“Where am I?”

“Shhh, hon. Everything will be all right.”

“Shelly? Is that you?” His voice faltered. “What happened to me?”

“You got—Marauded.”

“Marau…” He trailed off. “You mean—my body—?”

“Yes. Turned into fuel for one of their automechs, three months ago. We got your cube back in a raid on one of their libraries. I’m sorry.”

“Then you’ve put me—”

“—into my Shelby GT500 .” I flipped a switch on the dash. “I’ve taken the first sensory interlock off. How does it feel?”

“Weird.” The panel gauges flickered to life. “They just…let you have me?”

“Not exactly, but being the chief librarian has its privileges. I’ve had three months to have my car converted into an automech shell…when they got you back, I just snuck you out.”

He digested this for a moment. “I guess I can’t be much of a boyfriend to you anymore.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. As with any handicap, there are ways to work around it.”

I flipped another switch, then put both my hands around his gearshift lever. “I think we can make out just fine.”