Noor turned his gaze to Jane and whispered a few words to her. She understood his plan and prepared to execute it.
The robots approached them, ready for close combat, but Jane stopped time, freezing them all in place. Noor threw his shield, aimed at the first robot, and fired a bullet. It moved slowly through the air. Then he aimed the second bullet, then the third. They all hovered in the air, moving very slowly.
Jane did the same with two of the robots in front of her, aiming at the jewel on their heads, but the shots came out of her pistol moving as slowly as the robots, which seemed to barely move.
When time resumed, the bullets accelerated and all hit the robots’ power sources at once. Their heads shattered, and they all fell to the ground, emitting choked, intermittent electronic sounds.
Noor took a deep breath while Jane wiped the sweat from her forehead, feeling some relief.
Noor looked ahead and saw someone running toward the alley located between one of the buildings next to the university on the right. He was so fast and quiet that Jane didn’t notice him, but Noor was always very observant, which was fortunate for him.
He gripped his pistol tightly and then said to Jane, "Wait here for a moment."
"What happened? What did you see?" she said, her heart filled with dark turmoil.
He didn’t answer her and rushed after the person. After a few steps, he finally reached the alley. He raised the pistol in front of him and entered the alley, brandishing the pistol in all directions, until he saw him escaping.
He was wearing the robe of the cloaked figure who had helped him in the forest. Noor called out to him as he chased him, "You, wait! I won’t hurt you! What’s happening here? It’s me. Stop!"
Jane ran after Noor, and he heard her voice calling out to him, "Noor! Wait for me! What’s happening here?"
But Noor paid her no attention. All his focus was on the person running in the narrow alley in front of him. Perhaps he knew something of what was happening here, and that was why he had to catch him.
At the same time, Jane was still running after him, trying to catch up, but she was barely getting close to him because of his speed. "Damn it," she said to herself. "Why can everyone run without getting tired except me? Would it have killed them to add that feature?"
Then she remembered Noor’s words that her mind was extraordinary and consumed a terrible amount of energy, which made her body weak and frail.
Noor heard Jane calling again, "Noor, wait! Don’t leave me here!"
He didn’t answer her because he might not get this chance again. He continued to chase the cloaked figure, who had moved away from him and showed no intention of stopping.
Noor kept chasing him, cutting through the narrow alley until the cloaked figure reached a dead end. He stopped, then turned and stared at Noor. He was wearing a black hood and looked very suspicious. On his chest was a drawing of an unknown red planet, and as Noor was running after him, he had noticed four other drawings of four planets, but he hadn’t seen them well.
Noor stopped to catch his breath. He was silent for a few seconds, then pushed himself, saying, "Why are you running? I’m not going to hurt you. It’s me, the person you met in the forest, the one you saved from the pursuer and the strange dogs. I haven’t had a chance to thank you yet."
Noor fell silent and began to walk toward him slowly, raising his hand in the air in a gesture of surrender. "Why are you covering your face? And do you know what’s happening here?"
The stranger smiled a suspicious smile, as if he had been luring Noor. Then he said in a deep tone, "You will not get answers from me, but I will get something from you." Thıs content belongs to 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
Noor did not understand what he meant. He furrowed his brows and said dismissively, "What do you mean? Didn’t you save me before, or was that someone else? And who are you, anyway?"
The stranger pulled a strange pistol from his cloak and aimed it at Noor. He, in turn, felt panic and sensed that he was serious in what he was saying. He hid behind the garbage can in front of him and also drew his pistol, saying with apprehension, "Stop, I don’t want to fight you. Let’s just talk. You were trying to help me before, what happened to you now?"
"There is no discussion between us," the stranger replied coldly, not moving from his spot. "I have never met you."
Noor knew that this was not the same person he had met before. The clothes might be similar, but he was a different person. And it didn’t seem like he wanted to talk, as he quickly began to fire shocking electric bullets at him.
He ducked his head and took cover well, so nothing hit him. "What are you doing, you fool?" he shouted. "Don’t you see what we’re in? We must cooperate."
The stranger’s reply came as if he had no intention of letting him get out of here alive: "There is no room for cooperation between us. Unless..."
He began to fire again. Noor said to himself, "If one of these bullets hits me, there is no doubt that I may not survive afterward."
But this was not the worst that could happen in the meantime. Jane had finally managed to catch up with Noor, breathing with difficulty from the run. This was the last thing Noor wanted to happen now; he had completely forgotten about her amidst these events.
Fear began to flow inside him, and he could no longer think clearly. Everything that was happening now was clouding his thoughts.
Jane began to catch her breath and comprehend what was happening around her. Then she said, her lips trembling, "Noor, what’s happening here?"
"Jane, get out of here now!" Noor screamed at her, feeling like a leaf in the wind.