He eased the car over the top of the scuffed plexi barrier and onto the roof. Ambrose was sure Martin had equipped the building with a fully automated security system. With human guards, even trusted UniCorp Associates, there was always a chance someone would give away the location. But the roof was quiet as he set the car down next to the central irrigation chamber. The cows grazing nearby didn’t even flinch at his intrusion.

Outside, he jumped down to the spongy ground. The building had over a hundred floors, and Martin’s fleshbound body could be anywhere. The first step was gaining access to the interior. Ambrose poked around the irrigation chamber, but it was a seamless metal cylinder. He wondered if he could punch through it with the security car.

Back at his parking spot, two brown-and-white-spotted cows had moved to graze a few feet from the car. Ambrose wondered idly why these cows were grazing at night. Were they nocturnal creatures? He didn’t know much about the behavior of synth-cows. And now he was having second thoughts about ramming the irrigation chamber.

One of the cows stopped grazing and raised her sleepy eyes to study Ambrose.

“Hey, girl,” Ambrose said.

The cow opened her mouth. A clump of grass fell out. A bright orange light blinked on inside her throat. By the time the disruptor poked out, Ambrose had hit the soft ground. The first shot burned a jagged hole through the side of the irrigation chamber. Ambrose rose to a crouch. The second shot scorched the grass where his face had been a moment before. He took two loping steps toward the cylinder and launched himself into the hole, scraping his arm against the white-hot edge as he twisted his body into an awkward dive.

He wondered how far he was going to fall, and what it would feel like to land. Then the percussive shock of freezing water numbed the searing pain in his arm. He was completely submerged. A dim light spun at the edge of his vision. He swam for it, deep into the chamber. The light was coming from a round window the size of his head. The window was in the center of a watertight door. There was a latch. He tried it. Stuck. He was getting dizzy. If he swam back up for air, he didn’t know if he’d be able to make it down this far again. He’d be trapped, bobbing in the dark water until his body sank from sheer exhaustion.

He gathered his remaining strength.

I am not human. I was built to do impossible things.