The next few days brought no further arguments. Kyo cooked dinner, but didn't stay to eat any longer. The 24 hour delivery place reliably brought healthy snacks on demand, but even Meg picked at them. And a chilly air had settled over the trailer.

Meg was almost relieved when there was a Zero sighting down by the docks after dinner one evening. But by the time she and Jo had piloted Django there, there was no sign. The robot stood on a pier and waited. And waited.

And waited.

And when Jo finally started getting really bored, she had Django sit cross-legged on the pier and lean it's head in one hand.

"Oh, no," Meg said from the pilot seat. "Jo-" Then her console beeped. Two RAPT mechs were rolling up to them. "Oh, great."

One of the cops voices came over the speakers: "Unregistered mech pilot, power down your weapons and disembark now."

Django's head swung lazily around to look at the cops, then turned back and rested its head on one hand.

"Did you hear what I said?" the cop snapped.

In the pilot's seat, Jo's pose mirrored the robot's. Behind her, Meg opened her mike. "Um, Mr. RAPT cop, sir? We're licensed private contractors and we're on a job that, well, it hasn't panned out. We have this target, see, that rabbits before we get to it, and then my pilot gets bored out of her skull. You've had nights like that, right? When nothing happened? And you're just better off if you go home? So, maybe you think something happened at the other end of the dock, and-"

The air flickered near the two cops, and the Subject Zero cybot appeared there, apparently taking in the view over the ocean and ignoring everything.

"Jo!" Meg tapped Jo's shoulder. Jo saw the cybot on her monitor and perked up.

Jo said into the mike, "Coppers, be cool, just take it easy, that Cybot can be-"

The lead cop wheeled on the Cybot. "Deactivate your weapons and disembark now!"

The Cybot kicked the cop, making it stagger back. It didn't fall off the pier, but as it regained its balance, the Zero cybot raised a gun arm and aimed at the cop.

"No!" Jo fired Django's rockets and boddy-slamed the cybot from a sitting postion, sending the arm and its shot wild. The Cybot fired its engines and jetted a few hundred feet up, fired at the three robots, then flew over the rows of stacked shipping containers and seemed to set down farther down it.

The cop Jo had saved stammered, "What was that?"

Jo wheeled on the RAPT vehicle. "That was the Cybot that almost turned you into goo! I just save your ass, and I don't like you RAPT bastards." She calmed down and then radioed: "Ok, cops-"

"My name is Seargent Yamoto," the cop she had saved radioed indignantly. "My partner is Officer Hayashi."

"Ok, Yamoto, Hayashi," Jo said, "my name's Jo. We've been tracking that cybot for a couple of weeks and it's a pain in the butt. I get paid more if I bring it in without outside help, but right now, I don't care. So here's the deal: You help me bring it down and let my friends look it over forrrrrrrrrrrr…45 minutes, let's say, and you can keep the carcass and the credit and not even mention us in your report because I just want this thing gone. And if I get paid anyway, I'll split it with you or donate it to the RAPT widow's and orphans fund or whatever you want me to do with it, minus a case of hot sauce."

"Hot sauce?" Yamoto asked.

"Hot sauce," Jo said. "You in or not?"

"I'll need to get authorization," Yamoto replied.

"Sssuuurrrreeeee, you do that," Jo said. "I'm sure the nice flying cybot will stay put until we're ready to move on it."

Yamoto relented …almost. "If I go along with this and it doesn't work out-"

"You'll be glad you don't have to answer to my boss. You in or out?"

"All right. Who're you tied to?"

"Bailan Triad."

"This connected to any other crimes, Jo? You collecting on a debt or something?"

"Sergeant Yamoto, if you had been dealing with this thing, you would wish it was that simple, and you'd be getting as much sleep as I am over this thing…which is less than I usually get, and it's making me cranky."

Meg put in, "And if you knew Jo, you'd know that's saying something. Just sayin' you shouldn't drag this out."

"Short answer - no," Jo said.

Meg said, "The cybot's pilot is a person of interest to us. Put it that way."

"Ok," Yamoto said, "you bring your people up to speed, and I'll tell my station house we're supporting you."

Jo changed frequencies and explained the situation to Sei and Amy, who were back at the trailer.

Sei said, "I'm not happy about bringing RAPT into this, given our history and their apparent complicity with our enemy. But under the circumstance, I'll take all the help I can get. We'll monitor their frequency."

Jo changed back to the RAPT frequency. "We're in, and my people will help on your frequency. How're things on your end?"

"We're good to go," Yamoto said. "I've informed my station house that we are supporting the Bailan team in the apprehension of a person of interest unassociated with another crime. And we have airborne unit's a couple of minutes out who can track it if it tries to fly on us."

"Ok," Jo said. "It has mimetic camouflage and stealth technology, but that's better than nothing. Amy, where is it?"

"It's halfway along a row of containers four rows down from you, just sitting there."

Meg murmured, "'"Come into my parlor," said the spider to the fly.'"

"I don't like this," Jo said, "but I don't see we have any other options at this time. Yamoto, Hayahshi: Do exactly as I say. We role up on this thing quiet, no lights or sirens. I'll take the shot - I won't miss - and if I hit in the right place, maybe we can keep it down. Clear?"

The cops agreed.

"All right." Jo had Django draw a pistol. "Let's do this. Hayahsi, go around the other end of the containers. Yamoto, stay close. Neither of you fire unless fired upon."

The stacks of containers rose a couple hundred feet above the heads of the robots as they dropped into wheeled mode and crept along the roads on either side of the containers. But about halfway, Hayashi radioed, "Hold up."

The robots came to a halt. Jo radioed, "What is it?"

"Found something…" Hayashi answered. "It looks like the paint truck that went missing earlier."

"Paint truck?" Jo asked.

Amy chimed in, "Yeah, it was on the police scanners a couple of hours ago: Someone stole one of the trucks the highway department uses for painting lines on the roads."

"The vehicle itself appears to be intact," Hayashi went on, "but one of the tanks is missing, along with one of the pumps."

Yamoto said, "What could this guy want with a paint truck?"

"If we had visual communication, you would see my 'I don't care' face," Jo said. "Amy, is it still there?"

"Still there. Not moving."

"All right. Let's move in."

They got around the corner from the cybot. They could see it was standing there. The tanks from the paint truck were on the ground nearby.

"Ok…" Jo hissed, "on three…one…two…three!"

Jo and Yamoto came in from one end, Hayahsi from the other side. The cybot didn't react.

They crept closer to it. No reaction. Jo had Django reach out to touch it, and her the robot's hand went through the cybot. Then it vanished in a blaze of scan lines, leaving only a box with lenses on top on the ground beneath it.

Yamato said, "A holo projector. This thing was long gone by the time we got-"

Jo cried out in rage and brought Django's foot down on the box.

"That was evidence," Yamato admonished.

"Write me a ticket," Jo shot back. "Damn-"

"Uh, Jo?" Hayashi said. "Don you know anybody named Sei?"

"My boss. Why?"

"You should look at this."

Jo wheeled Dajngo around, and all three robots faced the containers behind them and the words that had been painted on the side of the containers in white, reflective road paint:

'SEI LOVES LITTLE BOYS.'

In the seat behind Jo, Meg breathed, "Holy…"

Sei radioed, "Jo, Meg - hold your position. I'm coming down."

"Roger on that," Jo said. She let go of the controls, sank back in her seat and cursed softly as she rubbed her temples.

"Jo?" Yamato said. "Never thought I'd say this to someone who I usually would try to bring in, but for what it's worth, I get it now."

"Still don't like you RAPT bastards," Jo said, "and I'll probably shoot you the next time I see you after we're done with this thing. But thanks anyway."