A huff escaped Robera's lips as she turned off the white tab in her hand. Her eyes would bleed if she had to see one more word formation technique on the screen.

She threw the device on the metal bed and jumped to her feet. She smoothened her knee-length black dress and walked ahead toward the only window in the chamber. 

The warmth of the dull orange sun greeted her from the west sky. Needle sharp skyscrapers around her stood guard like fences, protecting the fortress that was her home. Another looming skyscraper.

Robera leaned forward, resting her elbows on the platinum window sill. Her soft lips stretched as one of the airbus with helicopter blades overhead swiveled sharply to avoid collision with another airbus's blades. 

Nice save.

Robera smiled at the thought.

But her smile didn't last long as she turned around, staring longingly at the closed door.

Kirex forbade her from going out of this chamber ever since she started knowing the world. Even now when she was six years old, that one particular order did not change. That didn't mean she never tried to leave the confines of this cage of a bedroom. 

She did and effectively got caught within the first few minutes. After her sixth attempt, Kirex closed her bedroom door with a password and limited the access of other guards in her room. 

He even expanded a corner of her chamber and installed a bathtub and a toilet bowl for her. The only time she could get a glimpse of the outer world was when a guard would bring her food.

Robera sighed and returned to her bed. She rested her back against the foam pillow and sighed, swinging one leg outside the bed.

It was close to the time of her afternoon snacks and soon enough the metal door in her chamber rattled.

Robera sat upright in her bed and stared at the open gap at the outside hallway. A gray wall graced her eyes for a brief few seconds before the door closed shut.

At least, she could catch a glimpse for once today. That was enough.

A guard was carrying a tray full of lidded goods and coming toward her bed.

Robera hid a sigh as the guard placed the tray before her now crossed legs. 

He wouldn't leave. They never did until Robera finished off with the last of her crumbs. Kirex's order.

With droopy shoulders, Robera leaned forward and opened the first lid on her right.

Curled potato crackers with the side of a white onion sauce.

She pulled off the next and was struck with savory smell of spicy fried shrimp. 

Robera removed the last lid and widened her eyes.

A small folded paper on a big ceramic plate.

She frowned and looked up at the guard, half-expecting him to burn the paper with his laser arms.

But he did nothing. Only stared at the paper with a blank interest.

Robera cast him a wary glance before slowly picking up the paper. She unfolded it with careful precision and stared at the jumble of words in Serif font.

She took her sweet time with the spellings and left dumbfounded after decoding the content of the paper.

'6785

Press the button at the bottom three times'

"What button?" Robera frowed at the guard.

But his red eyes glowed suddenly as if coming out a mechanical trance. His weapon arms transformed into humanoid hands and he took the paper from Robera.

With a swift precision, he turned around and burned laser rays through the paper with his metal eyes.

Robera's breath hitched as she witnessed a guard using their eyes to burn something for the first time. Kirex's other guards never did anything like that. Or maybe they did, just not in front of Robera.

Nevertheless, Robera remained frozen on her spot. Not ever daring to move.

The guard pivoted on his heels and started to move toward the door. 

Robera watched with widened eyes as he walked out the door and didn't even type the password while the door closed. No.

He just left.

Left the door unlocked. 

For Robera.

It took her a good minute to realize the sudden turn of events. And when she did, Robera dashed toward the door with a new spring in her steps.

She was free. Finally free!

Kirex wasn't mad at her anymore.

He granted her access to the world outside!

An ear-splitting grin stretched across Robera's lips as she stood before the closed door. Her amber eyes gleamed brighter as the door slowly opened wide before her.

With a tentative step, Robera crossed the threshold of her lavish prison.

A long, deep breath escaped Robera's lips.

This was the taste of freedom.

Sweet, sweet freedom.

***

Robera was walking through the ground, crossing one gray hallway after another. 

Guards strolled around her, not bothering with a look. It was as if she didn't existed in their world. Maybe she had become invisible.

The thought made Robera giggle as she passed another oblivious guard. 

The whole base was an establishment of pure metal. The color palette was neutral—basic black, white, and gray. And nothing else. Even Robera's knee-length dresses were mostly black and white, no matter whether they had frills or not. Kirex never granted her any other colors to wear.

Robera turned a lone corner, finding no guard petrolling the premise there.

Strange.

There was always a guard standing in every section of the floor. Why this part was so secluded then?

With a frown and wary in her steps, Robera moved forward. Her cautious yet curious gaze frozen on the lone white door on the front wall.

Robera looked around in search of those protruding camera rolls on the walls. She had seen them everywhere during her short half an hour exploration. 

But she found nothing there. Only ripped wires on the top right corner of the wall. Sparks were flashing from those black wires still.

Robera frowned harder.

That's even more strange. Something is broken and not one guard bothered to fix it! Why?

Robera focused her gaze back on the door. She stood in front of it, waiting for the automatic sensors to recognise her steps and open the door. 

But nothing happened.

She raised her brows and stepped back to look over the door.

A plain white metal with reflective shine. Robera could even see the bright amber of her eyes. There was no button on screen lock on the door or the walls beside it.

Could it be like one of those old doors from twenty-first era? I didn't know they exist in our thirty-fourth century as well.

Robera hummed.

She stepped forward and stretched her arm to let her warm fingertips touch the cold surface. She slid the pads of her index finger down the length of the polished door.

Robera fliched when a sudden neon blue flashed against her fingers and she retracted her hand back.

A square-shaped blue screen panel appeared in the middle of the door, amost at her height of her knees.

White buttons of numbers ranging from zero to nine flashed next along with the enter button, exit button, and a gray display over the number buttons.

Password panel. A secret one at that. 

Just like those adventure stories.

Robera's stomach fluttered at the new discovery and she lowered to sit down at the floor. The panel was her head level height now.

But what's the password? 

The giddy smile slowly dropped as she tilted her head to the side.

Her mind flashed the numbers on that paper.

Could it be the password for this door? Although, there was a high chance that numbers could mean something else or nothing at all.

But right now, Robera only had those four numbers at her disposal and this panel also needed four digits.

It wouldn't hurt to try for once, would it?

With that thought, Robera pressed the buttons.

"Six… Seven… Eight… Five… Enter."

The display flashed green, making a beep sound afterwards.

Robera smiled when the door slid to the left allowing her the view of a dark chamber.

She stood on her feet and took flighty steps inside, never minding the darkness. 

Although, it wasn't so inky blackness inside that she couldn't see. There was a dim blue glow in the center on the chamber.

A swirling blue globe was floating on the space above a round, gray, metal podium. Like a sparkly ball of energy.

Robera's jaw hung open as she slowly moved toward the podium. 

She was drawn toward that swirling globe the way a moth was blindly enthralled by a blazing flame.

And soon enough, Robera was standing close to the shiny ball of blue sparkle. 

So shiny… So beautiful…

She had never seen something so wonderful in her dull six-year-old existence.

An immense urge to touch the ball made her heart burn. And she didn't deny her instinct the pleasure of touching that amazing object.

Robera's lips stretched wider as she raised her hand forward, inch by inch inclining toward the globe.

Her fingertips tingled just before she could even touch the ball. And the moment she did, a swift tremor thrummed through Robera's whole body.

Robera jolt away at the impact and stared at her still tingling fingertips with a frown.

It was almost close to the feeling of being electrocuted but not as painful as she expected.

She rubbed her sensitive fingers and looked up at blue globe. 

But suddenly she felt her vision swirl and her world tilted off its axis. And before Robera could understand what was happening, her eyelids grew heavy and her body fell backward. 

By the time she could feel the cold, hard floor against her back, Robera's already black world turned obisidian. An intense urge to close her eyes consumed her being and she tilted her head to the side.

Her fluttering vision grew blurry as she looked up. A vague blue blob floating on the space graced her vision before embracing numb black world.