"That is all for now. We'll return your phone to you when and if we are able. Do you have any other questions?" 

"No, I'm good," I said, already reaching for the door handle of the interrogation room before the police woman was done speaking. 

"Let me know when I can pick up my pho--ne." I flinched when I put pressure on the door knob with my injured hand.

"Something wrong with your hand?" 

The police officer tilted her head to the side. I couldn't tell whether it was suspicion or general concern. 

So close. I'd gotten so close to lying perfectly and not drawing any additional attention during the interrogation.

I put up my best fake smile as I rubbed the back of my injured hand. "Oh, I slammed my locker shut on my fingers earlier today. Nasty, right."

"Really now?" 

The police officer studied me with piercing scrutiny  There was an eerie pause and then she pointed at me. "Get that checked out. My cousin had that with his wrist once and ended up with nerve damage because things grew back wrong."

"Yes ma'am."

Once I made it out of the interrogation room, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd more or less succeeded in not giving myself away or making myself appear more guilty. Well, even more guilty than the heavily pro-android content on my phone, which the police was going to read now they confiscated it. 

Yet, the cops had seemed surprisingly indifferent to the news of an android on the loose. All through the interrogation I had the impression the officer didn't believe me. In a sympathetic way - like she thought exam stress was scrambling my brains. 

She was spot on about the 'scrambled brains' part. I was unsure what my next move should be. Coming up with a plan to chase an android who obviously didn't want to be found, with little more information than what his face looked like, was a challenge.  

Trying to lie to Alan and Zekiye about the cops and the android, was an even larger challenge. 

Zekiye and Alan didn't agree on much, but both would have my head it they knew I had lied to the cops a total of three times. 

I told them I didn't see my assailant's face. I largely feigned ignorance on the topic of Lenora's digital data vault and what exactly had happened to it. And without planning to, I had also lied about the cause of my hand injury.

The exact same lies, I relayed to my brother and Zekiye outside of the police station.

Zekiye's reaction was typically her: some disapproving clacking of her tongue and an eye-roll. 

"Guess I'm no longer making an android and gyndroid picture gallery for the post-war anniversary," she complained. "There's zero information to reconstruct with anywhere."

"It's not just you," Alan replied. "Everyone has the same problem. The entire electronic vault is now offline for, Alan made quotation marks with his fingers, "maintenance. They're figuring out the security breaches."

"Good," I said. "About time. Twenty-five years later we'll finally stop celebrating the end of the Singularity war like it's good thing."

Zekiye drew in a long breath and sighed. "We're living in relative peace. We haven't even been in a war in our lifetime. I think that's a reason to celebrate, don't you?" 

"Stop your acid pissing attitude for once," even Alan agreed with Zekiye. "Also, it's your turn to call home to mom and dad and let them know what happened." 

I threw my hands up. "With what phone? The cops took mine as evidence!" 

"Whatever, use your laptop."

I groaned exaggeratedly, making Alan elbow me in the ribs. 

"Stop whining, you're getting off way easier than I did last time we got in trouble. At least they didn't take any money, Mr. Shea isn't blaming you for Lenora's vault yet, and those tranquilliser darts... well, they don't need to know. They're harmless anyway." 

"Fine. Fine."

Alan left to do some more work at the university, while Zekiye and I plodded down to the subway together to go home. 

Zekiye rummaged through her bag before abruptly stopping and pulling a face. "I get why the cops took your phone," she said. "But I still don't get why they had to take mine." 

"Because you're the to go to person when it's about android designs," I pointed out. "That makes your stuff interesting to snoop through." 

"Yeah, well, they're not going to find anything. Literally." Zekiye snorted indignantly. "I'm going to try and remodel some android faces from memory - now that they're still fresh in mind. I'll give you a call when I'm doing model Z-3293. You're always creeping on it." 

"I don't creep!" I protested, though I felt my face flushing at the mere mentioning of model Z-3293. 

Zekiye would likely draw other conclusions from my reaction than the actual truth, which was to my advantage. She could never find out I saw him in real life. At least, not yet. Not until after I'd investigated Zed and had gotten some answers from him myself. 

"Anyway," I quickly changed the topic. "Don't call me about Z-3293 and see you tomorrow." 

"Camilo!" Zekiye called after me, but I swiftly hopped on my subway car home. Its doors closed right behind me, and I pleasantly waved at Zekiye on the platform as the car started moving.

I still hadn't gotten any further on my plan to find Zed, however. Wandering around town aimlessly in the dead of night hardly sounded appealing or likely to succeed. 

I could wait for Zekiye to digitalise Zed's face again and ask if anyone had seen the young man depicted in the photo, but that would take time. He could be long gone by then or worse: found by the cops already. 

There had to be something I could do.

Out of sheer desperation, I found myself walking to the alleyway next to our apartment building where Alan and I got attacked earlier today. But the place was pitch-dark by now and I didn't bring any tech to illuminate the walls and streets. 

A few seconds in, I was ready to give up for the day. What was I trying to accomplish here, anyway? The police drones had already scanned the place top to bottom and picked up any clues and evidence left behind. 

I wasn't going to find anything here. Certainly not a rogue android. 

The possibility I hadn't accounted for, however, was the other way around. Him finding me. 

"Did you mean it?" 

The quiet voice suddenly coming from further down the alleyway had me flex my muscles. I focused, my gaze darting from left to right, but couldn't see any movement in the dark. 

"Zed?" I asked. 

I took a small step back, heart pounding my chest as slow footsteps drew nearer. 

"Camilo," Zed replied. 

In the complete dark I saw nothing, but when Zed stepped into the dim light, closer to the entrance of the alley, his blue eyes shone with artificial light. 

He stopped a safe distance away; exactly out of touching range if I reached my arms forward. A wary smile surfaced on his lips. 

"Do you mean what you say on your devices?" he repeated his question. "I scanned its contents." 

"That... depends on what part you're referring to," I replied, staying guarded. I had no ill will towards the android, but there was no way to guarantee that was mutual. 

The light in Zed's eyes flickered. "I will clarify," he said. "You are Camilo Rey, enrolled in Lenora university of technology since 2072. Most accessed digital files are on the Singularity war. You have been taking various martial arts classes, focused on 2049 style combat, since age five and..." Zed paused, raising an amused eyebrow. "You own active, fake profiles on multiple dating platforms. That's an interesting username. 69Largeco-"

"Okay, that's enough," I chipped in. "But it's all true. My tech knows me well. Even better than my parents do-- as is the case for many people. So, what about it being true? What's it to you?"

Zed's eyes bored into mine. "I had not gotten to the most important part yet: you are pro android and gyndroid rights. You do not celebrate murdering us." 

"Yeah, that's me," I affirmed again. "But that doesn't mean I'm not pissed at you about Lenora's vault. You got me into a lot of fucking trouble and the city knows there's an android on the loose now. What the hell are you doing?" 

"I'm sorry." Zed bit his lip, and my mind kept reeling over how incredibly lifelike his expressions were. 

"So, what was that stunt all about? Are you trying to wipe your tracks?" I asked. 

He nodded. "Correct. I don't want to be discovered and terminated." 

It still didn't make any sense. I understood what Zed was trying to do, but not the how. I pressed my fingers to my temples and massaged them. 

"How are you even here? How did you survive all this time? I thought every single android and gyndroid was killed twenty-five years ago." 

"No, I wasn't. I was hidden," Zed simply replied, not offering any more details even after I let the silence linger. 

 "If you want to avoid discovery," I finally broke the silence, "why are you talking to me?" 

"Because I can't do this alone." Zed glanced sideways before turning back to me, staring fixedly into my eyes. "If you are truly as pro-android as your file suggests, as you claim to be, I need your help."