The winged sensory device passed over my chest, pausing to hover over my left thigh and the sweat suit pocket holding Transhuman Andria’s finger.

WARNING—

It knows. I figured that out.

The hummingbird retracted its beak, replacing it with a scalpel. Landing on my upper quadriceps, the creature began methodically slicing through fabric and flesh to access the severed digit—

—just as its owner descended through the hole in the sphere’s ceiling. Still reading my thoughts, the Hunter-Transport slowed to hover next to my surgical table, its transhuman pilot backhanding Tinker Bell and its bloodstained scalpel across the lab.

Transhuman Andria regarded me through its scarlet eye sockets, their color reflecting the unit’s fully recharged status. Reaching out, she managed to free my left wrist, allowing me to release the rest of my bonds.

I have no idea how long I had been strapped down, but it must have been a while judging from the stiffness in my muscles and joints. Barely able to sit up, I struggled to climb aboard the transport.

Thank you, Andie. My friend Oscar is coming too.

I directed her to his location.

The cephaloped’s head and upper torso were draped atop an alien pumping device, its limp tentacles dangling. Leaning over the transport, I attempted to lift my unconscious friend off its perch—to no avail.

Andria, is there anything you can do?

SHUT DOWN YOUR BIO-CHIP. HOLD FAST TO OSCAR.

Grabbing a tentacle, I braced myself, nervously watching the ceiling overhead, praying GOLEM would not appear in our escape route.

I never registered the sonic wave emitted from the transhuman’s open mouth, but the aphaeresis tree obviously did and it didn’t like it. Within seconds, awakening cephalopeds were falling from their perches like inebriated cats.

I dragged Oscar on board the Hunter-Transport, the two of us held fast to the platform under two g’s of gravity as the transhuman vehicle soared out of GOLEM’s lab and into the night.

Chapter 33

33

Enjoying the joys of others and suffering with them—these are the best guides for man.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

The cold night air blasted me in the face.

We were flying over water. In the distance I could see a small island located along the southeastern region of the impact crater. It was here that GOLEM had constructed its genetics lab, the facility separated from the Holy City by thirteen miles of lake.

Recalling a clue from my last conversation with the short-haired Andria clone, I reactivated ABE and replayed the memory.

“NO ONE CAN SEE THE CREATOR. WE CAN FEEL HER PRESENCE WHEN SHE RETURNS TO THE CHURCH. WE CAN HEAR HER COMMANDMENTS WHISPERED IN OUR HEADS.”

It made sense for GOLEM to keep its lab isolated and away from its creations; the Andria, Lara, Bella, and Monique clones all possessed concepts of a supernal being that would conflict with the image of a ten-foot sphere floating around the Holy City.