Duplus

Chapter 26

Amaani's POV:

"Don't worry about that, Senior. We came prepared." 26 grinned at me before turning to the other two. "You just have to follow us. And when I tell you to run, you run, 'Kay?" he added to which I nodded. I quickly thanked Allah for sending me help from the most unexpected place.

"18 and 45, let's go." At that, the door slid right open. For a second I thought that we had been caught but Alhamdulillah it happened because 26 typed the passcode in the keypad. "We have to be really quiet. We might fool the other officials here but the robots demand our bracelet identity so we won't be able to confuse them." 26 explained for me and I nodded again.

"Here, 16." Lx18 threw a cloth at me what seemed to be a cloak. "What's this?" I questioned. "It's Lx5's uniform. The people here will think you're her if you wear it. We can't let you out like that." she referred to my worn-out trousers and shirt which hardly reached my knees. I took the cloak gladly, as it was also the only way to cover myself.

I pulled up the hood and gave a thumbs up to 45 and 26 who were waiting for me.

After sharing a nod, we walked out. The hallway outside was quiet but well lit up. There weren't many rooms around there which made me guess that the room I was put in was made especially for captives. And with that, came the security guards, the robots.

The hallway was squirming with them. I would say there were at least five of them at a distance of every meter.

We started walking silently but the boots they were wearing made a noise that echoed as soon as they touched the ground. A wave of fear washed over me and I tightened my hand into a fist, trying to calm my thumping heart. We squeezed past the mini-humans, their screens in the place of their heads blinking white and black to show that everything was normal.

I felt 26 come closer to me and hold my arm as if to lead me out of there. The possibility of getting caught and the dangerous outcomes of what I was doing had me so occupied that I didn't realize that Lx26 wasn't actually my mehrem. He was just someone who looked like Sufiyaan.

My gaze fell on his back and it suddenly gave me a weird rush of deja vu. Yes, he looked very much like Sufiyaan and he talked like him too but even the vibes that were being emitted from him, were the same as Sufiyaan. It was a bit freaky but very comforting that I had someone who was concerned for my well being for real.

We made a turn to the right and I noticed the last door of the hallway was a bit different than the others. I was just checking it out when I shook my thoughts off, reminding myself that I was running for my life at the moment.

I wanted, so badly, to roam the building and explore all the techno-related things but I controlled myself.

"We're almost there. We just need to pass those two." Lx18 was the one to speak as she pointed towards an exit gate in front of us. At that, my fear subsided and I felt a bit relaxed. I saw the sunny weather outside through the glass sliding door with two robots standing on guard at both sides. Both of them held a rifle in their hand which looked too heavy for them to carry.

"See those golden strip across their heads, senior?" Lx26 asked and I nodded in acknowledgment. "That shows that they're the latest premium models that were launched last week. They have special lens that can recognize bracelets that haven't been scanned at the entrance within a short range." he explained.

I bobbed my head up and down to show him I was listening.

"I had my bracelet scanned, if I remember correctly. So we're good right?" I turned to the other two, Lx45 still being unknown to me. Lx26 and Lx18 shot each other sheepish looks which told me that something wasn't right.