Por Qué spoke to Welga. “If I understand the context of this conversation, you should file a Request for Investigation with the funders of your zips. Would you like me to do that?”

“Yes, Por Qué, do that,” Welga subvocalized.

Not that it meant much—RFIs tended to disappear into a morass of bureaucracy unless they had money or lawyers or both backing them up.

“A few more months,” Welga said to her sister-in-law. “Maybe even weeks. That’s all I need. I’ll last that long, right?”

“Most probably, but I’m not an expert. Don’t take this too lightly!”

“I can handle living with a disability.”

Nithya sighed. “I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”

“Thanks for looking into it. Tell Luis and Carma that I said hello.”

Despite the public call and a boost in viewership from her Machinehood connection, no one with the right expertise offered to help. Why would they? With no money in it, they had no incentive. Her fans would appreciate the drama of watching her struggle. That was what they enjoyed about the life of a shield—the conflict. If she had real fame, a massive following, she’d have the coin to spend on hiring experts to look into her condition, and she could turn that into its own narrative. As a mostly ordinary person, though, the public wouldn’t make an effort to raise funds for her cause until her health was obviously deteriorating, and even then, it might not be enough. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. A cup of coffee from her favorite vendor-bot didn’t wash it away.

NITHYA

[News reporter standing in front of a kitchen unit] The worldwide hunt continues for the elusive source of the Machinehood threat. A poll from this morning shows that 63 percent of respondents have stopped all pill usage other than government-issued daily inoculation designs. Some counterterrorism experts think the Machinehood will attempt a wide-scale attack on kitchen pill printers, similar to the hijacks of ’84 and ’87. However, others claim that modern kitchens have better security. Do you have an expertise rating greater than eighty for kitchen encryption? If yes, tell us what you think! We’ll compile the top ten responses and share them with our followers.

—Top Ten for Today news feed, March 17, 2095. Current accuracy rating: 78%

The package arrived while Luis was out of the house. Nithya opened the generic white envelope with care, suspicious of its contents because of the odd bulge in the center and the fact that nobody in their family sent paper mail. A second packet lay inside, with a scrawled note saying Welga had sent this for Nithya alone. Mystified, Nithya carried it into the bathroom and locked the door.

“Sita, are there any microdrones in here?”

“The house system doesn’t show any, but the most advanced technology would not be detected.”