru suggested. It was quite obvious by the expressions on Mai and Yasuhara's faces why the police were least likely to watch the sewers. Human senses couldn't stand the smell, and they obviously assumed androids would feel the same distaste. They were wrong. Androids could turn off their senses, so the environment really wouldn't affect them.

"I should have known you'd say that." Yasuhara sighed as he got to his feet. "I'll grab a change of clothes and be right back." He added, not relishing the idea of getting sewer filth on his nice clothes.