So I really jumped at the chance. Didn’t have to think about it or anything. I severed my ties with remaining family and friends and was flown to a Lordun training base in Mexico where they put me through basic. Weapons training, covert ops, physical conditioning…and charm school. That’s what they called it. Tips on acting, flirting, makeup, personal care, intelligence and counterintelligence…everything you need to be a modern Mata Hari.

And we got our partners. Real, honest-to-goodness transforming robots—automechs, they were called. I ended up with a slightly-battered but still serviceable sedan. His name, he told me, was Dwayne.

“Dwayne?” I asked. “I thought you all had codenames.”

“Never much saw the point. Dwayne is what my mother named me, and I don’t see any reason to change it now.” He was crotchety. I think he must have been pretty old before he got ‘botted. “Now get in here. We’ve got stuff to discuss.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the tone of his voice, but what choice did I have at that point?