Rusty knows!

Connecting to Device MHYN751195... Device not found.

Connecting to Device QISP177736... Device not found.

A crack runs through the words 'Calling Gin...' on the phone's screen. Its faint turquoise glow feels colder with every 'Failed to connect' that pops up. I attempt to contact Milli as well but it's just as fruitless. Regardless, I repeat the same cycle I've been doing in the past two hours.

Dahlia slides a glass of red and orange liquid next to my hand resting on the bar counter. She stands in front of me with a calm, neutral demeanor. The air in the bar feels empty and mildly stiff. Jak has his feet on a table, tipping the chair he's sitting on. Rusty is sitting right in front of him with an ice pack held against his head. Reggie is leaning on the wall next to the kitchen doors.

The space is quiet, aside from the occasional clacking from a keyboard in one of the booths. The lady with the half-empty BitterSweet in front of her is staring intensely on her laptop screen. Aside from her, no other patron is present.

"I'm not gonna ask you to stop, but at least pace yourself, Noa. What'll you do if you run out of battery?"

I immediately open my mouth to protest but hold myself back. Dahlia has a point. I take the glass of B23 in gulp down half of it to calm my nerves.

"Maybe pace yourself with the drink too."

"...Aren't you worried?"

"Of course I'm worried. But it's moments like these that we can't let things like panic and worry get the better of us. If Gin was somewhere in our district, I'd go out there with you and help search. But District 18 is too far, you're going to get attacked again before you find him. And even if you manage to fight back, how long will your battery last, hm?"

I look down on the blurry reflection of my face on my damage arm. Its scratched up but nothing got torn open or internally damage but that can easily be attributed to luck. Had Jak and Rusty not been here, the gangsters would have literally dragged me off to who knows where.

"Look, I've already contacted a few people. I'll let you know as soon as any of them find Gin, okay? For now, be patient and have a little faith."

The kitchen doors open slowly and we all watch Jacob enter meekly. He fiddles with his black-rimmed glasses as he turns to Dahlia.

"I've uhh... taken out the trash ma'am."

"Good work."

"Also, a street drone flew by and probably saw me."

"Don't worry about it. If any cops come to you with questions just tell 'em I had you do it."

"Oh... okay."

"See anyone else out there?"

"No, ma'am. It's pretty quiet too, compared to everywhere else."

"...? Everywhere else?"

"Oh you haven't seen?"

Jacob pulls out his phone, a brand new 744 model. After a few taps, he turns the screen to us and shows us a video of gangsters in the middle of a gunfight with the police. The person recording seems to be in a high location, a fifth or sixth floor apartment window by the looks of it. Gunshots go off one after another, followed by a car ramming against the police blockade.

"This was from half an hour ago in District 19. A whole bunch of the same stuff is floating around in 2itr and all the social media sites."

Dahlia shakes her head scornfully.

"They've gone way too far. What the hell do they expect to accomplish with pulling a stunt like this?"

"Rusty knows!"

Jak interjects nonchalantly and we all turn to his direction. Rusty himself gestures to Jak a quick 'seriously man?'. He looks back at us with visible reluctance as he puts down the ice pack he's holding. With his gruff voice, he starts explaining.

"The corpos have been putting pressure on our district for over a year now. Want us to give up our homes so they can turn it into whatever the fuck would make them money. Two weeks ago, things went from bad to worse. Power outages, delays to flash storm warnings. All o' that only in our district and nowhere else. It's not just shitty anymore, it's dangerous. Like people could die, but word isn't even gettin' out 'cause control the metanet too."

He gives a tired sigh.

"I dunno all the details but... They started trouble in a lot of places all at once so the cops are spread thin. They plan to..."

Rusty looks to me and we lock eyes for a moment.

"They plan to kidnap as many androids as they can. Plan to use 'em as hostages. If the corpos don't back down, they off the droids."

I look him straight in the eye.

"Why androids specifically?"

"Like I said, I dunno all the details but if I had to guess... It's easier to get people on board with the plan if they're targeting androids. They also probably think they'll make less enemies in the long run this way."

Dahlia's brows furrow and her usual fiery attitude slips out.

"Long run? Are they that fucking stupid? They actually think they'll win like this? Corpos are ruthless, they'll get what they want and they'll spin their shitty stories so that someone else is to blame. Hell, they barely have to lie this time around, gangsters are better off locked away after all this."

"Hey, I told 'em it's a bad idea too, and I'm against all the violent shit they've done alright? But if the corpos did the same shit to you that they did to us, what would you have done?"

"Not involve innocent people for starters!"

"Alright, alright!"

Reggie swiftly walks between Dahlia and Rusty with hands raised.

"We're all very stressed right now. Dahlia, honey, he saved Noa, he's good. No point in taking it out on him. And... Rusty, was it? I'm sorry for what happened to your district, I really am, but if you were minding your own business and got dragged into someone else's fight, you'd be pissed too, yeah? Let's all just agree to blame the corpos for this mess, sound good?"

Dahlia and Rusty look to one another in silent pause. Rusty breaks the silence first.

"Fuck the corpos."

Dahlia swiftly responds with a strong nod of agreement. In that moment, the ring of a phone catches everyone's attention. I hastily check if it was mine but my hopes were easily dashed. Dahlia takes out her phone and answers the call.

"Yes? ...Where is he now? .....Got it, thanks."

She puts away her phone and locks eyes with me.

"They found Gin. He's unconscious but he's... alive."

A wave of relief washes over my worries, but then suspicion followed with how Dahlia phrased that sentence.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

Once again the anxiety started to bubble.

"What about Milli?"