Keira and Amy finally pushed through the door, arms heavy with grocery bags and a borrowed cart on top of which several boxes with furniture were stacked. Keira kicked her boots off with a grunt.

"Home sweet radioactive wasteland," she muttered, voice laced with that lazy sarcasm that made Amy snicker even though she wasn't sure if it was a joke or a genuine complaint.

Void glanced up from the couch lazily, finally stopping her nightly meme-scroll on the phone, the faint ghost of her last dive still hanging in the air. She didn't mention it. She didn't want them to see the way her pulse hadn't quite slowed yet. Instead, she stood, brushing her palms on her jeans and pulling Keira close by the collar for a kiss that tasted like leftover coffee. It was rough, unceremonious, but still warm enough to make Keira smile.

Then Void turned to Amy. The girl was halfway through setting down her bags when Void wrapped her in a sudden hug - tight and warm. Amy froze mid-motion, arms stiff at her sides, breath caught in her throat. For a second, she looked like she'd been caught stealing something. Her eyes darted sideways, searching for an escape. Then, slowly, awkwardly, her hands rose, returning the hug with a kind of hesitant softness, appearing as if she was terrified she'd do it wrong. When Void pulled away, Amy's cheeks were red, and she busied herself unpacking to cover it.

"Dinner?" Void asked, trying for casual, but her voice came out rougher than intended.

"Yeah, takeaway. We're ordering." Keira was already fishing her phone out of her pocket, thumbs moving with the speed of someone who knew the menu by heart.

Amy looked up, twiddling with the corner of a grocery receipt, her voice tentative.

"Um... If it's okay, I... I really like Hawaiian."

Void shot her a scandalized look. "Fruit. On pizza." She pinched the bridge of her nose like Amy had just confessed to eating concrete. "I thought you were salvageable."

Amy laughed, though it was small and shy, her eyes flicking between them to gauge if the joke was safe. "It's not that bad! Sweet and salty, it works!"

"No. No it doesn't." Void crossed her arms, mock-offended. "Pizza is sacred. It's supposed to bleed grease, not pineapple juice."

Keira, still scrolling through the takeaway app, rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn't detach. "You two are pathetic. One thinks pineapple counts as a topping, the other thinks animal carcass stacked ten layers deep is a religion. Newsflash: you're both wrong, and I'm still ordering pepperoni, because I'm not dealing with this domestic Cold War at my dinner table."

That got a laugh - even from Amy, who relaxed enough to nudge Void with her elbow, testing boundaries. "See? Compromise."

"Compromise is just losing. Only slower."

Keira snorted, tapping through the app with all the authority of a tyrant. "Congratulations, you're both losers tonight. Democracy in action."

Amy shook her head, a smile appearing at her lips despite the flush that still lingered on her cheeks. She wandered to the couch, slipping her new CrystalSight from her bag treating it like a prize she wasn't sure she was allowed to keep. The phone lit up in her hands, holographic icons blooming into existence, shimmering faintly above the glass. Amy's eyes went wide, her lips parting in quiet awe.

"Whoa... It does that in mid-air? That's... That's so cool." She tapped, swiped, and a tiny 3D koi fish swam lazily across the projection, scales catching the light like molten glass.

Keira glanced over her shoulder, unimpressed. "You've just discovered the wonders of capitalism. Just wait until it starts demanding firmware updates every three hours."

Amy giggled, tracing the little fish as if it were alive. "Still. I've never had something like this before..."

Void leaned against the counter, watching her with a guarded smile. Something twisted in her gut - not jealousy, not quite grief, but that sour taste of knowing why Amy never had these small joys before. She shoved it down, pressing her nails into her palm until the feeling dulled.

Keira began her ritual complaint the moment she hit [CONFIRM ORDER] - "By the way, you know what's worse than pineapple on pizza? The absolute hellscape that is replacing a traction battery in an Ares Electra van. Do you know how much clearance they give you in that chassis?"

"Uh-huh, negative clearance?"

"Exactly. You've got to pry it out like a goddamn molar while the customer hovers behind you asking if it'll be done in an hour. In an hour. Like I'm some kind of battery wizard." She gestured wildly with her hands, nearly smacking Amy in the shoulder.

Amy giggled again, her fingers still flicking through menus on her phone. "You kind of are, though. A wizard. But with wrenches and wires."

"Sweetheart, the only spell I know is 'fuck this job', and I cast it daily."

Void chuckled at that, but her laughter didn't reach her eyes. She stayed oddly silent through most of the exchange, sipping water, fiddling with a coaster, her mind still wired from what she'd seen in the Net. She wanted to say something, to unload it, but every time Amy smiled at her new phone, it was like swallowing glass.

When the doorbell finally rang, Amy jumped up, and Keira started fumbling with her wallet before Void intercepted the delivery with practiced ease.

They spread the boxes out across the low coffee table, the cardboard giving off that heady mix of yeast and molten cheese. Grease stains bled through the corners before the flaps were even pulled back. Amy hovered at the edge of the couch, uncertain if she should sit before being told, while Keira sprawled out like she was a queen of that place - which, technically, she was. Void slid down beside Keira, crossing her legs under her and watching the scene unfold with the quiet calculation of someone trying very hard to appear casual.

Keira flipped open one of the boxes with a flourish. "Ta-da. Told ya democracy's cool."

One half pepperoni, one half Hawaiian.

Amy's eyes went wide. She pressed her fingertips to her mouth like she might actually squeal. "Wait- did you...? You actually-" She looked between the two women, disbelief shining bright on her face.

Keira smirked and shrugged. "Relax, muffin. I'm not a monster. Well... Not always. I slipped them a note to do a half-half order."

Void raised her brows, leaning forward like the pizza had just sprouted horns. "Unbelievable. A betrayal inside my own home." She jabbed a finger at Keira. "You're harboring fruit sympathizers."

Amy let out a laugh that startled even herself, high and airy, but she covered it by quickly taking a slice and nearly burning her tongue on the cheese. "It's perfect. Thank you."

Void grabbed a slice from the smaller box and took an exaggerated bite, chewing with the slow disdain of a cat glaring at a vacuum cleaner. "Pizza isn't supposed to be a fruit salad. This is a fucking crime scene."

Keira dunked a crust into the little tub of garlic dip, side-eying Void with mock pity. "You're so dramatic. You'd think she dumped canned pineapple on your cyberdeck."

Amy giggled again, this time a little freer, holding out her slice toward Void with the tiniest of smiles. "You should try it. Come on, just one bite. You might like it."

Void recoiled like Amy had offered her poison. "I'd rather swallow a bag of dicks."

Keira barked out a laugh, shaking her head. "This is my life now. Stuck between Pineapple Girl and Meat Cult Leader."

Amy flushed at the nickname but didn't protest, hiding behind another bite. The warmth of the room settled in with the steam off the pizza - grease shining on cardboard, soda bottles sweating on the table, three bodies sharing the same space in a rhythm that was starting to feel almost normal.

Keira launched into a rant halfway through her second slice, waving her hands with the kind of frustration that only a mechanic could pull off. "Had this corpo brat earlier - rolls up in a Luor EV, throws the keys at me like I'm his valet. Complains about a sound in the engine. Electric car. Sound."

Void smirked faintly, but didn't bite at the bait. Amy tilted her head. "What... Did it sound like?"

"Like nothing! That's the fucking point!" Keira slapped the table for emphasis, jostling the soda bottles. "Turns out he left his damn holo-projector running in the back seat. Spent an hour 'diagnosing' while the idiot watched some anime virtu on his wreath."

Amy covered her mouth to hide her laugh, shoulders shaking. Void smiled too, but it was tight, distant. She ate methodically, almost mechanically, as if chewing could drown out the heavy-duty thought processing in her head.

Keira - of course - noticed.

The laughter dipped into softer conversation, Amy fussing over the sleek lines of her phone. She turned it in her hands over and over, showing off the way the display bent across the edges, how the adaptive glass shifted opacity when she tapped it. "It even recalibrates the tint depending on the light. See? It's like... Alive almost."

Void nodded absently, her thoughts still snagged on the shadow of Marzena's broadcast, the bile of it lingering in her chest. She sipped her soda to cover the silence, but her eyes stayed down, focused on the grease blotting the cardboard.

Keira leaned back, chewing her crust slowly, watching Void out of the corner of her eye. She didn't push, though - not here, not with Amy sitting across from them, looking so damn happy about her new toy. But the imbalance bubbled under the table like a forgotten kettle.

Void forced herself to smirk at Amy's excitement, dished out a quip about how soon she'd drop it and cry, but Keira caught the way her knuckles tightened around the glass bottle. She didn't say anything then, and once again just logged it away.

Because once the pizza was gone and Amy tucked herself into her own little corner of the couch, Void wouldn't get away so easily.

By the time the plates were stacked and the boxes folded, Keira had Void cornered. She caught her gaze - sharp and knowing - and tipped her head towards the bedroom with all the subtlety of a hammer.

Void trailed after Keira, the weight in her chest refusing to lift. As she walked away, she threw a glance at Amy. "If you wanna sleep on something better than the couch tonight, maybe start wrangling that bed. We'll be with you soon."

Amy nodded quickly, almost too eager, and shuffled off towards her room. One of the flat-packed boxes screeched against the floor as she dragged it inside. Vector, ever opportunistic, leapt onto it triumphantly, already declaring it his fortress.

Bedroom was dim except for the faint glow of the lights bleeding through the blinds, pink, cyan and purple slashing across the walls - a graffiti painted with photons, one of the few remaining things Szczecin was still capable of doing right. Void settled down on the bed, letting out a heavy sigh.

Keira closed the door behind them with a soft click. No theatrics, no raised voice. Just that quiet finality that told Void she wasn't escaping this one. Keira crossed her arms, leaning against the dresser, her shadow splitting across the blinds.

"Alright, doll. Out with it. You've been sitting there all dinner like someone shoved a live wire up your ass."

Void dragged a hand through her magenta hair, tugging at the roots in an attempt to numb the emotional pain. Her voice came out lower than she meant, almost like it wanted to hide. "It's... Amy's mother. I saw finally saw her. On the Net. Got a tip from a fellow runner."

She swallowed, exhaling slowly. "She's out there on E-Sphere, staging this whole melodrama. Crying about her lost daughter, blaming some monster named 'Void' for corrupting her little girl. Talking about me like I'm some predator who lured Amy away."

Keira's brows shot up, her mouth twitching between disbelief and rage. "You're fucking kidding me. That narcissistic ghoul actually crawled online to play Saint Mary of the Missing Daughter?"

"Not kidding. She's got pictures, too. Stuff she could've only found if she dug through Amy's system. Logs. Our messages about the meet-up. That means she's been rooting around Amy's machine. Knows where we're based too. Not like the whole address. Just the general area."

Her hands curled into fists. She stared at the ceiiling like she could burn a hole through it. "And the worst part? People are buying it. They're listening to her. Letting her write the story all over again, painting us as some groomers, while Amy... Amy can barely accept genuine fucking affection."

Keira let out a sharp laugh, though there was no humor in it. "Oh, that's rich. Abusive hag digs through her kid's files, then cries victim when the truth doesn't fit her fairy tale. Classic." She moved closer, laying down beside Void. "So what'd you do? Just sat there and watched?"

Void shook her head, lips pressing into a thin line. "Who do you take me for? Of course I didn't just watch. I traced and nuked it. Wiped Amy's machine clean, left it a corpse. And I slipped a little present into her comms brick while I was at it - just enough to track who she's talking to. Luxy helped out, since I didn't have any datasiphon prepped."

That got a strong reaction. Keira's laugh was sharp, humorless. "Of course she did. Saint Luxy, patron of lost causes. Always has time to bleed for everyone else, never for herself."

Void glanced at her, frowning. "Keira..."

"Nuh-uh. Shut your yapper." The snark was still there, but it cut deeper now, jagged at the edges. "She walks around like she's saving the whole damn queer underworld, but I've seen the way she drinks herself into the floor the second she's alone. I've known her since mid-school."

Void sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I know she's a fucking wreck. But right now? She's the only one I can count on. She's got connections - people on the Net, and meatspace alike. If anyone can help me keep that bitch from twisting this whole thing, it's her. Because sooner or later the badges will be knocking at our door." She turned her head to Keira, "And I don't exactly feel like explaining how I got Militech-stamped components in my rig without a detailed import manifest."

Keira stared at her for a long moment, lips pressed tight. Then she sat against the headboard, stretching her legs out, but the tension in her shoulders didn't ease. "So what - you're planning another little rendezvous at Taverna with our resident disaster-savior?"

Void nodded slowly. "Yeah. I need to. We have to figure out the next step. The cunt's building a story, and stories are dangerous when people start believing them."

"But why the hell didn't you tell us right away? You think Amy's too fragile to know her spawn point's spewing sewage online? Void, open your fucking eyes, she already knows what her mother's like. Better than either of us."

Void's voice cracked, and she caught it with a harsh exhale, dragging the sound back down. She closed her eyes, palms pressed together. "I don't want her carrying that weight. She already thinks her existence is somehow her own fault. If I can stop this before she gets louder, then maybe Amy can just... Have a shot at normal life for once."

The silence stretched, as neon glow shifted across Keira's face, painting her in fractured color. Finally, she tilted her head, her voice softer, but still with that sharp edge. "And what about you, choom? You think you can keep eating this shit in silence? Acting like it doesn't poison you every time you log in? What's next? Taking a shot at the fucking Blackwall?"

Void's lips twisted into something halfway between a smirk and a grimace. "I can handle it. I've handled worse. And they're still working on that thing, y'know. Nothing to poke yet."

Keira leaned forward, her eyes narrowing, while her voice lowered like a blade sliding across stone. "That's exactly the fucking problem, you don't get it, do you?" She tapped Void's shoulder, "You always handle it... Chew glass and call it dinner, and I'm supposed to just sit here and watch you bleed. Or worse, desperately try and stop the bleeding. Remember last year?"

Keira stared at her, then exhaled sharply, raking her hands back through her scarlet hair. "You're a stubborn idiot, you know that?"

"Yeah. Takes one to love one."

Keira groaned, rolling her eyes, but she leaned in anyway, pressing her forehead against Void's. "One more martyr act and I'm beating your pretty little face into a mush, got it?"

"Yeah, got it."

The silence stretching after Void's words was broken by a siren wailing, then slowly fading into the distance, swallowed by the city's usual buzz.

Keira pulled back at last, smirk tugging at her mouth as she slid off the bed. "I'm so glad you understand diplomacy. Now come on. Let's go help our little angel assemble the bed before she falls face-first on the floor, mm?"