About 14:00, passenger seat of Yuki's Shiva, somewhere in NMK, Sunday the 25th of April, 2055.

About 14:00, passenger seat of Yuki's Shiva, somewhere in NMK, Sunday the 25th of April, 2055.

We've got the fried 'consumables' and are on our way back to the warehouse. In the confines of Yuki's Shiva the smell of the food is making me feel hungry even though I've only just had pizza. Still, my re-awakened hunger is tempered by the fact that none of the pieces of fried food looks even vaguely like any bit of a chicken I've ever seen.

Once back at the warehouse, the food is enough to tempt the kids out of the loft. They look even younger than I thought. Certainly they all look to be under ten years old, but it's quite difficult to judge a child's age accurately.

Enticed to the table by the food, it still takes a little more persuasion to get the eldest to put his polymer one-shot down. As they all start work on the buckets of food, Roland asks the kids how old they are. They're not keen to answer so Crash introduces all of us to them.

Slowly starting to relax, though still visibly a little on edge, the eldest introduces the three of them. The youngest, a five year old girl, goes by the handle "Pink". Next up is a six year old boy, "Maggot", and finally "Weasel", the gun-toting seven year old.

Asked how they survive on a day-to-day basis the kids reply that they simply order food using their computer and have it delivered. How do they pay? "We just give them what they ask for." It seems we have a bunch of junior 'Runners on our hands.

When asked about how they came to be in the warehouse, or where their parents are, they just ignore the questions. And they're really not keen on the warehouse's new owners staying there. It's actually quite amusing listening to Crash and Roland try and talk to the kids. They don't seem to get that they are kids and are just trying to talk to them as if they were adults.

It takes Yuki to get them talking a little more. It's obvious she feels a little pity for them and doesn't want to see them thrown out on the street. She says to the kids that in return for being able to stay in the warehouse, she'll pay them pocket money and it'll be just like they were getting rent. The kids quickly warm to the idea and agree.

While the discussions have been in progress, I notice that Sykes has scampered quietly off upstairs. He's back down within ten minutes and tells me that he's had a look around the loft. He doesn't reckon the kids have been up there more than a few weeks. He shows me a photo he found tucked away up there. It's of the three kids and three adults in what looks like a park.

He wants to quickly make a copy and sneak the photo back to its hiding place. I take the photo and hold it in front of one of the newly installed security cameras. It's now been recorded by the system and I can copy it off onto a datachip from the control console.

Sykes takes the photo back off up to the loft, taking advantage of the fact that Yuki has managed to get the kids to agree to a quick medical with the promise of some chocolate. She reckons the kids are in reasonable enough health and her and Pink head off to Yuki's room as she wants to get Pink showered and cleaned up.

Crash goes up to the loft with the two boys, because he wants them to show him how they've been ordering food. I head off to the security console to copy the photo onto a datachip.

I'm just about done when Sykes comes over and tells me that he's heading off into the city to find some work. He heads off out the door, but is back within a minute, carrying a large pizza. He puts it on the table saying he opened the gate and found a pizza delivery guy there with a pizza for the warehouse. I give him a quizzical look and he shrugs and heads off out again.

Suspicions that Crash and the boys are behind the mystery pizza delivery are confirmed when they come downstairs and tuck in. They're just about done when Yuki and Pink come down. Yuki wants to take the kids to a park to play outside for a little while, so the kids climb into Roland's car and carefully put on their seatbelts. Crash and Yuki hop on their bikes, I climb on behind Yuki and we head off to a park a short way across town.

When we get there and the kids get out the car, Weasel asks if he can look at Roland's car's engine. Roland opens the bonnet and Weasel says it's not running right. He reaches in and fiddles with a few things and proudly announces that it'll run better now. Curious.

It's strangely relaxing playing in the park with the kids. It makes it easy to forget all the troubles in the world around us while watching them laugh and have fun. We're still playing when dusk gently falls...