AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s not going to be pleasant though, she thought, eyeing the long metal urinal just under the window. But there was only one way to get up there and that was to climb.
Grimly, she went to the smelly trough and gripped the metal side. With a little grunt, she lifted her leg and got the sole of one boot up on the edge of the urinal. She was about to try and get the second foot up—no easy task since the urinal was quite high, being built for guys who were seven feet tall—when another Dark Kindred walked into the bathroom.
He had two mechanical arms and one robot leg. He stood there staring at Lili for a moment, a confused look on his face.
Luckily, the emotion damper didn’t allow Lili to panic—though she was sure it wasn’t quite as effective as it had been, she remained calm.
At last the Dark Kindred spoke.
“What are you attempting?” he rumbled. “That is not the correct way to use the urinal.”
“No, I know that. I…” Lili had a sudden inspiration. “The service mechanoids asked me to check the pipes outside the window,” she said. “Give me a hand, will you?”
“A hand?” The Dark Kindred looked down at his mechanized hands in apparent confusion.
“No, no!” Lili said impatiently. “I mean, boost me up—you’re big and strong. Can you help me reach the window?”
“Oh. Certainly.” Shrugging, the Dark Kindred came behind her and took her by the waist. With no effort at all, he boosted Lili right up to the open window.
“Thanks!” Lili called. She was able to place both feet on the edge of the urinal and push herself through the window. She could see the alley outside—a long, gray, dim area which was mercifully empty, so at least there was nobody to see her odd display. It seemed like she was home free…
But then she got stuck.
It was the damn metal chest plate that did it—the one that was supposed to hide her breasts. It was scraping against the windowsill and didn’t want to give an inch.
Once more Lili felt the sharp little teeth of panic nibbling at the edges of her calm. Oh yes, the emotion damper was definitely losing its effectiveness. But she couldn’t give up or give in—she had to keep going!
“Hey!” she shouted at the Dark Kindred behind her. “Give me a push, will you?”
“All right,” she heard him reply. And then a big hand was planted squarely on her ass.
Lili wiggled and would have complained, but then the hand gave a hard shove. And—when she sucked in her breath—she found herself finally sliding through the window.
She tumbled out into the alley below, barely getting her arms up in time to break her fall. It still hurt and she found that her black bodysuit had been torn in several places when she finally struggled into a standing position. Also, some of her “enhancements” had been dented and scratched so that they didn’t look quite so authentic anymore. But never mind about that—she had to get going!
Looking at her GPS tracker again, Lili started down the street. She didn’t like passing by the restaurant where she had just been eating, but she didn’t dare go any other way. She didn’t have time—it had now been at least forty-five minutes since she’d turned on her emotion damper and she only had fifteen minutes left to find Dark and Light before it gave out completely.
She walked as swiftly as she could past the open restaurant door, noticing that LJ-91’s sniffer was still waiting patiently outside.
If she had needed any other indication that her emotion damper was losing its effectiveness, the reaction of the sniffer sealed the deal. When the metal canine saw her passing, its eyes turned red and it threw up its nose and began to inhale, glaring at her as it did so.
“Good boy,” Lili muttered and kept walking. “Good boy, just stay where you are. Don’t move, please!”
A low, buzzing growl was her answer but when she dared to look back she was relieved to see that the sniffer was still just sitting there. Good—that was a relief at least. Now she just had to hope she didn’t run into any more of the metal canines!
Lili glanced at her arm again and quickened her pace. She had to hurry—her time was running out and she was still far away from Dark and Light!
31
DARK
Dark looked down at the circuit he was rewiring and noted that he had done an excellent job—not that it gave him any pleasure. Nothing gave him pleasure or pain anymore, which was exactly how he liked it.
Beside him, Light was finishing his own circuit as well. The two of them had been working a swing shift at the mechanoid plant where they were now employed, and though it was only just past noon, their workday was now done.
“Are you finished?” he asked his twin.
“Affirmative.” Light put down his soldering gun and nodded.
