The New Prince

Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The End of Childhood, the Beginning of Undefined Reality

Maryann heard the voices of robot soldiers as she crawled inside the wide vents located above the lounge where the soldiers congregated. As she crawled closer to the air ducts, she was able to see three robot guards. Two spoke in Drulian language telling the third something before they left the lounge. Maryann waited rather irritably for another ten minutes or so before the third stood up from a chair and left as well.

Waiting another five minutes to see if anyone would return, she then decided to exit the vents after making sure no more robots would enter. I need to find a way to the cells. Maryann silently told herself as she looked around the lounge. Nothing in the room would help her. No weapons, no computer access to any of the dungeons, not even a layout of the cells. The only thing the professor noticed was a door across from where she stood. She walked to it and opened it carefully. Her face dropped in disappointment, a storage room. I was hoping for something a bit more useful.

She sighed in frustration, "I'm expecting this to be too easy!" she whispered to herself as she closed it. Turning around to view the room once again, the only things she noticed were a couple of chairs and a table with a long burgundy tablecloth over it. Vases full of a red substance sat on the middle of the table. Walking toward it, the professor picked up one vase to inspect it. She smelled the liquid and immediately felt nauseous. Blood she confirmed to herself as she put the vase back where it formerly stood. I need to leave this God forsaken place!

Suddenly the doors to the room flew open, forcing her to quickly take refuge under the table. From the floor, she saw the legs of one of the Drule guards. She couldn't tell if it was a human or a robot, until she heard it using the comm. unit to communicate the ending of his shift. A robot!

Maryann watched the robot walk over to the storage room. When he opened it, he eyes widened in surprise as she saw him press some type of button inside one of the walls of the room. Suddenly, a wall within the room slid open and revealed another storage room containing robot utilities. This is crazy! The woman thought to herself as an incredible idea popped in her head. Actually, it's insane, but I have nothing to lose at this point. She continued convincing herself as she watched the incredible events taking place in front of her.

I have to do it now! She came closer to the edge of the table, trying to have a better look at the droid toward the back. There! Her eyes focused as they located the robot's hard drive toward the back of the head.

Slowly, Maryann crawled out from under the table and without making the tiniest of noise, began walking toward the robot. She retrieved the knife from her pocket, the only weapon of defense that she had managed to confiscate from the young slave who served her food so many nights before. Her hands shook, but she desperately tried to keep them steady. Making sure the robot didn't hear even the tiniest sound from the fabric of her pants; Maryann suddenly raised her hand and jammed the knife to the back of the robot's skull.

The robot started shaking, its voice shrieking louder. She turned to face the monstrous creature and with all her strength, punched it hard enough for the thing to fall hard onto the floor. It shook for a moment longer before its eyes finally dimmed to complete blackness.

Not wanting to risk any of the guards coming in, she quickly dragged the remains of the robot back inside of the so called storage room area. When both of them were in, the professor quickly closed the door.

Once inside, she took a look at the dead robot on the floor and the miscellaneous parts, including weapons and other devices around the room. Taking a big breath, she began preparing herself mentally. It would take a couple of hours, but if her plan worked, she'd be able to reach the cells easier than she'd expected.