She held her breath as she squeezed into the tiny space, making herself as compact as possible. She wore head-to-toe black and still had her neoprene head covering on. She hoped it would be enough to keep her camouflaged.

  The voices continued. A man and a woman. They were arguing.

  “I don’t trust him,” the female said as they came up the last few steps to the landing.

  “I don’t either, but what choice do we have?” the male answered.

  “We have to look out for ourselves. Nobody’s going to do it for us,” the woman said. “Things are changing so fast. It’s hard to keep up.”

  “The newest rumor is that Bancroft is taking the medi-ship to the farms, then back to New Eden. He’s going to leave us here to rot with no food.”

  “Well, that’s better than killing us outright, isn’t it?” The couple stopped less than a meter away from where Ari had stuffed herself into the small space. The man grabbed the woman’s arm, efficiently turning her toward him. Luckily, they were facing away from Ari, too caught up in their discussion to notice anything amiss.

  “Leaving us here is a death sentence,” the man insisted, his voice stressed. “There’ll be an uprising in the hulls, and the commoners will follow. Even though we don’t trust Ernie, staying here is our only option. If things go to hell, he’s prepared to captain this ship away.”

  “And go where?” the woman huffed. “We can’t follow Bancroft. He’ll probably blow us out of the water if we tried.”

  “Well, we can’t cross over into the city either. This is our safest option.”

  The woman wrapped her arms around the man’s shoulders. He pulled her near as her head settled into the crook of his neck. “We can only hope that the resistance network will stop him. I hear it’s growing by the day.”

  That was news to Ari. Most of the people on Ari’s side had left with the farms. Knowing that a resistance was growing in the city would make a difference.

  “Those kids are going to have a hard time defending against that medi-ship once it reaches the farms. Bancroft had all the laser cannons and the frequency-seeking missiles installed in the last few days. There won’t be much left when he’s done.”

  “It’s such a shame,” the woman murmured, her voice muffled against the man’s neck. “I had high hopes for Alaria. She’s the only one who has ever stood up for the people. She could’ve brought a lot of good into this world. Now the madman’s going to win, and we’re all going to die.”

  “We’re not going to die,” the man said firmly, kissing the top of the woman’s head. “Not if I can help it. But for right now, we need to get back to our cabin before anyone finds us. If we get caught out this late without permission, we’ll be cleaning the waste rooms for a month.”

  “It was worth it,” the woman replied, drawing away from him, linking her arm through his. “The little one needed a snack.” Ari watched her hand settle protectively over her abdomen. From her angle, Ari could see a tiny swell.

  The couple turned, continuing up the stairs to the main deck. According to Hector, the residence quarters were accessed by the middle stairway. Once they were out of earshot, Ari spoke into the mic to Jake. “Did you catch that?”

  “Affirmative,” he responded. “I passed the info on to Hector, so he can alert Paris.” Paris was in the quadrant that housed the quarters, and she needed to know that someone was approaching. “We’re inside the main warehouse,” Jake went on. “We found what we’re looking for. Meet at the rendezvous point in six.”

  “Got it,” Ari replied, sliding out of her spot to hurry down the stairs. “I’ll be at my destination in less than one minute. I’ll see you in six.”

  Ari reached the level she needed and glanced through the small round window, her chromes back on. No light signatures. She cracked the door, cringing as it squeaked, then angled her head into the hallway. All clear.

  Like a ghost, she eased inside. At the fourth door, she paused, listening again. According to Hector, this was a supply closet designated to keep all sorts of fillers. It was extremely lucky their ancestors had perfected liquefied composites. A squirt from a nozzle could fix literally anything, from plastics to metal. Ari tried the door handle. Locked. No surprise there. She tugged a hot-laser key out of her pocket and aimed it inside the mechanism, depressing the button. In less than five seconds, a click sounded as the melting internal components malfunctioned.

  She slipped into the room, shutting the door and using her foot to keep it closed. She found a switch, and a pale yellow light blinked on from above. “Goods located,” she murmured. They’d gotten lucky. The entire room was stacked with shelving, and on each platform, tubes were organized in neat rows. Ari unzipped the pouch around her waist with one hand, grabbing a fistful of PlexiFill with the other. Then she continued down the line, plucking up tubes of liquid metal, EpoxyAll, PlasterIt, and the old standby, hydro-gel. The farms were short on all these supplies, but particularly the PlexiFill. A little went a long way. Each tube was six centimeters in diameter. When her pouch was crammed full, she forced it shut, working the nylon glider back in place with effort. A larger sack would’ve been better, but with Paris behind her on the ski, balancing would be tricky.

  She was just about to leave the room when Jake’s voice settled softly in her ear. “We found something,” he whispered. “I think you should come and take a look.” Her eyebrows rose at the request. It must be important if he wanted her to risk detection. She didn’t question it, as Jake wouldn’t put them in jeopardy if it wasn’t worth it. “Make your way to the last stairway. I’ll be waiting for you outside the door on the bottom.”

  “Have Hector tell Paris there will be a delay,” Ari said. “I’m on my way.” She exited the storage room, reaching into her pocket and bringing out a steel pin. She jammed it into the lock, securing the door in place. The break-in wouldn’t be discovered until somebody needed a tube of filler, which she hoped wouldn’t be for a day or two. Luckily, this area wasn’t residential, and no one was about.

  Ari hurried back up to the main platform, ducking around the side as she raced down the deck to the last set of stairs. The engineering ship stored supplies out in the open, strapped down on large pallets with waterproof coverings. The only way someone would spot her was if they were charging directly toward her. She made it in less than a minute. “All clear down there?” she asked as she tugged open the passageway door.

  “Clear,” Jake answered.

  Ari was relieved when she found Jake safe and sound at the bottom right where he said he’d be. She noticed his front pouch was as full as hers. Hector exited through the door behind Jake, his backpack sitting low on his shoulders. Ari reached up and clipped her mic off so they wouldn’t get feedback this close. “What do I need to see?” she whispered.

  Hector nodded to the right. “Once I got down here, it triggered my memory. There was a top-secret room when I worked here. Off-limits to workers, official personnel only. I asked about it a few times, but didn’t get much of an answer. I forgot all about it until I saw this place again. While Jake was gathering some tools, I decided to check it out.” He began to walk. Ari followed, Jake coming behind. Hector paused before a plain steel door and cracked it open, having already unlocked it with his laser key.

  The scent was distinctly musty. Nobody had been here for a while.

  Ari’s eyes widened as she hurried inside and tugged out the desk chair. “I didn’t think he had more than one of these units,” she exclaimed, flicking on the power. The circuit board jumped to life. The microphone was large, shaped like a cylinder nestled on a small tripod. “Do you think it still works?” The communications system was just like the one she’d used to hail the dark city on the medi-ship.

  There was movement outside the door, and Jake pulled his weapon. A moment later, Paris’ voice echoed, “Where are you guys?”

  A squeal of feedback followed immediately, and Hector ripped his amplifier out, rubbing his ear. “Ow,” he moaned.

  Jake opened the door, gesturing her inside. “Turn off your mic,” he told Paris. “We found something.”

  Paris came in, adjusting the tiny bud on her inflatable, her pack making a jangling noise. They’d all achieved their goals. “Holy mother of sunshine, is that a communicator?”

  Ari nodded. “This one looks like it hasn’t been used in a while, not sure it will work. The channel is set to a different one than the medi-ship. I’m going to try it first.” Ari brought the microphone close, engaging the button on its neck, leaning over so her lips were mere centimeters from the dark steel mesh. “This is Alaria Bancroft. Can anyone hear me? We’re in danger of extermination. Without any help, our city will be wiped out. Is anyone out there?”

  HOLLY

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “How’d you break out?” Darby asked the LiveBot as we walked. After bidding Mary a farewell, we were navigating our way through the tunnel to reach street level.

  Maisie shrugged in yet another humanlike gesture. “Daze summoned me, and I obeyed. I detected your signatures below and concluded this route would be the quickest exit for a rendezvous point with him.”

  “You chose right,” I agreed. “But what Darby is asking is: How did you escape, technically? Were you trapped behind steel bars? Or did they just lock you in a room?”

  Maisie paused a good five seconds before answering.

  I was learning her tells, and this was one. When she didn’t want to divulge would-be military-grade classified information, the kind she was programmed to protect had the world survived and she’d been utilized on a military base, she stalled.

  But a LiveBot stall lasted far shorter than any human’s. At the six-second mark, she answered, “I was detained in a holding cell. The titanium barriers were twelve centimeters in diameter. There was one way to exit, through a lock requiring a physical key made of steel.” She’d given us a technical answer, but still not the one we were looking for.

  “Enough delay. Spit it out,” I ordered, mildly irritated. “We already talked about this. We need all the information you have, one hundred percent of the time. What are you keeping from us?”

  Two seconds later, she said, “I melted the lock with my eyes.” She’d relayed the news calmly, as though all LiveBots had the capacity to melt metal with their orbs alone, and we should’ve known better.

  I stumbled, catching myself at the last minute before falling flat on my face. But I wasn’t the only one. Everyone came to an abrupt standstill, too stunned to speak.

  Maisie continued moving like nothing was amiss. “Stop right there,” I called. She halted, turning, managing to form a convincing look of surprise that we weren’t following. Her mannerisms were becoming so familiar that it was only a matter of time before we forgot she was a robot. She knew it, too. Of course she did. She was programmed for that. Easing soldiers into relating to her as a peer was probably hardwired as a military safeguard. My voice came out pained—pained that I had to even say this. “Can you please explain, in great detail, how your eyes have suddenly become hot lasers? And is this capacity shared by all LiveBots?” The thought of Julian having the wherewithal to sear tiny holes into my body at any given moment gave me the shivers. I ran a hand over my arm in an effort to calm down.

  “No,” she answered immediately. “Other LiveBots do not share my internal programming. I am hardwired to remediate all available resources when necessary. I determined that lasers were the only course of action to free myself from captivity, so I used my optics.”

  “But how did you manage that?” I complained. “I know the retail bot you’re occupying didn’t have laser eyes to begin with.” My frustration was at the bubbling point. “You’re not telling us what we need to know.”

  Darby took a step forward, nudging me gently out of the way, coughing into his fist. “Maisie, give us detailed parameters involving tactical military assets, integrated and otherwise.” He was so much better at this than the rest of us were. It wasn’t fair.

  She answered quickly, firming up her shoulders like she’d been given an order by a high-ranking officer. Double unfair. “Integrated assets come in the form of weapons-creation data for assembly with known parts. Physical assets are acquired and assimilated upon discovery, for future use to facilitate missions, provide protection, and minimize bodily harm for the entire squadron.”

  “What the hell does she mean by acquired and assimilated?” Bender charged. “Does that mean she’s going around swiping stuff, then cramming it inside her head?” Bender was the least excited about having a LiveBot milling around. He understood their value, as we all did, but was the most leery of them. For good reason, it seemed. This one had turned her eyes into custom lasers.

  There was so much we didn’t know about Maisie. Every status reader should come with a detailed manual, but the military ones should come with an entire digital databank outlining the pros and cons before even turning them on. Her handler would’ve known everything about her, but we were at a considerable disadvantage. It didn’t help that she’d been silent about what she was truly capable of.

  Maisie addressed Bender directly. “I’ve processed the use of the word swipe in reference to steal. That could be considered a truthful definition, although it’s not considered a crime when the item is without an owner. I did not cram physical objects directly inside me. Instead, I broke down the components and adapted what I needed to construct an upgrade.”

  My brain was aching. I rubbed my forehead, glancing at Case to get his take. He was appraising Maisie in his own way, taking it all in, waiting to make an assessment. “So,” I said, “you’re technically not stealing, but when you suddenly find yourself in a place where a useful item is unclaimed—for instance, a hot-laser key—you then bust it apart and do what? How in the world did you know how to construct a new eyeball in the first place?”

  Darby made a jubilant sound in the back of his throat before loudly exclaiming, “That’s exactly what she’s saying, and it’s completely brilliant!” His face became animated. “All LiveBots are constructed with extremely durable materials, including state-of-the-art plastic and complex circuitry made from bendable, pliable metals. With that type of construction, every part of her could be transformed into a potential weapon.” That didn’t help any part of this situation. “Eyeballs are particularly good conduits, constructed with diamond crystalline tubes, complete with input and output chambers. All she would need to do would be to set the plasma generator of a hot-laser key behind her eye sockets and align the light refraction with the output path. With her power source, the eyeball laser would be immediately operational. Complete genius!”

  “Well, I’m glad somebody is excited about it,” I muttered as I walked up to Maisie, knowing that this stunning information Darby had just laid out would complicate everything between us and the robot. “Even though other LiveBots don’t share your internal hardwiring, are they capable of doing what you did? Could they break things apart and integrate them into their systems, essentially performing a self-upgrade?”

  She didn’t stall this time. She was adept at understanding and evaluating human emotion, and she could tell by my voice, heart rate, expression, and rapid intakes of breath that I meant business. “No,” she said. “Although Julian is made up of similar materials as the LiveBot I inhabit, he does not have the technical database, nor are his intention parameters set to initiate this kind of specific integration. In essence, he does not have the instinct or the means to perform such tasks.”

  “Is it something you can teach him to do?” I asked. “Feeding him your diagrams and explaining how to build an eyeball laser? Or some other crazy thing that could harm us?” We had to get this straight. Maisie had been in charge of Julian in the past, giving him orders through her airwave communication, something, again, that we didn’t completely understand.

  “No,” she answered. “He would resist. He is hardwired only for exemplary service and nonviolence.”

  “But you’re not,” I said. “Clearly.” I braced my hands on my hips, turning in a small circle, trying to read everyone’s take. I faced the bot again. “I’m sure you’re aware, but this complicates things. You’re arming yourself in secret.” Picturing Maisie in some back room, removing her eyeballs and packing things inside her skull, gave me a gruesome mental image. It also exemplified her careful calculation. “Your integrated weapons could be used against us. Keeping this kind of information from us erodes our trust in you, and we’re going to have to do some serious debating about what to do about it. You might not like the outcome.” Shutting her down would be the only reasonable option, even though it would be a sad day. It seemed this status reader turned LiveBot had gotten under my skin. I liked her.

  She bowed her head in a show of human remorse. “I detect your disappointment. Whether to reveal my capabilities or keep them from you has been based on a ratio of carefully calculated odds. The outcome ratio weighs a full detailing of my technological advances against the likelihood of you ending my life.” She met my gaze, her green eyes sparking with her lidar, which was constantly scanning. “The ratio is, of course, in favor of me keeping certain key aspects of my nature a secret and detailing them as needed, instead of all at once. If I told you of the full extent of my abilities, the odds would be less advantageous to me.”

  I glanced at Darby. He shrugged. “She has a point,” he said. “If she breaks down all viable scenarios—and in my opinion, those options might be limitless depending on the material and tech she has access to—our fear could very well overpower the logical parts of our brain. Meaning we could lose an extremely valuable asset because we’re scared shitless of what she can do.”

  “Damn right we’re scared,” Bender snarled, lifting his beefy arm and jabbing a finger at the LiveBot. “She just confessed that she can weaponize any part of her body, and she kept that information from us on purpose. What’s not to say she wouldn’t use her power and smarts to take full control of the city and everyone in it? We all see it—she’s becoming more human every day. Not only that, she lives forever. She can afford to bide her time and wait for all of us to be set on fire in our burial shrouds before she makes her move. She’s too fucking dangerous.”