I'm back. The story is back. We're all...hopefully better than before! But probably not! *Fireworks explode in background*

From The Opposite Side

Chapter 4: "Opening Hell In The Hospital 2"

Teto arose from the floor, and everything suddenly made too much sense to the baffled spectator before her. The hair, eyes, marks in the back of her shirt, everything was leading to a realization that this mere teenager was driving everyone to hysteria.

She was just a teenage girl. Neru assumed she must be around her age – going by looks. But there was also a child-like shine in her eyes that exploded into happy land when they held a gaze. Like she hadn't seen someone else her age before. Which sounded odd, not to mention.

What did she look like to this apparent patient? That was the one question swimming through her thoughts, and it wasn't going to end. All she could ponder was what could be going through her head at the same time. She wanted to play hide and seek? Well, why?

It could have been innocent. Nothing more than a person who wanted to relive childhood with a game.

It could have been a front. Maybe she really was terrifying and her "game" was gruesome and unspeakable.

"Whatever she wants, it looks like she won't take no for an answer." Neru didn't feel uncomfortable at the thought, but there was a tension in her hands without her eraser or clipboard. "Teto may be smarter than she looks. If I do agree to this game, what will happen? Do I win the supplies?"

"I don't want to be trouble." Teto mentioned, doing so barely over muttering. Her expression turned downcast in seconds. "No one will play with me when my friends are charging. They all scream when I look at them, and start flashing this weird light."

"You don't know why they're screaming or acting like idiots?"

She didn't care if she sounded a little insensitive again. Besides, Neru noted privately, the workers here needed to check their own mental states.

Teto rocked left and right on the back of her feet. She didn't have to say anything; the lack of shine in her eyes combined with her newly-discovered frown gave her reply away.

It was almost...sympathy-tugging. Neru choked at the thought. "What would I have sympathy for?! I'm fucking light years away from knowing what it feels to want attention. I like that."

While the rave light obnoxiously flashed all over the room, the alarm system wailed to the point everyone should have been deaf, there was almost a moment of peace. And yeah; peace while all of that chaos went down was illogical. But someone in that hall felt comfortable with a new face before them.

Teto bottled a little of her concern, literally brushed her palm over her mouth to remove the grown, and looked at this Neru person with hope.

"You look like an artist with that clipboard and eraser-stuff. If I give it back, would you draw something for me?"

"AH! She's trying to look cute with that 'enlarged eyes' trick!"

Neru scratched at her knuckles nervously, shuffled her feet, and appeared uneasy in general fashion. She hoped she wouldn't have to give a reply because this seemed...weird. Like, this girl was stealing her stuff just to lure her into a game. But all of a sudden she wants to have a drawing made? She needed to make up her mind.

"Maybe..."

"Maybe?! Neru, that would be so great!"

Neru stumbled over to the bench again, she needed to process the fact that someone wanted to see her drawings. They were okay, but nevertheless-ugh, this was going to be "interesting" in the stressful way.

"Teto! Teto, are you anywhere in this hall?!" There wasn't a reply. "TETO!"

The room shook a little, but otherwise the siren drowned out all of her screaming. Momo was almost touching the breaking point.

Hands roughly swept the fringe out of her eyes, her legs were starting to feel clunky and miserable to run with, and her neck...God...her neck was aching from yelling so much.

But it wouldn't do any good. Teto could hear so great, but even if she heard her screaming out every screw and wire...she doubted any positive outcome would ensue. Because she may be hearing her friend's voice, but that didn't change the fact workers were freaking out and rave lights were draining power from the whole country.

It was one of the lower floors she decided to search next. Honestly, Momo didn't know shit about where she was. But it didn't matter; this floor was home to some of the softest sofas. And she needed to rest at least one second.

Cleaning and sewing were simple to do. It was in her programing to excel at that because the human race was too lazy to do this themselves. That was fine in her opinion. But she didn't like having to respond with these built in "emergency features" especially because they were often enabled when Teto was involved.

"I can't do this kind of stuff like Defoko! I may have the programs in my head, but that doesn't mean I can shoot lasers and contort myself like she can! Don't force me to be a soldier, and maybe I'll consider working for you people!" On the day Momo was taken out of the shipping box and activated, that was the thought lingering in her mind. That was what she wanted to scream at the workers who didn't seem to understand like the ones back at the lab did.

But no, they wanted another Defoko in that aspect. Certainly not when it came to the drive to do cleaning and sewing, however.

Every time Teto got out, she was just overcome with the memories. Momo flopped down on the nearest sofa while holding her unresponsive legs tiredly. She didn't want to relieve the big thought that threatened to blurt out in appropriate times, but it was almost impossible to stop now.

"I'll try anyway." Momo coughed out, but she really didn't know who she was talking to. 'Breathing' deeper, she relaxed herself. "Just have to...dial for Defoko to help."

If Momo weren't almost in total wear down, she would have noticed the unfamiliar teenagers who were on the other end of the hall looking at her with worry. From their perspective, they could see a totally normal pink-haired lady collapsed on the sofa.

"She's passed out!" The boy shouted, utterly horrified by the sound of it. Momo barely registered it. "We have to help her! This is- Get some water!"

"But there's no fountain on this floor! Besides, what about the escaped patient?"

"We'll deal with that, but first we have to make sure she's okay! She looks near death!"

Momo groaned under her "breath", wondering if she really did look so bad. This was why she wished the people would take her off the charger earlier.

"Do you understand the rules?" Teto moved her head to the side, and once more her face lit up with a grin. It obviously didn't take much to make her jolly.

She was almost envious of that. But Neru shook the thought until it was out of her mind entirely. By that point, all she could do was nod and turn around to cover her eyes.

If anyone asked; she never lowered herself to a childish level like this. But it seemed to be the only way to both win her supplies back, and get information about the hospital's inner workings.

Teto's "rules" for hide and seek were what she remembered as a kid, so she wasn't considered about understanding them at all. It was basic "you count, I hide, you find me". Teto was going to hide somewhere on that floor, and if she could be found under a time limit of twenty-nine minutes then she would give back the supplies and describe what the hospital was like.

So Neru tried to relax her shoulders, lightly press her palms against her eyes, and count out loud.

Behind her, Teto muffled a giddy laughter fit with her hand as she looked around eagerly for a good spot. She could use the bench again, but Neru had seen her before...so that was out. She needed to be creative.

"Ten...nine...eight..."

"This floor doesn't have a lot of places to hide. Have I doomed myself?!" Teto whipped her head around, painfully, and frantically searched. "The only good places are the underside of the bench, and some of the rooms of other people. But I don't want to intrude when this noise is upsetting them! Uh...there must be a place..."

"Seven...six...five..."

Teto wasn't laughing anymore. She bolted down the hall, feet loud but not even carrying over the alarm noise. As Neru's counting faded into the distance, she practically ripped a knob from a door as she tried to unearth her hiding spot.

"Four! Three! Two! One! Blah! Come out wherever you are." Neru turned with a flourish, eyes rapidly going left and right in search of the girl.

"You'll never find me! I adapt very good to new games!"

The voice of Teto was shouted above the noise for one moment, but then vanished as soon as it came.

Neru quirked one of her eyebrows. She usually wasn't good with judging distance of sounds, but if she thought about it deeper – that voice sounded like it was farther away than it had been.

She looked down at her cellphone, and two minutes passed since the game was declared.

Neru picked up her pace and walked down the hall hastily, eyes still going left and right not leaving any area untouched. Finding her was important, and she really did need the prizes held hostage.

Before she could reach the sixth door on the right, something caught her eye. It looked like the ruffled hem of a skirt...wait...really?

Her eyes almost jumped out in the complete horror. "Are you even trying?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Your clothes! Geez, you're sticking out from a crack in the door!"

Teto gasped, and it really did sound like it was from the cleaning closet. The door was thrown open soon after, revealing her standing there and smiling nervously as she freed the edge from a screw on the door.

Neru doubled over, hands almost ripping out her hair. "This isn't how it works. The one hiding has to be really sneaky when it comes to their chosen spot!"
"But it was fun."

"Fun?! That game lasted..." Time to whip out the phone. And eagerly, that was what Neru did. "Four minutes! I don't feel really accomplished after that."

"Maybe, but this is only the first time I've played the game~" Teto swayed on her feet, and sang like there was nothing horrifying about the screw up. She even reached into one of her sleeves and pulled out the damn eraser. "The reason why I was looking for my friends in the first place was so I could test the game out with them. But of course, they're not here. Now I know how to properly do it – and it's all thanks to you!"

Neru fell back to the wall, utter "what the fuck" all over her face. This wasn't a game, was it? If it were, why was this so loose about how it properly worked? For some reason, she had the idea children screwing up the proper playing form would have a better time.

But hey; Teto was giggling on cloud nine over all of this. Yeah, now she was convinced it didn't take much to send her into an idealistic world of fun and wonder.

"Have you located the demon girl? This is not the time to slack off!" The annoying voice of that gray-haired tyrant burst through her headphones. "You were pulled off the charger for a reason, nine-o-six!"

Defoko inhaled some of the oil she found anyhow. It was just sitting around in the supply closet, so it was hers for the taking. She couldn't really focus with the screeching coming through, however.

So, eyes opening again only to narrow with irritation, Defoko reached for the headphones and threw them on the floor. But before she continued with her drink, she lifted a foot and slammed it repeatedly on the disturbance.

Except for the wailing siren, everything else was peaceful once more. She even cracked a smile as her drink loosened some of those stiff gears that no one else bothered to fix.

Neru's heart pounded as she shifted a little further into the room of another patient. The guy in here could be seen sleeping like a baby in a tangled wreck of blankets, so she didn't have to worry about disturbing him. But still, she wouldn't put it past Teto to hide in a dangerous location.

She tried to get in, then get out without a problem. When she first approached the door, she could feel that familiar chill. It almost caused her to wonder if feeling the temperature descend meant Teto had been there.

"No, that's a cliché thought." Came the mental scolding. Silently, her fist gave a smack to the top of her head. "Just...carefully avoid that muscular guy, and we're good. Those arm muscles that look like they could do good strangling damage...oh no..."

Come on, it wasn't going off the deep end to consider the people here may have violent reactions if pissed off. Neru wasn't a coward before – please believe us –, but this was really stressful. She held her breath, and continued walking on toes to the bathroom nearby.

Upon opening the door, she was greeted by a small room that wouldn't look out of place in an ordinary hospital. There was tile all over the place, agreeable bland colors, and typical things one would expect to see in a bathroom. But the chill in here was reaching a higher point, and Neru couldn't stop herself from smirking like she was winning.

What she was winning, she honestly had no idea. By this point, why should she question anything? Here she was a teenager, and a lazy one at that, playing physical games with someone who may or may not rip her tongue out when this was all over.

"She must be behind the shower curtain! It's another cliché!" Like she was the lead in a horror film, Neru lined herself up with the aforementioned curtain. She took a breath, and reached out. "Got you now...!"

Whoosh, the curtain was pulled aside with a flourish.

Neru's hand fell back to her side, and the foreign expression on her face was swallowed until gone by stoicism.

"Got you!"

The next thing Neru knew, she was pulled by strong arms around her ribs. She tried not to shout, and instead grunted loudly when she stepped backward into the chest of someone else.

This "someone else" also giggled rather girlishly, but also with an unexplained trace of giddiness.

Teto released her soon enough, thankfully. There certainly were many wonders about that strength for her otherwise skinny appearance. But that wasn't thought upon for too long.

Neru smoothed those irritating creases in her shirt, hurriedly redirected her eyes back to the joyous girl, and almost cracked another smile.

"You are getting a little better at the game. But when you shouted, that killed the illusion."

Teto paused mid lifting her arms in victory, and both fell to her sides as she looked on worriedly.

Again, a gulp audibly rose from Neru. "Don't worry! Don't worry; you aren't a hopeless case about the game anymore!" When Teto's eyes sparkled again in combination with her smile returning, Neru composed herself. "Sorry for giving you the wrong idea. There's not many times I'll compliment someone genuinely."

"Why the apologies?!" Teto's fists lifted to the air, and a sudden flash of complete seriousness revealed the possibility on her face. "Momo is always too scared to tell me the truth, and Defoko will the skip the topic altogether! You're in the right for giving the proper scolding for me! So...don't stop. If you're interested, I'd like to hear more criticisms..."

That logic seemed kind of flawed. But it reminded Neru of something – something hazy and out of touch. All she could hope for was that she'd fully understand eventually, but it obviously would not be now.

With that, Neru was more than blissful in leading Teto out of the hazardous room and giving her a full critique on her playing of the game. It dragged on, but Teto remained glowing with fiery passion about a kid's game so it's not like she felt bad about it.

Besides, this was almost really relaxing. Neru kind of hoped that it would take all day for those idiots to locate the escaped patient. If her new-found "friends" from school didn't return, oh well.

The excessive stiffening of her limbs wasn't a common occurrence, but it happened now and then. She never could pin down whether this was a flaw in her programming, or if it was being taken off the charge too early.

Whatever the reason, Momo wanted to scream profanity to the ceiling.

"Stay calm!" The girl demanded fearfully. It was strange to not hear a human give a proper order in that kind of tone. "Once we fix you up, we're going to evacuate together. You don't have to worry about the escaped patient, or anything like that!"

"But the escaped patient is-"

The boy leaped over to the sofa, and Momo cringed as he loomed over looking almost like she could burst into tears.

"Rin over here has been working in this hospital for a little while! She's going to be able to lead us to a tunnel, or something! Please, don't die! You're too pretty to die..."

Momo flung herself up into a proper sitting position. Her legs and arms still ached and provided excess weight, but she still mad enough energy to give her special glare of caution – or 'doe eyes' as Defoko had called them once –.

"I'm okay. Please don't worry about me, I..." Momo looked over to Rin, more specifically a familiar coat she wore. Tension in her shoulders eased a little. "Really, I was just resting for one second. It was never my intention to slack off from the mission."

"Forget about a 'mission'!" The boy rushed to her side when she tried to slide off the sofa.

Even Rin bounced over, and this was what shocked Momo. Why was she acting like this? She obviously was a member of the staff, so it wouldn't come as a weird thing that this robot didn't need too much lying down time.

Did she even know about them?

Whatever the case, Momo felt herself get a little agitated. She pushed the two aside, probably more painfully than intended, and quickly whirled away from them.

"Really, you don't have to help me! They took me off the charger too early, and I need to find Teto..."

Rin and Kaito lifted themselves from the sprawled positions on the sofa. Both looked a little stunned from the unexpected strength. But otherwise, Kaito at least walked too close for comfort and clasped her shoulder.

"Are you looking for that escaped patient?"

Momo froze in her tracks, eyes narrowing as frustration boiled. "How can these two make me want to slap them? I shouldn't feel this way...but Teto...the mission...cleaning duty...where the heck is Defoko right now?! Geez, I need her help!"

Rin stepped over too, and she watched worriedly as Momo began to tap furiously at the back of her neck. She hoped they weren't being a disturbance, but she didn't look like she was in the condition to go on the hunt for this one girl. If she would go with them, they could reach safety.

"Just come with us. We'll help keep you on your feet, and along the way get some water..."

"You can't hide forever!" Neru kind-of-gracefully swerved the edge of the entrance to the scary guy's room, then used her keen eyes to scan the rest of the floor. "Whenever you're close, the temperature lowers – I'm so going to use that to my advantage!"

"Ack! How did you find out about the temperature change?"

Neru almost felt smart for a second. She hurriedly wiped a growing smile of pride with her sleeve, then continued her jogging toward the elevator.

"Well...that doesn't matter~" What was with everyone and sing song? No matter, Teto could be overheard giggling like a crafty imp again. "I will let you in on a hint, seeing as you're so confident all of a sudden. The reason you feel this temperature may just be in your head. Kind of like a song I once heard about an emotional man who constantly feels the presence of his ex."

Neru paused entirely, merely a step away from the elevator. "How does a song about stupid people relate to the chill you give off? And, wait, how do you know you do that?"

The reply wasn't prompt this time. Neru even heard a few thoughtful hmms somewhere in the pause. But she still pressed the button for the elevator anyhow, despite the chill not in her face yet.

Finally, when the elevator made a ding, Teto sighed dramatically and louder than appropriate.

"How am I to know everything about myself? There's many things I can't understand, but in the end...I really don't bother. If I have more strength, sight, and smell than anyone else I don't believe it's worth thinking about."

"That doesn't answer my question. I want to know a, uh, how about a theory for how it happens?"

Again, a series of hmms ensued to pad out the time. The elevator was empty, so Neru ignored that with a blank expression and turned away.

"Theories, you say? I love those! I love putting a bet on something from the outside, then finding out whether I'm right or wrong! Well most of the time I'm wrong, but what does that matter? They're so fun."

Neru didn't know how she managed, but she held back a rude snort. Thankfully, the other player couldn't see her mouth wrinkle with another smirk.

Maybe she shouldn't have found it funny that Teto was so easy to impress.

"I'm such a jerk, and never stop being proud of it. But this girl doesn't seem to understand what it means to not be literal. You know, ugh, she's got to be idealistic and act like there's no other option."

Oh, so many people at her school would take advantage of such a personality. Sex wouldn't be getting in the way of that, mind you along with the curious stare.

"Could it be a good thing that she doesn't live a normal life? From what I can tell, no one would let her set foot into a classroom or even breathe in their direction."

Curiosity. Neru felt a little of this mysterious feeling slip into her mood...and it was really awkward. Many questions floated into her thoughts by that point, and she doubted the girl would have the time to answer every one. This was odd. At first, she only wanted to know about the hospital.

"But it couldn't be weird to be curious about her. She does have an entirely different world than I could dream of. No amount of drugs can conjure this shit!"

"Ooooh, I must be hiding so good." The voice bounced across the walls once more, and Teto was obviously feeling like a winner. "You'll never be able to find me, Neru! Haha, you may as well give up!"

"Any other time? Of course I would give up." Neru turned around in a flash of a second, shoving aside bookshelves and any form of decoration as she did so. "But if I don't find you and finish the game, I'm not going to feel accomplished. You shouldn't get cocky so early!"

"Fine, but I still haven't been found. If you can't find me in seven minutes, I win~ I get to keep your supplies, and you'll have to get me tons of ice cream from the cafeteria."

"Wait, when did I promise to give you ice cream?!"

"Oops, I may have forgotten...?"

Neru couldn't resist the prompt eye roll. Finally, she voiced the one thought that had been on the mind since first exchange: "You must have been taught by the master of all trolls. I feel like I've been on the internet now."

"Well I don't know what all of that implies, but are you trying to say I'm mean?"

"Sorta. But if you were trolling, there would be room to say you're doing it just for a laugh. That is the case, right? You're screwing with me so you can escape the real world?"

Teto was bizarrely silent after this. Even when Neru called out, wondering if she suddenly died, she wouldn't reply.

"What? Am I the bad guy? I don't think my style of speech is that strong..."

Neru backed away from the wastebasket she had been combing. She no longer felt any form of a chill, and all trace of that previous happiness in the air seemed to leave with it. She was almost worried.

"Teto? Come on, are you...offended?"

No answer. But keep trying, Neru.

"Come on, I'm not- Do I need to apologize? I've never been good with that sort of thing – I need a cue to know when to say the Two Big Words about that whole...apologizing...topic."

"The awkward blonde won't care if you leave her. Come on, it's best we end this moronic search for you." Defoko muttered in her usual, quiet voice. Even though she was serious, even her face looked utterly uninterested.

So Teto could speak again, Defoko removed her hand from her mouth. The two were pressed uncomfortably against each other and the wall in this air conditioning control room. But that obviously didn't matter to her friend – Teto was glowering at her in a way she usually didn't.

"Why would you try and restrain me?" Teto whirled around angrily, and a familiar glint passed through them. Defoko paid that no mind; she looked down at her sleeve pulled over her hand. "I was having a good time playing hide and seek! I wanted to play with you and Momo before all of this weird stuff happened, but you were too busy charging!"

Defoko waited until she was finished. She watched as her friend huffed and grasped at the air like she couldn't believe this world. But in the end, she crashed against her chest and she caught her out of habit and rubbed her back.

"You've never had control when angry." But it was something Teto didn't need to know. Perhaps...not ever.

Defoko listened as her whines faded away. Then with her words chosen carefully during all of this time, she spoke and hoped it would calm her down entirely.

"We were going to check on you before Momo crashed while on the job. It was during setting her up for the process that I realized my power was drained too. I know I'm not hard-working, but I know my limits all the same."

"I understand that part." Teto grunted against her body. To properly hear her, Defoko pulled her away and let her do the balancing. "What I don't get is that you sneaked up on me like an attack. Why would you do this just to take me back to my room? Am I in that much trouble?!"

The more she rambled, the more she sounded frantic and afraid. Defoko swore this was one of those times that she was actually "surprised" at a new discovery. Her own eyes even opened slightly wider.

"I'm actually enjoying myself with Neru." Teto threw out her pointer to the exit door into the hall, all trace of fear flew away like the flip of a switch. "She is from the outside world! She's been helping me with this game, and she's going to draw something for me afterward! Please don't drag me back I- I want to at least send her off on a good note."

Defoko's eyes remained a little wider than usual, and that was a massive change for her face. She usually had her eyelids almost closed entirely, hinting at no interest in anything outside of her own world.

Teto swayed on her feet, resembling a child who was being stared down by a parent in serious mode. She clasped her hands, hid her eyes beneath hair starting to fall into her face, and generally Defoko wondered if she was doing this on purpose. Hey, even friends cannot know everything about each other.

In the end, Defoko didn't give in. She stepped closer, one hand outstretching for her to see the panel of outer "skin" shift toward the very edge of it.

"Look at this stupid, dramatic note Momo sent to me. Do you really think we can stay away from the search party any longer? It's bad enough that I had to laser my way through walls just to get here."

Teto cringed, but looked down at the note on the computer screen inside Defoko's palm. Yes, that was a mere common sight for her. It was strange at first, but now it meant trouble because Momo always left freak out messages.

Hurry and find Teto! I don't give a flying flip if you're too tired or thirsty to do anything – I am going to be the one in control this time!

Don't say I'm just acting ridiculous, Defoko! Don't even say it! You know I'm just protective! Besides, one of the apparent new employees and a friend of hers are mistaking me for a human and think I need medical help. Regretfully, I worked myself too much after all. Okay, you can tease me about it later all you want to!

TAKE TETO, AND BRING HER BACK TO HER ROOM SAFELY! PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER BE GIVEN KNOCK OUT DRUGS OR A NEEDLE, AND PLEASE, CERTAINLY NOT A BLOW TO THE HEAD! I MEAN, THE LAST TIME I SAW AN ESCAPED PATIENT GET KNOCKED OUT WAS HORRIFY-

"I can't be sure how much longer this goes on. But right here; the scrolling bar is really small." Defoko deleted the message, shoved her panel of 'skin' back over, and then took the liberty to walk over to the door. "This should be no different than other times you've sneaked out. Before she starts making her circuits burst into flame, we need to alert everyone you've been found."

Even though she cracked open the door and let full light slip inside again, Teto remained standing in the center of the cramped room with her back toward her. She was oddly silent, and yes that was a bad sign when she did not have a rapid reply.

"This...'Neru' can't be anything more than another student on a psychology assignment. I sense this won't be the last time any of us see her." Defoko offered this, not really believing it. But she forced a sincere tone and that was about it. Don't ask for a smile – it's unreasonable.

Teto wouldn't look at her, however. But in the light filtering inside, it was easy to see that her arms were flat against her sides and her knuckles trembled slightly.

"No, we don't need THIS on top of the rest of my forced mission-"

Finally, Teto spun around and looked at her with such fiery...pathetic, tearing eyes.

No, that would ruin every- She was going a little too low with this. Defoko tried to shield her eyes – hopefully a arm clasped to her eyes would keep her in the safe zone.

But Teto only walked closer, and she peeled that arm away. Now she was forced to look into her eyes, and she was rather positive that the world must be ready to split in two.

"I don't mean that you have to never see her again. If she really is a student, then...you know..." The more stoic one usually could keep her voice from sounding above a muttering tone. But as her words went on, her voice lifted a pitch.

That did not even seem possible before.

"Please, cooperate with us. The less you're out in the open, the less I have to listen to the security system malfunction to the point of world destruction."

"But I don't want to!"

"This is not a matter of what anyone wants."

"Maybe, however! I haven't gotten to play this much with someone from outside of the hospital; it's giving me this rush of joy and wonder! There are so many questions I want to ask her."

"If you don't cooperate, you know that dick in the main office is going to send a signal for me and Momo to use force. Personally, I hate it when I'm taken over to do more work than I was programed for. Also, I don't want to see you get hurt."

"You said none of this was a matter of what anyone wants!" Teto suddenly bolted from her side, and she effortlessly pulled the heavy door open further. "Try and stop me, Defoko. Let's see whether or not you can fight against that 'programing' of yours!"

Feeling like an emotional wreck, Teto rushed out of the room and back into the hall. Where was she going? Well, she believed the game would have to be abandoned at that point, hopefully she could whisk Neru away to a place in the hospital where no one would find them.

"But Teto-! Ugh, if he doesn't want lasers in his face...he won't resort to that stupid mode."

"It's been a long time. I don't think the robots managed to find that Kasane chick."

"Wrong, again. One-o-one gave me a report about the process ten minutes ago."

"Then why didn't you tell anyone about it?!"

"Patience. If we're patient, and calm, we can have better results about this situation.

"So what are you going to do now, brilliant strategist?"

"One-o-one is nearly drained again, so it won't be long before she passes out. Thankfully, nine-o-six is still in enough shape to write a message, so she can go into her 'final form'."

"Final form?! I feel like that's a corny form to be in, but what else can we do?"

Neru fanned her face, happy to feel a little more chill from this wall. It wasn't the same one she felt when Teto was around, but seeing as the game seemed to be paused there was nothing else she could do. It did feel good to cool off after so much exercise, however.

Before she could mull over what to do next, SLAM, the door to that room smacked into the wall. Neru almost fell over, but did remain weak on her feet as she looked over at the two girls leaving. Wait a second, one of them was Teto.

"Teto, what are you doing out in the open-" Neru sliced her sentence off before she could bother asking. Because the temperature jumped from comfortable, all the way to boiling when she caught a glimpse of the second girl.

The other girl was delicate looking on the surface, but she emitted a powerful heat that...honestly by this point Neru wasn't horrified of the apparent fact people could do that. The girl had purple hair, eyes the same color, and dressed almost like a student.

But there was something unsettling, and it wasn't the hair or eye color. It was the way her arms stretched out, and from beneath her sleeves really long and apparently conscious thick wires shot forth waving about like something out of a horror movie.

Otherwise, the girl had a blank expression that implied she didn't give a shit about the...unusual additions to her arms. Actually, she almost looked like she had seen enough to not care about the strange things in life.

"What the hell...?!" Neru could only sputter that as she pointed at the, uh, new experience for her eyes.

"There's not enough time to explain, not now anyway." Teto switched to looking dark for a second, almost angry. But she threw off that feeling, and lowered her head with defeat. "Okay, you all win! We didn't need fancy drama just to take me back to my room...I would have gone if Mr. Hospital Operator just gave me some steaming bread or an extra storage card."

Neru still looked on, absolutely rooted to where she stood and still pointing. Come on, was she really expected to say something about any of that? If she did, it would only make it worse for everyone.

With the target surrendering, Defoko saw no reason to not prolong the moment further. She hated this mode, she really didn't want to use these "fancy" defense measures just to escort her back to a room. In this mode, she couldn't register the emotions on Teto's face or the visitor's moment of "what the fuck".

All she saw was a willing target, so she let the extra wiring shoot forth at blinding speed to wrap around the offered wrists held out.

But it was Teto all the same so...there was enough of an instinct to soften the grip. Just a little.

Neru's eyes remained almost closed entirely, no particular thought visible on her face as she tried to take in and overall fail horribly in finding an opinion in the first place.

But when she snapped out of it, that was when she caught sight of Teto lifting her head to send a hopefully-reassuring grin. Kind of like she was saying that she would be okay, and these bindings on her wrists weren't as painful as they looked.

"Wait!"

Neither the unidentified or robot girl could begin to walk away. Neru leaned closer to them, and after such an outburst her face struggled to remain calm and not worried she was going to ruin this moment.

"Um, see, about this whole situation..." Oh yes; she was going to ruin it to the point of no return. Still, Neru continued babbling with hands waving around. "She doesn't seem to be a harmful person, so why don't you let her go? I mean, she seems playful. Uh, a little of a troll however. But! Yeah you should let her go."

"It's okay." Teto pulled at the bindings a little more. Nervous chuckles slipped out. "This always happens. Well, I don't know why Defoko's eyes are blanker than usual..."

"You shouldn't let these people capture you just to take you back to a room!"

"It's fine. We're friends."

"It doesn't matter! God, I don't understand life..."

Teto blinked repeatedly, complete bewilderment across her face by that point. She looked down at the usual sight of her hands captured, and then Neru waving her arms out and back like a bird taking flight.

Could there be something morally-upsetting about that?

"Why? It does confuse me, but it's always been like this. The outside must be really different than it is here, I guess?"

"Teto, let's hurry." Defoko finally muttered, her voice even more emotionless than usual.

It didn't seem right. Defoko did mention going into another mode, but was this it? Having really tight wires for capturing and a really computerized voice? Somehow, that sounded less shocking than it should be in her head.

"Let me finish with Neru first."

Neru's eyes snapped open again. She really needed to make sure they didn't dry out from all of this.

"Neru," Teto smiled again, being a whirlwind of emotions today, she spun as best as she could and then cocked her head to the side with bursting energy. "The time we played together was fun! I want to do it again, and also get a drawing from you."

"But you never gave me back-"

"Oh! You're right...well...sorry."

Neru saw her happiness falter, she gasped accidentally and hurriedly waved her hands. "You know, maybe I overreacted about you taking the supplies! If tell I Mom I lost the clipboard and eraser, maybe she'll give me enough money to get more. So it's not a loss. She does mention that the art I do is some form of exercise at the very least."

"That's great! When you have the other things, you should come back to the hospital!" Teto excitedly jumped and tried to lean over- the wires prevented her from attempting any form of contact.

Neru tore her eyes away from the pure happiness emitting from Teto, and instead switched them to her shoes. Could she really come back here? The place was crazy, and she didn't even know what happened to Rin and Kaito during all of this.

Defoko stopped tapping at the back of her neck. As soon as she did this, the siren and light finally ceased. Neru swore she heard at least a hundred relieved breaths be released at once.

"As long as you two don't wander over the hospital and cause end-of-the-world chaos, you're free to see each other again." Defoko looked away, hoping that no one noticed her regular voice slip back in despite this mode still being activated.

No one seemed to notice, however.

Neru stopped awkwardly staring at the ground. But with her eyes seemingly trapped between forcefully closed and trying to reveal emotion, she quietly uttered a "maybe" to the idea.

"I'll be positive about that." Teto grinned once more – perhaps that was the best expression she could have.

All of a sudden, all of the wailing and the flashing came to a halt. The panel to the shelter was pushed open, and Rin stuck her head out from it.

"I think they found the patient after all. We're safe."

Rin grunted and struggled, but she managed to leap onto the ladder again and then climb to the top. When she was finally out of the stuffy shelter and into the hospital lobby again, she breathed a sigh of relief just like many before.

"It's a good thing that the hot employee told us about this. But I wonder if she's okay after running off like that..." Kaito managed to say between huffs and struggling for breath. He weakly grasped the rungs and made his way up.

Somehow, he always thought that being squished against a girl in a small location would be...less painful for both parties. Excitement was just a fantasy, right?

When he was finally to the surface, and both were finished happily accepting air into their lungs, a curious silence filled the room. It wasn't just because all visitors that were previously in the lobby two hours ago had vanished and left furniture turned over, but also because they didn't recall seeing the pink-haired girl who called herself a mere employee and ran off.

First things first: she was not wearing one of those coats over her clothes.

Secondly: she was dressed like a maid for some reason. That always means trouble.

Final note: the girl said last minute that she would follow them through the network of tunnels to the safety zone, but they never heard from her again.

"Unless we're stupid, I don't think she actually followed us." Rin finally spoke the thought. It was hard to think she could be considered an idiot, but she carried on as she looked about the room. "But if the patient was found, it may be best to continue with life."

"So what happens now?" Kaito dared to ask.

Yes, he was still disappointed that the "employee" didn't join them. Her being crushed up in there with them would have made it enjoyable, even if slightly.

"The other patients should be really shaken by the random drama." Rin pulled the collar high for some reason on her coat, then epically swished it as she turned. "Come on, if you want to then you can help!"

"Hey, I don't mind after all of that. The lack of air messed with my head." Kaito took hold of her offered hand, then let her 'whisk them away' to the elevator again. "Rin, I have a request..."

Rin stopped long enough to send him a puzzled look.

So Kaito took the chance to smile enthusiastically, and give his request. "We should bring Meiko, Luka, Miku, and Haku next time. As long as there's no more random drama, I think they would enjoy checking this place out too!"

"...That's a good idea! Okay, when we find Neru again I'll ask her about that."

And so it continues on...

Well, the chapter was longer than I planned to begin with. Sorry if that went on too long, I just...I'm bad about length. I think my chapters will either be too short or too long, and there's no real middle.

I didn't proofread any of this, by the way. This chapter was written in times where I was about to leave, but wanted to get what I planned on the document before it slipped my mind and I became lazy. So yeah, there's more than likely typos and awkward wording galore. But hey, I'm not going to act proud about my grasp of English – I know it sucks ass.

Anyhow, it's kind of good to be back with the story. I don't have a proper updating schedule, so I guess...just keep your eyes out for the next! Hopefully, HOPEFULLY I won't be too late!

Well, The Chosen Storyteller is signing out now~