His blue eyes darken, go dead, his entire system shutting down. Didi grinds her teeth together in frustration as he dies, kicking the metal under her boots as she hisses soft curses to herself.

She should have just left well enough alone. Now see what she's done. But, even as she chastises herself for rushing into activation on a machine that's been in stasis for over fifty years, blue flares in his panels and eyes again and his entire body shudders.

It's an impressive ...