Our trip on the skytrain becomes a ride by bus. The skyscrapers are halved in height, and soon the city has shrunk into a bright, bland suburbia, rows of identical houses on either side of the road, each with a lawn of turf and red-flagged mailboxes.

The bus lets us off under a glass shelter on Pine Avenue. Jisung promptly starts down the sidewalk and I follow. He turns up a pathway leading to a pallid house, presses a number into a keypad and the handle-less door slides open.

"This is your college friend's place?" I say.

"Yeah. Try to be quiet, the maintenance droids are programmed to call the police if they find unauthorized people inside the house."

The door closes behind us. The lights automatically turn on above our heads. Jisung leads the way down the hall, checking around each corner before passing.

"How did you know the passcode?" I whisper.

"I've been over before. Bandi has a home laboratory on the top floor, it's a good facility."

"Huh." I didn't expect him to be so close to the guy he only refers to by his last name. "Does he have a family? Wife, husband, something?"

He turns to give me a look. "Why do you want to know?"

I just shrug.

He looks away again. "This shouldn't take too long if we both hurry. Like I told you, before we start I'll need a sample of—"

I catch a glimpse of a droid coming around the corner. I grab Jisung's arm and pull him through a doorway, into a closet stuffed with coats. I peek out — the droid has turned into the dining room, rolling its cart of cleaning supplies behind it.

"Good one," Jisung clears his throat.

"Is it okay to go now?"

"Yeah, quick, to the stairs."

We move out and climb the spiral staircase. It peaks with another door and another keypad. Of course Jisung knows the passcode.

The lights flicker on in the windowless room. Bulky machinery, half-finished experiments, a clutter of bits and pieces — it reminds me of the labs at Oracle. The door locks behind us.

He walks over to a machine as big as a fridge, splays his hands and a keyboard appears in front of him. He types as he speaks.

"This is a high-density section laser. I need you to activate your elastin, stretch your hand as thin as you can get it, then place it in the slot."

I'm trying to be a good sport about it, though I'm nervous to be a guinea pig — not to mention an intruder in someone else's house. "Yeah... right."

I lift my arm. My particles stretch and strain till my hand is just a dull-edged stake, lengthening as it narrows, thin as a chopstick.

"Aim for cornsilk, Minho," he says absently, like he's telling me to say 'ahh.'

It feels wrong, like stretching your toes and waiting for a cramp. An alert is flashing in the corner of my eye, telling me to cease activity. I let my toothpick-sized arm fall in the egg-shaped slot in the middle of the machine.

"Now, do it."

A flash of light. Numb pain reverberates through me and my armour snaps back into place. The tip of my index finger is sparking, stretched thin over the grey core.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" My voice shakes. "Is it okay?"

Jisung takes my hand, squints down at it. "It should be fine, don't mess around with it. I took as little a sample as I could, I just need enough to conduct my experiment."

He taps a few more buttons, a vent opens in the machine and he takes out a petri dish. Inside is a thin layer of navy goo, the same as my skin but useless without the white plates to solidify it, or my mind to control it.

"While I agitate the cells," he says, "you'll use Bandi's computer to authorize your full capabilities."

"I'm still not sure I'll be able to navigate the system. I'm not really a tech guy — in the usual sense, anyway."

"If you get stuck, I can finish the job. I already approved your capabilities from my computer — all you have to do is complete the multi-factor authentication. We'll be out of here so much faster if we're both working."

He motions across the room. I sigh and he singsongs a thank you.

The corner of the room is bare, but as I sweep my hands apart, two tiers of monitors glow in front of me, a blank interface. I wiggle my fingers and start searching the documents. I focus on anything to do with Oracle, Adrantine, the Bionic Warfare Initiative. There's a lot to comb through.

"Everything okay?" He's squinting through a microscope, adjusting the dials.

"So far." I bite the insides of my cheeks, choosing my words. "You must have been here a few times to remember all the passcodes."

"Guess so."

"For work or...?"

"Minho, what's up with you?"

"What? Nothing."

I realize he's looking at me. "You sound jealous."

"Maybe?" I don't mean it coyly — I'm actually not sure. "It's just... weird you'd be here so much."

"Minho — my Minho, I mean — he used to get jealous of me and Jai too."

"Oh. Was there something to be jealous of?"

"We dated before Minho and I did. I broke up with him to be with you — I mean, among other reasons. It bothered you that I worked so closely with him every day." Jisung shakes his head. "I don't think you ever understood how much I loved you. I was head over heels. Even now... nobody will ever measure up."

He's talking about me. Someone I used to be, someone I should be. Why do I just feel all the more jealous?

"It bothers you too," he says. "Why?"

I shrug. "I dunno. It doesn't mean anything."

He looks at me for a second more and then turns away.

I focus on the monitors. There's a file titled 'BWI Capabilities,' inside is a list of functions and protocols. Some I recognize, others are too incredible to be in my arsenal, offensive fighting techniques and straight-up mechanized weapons. At the end is an index of subjects 1 through 20 with corresponding codes. I copy mine into the interface.

Authorized Android E4 Genus approaching.

I spin around. The door slides open and a droid stops dead in the doorway, eyes scanning the room.

"Unauthorized personnel detected. State visitor verification code within 10 seconds or forceful arrest will commence."

"Fuck, no!" Jisung runs to the keyboard. "Minho, keep going — I'll try to trap it!"

I turn back to the monitor, trying to ignore the automated voice counting down from 10. A bar with a blinking cursor looks back at me.

"Jisung, the ID, what is it?"

"10 second allotment exceeded," the droid warns. "Authorities have been notified. Prepare for forceful arrest."

The door shoots out of the wall and slams into the droid's neck, trapping it in the doorway. It struggles against the force, an alarm beginning to blare from its mouth. Jisung grabs a desk chair and holds it up like a weapon.

"My full name backwards then a one," he says. "Quick — enter, authenticate, order to launch."

I follow his instructions as fast as I can. The droid shoves its arm through the gap, drives the door back into the wall. Jisung rushes it with the chair — it blocks the hit and forces him to the floor.

Numbers flash across the screens and disappear just as fast. Everything goes dark.

Augmented capabilities pending.

Pending.

Pending.

Multi-factor authentication approved.

Power surges from my fingers to my toes.