So what?" You're working at The Palace?" Ava questioned."Yes grandma I am," Gary answered honestly.Ginger reached under the table to put her hand over...Gary's. She knew all of this was so hard for him. First he had to bring a stripper girlfriend home to dinner with his family and now he had to admit that he was working at the same place where his girlfriend strips."I told you several times to call me if you want a job working for us. Why don't you ever listen to me?" Alice questioned. Kim had been right. It wasn’t rocket science; it was just simple math. The tests proved it. The challenge was switching between the two voltages. So far, every time they tried switching, the nanites were fried.Bran’s mind tried to skitter away from thinking of what would happen to a Companion/host, whose armor was suddenly burned out. Would their body combust from the inside, or would it simply turn them into a vegetable with a destroyed nervous system? Or was there something worse that could. But the bottom line is that I've completely fucked his life."It's cool, dude." I completely cut over what ever he's saying. "I got it under control now. If I girl say 'no', I take her home. If she say 'ow', I quit bittin'. See? It's all cool. You worry too much. We musta gotten switched at birth 'cause you are way too much like my Dad." Alex. You're not listening again." His voice is quiet and too calm. "Shut up and pay attention."I shut up except for the voice in the back of my head that can't. At this time of the morning, the street I am walking is usually a very busy place — men, women, children, doing business, strolling, playing, talking, watching, laughing — a bustle of life, to be seen, and heard, and shared...Today, though, the street is empty, the windows and their shutters are closed, I am the only living being here, and I am walking towards my death. Silently, as my bare feet make no sounds upon the stones of the pavement.Behind the closed windows some people are inside.