N0ne walked around side the road. She stopped to bend down and look at something close up. It was a small sprig of dried sea weed. She said out loud, “I’ve confirmed that these are the coordinates where Retrieval found my broken body. There is no sign that Target exited here also. No seaweed leading away from the road. No hand prints on any windows or other nearby structures. If she did get off here, there is nowhere else for her to go. It’s unlikely she would have been able to hitchhike away during night. She may have simply thrown my body out for fear of someone tracking it. That is what I would have done.”

N0ne stood and walked to the wall at the side of the edge of the roadside. It would be a difficult climb for a human even in the best of condition, and Wanda might have been injured in the fall. Two hoovering drones flew behind her and meticulously recorded everything with photographs.

N0ne said, “This will take some time. Cloud cover obscured any satellite tracking. I had no luck with traffic cameras and dashboard cameras of Hyperborean vehicles. She had to leave the transport somewhere between Hyperborean Tower and the seaport. She would have been instantly discovered if she had remained in the transport, dead or alive. That’s a lot of mileage to search, but I can rule out some areas due to their traffic camera coverage.”

She dug strong robotic hands into the brick wall. She climbed up the wall slowly but steadily. “I will begin my search in this region. I have to start somewhere. It’s much like the old Truman joke.”

She reached the top of the wall and stood on the elevated ground there above the traffic. The quadcopter robots followed her. “A Truman searched the ground near a street light. A patrolling police officer found the Truman there. The officer was an Uplifted K-9 officer whose skilled nose decerned that the Truman was drunk. The officer learned that the Truman had lost his keys. Together, they search the ground around the street light.”

N0ne stepped into the nearest open business. It was a laundromat open twenty-four hours. Vending machines and washers and dryers covered the walls. The WasherWench brand logo flashed at her in augmented reality and welcomed her.

“After several minutes of searching and finding nothing, the frustrated police officer asked, ‘Where did you last see your keys?’ The drunk Truman answered, ‘I was over there, but the light is better here.’”

A tall man covered head to toe in chrome stepped close to N0ne. He wore a wife-beater teeshirt, gold chains, baggy bluejeans, and new Neo-Puma brand sneakers. Tattoos were painted onto his neck, the only part of him which did not gleam. He brushed away quadcopter which was hovering between them. “Hola chica, I ain’t seen you here before. You new to the hood?”

N0ne ignored him. She stepped to a nearby crane machine. She placed her hands on it and began hacking the machine’s code. She soon gained control of a small computer inside which not only controlled the machine but also spy camera which is used to record customers. She scanned the recorded data but saw no images of Wanda.

The cyborg followed her to the machine. He said, “Chica, I’m trying to be hospitable here. I like your uniform. You’re a career girl. I also like your metal legs. Is that titanium?”

N0ne answered, “No, these legs are mostly tungsten carbide.” Controlling the machine, she used the crane to grab a small toy and drop it into the slot. She pulled a plush red dragon out the slot.

The cyborg’s friends encouraged him from across the room. The cyborg leaned in close to N0ne. “Are you here to pick up a load, chica? I’ll help you fold your panties. Then we can talk about my load.”

N0ne turned and handed the dragon to the cyborg. “This machine is rigged. The internal computer prevents you one winning, but I took control and made it give up this. You could never have won it. Please accept this dragon as payment for information. I’m looking for a homeless girl with red hair who may have come through your neighborhood recently. Any information on my target will be appreciated.”

The cyborg took the toy. “You’re on the clock, huh? You meet me after work, and I’ll tell you all about the girls who come through 9th Street. I know the dealers. I know the pimps. I know from the sound of your voice that you like to play hard to get, and I didn’t ask for a dragon to sleep with tonight.”

N0ne responded, “I am an A.I. in the employ Hyperborean Knowledge, installed in a robotic body. You are an augmented truhuman and a stupid one if you think my voice indicates interest. I will never breed with you.”

The cyborg flailed out an arm that torn the top of the crane machine apart. “Brujah, nobody comes into 9th Street and speaks down to us like that! We shanked Corpo Corpses, and we’ll do it again. You need to fix your busted, stuck-up tude and apologize to me!”