His tone is friendly but creepy. It’s as if they’ve programmed him to have enough care in his voice to provoke a positive response in me, but not so much that I fall in love with him, like I did with Jinx.

“Can you fetch me the standard level one scarab beetle schematic?” I ask. Moncha keeps a basic diagram of all the different types of bakus’ circuitry on the cloud, in the interest of complete transparency, so I figure there’s no better place to start than by looking at the basics of his functionality. That way, I can see where potential adjustments or upgrades can made. I need an easy win right now.

There’s a momentary pause, then Slick chirrups again.

>>I’m sorry, but I’m afraid access is blocked to those schematics.

“What?” I frown. “Can you repeat?”

>>Access to all baku schematics is now forbidden. Instead, I’ve selected a behind-the-scenes tour of a Moncha factory if you’re interested in how bakus work.

I wave the video away as he lifts his projector to start playing. “This doesn’t make any sense. I’ve always been able to access schematics before. It’s part of the Moncha terms and conditions.”

>>The terms and conditions are constantly updating in order to reflect Moncha’s current policies.

“And when was the last update?”

>>Twenty-seven days ago.

“But I didn’t agree to it!”

>>Of course you did. When you woke up and leashed me this morning. I asked you if you wanted to see the changes to the t’s & c’s.

I rack my brain for the memory and then it hits me: he did ask me. But he’d suggested only a single line had changed so I didn’t even bother to read it. I had just accepted it right away. Like I normally did.

Always read the conditions of your contract. Mom’s words echo in my brain. But I trust Moncha Corp implicitly.

You did trust Moncha Corp.

But you know better now. Especially with the security team showing up at our door, searching the apartment without our authorization.

And the founder currently MIA, last seen imprisoned in her own HQ.

I need to be more careful.

I drum my fingers against the desk. This is annoying. I didn’t even think to print anything out before now—that would have been the sensible thing to do—to have a library of old schematics.

Slick lifts his wings.

>>Zora has replied. She says she’ll be down in fifteen minutes. She says she wants to hear EVERYTHING.

Now that I have Zora’s answer, I don’t need anything else out of Slick. I turn him upside down and lift up one of his left legs to find the OFF switch. It’s very fiddly and small, designed to make sure it can’t be accessed accidentally.

>>Are you sure you want to power me down?