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"Sservicse elevator," Walter said, looking at his computer

"That’s our way out? Which way?"

"No, that’ss what’ss heading thiss way We need to go that way," he said, pointing through the partition

Cole looked down the hallway at the glass door "Can you stop the service elevator? No point in what you--e did if they get here in tile elevator to this floor and send the rest down to the center of the moon" Cole placed a hand on Walter’s elbow "And hile you’re doing it We need to get close to that partition"

••••

Molly had her ear pressed to herto the distant thruh her body She spaced out again, not really hearing what herat how real her lap, their embrace, seemed

And yet, the illusion remained incomplete

It wasn’t her real ic recollection of her This felta child for the loss of a parent

Molly felt saddened by the irony of it all A ulf had formed between she and her moether--

And then the world went blank

White light

Everything hite light

She had no eyes, and yet the searing brightness filled her vision It was so intense, it made a sound, as if ocular neurons bled over to auditory ones The result was so between a drone and a hiss And her world s Molly could taste it, but she had no mouth

Her body floated, but not in some painful void--her body was the void

She tried to screa hiss that filled her universe could not be modulated nor reduced She was trapped in the center of a star, hot, white, burning, blinding, noisy

And yet, her body was unwilling to melt away and end the torture

It went on forever

Unyielding

28

Two elevator doors stood open on the other side of the glass partition A Stanley, its back to Cole and Walter, faced the open doors, surveying the curious behavior from its less-evolved mechanical brethren To one side, the hu back and forth as if considering the purchase of a new spaceship

"Now," Cole whispered

Walter swiped his passcard and the glass slid away Cole pushed off the tiled floor like a sprinter The sound of hi made the Stanley turn around; its eyes locked onto the source of the squeaks just as Cole went airborne

Slaerator Cole’s air rushed out of hi into the elevator he’d been peering into Walter ran past, entering the other elevator door Cole paused to regain his breath, but the Stanley had no such requirement The android shoved off the floor of the elevator and rose with an unnatural power Cole scrambled on all fours into the other elevator

"Shut it!" he yelled, before his feet even crossed the threshold

Walter swiped his stolen passcard and the doors began toslowness

Nothing at all like the speed the Stanley used to dash between theht

"Hi," Cole said "We’ve lost our tour guide, perhaps you’ve--"

It happened so quickly, it felt like teleportation Onein the center of the elevator, trying to sainst the rear video wall, his feet off the ground, metal vises around his neck The Stanley had both hands around his throat; the android began squeezing the life out of hi to support hi metal formed walls on both sides He twisted his head to look for Walter, saw the boy frozen by the elevator controls Cole tried to rimace

Walter sneered back at him

••••

Ti whiteness It had gone on forever, or it had been a mere moment There was no difference

Then it stopped, replaced with the dentist chair scene once more Molly found herself strapped down as someone hovered over her She blinked him into focus It wasn’t the dentist--it was a Stanley

She worked her jaw, trying to ignore the residual hiss in her head as she regained her senses She could barely hear herself ask if her three hours were up The Stanley nodded So of fluids The IV

She looked past it and the Stanley to the metal panels above her This isn’t the visitation roonored her He tightened one of the straps across her chest before packing away various electrical gear When he pulled the contraption frohly that it took clumps of her hair with it

"Ow!" she complained "Hey, loosen the straps, and I’ll help you"

The Stanley said nothing Molly heard hi below her, then watched him rise and stroll away

"Help ed down a metal ramp--then she was alone

Molly pressed her chin to her sternu flat on a hard surface, dozens of strips of webbing pinning her down She could see an IV needle taped to the crook of her left elbow

She gasped, then began crying out for help

But the only person heading her way at that moistration counter to thank his hosts for their call and hospitality

••••

Cole felt his head lighten as blood struggled to reach his brain He would pass out before the choking killed him, he realized His eyes watered from the effort it took to breathe--and the odd sensation of not being able to runt

He pleaded with his eyes in Walter’s direction, who still hadn’t moved from his corner of the elevator With both hands, he pried at the fingers on his throat, but it was like trying to bend steel He kicked and punched at the Stanley, but only hurt hi the collar of the android’s suit, he clenched the fabric in pain as his grip on consciousness slipped

One of his hands ca out It slid down Stanley’s coat, lifeless, and caught in the robot’s pocket He felt soh Cole’s dying brain:

Passcard