Mallok kept his word because three minutes later, a shrill alarm exploded in my eardrums. Like good soldiers, all the guards left the line of meta dogs and moved towards their problem.
Once certain that no guard would return, I trotted as discreetly as possible to Ulrich whose scent I managed to locate.
If there, at that moment, I was asked to explain how I knew with such certainty that this one smell among so many others was undoubtedly Ulrich’s, I didn’t have the slightest idea.
Under the haunted eyes of his neighbour, I slipped into the line, just behind Ulrich who didn’t even turn to me.
“You have a little something different, miss,” he said in greeting.
“I had a manicure.”
He shook his head.
“That must be it, sure.”
“Well, now that we’ve covered that issue, I need to know if
