"How are you able to pass through the walls?" Rif asked, frowning as Emily ran her hand along the metal sheet.
"Um…Well, I am not sure if I can say." She said, pressing her hand harder against the wall. Blade walked up behind the two, the packs and weapons they had left behind bungled up in her arms.
"Still no luck?"
"Well, this ones a bit different, Blade."
The older woman dropped the luggage. She tied her sword back onto her belt, feeling something connect with her again.
"How is it different?"
"Well…The markings are different. Its in a code."
"Code?" Rif asked, squinting at the sheet. "I still cant see anything."
"Its because of your eyes. Da'ath has trouble seeing the markings too. Sedek and I don't have mako eyes, so we can see the markings."
"So…its invisible to those with mako eyes?" Blade asked, tapping one of the strange symbols. Emily nodded.
"Right. I think I have it now." Her hands moved quickly across the surface of the wall, tapping the markings Rif couldn't see with care. As she hit each one, it lit with a blue color. The colors bled outward, forming a pale outline on the metal's surface. He frowned. It looked like the one in Da'aths home.
"And…." Emily whispered, looking slowly and carefully in the center of the outline. "One more…" Her slender fingers brushed the surface of another symbol. It flashed black, consuming the wall. Blades eyes widened.
It looked as if they were staring through water. Everything on the opposite side of them was a foggy, blurred image. Emily smiled happily. "It worked."
"Apparently…Where is this place?" Blade asked, walking closer. Emily looked at her. Blade's chocolate eyes glanced at the pale skinned woman.
"The lab?" Rif asked, pressing his hand to the surface of the water wall. It hissed for a moment, causing Rif to try and jerk away. His hand remained in place, sinking slowly inside. "what is this?!
Blade flipped a dagger from its sheath, watching this seemingly alive substance swallow her partner. She didn't know what to do. If she hit it, she would surly be swallowed to, or hit Rif.
"Is it the wall?" She asked, eyes wide.
Emily nodded.
"Yes. The wall is two ways, but you must go in one way, then back out the other. There is no reverse. Just walk forward Rif, nothing is going to kill you."
"Bu-" Emily shrugged, walking into the wall herself. The clear, white tinted, gelatin formed around her body, seeping around her. In a moment, her image could be seen from the other side.
"Ah!" Rif let out a slight scream, as he felt Emily's hand grip his own from beyond the wall. Blade rolled her eyes, putting her dagger back and following Emily's lead. It was safe, she realized. No reason to worry about Rif any more.
It tingled her body, and until her boot hit the hard surface of the floor again, it had seemed time was in slow motion. All her thoughts had slowed down. Her body was once cold, then nothing, then flooded with warmth. She felt clean, and dry.
Rif stumbled out of the wall next to her, glaring at Emily out of fright. The glare didn't stay long. He was soon blinking in confusion, rubbing his clothing.
"The wall sucks all substance that doesn't belong off. Dirt, water, grime. It was made for labs like these, made to protect the spotless area." Emily told the man.
"Hm. So, this is our lab." Blade stated, turning from the two young people to look at the place. Set into the walls were holding cells. Creatures of strange assortments floated inside them. A freezer was set into the wall, and appeared to be a walk in. Different shelves were homes to different chemicals. Tables, file cabinets and desks lined the walls and filled up a good portion of the rest of what she could see. Blade took a step forward.
"Now to find your box."
"It must be right under the icicle inn, if it is the lab we are looking for. If this is true, the object may be kept in the house."
"Unlikely. This probably have more safety measures. Like-"Blade stopped talking, eyes following a rotating object near the ceiling. She sighed, pulling the gun from Emily's hands and firing it off at the white object. In a shower of sparks it ended its rotation.
"Like cameras. Lasers. Sound detectors. Locks. Codes. Anything. Better hurry up." Blade tapped the gun on her hip, walking down the large lab. "Someone probably saw that."
"Or…hear it." Rif said, but he to went to search the lab.
"If you find it, don't open it!" Emily called. Blade stopped, then shook her head and turned to Emily.
"Princess, if we don't look in it, how do we know what it is?"
"…You'll know." Emily told her, pulling open the freezer door.
Rif shook his head and walked into another part of the lab. Blade shrugged and continued on her way. The eyes of fish, or what had once been a fish, followed her as she walked. She shivered.
"Rif, this thing reminds me of that creature in the lab you were in."
"Maybe Hojo sold him." Rif called to her, coming back to the main room. Behind her Blade could hear Emily cursing and slamming the freezer door.
"Not there. Find it Rif?"
"Nothing but vials and chemicals in that room. Blade?"
"Just specimens up this way…" She called back, eyes scanning the shelves of different concoctions and mechanisms. Wires ran in thick clusters up this way, and green liquid was being poured in tubes towards a square on the wall. The square a silver metal, different buttons laid into the surface of it. Blade shook her head.
"Odd place." she muttered. She didn't take more then two steps before she did a double take.
On the surface of the square was a light, sunken in lettering. She frowned and stepped closer to it.
"J-….V-A… P-R-O-…. Dr. G-… H…J-O… S-T-U… R-E….Dr. K-A-…. This is all worn out… Hey Em, I found it."
"Great!" Emily called. The older woman heard her running towards her.
"No. Not great." Blade set the gun down, fingers gripping the edge of the box and pulling. It didn't budge. She looked at the buttons on the top. "Its… coded."