Duplus

Chapter 1

—Third Person's POV—

The air smelled of metal.

Turn right.

It always did. But it seemed more metallic somehow.

Left here. Right again.

Or maybe it was just because she was out of her league. Literally.

There!

She barged into the room, breathing heavily. She wasn't going to back down now that she had come this far. Reminding herself that she could do this, she took a few steps further.

"How long until security comes for the final checkup of the building?" She whispered, clicking her earpiece. She tucked her hair behind her ears, her highly modified earpiece coming into view.

"You're on time, senior. They'll be there in fifteen minutes. You have a span of 10 minutes to look for it." A male voice spoke into her earpiece. A sigh of relief escaped her. She would be just fine.

Rushing towards the heavy machinery of different sorts scattered around the room, she started searching for it. As she went through the whole place she couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed when she didn't find what she was so desperately looking for. That bracelet was worth her breaking into her own workplace and meddling with the law.

An alarm exploded right outside the room, making her jump a foot in the air.

"I thought you said I had fifteen minutes!" She hissed into the earpiece.

"There's been a miscommunication! Duck under the table. We don't have time. Quick!" The voice shouted into the earpiece, making her flinch. Her heart shot up to her throat and she quickly ducked under the nearest table she could find. She rested her weight on her legs and moved to a darkened corner. From her view, the room looked like an abandoned area with no speck of light. "What now, Junior?" she whispered, daring to speak.

"Security is headed your way. You need to escape right away but you can't because there are specialized guards behind that door. You'll have to wait for them to enter the room—"

"To trap them and escape from this place. Right?" she finished for the guy, " Sure. Easy peasy." She picked up some courage from her knotting stomach and straightened to face the guards. Not like she had a choice.

"Exactly." his tone indicated that he had a small smile on his face. Right now, she didn't have time to focus on the small details. She needed to get out no matter what or else she could kiss her sweet butt goodbye.

Just as Junior had said, the tall electronic doors slid open. "Access granted. Welcome officer." The computerized voice echoed in the whole room. She clasped her hands over her mouth as her breathing got heavier with every step of the guards. "Check the apparatus section, Junior. I'll check there." A well built, husky voiced man in the usual security uniform spoke. His voice sounded like thunder in her ear. She couldn't speak to Junior. Not there. Not then.

She imagined, just for a second what would happen if the big guy caught her. A brown haired blob on the shiny floor flashed through her mind.

Gah! He could sit on me!

She shuddered off the bad thoughts. "Think good things." she whispered to herself.

The other guard, smaller compared to the first one, was a blonde. Or was he? His hair probably looked like that because of the flash coming out of his wrist pad. She had never seen a blonde person up close. It reminded her of her senior, the handsome, broad-shouldered Lx2 who could make her smile—

Focus! I need to get out!

She heard a little static in her earpiece. Trying her best not to ask what had happened to Junior, she remained quiet. "Senior! You need... to Get... out... Now!!" His voice was cutting off. In a panic, she raised herself from her sitting position, forgetting that she was under a table. Her head hit the table with a smack loud enough to rattle the entire table.

Ow! That'll leave a stump!

"Hey! What was that?!"

She froze as both of the guards turned, aiming their long rifles at the table. She screamed internally for a second but quickly snapped out of it. "It's now or never." She told herself. Her hands searched the ground for something. Anything. She felt a hard round structure under her hand. She grabbed it, not caring what it was. Throwing it from behind her, she got out from under the table. The guards were distracted by her little trick. Availing the chance, she rushed towards the door behind them. "Open the door, Junior!" She shouted into the earpiece.

The guards quickly turned to her and one of them fired. It was a close call, but she had already activated her shield. The door slid open and she rushed out, hearing loud firing behind her. "Quick! Change the pass code!"

Good thing Junior was experienced or else she would've been that flattened brown blob by now. "Done, senior. Just get out of there. I'll keep backing you up." He assured, providing her a little more hope. "My Armilla!" She exclaimed as the corner of her eyes caught the shining bracelet on the floor, a moment of relief amidst the chaos.

"Quick, Senior! You can't stop now!" Junior snapped her out of it.

As the bracelet clicked back into her place around her wrist, she ran to the left with newfound strength. It didn't take seconds for the security alarms to go off in the Restricted Department.

Her heart sped up like it was on turbo mode. The stubborn leather boots slowed her down and she cursed herself for choosing comfort over practicality. "Senior, the troops are on their way. You need to take a right from here." Junior's voice cracked and she could sense that he was worried.

She obeyed his every order. "Where now, J?!" She had lost her breath but didn't stop. Behind her, she could hear robotic chants of "Intruder Alert".

"This is insane! The artificial troops are actually multiplying!" Junior finally panicked, stealing her breath away.

"Come on, J. Don't lose yourself. Tell me where I should go!" She pressed.

"Senior, I'm completely blank. The only choice we have is the Restricted Turret." Junior broke the news to her. It was like she had gotten hit by a train.

"What?! That's totally illegal!" She cried.

"So is breaking into the Restricted department and running away from authorities. Come on, we don't have time to chit chat."

Fair enough.

"Fine. Give me the directions." She sprinted onward. "I'm on my own, J, and I have no idea what's out there."

There was a pause on the other side as she punched in the code to open the barred gate. As the night breeze hit her face, she held in her breath. With a quick stride, she made the leap and sealed her fate as a runaway criminal.

Through the earpiece, she could make out Junior's distorted voice. "I'll try to contact you somehow, Senior. Stay safe!"