Sairi and Ivanov set off in an advanced SUV through the ruined city, traversing the roads as they searched for any illuminated dot on the radar of the electronic slate's screen.

After a few hours of wandering through the city, as the sun began to set on the horizon, giving way to the moon, they finally found their target. It was near one of the towering white towers in the middle of a nearby forest.

"Poor guy," Ivanov said jokingly. "He just hatched from his cocoon and doesn't know anything."

Sairi gave a half-smile. "He's bound to be shocked by what's happening here." He then added, "I've noticed that the towers are arranged in a circle around the city!"

Ivanov didn't comment and parked the car on the side of the road. They got out and headed through the ruined buildings toward the forest to the south.

Before they got close to the forest, they were stopped by someone who had gone in before them: a three-meter-tall robot, holding two robotic hounds.

"I'll go in," Sairi whispered to Ivanov. "I want you to get on top of the building and watch my back from that thing."

"You want to go in and have all the fun by yourself?" Ivanov objected.

"This is not the time for fun," Sairi said in a firm tone. "I'll be out with our lost boy shortly and head back here. Now, you have to protect us, because saving others is not my style, so protecting him will be an annoyance to me."

"Don't worry, I'll watch your back. Now, go."

Ivanov climbed on top of one of the ruined buildings, which had collapsed and was leaning on another. He said to himself, "And now, let's see what happens."

A few minutes later, Ivanov saw Sairi come running out with Noor, and behind them, two hounds were running. Ivanov readied his sniper rifle and aimed at the right hound, waiting for Sairi's signal.

They managed to defeat the robots but Noor escaped to meet Jane after that, then Keno.

٭٭٭

Noor and Keno finally arrived at the first tower. "What are we supposed to do now?" Noor asked, his confusion troubling him.

"Leonis told me there's a button that shuts off the tower's power on the lower floor," Keno said, examining the towering structure.

"The lower floor! You mean there's another floor underground?"

"Yes, of course. I have records in my backup memory of everything that happened to me in the tower. When I was in the elevator, there was a button for a lower floor, but the elevator stopped at the first floor, and then I found the exit door, so I didn't pay that floor any mind."

"And how are we going to open this door?" Noor said, looking at the tower's entrance. "I think it only opens from the inside."

Keno was silent. He raised his right palm and fired a shockwave from it toward the door, which shattered.

He smiled and looked at the astonished Noor. "Like this."

They entered the tower and headed for the elevator, starting down the long white corridor. "This place brings back bad memories," Noor said grimly. "It's the beginning of this nightmare."

Keno nodded in agreement. They finally reached the elevator. Keno pressed the button, but it didn't open. The tip of his index finger moved upward like a small opening lid, and an electronic jack emerged from it and plugged into the elevator's panel. A few seconds later, it opened.

"Man, is there anything that can actually stop you?" Noor joked.

Keno smiled. "Yes, there is. An army of robots that wants to kill us all."

Noor laughed. They entered the elevator, and Keno pressed the button for the ground floor. The door closed, and it began to descend. A few seconds later, the door opened again, and they found pitch darkness covering everything in front of them.

But as soon as they took the first step forward, a series of sequential lights began to turn on until the room was fully illuminated. Both Noor's and Keno's jaws dropped at what they saw. It was a large, empty room containing a giant screen and a small keyboard in front of it, placed on a white marble table raised off the ground.

The rest of the room was completely empty.

"I was expecting a room full of rats and a single button we'd have to press to shut down the tower, and that would be it," Noor said, staring in amazement.

"That's what I thought too," Keno replied, adjusting his glasses. "But this damned place is still full of surprises."

They approached the panel slowly and quietly, examining the area around them. When they reached it, Keno began to analyze it with his artificial right eye. "What a strange language! But I've recorded it, analyzed it, and now I can speak it."

"You learned a strange language in a few seconds?" Noor said with annoyance. "Do you know what that does to the morale of people who spend their whole lives learning languages?"

Keno laughed cheerfully, then began to press the buttons on the panel. The large screen in front of them lit up, and on it appeared a person sitting on a chair in the dark, with two guards standing beside him, as if he were a king with his guards.

But the darkness enveloped them, so they could not see their features. The person sitting on the chair said in a booming voice:

"Welcome. If you have been able to access this message, then you have reached the next stage of knowing the truth. This is the tower of sample Number One, Keno Renos."

Noor looked at Keno with surprise and saw that Keno's face also showed astonishment.

"There is a part of the truth hidden in the eight towers. If you want to know the whole truth, you must go to all the towers in the order of each samples' number. The tower of the second sample, named Sairi; then the tower of the third sample, named Ares; then the fourth, Noor; then the fifth, Yassin; then the sixth, Ivanov; then the seventh, Jane; then the eighth sample, Yousef.

And so, there is a part of the truth hidden in each tower, and by accessing all the towers, you will have obtained the complete truth, and you will be ready to join something bigger than you can imagine. And now, I will give you the part of the truth for this tower."

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