She started speaking at once, her voice pouring out in a rapid flow. My audio ports struggled to keep up with the rushing stream of words.

“Oh I’m so glad it’s you I thought maybe you were one of those other robots the ones with red eyes they look like wolves I saw them coming to the store so I came in here to hide but then I heard something coming andIwassoscared!”

“You do not need to be afraid.” I kept my tone steady and even. “It is only me. The HunterBots are gone.”

“HunterBots?” Emma’s head tilted. “Those are the scary red-eyed wolf monster things?”

I nodded.

“They won’t be back?”

I shook my head. “I took care of them. At least for now.”

Emma exhaled. The confusing jumble of emotions drained from her face. Now there was only relief.

She crawled out of the tight space and rose to her feet. She opened another locker and reached inside. Out came her backpack.

She slung the pack over her shoulder. “I didn’t know whether you would come back for me.”

“Neither did I.”

We left the room and set out down the dim hallway. Emma kept close to me. Her footsteps skittered rapidly along with the steady rhythm of my own feet. I could feel her arm brushing against my sensors.

I moved toward the back of the building. When I reached a door to the loading dock, I came to a stop.

Emma looked up at me. “What now?”

“Now we wait.”

“For what?”

“For Ceeron and SkD to arrive. I sent them a message a little while ago. They should be here any—”

CLANG!

There was a loud knock on the other side of the door. Emma flinched. She grabbed my hand. Her grip tightened as the door shuddered open.

Ceeron was standing on the other side.

“Oh, good.” The giant robot had to crouch to look at Emma. “You are still alive.”

SkD rolled between Ceeron’s legs. A waving hand flashed on its screen.

I peered through the doorway. Ceeron’s massive metal body blocked most of the view, but not all of it.

“We should not stay here long,” I said. “If any other robots get a glimpse of Emma—”

“Let me guess,” the human said. “More of those red-eyed wolf monsters?”

“Exactly,” I replied.

Ceeron ducked low to the ground. Emma gazed into its backpack.

“Well,” she said, “at least it’s nicer than the locker.”

Her hand held on to mine for another long moment, as though she did not want to let go.

00100101

For the first time in my life, I did not show up to work in the morning. This break in routine sent an eruption of error messages through my system. With every step that led away from the WorkSite, I felt my programming resisting.

But I kept walking anyway.