J M Blackman Week 73: Lucky Buddha--The Rabbit Hole Part 9

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J.M. Blackman’s Picture Choice: 2

Title: Lucky Buddha--The Rabbit Hole Part 9

I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I thought it would look like a scene out of Minority Report or Blade Runner. Perhaps even the dregs of a Matrix knock off. But what I found was a particularly boring office building. The only difference I could detect was that lack of electricity, or rather common methods of using and supplying electricity. There was light, but I couldn’t see the bulbs in any fixture. Nor could I find any outlets in the dark halls as we crept through them.

Well, I crept. Samir walked around as if he owned the place, not at all like he was a wanted man through time and space. True, he'd cloaked us in some time pause or something that masked our sounds and visibility. Mostly, Samir had said, it masked us mostly. We'd still need to be careful, aware of our surroundings.

I'd laughed when he'd said that--aware of our surroundings. All I was was aware of surroundings. All I could think about was the fact that we were in the home base of organization that was trying to kill us. I was so centered on this that I hadn't noticed when Sam stopped. I walked right past him out into the open hall and came face to face with the first live soul we'd run into. Except he was turned the other way. So, it was more like face to back of the head. I clapped my hands over my mouth--the least spy-like act that's ever been performed--and before I could move another muscle, Sam snatched me back, pushing me behind him and to the wall, hard arm slightly painful as he did his best to flatten us both.

The guard, entirely dressed in a dark grey uniform, turned the corner and walked right past us, stopping only when he got to the end of the hall and glanced back. Holding my breath was definitely not necessary if I understood how Sam's device worked, but I held it until stars began to twinkle across my vision, until the guard was long gone, until Sam released me.

He turned to me slowly and I did my best to avoid eye contact. At least, I tried really hard until he took my chin and turned my head to look at him.

"Aware of our surroundings," he breathed.

I nodded quickly. He stared at me for a moment longer, then dropped his hand. He motioned around the corner, and went ahead. I looked back in the direction the guard had left and then followed.

I didn't nearly out us to any other guards and we made it to a security room without any other issues. The security room itself, however, was an issue.

Sam had explained that there was no cracking into this system. Not the door’s system. We had to either make a diversion, or wait until someone entered or left. There was no way to know their schedule, so we had to wait, flattened to the wall while security brushed past us. I felt like Harry Potter with his invisibility cloak, except a lot less skilled. And exponentially more likely to die.

And that’s what I was thinking when the door opened and Samir darted to the side, ready to step in. I followed suit, right behind him. We had to quickly shuffle to the side and then jump inside. I flattened to the wall as soon as I was through, slightly knocking an odd picture of a Buddha figure against siding. But Samir--he collided right into a second guard exiting.

Like Harry Potter. But less skilled. Likely to die. Likely to get others killed. That was me.

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J.M. Blackman is a Language Arts teacheri and a feminist. She endeavors to review nearly everything she reads and is a happy wife. She's a SFF enthusiast, loves dark humor, and has an unhealthy need to protect the image of Batman.

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