Marwan had caught up with her on his bike just outside the park, and they’d walked in together, then along the river path—past a skateboard park, a playground, and an Olympic-sized pool that had been emptied back at the end of summer. She felt weird beside him now that she’d joked with her friends about being in love with him.

Why hadn’t Julian looked up at the right moment? It could have been so perfect.

She had her phone in her hand. Checked it. Her mom reminding her about therapy.

Up close, Eli looked pale and shaky. “Where’s Ilanka?”

“She’s not coming,” Eden said. “She said she doesn’t take orders from it or me.”

Eli said, “But my schedule is for the four of us.”

“Listen, man,” Marwan said. “You need to ease up on all this, I think. Let’s just return it, okay? We can go right now.”

“Listen, man,” Eli mimicked. “I haven’t slept, and I need you all on board or this is never going to work.”

“So what if it doesn’t work, whatever that even means,” Marwan said. “Let’s just bring it back to school and be done with it.”

“We can’t,” Eli said.

“Why not?” Eden asked, realizing that Marwan had been right. This trip to the park was a hassle. Everything about this whole thing so far was a hassle.

“Just listen to me, please,” Eli said. “The newest rule is that you can’t leave it zipped up in a backpack or whatever for more than an hour. I was up all night just making sure it was okay and not making any more rules. Then this morning it told me it has to ‘move to learn’ and to take it somewhere it could be around people but not school. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m so tired.”

“This whole thing has to be some kind of joke,” Marwan said. “And it’s not even funny.”

“I think he’s right, Eli,” Eden said. “Someone’s messing with us.”

“This isn’t child’s play,” Eli said. “Aizel is a serious piece of, like, AI machinery. Who at school could even get their hands on something like this? No one. That’s who.”

What was he even talking about?

“What’s ‘Aizel’?” Marwan said. “Why are you so freaked out?”

“Its name is Aizel,” Eli said. “If you google ‘Aizel,’ you really just get a Russian fashion company, but I don’t know. Maybe it’s Russian. It’s also a girl’s name. It means ‘one who brings luck or good fortune,’ if you believe astrology sites or whatever.”

“This is ridiculous,” Marwan said.

“You’re not making sense,” Eden said. It was a lot to take in, especially with Eli talking so fast, like a crazy person.

“I asked it who put it in the classroom, and it just said ‘they.’ ”