When Wu DaQi woke the next morning it was with a lingering image of Chan Yi. He didn’t think it was a memory. He’d always had an active imagination and the way Chan Yi spoke about Two last night … it was easy to see that he’d loved Two and never gotten over that loss. DaQi had been alone for as long as he could remember. It wasn’t hard to understand why he’d dream about Yi in his bed. The man was the most beautiful person he’d ever met, and he’d saved DaQi from the people who’d lied to him and stolen his memories.

It would have been a good memory, if it had been true though.

He dressed in borrowed clothes and found Yi working at a desk. “I made you breakfast,” Yi said, pointing towards the kitchen before he returned to his work.

As much as he wanted to ask, he decided to get food first. He didn’t understand his body’s need for food if he was just an android. Why should he feel hunger or pain if it wasn’t real? Another set of questions added to the long list of things he didn’t know about his life.

A plate of waffles, warm syrup, and sausage links waited at the table for him and he tucked into it, putting aside his uncertainties. With any luck, they’d get to Obuo tonight and he’d know everything for himself.

He was nearly done washing it down with some damn good coffee when Chan Yi came into the room. “If I throw a feed at you, can you watch it?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“I want to keep an eye on Obuo’s shop. I went through the feed since you last saw her, but I want to keep real-time eyes on her, just in case.”

“Yeah, of course. You can send-”

He hadn’t given him instructions on how to send it to him before the feed was loaded into his interface. He gasped at the smooth transition of information, but Yi had already walked out the door.

Normally a feed being routed through his augmentation caused some discomfort.

But it wasn’t an augmentation, was it? And Chan Yi, whatever they were, had the same processors that he did.

This was so fucked up.

He refused to get bogged down by those details. Tonight, he’d know if his situation was bad enough to warrant the breakdown that he was holding at bay.

He got up, washed his dishes, but filled his coffee back up. He filled a second for Yi and took it out to his desk. He dropped it on the corner and walked past without saying anything. He stood looking out the windows at the Skylines. It was an easy job to monitor the live feed to Obuo’s office, so DaQi opened another program and sent a message to an informant.

Madame, I need your assistance. Ever heard of a PI named Chan Yi? Can he be trusted?

Madame K was a businessperson in the Piles who had earned a reputation for fine services. She had a very firm hand with her Baubles and with the patrons of her establishment.

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She’d offered him a job three times before she’d finally relented, but not without continued commentary about the amount of money she could make him.

As an agent of Mann Enterprises, he was supposed to inform the company about all his sources, but he’d kept Madame K off the books. No one knew about his interactions with her. And the one time Jackson had seen him walking out, he’d accept the lie that DaQi had been there for the entertainment.

Wu DaQi, I am always a willing servant. I know of a Chan Yi. He is a good man who comes to the Piles often. He runs business out of an office in the Builds.

Thank you. I will pay you a visit soon to show you my proper gratitude. I have another request. What do you know about Mariner Tech and the military?

It was said that rich men spend their money with Madame K. Smarter men though, understood that her most valuable service wasn’t what the girls did for their clients, but the information they gleaned from them. Information Madame K was willing to sell to a trusted few.

You don’t want to get involved in that line of questioning, Wu DaQi.

I don’t have a choice.

There was a considerable pause before her words appeared across his ocular display.

They had contracts with the military, but they’ve mostly dried up. Whatever they were making though, they haven’t stopped. They took one of my girls last week. I haven’t seen her since. Is she tied up with this mess?

I don’t know. If I can find her, I will.

Thank you. It is I who would owe you then.

He closed the program and looked over at Chan Yi who was sipping his coffee. His eyes were on the display in front of him, but somehow DaQi knew he was looking at something else.

“When are we going to go see Obuo?” he asked.

Chan Yi looked at him then. “Once she closes shop. I’ve been checking into her past but it’s too well scrubbed. It tells me everything I might look for, but not the truth.” He shook his head. “That sounds stupid, I know.”

“I might not be a PI, and I might not remember being a super spy, but I’m a damn good security agent. I know what a scrubbed file looks like.” He was slightly offended, but then Chan Yi smiled at him and he let it go. He wondered if Two had ever been stupid over that smile.

“Yeah, alright. Then do something about it.” He got up and walked over to DaQi, the port of his forearm opening as he did. DaQi opened his own in response and again he felt the smooth transition of information that he’d only felt with Yi.

“How do you do that?” he asked.

“What?”

“Every other interface feels disjointed. With you, it’s easy.”

Chan Yi nodded, but he looked at where they were connected. “Same processing units. I’m giving you everything I have on Atieno Obuo. See if you can figure out her connection to Mariner Tech. She was booted out, but Mariner doesn’t boot people. Especially not from secret government contracts. She wasn’t silenced and I want to know who protected her.”

“I’ll do what I can. What are you doing?”

“Looking into Sandus and Mariner Tech. I don’t like how quiet it is today.”

“I have an informant that said Mariner Tech lost most of its military contracts.”

“What?”

“Yep, but she said they’re still making whatever it was they’ve been making. And I know they’ve had shipments of military tech stolen. It’s why I was holding Fulmer in the first place.”

“We know that was a set up though. Sandus and Charity Fulmer were using him to get me involved in all this.”

“But if the military contracts are gone, why do they still have warehouses of gear?”

“That is a good question. I’ll run it down. You stay on Obuo. She’s the most immediate danger to us.”

“Because she knows who we are?”

“Because I’m trusting her to open up your head. I don’t care if they send the whole damn company against us. I need to know that you’ll be safe with her when the procedure starts.”

Chan Yi pulled his port free and finally looked up. DaQi nodded, uncertain of what else to say. When Chan Yi went back to his desk, DaQi walked over to the couch and sat down, focusing on the intel Chan Yi had given him. It was fairly detailed, but there were gaps he could exploit and histories he had access to that he wasn’t supposed to.

With one last look at Chan Yi, he delved into Dr. Obuo’s life. It was only fair after all. Tonight, she’d do the same to him.