“Let’s look inside,” said Heron, and they followed her in. The building was more ornate than Kira expected, an older style of architecture done with brick and plaster and wood paneling. Even the ceilings were vaulted. The first floor of the building was just as flooded as the outside, thanks to the shattered glass and poor seals in the doorways; it came just past their knees, and a coating of dust and debris floated on the top of it like a crust. There were a few offices, but most of the floor was taken up with a single giant room filled end to end with rows of computer towers—not just screens, like the portable computer Afa carried with him, but giant bricks of memory and processing power, each one taller and wider than Kira herself. The first floor had hundreds, lined up like obelisks, bits of wire and insulation floating in the water around them.

“That’s not good,” said Samm. “We’ll never get these running again.”

“Then we hope what we want’s on another floor,” said Afa, and splashed down a row of servers to a large metal tank. “And we hope they have more of these up there with it.”

“It’s a gas tank,” said Kira, and Afa nodded enthusiastically.

“And the generator’s right next to it. This is where we need the paint thinner.”

“I still don’t get that,” said Kira.

“Gas degrades over time,” said Samm, nodding as if he understood everything. “The petroleum inside turns into resin, like a thick gum. That is why none of the cars work anymore.”

“Everybody knows that,” said Kira.

“That is why he’s looking for paint thinner,” said Samm. “It breaks down resin and turns it back into gasoline. The exhaust would be toxic, like he said before, but the generator would run.”

“At least long enough for us to get our data,” said Afa. He clambered up on a metal stair and started straining against the valve on the tank.

“I’ll open it,” said Samm, pushing him gently aside. “You two find some paint thinner.”

“Yes, sir,” said Kira primly, and managed to stifle a curtsy as she turned to leave. Heron followed her out and spoke softly as they left the building.

“Glad to see you two getting along so well,” said Heron. “Anything you want to tell me before you stab Samm in the face?”

Kira didn’t answer, scanning the storefronts for anything that looked like it might sell hardware. She took a breath, trying to calm herself. “Do you think humans are inferior?”

“I think everyone’s inferior.”

Kira stopped, looking back to glare at Heron, then turned again and kept walking. “Do you think that’s the answer I’m looking for?”

“It’s a fact,” said Heron. “Facts are too busy being true to worry about how you feel about them.”