I issue a lightning command to the maintenance bot and its claw comes down on her like a ton of bricks, busting her straight through the concrete and into the ground. At the same moment I unload my entire clip into her perfect chest and face, blowing holes through corded titanium muscle and wire nerves.

“Nice job, pal,” I say, patting the monstrous bot on its rump.

It takes me a couple of seconds to figure out what the beeping sound coming from the cyborg’s body is. A countdown timer.

Oh shit.

There’s blinding light, and then my flesh’s melting off my bones like synthetic chicken, and I’m thinking what a huge dumbass I am.