Joaquín made it into Mexico City but hesitated before returning home, opting instead to call Gwyneth from a Polanco phone booth three blocks from the shop.

Clive went on his way, while continuing to speak to Slim about all manner of things under the sun. He narrowly missed Joaquín, who had been released into the desert by an empathetic and impulsive parole board.

So Clive decided to answer the phone. It was Slim.

Clive had returned from Vienna to pay back the money that the WDA had borrowed from Uncle Thanatos at 100% interest. On his way from the airport he happened upon a ringing phone. Jet-lagged and under the desert sun, Clive’s deductions were uncharacteristically arbitrary.

Pim and Bim came upon the phone as it was ringing. Pim held the phone and Bim pushed speaker. Unsurprisingly it was Slim, unsurprisingly irate that Ukifune had unsurprisingly rejected being Slim’s slave.

Few things are lonelier than a phone abandoned in the desert.

Despite having done exactly what was asked of her, Slim declared Ukifune a useless employee—an odd label, since Slim wasn’t paying her—and said that selling her brain to Mr. Love sounded like a good idea. So she left the iPhone 7 in the sand and went back to selling cookies.

Night in the desert falls fast, and tonight it fell moonless, starless, and Bible black as Ukifune talked with Slim on her iPhone 7.

Ukifune has just gained a safe distance from Mr. Love and the Well-Dressed Albatross when Slim called.

Since dispatching her from the Polanco penthouse Slim had received no reports from Ukifune, and Slim was NOT happy.