Flashback ( PDFDrive )

He crouched to study the metal animal, which was all cogs and
wires and shiny bits of brass.
The creature tilted its head, studying Dex with marble eyes, and
Dex reached out slowly, like he was offering a treat to a frightened cat.
The rabbit wiggled its ears a few times, then hopped onto his palm,
and Dex stroked the metal plate along its back before turning it over
to examine the inner mechanisms.
“The programming on this is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he said as
he ran a finger along the rabbit’s foot and watched it flinch, as if the
touch had tickled. The rabbit twisted its head, still staring at Dex with
unblinking eyes before it leaped out of his hands and landed back on
the path with a soft clank.
“There’s an owl over there.” Sophie pointed to the edge of one of
the planters, where a gleaming chrome owl watched them with huge
eyes made from two glowing light bulbs. And over in the corner she
spotted a sleek dragon with verdigris scales peeking out from the
thick vines. There was also a tiny blue halcyon fluttering near the
entrance, with what looked like a music box set into its chest.
“She calls them her pet projects,” Mr. Forkle explained. “My favorite
is the hummingbird—it must be around here somewhere.”
He peeled back part of a fern, but only found a pygmy marmoset
built from a gold pocket watch.
“I don’t understand how she made these,” Dex said as he scooped
up the tiny monkey and let it wrap its gold-chain tail around his
finger.
“You can’t see the trick?” a throaty voice asked, and Sophie tried
not to gasp when she spotted a red-haired figure emerging from a
hatch among the ferns.