New Characters
Oscar Scruggs: guest on the “Buster Friendly and his Friendly Friends” show.

Summary
Deckard enjoys a cup of coffee while Rosen showers. Rosen tells Deckard that he made a great deal when he accepted her offer. She claims that androids are incapable of controlling their physical and sensual urges and that Deckard probably knew that when he agreed to sleep with her. Rosen asks Deckard if he enjoyed himself and if he would ever go to bed with an android again. Deckard says that he would sleep with another android only if it was a female that resembled her. Rosen and Deckard then discuss the lifespan of an android. Deckard confirms that androids exist for about four years before they biologically wear down, and that she probably has two more years to go.

The two go to Deckard’s hovercar. As they discuss their relationship, Deckard concludes that he doesn’t want to continue to retire androids now that's he's met Rosen. Rosen assures Deckard that the trip they are about to take to meet Baty will not be wasted because Deckard will be meeting a “wonderful, spiritual man.” She says that the Rosen Association tried to intercept Deckard when they became aware of Holden’s list; when the first two attempts failed, they simply waited for Deckard to call. Rosen tells him that she was very close to Luba Luft, and asks Deckard if he liked her. Deckard explains that it was Resch who retired Luft. Deckard wonders aloud if the incident at the hotel with Rachel was set-up ahead of time by the Rosen Association. Rosen tells Deckard that the Association has been trying to reach bounty hunters in the U.S. and the Soviet Union and that this method had been successful. Deckard then responds by saying that he isn’t sure that it has worked in his case, and Rosen replies that she knew when she saw the look of sadness on his face that he wouldn’t be able to continue to retire androids. Deckard asks how many times Rachel has been involved in this type of situation, to which she responds, “Nine times.”

Deckard then veers his hovercar towards the ground telling Rosen that he is going to kill her then continue in his mission to retire the other remaining androids. Rosen claims that she is the legal property of the Association and that Deckard isn’t allowed to kill her. He replies that if he is able to retire her, then he knows he will be able to retire the others. She attempts to retrieve her laser beam from her purse but fails and resignedly asks Deckard to kill her humanely. She positions herself with her back to Deckard and waits. Deckard replies that he can’t stand the way androids give up and stops the hovercar just short of crashing into the ground. Deckard then claims that he isn’t able to do as Resch directed him, and he steers the hovercar back into the air.

Deckard drives back to the hotel so Rachel can retrieve her hovercar. She thanks Deckard for not killing her, and explains that Deckard did exactly what the other bounty hunters ha done: threatened to kill her without following through. She claims that Deckard’s inability to kill her means that he will be incapable of killing other androids. Rachel then speculates that Deckard must love his goat more than her and probably more than his wife. With this said, Rachel then turns on the radio to the sound of Buster Friendly and his guest, Oscar Scruggs.

Analysis
Whereas Chapter Sixteen compares and contrasts androids...