love those conversations both in the office of between VIC and James ; )

Hi. The first thing I want to say is *don't* be afraid to be *that* guy. I take no offence at criticism, when it is genuine, and not mean-spirited. Hopefully I can clear a few things up. I understand where you're coming from, as the police behaviour is odd, isn't it? The whole matter can be explained, though. It is true that they went to Hector's house before, and he denied seeing Ivan. And, now they went back and they saw Ivan himself there. It *seems* suspicious, but the police don't actually have any information to make a judgment- specifically, to charge Hector with kidnapping. They questioned Hector *before.* For all they know, Hector could have found Ivan and brought him to live with him later, with his consent, of course. And he didn't report it, perhaps because he was afraid that it would affect Ivan's privacy. This is where Ivan himself comes in, and the other commenter touched on this with the abuse example. It is Ivan's right to disappear. Going missing is not in itself a crime. So, when he was found, it was necessary to ask him those questions about whether or not he was being held, if his safety was threatened, etc. When he asserted himself that he was safe, and that he went missing of his own 'free will,' there was nothing to do but ask him if he wanted privacy, and close the case. From the police perspective, he went missing, wasn't at Hector's, then a few days/ couple weeks later, he was living there. They don't know what could have happened in between that time. Either way, nobody here committed a crime. The case could be closed, and the father would be called to be told he was found, but didn't permit the police to tell the father his location, for private reasons. Hope this helped. :) BTW you are right that this will affect a later chapter, but I won't say how. Thanks for the comment, It was interesting to analyze. I hope the police section didn't detract from your enjoyment too much.

I was hoping he'd become a dog. Thanks.

They're not doing anything about it because the missing person in question explicitly indicated he doesn't want them to do anything about it. Even in cases of abused spouses, where the spouse calls the police, they show up, and the spouse has evidence of having just been assaulted all over their face, if the spouse changes their mind and tells the police to drop the matter, they have to.sucks, it shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Man I *really* don't want to be that guy, because I've been absolutely loving this series so far - but I think there's a discrepancy in the police behavior here. They showed up to Hector's house earlier and he denied knowing anything, right? Now he's at this address and they're not doing anything about it? Idk maybe I'm just cluing into something that will pop up again later.. there are so many different possibilities and I'm intrigued. Keep it up!

Hot damn. There are definitely some hot barbers out there, and this story perfectly captures the excitement. Nice job!

Glad to see you back again, Edlam! As always, your stories never fail to make us all excited!

i just thought, when a Reflex AI reaches singularity, it would either transform humans into its ideal lover or even vessel of itself. VIC turns out nicely as a character not one of those MC devices :) I appreciate your dedication and writing skills to make these details very catchy.

Best story ive read on this or any other site!

Nice