When the Marauders invaded the Aegis base, I ended up all alone in the sealed-off mech lab. I’d missed the evacuation orders—when you work where giant robots are clanking around all the time, you learn to tune out most distractions. Now I might end up paying for my focus.

I took stock of what I had as odd clangs and thumps suggested Marauders were moving about outside, and trying the bulkhead doors for their durability. So “time” was not a thing I had.

But what I did have was a complete automech shell, in for repairs. I’d just replaced its thermal regulator. The problem was, the occupant was elsewhere. Using a spare, I guessed.

A giant robot without a brain… (Thump. Clang.)

But there were half a dozen blank holo-storage cubes lying around, and automech shells had neural scanners built in…

I climbed into the driver’s seat of the transforming car, yanked open the compartment under the dash, and slotted the cube in. “Hope this works.”

I pushed the button…and in a haze of pain, everything got a lot smaller.