Lann shrieked in surprise when a person suddenly charged out from the large pile of trash to his left, shouldered past him, and sprinted over to where his truck was parked.
Instead, he let out an "Oof!" when a heavy trash bag full of stuff landed on his feet.
The woman – actually, more like a young girl from her tiny stature and lack of womanly assets – glared at him from her defensive position.
"Uh." Lann picked up the bag. "You dropped your stuff?"
The girl slowly inched her way over, and then snatched the bag from his hand when she got close enough. After a moment of silent staring, she whispered, "I'm lost."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Lann smiled lopsidedly and hoped he didn't look like a creep. He definitely wasn't into little girls. "What's your name?"
"Lynn." The girl edged away slightly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lann."
The girl's eyes flashed with something he couldn't place. "Hi."
"Where are you goin'? Home?"
"I don't have one."
Lann took a step back, ready to unlock the gate to his apartment, when the girl took a step forward and smiled radiantly. "I'm sorry for… earlier."
"I've got food inside." Lann jumped at the chance to help her. She reminded him of his younger sister before she had died from the flu, to be honest. "You want to come in?"
"Can I stay tonight?" The girl blurted out, and Lann was momentarily surprised. "I was looking for a place for me and a friend to stay, but I lost her a while back. I'll go tomorrow."
"Uh, sure." Lann unlocked the gate and motioned her to follow. "I don't have a problem with that."
"Thanks!" The blinding grin was back.
Lann watched as the girl, Lynn, marveled over the heaps of automatons and simple androids that he had in his apartment.
"So, what do you do?"
Lann looked up from where he was putting pouring hot water into a bowl of noodles.
"I'm, uh… I'm what you'd call a genetic designer. It's just a fancy title, though. I make bodies for Replicants, improve them, things like that."
Since his back was turned, Lann missed the dangerous, knife-like smile that spread across Lynn's face.
"Really?"