There were definitely more lights shining through the smoke than there should have been. The Spine stumbled to a halt, staring with wide photo-receptors as Rabbit drew close enough for him to make out details. This was not the same automaton that had been crated beside him after the show.

His glowing gaze was drawn downward, toward the limp body in the copper automaton's grip. The half-realized fear that had gripped him eased with a guilty hiss of steam. The woman was unfamiliar. It was terrible to feel relieved.

Her skin was ashen and her chest still; there was so much blood, staining her clothes, staining Rabbit. As painful as it was, there was nothing they could do for her. If she wasn't gone yet, she would be soon. "Rabbit... put her down. She's dead. We'll... we'll give her a proper burial later, but right now there's other people we gotta help--people that've got a chance. Our family." The Spine knew he didn't need to say it, not really, because underneath the inexplicable changes to her chassis Rabbit was the same automaton that had been there when he was first brought online. The one that had taught him what family meant more than a century ago.

Whatever had happened to his brother--sister--would have to be sorted out after they had saved as many as they could from the wreckage.