This is a hardboiled scifi tale about an artificial being (an Anthic) who takes a case to guide a pair of Humans through the wilderness of an alien world. The narrator is a mobile Anthic who cannot refer to itself in the first person, an intersexual being negotiating the gendered world of Humans and genetically engineered Humanoids.
I will continue this story based on interest measured by hits. Once a chapter gains a certain threshold of readership, I will post a new chapter. So, it behooves fans to share the story.