They neared the end of the road. Directly in front of them stood some of the usual towering buildings with dark blue glass, with bridges and roads intersecting between them. A road stretched out horizontally to their left and right. Noor automatically started to turn left. Suddenly, Jane, who was two steps behind him, grabbed his wrist and pulled him back forcefully. She shoved him inside one of the buildings, whose entrance had an electronic gate that opened upon approach. The building's lobby was decorated with numerous flowers hanging on the walls and a beautiful chandelier dangling from the ceiling. There was an elevator directly ahead and a reception desk. Jane pushed Noor behind the reception desk and hid beside him, signaling for him to be quiet. Noor grew tense from her actions and asked her what was wrong.
She whispered in a panicked tone, "I just saved you from dying!"
Noor furrowed his brow, frowning with apprehension. "From dying? What do you mean?"
Jane replied in a trembling voice as she raised her slender body to check the road outside, shivering. "You were killed just a moment ago."
Noor stared at her with disbelief and disapproval. "But I'm alive and well! I haven't been harmed!"
"That's because I went back in time and saved you just now," she said, her tension growing.
Noor was silent for a moment, trying to process what she had said amidst the heavy silence while Jane watched the road outside. He broke the silence, saying with aversion, "Alright, I get it. So how did I die? And who killed me?"
She whispered, her voice barely audible, "I don't know what happened. I don't understand anything. All that happened was that as we were walking, you turned left at the end of the road at the intersection. You were standing with your whole body in the new road, and suddenly there was a flash, and in a few seconds, I saw you vaporize into thin air in front of me."
A shiver ran down Noor's spine as he heard this. He imagined what had happened to him and thought for a moment, trying to find an explanation, but he couldn't understand how he could suddenly vaporize and disappear. He put his hand on his head in frustration. "Jane, I don't understand what happened. For us to figure it out, we have to move and not hide here all day. I'll go back outside, and you'll come with me. We'll watch the situation closely, and if I vaporize again, turn back time and tell me what happened."
Jane's face was a mask of absolute terror. She looked at Noor with distress. "No... let's stay... here for a while."
Noor rebuked her. "We're not just going to sit here all day! There might be an explanation for what happened that we won't find if we don't move!"
Noor stood up and headed toward the exit gate. Jane grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Please don't go," she said. "What happened was terrifying. Besides, my power needs five minutes before I can use it again."
Noor pushed her hand away and adjusted his collar. "Fine," he said, reassuringly. "We'll wait until you regain your strength. But I have a good plan."
Jane looked at him, and the fear began to subside a little. "What is it?" she asked, puzzled.
He hid behind the desk again and motioned for her to come closer. He then explained the plan. Five minutes later, they headed outside and turned toward the end of the road. They leaned their backs against the building, fully prepared to turn onto the road to the left and see what awaited them. Noor gave her a meaningful look and whispered, "Now, I'll count to three, and then we'll start."
She nodded.
He counted to three and then darted to the left, holding the binoculars he had picked up from inside the gun shop. Jane was behind him, her hand on his shoulder, her eyes closed, looking intensely focused. Noor looked through the binoculars, scanning the road stretching out before him, and saw something that struck terror into his heart. He raised his hand and concentrated hard, creating a wall of solid steel in front of him. The wall took an unknown hit that turned it to ash. Noor took advantage of the wall's protection, quickly moved backward, pulling Jane with him, and then returned inside the building. He began to pant heavily.
"What... did you see?" Jane asked nervously.
Noor breathed a sigh of relief, letting the air flow into his lungs, then calmed down a little. "You won't believe what I saw! It's a good thing our plan worked. When you stopped time for five seconds, I was able to break free from your time-lock and move freely while the world around us was frozen. I grabbed the binoculars and scanned the road, and I saw that damned spider again!"
Jane's jaw dropped, and her soul trembled. "You mean that huge robot that almost killed you before?!" she said, a mix of amazement and terror in her voice.
Noor replied, a shiver running through his body at the memory, "Yes, it's him. And it seems he hit me with the strange cannons he was using to attack my photonic copy. They must have a great ability to turn a body into dust in a second. I've seen this a lot in science fiction stories, but I never expected it to be made in reality! And the strange thing is, he saw us before we even turned! I found a shot from his cannon aimed at us, suspended in the air because of your time-stop, so I made a wall to protect us from it".
Jane was silent for a moment, feeling fear possess her and pierce her heart like glass shards. She stared at Noor, then broke her silence, saying nervously, "Okay... and how... are we going to get past something like that?"
Noor thought for a moment, then said, "I don't know. Should we take another route? Or wait until it goes away? We can't face it!"
"Let's take another route," Jane suggested. "That would be better."
Noor agreed with her idea. They gathered their weapons and equipment, then began to move outside to take another path. As they were heading out, they heard the sound of breaking glass, heralding something approaching. Noor quickly pulled Jane back by her wrist, and they jumped behind the reception desk again. They raised their heads slightly to see what was happening outside.
Noor and Jane's eyes widened in horror when they saw the giant spider's front legs stop on the road next to the entrance. They didn't say a word, but Jane almost let out a noticeable gasp. Noor signaled her with his finger to be silent. She put her hand over her mouth and nodded, fear in its purest form in her eyes. She lowered her head, breathing with difficulty, and tried to suppress her voice as much as possible. Noor felt sorry for her and hoped with all his heart that this giant robot wouldn't hear her voice and discover them, or there would be no escape from it at all. He also feared that it might see them through the wall as it had done before.
Jane continued to sob in a barely audible voice. Noor tried to pat her on the shoulder to calm her down, giving her a smile that was meant to say, "Don't worry, I'm with you," but inside, his own heart was dancing with fear. Noor was surprised that this damned thing had stopped in front of the building without moving again. He whispered to Jane, "I'm going to check why it stopped! And what it's doing?"
Her features tightened. "Please don't go," she said with deep anxiety. "It'll kill you."
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