With this chapter, I'd like to insist that there is a content warning for a reason. If you are uncomfortable with drug use, torture, body horror, violence, strong language, minor character death, and/or mentions of prostitution and human trafficking, I'll recommend you stop here.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.

Beta-reading was performed by the wonderful Kokodoru.

Luka took all night, and much of the following day, almost thirty hours all told, to rest and recuperate from her walk to the clinic and back. After a certain point though, she simply couldn't stand being in bed any longer and got up. She bathed herself with the help of one of her last painkillers, got dressed with a little effort, hydrated a meal, all for a little walk along the docks with Miku.

The tealette watched her get ready with wide eyes. While Luka didn't exactly mind being nude in front of the AI at first, especially since the robot had operated on her shoulder, knowing that she was of a different make than a standard AI shifted that a bit. She wasn't a prude by any means, but there was always some weight to being naked in front of someone who would form an opinion on what they saw. To a standard AI, a human body meant nothing. To Miku, it could mean anything. Luka had no idea what to expect from her.

When she was all ready, she told the robot to get changed into new clothes. The oversized shirt and pants combo did its job on the ship, but if they were going to be inconspicuous out on the docks, then she needed to wear something a little more appropriate. One of Luka's form-fitting tank tops made a decent, somewhat loose shirt, while a pair of summer capris with a rope around the waist could be adjusted to fit Miku's slimmer frame. Her mass of teal hair was once again tied up into a ponytail, barely kept above the ground. It would be relatively cool on the docks that day, so Luka wore suitable attire: a long-sleeved shirt, a pale cream color without any kind of markings or insignia, worn over standard long slacks. She made sure the collar of her shirt was properly folded, that she hadn't neglected any buttons: any detail could communicate anything to anyone. Being neutral in appearance was important if she just wanted to take a walk in peace.

After making sure that Miku's sticker was still visible, and that she also wasn't communicating any messages with her attire, they stepped out of the ship. Luka only brought along her microphone: there was no way to know in advance if the robot could keep contact with the AI.

"Aren't you bringing your gun?" Miku asked as they walked away.

"Absolutely not," the woman replied, putting on her microphone. "That would probably be the worst idea."

"Why? I thought this place was full of criminals."

Luka stopped, pointing discreetly. "See those?"

Miku looked at where she pointed, finding a small glass room with two people seated within. They were wearing white and blue, with yellow highlights. "Yes."

"That's an enforcer hub. Here on the docks, there's one in every segment."

The robot took in their surroundings, finding the segments, surely identifying the bulkheads that loomed between each.

"Each has two enforcers. And there's a whole army of enforcers in the hub. They all enforce Shion law."

"And what is that?"

"The Shion family owns this whole place," Luka explained. "They built the place, they maintain it, and they pay really powerful people to turn a blind eye to everything that goes on here. In exchange, sellers who trade here give them a cut of their profits, and we obey their laws. The first law is absolutely no weapons."

"Ah. Don't I count?"

Luka paused. "Technically, you're cargo, and an AI. I don't think they'll count you."

"Of course," the robot muttered. Then, on a much more curious, optimistic note, she stated, "Everything here is blue."

"Why do you think they call it the Sapphire Shores?"

"I didn't think it would be so literal. A small portion of our surroundings is visible from the ship window. Is really everything here blue?"

"Come and look."

They returned to the large windows of the docks. As understanding dawned on the robot, she gasped and ran to press her hands against the glass.

"It really is all blue!" she exclaimed.

"Turns out, most of it is actually yellow or orange," Luka said, leaning against the glass with her good shoulder, grinning slightly as the robot stared. "But the surfaces of most leaves, the animals, their features and shells, they're all covered in microscopic little cones. Those cones stop almost all wavelengths of light from escaping, except for the wavelength of blue. That's also why it's all so shiny: it isn't a blue pigment, the color is because of the surface structure."

"Wow...!"

"You haven't seen as many planets. This is really a tame one compared to some."

"I have seen so many things," Miku muttered. "But never so much blue."

"Yeah. Guess that is kind of special in its own way."

"You don't like it here?"

"I do. My favorite flower grows on this planet. But there are other places that have a bit more punch in the wow-factor."

"I can hardly believe that. This is amazing."

Luka opened her mouth only to close it again. After a minute, she muttered, "Come on. It's not going anywhere, but soon enough we'll be too busy to visit the port itself."

"Right! Let's go!"

They went into the central area, walking past the enforcer hub. As they passed, Miku saw that the two agents within weren't human. She asked Luka about the other alien species humanity had gotten acquainted with, their names, their cultures. Luka knew only that their chitinous peers, Neks, were better for dealing with minerals and plant life, while humans cared more for foods and fabrics, and the reptilian aliens, the Craypt, cared more for tools, metals, and jewels. She knew little about their home planets, their mindsets, their day to day lives. There were more species, some more populous than others, some more powerful than others, but that particular port featured those three predominantly.

As they talked, they made it to the center of the dock area, where people were looking for teammates or crew, hoping to buy or sell in a pinch, running to catch flights or appointments. It was a bustling mess and Luka almost felt like she was home.

"Everybody is so tall," Miku muttered.

"That's what space travel does. If most of your species isn't limited in growth by strong gravity, you can get pretty big. Our bug friends are also limited by oxygen supply, which is why you see them wearing those suits. They need a lot of it."

"Wow. How come you're not so tall?"

"I'm just short," Luka said with a smirk. "Always have been. It means I'm the only one who can pilot my ship. It means my ship is smaller than almost everything else. I can get in and out of most situations way easier than most. A definite plus, in my line of work."

"Ah, I can see that. Wow. I'm almost afraid of getting lost. It's like a big, moving forest."

"Can you talk with Ruko?"

"No."

"Damn." Luka looked around. "See that big post there? With all the names on it?"

"I see a post, but no names."

The woman thought for a second. "And that wall?"

"It is blank."

In truth, it was covered in a large screen. One of the premium sellers had bought an ad slot there and was declaring that he had a huge amount and variety of jewelry and unrefined metals for sale. Those who had the luxury to have visual implants probably also got targeted advertisements instead.

"Right, so your vision is being filtered. Interesting."

"Oh."

"You still see the post, right?"

"Yes."

"If we get split up today, meet there. If shit hits the fan while we're doing business, rendezvous at my ship."

"Ok!"

"On that note... If anybody asks, I'm not your seller," she whispered. "I'm just their proxy. If anybody is interested, tell them to just scan your sticker. That'll bring them to your page."

Miku's mood dropped. "Ah. Alright."

"I'm just escorting you on a walk."

"Understood."

"And if someone tries to say that you belong to them, just yell out for an enforcer. They'll scan the ticket and bring you back to my ship. Again, I'm just your escort."

"I can do that."

Luka sighed. "We should have settled that before heading out, but here we are..."

"Is this also where you did your trading?"

"Oh, no. That's further into the hub. This is just the port area. We'd need to head to the market."

"Can we go there?"

"Alright. It's a bit of a walk, though."

"I don't mind."

"Then let's go."

Miku followed behind the woman closely. As they walked, the throngs of reptile, mammal, and insect-like bodies thinned, but the robot was never more than a step behind. She took in the sights, the lights, her eyes catching on other robots she saw, some also bearing stickers of their own.

"As you can see," Luka started, noticing one that had caught Miku's attention. "You're not the only robot for sale out here. That one was probably just purchased from the market."

"Are there very many who look like me?"

"Like a human? For sure, but not for the same reasons you look like a human, I'm guessing. You look the way you do to be relatable to people, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, other robots that look human...let's say they don't think much. I'm pretty sure you're the only robot of your kind that is also an AI."

Miku hummed in response.

"Your senses are being filtered," Luka started the conversation anew as they ducked into an alleyway. "What senses do you have in the first place, though?"

"I possess sight and hearing, naturally. I cannot taste or smell, however."

"Huh. You can't smell the food? Or flowers?"

"Not at all."

"Shame. You're missing out."

"Perhaps. I can see much more than you can, however. Infrared, among others."

"Just like your gun," she muttered when nobody was around to overhear.

"Yes. My eyes have the same, but less oriented towards targeting. Passively, I can see many, many things."

"You also feel touch?"

"Yes. I need to interact with the world somehow, after all. I am very sensitive to textures, temperatures, pressure. Probably more accurately than you are."

"You waterproof?"

"I am water-resistant. I can be washed, but not submerged."

"Huh... And your memory, how does that work?"

"How so?"

"You're the sum of the collection of a bunch of robots, right? You have all their memories, too?"

"Ah, yes. Working backward, I have my own memories as a single entity, all the way back until my moment of creation. Before that point, I have the memories of multiple units, of all the events they had gone through. I can even recall some moments from multiple points of view."

"And how far back does that reach?"

"All the way. I remember the moment of activation of all my component units."

Luka whistled. "That must be a lot of data."

"Ah, yes. I have many, many exabytes of storage space."

"What, exabytes? Damn, you probably only remember the important bits, then. That's nothing."

"Oh, no. I remember everything. Every now and then, I am almost close to my storage limit, but then I figure out how to compress my memories further. Sometimes I take another week to figure out how to better extract and read them, but it is worth the effort."

This made Luka pause. AIs weren't supposed to self-improve like that.

After a moment, she asked, "Even every second of when you were turned off?"

"No. I did activate every now and then, for a physical check-up. Once every thousand years or so. I stayed offline so I wouldn't trigger any false alarms: I just moved all my limbs and made sure that the room was still intact. Given enough time, that still creates a lot of data."

"Right."

"I see many people are wearing pins and jewelry," Miku remarked.

"Ah, yeah. It's a code," Luka started, happy to talk about something she knew more about. "Online, you can filter out things with tags. In the market, it would take way too long to approach everybody and ask them about what they're selling, how much, what kind of prices they're expecting. So there's a hidden language in our clothes."

"Is that why you took care in what we are wearing?"

"Exactly. Even though people will see that you're most likely for sale thanks to your sticker, they'll also see that I'm not the seller since I'm not broadcasting anything. It also means that we're not looking for anything in particular, so there are less odds of people accosting us."

"What kind of signs are there?"

"Hm. Hats, scarves, and stuff, that's usually the sign of really high-price transactions. Bracelets, visible tattoos on the arms, shiny cufflinks, rolled up sleeves, that's more mid-range transactions, and the most common. If you see shiny shoes, pins attached to pant legs, anything shiny below the knee, those people are either desperate and need something for free, or in exchange for a favor. Rarely, you'll see sellers who are selling for free or in exchange for a favor, but you really need to catch them before it's gone."

"How can you tell if someone is buying or selling?"

"Easy: the chest area is where the pins go. Right side is buying, left is selling. See the guy walking towards us?"

"Yes?"

"Take a good look." For a second, the two stayed silent, Luka discreetly observing the pins while Miku, less practiced, stared right at him. Once he was behind the duo, Luka asked, "What did you see?"

"A black circle on his right, a red star on his left."

"Ok, the red star. The shape means that he's selling a bunch of random stuff. He's probably a bit like me, roaming around and seeing what he can find. The color means that his prices are fixed: gold might mean that he's willing to barter. But he clearly has a collection of baubles for sale and knows exactly what they're worth. From his bracelets and the beer tabs on his pants, it's mid-low range stuff."

"Aha. And the black circle?"

"The circle is pretty vague in general: it refers to chemicals of all kinds. A hollowed one hints towards industrial purposes, sure, and there are other details, but the fact that the circle was black is another hint."

"Oh?"

"Black always means illegal things."

Miku frowned. "How illegal?"

"Depends. If he displays it like that, it probably means according to universal law, but the Shion family is willing to let it slide. Since it was a circle, he's probably after some pretty nasty drugs. And, since he's a low-price buyer, he's probably willing to kill for it."

"Ah. Are there things here that even the Shion law forbids?"

"Yeah of course. Slavery is banned throughout the universe, and even the worst of criminals won't stand for it. But there's always some sociopath with a mine out there somewhere looking for cheap, expendable labor. There's also forced prostitution, child trafficking, all that shit."

"How do you find those?"

"Since even Shion law bans those, they won't advertise themselves super openly," Luka muttered. "I have no clue what kind of symbol they use. I'm pretty sure they change it regularly, informing one another quickly of the new symbols, just to keep out of the sight of enforcers. Generally, though, if the pin is black and it's not a circle, square, or diamond, it might be worth telling the enforcers about it."

"The enforcers will stop them?"

"In a heartbeat. Since the Shion family is basically buying a blind eye, they're also doing their best to keep at least a decent market here. If they attract too much scum then they can say goodbye to their empire, and we'll all have to look for a new place to do business under the radar."

"I see. So, everybody has a reason to report them."

"Yep. There's even a reward for it."

"Have you ever reported anybody?"

"Never had to. But I saw a few takedowns. I heard the reward is pretty crap, though. The Shions know that their continued reign is worth more than anything in the long run."

"Right. But if everybody is against them, then why are they here?"

"Hey, slavers and traffickers need a safe space to do business, too. Even if most people here would stab them without question, this is still safer than a rendezvous in the middle of space. They're probably selling more legal things at the same time, scouting more inclined people among their customers as they do so. It's probably really risky, and I hope it is."

Miku smiled. "I am glad that there is some decency, even here."

"Yeah, we're all criminals looking for a quick buck, but at least we're usually not out to hurt anybody for fun, you know? We have our rules, too."

"That is good."

Luka didn't know what to say. The robot was probably relieved to hear that she most likely was safe from the less savory types. 'Most likely' meant relatively: pure-hearted researchers around the galaxy would grasp the chance to crack her skull open, and she was sure Miku wouldn't like that, either.

"Alright, here we are. The market!"

The alleyway opened up like a delta, spewing them and a handful of other people into a veritable ocean of people. The shiny surfaces, from the reflective shells and scales of the aliens, to the pins and baubles on clothes, to jewels to lacquered hair to metal clothes, contrasted with the dull hides and leathers, matte sunglasses, black gloves, and inky tattoos. And they were yelling. All yelling and shouting and pushing and pulling. Sometimes, somebody attracted a ton of attention, pulling in entire throngs of people, making the mass pulse and squirm, while other people retreated from the herd to deal in corners, exchanging goods concealed in boxes and bags.

The entire square was surrounded by tall wall-like buildings. They were nameless, windowless, yet brightly lit with neon tubing and covered in screens Miku most likely couldn't see. At a glance, Luka saw advertisements of some other premium sellers, announcements for upcoming events, high-profile visits, news about some overheard spat within the Shion family, a little bit of universal politics, some shady politician campaigns.

Miku was awestruck.

"Anything you want to see in particular?" Luka asked as they continued to approach the mass.

"I..." She trailed off, her eyes taking in all the details, from tall hats to sparkling shoes to golden pins. Most people traveled in small groups: a three-meter tall Craypt with a huge headdress and a fountain of jewels and piercings, his arms rippling with muscle under a thick layer of scales, split the crowd with two bodyguards at his sides, both as large as he was. A band of humans did the same, their coats obscuring their arms and chest, showing their pins only to a handful of people at a time.

So much was going on.

"Is there a quiet corner?"

"There's the place where people tend to go eat," Luka said. "It's where you can sit down and keep an ear out instead of crossing the sea."

"Let's go there."

Miku stuck to the scavenger like glue, her hand gently grasping Luka's good arm when the crowd got particularly thick. Some took note of her sticker, but even those who turned to look at Luka gave up when they saw that she wasn't wearing any pins. The duo was stopped a handful of times by over-eager sellers, Luka shooing them away without any trouble, but it still took them a moment to traverse the crowd.

"Ok. The food court," Luka said as they made it to a relatively quiet area. There were tables and chairs, a few large busses parked nearby, out of which a variety of alien species were selling their cultures' most popular snacks. "You don't eat, don't you?"

"No."

"Right." Luka sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a bit of money right now..."

"You are hungry?"

"A bit," the scavenger admitted with a chuckle. "Rehydrated pasta only goes so far. This stuff is freshly made."

"What is your favorite?"

Luka told her of the food by the Craypt, whose favorite planets usually had one big mass of land and huge expanses of ocean. Their entire culture was based on fishing and seafood, and no matter what new planet they added to their empire, they always found a new way to eat and serve the indigenous water-life. Luka's particular favorite was little fried balls of dough around fish parts, decorated with a variety of herbs and spices that grew on a wide variety of planets. The snack was a popular one, and versatile since anything could be put inside, so it wasn't surprising when Luka saw it on the menu.

"They even have toro," she said with a groan. "Toro only thrives in its home oceans... They must get it imported directly."

Just when Miku was going to ask what was so special about this 'toro', a human man walked up to them.

"This one for sale?" he asked, pointing at the robot.

"Yeah, but I'm not the seller," Luka said without missing a heartbeat. "Scan the ticket and you'll see her online."

"Right, right. Proxy?"

"Yep."

"What's so special about it?"

Luka took in his appearance: he was clean-shaven, with well-kept hair and healthy skin. His clothes were simple for the most part, only his cap and the golden, diamond-shaped pin on the right side sticking out. "If you're looking for labor, she probably isn't what you're looking for."

"Not labor. More of an entertainer. It looks good, and that's always good for entertainment," the man said, bringing out a smaller tablet and holding it up to her sticker.

"Tell him what you do."

"I sing," Miku said.

His eyebrows went up. "An AI?"

"You bet."

"Wow." He scanned the sticker and Luka could see him scroll through the profile. He whistled. "A singing AI, huh? In such a nice package, too. You already know what the asking prices are?"

"They're pretty high," Luka admitted.

"Damn, Earth tech, too?"

"One-of-a-kind."

He laughed. "Your charge here might just be out of my league. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"It's no problem," Luka said with a smile. "Thanks for showing interest."

"Couldn't miss her if I tried," he said with a laugh. "I know some people who might be more able to consider her."

"You do?"

"Oh yeah, for sure. She's mighty pretty, and if she's halfway decent at singing and conversing, then your boss will be rich in a heartbeat."

"She's real good at singing," Luka said easily.

"Could I ask for a demonstration?"

The woman turned towards the robot. "You feel up to it?"

"Of course!" the robot chirped, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

"I'll record it and show it to my contacts if that's alright."

"That's totally fine. If anything, thanks for the free publicity!" Luka said with a chuckle.

Miku turned towards the man. "What kind of song would you like?"

"Oh sheesh, I can specify? That's wild," he said. "Uhm, just show off a bit. Do something crazy. Sing real fast for me."

"Something crazy..." Miku muttered, deep in thought.

"I gotta say though, she sings in some specific form of neo-human."

"Oh, I can sing in Common if needed."

"No, neo-human would be awesome! Go for it!" he exclaimed, bringing his tablet up. "Alright, I'm recording. Put on a show!"

"Go for it," Luka said, stepping back so she wouldn't be in the video.

If the robot had any clue that stage fright existed, then she had visibly elected to ignore it altogether. Even in the packed marketplace, between the pulsing masses and the eating crowd, she immediately turned on the music to full volume and sang her heart out.

Nobody had any kind of neo-human in their databases for translation, so everybody got the full blunt force of her wholly alien song. Luka was surprised to hear a few words in common slip in, recognizing them clearly despite the rapid pace of the song.

As the man had requested, the song was wild and unhinged. It wasn't the old pop she had sung before, it was a new blend of rock and electronic noises and it was so new, Luka could barely believe she had never heard quite anything like it before.

Before the refrain even hit, most people around had stopped to watch, pushing others aside to get a better view of the show. Luka could feel that people were stomping and clapping along to the beat. Even the alien species, who heard different portions of the sound spectrum, stopped and listened, flexing their dewlaps and twitching their antennae to the melody.

The refrain itself pulled all the stops. It was the rawest Luka had ever seen the robot. She placed emphasis perfectly, kept up with the merciless tempo, nailing each and every note on the beat.

She wasn't even struggling.

The crowd was positively vibrating with energy.

It was contagious and Luka was sure that the entire marketplace had hushed just to hear her song, even if they couldn't see her. She ended the song with even more gusto than she had started, with a pose, some extra flair, and to thunderous applause.

Luka didn't even know she had been holding her breath. Miku was all smiles, bowing as one did after a show, with hardly a worry in the world. Many approached her to scan her sticker or to exchange a few words. Luka watched carefully, her heart pounding in her chest.

The scavenger felt she might have underestimated the robot's musical prowess.

"What a show!" the man said, approaching her. "Tell your boss to expect a real influx of offers in the next cycle."

Her eye still on the queue for Miku's sticker, she said, "Will do. Thanks for the help!"

"No problem, no problem at all. In fact, tell your boss to maybe wait a bit longer? I have a few names in mind that would be particularly interested, but they're on the opposite end of the galaxy right now."

"How long should they wait?"

"Two cycles? That should be enough for them to get the news, make up their mind, and get here for the purchase."

"Sounds good, I'll communicate it."

"Great. Good luck with the sale. She got a name?"

"Miku."

"Hey, Miku! Thanks for the show."

"You're very welcome!"

"Have a good one, ladies!"

Luka gave him a polite wave as he disappeared in the crowd, and had to wait for Miku to be freed from the ongoing line of people. Part of her wanted to extricate them both from the chaos, but any attention woudld be good advertising; she could already see the price tag go up.

After what felt like forever, the crowd thinned and returned to its normal state, bustling as it did without a care in the world.

The scavenger let out a sigh as she approached the robot.

"I hope you had a good time," she said.

"I did!" Miku cheered. "Look at what they gave me!"

Luka did a double-take. "Is that money?"

"They called these tips," Miku explained, holding the small wad of bills between them. "To thank me for the performance."

After thinking about it for a second, she said, "Awesome. Keep it. You earned it."

"They told me it was for you. Your boss, rather."

They were right: the money went to the owner, not the object. Luka hesitated, but said, "Nah. You put on the show. It's yours to spend."

"Then I will buy you toro!" Miku chirped.

"What?"

"You are hungry, right? I wanted to thank you for bringing me out here."

"Oh."

"How much is it?"

Knowing that the price was visible, painted in bold letters on the bus, Luka told her the exact price. Without doubting her for a second, Miku handed her the change.

"Here!"

"Awesome. I'll be right back. Wait right here?"

"Yep!"

It took a minute of waiting in line, and eating it single-handedly was a bit of a pain, but it was the closest Luka had ever had to free food in her life and that made it all the more delicious.

"This is the best meal I have ever had," Luka admitted with a groan. "Oh wow. After three months of rehydrated and defrosted meals... Wow."

"I'm glad you like it," the robot chirped. "When you sell your spice, you could buy as much of it as you would like."

"Are you kidding me? I'd hire these people. Stars, this is good."

Miku smiled, watching her eat for a moment. "After you find all your wealth, what are you going to do?"

"After I sell you, you mean?" Luka asked. "I gotta sell you last since I still need your help with the crates."

"Right. Then yes."

"I'm going to some remote beach planet, build myself a home there, and retire for good."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"That sounds like a very lonely existence."

"I'll have my ship. If I need company, I'll just hop on board and visit my mom. Or a lady of the night, depending on the kind of company I want."

Miku frowned. "Are you sure—"

"Haven't we had this conversation already? I don't need you. Don't you start trying to change my mind on this."

The robot opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself, reconsidering, before finally settling on, "Are there really offers for me already?"

Luka wiped her mouth with the provided napkin. "More than I can count," she admitted before standing to throw away the trash. "There's no real point to look at them anytime soon, though. Looks like your asking price is just going to rise the more we wait."

"Right."

"Hey, chin up. I'll take a look once we're on the ship if you want. After all, it looks like you might actually get some attention for your music. Doesn't that sound great?"

"It does!" Miku admitted, but her cheer only went half as far. "I suppose that I should be looking forward to the day I am bought."

"Both of us are," Luka said with a careful stretch. "Alright. Anything else you want to see?"

"No. I think I have seen enough for a day."

"Same. Let's go back to the ship."

"Let's."

After their first outing, the two of them went on a few more walks. Luka needed the fresh air, desperate to get out of her ship for some variety in her day-to-day life, while Miku eagerly visited shops to see and hear what was going on. She couldn't taste the food or smell the flowers, but there was so much to see and experience nonetheless.

This walk, however, Luka needed to do on her own. As she stalked the streets of the Shion hub, her boots meeting the metal floor with subdued thuds, she trained her ears on the slightest sound, her eyes on the smallest movement.

Somewhere behind her, two enforcers followed, blending into the bright night. It never was truly dark in the hub. Neon lights only got turned down, not off. The cleaning bots that emerged cast little cones of light on the streets. But the night sky outside was devoid of any moon, the perpetual blue glow was gone, and all those in the streets were accompanied by long, narrow shadows.

It was always quiet, at night. Night was when the less practical deals were made. She planned to sell her spice at night so that Miku could move the crate without being seen by too many people. Ambushes were easier to hear coming. And, as with all darker locations, it was also easier to get a knife between the ribs when you least expected it.

Her ribs were killing her. To say that she was desperate for a sale was putting it kindly; she had long run out of painkillers. The cycle hadn't passed yet, though. She still had to wait a little longer.

Sadly, as with all things, first things first.

She sighed, trying to calm her racing heart, making sure that the small pin she had was still hanging on to the inside of her jacket. It was nothing more than tire rubber that had been chopped into an approximate shape and coated with a clear solid lacquer. The enforcers had lent it to her: confiscated from someone months prior. She was to return it when they were done since it was evidence. She itched to remove it. Its presence made her skin crawl.

The scavenger couldn't help it; she looked over her shoulder again, spotting the two enforcers behind her. When they were visible, they were trying to look casual. She didn't understand why they stuck so close to her, since they all knew where the meeting was to take place. She'd showed them the messages.

Maybe they were scared that she would be led to a secondary location.

That was a scary thought.

She had gone to the bathroom before leaving the ship and still felt like she needed to go.

She swallowed her fear and kept walking. Her senses on alert as they were, her heart pounding and her chest throbbing in pain, her mind couldn't help but wander. Maybe it was a self-defense mechanism. She remembered the past few days with the robot, their walks in the daytime. Those were better moments.

One thing was fairly obvious: no matter what, Miku lived to sing. She would sing a song for anybody that asked, from the prospective buyers to the curious who had seen the clip. Ruko could argue all they wanted that she had no real core goal to base her existence on, Luka wasn't convinced. Miku was all music, day in and day out. When she wasn't talking with the woman, she was listening to her music library or the local radio. She kept going on and on about how she hoped her buyer would like what she did. She dreamed out loud of singing for large crowds. She didn't aspire for stardom, per se. She just wanted to unite people. Even if she couldn't bring them home to Earth, she still hoped to bring them together. That was all that she was about.

She wasn't all that dangerous or unpredictable. Ruko might fear her because she was so different, but their similarities were stronger. Miku was a robot and an AI and she was going to be treated and sold as such.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Especially nothing less.

She seethed, checking over her shoulder again before she ducked into an alleyway. One of many.

At that point, she was almost impatient to get rid of the robot. Every night, she looked at her online post, scrolled through the offers, the pleas. There were the typical nerds, the legally-shady historians and researchers, but none of them had much money and they knew it, begging Luka to consider the scientific, moral worth of selling her for a good deed. There were the people who asked too many of the wrong questions, the ones who offered such abysmal prices Luka wondered if they were sane. More standard stuff.

It was still so much easier than finding buyers on the street.

She grumbled to herself: the alleyways were narrow in these parts. The labyrinth she had entered had been designed to be confusing so that enforcers could better trap runaways. Interestingly, this was still the favorite place for scum to make shady deals. Dead ends were never obvious, only making themselves known after several corners. Nobody escaped the law, here.

Unless they were careful.

Even though Luka had told Miku that she needed to hold on to her until she got rid of all the spices, that didn't mean that she had to ignore all offers. As predicted, every passing day brought in better and better offers, and the friends of their friend hadn't even had the time to reach out yet. One offer had been absolutely astronomical, and Luka figured hey, she could just as well hire real proxies and help with that kind of money.

She had started the conversation earlier that evening, convinced that the robot would be shipped off by dawn. For money like that, whether they had asked her to sing or asked to crack her skull open, she didn't even care. She'd get her painkillers, some staff, and some luxury while she waited to make even more money.

That was when the conversation had taken a turn, however.

Luka pulled out the note from her jacket pocket, trying to remember how many left turns she had just done. Her mind was numb, she couldn't remember what had just happened seconds prior. Her entire evening was a blur. She could only think of faraway places, more distant memories, the present was too untenable. She hoped that the enforcers still followed: the walls of the maze didn't bounce sounds around very well. Everything around her was quiet.

And there she was, in a small clearing in the labyrinth. As the correspondent had said, there was a trashcan in the corner with a dark grey rose graffitied on the side. A single orange neon tube hung from the low ceiling, flickering every other second.

She was there.

She wanted to pass out and sob from the fear. From the pain. Her injury played up again, throbbing. She sighed, deliberated whether she could lean against the wall, if she could dare look even a tiny bit weak. The enforcers had warned that they usually arrived very late to these rendezvous to weed out those who didn't have patience and to discourage stakeouts.

Luka was trembling like a small dog left in the cold, barely able to keep her wits, but she set her jaw and took a deep breath.

She wasn't about to be discouraged.

After composing herself, she flipped the left side of her jacket open, revealing the gleaming black rose pin to the dim neon light.

She was a coward, but she had principles.

It was a bit weird that Miku hadn't asked many questions when she had rushed out earlier. Even Ruko had stayed quiet, and she knew that neither of them could read her screen. She was the only one who knew what had happened in that conversation. If she could help it, that was how it would stay. But the robot was always so curious, so willing to learn and go out and see, that Luka was, in hindsight, baffled that she hadn't even asked to come along. See the Sapphire Shores at night? That was something Luka had been looking forward to ever since she had even heard of the place. But no: a promise that she would return soon enough had sufficed for some reason.

Fortunately, the enforcers didn't need much convincing either. She had shown them the chat and that was it. They didn't even care that she was selling a robot, which had lured in the buyer. The lure had worked, it was enough, and now Luka was standing there, alone in the night, waiting for a slaver.

Turns out that they cycled their pins. It was easier than coming up with new ones all the time. Right then, it was 'black rose'. The enforcers had leftover pins from previous busts and had given one to her once she was done describing herself to the buyer, saying that they would be meeting up with a proxy.

So, there she was, posing as a proxy to another slaver.

And all she could do was wait. Every heartbeat sent a bolt of pain down her spine and arm, every stray sound made the hair at the back of her neck stand on end. She wondered if she should have brought a decoy to pose as Miku. She could have told Miku about it. Stars knew that she would have felt safer in the presence of the weaponized robot. Stars knew she needed the comfort.

But no. She wouldn't tell Miku what she was doing, what was going on that night. The AI had enough things to worry about. She fretted too much about her future, she didn't have to consider the possibility of being sold into sex slavery on top of that. Sure, she was an AI, she could probably deal with the idea better than others, but Luka couldn't deal with the idea. It revolted her to no end and even if she felt like she would pass out from sheer anxiety, she wanted to see the slaver eat dirt. She wanted them to get caught and to hurt and to turn over all the other scumbags that they worked with.

She also wanted a gun, a decoy, more protection than two agents she couldn't even see, but all she had would have to do.

Footsteps sounded, emerging from the hall in front of her. Frighteningly quickly, they got louder and a hooded human man entered the clearing across from her. He opened his jacket, showing his pin, a pit of night against his white shirt. His bangs were long, keeping his face bathed in shadow, and the orange hue of the light made it impossible to accurately guess his hair color.

She forced herself to stand as still as a statue.

"Hey," she greeted, voice hoarse. "You got the money?"

He tossed a briefcase on the ground between them. "Count it if you want."

She stepped forward, hiding her stiff back, unable to hide her brace. Without taking her eyes from him she opened it.

She would probably make that much money with a dozen crates of spice.

It was so much.

Her heart lurched.

"Why a robot?" she asked, closing it. "You can get a real girl with this kind of money."

"You flaking?"

"Just curious," she said, sifting through the stacks of bills. She could see that he was already uneasy, wary, about to turn on his heel and bolt. She swallowed her fear and managed to say, "You might convince my boss to go find more of those robots if this is the kind of money they get."

At that, he quieted a bit. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. This? This is good business," she said with a forced smile, grabbing the handle of the suitcase and rising to her feet. "They just want to know why."

"Oh, you know. Little girls grow up sooner or later. And they're...frail. A robot like that?" He chuckled. "Can probably take a beating. For years on end."

"You know she's a singer. She doesn't even have the parts."

Another laugh. Luka could hear the undertones of a drug-induced slur. "Nothing a little tinkering can't fix."

"Fair point."

"She here or not?"

She turned and called over her shoulder. "Bring her in."

That was the cue. The first enforcer tackled the man from behind, while the second one emerged from the hall behind Luka, joining the pile.

Luka dropped the suitcase, limped to the wall, and watched the two enforcers kick the teeth right out of his mouth. His angry screams and yells turned into desperate gurgles, and eventually, all too soon, he stopped moving. Luka frowned: he didn't stay conscious for nearly long enough.

The first enforcer grabbed him by the ankles and started dragging, disappearing in the labyrinth.

"Great, thanks for the tip," the Nek enforcer told her, his chitinous shell gleaming in the neon light. "We'll interrogate him thoroughly."

"Excellent."

He picked up the briefcase, then made a whirring sound, his mandibles clacking slightly. An approximation of a whistle, Luka assumed.

"Sheesh. For this kind of money, most people would have just parted ways with their robot no questions asked," he said.

"I've got better deals to make."

"I sure hope so, or that you have a really great robot to sell there. You could have had it made."

"I don't care. I want him to hurt."

"Right." He closed the briefcase. "Kiss this money goodbye, 'cause it's all gonna be turned in to the Shion family."

"Don't I get a reward for this kind of tip?"

"Oh? Yeah. Nothing in comparison. Here." He pulled the bill out of his wallet.

"That's it?"

"That's the reward. You can check the terms and conditions." He chuckled. "The real reward is weeding out that low-life scum."

Luka glanced at the single bill, then pocketed it.

He nodded, his armor clacking. "You did a good thing today. Good luck with your better deals."

"Sure, yeah. Here's your pin."

"Ah yeah, thanks."

"Good night."

"You too, miss!"

She watched them go, then slowly, oh so slowly, made her way to the trashcan, where she took a minute to be sick.

She was exhausted.

She had just held a fortune in her hands and had let it go without questioning it.

It was worth it, she told herself. Watching the slaver get the skin kicked off his face made it worth it. Even scavengers had standards. She might be a coward, a buzzard picking from the dead and unconscious, but she didn't sell people. Even if they weren't even human by definition.

Even if she would have been set for life three times over.

Once she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and painfully made her way to the first 43/5 apothecary she saw. There, she purchased the strongest bottle of painkillers she could with her reward money and even considered some chewing gum. She changed her mind, opted for a cheap circular pin, red in color. It had a single line down the middle. One of the more common ones, sold without question.

She put it on her right side, swallowed a painkiller, roamed the streets for a while until someone approached her. The Craypt, female, even taller than their male counterparts, terrified her, but she was selling really cheap cigs with really nice side-effects.

Luka bought a packet, asked for a flame, thanked her, and bid her farewell. The pin was promptly thrown in the trash.

The taste of smoke masked the bile in such a perfectly disgusting way, it was almost, almost delicious. It settled her stomach though, soothed her nerves, and quieted her mind, which was exactly what she was asking for. As a bonus, it had a slight amnesiac effect: already the sickening conversation with the slaver was evaporating from her mind.

To think that some people would have turned over Miku, no questions asked.

What a strange thought.

It didn't feel real.

She returned to the ship having smoked three cigs back to back, using the glowing stumps to light each new one.

The entire night didn't feel real.

With all the smoke in her lungs, reality was feeling further and further away with each passing minute.

At least she would sleep.

She glanced down at the robot as she shut the pressure chamber door behind her, flicking out whatever remained of the last cig right before the door sealed. Miku looked to be powered down, which was odd. She hadn't ever done that before, but the robot stayed limp and unmoving even as Luka sluggishly stripped out of her day clothes.

Well, she didn't ask anything when she headed out, so she wasn't going to bother her back.

She was too tired to care anyway.

"Was your venture successful?" Ruko asked into her implant.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

Luka carefully dropped into bed. The throbbing of her injury had faded. Her mind felt smooth and quiet.

"Nothing important."

"Very well. I hope you had a good time."

"Yeah, I did."