"If you want to talk to me seriously, please don't," she said through the veil. "How's your girlfriend?"
"What girlfriend? Why can't we be serious?"
"What's her name? Ptedepe? Or is that her code name? She's probably nothing but code now. Code and a coat. Of flesh. Sweaty flesh."
They were no longer on the well-lit city street but had come into a deserted outer region that seemed cool and desolate.