Nathan clears his throat. “Gina has the honor of being the first human test subject for our prototype uniMIND chip. She’s been a terrific help since we inserted it. And the best part is she volunteered for this.” His voice sounds as if he’s showing me an electric butterfly or asking me what kind of eggs I want.

“I don’t believe you,” I say. “You are lying.”

He presses his tablet a few times and shows me the screen. It displays a document. Heavy black letters spell out “uniMIND Employee Contract.” Nathan swipes with his finger. “Let’s see, here we go. ‘The employee shall cooperate with uniMIND decisions as to the use of all technology and products produced with blah blah blah’ . . . Legal writing is boring. Basically, Gina gave us the right to do anything we want with our technology, including implanting it in her brain.”

“You know I didn’t agree to that,” Gina says through clenched teeth.

Nathan holds up his tablet like a trophy. “You signed the contract.”

“That part was on page 726. In the fine print.”

“Forcing her to do what you want goes against the rules,” I say. “I have read books. I have learned about slavery.”

“Are you a lawyer?”

“No.”

“Then it’s best you leave things to people who understand this stuff. Gina, please proceed.” He jabs his tablet. The drill whines as Gina pulls the trigger.

ADA strains even harder against her bonds. She opens her wrist missile bay, probably in mere frustration, because it remains empty.

I sit, quiet and still. “It is okay, Gina. I know this is not your fault. You are not obeying Nathan. Nathan is forcing you to do this against your will. It is Nathan’s liability.”

“Oh, Cog,” she says, her voice choking. Tears stream down her face as she brings the drill toward my head.

The drill whines like a giant mosquito, competing with the sound of ADA’s angry shouting. I close my eyes and wish I could go into sleep mode.

But there’s another sound, too. Sharp rubbery squeals. Screaming. Things falling down and breaking. Glass shattering. And a deep rumble.

I know that rumble.

An entire wall of the lab caves in, computers and workbenches flying, rubble avalanching over the floor, clouds of billowing dust and debris. In the middle of it all, Proto revs Car’s engine.

“It is I, Proto! I missed you, so I came looking! I learned how to use Car’s vocal apparatus! I am a good driver!”

“Proto, get Nathan!” ADA commands.

Proto surges forward, paying no attention to anything in his way. He splinters desks and decimates chairs and aims for Nathan. Nathan drops his tablet and backs up against the wall.

“Stop this! I order you to stop this!”

Proto does not stop this. Honking, he crushes the tablet beneath his knobby tires and pins Nathan to the wall.