Lusso said, “Are you sure they only requested it for a couple rooms?”

Micky said, “If you don’t trust me, look at the instructions yourself.”

Micky connected the JGE patented AIR ERASER to a socket in the wall, and flicked the switch. The AIR ERASER looked like an air humidifier and worked like one. A clear mist flew from an opening at the top like a hot spring geyser. Micky got out of the room and closed the door behind her. Lusso, Micky, and Ding mopped up the hallway outside the room with a JGE patented ELECTROMOP while they waited for the AIR ERASER to finish.

Lusso said, “You know what that’s for?”

Micky said, “No. I’ve never seen it before this concert gig. Maybe it’s new.”

Lusso said, “Huh. So, where’s the jar?”

Micky tapped a bulging pocket on the side on her leg.

Micky asked, “Can we just throw this away? I don’t see how we need it.”

Lusso said, “Let’s keep it, just in case. Hide it though. It’s crime scene evidence after all.”

Ding stopped mopping and asked, “Did Ria get us out last night?”

Lusso said, “I’m not sure.”

Lusso said, “It’s also possible whoever was behind Jin was bribing the police to get off our case. I don’t think they want to attract attention.”

Ding said, “They bribed them?”

Lusso said, “Probably. The older cop that we met? Calisto Jane? I bet she’s taken a million bribes in her career already. She looks the type.”

Ding bit his lip and scrunched his face up.

Lusso said, “Ding, are you constipated?”

Ding said, “Lusso, could you turn around for a second?”

Lusso said, “Why?”

Lusso turned around. Ding reached up to Lusso’s shoulders and massaged them. Lusso moaned.

Lusso said, “Wow, you’re good at this.”

Ding stopped after a minute or so.

Lusso said, “What was that about?”

Ding said, “Karma. I think I get it now. Bad things happen to me all the time because I only do bad things. But if I keep doing good things, it’ll balance out.”

Lusso said, “Then you should massage me again.”

Lusso’s phone rang. It was an unknown number. Lusso thought it was an ad, so he declined it. But the phone rang again. Lusso picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is that you, Lusso?”

Lusso recognized the voice. It was Ria Jun.

“Yes, this is Lusso.”

“This is Ria. Sorry I’m calling you so early in the morning.”

“No worries. Nice to hear from you again. How did you get my number?”

“My manager found it for me. Sorry if that feels like a violation of privacy to you.”

“No, no. It’s all good.”

“It’s all in good intentions, I promise. Would you three be fine meeting me for dinner today? I have today off, and I’d like to treat you guys as a sign of thanks.”

Lusso glanced at the time. It was 6:32 A.M. “Ah… I don’t know about that. We’re all tired as it is, and we still haven’t finished the job.”

“Really? Well. I was going to discuss something along the lines of a pay raise, and some other benefits for last night, but I guess we can save that for another date.”

“Wait. Let me ask my coworkers what they think. If they’re up for it, I’ll tag along too.”

Lusso took away the phone from his ear, and held it next to his waist. Micky and Ding looked expectantly at Lusso. Lusso didn’t say anything for a couple moments, then held the phone up to his ear again.

“They’re up for it. I’ll be there too.”

“Sounds great! I’ll send you the address and time.”

“Thanks, see you then.”

Lusso put his phone back in his pocket and tried to act like nothing happened.

Micky spoke through gritted teeth, “What… did... you… just do?”

Lusso said, “A friend of mine was in town today, and they asked if we could have dinner together today.”

“That was Ria Jun, wasn’t it?”

“A pay raise! She said she could get us a pay raise. She’s also treating us to dinner.”

Lusso held up his arms in defense as Micky strode up to him. Micky looked down on Lusso, eyeing him like she was going to tear him apart.

Ding patted Micky’s back. He said, “Micky, calm down. I’m sure Lusso has a plan. He’s gotten us this far.”

Micky said, “Ding. Lusso is a lying sack of shit. We’ve only gotten this far because we’ve picked up his slack. Why can’t you see that?”

Ding looked at Micky with wide, innocent eyes, the way a child looks at their parents when they get scolded for doing something wrong, but they don’t know what they did wrong.

Micky said, “Lusso, this isn’t about the money anymore. You realize that, right? You and Ding almost died last night. We can’t get more drawn into this. If we die, whatever money we earn means jack shit.”

Lusso said, “Yeah, I know. But do you really think we have a choice in the matter? She could get us fired at any point. And if we try to take her down with us, who’s going to believe us?”

Micky said, “Then let her fire us if she wants. This job isn’t worth our lives.”

Lusso said, “Not in this economy. I have 163 IQ, maybe I could find something. You’re good with machines, maybe you could find something. Ding is shit out of luck. But nobody’s fucking hiring right now. Especially not manual labor. You know why JGE still uses human janitors?”

Micky said, “We cost less than the robots.”

Lusso said, “If a robot breaks during a dangerous job, then they’ve got to repair it, buy parts, replace it. That costs money. But us? If we die during some bullshit job because someone forgot to swap out the used air purifiers in a gas mask, then they don’t owe us shit. They’ll just hire a bum off the streets to replace us.”

Micky held her head in her hands. Micky said, “Holy shit. I can’t deal with this right now. Let’s just finish cleaning this place. Get it over with and rest. When we meet Ria Jun tonight, we get out as soon as possible. ”

Lusso said, “Yeah. Maybe get a pay raise in too.”

Micky nearly hit Lusso over the head with her mop.

The janitors finished their work at the concert hall, and later in the day, arrived at the address Ria had given them. A run-down ice-cream parlor greeted them at the address. Lusso checked his phone. They were at the right place. Lusso got a call from Ria Jun. He picked it up.

“Hello.”

“I gave you an address that was a ways away on purpose. Can you confirm nobody’s following you right now?”

Lusso glanced around. There were a couple passerbys going their way on the street, but nobody was paying any attention. He memorized some faces. Just in case.

“I don’t think so.”

“Good. Do you see the small alley between the ice-cream parlor and the coffee place?”

“Yes.”

“Go inside.”

Lusso motioned for Micky and Ding to follow him.

“Take a left after you see the flower graffiti. Then you’ll see a door painted yellow. That’s the backdoor to a restaurant. Open it, on the left, you’ll see another door, it goes underground. Once you’re inside there, there’ll be a long, gray corridor. Don’t open any of the doors on the sides. Keep going until the end, and you’ll see a staircase taking you up. When you arrive at the top of the staircase, you’ll see another door. Keep your ear to the door, and if you don’t hear anything, open it, and get out fast to the door on the right as soon as you open the door. Then you’ll be out in another alley. Take a left, and you’ll see the backdoor to the shop I’m at. The metal door’s in terrible shape, but the doorknob is a shiny purple.

“I see it.”

“Good. I’m waiting inside. Table at the far right corner.”

Ria ended the call. Lusso looked behind at Micky and Ding once he arrived at the door. Music, the sound of laughter, and chatter seeped through the door. Micky looked impatient and ready to get in. Ding seemed like he had something on his mind.

Lusso said, “I somehow feel like we were very lucky we didn’t meet anyone on the way.”

Micky said, “Yeah, are you kidding me? That corridor was straight out of a VR horror game.”

Ding shrugged. He said, “It was kind of dirty. Machine grease everywhere.”

Lusso clasped his hands together. He said, “This is the plan. We shut up about the text messages I found, and tell her Jin Isman died from drug overdose. And we score a sweet pay raise. Is that good?”

Micky rolled her eyes. Ding frowned and stared at the ground.

Lusso said, “Ding, you heard me, right? What did I say?”

Ding said, “I know what you said. But I don’t feel too good about lying. Bad things always happen to me and everyone else if I lie.”

Lusso said, “Karma isn’t real. Bad things happen, just because they happen.”

Ding said, “This whole Jin Isman thing, he could’ve died because of me. I did a lot of bad things that day. If I lie again—”

Lusso said, “Then we can all die. Or something. Not a big deal.”

Ding paled. Lusso opened the door and walked inside. When Lusso opened the door, the noise hit them at full blast, like they were standing right next to a concert speaker.

Lusso said, “Let’s go. She’s waiting.”

Lusso had seen a couple of virtual reality cafes in his time, but this one was different. Normally, there were just rows of computer booths and virtual reality equipment attached to them that people could use, like cubicles in an office. They didn’t pay much attention to each other, unless they came with friends. The Drone was different. The Drone had a large white neon sign sporting the cafe’s name hanging from the ceiling. It had a packed bar at the front of the venue, rows of virtual reality booths in the middle, and a set of tables at the far back, meant for people looking to eat. It was like a genetic experiment gone disastrously wrong trying to combine a bar, a virtual reality cafe, and a family restaurant.

But business was booming, evidenced by how packed the space was and the stench of alcohol, flavored cigarette smoke, body odor, and food. Lusso gagged. Lusso waded through the sea of tables, booths, human bodies. He caught a glimpse of a woman sitting alone at the far right of the venue. She was at a table for four. Lusso thought with how she was dressed, Ria could have passed for a bum. Ria had a pair of reflective glasses on, a dirty dull yellow shirt on, and a pair of black leggings with white stripes. For her shoes, she had a pair of dirty white sneakers on.

Ria waved at the three from the square table. Lusso sat opposite from Ria, Micky on her right, and Ding on her left. Ria placed her elbows on the table, clasped her hands, and leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands.

Ria said, “I guess this isn’t what you guys were expecting, right?”

Lusso said, “I didn’t know idols came to places like this.”

Ria said, “I promise I’ll take you guys somewhere nice next time. Today, I just needed to talk in a more private atmosphere.”

Ria gestured at her surroundings. She said, “And this is the best place to do it. No nosy people here, and if there’s too much noise, it’s hard for anyone to eavesdrop.”

Lusso said, “Yeah. I guess.”

Ria said, “You have to yell a little. I can’t hear you.”

Lusso yelled, “Yeah, I guess. Do you come here often?”

Ria said, “When I stop by Inch City for concerts, sometimes. When I want alone time.”

Micky said, “Do you wear the same thing every time?”

Ria said, “How’d you know?”

Micky said, “You probably don’t have a lot of clothes like those.”

Ria said, “Yeah, these are my mom’s old clothes. Before she used my salary to buy herself new ones.”

Ria bit her lower lip. She leaned forward on the table, stretching her arms out like a cat would, and smiled weakly.

Then she said, “Sorry, but could we get to it now? I’m sorry. I’ve just got to get this out of the way.”

Lusso said, “Go ahead. Ask away.”

Ria said, “First off, what happened to Jin?”

Lusso said, “He died of drug overdose. I think it was a coincidence that he was just outside of our door. He was tripping.”

Ria said, “But what about the door being electrocuted? He just happened to have a device like that?”

Lusso said, “I picked up whatever he used and handed it over to the police. It was a broken up electronic cigarette with wires hanging out. I don’t know. I can’t explain the thought process of a junkie.”

“So he wasn’t eavesdropping on us, recording it, or anything?”

“I saw him. He was in no state to think clearly. I looked into his phone too. There was nothing.”

“You’re not lying?”

“Why would I lie? We’re in this together, remember?”

Ria let out a breath of relief, and put her head down on the table, leaving her arms hanging downwards. It was as if she was a puppet, and her puppeteer had released all control of her.

Ria sat upright again. She said, “Thank you. I was so distracted with this that I forgot, but you all should order something. This place might not look like it, but the food’s good here. And obviously, it’s all on me.”

The janitors thanked her and looked at the menu. Lusso was too busy looking at his menu to notice, but Ding was fidgeting with his silver cross necklace under the table. He squeezed it so hard that it left an angry cross-shaped red imprint on his sweaty palm, as if it had been branded on him. Ding closed his lips tightly, like he was trying to hold in puke.