The running water whirled down the drain, drowning the silence.

Florence wheeled around. She pressed her palm against the sink behind her. In front of her, Martine leaned on the shower panel, crossing her arms.

“I did not expect to see you here,” Florence said. “Also, how did you get in?”

Martine shrugged. “Maybe it is your imagination.”

Florence lunged forward. Her unkempt hair lashed out. She stretched her hands, hugging Martine.

A crack vibrated through the air.

“My… spine,” Martine said. Wrinkles formed on her face as if every muscle contracted in the front part of her head.

Florence slopped her head down, unraveling her arms around Martine.

“Sorry, I did not mean to do that,” Florence said.

“I know,” Martine said. “There is something else more urgent that needs your attention.”

A clang of metal rang on the floor.

Florence rotated her head.

At the doorway, Aisling dropped her jaw open. Her dagger reflected white and red as it rested next to her feet. She dipped her chin lower, squinting at Florence.

“Just pretend I’m invisible.” Aisling smiled with sparkling eyes. “You can’t see me if I don’t move.”

“I can certainly still see you, Aisling,” Florence said.

Martine relaxed her face, dissipating the wrinkles. “Who is she?” she asked. “You know, the one over there.” She pointed at Aisling.

“You definitely can’t see me,” Aisling said. “I’m the invisible woman.”

Florence pushed her palm against the shower panel. “This gal right over there is Aisling.”

Aisling jerked her head back, widening her eyes.

“Pardon me, what is the matter?” Florence asked.

“Nothing.” Aisling coughed, covering her mouth. She picked up her dagger, sheathing it. “I think you might need… some sleep?”

“Why?”

“Well, you’re kinda talking to a shower like a moment ago.”

“Pardon? Could you not see Martine right over here?”

“What?”

Behind Aisling, Haru crept closer. She placed her hands on Aisling’s shoulders.

“Could you really trust these people over there?” Martine wrinkled the corner of her eyes.

“We do not have any other choice,” Florence said. “They will only tell us how to get back home after I help them with their investigation.”

“Whoever told you that could be lying.”

“But what other choice do I have? First of all, I am not leaving without you. Secondly, I have a sister to take care of. So, I cannot doubt Aisling in times like this.”

Florence blinked, her eyelids growing heavier. Then, before she knew it, Martine vanished in front of Florence.

Aisling breezed over towards Florence.

Florence stepped away from the shower. “Where did she go?”

“You wanna come out of the bathroom with me, Florence,” Aisling said. “And you should really take a rest or something.”

The heavy footsteps of Haru echoed. The running water died down with a flick of a lever.

“Haru, grab me a cup of water, please,” Aisling said.

“Of course,” Haru said. She exited through the doorway.

Aisling wrapped her arms around Florence, tugging her through the opened door. Then Aisling guided Florence to take a seat on top of the dining table.

“Were you trying to murder Yuze a moment ago?” Florence asked.

“I wasn’t trying to do that at all,” Aisling said. She pointed into the other glass room filled with musical instruments, where Yuze rested her head on Stella’s lap. “She is not dead.”

Stella brushed the guitar, which had her name carved and was dust-caked. Next to her, Mai sat in a wheelchair, petting Sam underneath her blanket.

“So, you wanna give yourself an hour-long break?” Aisling also sat on the round dining table, swinging her legs back and forth.

“I do not need a break,” Florence said, yawning. “When are we going back to the investigation?”

“After we shower and get some sleep.”

“I certainly cannot avoid doing that.”

A ball of flames erupted on the streets, vibrating the glass panels. Columns of smoke from that explosion snaked up to black clouds above.

Aisling wrapped her fingers around Florence’s hand.

“How are you feeling?” Florence asked.

In stomping footsteps, Haru walked over with a glass of water. She handed it over to Florence.

“Thank you… I guess,” Florence said. She sipped from a cup. A metallic bitterness lingered at the tip of her tongue. She gagged, hitting her chest. Then, with one sniff, an inky smell filled her nostrils.

Aisling smiled, thinning her lips. She laughed. “Does it feel great?”

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“Absolutely not.”

“But it does make you feel more refreshed.”

“Also, absolutely not.”

Aisling snatched the cup, gulping the water down her throat. She coughed, covering her mouth.

“You see that. This is what I mean,” Florence said.

Aisling lowered her head, sticking her tongue out. “Yup, I can taste it.”

“Those NPCs,” Haru said. She turned her head towards the inferno and smoke engulfing the skyscrapers. “Causing all of this trouble again.”

“How are you certain that the NPCs are causing this?” Florence asked. “Or… you know… what was it again?”

“Toilet papers,” Aisling said. She trembled, shaking the cup.

Haru crossed her arms. “That could be the case.”

A round of applause erupted inside the other glass room. Mai rode her wheelchair through a doorway with the corners of her mouth turned up.

Haru spun around as something under her clothes squeaked. “Do you need my help, Mai?”

“No, I could do it myself,” Mai said.

“You sure?”

“Of course I can. I’m no longer a baby.”

“But you’re still a little baby to me.”

Mai rolled her eyes. She pushed a lever on the armrest, driving her wheelchair towards the kitchen sink.

“Kids these days… unbelievable,” Haru said.

Mai stretched her hands for the faucet. Her fingers twitched. “Mom, I’m twenty-three.”

“And you are still living with your mother,” Florence said.

Aisling inhaled and exhaled. In and out. She clenched a fist, punching Florence in the stomach.

Florence groaned. She bent over, covering her abdomen. “What did I do?”

“You know what you did,” Aisling said.

“Nice roast, by the way,” Mai said. “Very nice.”

Florence raised her eyebrow. “What roast?”

“Roast where?” Yuze burst out the door from another glass room.

Aisling rubbed a cup on her forehead. “Why roast?”

Mai raised her hands up. “Who wants a roast?”

Everyone fell silent. Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Haru turned their heads towards Mai.

“Sorry… bad joke,” Mai said. She sighed, lowering her hand.

“Anyways, please don’t mind her being like that,” Haru said. “But on a more serious note, are you sure you never brought an NPC here?”

Aisling shook her head. “Why would I?”

Under the blanket on Mai’s lap, Sam shivered.

Florence coughed, sliding down from the dining table. The floor creaked. Her body blocked Haru’s view from a direct line of sight to Mai.

Mai tilted her head with a deep hum coming beneath her pajamas. “Is there anything that you want, Florence?”

“Nothing,” Florence said. She glanced over her shoulder.

Sam struggled, peeking his head out. But Mai pushed his head back down the blanket, her arms convulsing. His hiss was muffled under the sheet.

“What was that?” Haru said.

“Nothing.” Mai bared her teeth, hissing. “I just… I like to pretend that I’m a cat… sometimes.”

Stella waddled out of the other glass room with the guitar. She stood on her toes, peeking over Yuze’s shoulders.

“Who’s a good kitty?” Aisling leaped off the dining table. The floor creaked beneath her feet. She swung the cup, breezing over to Mai’s side. “Give me a meow, would you?”

Mai meowed. Her nose wrinkled. She hunched over Sam under the blanket.

“Good girl,” Aisling said. She scratched Mai on the head.

“Okay, I guess… I mean, you know.” Stella plucked the guitar, returning to the other glass room filled with musical instruments.

Haru shifted from right to left. The humming grew beneath Haru’s clothing. “Are you sure you didn’t bring an NPC here?”

“Absolutely, we did not bring any NPC in here,” Florence said. “And this is the third time that we said it.”

Haru stomped across the room, thudding with each step. Her joints screeched like gears grinding. She shoved Florence aside, marching towards Mai. Florence gripped Haru on the shoulder. But Florence bit her lips, her fingertips burning red. Her feet scraped over the floor as she clanged onto Haru.

“Mai, what is under your blanket? Tell me now,” Haru said.

Mai cuddled Sam under the blanket on her lap.

“Well, there is actually kinda nothing,” Aisling said. She placed the cup on a stove and next to a baking tray.

“I didn’t ask you,” Haru said. “So, what is under your blanket, Mai?”

“Well… nothing much.” Mai gripped her shoulder, twitching her fingers. She squeezed Sam on the chest. “It is a… teddy bear.”

Sam hissed.

“A teddy bear that… can hiss,” Mai said.

Haru extended her hand towards the blanket. “When did they start making teddy bears that can hiss?”

Florence stopped Haru in her tracks, clasping onto her wrist. The static crackled between their aprons. Florence placed her hand on Haru’s forehead, searing to the touch. A chill shivered down Florence’s nerves.

“What do you want?” Haru dilated her pupils, and her mouth gaped open. “Feel free to answer.”

“Pardon me, how are you feeling today?” Florence asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Are you feeling okay today?”

“My body is in excellent condition.”

Florence shook her head, giving a side eye to Aisling.

Aisling shrugged, waving her hands. She jumped up and down, her index finger pointing out of her clenched fist, the palm facing herself. The finger moved in a hook motion.

“Pardon me, are you telling me to come over here?” Florence asked.

“Do you want to call the androids?” Haru banged her head on the dining table, wobbling the soggy packaging boxes. “I can… call them right now.”

Florence pulled Haru’s wrist. Immediately, Aisling slapped her feet across the floor. Her arms outstretched, wrapping around Haru’s shoulder. Haru still slammed her face on the dining table nonstop.

Hurried footsteps came behind Florence. A palm pressed against her. Stella squeezed in between Florence and Aisling. Then Stella gripped Haru on the collar of the flower-patterned pajamas, yanking her.

“Yuze, grab that stuff… I mean, get that equipment in the drums,” Stella said.

“What equipment?” Florence asked. “Wait, why is it in the drum?”

Yuze rushed into the other glass room filled with musical instruments. She dove behind a drum set.

Florence sank her teeth into her lips. “Could someone please explain to me why Haru is doing this?”

“Well, it’s kinda complicated,” Aisling said. “Well… to be more specific, it’ll be more difficult to explain it to you.”

“How about making it simpler?”

“Not even close. Sometimes it feels like I’m talking to a grandma half the time?”

“Pardon me, I am not that old.”

With another bang, Florence, Aisling, and Stella flew into the air. They flipped over Haru, crashing on their nose.

Florence groaned, covering her face.

Stella screamed. She curled into a ball, wailing around.

Next to her, Aisling scrambled to her feet. Drops of blood splashed on the floor. She wheezed, wiping her nosebleed with her thumb.

Haru smashed her forehead through the top of the table. “Who wants cookies?”

“I want one,” Sam said. He crawled out of the blanket. “Preferably ones with catnip.”

Haru turned towards Sam and Mai. The grinding of gears vibrated from Haru’s joint into Florence’s ear.

“This is bad,” Aisling said. “Not just kinda bad. But really bad.”

Sam hissed, extending his claws. His tails pointed to the ceiling. Before he could lunge, Mai stuffed him beneath the blanket on her lap.

“Hand over the NPC, now,” Haru said. She marched over to Mai.

Aisling pounded her feet across the floor. She tackled Haru without her budging.

In a blinding swoop, Haru gripped Aisling by the throat. She wheezed, clawing at Haru’s fingers. Haru dug her nails into Aisling’s neck, lifting Aisling up.

“Haru, what are you doing?” Florence asked.

An eerie silence filled the air with Aisling’s choking.

Florence seized the soggy packaging boxes on the dining table. She dashed towards Haru, smacking her head.

Droplets splashed all over the place.

The soaked pizza burst out of the packaging boxes, flying across the room.

Haru blinked. However… one of the pupils in her eyes turned red.