He was trying to determine whether the accent was more academic New England or cosmopolitan Great Britain as the grey Siamese cat got settled on a checkered blanket beside the cinder block. Hal was surprised to be greeted in English. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Hal said. Staring at the gap where a window had been, the man typed on the keyboard as he looked at the haze of neon flickering across the alley, an iridescent mist in the darkness. Hal stepped inside and discovered that the building did have one inhabitant: a man seated on a cinderblock with a computer on his lap. For all Hal knew, she was squatting in the dilapidated building at the end of the alley, an old warehouse with shattered windows and a door that had fallen off its hinges. Hal had no idea if Linda had gotten herself into trouble or had simply blown him off after he had been skittish about her suggestion of moving in together when she returned.

She had stopped answering Hal’s texts soon after her arrival and missed her flight back to the states six weeks ago. She was originally scheduled to spend a month conducting research on the local gaming culture for her thesis. Hal shouted her name into the darkness as a grey-coated cat scurried towards a boarded-up building.Īfter ten days in Tokyo, Hal had finally spotted Linda emerging from a pachinko parlor: dark glasses, pale lips, raven hair. Although it was a relief for Hal to escape Chuo-dori Street with its throngs gathered outside of robot stores and gaming centers, he was disappointed to find himself alone. The neon lights of Electric Town flickered in the dusk as Hal stepped into the alley to follow Linda.

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