“This has everything to do with you.” He takes a breath. “The SFPD have a proposition.”

His body language has changed again—palms out, brown eyes calm but firm. He still looks heartbreakingly young.

My hand goes to my chest. I shake my head. “I don’t understand. Why do you need me?”

“What do you know about the Ratel?”

“The Ratel?” I echo faintly. They’re the main remaining source of crime within the city. The government has been trying to eradicate them for years, but they’re tenacious. They intimidate businesses; they have a hand in the property market, and some say within certain branches of the government or Sudice. Like everyone, I’ve heard the whispers that the Ratel have grown more powerful in recent years, morphing from an annoyance into something more significant and dangerous. I always figured it was just rumor, but looking at Officer Oloyu’s face, I’m no longer so sure. What else have they been keeping from the media bots?

Something stirs in my memory. Tila joked about the Ratel a couple of weeks ago. Or I thought it was a joke. I’d reprimanded her for being late to one of our dinners yet again.

“Just ping me if you’re going to be late. Obviously I’m not your mother, but you never used to do this,” I’d said, turning away from her.

“Oh, relax, T,” she responded, with that infuriating tilt of her head and flash of white teeth. “It’s not like I’m hanging out with the Ratel. I’m just late.”

I remember wondering at the time why she’d even joke about such a thing. I feel sick.

Officer Oloyu is still waiting for a response. “A little,” I manage.

“Do you know what they traffic in more than anything else?”

My breath hitches. “Not really.” I’ve never had any dealings with them. I go to work. I come home. I live my life as a law-abiding citizen of San Francisco.

“They traffic in dreams. More specifically, the information from dreams.”

“Zeal?” I ask, confused. Sudice own that. I’ve only plugged into Zeal a few times. It did nothing for me.

“No. Something new. Something different. The next step beyond Zeal. Have you heard of Verve?” He watches me.