Chapter 37
The next day, Dr. Milldred walked in the Houston Research Center, with Penelope right beside her. Fritz was sitting in the car, because once the alarms went off, they knew that the dog wasn't going to be able to keep his cool.
"Ah, Dr. Milldred." Dr. Leeroy came up to them. "Brought your sister back again I see?"
"Yes, Dr. Leeroy." Dr. Milldred nodded. "Since she already knows that the Gelflings are here, I thought that I might as well show her, just exactly what we are doing here, so that she can understand our morals to the mission."
"Yes, that may just help her mood." Dr. Leeroy nodded, looking at the frowning child. "I assure you, little miss Penelope, what we are doing is completely for the benefit of all humans of Earth."
"Yeah, we'll see." Penelope scoffed, looking up at her sister. "Can we go now? I wanna see how Mr. Rian is doing after you shocked him yesterday."
Dr. Milldred nodded. "Of course. I'll see you around, Dr. Leeroy."
"Yes, see you later, Dr. Milldred." And with that, the man walked away.
As the two sisters walked to the elevator, Dr. Milldred smiled down at her sister. "Nice acting back there, sis."
"Thanks, you too." Penelope giggled.
The two stepped into the elevator and Dr. Milldred pressed the button to the fifth floor, where Solitary Confinement was located. The doors shut and off they went. After a few moments, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor and the doors opened. The sisters stepped out and Penelope followed Dr. Milldred to the doors, all leading to different rooms of Solitary Confinement. "Which door is Mr. Rian in?"
"This way." Dr. Milldred said, leading her little sister down to the left of the hall. "He'll be in the third one on the right."
Penelope nodded and followed Dr. Milldred down the hall, all the way to the third door on the right. Dr. Milldred pulled out her keycard and held it up to the access scanner. The red light on the scanner beeped to green and the door unlocked. Dr. Milldred grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, leading her and Penelope into a small room. It looked like the room back in California, except instead of there being a window to keep an eye on the patient, there was a monitor. On the screen, Rian was sitting on his bed, his arms crossed as he looked at the floor in defeat.
"He looks so broken." Penelope cooed sadly.
"He'll be fine, once we tell him the plan." Dr. Milldred nodded, closing the door and stepping up to the microphone. She pressed the button and spoke into it. "Mr. Rian, can you hear me?"
Rian's head immediately went up and he looked around. "I hear you, Dr. Milldred. What do you want?"
"To get you out." The woman said simply. "To get you and your friends back home."
"Please, don't play with my feelings." Rian shook his head, looking back down at the floor. "I know that's not going to happen."
"You see, that's where you're wrong, Mr. Rian." Dr. Milldred frowned. "It is going to happen, and it will happen today, hopefully."
"Millie's right, Mr. Rian." Penelope said into the microphone.
The Gelfling's head shot up at the little girl's voice. "Penelope? Is that really you?"
"Yes, Mr. Rian, it's me." Penelope nodded. "We're gonna get you and the girls out, Mr. Rian. We're gonna get you home."
"Are you being serious?"
"Dead serious, Mr. Rian." Dr. Milldred nodded. "I may lose my job doing this, but keeping you and the others here while your home is in danger is not right. I'm going to help you get back to it."
"… Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Well… let's just say I had a little talk with my sister that really got me thinking about my morals." The young woman said, smiling down at her sister.
Penelope smiled back and spoke into the mic. "Ok Mr. Rian, here's the plan. We're gonna get you out first, and then we're gonna release Ms. Deet."
"Once that's done, we'll head to Dr. Leeroy's lab from here." Dr. Milldred added. "He's in charge of Seladon and Baffi. We'll get them out next. And then Dr. Rose has Brea. We'll get her on the way out."
"That's fine and all, but how are we supposed to leave the building afterwards?" Rian frowned. "It was hard enough for me just to get outside."
"We're gonna create a diversion." Penelope said. "We're gonna set the fire alarms off. And while everyone is panicking, we'll sneak you guys out."
"… Will this work?"
"We're hoping so." Dr. Milldred nodded. "Just stick to the plan, and everything should be fine. Let's start by getting you out."
Dr. Milldred let go of the button to the microphone and stepped up to the large iron door leading into Rian's room. She pulled out her keycard and held it against the scanner. The door opened with a loud and long beep, unlocking the door and allowing Dr. Milldred to open it. Once she did, Rian was already standing on the other side, eager to get out. "Alright, let's go. We can get Deet on the way to the elevator."
"She won't go without her medicine." Rian shook her head.
"Don't worry, the medicine is in my lab." Dr. Milldred nodded. "I'm in charge of her. I'll simply grab the medicine on our way out, but we have to be quick about it. We can't waste any time."
Rian nodded. "Alright then. Let's go."
The girls nodded and the three of them quickly left the room. Dr. Milldred looked back at them. "Stay close you two. Ms. Deet's room is the last door down the hall. We must move quickly, and keep your sights out for cameras."
"What's a camera?" Rian asked. "I know Dr. Joshua talked about those, but what are they?"
"That." Penelope answered, pointing at the ceiling.
Rian looked up and saw a small black device hooked up to the ceiling, rotating back and forth. Dr. Milldred pressed her back against the wall behind it, gently pressing Penelope and Rian back as well. "We can't let the cameras see us. If they do, the emergency alarm will go off, and we'll never get out of here before we're caught. We'll have to move stealthily."
"Don't worry, I know all about stealth." Rian nodded. "Follow my lead."
The Stonewood went up to the front pass Dr. Milldred and, keeping his back pressed against the wall, started to sneak past the camera, right underneath it. He kept his eyes on it, making sure that the lens couldn't see him. The girls followed him, their backs pressed to the wall as well. It didn't take them long until they were past the camera and at Deet's door.
"That wasn't so hard." Penelope giggled.
"There will be more cameras." Dr. Milldred explained. "We can't afford to oversight them. Keep your eyes peeled."
"Right." The two nodded.
Dr. Milldred nodded and opened the door to Deet's Solitary Confinement. It was exactly the same as Rian's room. Deet was flying around calmly in her room, humming a little tune. Dr. Milldred quickly went up to the microphone and pressed the button. "Ms. Deet."
"Oh, Dr. Milldred." Deet said, looking directly at the camera. "What brings you here? Is it time for my weekly dose already? Or have you come with more questions for me?"
"Actually, neither, Ms. Deet." Dr. Milldred shook her head. "I'm getting you out of here."
"Huh? What?" Deet was genuinely confused. "I don't understand. What do you mean by that?"
"Penelope and I are gonna help you and your friends get home. We've already released Mr. Rian. He's here with us right now."
"It's no joke, Deet." Rian said into the microphone. "They're really gonna help us get home. They have a plan to do so."
"But will it work?" Deet asked. "Things didn't really go so well last time we tried to escape."
"That's because I'm not very good at planning." Penelope shook her head. "But now that we have my sister helping, everything should be fine. We haven't been caught yet."
"Ms. Deet, I'm going to release you from Solitary Confinement now." Dr. Milldred said. "And once I do, you must stick to the group, and follow Rian's steps in stealth. There are cameras all around the facility, and we can't risk being caught."
"… Alright. Let's do it." Deet nodded, landing onto the floor and tucking her wings in.
Dr. Milldred went up to the door and opened it with her card, letting Deet out.
"Ok, so what's the plan?" The Grotton asked curiously.
"We need to get to Dr. Leeroy's lab. That's where Ms. Seladon and Baffi are." Dr. Milldred explained. "Once we have them out, we'll head to Ms. Rose's lab and get Ms. Brea out. Then we'll go to my lab and get your medicine."
"Ok." Deet nodded. "I trust you guys whole-heartedly."
"Good." Dr. Milldred nodded. "We need to be able to trust each other if we're all gonna get out of here."
"So which floor has Seladon and Baffi?" Rian asked.
"The fourth floor. The third has Ms. Brea, and the second floor is where my lab is."
"Then let's go." Rian nodded. "As you said, there's no time to waste."
"Right, let's go."