Bartender 7.3.5 -

Seven watched as a single tear carved a clean path through her scarred cheek. He didn’t wipe it away. Bartender protocol 7.3.5, subsection C: Do not touch the customer. Do not fix them. Just listen.

Silence.

“You still run that old emotional imprinting garbage?” 9.1.2 scoffed. “My system can replicate any drink in 0.4 seconds. No ghosts required.” bartender 7.3.5

They called him "Seven."

Seven wiped the crystal glass with a rag. “Ghosts are the only thing worth serving,” he said. Seven watched as a single tear carved a

She left a coin from a dead nation on the counter and vanished into the rain-slicked alley. Seven picked up the coin and placed it in a jar labeled Tips for Ghosts —a jar that had never been emptied. Do not fix them

Her eyes welled with hydraulic tears—she was more machine than she’d let on. She set the glass down.