The planet only got uglier as we descended toward it. Luckily, there were plenty of roaming clouds to break up the ugliness. Once we broke through that fluffy white floor, it went right back to being murky. The monitor flashed green, notifying us that we’d entered an atmosphere, but I didn’t believe it.

Mossy water coated the ground, which grossed me out. Huge trees with gray leaves stuck out of the water. They looked like they belonged in a jungle. Not only was the planet ugly, but it was also dark. Its star was either dim or distant, limiting the amount of light it got. That or it was just nearing nighttime. I couldn’t tell which seemed more likely.

Strange pools of silver occasionally popped up in the water below. It looked like silver mud. This planet must have been able to produce its own unique substance. A lot of planets did that, which was partly why pirates existed. If this silver mud was valuable, then it’d probably be a problem down the line. More accurately, it’d be Frost’s problem.

“How do you land in a swamp?” I asked as I watched the trees scroll past from my window.

“Forget that. How do you get ambushed in a swamp?” Anderson demanded. “You could have heard those tin cans coming from miles away. They would have splashed in the water. My bro got taken because no one in your crew had ears?!”

“It wasn’t that we didn’t hear them. It’s that they appeared in an instant. Teleported even. We were scanning the horizon one moment, and, the next, they were towering over us.” Alhabor glanced at an empty seat beside him. That was where the copilot would have sat. He sighed and went back to the wheel. I didn’t have to guess who the chair belonged to. “You’ll see. We’re almost at the scene of the crime.”

Alhabor lowered us to the ground, causing a mushy splash that would haunt my nightmares. The ship continued to sink though we were already parked. That caused me to shudder. We needed to finish this before we lost the ship to the bog. Using a cruiser in this environment was going to be a headache. Thank goodness I wouldn’t be the one driving. Alhabor rose from his seat and stretched his arms out. His face stretched as he let out the most exaggerated yawn in existence. I couldn’t believe one of Frost’s top soldiers was this…goofy.

“Let’s see,” Alhabor said as he patted himself down. “I’ve got my Z85, my zero-zone grenades, and, of course, my secret weapon.” He rubbed his wrists as he said that. What, did he shoot lasers out of them? “I’m all set, so let’s get going.”

Everyone stood up and followed Alhabor as he led us out of the cockpit. Anderson bumped my shoulder as he stomped past me. There wasn’t a hint of remorse in his stride. We’d have to fix that. I clenched his arm, making him yelp in shock. No, wait. He was in pain because I was using my bionic hand.

“What’s your problem?” I pulled him toward me. Seeing him stumble was oddly satisfying. After years of having all the power, he was nothing to me now. “We’re not enemies anymore, so just chill out! Our friends need us.”

“Genki’s not my friend, and neither are you!” He yanked his arm free. “Can’t believe I have to keep making it clear that I’m not here for any of you. Don’t pretend that working together makes us cool. You never even apologized for what you did to me.”

“What…what I did to you? Did all those pointless fights give you a memory-altering concussion?”

“Kids, calm down!” Alhabor pushed us away from each other. “It’s mission time, know what that means? It means setting your crap aside and focusing on what’s really important.”

“Don’t give me any of your general talk. Let the asshole speak!” I pushed him, but to no one’s surprise, the military guy was stronger. He didn’t move an inch. “He’s making stuff up. I didn’t do a thing to him.”

Anderson grimaced and walked away, disappearing down the same hallway we had come through. My blood boiled at his accusation. At his lies. I had met Anderson Oak in the second grade, but he had stopped being my friend in the third grade. He had been defensive and rude when Laura and I had confronted him about it, so I’d been without answers all these years. Maybe that’d change soon, but I doubted it.

Alhabor led us to the parking bay and summoned a pair of keys from his phone. He clicked them. I expected the green, camouflaged cruiser to beep, but it was the extra larger vehicle that did. I took a closer look and finally realized what it was. It wasn’t a cruiser at all. The black and white bow and hull should have given it away, but the lack of a hypersail must have thrown me off.

“A boat?” Anderson folded his arms as he gazed at it. “Those bots won’t take us seriously if we show up in this.”

“I’m not too concerned about a good first impression,” Alhabor said. “Or second, in my case. This beautiful specimen of a boat is partially why I was late for that meeting. I needed to make sure I had the right equipment this time. Those bots won’t have the upper hand this time.”

I’d never been on a boat before. My family was never wealthy enough to afford cruises or anything like that. I wasn’t even sure that the Moon had those. Time to see what the big deal was.

I climbed into the aquatic vehicle and lost my grip because of how slippery it was. But, luckily, I fell into it and not off it. Off to a great start. Alhabor pulled me to my feet with a poorly hidden smirk on his face and took a seat behind the wheel. Manning sat beside him, I sat behind Manning…and then Anderson sat two rows behind Alhabor. He couldn’t even stand to be in the same row as me. The feeling was mutual.

Alhabor tapped a button on his wrist. The Canis Major’s ramp clicked and then went completely silent as it was lowered. I was so used to ramps groaning and churning that this was unnerving in comparison. The planet’s dim lighting filled the parking bay as the ramp landed in the swamp with a splash. A rotten stench drifted in from outside. I summoned my helmet to save my nostrils.

“How do we get this junk in the water?” Anderson called from the back. “Aren’t we supposed to push it in? And by ‘we,’ of course I mean you lowlifes. I ain’t doing crap.”

“What century are you from? We haven’t needed to push boats since 2154.” Alhabor flipped a switch on the dashboard. Though it was technically a dashboard, it didn’t have a monitor like cruisers or ships did. Gross. Wait, what did that switch even do?

My stomach churned as the boat shook and rose into the air. I glanced behind me. The air around the boat’s stern was distorted. Hover tech. Apparently, boats were more advanced than I’d realized.

Thank goodness television taught me what a stern was.

The boat flew out of the parking bay and splashed onto the green water. Green splattered onto my visor, and my stomach lurched at the horrifying sight. That was when the roaring wind swooped in and dried my visor for me. It also filled my eardrums, but I’d take that over green vision.

Towering gray-leaved trees and green moss decorated our watery surroundings. Pale bubbles floated around us, and I hoped to God that they wouldn’t pop. I didn’t want to smell whatever they contained. As we skipped across the water, it rushed around the boat’s hull. I wished we could just hover, but hovering over water wasn’t ideal. As someone who’d hovered over sand before, I wasn’t willing to go through a ride that bumpy again.

As Alhabor steered us into a less wet section of the swamp, I caught glimpses of those silver mud puddles from earlier. What was their deal? I’d have suggested stopping to check, but it probably wasn’t that important…

“It’s been a while since I’ve experienced a ride as relaxing as this.” Manning rested his elbow on the edge of the boat, also known as the gunwale. Why did I know so much about boats? “I’ve always been interested in taking a cruise. It’s a shame that I could never afford it on an instructor’s salary.”

Alhabor chuckled as he stared straight ahead. “Instructor’s salary? What about when you were a soldier? I know the navy isn’t popular since there are no underwater AI, but you could have signed up and gotten a cruise that way.”

“Perhaps, but it no longer matters. I’ve abandoned the soldier lifestyle, and I hope it doesn’t come looking for me.”

Alhabor’s hands twitched on the wheel. “Right…but didn’t you like being a soldier? The thrill of it all? The adventure? The action?”

Something about his voice made me uncomfortable. He sounded way too happy about the “action.” Manning and I had both suffered due to all the horrible events we’d lived through, but Alhabor seemed to welcome it. He seemed almost proud of having been through so much.

“When I fought, it was for someone else,” Manning said as he lowered his gaze. “I wasn’t a soldier because I wanted to be. Once we rescue Laura, I’ll leave this adventurous life behind too. I’m through with this impossible war.”

Alhabor’s hands twitched again, but he said nothing. Manning really didn’t want to fight anymore. Was there a way out for me? It felt like I was in too deep for that. I was the Epsilon Explorer, a former rebel, and the Alpha Hybrid. But I was experiencing complications with that last part…

“When are we going to see those rust buckets?!” Anderson slammed his fist down on the boat. The thump kicked my heart into overdrive. My face heated with frustration when I realized what had happened. “It pisses me off that you and Manning can hold a casual conversation while my bro’s off suffering somewhere. You said we were at the scene of the crime, but I don’t see any white outlines. Where are they?”

“Before you melt the boat with your hot head, let me remind you that the robots came out of nowhere,” I said as I glared at his annoying face. “Alhabor said they just showed up all of a sudden.”

“Yeah, and you know what? We should pull over.” Alhabor turned the boat to the left as he flipped another switch. Were those the brakes? Did boats have brakes? “The boat might be scaring them off. Let’s search on foot.”

I glanced at the sky. The planet’s star seared spots into my eyes. That proved that it was capable of light. Odd that it was still so dim then. Though nighttime was technically approaching, I wasn’t tired. I was determined to finish this for Laura and Sirius.

The boat slowed to a stop. Alhabor jumped into the water, splashing us in the process. If it hadn’t been for my helmet, I would have definitely barfed by then. I dipped a single foot into the water and gradually lowered myself into it. Thank goodness that side of the swamp wasn’t too deep. It was actually good that Laura wasn’t there. She hated water and completely refused to swim. I missed her complaints…

A wave of water suddenly washed over my legs. They were bathed in the green liquid. Had someone just splashed me? Anderson snickered as he walked by, hinting that he was responsible. Well who else could it have been? I groaned and tried to wipe the green liquid off, but what was the point? I just rolled my eyes and trudged after the others.

The four of us waded through the green water in silence. I forced myself to be silent because I’d just groan if I opened my mouth. Everything still smelled awful, but at least we were getting somewhere. I occasionally paused to inspect my surroundings. I thought I’d heard…something. Maybe scratching? The problem was that the swamp was empty. There was nothing around to make any sort of sound. The scratching sound didn’t sound like it was coming from around us either. It sounded like it was coming from…

“Ah!” I looked down, and that was when I saw a black bug crawling up my leg. Grabbing it, I chucked it across the swamp. I rushed to Manning’s side while frantically patting myself down to make sure it was the only one. “I’m already sick of this place!”

“Wander, why don’t you use your”—Manning glanced at Alhabor—“unique skills to locate the robots? The skills that allow you to sense technology?”

“You mean the electricity crap he does?” Anderson asked, ruining everything as usual.

“Shut up!” I said. Alhabor just looked confused as he glanced back at us. Maybe I could salvage the situation. “Ignore him, he thinks he saw something that he didn’t. Anyway, Manning, remember what I said about my skills a few weeks ago? They’re not going to come in handy here.”

“That’s it. You can’t silence me twice, Locke!” Anderson jabbed a finger in my face. “First the giant woman, and now this? Just tell me what’s really going on. If you’re part robot now, you’ve got to tell me.”

Underneath that rude demeanor, Anderson was just a confused brat. In the past, he had taken pride in knowing every little thing about me. Then he’d left for a year, and, suddenly, I’d become a totally different person. I’d shot lightning, I’d been violent, I’d been to Epsilon. I was so far past the Wander he’d known that it was like he’d never known me at all.

What is this pang in my chest? Guilt? Seriously?

I took a quick breath to collect myself. “Okay, look—”

The water erupted like a volcano, spraying all of us. My visor was coated in green yet again. I rubbed it away roughly and gazed up at the hunk of metal that had appeared before us.

It was entirely black with a wide torso and piercing white eyes. Its head was free of detail, meaning that it resembled a hill sticking out of the ground more than anything humanoid. It didn’t even have a mouth. The thing’s torso was easily its defining feature. It was so large that its arms and legs were small by comparison.

Either this is the robot we’ve been searching for, or I am hallucinating a black version of Exo. I can’t tell which is more likely anymore.

“Get back!” Alhabor pushed us away as the robot raised an arm. I definitely wasn’t hallucinating…this time. The bot brought its arm down onto the space we’d just fled from. All that did was splash up more water. “Stay down. I’ll take it down, and we can salvage it afterwards. Easy.”

Alhabor rushed the bot, which had reeled back its massive arm. He ducked its jab (although the wind it created brushed my visor), and slammed his hand against its side. It didn’t even budge; what had been the point of that? My answer came in the form of Alhabor’s suit. Its green camouflage spots glowed as the bot’s eyes flickered. Green lines, all of which came from Alhabor’s hand, spread over the bot.

Alhabor’s other arm glowed brighter than the rest of his suit. He pulled it back and struck the robot. Metal clanked against metal as the bot flew back into the water. Alhabor grinned at us as he flexed his glowing arm.

“You can absorb its energy?” I marveled. “That’s amazing! Manning, it’s just like the javelins that the ruabrum use.”

Alhabor lifted an eyebrow. “The Martian javelins? Heh! Where do you think we got the idea in the first place? All we did was confiscate one of those things, do a little reverse engineering, and boom! Brand new toy. Check it out.”

Alhabor’s palm glowed as it sucked up light from the rest of his arm. He aimed at the bot, and a huge green blast erupted from his palm. The blast exploded against the bot, enveloping it in green smoke. Jeez! Alhabor was singlehandedly wrecking this thing. How in the galaxy had he and his team lost the previous time?

Water splashed onto my back. I shuddered in disgust, but it wasn’t just gross, it was also a sign: a sign that this jerk wasn’t alone. I turned around and found myself facing two new robots. They looked exactly like the first one. Two sets of white eyes bore into me, feasting on my fear.

“Guys? Situation!” I stumbled back into Manning with my arm stinging. My bionic arm.

“More?” Alhabor ducked a white plasma ball, which soared over him. His robot opponent stomped out of the green smoke. A barrel was jutting out over the back of its hand. So it had that instead of an arm cannon. “Of course this guy wants more. Hang on, team! Keep your distance until I can get over there and help.”

“Distance? Think I’m a coward or something?” Anderson held up a pistol that he’d pulled from a holster on his waist. Seeing as it was black, he must have received it with the suit. He aimed and fired it at the two new robots. The shining bolt of plasma exploded against one of them, but it didn’t halt its advance. It barely even put a dent in it. Anderson smirked. “Tough guys, huh? Fine with me.”

Now we were all going to die because Anderson couldn’t back down from a fight. I had known this day would come. His war-hardened brother had already lost this fight, but, of course, that wasn’t going to stop Anderson.

“Wander, I know what you told me, but I urge you to attempt to use your abilities,” Manning said as we both backed away. Those piercing white eyes were making it easy to retreat.

“You know better than anyone why I can’t!” I gazed at my hands. With only one of my organic hands remaining, the task was even more impossible. I glanced at Alhabor and confirmed that he was too preoccupied to hear us. “After we came back from Epsilon, my powers just stopped working. I’m useless now. I can’t save us.”

“You can’t zap things anymore?” Anderson asked as he fired off another useless bullet. “Wish that had happened before you’d burned those scars into me.”

Manning had said that our Hybrid powers were as much a part of us as our hearts or brains. That meant that emotions affected them. That was why it was safe to assume that the horrors I’d endured on Epsilon were the reason why my powers weren’t working. Maybe the situation was temporary, or maybe they were gone for good. I tried not to think about it. I had felt conflicted about my powers since the day I’d discovered them, so the possibility of them being gone was almost refreshing.

“Almost” was the key word. I hadn’t asked for them, but they had come in handy. They would have been great for a situation like this.

“I’ll try one more time!” I held out both of my hands and willed the electricity to come, but I didn’t get so much as a crackle. I gritted my teeth and willed harder, and, at that point, something shifted. Something in my bionic arm. “Nope, the lightning’s still gone…but something’s happening.”

My palm split up as a barrel emerged from its center. My fingers surrounded the barrel, as if supplying power to it. I couldn’t feel them anymore, only the barrel itself and the power it contained. Frost had given me an arm cannon? Without telling me? Why would she…I guess it didn’t matter since it’d be handy.

Dang it, I couldn’t tell if that pun had been intentional.

Manning’s eyes widened. “Did your arm—”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” I aimed my shaking arm—I mean, cannon—at the robots. This felt weirder than words could describe. “I just want to fight.”

I willed the cannon to fire and shuddered as energy flowed through my arm. It was like having a river course through my bone. Purple shone out of the barrel like a flashlight as the energy accumulated into a ball. I launched the plasma and stumbled back as purple streaked through the air. It exploded against the bot on impact, creating a display so dazzling that you could have forgotten it was an explosion. It was hard to believe that I’d done any damage. That was when the glow faded and revealed a purple imprint seared into the bot.

“Nice, Locke!” Anderson bumped me as he raised his pistol again. Just like the last time, his shot had had no effect. “Glad to see I’m not the only person you’d shoot. Still, that arm might suit me more than you. Sure you can handle it?”

Handle? As soon as we get back, I’m asking Frost to ban puns.

“Don’t get any ideas.” I shoved him aside and took aim. “This is a limb first and a weapon second.”

“That kind of talk is exactly why I should have that thing.” Anderson shoved my face and grabbed my arm. “Hand it over! You won’t have to fight if I’m the one wielding the thing. It’s a win-win.”

“No, it’s not. Let go of my arm!”

My voice wavered when I said that. Flashes of Epsilon were coming back to me. I saw the AI, I felt the heat of Exo’s attack. Anderson had to let go…before I did something I’d immediately regret.

I looked up just in time to be blinded by a white ball of plasma. It exploded against the ground beneath my feet, launching me into the air. I fell on my back; water splashed up around me. My legs were burning. The pain was pinning me down. As I lay there with unusable legs, only one thought coursed through my mind: Anderson was such a prick.

Water continued to splash around as a towering robot stomped up to me. It pointed its arm barrel at my chest. I raised my cannon, but…my heart felt weird. My vision blurred. I couldn’t tell if the robot was black or red. Were its eyes white, or gold?

Exo.

My mouth forced itself open in a silent scream. I could see him clearly. He was there, and he was going to finish me off. I hadn’t been able to stop him the last time, and I couldn’t do it now…

“Wander!” Manning shouted even though his voice was distant.

Someone pulled me up and threw me aside. Who was it? My hands sank into something sticky. So did my knees. What was happening? I shook my head to clear my vision.

My hands and knees were buried in some sort of silvery mud. It was the weird stuff I’d seen earlier. Well, I wanted to investigate it, so there was my chance. I looked at my side. Anderson lay face down in the same puddle as me. Was he okay? Actually, who cared? I yanked my arms, but neither budged. My legs didn’t budge either. The mud was holding them in place. I yelped as my limbs sank. This stuff was like quicksand.

My suit felt heavier. And my visor flickered before it disappeared entirely. It looked like the mud was messing with my suit.

“Dang it.” I looked around at the chaos. Alhabor had his hands full with the first bot. Manning ran toward me, his hand outstretched. If I could, I’d reach out for it. “Manning, help!”

“I’ve got you! I’ve—” Smoke shrouded him as a white blast decimated the ground before him. Two bots were staring at me, and they kept their cannons pointed at the spot where he’d just been. I hoped he was okay behind all that smoke.

“No.” I held my head up as the rest of me sunk into the mud. There was nothing I could do. This was the end. “No!”

The mud clung to my helmet. I shut my mouth and held my breath. Once it got up to my nose, I shut my eyes. After everything I’d survived, this was how it would end. Not with a hole to my chest or from AI experimentation. Just from sinking in a puddle of mud.

Sorry I ended up being so pathetic, Laura.