Mal circled them, running to the edge of the platform. “Xander.” A broken whisper.
Kneeling, she leaned over the edge to peer into the darkness.
And saw him clinging to the side of the platform with one hand.
“Thank the stars.” She reached down and grabbed his arm.
“Help me up.”
With him doing most of the work, she helped drag him back over the edge.
With a swift glance, he noted the battling robots. “You are a genius.”
She tried to smile but staring at the horrible wound where his arm had been ripped away made it impossible. “Oh, Xander.” Shock made her shiver.
He used his remaining arm to pull her close. “I’m fine. It can be replaced.”
She pulled back. Wiring was exposed and the wound was bleeding. Not much, thankfully. She tore more fabric off the hem of her dress, wadded it up, and pressed it to the injury.
“Malin, I need you to seal off the wiring.”
She nodded and pulled out her multi-tool. She pressed her left hand to his firm shoulder and used her right to do the work. It took her a few seconds, and she knew it had to hurt him, but he stayed silent, keeping a wary eye on the robots. She tucked the wiring in.
“All done.”
“Thanks.”
“Any pain?”
“I’ve dampened it.”
There was a loud crunch. Mal spun and watched her new friend crush the other robot’s head. The humanoid robot lay still, and the canine came over to her and sat. Its green eyes were latched onto Mal.
“Looks like you have a pet,” Xander said dryly.
“It was pretty easy once I got in there. I found the controls, made the changes, and he was all mine. There’s some sort of receiver in there.” She glanced around. “I’m guessing all the robots have them, and from some control point, Forge is transmitting orders to them.”
Xander stilled. “Controlpoint?”
“Yes, a central control point with a transmitter…”Oh. My. Stars.Find the point and become the master. “You think this is what the riddle talks about? Find the central control point and become master of all the robots in the maze?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, okay.” She ran a hand through her hopelessly tangled hair. She scanned around. “How the hell do we find it?”
“It would be emitting a frequency, right?”
She nodded, then she saw something over Xander’s shoulder.Stars help them. “Uh, Xander…”
“What?”
She pointed and he turned his head.
Allthe robots were traversing across the platforms and bridges. Headed straight for them.
“We’d better find it quickly.” He got to his feet, still graceful despite his missing arm. “I can set my scanners to find the right frequency.”
“Great.” She saw the robots getting closer. “Do it. Fast.”
