Reez and Sierra entered a small, mom-and-pop store.  Nolla had given him the address of a good android parts supplier with the guarantee that the guy would have absolutely anything, as he was used to catering to a very varied crowd.  She also passed an off-hand comment about how Reez had inexplicably become enamored with a bedridden android all of a sudden, and he had to explain an abridged story of what had happened during the week while she was gone and why he hadn't called to leave any news whatsoever.  In the meantime, Sierra had been having giggle fits over the possibility of Reez falling in love with an android.  But... if she worked him well enough, she best she could instigate some emotion on his part!

Sierra had been going around on a wheelchair for the past day, covered with a large baggy cloth that kept her body in the unknown.  She cultivated the feeble hope that she could find herself some readily-made parts right away, but the store turned out to be a disappointment: it wasn't any larger than a fast food restaurant.  There wasn't any backstore to speak of - only a small closet in which boxes had been stored.

The rest of the space in front of the counter was taken up by displays of empty android shells, along with a row of chestplates and an old leg with some circuitry left inside to show how it was built.  Behind the counter lay a pile of binders full of old pages in yellowed-out plastic sleeves, each of them containing all sorts of item displays, from individual parts to fully programmed androids, factory-built and prepared in advance to know the name of its owner and what it was supposed to do.

There was a short, balding man behind the counter.  He stepped off his stool and went around the counter to greet his customers.

"Hello there, mister!  Anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, uh, we're looking for some android replacement parts."

"Ah-ha, very good.  And which model is it for?"

"Well, yeah, she's a custom build, you know, homemade parts and all-"

Sierra interrupted: "I run on Socket 89 Compatible."

The salesman raised a finger.  "Ah, Socket 89, that's a good socket, very well built, let me see here..."  He went to the back and opened a binder.  "I have some parts at the back, depending on what you want.  Otherwise, I can order them.  Here, look at this page..."  He pointed at a forearm model.  "This one, I should get it in a day or two, it's a new technology model from Casiers, very very good...  I also have this one on the other page here if you want something that looks a little more classic."

"Actually..."  Reez picked up Sierra's good arm and held it up.  "Can you find something as close as possible to this model, at least appearance-wise?  All I need is one forearm."

"Oh, that's a Casiers 89-AF-2...  I'm sorry but the company only sells those in pairs, so you'll have to house a spare if you're to order that model."

Reez nodded.  "We're aiming for a consistent look overall.  I don't want her to look like she just got picked out a junkyard, you know?"

"True, that's a good decision.  In that case, I suggest a Timpleta 89-AF-6.  As you can see on the picture, it's got a beautiful electric blue finish, silver trim, simu-skin on the entire hands and simu-skin on the bottom of the forearms.  It's a very robust model, never got any complaints about it.  Sells in pairs too."

Reez glanced at Sierra and showed her the picture.  She looked at him, smiled and nodded.

"We'll take that."  He told the salesman.

"Good!  Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Yeah, uh, it's supposed to be some sort of leg and midriff piece, like..."  He gestured as he described the part.  "You have a pair of legs, a chest plate and a back plate attached to that, and you lower the android's upper torso into it, and the two plates clamp on each side as you push her down, see what I mean?"

The salesman shook his head.  "Never heard of this kind of part before, mister.  The way almost all androids are set up is that you attach plates first, then put in the arms and legs.  I don't think there's any piece like that... but let me look, let me look for a moment!"

He went through several of his binders, leaving Reez some time to go through the plates stacked on the side.  There were some normal ones, risqué ones, elegant ones and naked ones.  The last plate felt like a real body, and the chest jiggled generously with each tug.  Behind him, Sierra was looking heavenwards and clicking her tongue in disapproval.

The salesman popped in front of them with a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry mister, I just couldn't find anything like what you described.  If you absolutely want a piece like that, you'll have to order it custom made."

"And how much is that gonna cost me?..."

"Oh!...  Depending on the work the shop has to do to accommodate the parts together the way you want 'em, I'd say one and a half times the cost of the parts involved."

"Oh boy!...  Can we afford that?"

Sierra tugged at his shirt.  "I'll pay you back."

Reez grunted in frustration.  "Okay, fine, we can afford that.  Watcha got for us, pop?"

The salesman opened several binders and stuck colored flags to some of the pages, red for plates and green for legs.  After finishing with one, he'd hand it over to Reez for him to peruse at his leisure.

Most of the salesman's proposals were middle quality parts (so Sierra whispered.)  He quickly took the flags off the more sexually oriented parts, took out the ones of the boring and uninteresting ones too, and narrowed his choice down to two plates and two pairs of legs to mix and match: one plate was a conservative electric blue shirt look-alike, while the other was a more elegant and intricate design that sought to mimic a casual evening dress.  The pairs of legs were radically different from each other: one was all simu-skin from the middle of the thighs down, mimicking a pair of shorts, and the other pair consisted of a sci-fi, jigsaw-like assembly of electric blue and dull gray metal parts that made them look like they could be broken apart into pieces, and gave them a more utilitarian look, something he saw often at the Unionized Mercenaries.

He showed her the models in question.

"You eliminated some before even asking me?"  She told him.

Reez laughed.  "I put myself in your shoes when I thought out the choices.  I hope I did it right."

She gave him a nod of approval as she looked the part models over.  She ended up pointing at the evening dress plate and the jigsaw legs.

"By the way," she asked the salesman, "did the parts you choose for us match with each other?"

"They are compatible, if you want to know."  The salesman answered.  "I went for the average since I don't know exactly how good of a wallet you have.  Lemme see the parts you've narrowed down to?...  Thank you.  Yes, okay, good, those are all matchable with each other.  Have you made your choice yet?"

Reez pointed at the relevant pages.  "This one, with this one.  How's that sound?"

"Hmmm, that's a good leg choice, goes with almost anything.  But, I think I may have a plate that's more appropriate, might look better with them...  Let me see here..."

He finally flipped the binder around and revealed a plate model of similar looks, except that some straight lines had been engraved in it, and the markings he had seen on the previous model were much less intricate.

"This model will give your 'droid girl a good flow between the legs and the rest of her body."  He explained.  "See, you start off with all those lines and cuts at the bottom and you want to end up with the smooth simu-skin of her face at the top, so you need some sort of transition.  That's why I'm proposing this model, see here?  Low, middle, top.  Lots of lines, just a few lines, no lines.  See how it transitions well compared to the other one?  What do you think?"

Reez showed Sierra the model.

"Oh, too bad, I liked the edge pattern on the other one," she said with a pout.  "But I agree, this model will look nicer overall."

The salesman smiled.  "Oh, but I bet the factory could do something about-"

Reez put his hands up and waved them wildly.  "No, no, no!  We're good!  We're okay!  We'll take the one with the lines thingy whatever, okay, yeah!  That's it, right?"

Sierra rolled her eyes.  "Come on, I said I'd pay you back already!"

The salesman got a confused look on his face.  "She's a free 'droid?"

"I guess so."  Reez sighed.  "We're more like roomies.  It's a long story.  Being part of the UM is a pretty damn quirky job; you get yourself in all sorts of comic book situations."

"Oh, I guess so mister, I guess so!  All right, so, we say: one pair of Timpleta 89-AF-6 in electric blue, matte gray, silver trim and black simu-skin, one pair of Falcon 89-FL-1 Antislide in electric blue and matte gray, and a Westworks Mode Fashion Avenue in electric blue color...  A very elegant choice, if you'll allow me to say that.  And, here's your total, mister."

Reez looked at the bill, looked at Sierra, looked at the bill... looked at Sierra again.

"You'd better damn well pay me back for that one!"

And as he leaned over the counter to sign, Sierra gave the salesman a wink and an enthusiastic thumbs-up, causing a giggle between the two and some suspicious looks from Reez halfway through writing his signature.

"Thank you, mister!"  The salesman told Reez.  "Here's your copy with the reference numbers for each part and for the assembly job."  He circled them with a blue pen.  "The forearms should be here tomorrow morning, the legs and plate assembly, mostly likely closer to the end of the week."

"Can you call us when the forearms get there?  At least this'll give her some more mobility than what she's got right now."

"Sure!  I'll do that as soon as it arrives.  What happened to her anyway to get in such a state, if I may ask?"

"Oh, took a nasty fall down the stairs.  She was equipped with some old shitty parts before so they didn't really like the impacts too much.

"Ah, thank Sweet Lady Luck she came out of it alive, poor thing!  I've heard that story often and it's not everyday that an android managed to survive that.  That means she is a model of good quality, very robust!...  Well then, anything else I can help you with?"

"Thank you, that'll be all."

The salesman smiled broadly.  "Well then, you two have a very nice day!"

The whole experience left a pleasant smile on Sierra's face.

"That went better than I expected!"

Reez gave her a grunt in response.  "Yeah, he's just happy 'cause I purged my wallet on him..."

"I'll pay you back!  I swear!"

"Okay, sure, and with what money?  The leftovers of the three hundred you got?"

"Well...  I'll find something."  She gave him a defiant look.  "I consider myself a human first and foremost.  I have a mind, a body and emotions.  The only difference is the species.  Not like I'm confined to your home."

"Works for me.  What about the rest of the world?"

Sierra chuckled.  "They got used to the Reli creatures, they got used to the mutants...  One more drop in the ocean isn't bound to cause much trouble.  I bet I could see Fred and ask him to get me something quiet where I can do some nice work and earn my part.  It's lot like the Unionized Mercenaries are all fighters, right?"

"Right..."

"Well, then the problem is solved!"

Reez chuckled.  "You're sure optimistic."

She grinned.  "After all the things I've gone through... it's about time I start putting on a smile."

The latter part of the day was spent at home, for once with no TV, no computer net, nor video games.  Even better: he took a nap.

Sierra spent a whole two hours imagining herself wearing hew new appendages, dreaming that the plate was actually a beautiful dress and that she was a complete living being from top to bottom.  It was a nice wish, but she didn't curse her current body.  Being partly organic was better than not being at all.  At least she had no central processor, nor any true electronic architecture aside from her remaining embedded hard disk.  No one could control her thoughts, her memories or her behavior.  Despite appearances, she could believe what she wanted to believe and do what she wanted to do, and think what she wanted to think.  She could forge her own opinions and choices, grow preferences, likes and dislikes.

She was everything her mother Shrike had wanted to be.  She was the solid form of an ideal, a hope, a flash...  She was finally free to taste and appreciate what she had been gifted with, and figured that deep down inside, through all the quarrels, the fits, the envy and the temper tantrums, Shrike had only wished the best for her daughter.  Through all the hardships, the tests, the suspicions, the stress and the fears, Sierra had come to fully enjoy who she was and what she was, and that she wouldn't have done it all any other way.  No matter how one looked at it, everything had fallen into place and worked out for the best.  Her last hope was that Shrike was somewhere, hopefully comfortable, safe, and perhaps recovering.

As soon as she got her plate and legs assembly, she and Reez took an entire day off and wandered aimlessly around downtown New Colombus.  She noticed the looks others gave her, at her shiny new clothes - to put in quotation marks - and the radiant smile she just couldn't get rid of anymore.  She had even contaminated Reez with it, and he seemed livelier than before.  He woke up in the mornings with a better face and earned more enjoyment out of his work.  Even through this somewhat bizarre episode in his life, even if he had spent most of his time asking questions, feeling confused and wondering where he was being taken with all this, he had come out of it improved, influenced by the presence of a kind of friend he couldn't have found among the hardened members of the Unionized Mercenaries.

It had all worked out for the best.