“Done?” said Vex. “We can’t be done.”

  Nia watched as Cass walked over to a chair and slumped down. Then he leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. She knew for the first time in weeks that he had actually been happy and hopeful. They were going to make it. They were going to reach the deadline with a pair of cars and drivers. Now one of the cars was crumpled up on itself, and the other was likely to suffer the same fate if they tried to rerun it.

  “There has to be some way,” said Vex.

  “I don’t think so,” said Elias. “The material we need for the chassis is not only expensive, but hard to get. They don’t sell it at the shop.”

  “There’s nothing else?” said Vex.

  “Not for my design,” said Elias. “I needed that level of strength-to-weight ratio to work. If we used something else, it would need a full redesign or else it would crumple a lot faster.”

  “Ok, but there are people who have this material,” said Nia. “Whatever it is.”

  “Titanium-carbon fibre composite,” said Elias. “Yeah. But we’re not going to be able to afford it. Or be able to get it in time.”

  “How long would we have to beat the deadline?” said Nia.

  Elias looked at her as if she were crazy, but he must have decided to humour her. “Filling the moulds takes a couple of hours. Then about six in the oven to harden.”

  “Then you would have to assemble the cars and do a test run?” said Nia. “By the end of the day tomorrow, right?”

  “What are you thinking?” said Cass. It was mostly morbid curiosity at this point about what she was getting at.

  She turned to Cass. “So, if we get this… material by this evening, we could have working cars by tomorrow morning.”

  “If,” said Cass. “I think Elias is right. There’s no one who can sell it to us, or get it to us in time.”

  “No one?” said Nia. She looked at Kade, who was watching their exchange. He looked put on the spot when he noticed the attention shift to him.

  “What are you looking at me for?” said Kade. “I don’t know anything about this… this…”

  “Titanium-carbon fibre composite,” said Elias in a slightly annoyed tone. Kade nodded at Elias.

  “Can you find out if Arch-Tech has any?” said Nia.

  Kade raised an eyebrow. “I doubt it,” he said. “We’re AI and implants. I don’t think this sort of thing is what we do.”

  Elias stood up. “You guys have some subsidiaries that do drones. Some of those might.”

  “And what if they do?” said Cass. “We don’t have the money.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Could we get an advance?” said Nia to Kade. “We’re so close to this milestone.”

  Kade held up his hands. “Whoa. Settle down. I can’t do that.”

  “Then call someone who can,” said Nia. This was a directive, and her tone had Kade reaching for his phone before she had finished.

  For several minutes, Kade wandered off by himself on his phone as he worked his way around Arch-Tech, talking to various people. Eventually, he came back to the group. “We do have some,” said Kade. “It would be possible to get it here in time.” Everyone broke into smiles and seemed about to celebrate when Kade spoke again. “But there is still the money issue. I’ve asked our CFO to meet with you.”

  “When can she meet?” said Cass. He looked like he was ready to head over there right then if that was needed.

  “She’s going to call here holographically,” said Kade. “Should be a few minutes.”

  Nia pulled Cass aside for a moment to coach him on what he needed to do. When Arch-Tech’s CFO, Evelyn Korsakov, called in, her body appearing as a hologram in the room, Nia thought Cass could handle it.

  “Hello,” said Evelyn, greeting the room. On her end, she likely was viewing them all as holograms around her. “Seems like you’ve gotten yourselves into a bit of a bind.” Her tone was flat and hard to read.

  “Yes,” said Cass. He started explaining the situation, but after a few sentences, Evelyn held up a hand to stop him.

  “Kade’s already filled me in on all that,” said Evelyn. “The issue is, you need this titanium-carbon fibre composite for your car and have no money or means to get it in time.” Cass nodded. “I’ve run through a quick inventory of all our subsidiaries, and I can confirm we have what you need in stock.” A few people smiled, but Evelyn held up a hand to the room again. “But it will cost you.”

  Cass shot a look at Nia, then back at Evelyn. “Yeah, we were thinking that because we are so close to our milestone that…”

  “No,” said Evelyn. “I can’t have that.”

  “Well, then, why mention you have the material?” said Cass. Nia did not like his tone. To be fair, there was not much Cass could do in this situation.

  “I can get you the material, Mr. Varn,” said Evelyn. “But I’m looking for more than just money at this point.”

  “What else do we have?” said Cass.

  “Your team,” said Evelyn. Around the room, everyone looked at each other and at themselves.

  “I don’t know if that can be sold,” said Cass.

  “I suppose I should have been more specific,” said Evelyn. “Your spot in Ultracar. I’m sure you have some impressive people with you, but the real value is the spot on the grid you occupy.”

  “So what? You just want to buy out the team and replace us?” said Cass.

  “Not immediately,” said Evelyn. “But in time. Arch-Tech would own your team. Funding would be less of an issue in such a case, and we could bring our own people in. The season starts soon, however, so we would have to rely on your current team and technology for now.”

  Cass shot another look at Nia. “No,” he said. “I’m not doing this. I built this team from nothing.”

  “Very impressive, yes,” said Evelyn. “But you’re not in a position to argue.”

  “I can’t do this,” said Cass, who turned to walk out of the garage.

  “I wouldn’t do that, Mr Varn,” said Evelyn. By the tone of her voice, Nia wondered if she also had some vocal enhancements.

  Cass stopped and looked at Evelyn’s hologram.

  “This deal is off if you leave,” said Evelyn coolly. “Here is the arrangement. We will give you the material and funding. But the team now belongs to Arch-Tech.”

  “You can’t do that,” said Cass.

  “Of course I can,” said Evelyn. “This is your only option. If you want to compete in Ultracar this season, this is how it will be.”

  “I’m not some corporate employee,” said Cass.

  “That can also be fixed,” said Evelyn. “If you don’t perform to our satisfaction, you will be replaced. That includes everyone here.” Evelyn looked around the team.

  “I… ” Cass turned a couple of shades whiter as he looked around the garage at everyone. They all looked back at him, equally stunned.

  “Do we have an agreement?” said Evelyn, staring at Cass with the confidence of someone who knew they had already won.

  Cass slumped and looked at the floor. “Yes,” he said quietly.

  “Excellent,” said Evelyn. “I’ll have the necessary paperwork prepared and the materials sent to you. Remember, I still need a good test by tomorrow.”