Another great story from Pat Murphy! This one is a little bit somber - kind of like with Bones and how that had a few sad places. This story is about a scientist who is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation during a nuclear war. Now, she is slowly dying due to this exposure to radiation and wishes to leave something behind.

Before the bombs fell, she worked for a company constructing service robots; however, she had studied biology and decides to build the next step in evolution. Using parts from her lab and some random pieces of metal, she builds among other creatures an pseudoscorpion and so on.

One of the most interesting things with the story is that it is told from a first person perspective, however, we don't learn the main character's name until quite late in the story. Katie tells us about her quiet and secluded life, and how it made her into the person she is.

I like how Katie brings in descriptions from the natural world regarding animals she studied and then, how she describes the construction of the robot animals, their habitat, and behavior. I thought the ending was great! ( )