Jazz, put this on,” said Ariel, handing her a blue bandanna, like the one he was still wearing. “It’s not much, but it may be enough that Wellbay or Lance won’t recognize you.”
“Good idea,” she said taking it from him, tying it around her head.
The elevator stopped buzzing and thumped on the first floor. Ariel and Sheridon stood at the front, waiting with clenched fists for the doors to open. Russell showed his own courage, moving from Treen’s side and stepping in front of her when the doors slid apart. However, no pistol pointing guards were waiting and they filed out of the elevator, gawking at the enormous facility’s shiny interior.
“Everything’s stainless steel. The floors, walls — everything,” said Ariel, gliding his fingers along the panel next to him. He gazed up at the high ceiling — an octagon pattern loaded with big, round, fluorescent lights.
“Look over there,” said Sheridon, pointing at a dozen motionless bodies standing in a section marked: ‘Ecnal Test Area’.
“It’s like a science fiction movie,” said Russell, following closely behind Sheridon.
“Hate to interrupt,” said Treen, still holding the elevator doors open, “But could someone bring me that chair so I can keep these doors ajar?”
Ariel grabbed the chair, jogged over, then jammed it between the sliding doors as Treen stepped out. Then they rushed over to join Sheridon and Russell who’d wandered into the circular testing area to marvel at the androids.
“Incredible,” Treen whispered, stopping to examine one of the droids. Some had silicone skin and were dressed like everyday people; others were mechanical skeletons made of metal, plastic, and rubber; hundreds of neatly bundled wires curved through thousands of colorful components that appeared impossible to figure out.
“What the heck are these?” asked Ariel, staring down at the wide, four-legged skeletons that sat higher than his waistline.
“Looks like they’re designing some type of animal,” said Treen walking over to it. She knelt to read the tag attached to the belly: “Ecnal Grizzly?”
Sheridon scrunched his brow, “What they need a mechanical grizzly bear for?”
“Oh man,” said Russell, voice shaking. “Turn around. I think we’re about find out.”
Russell sounded so frightened that he caused the others to turn around in slow, trembling sequence. They trembled even more when they saw a hairy, fully assembled grizzly bear glaring at them from the center of the circle. After the brown bear had finished shaking off the white sheet that covered it, the monster stood on its hind legs and released a thunderous roar that flowed out of its sevenfoot frame and echoed throughout the factory.
“Run!” Russell shouted, advice the others had taken even before he’d opened his mouth. The bear charged after them.
The grizzly obviously wasn’t designed for indoor use; its nails slid and pattered over the stainless steel floor every time the creature sped up or changed direction. The bear’s out of control skating reminded Treen of the fake doctor she’d tricked into flying out the hospital window. Maybe it would work again...
Dodging the clumsy bear might’ve been easy but locating the exit was not. After minutes of sprinting up, down, and all around the maze like corridors, Treen stopped. Frustrated, she put her hands on her hips, looked around, then pushed over a fiberglass mannequin standing beside her. The glare off the stainless steel walls and the continuous roar, made the search for a way out (and keeping her cool) more difficult.
“This way!” said Treen, leading the others past an endless array of computer equipment that lined the outer walls of the building. With the growling grizzly catching up, she dashed towards what looked like storage shed.
“Quickly, open those doors,” said Treen, now staring at the massive monster galloping towards her. Russell stood next to her, while Ariel and Sheridon slid the doors apart.
“Oh man,” Russell groaned, shivering. “Here it comes!” The charging bear picked up speed and madly wobbled its head around, exposing sharp silver fangs.
“Get ready to dive!” she shouted, before counting down: “One.”
“Two.”
“Three!”
They dove apart. As expected, the Ecnal Grizzly skidded across floor, roared into the storage container, then smashed into rack of video monitors. The bear’s momentum carried it all the way back, where it clanged head first into the steel frame. Ariel and Sheridon hurried to slide the doors shut, then listened as the mechanical creature growled and slammed its body against the walls.
However, they weren’t done running just yet. “I hear footsteps,” said Treen. “A lot of them.”
“They’re movin’ fast, but which way they comin’ from?” asked Sheridon, over the bears muffled snarls.
“Well we can’t just stand here,” said Russell flinging up his hands.
“We sure can’t,” said Treen, staring between Ariel and Sheridon’s shoulders, where she could see guards running towards them. “Come on,” she said, sprinting in the opposite direction.
After they’d stopped, cut, jerked, spun, and sprinted to elude the guards, Treen stopped in a hallway lined with offices. Breathing hard, she leaned over to put her hands on her knees. Ariel kneeled, took off his pack, and began searching inside of it.
“Check it out,” said Sheridon pointing down the corridor. “There’s a forklift under that cover.”
Russell snapped his neck towards Sheridon and asked, “What the hell we gonna do with a forklift?”
“Look man, them androids are tryin’ to kill our butts. I say we go crank that thing up, raise them forks, then ride that bad boy the hell outta this damn place.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” said Treen, standing. “Let’s do it.”
“Look out!” Ariel shouted, when a distant guard appeared behind the others then opened fire. Everyone scattered in the opposite direction until another guard emerged, trapping them at center. With nowhere to run and the guards moving closer, Ariel snatched his pack, placed it over his head, then charged through the glass door of the office in front of him. The others scurried behind him, over the shards and through the shattered doorframe.
Treen and Sheridon pulled Ariel to his feet. Russell stuck his head into the hallway then shouted, “Here they come!”
Ariel displayed what he’d taken from his pack and it looked like a grenade: “It’s just a smoke bomb made of Potassium Nitrate and Sugar. Jazz, after I pull the pin you and Russell get over to that forklift. Sheridon and me will take care of the guards.”
As Ariel and Sheridon moved towards the doorframe, Treen noticed an open briefcase on the desk behind her and hurried to look inside. She found folders, keys, a calculator, and a wallet that she flipped open. When she saw Mr. Wellbay’s frowning drivers license, she realized that they’d smashed inside his office. With no time to read through the folders, she ran behind the desk and ejected his CD drive, where a shiny disk slid out atop the tray. She put her finger through the hole, snatched it out, then closed the tray — just as Ariel sprang into the hallway and pulled the pin on the smoke bomb.
Within seconds, the dark cloud began to fill the hallway. However, escaping wouldn’t be as easy as Ariel had anticipated; a guard surprised him from behind, latching his massive hands around his neck. Ariel struggled to break free but his efforts only magnified the pain. Luckily, Sheridon heard the ruckus and ran over to help, leaping atop the guard and wrestling him down. With the area growing blacker by the second, Treen and Russell ran out of the office and towards the forklift.
Treen had glanced back to check on Russell when she suddenly walloped into what felt like the Smile Center oak tree. She crumbled to the floor then Russell tripped over her and wound up face down. When they glanced up, a massive Ecnal droid stood above them, looking even scarier as a silhouette amongst the gloom that the smoke bomb had produced.
Russell sprang up, but a crushing backhand from the Ecnal sent him spiraling back down on top of Treen. The chaos magnified when Ariel and Sheridon yelled out as they battled the other Ecnal.
As the area blackened, Treen felt the massive, gloved hand of the Ecnal, smack over her mouth. After a violent struggle, she pulled away, but the Ecnal quickly grabbed the collars of her leather jacket. She could barely breath as the droid lifted her off the floor. Treen’s boots were three feet up when the ascent halted; the guard jerked her, adjusting his one handed grip.
“It is dark and I cannot see. Who are you?” he