You are pure, undiluted evil

"You are evil. You are absolute evil."

"You brought this on yourself. It wouldn't have been this bad if you hadn't suggested cosplay. And be thankful I didn't pick a worse outfit."

I snap another picture of Gin with his rPhone.

"Pose, please."

Gin is wearing the black cardigan and red miniskirt. He is visibly having a hard time moving around in those boots. Although his lean body helps, his height and musculature still completely ruins the intended aesthetic of the cosplay.

"'This bad'? You're saying dressing me up like this was your plan all along?"

"As long as it's apparel found in the special year sales, correct?"

"You are pure, undiluted evil."

"And you're an idiot for not thinking this through."

After sending out a message, I exit the 2itr app and hand the device back to Gin.

"I suggest we take a ten-minute break while we let the metanet vote."

"Fine, but just so you know, I'm still going to win!"

Gin starts a speech from within the changing room.

"Cosplaying and androids are still incredibly popular on the metanet. Not to mention your hyper-expression facial module is super photogenic. People might like my pic for laughs, but people will like yours just because it's how the online world goes."

Gin walks out brimming with a triumphant air.

"You never learn do you."

The two of us sit down at the waiting area in front of the changing rooms. Every now and again a mix of humans and androids enter the rooms, switching between an assortment of clothing styles and colors. Under the countless ceiling bulbs lighting the floor, the mixed chatter and occasional buzz of a passing drone envelops our surroundings.

"...Hey, Noa, last night... did something happen?"

I turn to Gin with a questioning look. Or at least that's what I hope I look.

"When we were leaving, Dahlia seemed a bit off. Like... grumpier than usual but a bit sad?"

"...We got word that Opal, the waitress missing since last week, was found disassembled in District 17."

"Are you serious? These gangsters are starting to get real messed up."

"Fortunately, she's still functional enough to be rebuilt."

"That's good to hear... Something on your mind Noa?"

"...? Yes... It's just... While we were being questioned, Dahlia mentioned filing a missing persons report to the police but the detectives said there was no record of it."

"Huh... Could be a conspiracy."

"Do you think someone in the police was an accomplice?"

"Well, there's that, but it could also be one of their sponsors."

"Sponsors? The police?"

"Oh you don't know? Since AIKA doesn't have a formal government, the police is funded by the major megacorporations of the island. Equipment, vehicles, salary, it all comes from the corpos."

"...So one of them is trying to cover it up? But why?"

Gin gives a nonchalant shrug.

"I dunno. Megacorps pull stunts like this all the time, people get caught up in the middle, and it's swept under the rug. I mean this is all just a theory, it could also be that someone did a bad job of processing the report. People missing isn't that unusual and the cops rarely ever find any of them."

In the end, it's best to stay out of trouble, but the fact that District 17 is a neighboring district means we could very well be the next ones to 'get caught up in the middle'.

"Let's check on those pics already. I'd like to delete mine before I turn into an infamous crossplayer."

Gin pulls out his rPhone and impatiently swipes to his 2itr.

"Wow, 673 likes in just a few minutes. The metanet loves you Noa."

"And yours?"

"Let's see... WHAT THE F- How. How? How. What did you do?!"

Gin stands up in a panic and nearly shoves his rPhone to my face. On the screen is his photo, posing awkwardly in the costume, and beneath it is 3,108 likes.

"I win."

"HOW?!"

"I sent a message to Milli and asked her to repost your photo."

"That's cheating!"

"How so? The rules that you made, said nothing about the involvement of a third party."

I smile at him again.

"I hate that you found a use for that weird expression. This is such bullshit."

"So, as per the rules, you must do what I tell you to."

"... Alright fine! But I still think it's not okay to so obviously set us up like this. It's... creepy."

"Just tell Diana something came up and I'll come home late. If it doesn't go favorably, I actually will and salvage the situation, but if it does then I'll leave you two alone."

"And what about you? Where will you be?"

"Well, I was planning to go to Dahlia's but thanks to our completely unnecessary competition, something actually did come up. In exchange for helping me, I promised Milli to spend the rest of the day helping with aiMeter's metavids."

"Oh in that case maybe you should get the costume and wear it for- I'm kidding, please put your nails away."

Gin rests his wait against the back of the seat and stretches his arms up.

"Give Milli my contact info then. Since you don't have your own phone yet."

"...About that."

I pull out the rPhone740 that Gin bought a few days ago from my pocket.

"I thought you sold that thing?"

"It's more troublesome to sell than you might think. I figured I could put it to good use in the meantime... What's that smirk for?"

"No, it's just, I was planning to to give you my current phone after replacing it with that one, but I guess this works too."

"...Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?"

"Well you were so adamant about selling it I figured you'd just say 'we need the money more than I need the phone' or something."

"I... can't deny that."

I stare at the phone in my hands. As I return it to my pocket, something catches my eye.

"Hey, Gin. About your clothes, what do you think of that one?"

I point at one of the cosplay mannequins near the costume Gin and I both wore. It's wearing a dark blue striped sweater with wide, elbow-length sleeves. The sweater has a ship's steering wheel covering most of the lower half, centered to the left. It's paired with light-brown pants, and navy-blue slip-on shoes.

"It's probably not the height of fashion but..."

I shift my gaze to Gin's shirt again. I look at it... judgingly.

"...it's definitely an improvement."

"You know what, yeah I think you're on to something. I'll go try it out."

He starts walking towards it.

"Hey Gin."

"Mm? Yeah?"

"Do me a favor and actually try with Diana, okay? Don't be too passive."

Gin looks away with a sheepish smile. After a few seconds he looks back to me and nods his head.

"Right. Yeah, of course. I mean with this much support I kinda have to now, huh?"

"If you let all my effort go to waste, I'll show Dahlia your crossdressing photo."

"You're the devil in android form!"