The alley is darker and narrower than usual shadow sidewalk. The buildings on opposite sites have different graffitis. It's dead quiet.
‘’System, show the map and current location.’’ I have never been to this part of the city.
The map becomes visible and colour of one street changes to red. The route that I was on goes around the street, but it's closer if I go through it.
I wonder why the system didn’t choose this path.
Maybe it's dangerous or my mom reprogramed the system to chose the longest way for my ‘exercise’ once I’m out.
Lucky me. The quicker it is, the better it is.
It doesn't look like anyone uses this street.
My footsteps echo along with each step I take. This street could have concerts in it. The vocal transmission is good.
Ugh.. I want to sing.
Who made such a place that forces people to sing. I don’t want to, but I want to …
What to do!!!!
To sing or not to sing this is now the question.
CRASH
‘’Whaaaa! What the hell?‘’ *hehell* *hell* *ell*
My heartbeat is out of control and trembling have taken over my fingers. It sounds like something crashed. That scared the devil out of me.
Looking around myself there is nothing unusual close to me. Wait, is that the smoke that I see?
Around five meters behind there is thin smoke coming out of the trash cans.
Slowly walking closer I notice that smoke doesn't come from within the trash cans but from behind them.
Now I’m interested. Just what crashed?
Three steps and I will see.
‘’Hey! What cha doing?’’
Voice surprise me, so I lose my balance and start falling forward. Arms flailing, I won't be able to catch myself.
This will hurt!
Something grabbed my arm and yanked back. My body follows and somebody embraces me.
Wha-What? No… Don’t touch me!
I start fighting for my freedom. Arms holding me are strong and I can not free myself. My chest starts to hurt.
The arms loosened and I slide to the floor. I have no strength left in myself.
Looking behind I see a girl wearing a gothic crimson skirt and black leather jacket. Her hair is done in a high ponytail and her face is hidden by a lace mask.
I’m weaker than a girl?! despair
She looks scary. I look at the floor, maybe she will lose interest.
I don’t want to talk to her. Especially now when it's hard to breathe.
In my field of vision, there is only the coloured glass that covers the streets. I hear her walking and her black shoes come into my view.
‘’Lucy! Have you found the drone yet?’’
The new voice ask. It's a male and sound adult. I start feeling a tension in my stomach and my body becomes tense. Too much- It's too much for me. I’m having troubles breathing.
‘’Bro, wait there! This one is starting to hyperventilate… I will try to calm him. ‘’
The girl called Lucy said to her brother. She doesn’t sound scary.
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‘’Deep breaths! In— and out— in---- and out----In— and out— in---- and out----’’ The pressure in my stomach slowly recedes and it's becoming easier to breathe.
’’Feeling better now?’’
I nod and try to stand up. My legs are weak and trembling but I can stand on my own. Slowly lifting my head I look at Lucy.
Not in the eyes, but roughly in her direction. Not far behind her stands a male youth with a darker milk chocolate like skin.
His hair is in black braids that reach his chin. I would say that he has African ancestors.
Crap! I zoned out. What would they think? The silence is awkward and they look at me like… like something.
‘’Th…Thanks’’
’’pft…hhhh…pfh…’’ Lucy glares at her ‘bro’ as he holds his laughter. It seems my stuttering is funny to him.
’’Seriously. First, you crash our drone and now you are making fun of this lost lamb.’’
As Lucy scolds him he quickly wears a straight face, but you can still see the amusement in the eyes.
‘’Lo… Lost lamb?’’ Is that meant to be me?
’’Yeah, you look like you have no idea that this is a restricted street and your legs and voice shake like a newborn lamb before a wolf.’’
''More like a bunny.'' Corrects the male.
‘’Restri- Restricted street?’’
’’This street is not on the map, most of the times. It's… hmm…. how should I say… Probably something like grey zone.’’ Lucy's companion explains.
‘’Like he said, it's a gray zone. Each part has its own guards. I'm actually curious how come you came this far without being stopped.
Here is the third post. Ahh… we should check your clearance. Can you grab this pencil like thing?’’
Lucy continue the 'explanation?' and gives me stick resembling a hybrid between computer pen and old fashioned pen(one from the medieval age).
As soon as I grab it, the ornaments on it change colour. Looks like it connected to my system in clothes.
Lucy takes back the stick and stabs it to the glass panel in her 'brothers?' hands.
’’Sam Tyson, so that’s your name. Looks like you have double guardian mode activated, but here it says that the commissioners are hidden.’’ Lucy mumbles to herself.
Hmmm... Who gave me permission to pass restricted area?
‘’Hey are you sure that bunny will be able to safely go through all the clearance.
He doesn’t look strong and he just had a panic attack? Should we escort him to his destination?’’ Lucy looks at his brother as he shows his concern for me.
Aww… he looks tough but he is a softy at heart.
But could he use my name instead of a bunny? I'm not a bunny.
‘’ I … I would… be… grateful if… you would.’’
They looked at each other and nodded.
Was that telepathy?
‘’ ‘’Where do you want to go?’’ ‘’ They said at the same time. It's slightly creepy how they behave.
I lift my hand and say ‘’System map’’ and the map shows above my sleeve. They stare at the map and the smile slowly shows on their faces.
‘’It's decided. We are going with you to our favourite cafe.’’ They again say at the same time.
I guess my alone time run out. They don't look like I could protest. And what if someone else approaches me. I had enough scares for the day... maybe more than a day, a week.
Ahhh...