The sink dripped. Not completely turned off, after the water had been placed in the bowl. The silence that followed was uncomfortable, so Ashley moved, the plastic rustling. Blood escaped folds to drip to the floor below, not nearly as loud as the sink.

“Why sharp? I want to know what you’re doing with my hands.”

“I’m not keeping secrets from you,” Riley said. She turned around. “I didn’t think about it. Old habits die hard, you know.”

“You weaponized me?” Ashley asked.

“Only a little. Don’t get upset. I left it so that if something went wrong, you could tear off your arm and stab someone with the tube. Small, tiny weapon.”

Ashley raised her arm, studying the blood-slick metal tube.

She used the cleaner part of her arm to wipe at the corner of her mouth.

“It’s the equivalent of putting a rifle bayonet on a tank barrel,” Riley said.

Ashley didn’t respond. Her mouth wasn’t dry, but her throat was locked up.

Riley continued her work, using a variety of tools to stretch the skin away from the metal arms. Strands of muscle and tubes of fluid ran through the machinery.

Ashley felt a panicky feeling settling into her chest, threatening to paralyze her. Before it could, she slid her legs around, the plastic sheet rustling, and dropped down to the floor. A rubber mat with ridges made it easier to walk without slipping.

“Don’t move too much or you’ll lose blood,” Riley said, sounding as happy as she ever did. Her back was to Ashley.

Ashley reached out. The sharp edge of the tube grazed Riley’ s neck. Riley reacted, twisting, hand slapping out onto the top of the cart with wheels. Ashley kicked it, but not before the girl could grab a scalpel.

Riley backed away from the contact with the tube and its sharp edge. She stuck the scalpel out toward Ashley’s stomach, and the two of them stopped there.

The amused look dropped away from Riley’s face.

A drop of water smacked against the metal bottom of the sink once again.

“I was going to ask you if you wanted tea after,” Riley said.

“I don’t like you enough to have tea with you,” Ashley responded.

“Do you remember having tea before? Is that one of your memories?”

Ashley nodded.

“I wasn’t thinking we’d have a tea party. I was thinking just… tea. I have cake from a shop.”

Ashley shook her head slowly. The water in the sink dripped again. “I remember after the tea party we had.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“We’re not friends. Give me working hands and powers and maybe we can get there. That won’t be soon.”

“Something about this standoff tells me we’re not moving in that direction.”

“We’re not.”