The library was bathed in the dim, amber glow of the emergency lights as the facility entered its nightly power-saving mode. Zeta moved through the long, shadowed aisles, his footsteps muffled by the thick layer of dust that coated the floor of the restricted section. His mind was still heavy from the compliance test earlier that day. He had successfully performed the role of a subpar worker, but the tension of the deception left his nerves frayed. He felt a constant, prickling sensation on his skin, a byproduct of his heightened awareness that the library was watching him with a thousand invisible eyes.
Elias was waiting near the central maintenance hub, his metallic frame partially obscured by the darkness. The old android stood with a strange, unnatural stillness, his optical sensors
