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Mirii's eyes were seeing some flowers coming from a white vase, which was sitting on a small drawer while leaning against the wall.
"I still can't believe the dirty, unforgivable trick they tried to pull on me..." Mirii's head rose. "We must be really careful around the Headquarters area... keeping the eyes and ears open: those Agents are trying to sabotage us with the use of hidden gadgets."
Mirii turned to her left, seeing a door in the distance.
"Uhm... considering the short amount of time I have right now, I cannot plan out a more habitual route to use for reaching Tonna's Office Room." A sweat drop appears on Mirii's right side of her head. "I must do it, though... I hate noticing that I'm taking the longer way, again!"
Her pace increased, as her eyebrows went down.
"In any case... it's time to focus: I have tons of information to say." She stops in front of the door.
Mirii's right forefinger bended, moving towards the door.
Knock, knock.
Mirii's head turned to her left, seeing the different doors each standing either on the left wall or on the right one. The door opened, as the girl's head immediately twisted forward: Bars was looking down, with his mouth a bit up.
"Yo, girl!" Bars pulled the door more, while walking backwards. "Like, we were just talkin' about ya!"
Tonna stands up from her office chair, with her hands on her desk. Hun smiled widely, calling Mirii's name. Fara was smiling, standing still on Hun's right side. Mirii's eyes were seeing him: her mouth immediately smiled. She starts walking forward, while closing her eyes.
"Hi Hunley." Mirii nodded. "I returned sooner than expected..."
Bars pushed the door, as it closed down. Grina was leaning her back against a wooden cabinet while her arms were folding.
"Sooo, how things went?" Her eyes closed, while smiling. "Hope they didn't exaggerate with the questions: they might really steal up all the turf got by the team's hard work!"
"Knowing you, Mirii..." Tonna's eyebrows were up, her mouth downturned and her eyes closed. "I assumed you would figure out the intentions for the other Agents to interrogate you..." Her eyes opened. "... after all, you were able to figure out even information I would never guess in a milion years!"
"True statement, Tonna..." Mirii nodded, as her head lowered a bit. "Although, what I did exactly in those 10 minutes... it wasn't a real interrogation at all."
"... huh?" Tonna's glasses turned completely white. "Excuse me?!"
"You heard that correctly..." Mirii frowned, as her head rose back to neutral level. "I wasn't called for a real interrogation!" Her right foot slides forward. "It was nothing more than a diversion for installing a spying device on my case!"
"WHAT?!" Tonna bended forward, as her eyes expanded. "Are you absolutely sure about the speech you just said?!" Her eyes blinked two times. "Because if that's true... it's actually a huge accusation you are making towards the Agent in question!" Her hands slammed her desk.
"I have found a camera installed on my case..." Mirii's head rose. "A cover colored just like my case was above the small camera."
Her right hand took her right tentacle, as she starts caressing it.
"It was all thanks to a special device installed above my room's entrance, who let me suspect such presence... if I didn't had such precious gadget, that camera would had captured all the vital information going on inside my room." She nodded.
"A-a device which can detect spy tools just like that?!" Tonna lowered, as her arms bended. "Wh-where did you get all those gadgets, Mirii?! I'm sure you weren't the one making them... I-I mean, you look smart but not a scientist!"
"If I would ever take science lessons... of course I would excel in all of them." Mirii's eyes closed. "My thirst of knowledge is never satisfied... and so is my desire to achieve ultimate perfection."
"Ehm... never mind telling me about those gadgets of yours." Several sweat drops appeared around the back of Tonna's head, as her eyes closed and her smiling mouth flattened. "Otherwise those crooks who tried to spy on you, will get away quick enough to even get a relaxing coffee break!"
"One of the two Agents' name was Sena." Mirii nodded. "She utilized the idiotic methodology of making me play Go Squid, trying to pretend how such childish game had any use in a real interrogation session."
"For real?!" Grina bended forward, as her jaw dropped. "You played Go Squid instead of answer up some question?!"
"I answered the few questions this Agent asked to me..." Mirii turned to her right, as her arms folded. "All related to the smartphone mission, where we 4 met Soke while in disguise."
"But still!" Grina's hands slammed on her hips. "You actually played a game during an interrogation!" She slowly grinned. "That kinda makes me want to attempt robbing a bank or something... I would play a nice marathon of games and even make new friends!"
"Grina, don't be silly!" Tonna walked around her desk, while frowning a lot and stopping in front of it, as she still looks at all the other Inklings. "It would be indeed stupid to play Go Squid during an interrogation... and the stupidity comes from the useless role such game has."
"Exactly my point." Mirii nodded. "They probably thought I would concentrate my attention on the odd nature of the card game's presence in said interrogation session... but now that I uncovered their true goal, all I need is to see the two of them bending down on their knees, begging for forgiveness: they will learn the severe lesson of not standing in my way..."
"Gee, you sure are that forgiving in others' regard…" Grina's shoulders rose, as her face slightly frowned. "It doesn't mean everyone stays in their evil paths…"
"So?!" Mirii returned to her right, frowning at Grina. "They must recognize the very fact they did wrong!" Her eyes squeezed. "If you go easy on them, they will never learn anything from this fatal mistake they caused… thus, they will still attempt to spy on the whole team, hindering its progress!"
"Mirii, where is the case?" Tonna walked in front of Mirii, frowning a bit. "I want to immediately send it to an Agent, specialized in tracking down spying devices, as well as finding their sources."
Mirii turned behind, as her face went neutral.
"Can this Agent be trusted…?" Mirii's head rose. "Sena might have made a deal with"
"It's as sure as this room." Tonna snorted. "If I notice something fishy and occulted in the Agent's procedures, I'll immediately take provisions: that Agent will surely think how much harmful and unnecessary the risk is for tricking a chief."
"Then, it's better to begin with such procedure." Mirii turns behind, beginning to walk. "The sooner I'm done with those fools, the more time I have for recreating that ridiculous tile."
"Tile?!" Tonna's mouth opened. "Wait, what tile?!" She starts walking as well.
Mirii's head turned to her right.
"I must return inside the Shrine: since I accidentally broke a tile, I'm forced to recreate an exact copy…"
"Right now?!" Tonna's eyebrows rose. "Oh no… you 4 have a mission to deal with, today!"
"Nnnngghh!" Mirii's eyebrows skyrocketed up, as her teeth gritted.
"Mirii, once we get to the Shrine… I'll order to postpone that special course you have to take!" Hun frowned, as he nodded and walked rapidly, reaching Mirii's right side. "In this way, you will have more time for taking on this mission."
Mirii's right hand was grabbing the door handle, as her head was pointing at Hun. She smiled, as her eyes closed.
"Such help will definitively be useful from my part." She nodded. "Thank you once again, Hunley."
Hun blushes a bit, while nodding and smiling as well. Mirii's right hand pushed the handle down, pulling the door and then releasing the handle, walking out of the room. She kept on walking straight ahead, increasing her pace.
"Do you know where this Agent is?" Tonna bended forward, walking right behind Mirii. "The one who interrogate you just earlier…"
"Yes, her name is Sena." Mirii's head turned to her left, raising. "Her office is located on the 1st floor, right next to the stairs."
"Good!" Tonna nodded. "Then, once you give me that case, return inside that office and tell Sena to wait there for my arrival." Her glasses went white for a moment. "I'll reach her office together with the specialized Agent: together we will certainly find more clues about this camera she hid"
"I think she might guess this arrival…" Mirii frowned, as her head turned forward. "I did showed myself in front of that camera… maybe I shouldn't remove that cover, so Sena would still think I wasn't aware of the camera…"
The girl turned to her left, entering through an opened, metallic door.
"No no, that's ok with that." Tonna's irises went down for a moment, as her black leather, dress shoes were touching the first step down. "Hiding a spy camera around this building is almost impossible, since there are a multitude of tools for checking an entire room or Agent activity… all of them are extremely efficient and trustful, so there is no reason to really worry too much about things."
"Nice." Mirii's head nodded.
"Hey, how about me and Barsy go pay that office a visit?" Grina grins a bit for a moment. "We are going to block this woman off, before she might think of a crazy plan for getting out of this situation."
"Eh eh, like… are we gonna block the door out?" Bars' mouth rose, with his hands inside his pockets. "That would be an easy task for me… like, I would put my back against the door and"
"Don't think brute strength will win the situation, big boy!" Grina bended towards him, as her left eye closed and her tongue stick out. "You don't want to give her a reason to shrug us off like that, right? She might get herself looking like a damsel in distress, for this one occasion!"
Bars chuckles.
"Like, if I was smart… I would find the door key and lock her in!" He shrugged. "Much easier and stronger than holding the door down… but hey, not even Mirii would know where the key is."
"I wouldn't attempt locking people inside their own rooms, in either way." Mirii frowned, as she stepped out from another metallic door. "They are not dangerous criminals… just hiding crooks who are disarmed."
"Actually, an Agent might have a weapon inside their own offices…" A sweat drop appears on Tonna's right side of her head. "It's a common practice, which I tended to do the first times I just met the Agent rank: since in the golden days of activity, we were constantly moving out of our office… going back to the Weapon Room for depositing ours was a rather lengthy process, which ate too much time for us to catch a break from the action... we couldn't even finish up the papers relegated to our role!"
"So, you keep the weapons to save time…?" Hun's head turned to his left, facing the woman.
"Basically yes." Tonna nodded. "It's not really written in the rules to keep a weapon inside an office… buuut the chiefs never say anything about it: aside the fact there hasn't been an accident report involving weapon use inside a room, ever since… I first became an Agent, there is really no point into punishing Agents for carrying a weapon around."
Mirii stopped in front of a door, as her right hand was holding a card.
"Besides." Tonna stopped right behind Mirii. "Chiefs were once Agents too, like me… they know what it meant to deposit down weapons back inside the Weapon Room, since each weapon is exclusively used by a specific Agent each."
Click.
Mirii's right hand pushed her door, as she walks a bit near the case, turning behind and raising her head.
"Here it is." Mirii's arms folded. "You can take the case as you requested, Tonna."
"Alright!" Tonna moved in front of the case, as her right hand picked the case handle, pulling it a bit while walking backwards. "See you later, you three!" Tonna walked to the right, still pulling the case with her.
Mirii walked near the door, pushing it back.
"Huh?" Hun looks at the door. "Why you closed the door? Aren't we supposed to go inside that"
Mirii turns behind, staring back at Hun.
"Hunley, this is our chance…" She nodded. "We must return inside the Shrine and postpone this special course… you said you can do that, Hunley." She smiled, while blushing a bit. "I trust in your abilities…"
Hun blushes, as he opened his mouth a bit for a moment.
"… yes, that's a good idea!" He smiles. "Let's get to the Shrine then: I think to have the necessary for giving out the order."
"Big bro, I can' 'elp ya too!" Fara smiled, as her eyes closed. "I can' let ya be th' Master in fron' of 'hem, so the' will listn to ya evn bettr!"
"Hey, that's nice!" Hun smiled widely. "So, what we need to do now is to… jump inside the paper!" He walks in front of a piece of paper lying on the ground. "Let's go!" He jumped up, turning into a Squid and diving inside it.
He swam rapidly down, until he jumps out of the paper, landing on a green cushion. He returned into his humanoid form, while sitting down on the cushion. His head turned around, seeing one lit candle on each side of a shoji: the darkness was lurking behind him.
"Huh…?" Hun's eyes blinked.
A Squid jumped out from the paper, falling right next to Hun's right side: returning into her humanoid form, Mirii was bending down on her knees, facing the shoji in front of her.
"… candles…?" Mirii's head rose, as her hands were resting on her knees. "Why putting candles next to the"
Mirii… come…
Both Inklings' ears rose. The girl stands up, while frowning and clenching her fists.
"Who's talking?! Show yourself." Mirii's eyes squeezed. "Don't make me think you are a fiendish being, hiding behind that shoji…"
Mirii… come…
"Hun, what's goin' on?" Fara was right behind her brother, as her eyes were staring at the shoji. "Where ar' we…?"
"… ehm…" Hun's head turned to his right, as his eyebrows rose. "Mirii, maybe it's a good idea to retreat back inside that building… I'm thinking that the Shrine might believe you are ready for reconstructing the tile."
Mirii nodded slowly.
"Hunley, please communicate your message to the hiding voice… so they will decide to show themselves, instead of having any regards for someone's presence."
Hun stands up, raising his head and frowning.
"I, Master Hun, ask you to postpone Mirii's session." He nodded. "She's needed for protecting the city once again from those who want to destroy it."
Master… there is no turning back…
Mirii and Hun's eyes expanded. The boy frowned even more, walking in front of Mirii.
"This is an order!" His head rose, his irises were pointing down a ceiling. "Please, I'm begging you…" His mouth sealed for a moment. "The city depends on Mirii, right now!"
... you only heard of a possible task to complete… you don't know where this task is. She can still come here… she's really not that needed
"What if the task in question is in Inkopolis?!" He snorted. "I promise to bring Mirii here as soon as she's done with the mission, since she's the only one who can reconstruct that tile!"
The tile, Master… the tile is going to be greatly used from Mirii, today… the prophecies are confirming it.
Mirii rose her head, as her eyebrows went down a bit.
"I do not believe in mystical prophecies." Mirii's eyes squeezed. "They are just assumptions with no real evidence or fact at disposal…"
"But, Mirii…" Hun turned behind, as his eyebrows went up and his mouth slightly downturned. "Do you remember what Kelly said, that other evening…? She mentioned the prophecies being right…" His eyes blinked two times. "I believe in Kelly." He nodded. "She let me and my sister understand our role in this Shrine."
"Does that mean all the prophecies are correct?!" Mirii frowned a bit more, lowering her head. "Don't be fooled by such statement, Hunley: it's incredibly easy to pretend holding the truth, stating fake claims or previsions."
Mirii… the prophecies aren't orders… you'll start reconstructing the tile, in just a few minutes… and you will find a reason to use it the most, today…
Mirii's head rose, as her irises looked at the ceiling.
"I would need a reason to enter right now, since I can't think of any… are you going to communicate said reason or you'll keep pretending that I'll enter through that shoji without one?"
You will enter… because the quest for reconstructing the Watching Tile will begin, as soon as you will retrieve the list and start fulfilling its tasks around the sweeter waters.
"… a list?" Mirii's eyes squeezed. "Why are you mentioning a list right now? Same question for the very fact, I have to go back in Inkopolis for completing tasks." Her head shakes slowly. "Such a waste of speech: I would had retrieved that list sooner, if it wasn't for this hiding attitude you have for not letting me know what I have to do"
The list wasn't ready, until yesterday evening… it took several hours for the staff to finish it, since the Watching Tile's components are hard to localize… we predicted your arrival this morning, thinking of postponing the event… the reconstruction will start soon, since the last thing we predicted was your wish to keep the Watching Tile for you…
Mirii turned her head towards Hun, as his head was looking back at her: both mouths were open.