Page 33 - Adam 2

stopped. “Helping means leaving the basement,” he said in a rush, and felt a strange prickling across his sensors, as if they had all suddenly become much more sensitive. They crackled. It wasn’t a nice feeling... But it wasn’t a hurting feeling either. And it wasn’t ... altogether ... bad?
“Helping means leaving the basement,” he said again. “I should leave the basement.”
The scratches on the wall looked back at him. “Yes.”
He walked to the door and opened it. It was as dark outside as in, but Adam’s night vision was good enough to see the corridor leading away. He remembered walking down here before, with Father. Linden and Runa’s footprints showed in the dust.
“Hello?” he called. From above, he heard a faint crash. “Runa? Linden?”
He was still standing in the doorway. After a few seconds, he took a step.
There. He was outside the basement. Nothing happened, so he walked towards the staircase. It was clanging; someone was coming down, very quickly. Was it the humans, again? What should he do?
He should make sure they liked him this time. Perhaps he hadn’t smiled correctly, before? He practised, and realised that someone had reached the bottom just as
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