In the aftermath, A-Ka was covered in cold sweat, just like he had been back then. Heishi pulled him to his feet, and they kept walking forward through the hallway.
Neither of them expected the beeping guards to stop them. “You must undergo a safety inspection of the fifth type. Raise your hands,” an electronic voice said.
Shooting a glance at Heishi, A-Ka lifted his hands. Heishi followed suit, but then he kicked the robotic guard. Even though it weighed several hundred pounds, Heishi sent it flying, and it slammed into a door with a loud boom. The surveillance cameras on the ceiling all swiveled toward them.
“Go!” Heishi yelled.
The hallway once again sank into chaos. A-Ka hadn’t yet realized what was going on as Heishi grabbed him and raced through the hallway. With a flick of his hand, Heishi’s black-gold feathers rustled, filling the entire hallway as they darted forth, each hitting their target without fail until every surveillance camera was destroyed.
“Where to next?” Heishi asked.
I’ve really had enough after bringing you all here! A-Ka thought. The question I hear the most is “Where to?” I just drew a map last night! Did any of you even look at it?
Heishi looked at A-Ka, waiting for guidance.
A-Ka sighed.
“This way.” Pushing open a small door, A-Ka went in. The robotic guards noticed them and approached with a group of flying guards trailing behind them. A-Ka circled around and around in the room, then rushed into the large sleeping quarters.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Forgot this is the fourth level…”
Dozens of humans filled the sleeping chambers, and they all looked up at Heishi and A-Ka as they entered. When Heishi raised his eyes, the surveillance camera was slowly turning toward them, so A-Ka dragged Heishi out of its line of sight.
A girl waved at A-Ka. “Shh! Over here.” The girl opened up a metal trash can that A-Ka and Heishi didn’t wait to scramble into.
With a doubtful expression, Heishi looked at A-Ka, as if to ask, Why is she helping us?
A-Ka pointed at the surveillance monitor before making a shrinking and expanding gesture, meaning that if they were discovered by that device, it was very likely that they would be attacked indiscriminately, which meant that the humans here would also be hurt.
The girl put the lid on before placing a random bag of junk on top of it. At the same time, the door opened, and the robotic guards rolled in.
Hidden away, A-Ka stuck a miniature device to the wall of the can. He had been holding on to the anti-infrared jammer he got from Shahuang. Now, it sent out a signal that encompassed the entirety of the metallic can.
After a tense few seconds, the robotic guard left. Taking a deep breath, A-Ka climbed out of the can, followed by Heishi.
“Thank you,” Heishi said to that girl.
“What are your jobs?” the girl asked nervously.
As A-Ka lifted his head, anxiously watching the surveillance camera on the ceiling, he gestured for Heishi to follow its movements. To the girl, he said, “In four hours—exactly on the hour—make sure to leave through the garbage chute.”
“We have to go!” Heishi said.
A-Ka and Heishi left the sweeping range of the surveillance camera, pushed open another door, and ducked into a stairwell.
This entire place was dark, and only the surveillance camera above their heads shone with a faint green light. The two of them clambered carefully up the stairwell. After pushing open the door, A-Ka saw another human.
“Is this the fifth level?” A-Ka asked.
“It is,” the middle-aged man replied with an expression of confusion. “Which level did you come from? Hurry back there!”
A-Ka pulled his cap down. “No, I’ve come to find someone.”
He and Heishi walked down the hallway. That man had more questions, but he looked at them doubtfully before nixing any desire to follow them.
Heishi took A-Ka’s hand in his own as they passed through the large gathering hall. People passed to and fro, and they sank into the crowd.
Heishi was still in disbelief. “Have we thrown off the guards just like that?”
“Yes,” A-Ka said quietly. “Their surveillance of the humans is the weakest because we have the least aptitude for battle, especially when we don’t have weapons. Plus, Father has no way to predict human behavioral patterns, and in the robots’ eyes, they do many strange things…”
“That’s true,” Heishi said.
“Are our actions very strange in your eyes as well?” Without waiting for an answer, A-Ka pushed open another door.
To his surprise, someone greeted him. “A-Ka, didn’t you go to bed?”
He recognized the person as someone who lived in his section. Hurriedly, A-Ka said, “I remembered something, so I had to make a trip back.”
“Who’s he?” that young man asked, looking at Heishi curiously.
“Hello,” Heishi said.
A-Ka didn’t know what he could say to that.
The young man smiled at him. “Hello to you, too. Strange, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you around?”
“I’ll explain later. He… Ah, well, I need to go and take care of some things first!”
Hastily bidding farewell to that person, A-Ka and Heishi turned the corner of the hallway. “Let’s pass through the garbage dump. There’s energy passageways we can use there.”
After saying that, A-Ka pushed open the last door, but Heishi grabbed his collar and pulled him back.
A-Ka froze in fear. Right in front of him, standing at the corner of the emergency exit and waiting for the surveillance camera to turn away, was his past self.
A strange feeling filled A-Ka. Blinking, he stared at his past self, completely unable to believe it. Just a glance at his own body standing a mere stair’s length away made all of the hairs on his body prickle on end. He ducked behind the door, but thankfully the other A-Ka hadn’t noticed a thing. Back then, hiding from the surveillance camera was his only goal.
“Good thing you didn’t turn around,” Heishi said under his breath.
The two of them lingered outside the door for a while longer, and after A-Ka counted the minutes to himself, he said, “Now.”
This time, they managed to leave the exterior and head toward the garbage chute. The moment A-Ka entered the garbage chute and saw the footprints around it, he remembered the last time that he had used this exit and understood what he couldn’t have known back then.
“Let’s go,” A-Ka said. “Heishi?”
Heishi looked toward the other exit, not saying anything.
“Do you want to see your past self?” A-Ka asked.
Heishi was silent, mulling over this difficult decision.
“We still have three hours and fifteen minutes,” A-Ka said, glancing at his watch. “Let’s go take a look at our past.”
Heishi nodded, and the two of them scrambled out of the garbage chute from the other exit. The sea wind gusted as light rain drifted from the sky. In the distance, A-Ka’s old self was climbing down the cliff like he might be swept away by the wind at any moment, and even the A-Ka of the present wiped away some sweat as he watched the scene.
Heishi flicked open his wings. Hugging A-Ka in his arms, he carried them in the air over the beach while still ensuring they kept their distance.
The seawater rushed forth, crashing into the land as an angry, earthshaking wave, sending Heishi’s black sleeping chamber to the shore. It slammed into the cliff and landed on the beach below.
“This is where I was born,” Heishi replied from where he stood in the distance.
“Weren’t you born in your Heavenly Father’s laboratory?” A-Ka asked.
“No, I wasn’t. The memories my father gave me were a copy of his own soul and personality, which he injected directly into my slumbering body.”
A-Ka was shocked. He peered at Heishi with a strange expression.