The two darted through the store, knocking over chairs and tables behind them. The robot's steps thundered closer, every movement cold and precise. The air filled with the sound of shifting gears and metal scraping against the floor.
They sprinted through a narrow corridor, but as they turned the corner—someone crashed right into them.
"Watch out!" yelled the stranger.
All three fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The newcomer—a tall boy, slightly older than Anna—scrambled up first.His hair is dark brown, medium-length, and messy, falling over his forehead and partly covering his sharp and thoughtful eyes. His eyes are a deep hazel, calm and serious, like a soldier who never lets his guard down.
He wore a torn sleeveless jacket over a dark, dust-stained shirt. His clothes are rugged and worn, showing he's been through many fights and long journeys.
"Are you two trying to get yourselves killed?" he snapped, helping Sameer to his feet.
Before Anna could answer, the robot's red beam swept across the corridor behind them.
"There's no time!" the boy shouted. "This way!"
They followed him, turning corner after corner until they reached a large metal door at the end of the hallway. It had strange buttons beside it—most of them rusted, but one still glowed faintly blue.
"It's a lift!" Sameer said, pressing the button. The door opened with a hiss, and all three jumped inside just as the robot turned the corner.
"Close it! Close it!" Anna yelled.
The door slid shut, and the robot slammed against it a moment later, its metal fingers scraping the surface. Sparks flew, but the lift began to move.
In his panic, Sameer had pressed the button labeled B1.
"The basement?" Anna asked, panting. "Why there?"
"I didn't mean to! It was the only one still lit!" Sameer replied.
The newcomer stood silently watching the floor numbers descend on the flickering screen:
> 2 → 1 → G → B1
But when the screen passed B1, it kept going.The humming grew louder. The air felt heavier.The lift shook violently as it descended past the lower floors. Sparks burst from the control panel, and Sameer screamed, clutching the railing.
The floor indicator blinked past B1, then B2, then nothing at all. There was no basement below—only a deep void the machine had no right to enter.
"Anna! It's not stopping!"
"I see that!" Anna shouted, gripping the side as the walls around them blurred into darkness.
"Uh… is it supposed to go this far?" Sameer asked nervously.Before anyone could answer, the lift jolted violently. The lights inside flickered, then steadied again.
Then—CRASH!
The lift tore through rusted metal and shattered beams before finally slamming into something hard. The force threw them to the floor. Dust and debris filled the air. The sound of grinding metal echoed for a long moment before silence returned.
When the smoke cleared, the lift's doors creaked open crookedly.
The three coughed, staggering out. What they saw was not a basement—It was like a cave under the store. cold and silent. Only the distant sound of dripping water echoed through the hollow space.
When they looked up, they could still see the underside of the old basement floor—crcked and half-destroyed, hanging above them like a ceiling that might collapse at any time.
Sameer whispered, "We fell through the world…"
Anna steadied him. "Stay close. Don't touch anything unstable."
As they stepped carefully over the rubble, a faint blue light flickered ahead—coming from a broken piece of circuitry still sparking with life.
Someone was there.
A girl crouched beside a shattered circuit board, tinkering with its wires. Her fingers moved quickly, and small sparks danced across the metal as she adjusted its connections. The moment she twisted the last wire, a section of the ruined store above flickered to life—the same lights they had seen earlier.
The girl glanced up, startled by the sound of footsteps. Her sharp eyes narrowed, defensive at first.
"Who are you?" she demanded, standing up.
She has long, dark hair that falls to her shoulders in uneven layers, slightly wavy and always a bit tangled from the dust of the ruins. Strands often fall across her face, and she pushes them aside absentmindedly when she's thinking. Her eyes are a piercing amber-brown, sharp and intelligent, but with a trace of sadness that never quite fades.
Her skin is light brown, marked with faint scars along her arms and neck. She's slender, her movements quick and precise, like someone used to running, hiding, and fixing broken things.
She wears a faded dark-blue jacket over a pale undershirt, the edges torn and frayed. She carries a small tool pouch on her hip
Before Anna could respond, Saleem—who had frozen in shock replied.
"Riya…?" he whispered.
She turned. They stared at each other for a long moment,
"You… you were also transferred." Asked Saleem
"Who are you? and how do you know my name?" The girl named Riya said with confusion lingering in her face as she tried to remember who Saleem was.
"You don't remember it's me Saleem. The boy who helped you break into the world record management facility." Replies with worry of being forgotten by the only person who cared about him.
"Sorry I don't remember any one named Saleem . Maybe you have mistaken me for someone else? "
"NO I am sure I can never forget the face and voice of the only person who took care of me when everyone turned their back to me. The one who gave me a reason to live."
Riya stepped back slightly, confusion tightening her brow. She glanced toward the faint glow of the broken circuit board beside her, as if searching for stability in its steady blink.
"I…" she began softly, her voice trembling. "I don't remember anyone. I don't even remember how I got here. The last thing I recall was… running from something—then a flash of white. After that… nothing."
Saleem's eyes widened. "No… no, that can't be. You're Riya! You fixed the central tower's circuits, you decoded the world computer and managed to unlock the knowledge of the universe and save millions of people. You saved me from the experiment World Simulation."
She shook her head firmly. "I don't know what that is. I don't even know what you're talking about. I don't know what World Simulation you are talking about. Is it the voice I heard before I came to this place?"
"Wait! You to heard that voice?" Anna asked, shocked.
"I heard that voice to it was talking about something about an error occurred and syncing four worlds." said the older boy
"By the way, Who Are You Man?! Because of You we were chased by more robots and you did not even say anything let alone an apology. Don't you know any manners." Anna yelled at the newcomer.
"Dont blame all on me it was not my falt that suddenly a Robot spotted me as the lights turned on all by it self." the newcomer yelled back.
Anna, who had been watching in silence, stepped closer. A vein on his four head bulged in anger.
Both Riya and Sameer stared at the two awkwardly. They looked at each other then back at the two arguing.
"Do they both always argue like this?" Riya asked Sameer."I actually don't know I just met them just ten minutes ago"
Riya turned toward the circuit board. "When I woke up here, this thing was glowing. I thought it was a power surge, but maybe…" She trailed off, staring at her hands. As the two boys argue in the background
Saleem's eyes widened in awe. "That's it. That's how I knew it was you. You always had this—this spark. You used to say machines talked to you."
Riya looked up, startled. "I said that?"
He nodded, smiling faintly through tears. "Yeah. And everyone thought you were crazy, but I didn't. I believed you."
A moment of silence hung between them. The two stopped fighting, realizing something at that moment.
Yelled in unison "Wait! You Were the one to Turn on the Lights Above!?"
"Maay.. bee. I.. don't clearly know anything but i think while i was messing with the circuits i joined the circuit that turned on the lights above…" She said with hesitation thinking they will be yelling at her for putting their life in danger
A moment of silence fell over the cave.
Anna broke the silence and said "We can't blame you as you did not mean to kill us, it was just an accident. And you even apologised unlike the mister Silent Rock who just ran without saying anything." then smiled at her. A flash of memory flickered across her eyes. It was Anna, a bit older, giving the same smile to her.
"Scilent Rock?!! My name is Kabir, not silent rock, "Kabir yelled at Anna.
"Alright we will go look for the exit up the cave as our entrance can't be used to climb up, not to mention two robots are roaming around there ready to kill any human on sight." Kabir said while walking deeper into the cave.
The three followed Kabir. As they walked deeper into the cave they came to know about each other.
"I was in a world more advanced than this and there I was an orphan and Riya was the daughter of a scientist who had planned on using me like a lab rat. Before that can happen Riya saved me and hacked into the world server and found something that shook her to the core. She said something like a simulation of human life, a fake life they had been living. Then everything around us had caught on fire. I panicked but Riya stood still and did not move. And everything exploded. Then I was in a place which seemed to stretch forever. There I heard a voice which said that ad error failed creating new worlds, erasing memory and syncing new worlds. Something of that sort then I woke up in a different section to Anna and while I was exploring the area I stumbled into Anna. then got chased by a Robot." he said while keeping his right hand on his chin trying to remember more.
"I had a similar experience, I woke up in the same place alone and got chased by a robot and got caught by it. I thought I was going to die but then I got transported to this place which looked like a big road or a bridge p above the sky and the sky was dark like night with stars glittering in purple and blue glass. Behind me was a statue of a man sitting crossed legend half naked and his head was that of an elephant. There were two red pillars to his side on one of the pliers and a small black button. When I pressed it it took me to a different dimension like Sameer. The place was fully white and the voice said the same thing Sameer said."Anna said to the three.
"I had a similar experience but I don't remember anything before i got to the white dimension.It seems that i woke up at the entrance of the store i looked up and saw the store board but could not read the letters on it but then suddenly i got a headache, when it subsided i could understand what was written on the sign board.then i entered the store then i saw a robot it did not move at first but then the lights turned on then the robot came to life called me a intruder and chased me thats when i bumped in to you to." said kabir.
"Yhea, I too had a headache when I saw the sign outside the store window and the same thing happened when I saw the robots." Anna said.
"Even though I had a headache when I saw the circuit board, my body moved on its own like it was possessed.. No.. more like it was a reflex… I can't really tell because it just happened" said Riya.
"It seems that whenever you all get a head back some kind of knowledge is unlocked like a memory had been recovered. Maybe it is because the memory removing process had failed mid way." Sameer suggested.
A chill went down all of there spines. They looked at each other then to the front where the feeling came from They themselves don't clearly know but it was something that deeply affected them like they knew it.
The air hummed faintly with energy."What… is this place?" whispered Sameer.