Serix took the controls from Cassie and started up the robot, obeying her simple instructions. The machine whirred to life and rose shakily above the ground. He could clearly see that Cassie was better at operating the device than he was. He would just have to spend some time practicing with the various robots she fixed up.

“This is amazing,” Serix said. He tried to keep his voice level with mature intrigue, but he couldn’t stop the note of excitement that slipped into his tone. He cleared his throat in a weak attempt to cover it up. “Your father designed such simple controls for a complex machine. It’s ingenious how user-friendly it is. In my society, technology like this can only be used by trained professionals and there would be dozens more buttons and dials to manipulate.”

After a while, he carefully brought the robot down for a landing and shut it off again, handing the remote back to Cassie, “Well, I’m satisfied.” He grinned at her and then looked around at the room, taking on a contemplative expression. “You know, this underground hideout seems pretty huge, but I’ve only seen three or four rooms.” He turned back to Cassie and smiled again. “You know this place much better than I do. Mind giving me a tour?”