Gunshots rang out, a few people screamed. Elizabeth just rolled her eyes. "This is a stick up, nobody try anything!" The piano continued playing an instrumental of a Rolling Stones song. It was the only thing that felt out of place in the bar, but the other guests loved it.

She stood up and turned around. Her hand went for her pistol. "I said don't try anything!" The guest shouted. His hands shook as he held out his gun.

"Go ahead, shoot me. It won't do anything, anyway," she told him. Realizing she was another guest, the man whirled on the host who'd been sitting a few chairs down at the bar. The host looked at Elizabeth. She noticed how human his fear was. But that was what Westworld was known for, the details. "Now, don't be an asshole. What'd he do to you?"

"I'll shoot him!" The man threatened.

"This has got to be the world's worst robbery." Elizabeth sighed, pulled out her gun, and shot the two hosts that were accompanying the man. "You lose. Play again?" The man looked at her for a long moment, then finally turned away. He walked dejectedly out of the saloon.

Elizabeth turned back to the bar and grabbed her drink. She holstered her gun, as she knocked back the bourbon. Then she headed toward the door. "Miss? Wait!" She looked over her shoulder, and saw the host she'd just saved. He caught up with her, just as she reached the door. "You saved my life, thank you."

She smirked. "Yeah, some cowboy you are, huh?"

He laughed. "A friend of mine used to tell me I dressed like a cowboy, but that's about the extent of it." Elizabeth shook her head, amused. She reached out to push open the door. "Can I get your name?"

She tilted her head to the side, but decided to humor him. "Elizabeth, but my friends call me Beth."

"Nice to meet you, Beth. I'm Teddy."

"Did I say we were friends, Teddy?"

He grinned. "Maybe not, but I'd like to be."

She looked down at the ground, and then back up at him. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes as she thought. She rubbed at her arms. Her cowgirl outfit was high quality, and actually quite comfortable. But she wasn't used to it yet. "How'd you like to come on an adventure with me, Teddy who's not a cowboy?"

"I'd love to."

She shook her head. "Alright, let's see if you can keep up."

OoOoO

The following day, Elizabeth and Teddy left Sweetwater. They made camp out in the desert under a tree. He'd disappeared to catch a rabbit. She'd let him, figuring the hosts were probably programed to be better hunters. Elizabeth was skeptical about eating a synthetic animal. But, supposedly people thought it tasted just like the real thing.

She leaned back on her hands, letting the fire warm her. It was cold out, when the sun wasn't beating down. Suddenly hands wrapped around her arms, her mouth was covered so she couldn't shout. Elizabeth searched frantically for her gun, and found it on the other side of the campfire.

A man stepped into her view, Elizabeth recognized him immediately. She'd stopped him from robbing the saloon the other day. "Where's the cash, doll?"

Whoever was behind her, tied her arms together with a rope. "Why are you robbing me, when there's literally a bank in Sweetwater?"

"I saw you on the train yesterday morning, you just got here. Which means, you still have all your cash." Every guest was given a stack of cash when they got their outfits. And this guy was right, Elizabeth had barely spent any of her allotment. "Figured you'd be an easier mark than the bank. I'm just warming up." He rolled his shoulders. "Plus, you owe me for that white hat move you pulled back there."

She rolled her eyes. "Not a white hat, just a girl trying to enjoy her bourbon in peace."

"Whatever, if you won't hand over the cash, I'll just take it." The two hosts who'd been behind her started searching her stuff. Elizabeth wiggled her hands, subtly, testing the ropes. They weren't too tight. Perks of the hosts being programed not to hurt guests.

There was a rustling in the bushes. All three men looked toward it. Two shots rang out, and the hosts dropped. Elizabeth wiggled more frantically. Her arms were almost free. Teddy stepped from the bushes, and the guest whirled on him. "Oh, good. We can finish this too." Teddy pointed his gun at the guest, but the guest just looked amused.

Elizabeth's eyes landed on a knife, she quickly darted for it. The guest turned his gun on her. "You can't hurt me with that, and you know it." She waved the knife. "This, on the other hand, doesn't have safeguards."

"You wouldn't."

She shrugged. "I mean, the call's yours. But, I've got things to do, and I don't have time for this. So, I'd suggest you get the fuck out of my camp." He took a few steps backwards, looking genuinely worried. "And for future reference, I'd recommend sticking to Sweetwater. You're not ready for the big leagues."

He took off, leaving behind the two host bodies. Elizabeth looked down and gave one of them a kick. "I'm not moving that fire I built, so I guess we're moving these." She grabbed one by the legs and dragged it off into the bushes, out of sight. Teddy did the same with the other one. "You were bullshitting me back at the saloon, weren't you? You looked scared then, but the way you just wasted those two..."

"It's all part of the charm. I said I wasn't a cowboy, not that I wasn't a gunslinger." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Whoever scripted these synths must really have a taste for cheese.

"Well, thanks for the save, anyway," she said. She began picking up the mess that the hosts had made.

"Just being chivalrous."

"Next time, don't," she said, firmly. Turning around to face him. "I can handle myself."

"That guy had a gun pointed at you, and you were going to attack him with a knife," Teddy said skeptically. "You've definitely got guts, Beth."

"I mean it, Teddy. Don't go putting yourself in harms way to protect me, especially when they have a gun." Elizabeth walked closer to him.

"Normally the girls like it when I save the day."

"Well, I'm not the usual kind of girl." Elizabeth started to cross her arms, but before she could, Teddy grabbed her by the waist. She draped her arms over his shoulders. "Outlaw? Thief?" She asked, guessing at his backstory.

"Bounty hunter."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not as good as outlaw, but still pretty hot." Elizabeth leaned in and kissed him. She'd never kissed a synth before, even though most of her coworkers had, at one point or another. Elizabeth always thought it would be too weird, kissing something she could have built. It wasn't. She leaned back. "No more hero acts?"

"No promises."

"I'll let you in on a secret," she whispered. "I'm practically invincible." He laughed quietly, unaware that she wasn't kidding. Elizabeth smirked. "Okay, whatever."

OoOoO

Teddy and Elizabeth lay on the ground under the stars. No matter how much she read about Westworld, nothing compared to actually being here. Everything was perfect. The park wasn't some fantasy Wild West out of an old movie. It was real. So real she could almost forget she wasn't actually a cowgirl. Almost, but not quite.

"You never told me what this big adventure is," Teddy said. Elizabeth glanced over at him. He pushed himself up, so he was leaning back on his elbows.

Elizabeth decided it didn't much matter what she told a host. All the guys behind the scenes already knew who she was. She'd gone through the background checks, just like every other park guest. "I'm looking for my dad," she admitted. "He came here a long time ago, and he lost a piece of himself."

"The desert can do that do a person."

She nodded. "He started visiting more and more often. Eventually my mom left him, and she took me with her. I haven't seen him since then, but I've kept tabs. He still visits every year. So, this time, I'm going after him." Elizabeth sat up and looked around. "I've been planning this for a long time. I wasn't going to come all the way here, and end up like any other guest, you know?"

"You mean the newcomers who spend all their time drinking and whoring in town?" Teddy asked.

"Exactly," she said. "So I read as much as I could, and I talked to people who visited. I learned everything I could about this place. I even took lessons to learn how to fire a gun and ride a horse. You'd never know this was my first time out here."

He smiled. "No, you're practically one of the locals."

"People come here to live out their Wild West dreams," she said quietly. "Whether that's being a cowboy, or a bandit, or just a tourist. But I'm not here for that. I'm here for my dad. I'm the only one who can go after him."

"You'll find him, Beth," Teddy reassured her. She smiled sadly.

"I always imagined going it alone. I never thought I'd be taking anyone along with me. Let alone someone as useless as you." She smirked.

"Hey, I saved your life yesterday."

Elizabeth laughed. "When I saw you in that bar, I don't know. I guess you were the first hos– first person here to make me feel anything." She shrugged. "Well, other than annoyance."

"I made you feel something," Teddy repeated, flirtatiously.

She rolled her eyes and let out a breathy laugh. "What can I say? I guess you're my type. They do know how to make 'em around here."

OoOoO

Elizabeth woke up in a glass room. Even after only three days in the park, the modern building was a shock to her system. She startled, and almost fell out of her rolling chair. The door opened and two men walked in. One of them wore glasses, the other one looked angry. Elizabeth wondered if that was just his face. "What the fuck is this?" She asked.

"I'm Bernard Lowe, and this is Ashley Stubbs with quality assurance. It's come to our attention that you've had an altercation with another guest." He pushed up his glasses.

"And you couldn't have taken me someplace more comfortable?" Elizabeth looked around the room. "There's got to be offices for this kind of thing. And what's a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?"

"This is the behavior department, it was the quickest extraction point," Bernard explained. "And don't worry, the host you've been traveling with is fine, your storyline is intact."

She tilted her head. "You're head of the behavior department, right? I've seen you do interviews. Why's the head of host behavior interested in a little row between two guests."

"You threatened another guest's life," Stubbs said, speaking for the first time.

"He was trying to rob me," Elizabeth defended. "Keep him away from my campsite, and we won't have any more problems." She looked around the room again. "You know, I don't think this is protocol. Bringing a guest into the behavior department seems a little odd. I have a feeling this is an off books kind of conversation." Neither Bernard nor Stubbs denied it.

"Let me guess, this is because of him." The two men shared a look. "Thought so. I'm off limits because of him. I think that's a good thing, but it still makes my skin crawl."

Stubbs frowned. Elizabeth concluded it was just his face. "Elizabeth Fowler," he read off his tablet. "Is that your mother's maiden name?"

"You're looking at my file, you tell me." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"You had it changed. Did you and your father have a falling out?"

"Falling out implies that we were ever in to begin with."

"Top of your class at MIT, and now head programmer at Service Synthetics." Stubbs stopped reading and nodded. "That must be a comfy job."

She smirked. "Oh, it is. I have a great job, and I'm one of the best in the game. Five years ago, Service Synths was a startup in Santa Clara. Now, it's the number one commercial synthetic manufacturer." Elizabeth looked between the two of them. "And there it is. The reason you brought me down here. You think I'm trying to steal your ideas?"

"We didn't accuse you of anything," Bernard assured her.

"You've seen my file, you know who I am and why I'm here. I'm not concerned with your synthetics. I make housekeepers and secretaries. No one cares if the blonde bimbo working the phones has anything going on in her head. They want a cute synth, who will laugh at their jokes and show their rich investors just how successful they really are."

"We did a second sweep," Stubbs said. "She didn't bring any illegal tech into the park."

"Did I do something wrong? Because, if you're not going to have me arrested, then let me leave."

Bernard nodded. "You're free to go, Ms. Fowler."

"Great, thanks." She stood up and walked past them to the door. "I expect I'll be reimbursed for the time I've spent in here and not outside in the park?"

"You were sleeping," Stubbs protested.

"Yes, and now I'm going to have a sleep debt." Stubbs frowned harder. "And tell your boss, if he has something to say to me, he can say it in person." Elizabeth walked out into the hall, and the door closed shut behind her with a bang.

A host in a white dress appeared by her side. The Mesa Hub hosts were more like Service Synths', no backstory, just a job to do. "I'll escort you back to the park now."

Elizabeth looked her up and down. "You're cute," she noted.

The host smiled. "We can delay your return back to the park, if you'd like."

"I'm paying too much money to waste my time here." Elizabeth laughed. "But maybe when I'm back in Mesa Gold after my twenty-eight days are up?"

The host escorted Elizabeth into an elevator and pressed a button. "When you get to Mesa Gold, request Angela," she told Elizabeth as the doors closed.

The glass elevator rose up, through the ground. The modern world grew farther and farther away with each second. Then the doors opened up right out in the middle of the desert. Elizabeth stepped out. She could just make out the fire from her campsite. When she turned back to look at the elevator, it was gone, in it's place was an ugly bush.