Eva stepped through the precarious damage in the main hub, and headed to the kitchen. She took a deep breath as she crossed the wrecked doorway, using the Omnipod to light the darkened room.

The refrigeration unit was wide open, disemboweled of all its foodstuffs and shelving. The sink faucets ran like tears onto a heap of broken dishes and utensils. Other dishes were scattered in ivory jagged shards on the countertops and tiled floor. With the light of the Omnipod, Eva peeked over the counter to the front of the stove—but the robot was nowhere to be found. “Muthr?” she whispered, and she peered up the exhaust shaft that had provided her escape. “Muthr, where are you?”

Eva wandered back out into the main hub, wondering which room to search next. “Rovender?” she called out.

“Right here, Eva,” he answered as he popped his head out of the supply room.

“Do you see any sign of her?”

“I don’t believe so,” he replied. “Though, in truth, I don’t know exactly what your mother robot looks like.”

“Oh, she looks like this.” Eva turned the Omnipod flat and brought up a projection of Muthr.

“Can’t your device locate her?” Rovender knelt close to study the hologram.

“Not if she is off-line, which the Sanctuary said she was,” Eva said. She pointed to the blown-out entrance of the gymnasium. “Why don’t you check in there, and I’ll try next door?”

“Okay.” Rovender trotted across the hub toward the gym, his rucksack jingling with every step.

Eva entered the greenhouse, stepping over the watering can. Inside, the fluorescent grow lights flicked off and on, illuminating the hydroponic irrigation system, which lay in a heap like a pile of broken bones. The carbon dioxide generator hissed at Eva as she searched the aisles of upturned fruit and vegetable plants. Once more there was no sign of Muthr.

“Eva Nine, come quick!” Rovender shouted.

Eva dashed back out into the main hub, tripping over the watering can. “Is it Muthr? Did you find her?” she asked.

Rovender called from the adjacent gymnasium entrance, “This way!”

As with the rest of the items in the wrecked Sanctuary, the gymnasium’s exercise equipment was bent at odd angles and completely destroyed. The wading pool bottom was somehow cracked, with half of the water drained out. In the deep end of the pool was a familiar cylindrical shape.

A shape Eva had known since birth.

Muthr was lying like a dead log at the bottom of a clear chlorinated pond.

CHAPTER 15: COUNTERCLOCKWISE

Muthr! Eva screamed, jumping down the steps of the drained pool and scrambling to the deep end. She felt a slight electric shock as she waded into the water and tried to pick the robot up. Eva called out to Rovender, “Help me!” He slid off his rucksack and hopped into the pool, splashing Eva in the process.