Forty five seconds.

That is all the time I have in this world at my expense before the other guardbots are alerted about my break in. So, I waste no time and proceed on working my purpose. I press the on button and the screen immediately flickers to life.

I key in the first few codes in my head, but each time, the screen blares in a shade of angry red. Beads of sweat trickle down the side of my face as my fingers fly in absolute, frustrated frenzy. This one is tough to crack.

I see a subtle movement at the corner of my eye. Without any hesitation, I pull out my laser gun out of its holster and fire with deadly accuracy. The next thing I hear is a sizzling hiss and the lifeless sparks of a guardbot.

I type the last code I have in mind. In a heartbeat, the screen glows in faint green. The system has accepted the code. 

My lips split into a triumphant grin. “Bingo.”

A series of letter and number combinations flash on the screen. I input Sanctuary into the search box and a bunch of folders come into my view. I click the first few folders only to see documentary video clips of the attempted raids launched by robots to take down the humans’ last frontier which only resulted to failures. My fellow surviving humans are putting quite a stand against these klunkheads.

I commit Sanctuary’s location into memory as I hear distant running footsteps down the hallway. I pull out a USB out from my utility belt and plug it in into the motherboard’s port and upload a virus. This should keep the system down for weeks, preventing any operation to run in this particular patrol sector.

Just as the door slides open and a horde of armed guardbots comes rushing towards me. I make for my escape route---- the garbage chute which is cleverly hidden in one of the wall’s metal panel. I slide down the tight passage just in time when the guardbot decided to rain me with laser.

The passageway is cramped and slicked in oil and grime which makes breathing difficult. Good thing, the travel down lasts only a couple of seconds. I pop out of the chute and into the trolley full of scraps of metal. I climb out of it, shards scraping me in the process.

It’s relatively dark except for the flickering industrial lights afew feet ahead of me. Water drips from the unused pipes that lined up to make up the ceiling. I take tentative steps forward, wary of my surroundings. I ready my gun and am sure to fire it even at the slightest movement.

I don’t have a clue of where I ended up. This is not part of the sections that the stolen blueprint showed.

I trip over a tangled of what I assumed as wires an