Duplicate Minds

Twelve

"I'm not sure about this," Ted said. "It seems risky."

"Of course it's risky." Brian sounded energized, almost giddy, over the potential for danger. "So what? It's a risk worth taking if it gets us out of this hellhole."

"I'm not sure why he gets to be the one to get out of here," Natalie said, nodding in Rajeev's direction. "He hasn't been here for even a month. Most of us have been here for years."

"I don't like it any better than you," Brian said, "but the fact is, Rajeev is the best chance for all of us getting out of here eventually. He's the father of NLT's founder and has more leverage with him than any of us do. If he's able to get the ear of the media, he'll also make for a far more compelling story than any of us would—father versus son? It sounds like something out of a soap opera."

Rajeev sat on the couch, doing his best to ignore his compatriots' chatter and steel himself for what they were about to do. By the end of the day he very well may be dead—for a second time. Or he could end up paralyzed, if Mira's friend wasn't as skilled as he seemed to think he was.

He stood. "Let's stop delaying the inevitable and get this show on the road."

They made their way down the hall, single file. Rajeev was struck by the irony that they were given so much autonomy within these walls, yet the second they tried to set foot outside them, they were literally stopped in their tracks. He supposed be should grateful that they were able to move about freely, but he couldn't help but liken their situation to that of prison inmates able to move about the prison facilities freely until they were confined to their cells for the night.

They filed into the elevator and stood silently, side by side, as it lowered them to the first floor. When the elevator doors opened, they marched out and headed for the building's front entrance. Before coming into view of the guards, they huddled up to go over the plan one more time.

"This is crazy," Ted said, a hint of panic creeping into his voice. "This is absolutely nuts. We've tried this. It didn't work."

"It's too late to back out now," Natalie said. "We're in this."

"No," Rajeev said. "We're not going to do this without everyone on board. Do any of you want to back out? It's not too late if you do. We can walk away right now and work out some other plan."

Everyone's face gravitated to Ted. "Ugh, fine," he said. "Let's do it."

Rajeev nodded. "Okay then. On the count of three."

He began counting and as soon as he hit "three," Ted immediately sprinted for the exit.

"Hey!" a guard yelled as he sped past the security station. "Stop!" When it was clear he wasn't going to obey the command, the guard and his companion dashed around the guard station and followed after him. But Ted had a solid head start and was able to make it out the door before the guards could stop him.

The effects were immediate. As soon as he stepped outside, his body seized up. He tipped to the right, falling over onto his side. The guards each picked a side and dragged Ted's body back into the building.

"What were you thinking?" one of the guards asked. "You know you can't leave without authorization!"

"I was just about to leave for the day," the other guard said. "I'm gonna have to stick around at least another hour now filling out paperwork."

Just as they were dragging Ted's body around to the back of the security station, the other three androids barreled around the corner and made for the exit. It took a moment for the guards to fathom that yet more androids were making a break for it. They turned away from Ted and sprinted toward their new targets.

Natalie and Brian turned around abruptly and rushed the guards as Rajeev continued speeding for the exit. The guards had not anticipated that the androids might rush toward them, and as they grappled with their opponents, Rajeev made it out the door. He froze and plummeted to the ground. It was a terrifying sensation, knowing that he should be bracing himself for impact but finding himself incapable of doing so. His face was pointed to the ground and all he could see was the dirty pavement. Each second seemed to crawl by at a glacial pace. Why aren't they here yet?

Finally, he felt a pair of hands on either side of his body lifting him into the air, accompanied by hushed commands: "Quick! Load him into the van!" Rajeev watched as the pavement gave way to the lush green grass of the lawn, then back to pavement, and finally to the black, rubberized floor of a messy van.

The door slammed shut, and someone shouted, "Go! Go!" The van shot forward and the occupants rocked backward. When it got up to speed, Rajeev's rescuers turned him around on his back so he was facing up. Two faces peered over him: One belonging to a fair-skinned, black-haired sprite of a woman; the other belonging to a widely-built man with short-cropped blonde hair. He looked like a linebacker straight out of a 1950s-era college football team.

"How are you doing, Mr. Rajeev?" the man asked.

"He can't talk, dumbass." The voice came from the front of the van, out of Rajeev's sight.

"Actually, I can talk," Rajeev said. "And it's 'Mr. Sundaram.' Or just Rajeev."

A smug smile crept over the linebacker's face. "Who's the dumbass now?"

"To answer your question, I'm doing fine, although I've been better," Rajeev said. "Is anyone on our tail?"

The woman looked up, out the van's back window. "So far so good."

"If they haven't caught up to us by now, we should be in the clear," the man said. He turned to the driver. "But don't you dare slow down!"

The woman wiped her bangs away from her eyes. "I'm Rosa," she said, then gestured to her companion. "And this is Samuel."

"Pleased to meet you," Rajeev said. "Thank you for rescuing me."

Samuel smiled. "No sweat. Anything we can do to stick it to the man."

"What do you mean?"

"Next Level Technologies," Rosa said. "When we learned what they were doing to you . . . claiming that your body is 'company property.' It pissed us off. It's disgusting. You're human beings. You never asked to be resurrected and squeezed into a body you didn't own."

"Well I'm glad you see things my way. Are you friends with Mira?"

"I am," Samuel said.

"And I," Rosa said, "am her wife."

Rajeev had no way to express his surprise but the pitch of his voice. "Her wife? Oh . . . oh!"

She shot a smirk at Samuel. "Took him a second, but I think he gets it."

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting—"

"It's okay. We can save formal introductions for later. For now, just relax. We'll get you back up and running in no time."

"Hopefully."

She nodded and flashed him a comforting smile. "Hopefully."