A few minutes later, they pulled onto a private road with an armored gate and security checkpoint. Lisa and Fur stopped and talked with the people in the booth. James slid lower in his seat as impassive faces and cameras swiveled to examine them.

Finally, the gate slid open, and the cars were waved past—though James saw a half-ton pickup pull onto the road behind them as they passed.

The road led into a tunnel into the hillside, which sloped downward. “I think this is an old limestone quarry,” Sera said. “I see the cut marks on the walls.”

The tunnel ended in a large room with other passages branching off, where a number of vehicles were parked. Several men in lab coats were waiting…as were—

“Sera, there are giant robots walking around,” James said, staring up at them. “Robots that look like they’re made out of car parts.”

“Captain Obvious strikes again!” Sera smirked.

“Do you think…you can transform, too?” James asked hesitantly.

“I know I can,” Sera said. “I was kind of saving it for a surprise.”