Code: 213

Nova

The androids outside bang on the door but they can't break through. A thin layer of smog coats the ground of the storage unit. The light grey paint on the walls is peeling, revealing the cement behind it. I pass the front desk and begin to walk down the long corridor of the building, looking for unit 16. Faint footsteps can be heard throughout the building. *This place is littered with androids* I think to myself. I walk through the quiet corridor, passing rows of bright yellow storage cells.

Unit 87
Unit 86
Unit 85

*God, this is going to take me forever* I think. Yellow lights lined the hallway. Most of them were out but some were flickering. A cool breeze floats through the hallway, causing me to shiver. I hear footsteps approaching the hallway and I hide behind the door way. The red lights passing over the door frame tells me it's an android. I carefully pull out my gun. The red lights linger for a second before moving down the hallway. I slowly move from the doorway into the next hallway.

Unit 64
Unit 63
Unit 62

I continue walking briskly down the rows of storage units.

——————————————————————————
??:??

Unit 18
Unit 17
Unit 16

Finally, I reach unit 16. I walk up to the locked storage door. There's a small grey keypad that has enough buttons for a three digit code. I punch in the numbers 837. A small beep sounds from the keypad along with a flashing green light. I hear a click from behind the door and that tells me it's unlocked. I roll up the bright yellow door and a cloud of dust falls from behind it. Towers of steel crates line the perimeter of the unit. I step inside the barely lit room. *Okay, what could be in here that Nila wanted?* I ask myself. I begin removing boxes from the walls and going through them. The first crate has pictures of my grandmother's wedding. The first picture is her with her husband in the back of a convertible hovercar. The picture is dated February 14th, 2036. I move onto the second box which has many pictures of family gatherings. Photos from Christmas, Thanksgiving, and my birthday. The picture is labeled Anastasia's 5th birthday, October 5th, 2074. I put the pictures back in the box and decide to move to the crates on the left side of the room.

I clear out two more boxes and find nothing that seems important. I pick up another crate and it's much heavier than the previous ones. I set the crate down and open it. As I was expecting, this one doesn't have pictures in it, it has documents. I take the first envelope from the box. It's labeled Ultanica Trial 4. I open the envelope and pull out the file.

September 19th, 2039 |-8:00 am
Location 8, Redmond, Washington.

Severe malfunctions within the DHCP
Trial 4: Server ran for 16 minutes and 12 seconds before overheating.
-33 second increase in server uptime from Trial 3

Dr. Winiver suggests upgraded CPU

Next estimated trial will take place at Location 5, January 8th, 2040.

I carefully put the file back into the envelope. I take out another one. This one is labeled Ultanica Trial 9.

June 24th, 2044 |- 10:00 am
Location 2, Seattle, Washington.

Malfunctions within the Motherboard caused the server to temporarily shut down.
Trial 9: Server ran for 18 hours, 42 minutes and 54 seconds before temporarily shutting down.
-1 hour and 2 minute increase in server uptime from Trial 8

Dr. Winiver and Dr. Ulden suggest upgraded SSD

Next estimated trial will take place at Location 16, August 28th, 2045.

I look through the rest of the envelopes in the box. There's 47 "Ultanica Trials" in total. *This must have been what Nila was looking for* I think. I grab another crate from the tower. In the box there is a smaller black box with my grandmothers name on it. Inside the black box is a tan leather watch. The watch face is slightly cracked. The watch isn't ticking so I smack it a few times. That seems to work. The clock displays: 2:15. I continue examining the watch when footsteps break me out of my thoughts. I shove the watch and all the documents in my bag. Red lights scan past the door. I take out my gun and pull back the hammer. The android appears around the corner and I shoot.

I quickly get up and retrace my path to the front door. Hundreds of footsteps are pounding behind me. I break through the front door and bolt across the parking lot. The androids emit the deafening sound again. I weave in between buildings, hoping to lose them. Eventually I hide behind a bus stop, listening for footsteps. My heartbeat slows as I realize the androids aren't chasing me anymore. I walk out onto the road, looking for a street sign. Abott Road. *Great. I ran in the wrong direction* I think. I turn around and start on the long trek home.