ar drone during a blackout just to make toast. She was past panic. She glanced at Lawrence. "You armed?" He blinked. "Do I look armed?" "You look expensive," she muttered. "Same thing to some people.

blaster hit the first hunter square in the shoulder, sending him flying into a stack of scrap coils. Lawrence dove behind the bench as the second opened fire, bolts ricocheting off old engine parts and cracked solar panels. "Back room, now!" Celia shouted, grabbing Lawrence's arm and dragging him through the smoke-filled garage. She hit a switch on the wall as they passed-an old defense mechanism she'd salvaged from a decommissioned patrol bot. Electric arcs shot out in random directions, forcing the hunters back. In the back room, Celia slammed the door shut behind them. The room was tighter, darker, filled with shelves of old tech-most of it half-dead or fully illegal. Lawrence leaned against the wall, catching his breath. "Do you always keep a small army's worth of tech in your garage?" Celia ignored him. "Where's the prototype?" He hesitated, then pulled off one of his boots and reached inside. With a click, he pulled out a small, glowing orb. It pulsed with a faint b