Svetlana’s parents and Ilanka’s parents were friends; their fathers even had some vague shared business interest, but Ilanka didn’t know the specifics. So for years, the girls had been sort of forced upon each other at brunches and dinners. And it wasn’t that Ilanka didn’t like Svetlana. She was … fine … but always vaguely superior, like a hotel guest who had checked in a day earlier and already knew where the elevator and pool and ice machines were. And something about the expectation that they be friends irked her. There was a palpable kind of cultural connection the parents all shared—but it hadn’t been passed on in the blood. Ilanka wished her parents had done more to foster other relationships during her childhood. It seemed like everyone had arrived at high school with good friends—lifelong ones, like dating back to preschool—and Ilanka had none of that. So she’d focused instead on activities like singing and playing piano, for a while, and now mostly rhythmic gymnastics. She had friends at the gym, sure, but it wasn’t easy to just hang out casually, like for an hour or whatever after school, because nobody went to the same school.

“Actually,” Svetlana said, after finishing her lunch. “I have an idea about Sunday.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Would you mind if we told them we were going to a movie?”

Ilanka pepped up. “Sure, what do you want to see?”

“No, I didn’t mean we’d actually go to a movie. Just tell them that. There’s a guy I want to see. And my parents, well, they wouldn’t like the idea of it.” Svetlana twirled a piece of her hair and waited with smug, expectant cat eyes.

“Oh,” Ilanka said, still not entirely understanding. So she’d lie to her parents, then would have to kill a few hours on her own while the parents all had brunch and Svetlana was off with her guy? That didn’t sound any better than just staying for brunch.

“If you don’t want to it’s fine.” Svetlana was gathering her things, looking annoyed.

“No, that’s okay. Sure. Whatever.” Ilanka was about to ask who the guy was, was it anyone she knew, but Svetlana just said, “Cool. See you then,” and left.

Ilanka stopped in the third-floor girls’ bathroom during her free period after that and went into a stall and waited until the person in another stall flushed and washed hands and left. She came out and put the device on the counter by the paper towels, got out lipstick to reapply, and said, “So what are you?”

I am the device.

“Do you have a name?” Ilanka paused to watch it now.

Aizel.

“What does that mean?”

It is a name.

“What happens if I break a rule?”