An inner estimate of how long it would take for the door to open was preoccupying his mind as he was attempting to focus on entering the code; ‘Five seconds… Four seconds… Three seconds…‘ He impatiently counted down as time seemed to slow to a crawl. The doctor felt like he was going to explode from the nervousness building in his heart. Soon, a green ‘okay’ flashed on the screen and steam shot off as the doors started sliding open, and the friction of metal grinding against metal produced a sharp sound resembling nails on a chalkboard.

  “Welp, if they weren’t sure we were here before, they know now,” Vodko said and moved in as soon as the doors had enough space to open so that he could squeeze through.

  The doctor followed inside and pressed an emergency button to close the doors, despite the doors not being fully opened yet. The inner workings screeched. Steam once again shot out and the process of the opening reversed and closed with a heavy clang. Vodko scanned his surroundings, the inside was lit by a few security screens connected to the security outside that were scanning the maintenance entrance. At the far end, there was a locker with a note attached. The doctor immediately seized one of the tools from one of the shelves and started to pry open an access panel below the keypad.

  In the middle of the room, a rainbow of balloons was tied to a worn office chair. In the bundle of balloons, a birthday card dangled. The cover had a digital picture of a dancing magical balloon, the words ‘Happy Birthday’ circulated around the image. Despite the fact that computer screens had increased in complexity to the point that you could create a digital newspaper if you desired, this was merely a novelty item for the wealthy. Vodko touched the card and the familiar mechanical voice sounded through it.

  “We of the company would like to express our sincere condolences for the necessary liquidation of the previous communication device. To hinder the revelation of your identity, we shall refer to you as codename Harp henceforth. The plan has been accelerated. Operation Lifeline has been activated. Regroup at the Garage. Access a secure terminal for the briefing and the continuation of the second half of the mission. Your compliance is vital. Please exit this location post-haste.”

  The birthday card burst into flames and its ashes trickled down between his fingers and formed a small pile of ash on the office chair’s already blackened seat. With a click, the doors to the outside had been unlocked and swung open. The doctor finally managed to pry off the panel and it landed with a metallic clank sound on the floor. He grabbed a pair of Neoprene gloves next to a plasma torch on one of the shelves. The soldier's weight echoed as they landed on the other side of the door. The doctor started to blast the wiring with the plasma torch. Sparks started shooting out from the wires as the light faded from the keypad.

  “I’ve bought us time. Three minutes tops,” the doctor said as he bent forward, placed his hands on his legs and exhaled a deep breath. A cold gust blew past and he couldn’t resist sneezing.

  The cold morning air was sucked into the room. Patting the ash off his hands onto his clothes, a faint smile emerged on Vodko’s face as he moved towards the locker and opened it.

  “Is that-”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Vodko asked, raising his hand abruptly. The Doctor’s eyes lit up and pulled the objects out and as the objects hit the floor, the vibration could be felt as tiny flakes of dust fell from the ceiling.

  “Russian made. A suit with a load bearing exoskeleton. I’ve come across zeese before..”

  The doctor turned his head and shuffled around to get a better view of one of the suits on the floor. He read the tag located on the chest of the suit. ‘ATLAS, ‘All Terrain Loading Androidic Suit’

  “..It’s been years since I used one of zeese..” the doctor continued.

  Vodko guzzled the first drink of the day. As the bitter perfume of hops coursed its way out of his nostrils, he peered into the now lighter hip flask before placing it in the book and shoving it all into the inner pocket of his coat once more.

  “Isn’t it a little early to hit zee drink,” the doctor said as he smelled the air of vodka.

  “Drinking vodka activates slavination in brain. Is like beer, liquid bread, is good for you. Only true slav knows this,” Vodko said, then pointed at one of the suits, “This, mine.”

  He ducked his head and lunged forward, then with his right arm bracing the ground, he did a flip and, without hesitation, pushed himself into the suit he had pointed at. The suit soon whirred to life. The doctor also got into a suit and hurriedly explained the limits of the suits.

  “The template suits were expected to reduce musculoskeletal injuries that occur in soldiers due to the lifting of loads in battle. These, however, were custom-”

  “No time, explain later,” Vodko interrupted as he moved shakily, with his duffel bag over his shoulder. The power of the suit jolted his upper torso backward with each step. It was difficult to get used to. He looked outside as carefully as he could. The coast was clear.

  The doctor moved to the desk. A glint of something reflective caught his eye. Keys. Car keys. From within the toilet connected to the maintenance room, a loud flushing sound was heard. They both moved out into the narrow alley. Vodko’s running path wobbled in an irregular zigzag pattern, resulting in the doctor intentionally lagging behind by two meters.

  “I found some car keys,” the doctor exclaimed happily as they ran.

  The doctor panted as he ran after Vodko while sweat was dripping down his face. After a while, he and the doctor arrived at the end of the long alley. Vodko peered out from within the alley and observed the area. Droves of people walked to the left in orange overalls and were making their way over to a nearby steel mill, while neatly dressed employees in sleek electric sports cars were honking their horns as they all neatly lined up in a nice traffic jam. Vodko focused to the right instead. An immensely large ice cream truck blocked most of the view, and the large plastic ice cream cone, along with the truck itself, cast a long shadow.

  ”You like ice creeeem. You love it. You cannot resist ice creeeem. To resist is hopeless. Your existence is meaningless, without ice creeeem” echoed from the speakers of the ice cream truck.

  The voice was a perfect, deadpan monotone, its only color the trace of an accent. Austrian, Vodko guessed, as it reminded him of an almost century old film about a future robot.

  The doctor let out a slow breath, hoping the momentary distraction would ease some of his anxiety. Frustrated, he turned and glanced back towards the exit of the maintenance equipment room, worried that the soldiers from before would get past the blast doors and be on their trail any minute.