Eva descended the staircase. She had never taken these stairs before—stairs that she had known existed, even though she was not supposed to. Below, electric lights flickered inside the control room—another place she had been forbidden to enter. Eva hesitated.

“Perhaps I should go first to make sure it is safe,” Rovender said.

“No, it’s okay,” Eva said as she continued down the stairs. “I know where I am. Besides, you have to leave, right? Now I’m on my own?”

Rovender peered down from the top of the stairwell. “Perhaps I can, at least, help you find your robot mother.”

Eva nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

With his walking stick supporting his weight, Rovender hobbled down past Eva, leading her into her Sanctuary.

The stairs ended at the back wall of an empty white control room, Muthr’s quarters. Of course Eva knew of this room. Muthr had told her all about where she went at the day’s end, and the Omnipod had showed the room in its entirety when Eva had viewed the omniscient floor plan—but still, she’d never been in this room. Expecting an arsenal of high-tech equipment, Eva found only a damaged holo-puter projecting images of the many chambers in the Sanctuary. The images flickered in an unsteady rhythm as they floated in the center of the room.

“How do you enter?” Rovender studied the locked door leading to the Sanctuary’s main hub.

“Hold on,” Eva said, scanning the numerous displays. In these she was able to look into each room.

Room 1: The Control Room. Eva could see the overhead view of herself and Rovender looking at the holo-images.

Room 2: The Holography Chamber. Eva could see the main projector lying on the scorched floor. Pieces of it were scattered and submerged in puddles from the extinguishers.

Room 3: The Gymnasium. The exercise equipment was toppled and thrown about. A sizable piece of debris was lying at the bottom of the half-drained wading pool.

Room 4: The Greenhouse. This was black. The camera must not have been working for this room.

Room 5: Eva’s Bedroom. This seemed the most damaged of all. Blackened and distorted clumps of the girl’s possessions were melted into a sprawling heap, while cooling pipes bled water everywhere.

Eva stared at the projection in total shock. Is everything I own gone? She pulled her eyes from the appalling sight and continued her search for Muthr.

Room 6: The Kitchen. This was also black. Eva assumed the camera was not working here either.

Room 7: The Supply Room. This was ransacked. All the shelves were toppled, with the goods spilled out onto the floor.

Room 8: The Generator Room. The other “no access” room was also black. Eva could see that the camera was working, but the lights were off in the room.