“A game,” Eli said. “A sort of social robot game.”

The guy holding it said, “So why did it message us if you’re just going to take it?”

“It was a mistake. It’s not, you know, market ready or whatever.”

The girl in blue said, “I feel like maybe we should all go to the principal.”

“No!” all four of them said.

“Why not?” the denim guy said.

“Please can you give it to me?” Eli said, annoyed.

The hoodie guy wasn’t buying it yet. “It said, ‘Take me with you or else.’ Or else what?”

“Nothing. It’s a game, like I said.”

“Prove it’s yours, then.” This guy was super annoying.

“The fact that I even know what it is and where it was and that you four have it should be proof enough.”

A fire truck arrived—the same one with the skull—and one of the firefighters said, “Didn’t we just do this?” as they walked toward the building.

Exactly, Marwan thought as they were urged by another firefighter to move farther away.

They regrouped across the street. Four against four, like some weird dance-off or Old West showdown.

“Ask it what it wants you to do?” Marwan said. “Maybe it’ll tell you to give it to us.”

“If it’s yours, why don’t you know what it’s going to do next?”

“Just ask it.”

The guy produced the device, and Marwan dearly hoped it would light up and say, Give me to them, but it didn’t.

Its lack of a message was oddly annoying. Asking it had been a risk that proved a misstep. Now that guy looked even more unconvinced that giving it to them was the right move.

“Aizel,” Eli said. “Is that you?”

A gust of wind seemed to kick up in order to emphasize the moment.

The girl in red said, “I think we should put it back.”

Eli said, “We know you must move to belong and ‘they is they,’ and we know you’re close to finding where you belong, and we want to help. We’re sorry about … last night.”

He sounded crazy, but there wasn’t much Marwan could do about that.

The device buzzed and displayed a message, but only the guy holding it and the three behind him could see it.

“What’s it say?” Eden asked.

The guy said, “It says, Please give me to them, and thank you for playing.”

Marwan hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath and now exhaled.

“So that’s it?” the girl in red asked.

“That’s it,” Marwan said, and he held out his hand and felt the weight of the device in his palm. He waited with the others as the new four finally decided to leave.

“Aizel,” Eli said. “You’re back? You remember everything?”

It was probably only a few seconds but felt like a lifetime before the device responded.