Synecdoche Labs was located on the top floor of a building in San Francisco, squeezed in between a Starbucks and some old publishing company. Typical Silicon Valley start-up, to my eyes. Part of me hoped that this one would be different from the numerous ones I'd visited before.

I was greeted at the door by a woman who looked to have been waiting for me. She was wearing a button-down shirt and bow tie, leaning casually against the door in a strikingly unprofessional way. She had warm brown skin and black hair, dyed red at the tips. Her eyebrows lifted, and she straightened up when she saw me.

"Are you the inspector?" she asked.

"Compliance officer," I corrected.

"Right." She grinned, stepping forward to grasp my hand in hers. Her grip was firm and confident. "Welcome. I'm Lakshmi Patil. Nice to meet you."

"Micah Roth," I responded. The courtesies were nice, but not what I was here for. "So, um, Ms Patil—"

"Lakshmi."

"What—?"

"Call me Lakshmi."

"Oh, well—" I tried again, tripping over my words. "Lakshmi, then. Well. Anyway. May I meet the owner of your start-up?"

Lakshmi's grin widened, and she spread her arms in a vaguely smug manner. "You're looking at her."

"Oh." I likely reddened. "I—well, in that case—"

"Why don't we go inside?" she interrupted, pointing a thumb at the door behind her.

The room within was a mess. Different types of wires littered the floor, coiled up in piles or snaking across the room to connect pieces of machinery. Papers were strewn over the tables and desks, and there were more books stacked in piles about the room than there were on the bookshelf. And of course, computers were everywhere—some on desks, some on the floor. One was on its side. There was a kind of frantic quality to the space, as if someone had rushed in trying to clean it, but only succeeded in making it more messy.

Other than Lakshmi, there were only two other people in the room. One was a blonde man in a t-shirt, perched on a chair to my left, buried in a copy of Shakespeare's sonnets. The other was crouched in a corner, arms hugging his knees to his chest. His head was down, and I could see nothing of his face, only curly black hair.

"This... is your office?" I finally inquired of Lakshmi.

"Sort of," she replied, but didn't elaborate.

"Are you going to introduce me to your... coworkers?"

Lakshmi gestured vaguely to the man reading Shakespeare, then the one huddled on the floor. "That's Caerwyn, and that's Isaac. I don't think either particularly want to be disturbed at the moment."

"Is there anyone else?"

"Yeah... they're just not here right now, though."

"Is that the government tech person?" Caerwyn briefly poked his head up from his book to regard me with curiosity, and perhaps a little anxiety. He had a strong accent that I couldn't quite place—something European?

"I suppose you could say that," I replied.

"Cool." Caerwyn offered no further discourse, simply fixed his eyes back on the book.

"So." Lakshmi clapped her hands together. "Let's get down to business, shall we? What kind of inspection are you supposed to be conducting?"

If Lakshmi had read my emails—and I knew she had—she should know. But I sighed and launched into my usual spiel. "The government has imposed specific restrictions on companies utilizing certain technologies. For example, Synecdoche Labs is an AI start-up. We don't want any of your creations going rogue or anything—not that they would, of course." I paused. "But, well, I'm supposed to check just in case. Make sure you don't have any illegal software, and comply with all the code... that kind of thing."

A second passed. Lakshmi's eyebrows were furrowed slightly. "And this is your job?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Does it ever become boring?"

That was not the question I was expecting. "Well, I mean... I haven't caught many people using illegal technology. Nothing more exciting than pirated software and the occasional virus. But, you know. Someone's gotta do it."

Lakshmi did not seem satisfied by the answer, but nodded all the same. "All right. So what do you have to do?"

"Not much. I've got equipment in my van. I just have to scan the building and your computers—then, if everything goes well, I'll write you a formal 'This technology approved by a US Compliance Officer' statement thing."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. Need any help getting things from your car?"