But Emma did not go anywhere. Instead, she remained on top of Ceeron’s broad chest, holding tight, as if frightened the two of them might be flung through the air again.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You are welcome,” Ceeron replied.

The human slid down from Ceeron’s chest. “Can you stand up?”

“We shall find out.”

The large robot slowly managed to climb to its feet, groaning the entire way. When it turned around, my attention landed on its backpack. The part of its body that hit the ground first. A jagged crack zigzagged across the metal surface. A mark that had definitely not been there before the fall.

Emma noticed it, too. She sucked in her breath. “Ouch.”

“What?” Ceeron’s head spun 180 degrees, but it was unable to see the outside of its own backpack. “Is something wrong?”

I hesitated 0.3 seconds. After what it had just been through, I did not want to add another shock to Ceeron’s system. Perhaps it was better to break the news lightly.

“You have a . . .” Huge crack. These words blinked in my vocabulary drive. I revised them. “Slight scratch. On the outside of your backpack.”

Emma examined the damage. “It’s like a scar.”

SkD chirped, displaying a question.

Ceeron shook its head. “No, it does not hurt. It does not feel like anything.”

“I think it’s kinda cool,” Emma said. “Makes you look tough. Maybe you should get a tattoo while you’re at it.”

I still had difficulty understanding when the human was joking. I hoped this was one of those times.

Our conversation came to a stop when SkD’s screen started blinking.

The message was clear. There was still a security alert in the Hive. We were surrounded by hostile machines.

It was time to leave.

But before any of us could make a move, I heard a sound. Wheels rolling over concrete. I ran an audio analysis.

The result: RetrievalBots. Several of them.

Headed straight for us.

00111000

ESCAPE/ESCAPE/ESCAPE

Warnings raced through my wiring. I could hear the RetrievalBots getting closer. We needed to run/flee/hide.

But where?

I searched our surroundings, but my attention was pulled away by a sound. A rumbling hiss. An instant later, I saw what was making the racket. A cargo train was exiting the depot.

Equations took shape. Velocity. Acceleration. Distance.

The result: We had just enough time to cross the track. If we could get to the other side in time, the speeding train would create a wall between us (on one side of the track) and the RetrievalBots (on the other).

But we had to move now.

I pointed. “We have to get across that track.”

Emma crossed first. Then SkD. In the corner of my visual port, I could see the cargo train chugging forward. Picking up speed. Getting closer with every moment.

I stepped onto the track.