“What’s happening?” Metz gestured at the rash spreading over his screens.

“Trouble,” Alex’s grandfather said. “We’re already surrounded.”

“But by who—” Kingdom started. She paused when she saw Alex’s face. “Or . . . what? I couldn’t see anyone, maybe some movement at the trees.”

“Yes, well, you’ll see soon enough,” Alex’s grandfather muttered.

The alarm kept pulsing, maddening in its monotony. On the monitors, the first wave of blips was almost at the gray block, more coming behind. As the spots lined up around the building, the picture across the screens suddenly changed, zooming in from a map of the grounds to now show a rough plan of the house itself, its outline flashing in distress as the first dots touched it.

From the hallway, there came a strange scratching at the front doors.

It grew louder, as though more and more sharp little blades were joining in to hack at the wood. The alarm’s flat, steady tone was augmented now by a new note of a higher, more urgent pitch.

“Is there any chance,” Alex’s grandfather said, “we could turn that noise off? I think we’ve got the general idea now.”

Metz, standing gazing vacantly, took a moment to respond. He clicked a button on his remote and the alarm ceased, allowing a stark new appreciation of the sharp chatter thudding into the door. The noise echoed oddly around them, behind them. Then Alex realized it wasn’t an echo.

“They’re at the back, too,” he said.

“The kitchen door!” Kingdom turned and ran.

Following her, Alex and his grandfather found themselves in a modest kitchen that lay just off the ballroom along a narrow corridor. Low ceilinged and dim, its single small window was thick with dirt and covered by iron bars inside and out. Beside it, the old wooden back door looked solid and heavy. Amplified by the acoustics of the tiled walls, the scratching noises from the other side of it grated harshly.

“Door should hold for a little while,” the old man said. “But if there are life-sizers coming, it won’t last long.”

“Life . . . sizers?” Kingdom repeated.

“Mmm,” Alex’s grandfather muttered, raising his eyebrows as he went back past her. “Big as life. Bigger.”

Kingdom turned questioningly to Alex. He tried thinking about the best way to explain it. After a second, he shrugged. “Robots.”

Even in the circumstances, it felt slightly stupid saying it aloud. Kingdom opened her mouth and narrowed her eyes. Then she simply nodded.

“Okay, then.” She thought about it a second longer. “Although I don’t know how Philippe will feel about that.”

“No,” Alex said. “He’s close to losing it already, isn’t he?”