One of the bots zoomed down to hover in front of my face. Four spindly arms—two on each side—stuck out from a chrome, basketball-like body. A red light blinked at me as the camera honed in.

“Name.” The disembodied voice came from the bot.

“Maité Martinez.” My skin started to warm, and I took a long, deep breath to stop the glow before it took root.

What the hell was that? Why had saying my name set off my emotions so much that the glow started? It didn’t make sense. It’d been mine for a long time, but something in me had changed. It felt like a lie, one I didn’t want to tell anymore.

“One moment, please. The appropriate parties are being contacted.” The bot stayed hovering a foot in front of my face, watching me.

I wanted to hit it. Smash it into the ground. I knew the bot wasn’t doing anything wrong exactly, and it wasn’t judging me. The bots didn’t have the programming to care about that kind of thing. But the way it stared at me, with the flashing red eye and the camera inside it recording my every movement, put me on edge.

“Hey there,” a voice called behind me.

A man the size of a giant came through the doors. He had to be over six feet, five inches tall with arms thicker than my head. With how fit everyone was here, I wondered if there was a gym on the base. There probably wasn’t much else to do here other than work out. And if there was, I would bet that this guy lived there.

“I was running late,” he said.

He wore a tank top and biker shorts a little longer than mine. I was sure my eyeballs were popping out of my head as I looked down his body—and what I could make out under his shorts—and quickly looked back at his face. His outfit seemed even more revealing than mine, and he didn’t seem to care.

I wished I could feel as confident as he did.

Sweat coated the giant man’s body, making it look like he’d just stepped out of the shower. He reached out a hand, and I took it. He held my hand in a loose, gentle grip. From the size of him, I knew he could’ve crushed my hand, but he’d chosen to be gentle. That told me that he was kind and probably not one of SpaceTech’s lackeys. Which made me think that this might not be so bad.

“I’m Maité Martinez.” I stepped back, dropping his hand. “I’m not sure if I’m in exactly the right spot, but this is where the map said.”

“Tyler Higgins. You’re right where you need to be, honey.” He winked, his blue eyes sparkling. “You’re prettier than a doll.”