Ema was washing the dishes, occasionally glancing back at him. She smiled at him, and he returned the same. On the TV, some match was playing. He couldn’t see which one it was, but his team was leading two to zero. Ema turned to him again. But something wasn’t right.


    Her eye. It was there, but it wasn’t human. Her eye was made of iron. With a red dot in front. Just like in the movie Terminator. It didn’t seem to bother her, though—she kept washing the dishes. Even when there were no more dishes in the sink. Daniel tried to call out to her, but he couldn’t. He tried to stand, but that didn’t work either.


    Gradually, her hands slowly turned to iron too, and purple fabrics were woven into her hair. Daniel felt a chill creeping up his legs. He tried to warm them by rubbing them together, but the cold only grew stronger.


    He heard a dog barking.


    And then he woke up in room number 205.


    He had fallen asleep on the bed, his window slightly ajar, and outside it was starting to get dark. From the floor below, a clamor rose, shaking the entire second floor. Dogs were barking outside. Daniel got up, and the first thing he did was close the window. But the view made him linger there and watch. The setting sun seemed to reflect off the dry earth, their colors blending into one, making it hard to tell where the desert ended and the sky began. The skyscraper beyond the hills wasn’t visible.


    Below his window, there were a few men. One of them looked up at him, then turned back to his conversation with the others. Daniel couldn’t tell if they were wearing black gloves or not. Were they even human?


    He needed a shower. The problem was, there was only one shower, and it was at the end of the hallway. The toilet too. At least he was glad about that. When he thought of the Wild West, he imagined bathing outside on the sand with a stretched-out hose, and the toilet being just a hole in the ground somewhere. Well, he’d been half-right about the latter. There was no toilet on the second floor here. The only place a person could relieve themselves was outside, in a few wooden outhouses with wooden floors and holes dug into them.


    He rushed through the shower, his main goal being to take care of his small need without having to go to the outdoor toilets. In doing so, he got a quick rinse too. The dirty water from the shower didn’t drain into a sewer but spilled out through a gutter straight onto the dirt outside. The good thing was that no one walked there. Especially not robots. How did water affect robots, anyway? Did it reach their electronics? Did it bother them?


    He stepped out of the shower wrapped in just a towel. He didn’t see anyone around, though he could hear sounds coming from the bar downstairs. He stopped at the door marked 204 and knocked once, but there was no answer. He tried to go in, but that didn’t work either. Jasper was either asleep or out hunting for women again. Generally, that’s all he ever did.


    Daniel went back to his room to get dressed and headed down the stairs. He put on his old clothes, though if he’d known better, he would’ve changed them. He stepped out and started descending toward the bar. The lower he went, the louder it got downstairs.


    On the last step, just before plunging into the bar, a redheaded woman in a long red dress leaned against the railing, blocking his way. She was propped up by her black-gloved hands and stood alone, scanning the people in the bar as if counting them. When she saw him, she turned and greeted him. Her gaze was playful. The redhead tried to grab his hand, but he managed to pull it back, and she apologized in a way that sounded rather rehearsed.


    The bar was overflowing with women. Daniel didn’t know if it had been like this back in the day, but he understood the purpose here. The goal was to entertain the visitors—especially the men.


    The second woman he noticed was Violet. She stood at her usual spot at the bar, watching the crowd. Her drink was in front of her again. She sipped it mechanically, which made sense. What Daniel found strange was where all those liquids went.


    “Daniel?”


    “You remembered my name.”


    “I always remember the handsome ones.” Violet made the same move as before, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him close. But this time, she pressed her lips to his white shirt, leaving a smear of lipstick behind.


    “What was that for?”


    “Marking you, handsome. And I hope if you’ve got a wife, she’ll ask about me.”


    “I’ve got a wife, but she’s not here.”


    “Of course you’d say that. No man walks in here if he’s got a girlfriend.”


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    “Have you seen Jasper?”


    “The fat guy? He was here earlier. No idea where he is now.”


    Daniel left her and melted into the crowd. Most of the men in the bar looked like outlaws and wore gloves. There were some without, who winked at him, and he winked back. He recognized most of them by face from the train. He also spotted the two women who’d scared Jasper on the train with their offers of strange games. A woman with short black hair had joined them, and they were heatedly discussing something with her. Daniel nodded at them, and the dark-skinned one winked back.


    He stepped outside the bar, and the first thing he saw was the dog, Silver. It trotted over to his feet, sniffed him, then put its two front paws on his legs. Daniel petted it. The dog hopped down and started spinning in circles with joy.


    But Daniel had already spotted Jasper and left the pup behind. Jasper was talking to someone.


    “Daniel!” Jasper saw him.


    Jasper stood in the dark. His bulky silhouette was unmistakable. He was speaking to someone leaning against the bar’s wall. The figure wore a wide-brimmed hat and stared down at their feet.


    Daniel approached.


    “You know our old friend, Jake.”


    “Hello, Sheriff. What brings you here?” He tried to sound appropriate for the time they were in.


    “You tell me.” The man’s gaze stayed fixed on the ground.


    Daniel looked at Jasper. He didn’t understand.


    “Brother, the sheriff’s looking for someone.”


    “A killer!” Jake nearly shouted. “I’m hunting a killer!”


    “Yeah, a killer. He’s asking if we can help him.” Jasper winked at Daniel.


    “Sheriff, we’ve only been here a day. We don’t know the people.”


    Jake peeled himself off the wall, straightened up, and brushed off his vest. He took off his hat. His hair was a dirty brown, slicked back, though the hat had slightly mussed it. His beard was stubbly, and instead of a blade of grass, he had a cigarette in his mouth.


    “Who’ve you met?”


    “Violet,” Daniel answered before Jasper could. “And a few of her girls.”


    “Girls? Any men?”


    The two exchanged a glance. Both were thinking of the same thing—the naked boy in the room.


    “Not at all.”


    “Well, there was one lady,” Jasper chimed in, mentioning the dark-haired woman he’d met. “At the fountain. She was with her kid.”


    “Curly, dark hair? Kid looks just like her?”


    “Yeah.”


    “She’s a good woman.” Jake softened his tone. “Lost her husband recently… They suspected her of his murder for a while, but I don’t think it was her.”


    “Murdered her husband?” Jasper glanced at Daniel again and winked. He was playing the sheriff’s game. “That’s a serious accusation.”


    “You’re right, Jasper. Her husband was my friend. The town’s deputy sheriff.”


    “Deputy sheriff?”


    “Yeah. It was a secret that he and Aria didn’t get along. He’d often complain to me that she’d been eyeing other men.”


    “No, Sheriff. I can’t believe that. Aria seemed like an awfully nice lady to me.” Jasper was playing his part too well.


    Jake pulled the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it aside.


    “We’ll figure this out. In the meantime, I’d advise you to steer clear of her. I can’t guarantee your safety.”


    “Our safety? But you’re the sheriff.”


    Jake stepped menacingly close to Jasper. Daniel moved to intervene but stopped himself. This was just a game, after all—no need to overact. Jasper was trying not to laugh.


    “I am the sheriff. And if you think you’re taking that from me, challenge me to a duel.”


    “Whoa, whoa!” Jasper stepped back. “I don’t want your badge, boss. But if you need deputies?”


    “Actually, I do.” Jake suddenly calmed down, his aggression vanishing. He leaned back against the wall. The longer they interacted with an object in the park, the more they noticed its flaws and repetitive programmed movements, which eventually got a little boring. But their repertoire was slowly expanding. “If you know anyone willing, I’d like them to join me.”


    Jasper brushed off his shirt and vest, standing tall in front of Jake in all his glory. Daniel saw him like a puffed-up turkey, ready to fan out its feathers any second.


    “My friend and I want to be sheriffs.”


    “N-no.” Daniel barely got the word out. Jasper was trying to rope them into something again. “I don’t think we’re ready, Jas.”


    “Can you shoot?”


    “Of course. My friend here’s hit a bear from a hundred paces.”


    Daniel tried to protest, but Jasper waved a hand to silence him.


    “A hundred paces? That’s not much, but it’s decent. Decent, yeah.” Jake pulled another cigarette from somewhere and lit it. The old one still lay on the ground. “And you, fat man?”


    “I’ve wrestled a bear with my bare hands.”


    Jake tossed his cigarette again. It was something they needed to fix. His movements were starting to go from amusing to annoyingly repetitive. Silver barked beside them.


    “Alright, fat man. That’s worthy of respect. Come tomorrow morning, and we’ll test your mettle.”


    Jasper tipped his hat in respect. Jake did the same. Daniel followed suit.


    “And tell Violet she’ll always have a place in my heart.”


    “Why not tell her yourself?”


    Jake glanced at them, then strode off into the dark with a brisk pace, hands in his pockets, tipping his hat to everyone he passed.