Duplicate Minds

Twenty-Eight

Dev led Ted and Rajeev out of the room and down the hall.

"I'll tell you more, but first we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, about that," Ted said. "You put GPS trackers on us that make our bodies seize if we try to leave the building." There was more than a hint of resentment in his voice.

Dev shook his head. "That feature was never meant to keep you imprisoned. It was a safety measure meant to protect you. Before we activated the first prototypes, we had no idea how the duplicate minds would react when they awakened in an alien, robotic body. We didn't know if they'd be confused, for example, or if they'd suffer from total or partial amnesia. We thought they might run away in a panic and hurt themselves—run into traffic or worse—so we implemented the failsafe to ensure we could bring them back inside and make sure they were safe until they acclimated to their new bodies. It's no surprise Maltek corrupted its purpose."

"That may be," Rajeev said, "but can you disable it quickly so we can leave?"

"Yeah. I'll find the proper equipment. Follow me."

He led them to the elevator. Thankfully, it was empty. They piled in and journeyed to a lower floor. When the doors opened, he walked down the hall and led them through a door. It appeared to be some kind of laboratory. Electrical equipment, wires and other supplies lined shelves against the wall, but other equipment was strewn about randomly. What concerned Rajeev, however, were three people seated around a table at the right-hand side of the room. They immediately looked up at Dev as he entered, quizzical looks on their faces.

Dev froze, like a deer caught in headlights. But then he straightened his back and pointed at the three employees.

"I need the lab to myself to work on these models," he barked, tilting his head toward Ted and Rajeev. "Give me fifteen minutes."

To Rajeev's astonishment, the three of them stood and walked out of the room. But of course they would. Dev was their boss. They couldn't tell the difference between him and the imposter they'd been working under for so long. When they saw the boss, they did what he said.

"That was weird," Dev said as he closed the door behind him. "I'm not used to bossing people around. I'm out of practice."

"Looked like you did a fine job to me," Ted said. "They didn't even make eye contact with you."

"Which is not a good thing. Who knows how much Maltek has damaged my reputation in my own company." He directed Rajeev and Ted to take a seat, then searched around the room for the items he needed.

"Why is it necessary to leave at all?" Rajeev asked. "You're the founder of the company. Couldn't you just stay here and set things straight—kick out the fake Dev and reclaim your place on the throne, so to speak?"

"It's too much trouble right now," he said as he plucked a laptop off a shelf and walked it to the table. "The company would spiral into all-out chaos. Think about it; no one would really know for sure who was the real me, and while they tried to sort the situation out, it would just distract from the real task at hand: Stopping Maltek." He walked to another shelf, grabbed a couple cords, and walked them back to the table. He stuck each of the cords in the laptop, then inserted the other ends into the ports at the base of Ted's and Rajeev's necks. "This should just take a minute."

Rajeev was familiar with the procedure, having already gone through it once with Zane. Ted seemed a little nervous; he fidgeted more than usual. But Dev was quick—far quicker than Zane had been, which made sense, considering the bodies were based on his own designs.

"We're good to go," he said, pulling the wires out of their necks.

"Good," Ted said. "I can't wait to get the hell out of here. I'm never coming back."

They left, Rajeev walking on Dev's right side, Ted walking on his left. For once, Rajeev didn't feel the need to sneak around. He was with the company's founder; who would dare question him?

They took the elevator to the ground floor. Rajeev was reminded of his earlier escape as they strolled through the hallway headed for the front entrance. But he had no reason to fear this time. He was with his son, the founder of the company, and he was escaping with him rather than from him. It would be so much easier to—

His good vibes were cut short as they rounded the corner and Dev came face to face with . . . himself. Or at least, with his doppelganger. They both froze at first, staring at each other in shock. The real Dev was the first to snap out of it, and he shouted to his companions: "Run!"

He darted to the left of his clone and sped down the hallway; Rajeev and Ted took another moment to react, but soon followed suit. Maltek grabbed at Ted's shoulder, but his fingers slid off the smooth silicone skin and he came away empty-handed.

"Stop them!" Maltek cried. He took off after them, but they had gotten a healthy head start; Rajeev and Ted easily caught up to Dev, thanks to the endurance of their artificial bodies, and ran ahead of him. As they rounded the corner, Rajeev was presented with the familiar sight of the security desk overlooking the building's exit.

Two guards stood talking in front of the desk and they looked up in surprise at the commotion of two androids springing down the hallways as if running a marathon, their own CEO in hot pursuit. At the same time, Maltek cried out again, his words echoing into the guards' ears from around the corner: "Stop them!"

One of the guards hesitated; he'd recognized Dev's face rushing toward him, but also recognized his voice coming from around the corner. He didn't know what was going on.

The other guard, however, sprang to action. He lunged toward the trio and, apparently trusting that the failsafe would prevent Rajeev or Dev from leaving the building, focused his attention on Dev. He wrapped his hand around Dev's arm. But before he could do anything else, Dev launched his fist into the guard's chin, causing him to release Dev's arm as he soared backward.

Maltek rounded the corner and made eye contact with the other guard. His eyes blazed with fury as he pointed to the escaping trio and shouted, "Stop them—or you're fired!"

The guard rushed toward them, but Dev and Rajeev had already reached the door. Ted had lagged behind and the guard was just able to catch up to him. He wasn't leaving the fate of his job up to chance; he leapt into the air and tackled Ted, sending them both tumbling to the floor in a heap.

Rajeev, who was now outside, heard the commotion and turned around to see what was going on. When he saw Ted, he made to run back inside.

"No!" Ted shouted. "Go! Leave me!"

Rajeev didn't retreat, but Dev grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "We can't help him, dad. We'll get captured too."

Still, Rajeev hesitated, much to Ted's annoyance: "Get out of here you idiot!"

When their words finally penetrated his frazzled mind, Rajeev turned around. With his son by his side, he flew out into the street, away from Next Level Technologies, a free man once more.