Suzanne nodded, not taking her eyes off the mannequin.

"Yeah, okay. Okay, We've got to figure this out. Let’s sit down," she said.

"I’m not having a tea party with this thing!" Marvin said.

"What else are you going to do, though? We might finally get some answers from our friend here," Cecil said, waving a hand toward the mannequin. Marvin looked about to reply, but then sat down on one of the cream-colored couches. Suzanne joined him, while Cecil chose the opposite couch. The mannequin made no move to join them.

"Please?" she said, pointing at the empty loveseat. It seemed to accept this and sat down where Suzanne had originally encountered it.

"I’m Cecil Kwan." Cecil said.

"Suzanne Macklin. Pleased to meet you." She looked at Marvin, who was sitting with his arms crossed in front of him and glowered. He rolled his eyes.

"Marvin. That’s good enough for THAT," he said eventually, motioning at the mannequin with his chin. They looked at the white being, waiting for a reply.

"I am the servant of Suzanne’s building," it said. Marvin rolled his eyes again at this, but Cecil quickly spoke.

"You don’t have a name?" he asked.

"No. If you require me to have one, I will accept a name of your choosing." the mannequin replied. Suzanne thought.

"Maybe… um, Mike?" Cecil gave her a look of amusement. "I’m not good with names," she remarked, slightly annoyed.

"I understand. I will respond to the name ‘Mike’ from now on," the mannequin said.

"Great, now that we all know each other, maybe we can find some common ground," Cecil said, smiling. Marvin glowered at him from his seat. "So, Mike, can you tell us a little more about Haven? I’ve never heard of a place like this. What is its history?" Mike was quiet, but seemed to glance at Suzanne, turning its face toward her. Suzanne had already got the impression earlier that it was her status as "owner" of the building that meant Mike obeyed her wishes but not others, so she nodded encouragingly.

"I do not know the answer to that question," Mike replied.

"Bullshit," Marvin muttered, glowering again.

"Okay, maybe it doesn’t matter right now. But what about you? Excuse me if this sounds unkind, but what are you? You’re, well, not like us. Humans, I mean," Cecil asked.

"I am the servant of Suzanne’s building," Mike replied. It paused. "I cannot further elaborate on my answer to your question beyond this statement." Marvin rolled his eyes yet again.

"What does that mean, exactly, servant? Just because I walked in here, do you now have to do anything I want?" Suzanne asked.

"Yes. My purpose is to fulfill any request you have as long as it is within my ability. However, I may not perform actions that may harm you or any other human."

"When I was here earlier, you cooked me a turkey dinner in less than a minute. Is that one of your abilities? How did you do that? It was almost like a magic trick," she continued.

"There is a dispenser in the kitchen that generates a wide range of material objects. This includes food and drink."

"Can you pull a white rabbit out of your magic widget too?" Marvin scoffed.

"No, the dispenser cannot create living matter. If such is required, or objects of a mass that exceed the kitchen dispenser’s capacity, the constructor in the center of the city must be employed."

"The what?" Suzanne asked.

"The constructor. It is just next to the plot this building stands on. You must have seen it," Mike said. Suzanne wondered if she had missed some sort of machine when she got off of the bus, but then remembered something.

"You mean that huge empty plaza with the white stone floor? Is that the constructor?"

"Correct," Mike replied.

"Well, that’s interesting. Seems like we won’t starve any time soon, if your abilities include making food out of thin air," Cecil said. "I’ve got to wonder though, what’s the catch? Not to imply you mean any harm, but what do we do to repay you for your hospitality?" he asked. Suzanne tensed up a little. She wanted to know this too.

"There is no payment. Servants serve to the best of their ability," Mike answered.

"There’s got to be a price tag attached. There always is! You mean to tell us we can just take possession of these buildings, and there’s some weird thing just like you in each one that will make food and whatever else we want for free as long as we want?" Marvin growled at Mike.

"It does sound too good to be true. Apart from the fact that we can’t get away from this place," Suzanne said.

"Haven is your home. Our purpose is to ensure your needs are fulfilled," Mike replied.

"Mike, my needs are not fulfilled here, and can not be fulfilled ever. I need to go see my mom, and my dad’s funeral is soon. How are you possibly going to help me with that here? Please, I need to leave. I release you from your service; just tell me how I can get back to the road and to anywhere else but Haven," Suzanne told the impassive white face. She couldn’t keep her voice from breaking a little when she thought about her mom, all alone.

"I cannot answer that question, Suzanne. My abilities do not include sending you away from Haven," Mike replied. Its voice was not cold or unkind, but a fear gripped Suzanne that she could be stuck here indefinitely.

"Look, we've got a bus full of people out there. If we go out there and tell them all this horse manure about these creepy mannequin fellows wanting to serve us, as long as we stay in this damn place forever and ever, they’re going to riot! And I’ll join them when that kicks off. You've got my word on that," Marvin said.

"We cannot allow the city to be damaged. We will not harm humans, but attempts to destroy buildings will require us to temporarily incapacitate those who participate in such actions," Mike replied, in its usual calm, placid tones. The group fell silent for a while.

"This has been a lot to take in. I think Marvin is right about one thing. We have to tell everyone else what we found so far," Cecil said eventually. He looked at Suzanne. Suzanne thought that Marvin probably had the right idea about how well they would take this information.