“Actually, please stay,” says a familiar voice. And there he is, leaning against the doorway, displaying his smile. Nathan.

Gina finally puts the brain down, a little carelessly for something as important as a brain. “I have work to do,” she says, “and the longer these robots are here bothering me, the longer this is going to take.”

Nathan’s smile gets worse. “But I’d hate to cut this visit short. I’m sure you all missed each other.”

“What are you talking about? It’s just a janitorial robot and a Mark Six prototype.”

Nathan releases a disappointed sigh. “We both know that’s not true, Gina. I have this lab monitored at all times. I know it’s our runaway robots. And we’ll find the rest of them soon enough. But until then, Gina, I’d like you to shut them down.”

He takes his bricking device from his pocket and holds it out to Gina.

Gina’s eyes go wide. “No,” she says. Not loud. Hard to hear, even with Proto’s auditory sensors.

“Take it, Gina.”

She says no again, but she reaches for the device.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, it’s no big deal. Just press the yellow button to turn them off.”

Nathan doesn’t give her the device. He makes her reach farther with her trembling hand.

“No,” she says one more time. But she accepts the device from him. Her eyes are wet and shiny. Her voice shudders as her thumb touches the button and she says, “ADA. Cog. Run. Please.”

She presses the button. Trashbot’s faceplate goes dark.

I rarf, and rarf, and rarf, but ADA doesn’t move. She doesn’t answer. She is no longer aware.

I spring for the door and scramble past Nathan’s grabbing hands. Gina presses the button again.

The last thing I feel before everything fades to black is my circulation pump growing heavy as a boulder. I don’t think Proto’s pump is malfunctioning. It merely feels like my heart is breaking.

Chapter 20

I WAKE UP AND SEE my own hands. Brown syntha-derm, five fingers on each. Yes, they are mine. My brain is back inside my body. In a chair next to me, ADA strains against thick metal cables. Across from us, Trashbot is anchored by a bicycle chain to the leg of a heavy worktable. And Proto is in a cage.

Only is it Proto? If they took the brain from my body and put it in him, then it’s really Car’s brain. Which means Proto is still in the parking garage, inside Car’s body. At least I hope so.