The hallway beyond the double doors was long and wide. Geordi noticed a camera pointing at her, and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of it,forgetting for a moment that the security system was down. She followed Scotty down the hall. Her shoes squeaked against the tile floor as they rounded a corner together, and to her relief, Scotty did not turn and glare at her.

They heard the loud footsteps ahead of them, and Scotty paused. Geordi ran into his back. He peered around the corner, and Geordi crouched and did the same. She had never seen pictures of the new security robots, but it was clear what it was. The thing was bulky, made of metal, and almost twice as tall as she was, like a mech from some anime. It had been painted yellow and black, and the eyes were large, bulbous things on its head. They reminded her of a frog.

"It's huge," Geordi whispered. "No wonder it's so loud."

Scotty clamped a hand over her mouth, and he pulled her with him behind the wall. He pointed his finger down the hallway where they had just been, and Geordi followed him in that direction. They turned down a different hall, and they could see another exit clear across the building. There were few places to hide from the cameras, but they just needed to get out of there before the cameras reactivated.

Scotty ran ahead of her. There was a single camera on the left side of the hallway, and Geordi made sure her hat was low on her face as she passed under it. The sound of the footsteps sounded near them, and Geordi looked behind them. Her foot slipped, and she fell hard on the metal parts on her back, making a loud clang. Pain exploded in her back from the impact, and she covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from screaming.

Eyes wide in panic, Scotty crouched over her. She gave him a shaky thumbs up. He extended his hand to her, and he pulled her to her feet. Once she was steady, she noticed a puddle of something dark on the floor.

"Those things will be coming this way," Scotty whispered. "Let's get out of—"

"Is that blood?" Geordi asked.

"We don't have time!"

Geordi turned on her flashlight, and she looked at the dark fluid on the floor. The substance was dark red, and there was a trail of it going down a different hallway like someone had dragged themselves across the floor.

"Oh, God," Geordi whispered. "Something happened here."

"We only have a couple of minutes! Come on! Let's go!"

Scotty grabbed her arm, but she pulled herself away from him. She ran down the hall, following the trail of blood, but just on the other side of the wall was a person lying face down on the ground. The clothes had once been light in color and were now soaked in dark red blood, and the hair was short, allowing her to see that the side of the face was concave.

Geordi's hands trembled as she took in the sight of it. The beam of her flashlight darted all around, and she tucked it close to her body to keep it steady.

"What are you doing, Geordi?" Scotty asked. "Let's go! Come on!"

"Is he alive? Does he look like he's breathing?"

"Does it matter? Let's get—"

Geordi cast a glare at her friend.

"How can you say that? A person could be dead!"

"I know, but—but we'll be in trouble if one of those security androids finds us!"

Scotty grabbed her arm again, but she shoved him away. She put her flashlight in her mouth as she took off a glove, and she pressed two fingers to the unfortunate person's throat. The body was cool and slick with blood, but there was no pulse. Acid rose in Geordi's throat.

"You're leaving evidence!" Scotty said. "It'll look like you had something to do with it."

Geordi backed away from the body, and she put on her glove.

"I just had to check if he's alive, okay?" Geordi said.

Scotty gave her an exasperated look, but he slumped his shoulders forward as he accepted defeat.

"Well, is he?"

"No, he's not."

"Then, let's get the hell out of here! The cameras are coming back on in just a few seconds."

Geordi worried she would vomit all over herself as she followed Scotty out of the building. She took one last look inside before she closed the door, hearing a loud click as it locked in place. After a quick look around, Geordi realized they were on the same side of the building as the three semi-trailers, where they had agreed to first meet, and they ran behind the trailers to hide.

Scotty dropped his backpack onto the ground. He pressed his back against the trailer, and he slid onto the ground. His gloved hands shook as he raised them to cover his face.

"We almost didn't make it out of there," Scotty said.

Geordi dropped to her knees beside him without taking off her backpack. She stared at her own gloved hands, and they trembled. It was silly, but even though they were black, she could have sworn she could see a red stain on the fingers.

"I can't—" Geordi stammered. "I can't believe there was a dead person in there."

Scotty grabbed Geordi's hands, and he gave them a gentle squeeze. She lifted her face to look at him, and the bill of her baseball hat bumped against his.

"There was nothing we could have done to help him, Geordi," he said. "Someone will find him in the morning, and they'll find out who did it. Okay? There's nothing we can do."

Geordi turned away from him.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked him.

"I'm—I'm not. I just want us to get back home, and you have a sister who needs you, okay?"

Scotty released one of Geordi's hands to grab his overstuffed backpack.

"My getaway car is nearby, okay? Let's go home together this time."

"But my bike—"

"We can get you a new bike. Come on."

Geordi squeezed her best friend's hand, and she nodded. With a small smile on his face, Scotty returned the nod, and he helped her stand. Then, they ran from the recycling plant.