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Mirii walked in front of a metallic door: her right hand touched the right side.
"… I wonder what kind of elements are hidden inside those rooms? Experiment reports? Prototypes of new machinery?" Her face frowned a bit. "Such a tease the fact I can't comprehend how to make those doors open… near those doors I see nothing of interest, nor I see anything remotely useful on the doors themselves."
"Mirii, what are you thinking?" Hun's right hand touched the door.
"I must find a way to make those doors open…" Her head turned to her right. "None of my gadgets are of any use for this type of problems… also, those doors look rather tough." Her eyes closed, as her eyebrows went up. "We are forced to discard the use of brute strength… although, I wasn't really looking forward to that."
"Why?" Hun's head turned to his left.
"Brute Strength for someone who has superior intellectual skills? An insult." Her head turned to her right. "That's what such solution would have done to me." She nodded. "It could have been a last chance for solving this problem, if it was available… but before even thinking more deeply about such drastic measure" She turned to her left. "I want to explore this area in more details… that clone must have come out of an opened door, which we could use."
She walked forward, watching the darkness covering the hallway.
"… uhm…" Her head rose. "I can't ignore the reason why the treehouse was left abandoned by those scientists… the whole situation cannot be explained by just mere speculations. This whole mystery must be solved at all costs."
"Is that really necessary…?" Hun's eyes closed, as a sweat drop appears on his head's right. "Not even now I can really trust those places… in fact, I don't even want to know what we will encounter next."
"Nothing invincible, I'm sure." Mirii's head turned to her right. "No matter who dares to stand on my way… I'll remove my obstacles with intelligence and perfection."
"Mirii… is it me or the hallway seems kind of the same?" Hun's mouth downturned a bit. "We are not walking in circle, right?"
"No, Hunley." Mirii's head shakes. "This area happens to be rather large… … that's a great point, actually."
"What point?" Hun's mouth opened a bit.
"I was thinking… if it's true that there is an organization of investigators looking for arresting everyone involved into Project Neo… why they never ventured inside this area?" Mirii's eyes closed. "It appears the whole situation is so complicated, I'm not even sure if I'll be even able to look at it in a general way."
"I prefer not thinking about it, actually…" Hun sighed. "I have so many things to remember… I couldn't possibly remember all those Project Neo facts as well!"
"Hunley, you really have nothing to worry about this…" Mirii smiled. "I'm the one taking care of the matter. What I need is just your support…" She blushed.
"Oh… then I'll do my best to support you!" Hun smiled, blushing.
Mirii giggles. Her eyes were seeing a metallic door up ahead, closed.
"… sigh." Mirii stopped, as her eyebrows went up. "Now, I really have to find a way to open those doors…"
She walked in front of the door, as her right hand touched the right side.
"I know there is a logical solution somewhere…" Her head rose a bit. "I just have to… to… … nngghh!"
Mirii's fists hit the door.
"I-I don't know! I-I cannot guess the proper way of using those doors at my own advantage!"
"So… does that mean we are going back home?" Hun's head tilted to his right.
"Going back home… after all this road? I-I would rather stay here for hours, figuring out the solution." Mirii frowned, as her irises went up. "I… I will try using this gadget…"
Her right hand picked up her smartphone, as her irises lowered down and her right thumb pressed the touchscreen.
"What gadget?" Hun's head lowered, watching different squares appearing on the screen.
"It's… a rather obsolete Door Opener." She sighed loudly. "Obsolete because the website closed some months ago… and their application cannot be manipulated in any way, so I can't update my own gadget."
"Well… maybe it would still do its job!" Hun smiled.
"I hope… I hope." Mirii's right hand rose, as her smartphone pointed at the door.
On the screen, the word "Searching" was written above a blue line turning clock-wise. Suddenly, a small ding came from the smartphone, as the previous text faded out as another one came into its place, saying "Found automatic door" while a green checkmark appeared below.
Mirii's eyes expanded.
"It found the door?!" Mirii's mouth opened.
The text faded out, as a new one appeared saying "Opening" with the same blue line turning clock-wise, below the text.
"Oh… y-yes!" Mirii's opened mouth smiled. "I-I'm so glad that"
A noise came from the smartphone, with the previous text replaced by "Door jammed. Cannot be opened.", as a red X appeared below. Mirii growled, as she kicked the door with her right foot.
"CURSES THIS RIDICULOUS PIECE OF"
Vvvrrrrrrrrr…
Mirii's head returned forward: the door was slowly opening from the sides. She gasped, as her head turned to her left for a moment.
"Wh… what?!" Her head shook quickly.
"Heh, at the end you just needed to give it a kick!" Hun chuckles.
"… I don't trust this." Mirii's head rose as she stepped inside the room. "Something is not right…"
Hun walked inside, as his head was turning around. The door closed at the same slow pace. Mirii's eyes were seeing some large oval glasses to her right, all of them empty… except the one in the top-right corner: its front side had a hole, with shards on the floor.
"This is the room where that clone came from." Mirii took some steps forward.
The girl reached a large desk filled with test tubes, papers, pencils, computer screens and keyboards… Mirii's right hand picked up a piece of paper: her irises were moving left and right, as her eyebrows gradually went down.
"… this is the Cloning Room, according to this Experiment Report." Her head rose. "N. 2175… the experiment resulted into failure. Cause of failure: clones not surviving for more than 5 minutes."
"Wh-who are those clones?!" Hun trembles a bit, as he looks around, bending forward a bit.
"… they seems to be machines." Mirii's right hand waved the paper up and down a bit. "Something very similar to that… either case, I don't give too much importance to those details." Her right hand put the paper down. "I need that information which could expose Project Neo's intentions…" Her head turned left and right.
The girl walked in front of a paper, picking it up and reading it.
"N. 2456… no." Mirii's right hand put the paper down, picking up another one. "N. 1598… no, no." Her right hand opened, letting the paper fall on the desk. "Rather unfortunate…" Mirii's arms folded, as her head turned left and right. "Where could those information be…?"
Her eyes glued on a piece of paper hanging on the wall: the girl dashed a bit, passing some chairs spread on the floor, stopping in front of it.
"Communication to Section D: it has been declared that the Department of Science will no longer financially support the activities held in the section. All the employees, scientists and other personnel are asked to leave the station with only their personal belongings. The procedures are all written in the attached document. … th-this document was made a long while ago!"
Mirii's mouth flattened, as her right hand picked the paper.
"The Department of Science… are they talking about the government?!" Her eyes expanded. "There is a signature below this piece of paper and even a stamp… I'm not really surprised if Project Neo happened to be financed by the government themselves. However, seeing such document which proves its involvement in this terrible situation… it makes me shiver a bit."
Her head rose, frowning a bit.
"Whenever objectives they have in mind… I'll make sure to stop them with all my will!" She nodded.
"Mirii, what did you pick?" Hun stopped behind Mirii.
"An importance evidence to use later." Mirii turned behind, nodding. "We will use it in case"
Suddenly, from behind the desk, an Inkling man stands up with his right hand grasping a black gun, which has a black tank attached above.
"Hunley, be careful!" Mirii bended down, as her hands went on her head.
Hun turned behind, as his eyebrows went down.
"Stand still where you are, kids!" The man's left eye closed. "And give me that piece of paper!"
"You… you are that clone from before!" Hun bended forward, as his fists clenched.
"You guessed wrong!" The man lifted his posture. "I'm the real person, myself… I'm the one who sent my clone to give you a scare! It seems that wasn't enough, though…"
"Leave us alone!" Hun frowned a lot, as his arms went behind. "I-I can fight back if you don't listen to me!"
"Hunley, stop with this madness!" Mirii's hands grabbed his shirt, pulling down a bit. "Listen to this man! Please…"
"Yes, listen to that girl!" The man rose his gun for a moment. "And while you are at it, give me the paper."
Hun growled, as he bended down a bit. Slowly, the man walked towards the two Inklings.
"Who are you?!" Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
"Be quiet! I need the paper…" His left arm stretched forward, as his hand opened. "… give it to me!"
"… I'm not trusting you…" Mirii's head rose. "Point that weapon down, please…"
"No! Instead, I'll take the paper with the force!" The man increased his walking speed.
Suddenly, Hun turned into a Squid as he slid forward and jumped while spinning on himself. The man jumped, as his eyes expanded.
BANG!
SPLAT!
A small Squid flew away… as Hun landed on the floor, returning into his humanoid form.
"Wonderful job, Hunley!" Mirii jumped up, as her eyes closed and her smile grew. "I knew I could count on your valid support!"
"Thank you, Mirii…" Hun turned behind, blushing and smiling. "… but what's going on exactly? Why there is this scientist inside the station?"
"I have no clue about that…" Mirii's head shook slowly, as her eyebrows went up and her mouth downturned. "… but I'll make sure to find an answer to this question." She nodded. "Not now, alas… this piece of paper is truly important, as you saw."
Her right hand rose, holding the paper, as her irises pointed down at it.
"It contains an important evidence which can be used against Project Neo and whoever is working behind it… that's why, we must return in our treehouse and secure this paper as soon as possible." Her irises returned in the middle. "I'm afraid more snares will appear in our way, though… so, being careful is also a must we have to follow."
"Alright…" Hun nodded. "… should I lead the way back?"
"I prefer doing that, Hunley." The girl began walking, passing the boy. "I can spot danger rather easily… you don't have much knowledge when it comes to technology, thus you might easily fall into traps."
"I guess you are right…" Hun sighed, as he walks forward. "So, how are we going back?"
"… with…" Sweat covered Mirii's forehead, as her mouth was waving. "… nnnggh! N-no, I-I can't say that!"
She stopped in front of the door.
"I-I'm not an animal!" Her head shook, as sweat jumped out from her head. "I-I'm a smart Squid who uses efficiency and logic to overcome all those obstacles! I-I don't belong in a world of violence… I"
Hun kicked the door.
Vvvrrrrrrrrr…
Mirii's head turned to her right, watching Hun as his head was pointing at her, while grinning a bit and raising his eyebrows.
"Ehm… I-I hope I didn't do anything wrong…" Sweat covered his forehead.
"… I'll take that as an accidental press on a well-hidden button." Mirii walked forward, as her eyelids were lowered to the middle.
"Yo-you didn't approve that?!" Hun rushed in front of Mirii, as sweat jumped out from his head.
"No, not at all actually." Mirii smiled, as her eyebrows went up. "I'm glad you… solved the problem." Her irises went down and left. "I couldn't possibly think of any other way to overcome such… obstacle."
"Oh… phew!" Hun's right hand drenches his forehead, as he walked over Mirii's right side. "I-I thought I really did something bad…"
Mirii giggles.
"Don't worry about it, Hunley…" Mirii's head turned to her right. "I'm satisfied with the choice of bringing you with me… and I'm looking forward to more support from you." She nodded.
Her irises moved to her right.
"I have to educate Hunley a bit… I don't think the violent nature really fits his image." Her eyelids lowered to the middle, as her mouth flattened. "I have to be careful about those compliments too… otherwise I'll make Hunley think that being violent is the only solution, when it's clearly not."
"Hey, the situation seems quiet…" Hun rose his posture, while smiling and looking forward. "… I guess we can just relax a bit."
"Not quite, Hunley." Mirii's irises bounced left and right. "I'm still keeping my guard up, no matter how safe a situation looks."
"But isn't a bit too much, worrying all the time?" Hun's head turned to his left.
"It's never too much." Mirii's head shook. "Keep your focus and"
Suddenly, the door from the left opened as Mirii jumped up, screaming and turning to the left. A grey liquid was sliding on the ground, getting closer to Mirii. The liquid stop, as the two Inklings were stepping backwards. Bubbles were coming from the liquid…
… as a grey Mirii-like creature emerged from it! Mirii's irises shrunk as her mouth opened wide.
"… blub… gurb…" The liquid's head was tilting backwards. "… punb… hmm?" The head returned to its original place. "Ah… you… you are not the Master…"
"Wh-what are you?!" Mirii's face went paler.
"Hey, are you coming from the Shrine?" Hun stepped in front of Mirii, while frowning a bit.
"Guurrbb… … Shrine… gurb?" The head tilted forward for a moment, before returning up. "… you are not the Master…"
"I'm the Master of the Shrine!" Hun's right thumb pointed at himself, frowning even more. "Otherwise, who could possibly be the Master?!"
"… blub…" The liquid's arms were waving, the tentacles were pouring grey liquid on the ground and the irises were moving all over the place without any coordination. "… ah… a Master is you… punb! Master… you have come here… by bzzap?"
"Huh?" Hun's posture lifted, as his right eyebrow went up. "Bzzap…?"
Mirii's left hand picked Hun's right arm, as she pulled him forward.
"Mirii?!" Hun's feet were sliding on the floor, as his head turned to his right. "Wh-what are you doing?!"
"I'm pulling you out of the trouble." Mirii's head rose. "I don't trust that thing in the slightest! And since we don't have a reliable weapon to use against it…"
"Wh-what about that weapon of before?" Hun's eyebrows went up.
"… I was thinking that no other Squid would possibly populated this deserted place!" Mirii frowned a bit. "Besides, if we attack that mindless blob, we might end up into a deeper trouble than"
Suddenly, the grey liquid emerged in front of the girl: Mirii stopped, gasping a bit.
"Blub! Gurb… guurrb…" The head kept tilting around. "… bzzap… you want bzzap…"
"Get out of our way, terrible copy of me!" Mirii's left arm went from right to left. "I know more than one way to hurt you!"
"Punb… blub… intruders… gurb! Master… help Master… blub!" The liquid melted down. "I… protect Master…"
The liquid was sliding towards the two Inklings: both jumped above it, sprinting forward.
"Curses!" Mirii's shoulders turned to her right. "I-I wasn't thinking it was that smart to comprehend all this!"
"Can we go back and get that weapon?!" Hun kept on rushing forward.
"Let's keep running instead!" Mirii turned forward, as her right arm stretched forward with her right forefinger pointing at the small room in the distance. "Let's move to the teleporter and get out of here before the monster reaches us!"
Mirii bended forward, sprinting even faster. She slows down, as the girl enters inside the small room together with Hun. The two Inklings turned their back, as Hun began turning his head around.
"Ehm… how does this thing work, again?" Hun sighed.
"We have to wait, Hunley… just a few seconds." Mirii nodded.
Her eyes were seeing the liquid slowly sliding towards them. Sweat was coming down from Mirii's head.
"N-no!" Mirii's head turned around, as her hands were sliding on the red and blue round shaped objects on her left. "Wh-why it's not working?! It-it can't do this to me! I-I was so sure to have understood the secret behind."
"Blub… Master… save Master… gurb!" The liquid formed a Mirii-like figure, with the waving arms stretching forward.
"Hunley is not your Master!" Mirii bended forward, as her eyes were wide and her face went paler. "Leave us alone!"
"Puuunnbb… blub?" The head tilted to the right. "… intruder… lie! Master… save Master…" The liquid went forward.
"S-stay away!" Mirii walked backwards. "STAY AWAY FROM US!"
Mirii rose her shoulders, as her eyes squeezed.
BZAP!
Mirii's teeth were gritting…
"What took you so long?!"
Mirii jumped, as her eyes opened wide: Bars and Grina were both staring at the two Inklings. Grina's wrists went on her hips, as her "smiling" eyebrows were a bit up and her mouth downturned.
"We were getting so worried for both of you!" Grina's eyes closed. "I was almost thinking to reuse"
Mirii dashed forward.
"Hunley, get out of the teleporter!" Her hands picked up her own tentacles. "It's going to send you back, if you stay for too long!"
Immediately, the boy went out of the small room. Mirii's right hand was holding her smartphone, as her right thumb was pressing on the screen, rapidly.
"C-come on! Come on!" Sweat kept jumping from Mirii's head, as her irises were shrunk.
Grina and Bars turned towards each other. Mirii's right hand pointed the smartphone towards the ceiling.
Tin… tin…
Tin…
Vvvvrrrrrr…
Part of the wall went down: Mirii sighed loudly, as she turned around. Her eyes were seeing a chair: the girl walked towards it, sitting on the chair.
"Hunley… could you please push the cupboard back?" Mirii's left hand rested on her stomach.
"Right away!" Hun walked towards the cupboard's left side.
Grina walked in front of Mirii, bending down a bit.
"Would you mind updating our brains too?" Her eyebrows were a bit up.
"We retrieved an important piece of evidence… this." Mirii's right hand was holding the paper with her fingers. "It mentioned the Department of Science stopping its financial support towards Section D, which is the area we were previously." She nodded. "This paper ties the government with this situation even more…"
"So, you really want to stop the government, huh…" Grina sighed. "Why you… look, can I say something about this, at this point?" Her eyebrows went down a bit.
"Depends…" Mirii's eyes squeezed.
"Mirii, how about we let Tonna deal with this and… all 4 decide to resume our lives in Inkopolis, hmm?" Grina shrugged.
"I'm not seeing the reason behind this…" Mirii snorted.
"Well, the government is all scary and stuff…" Grina's right arm opened a bit, bending, as her right palm pointed towards the ceiling. "… to be more specific, the government goes beyond our simple capabilities." Her arms folded. "I don't think we will ever going to win this battle, unless"
"I'm going to fight them or at least find the truth behind this whole project." Mirii stands up, frowning.
"Th-think about this, for a moment!" Grina's arms opened wide, as her eyebrows went up. "The government has spies, Agents, the police, the newest technocrazy ship and even trained soldiers! Wh-what we have instead?!"
"I… have perfection." Mirii's head rose.
"Ooooooh…" Grina's right hand covered her eyes, as her head tilted upwards. "Why don't you listen to me for once?! I'm not always saying stupid stuff, you know!" Grina's arms opened, as she frowned a bit. "I know how the world works, Mirii… even in the entertainment industries, we happened to hear some news from the government, all the time…"
"Give me an example… quick." Mirii's arms folded, as her right foot tapped.
"… I… I heard that… that something crazy happened in one of their offices…" Grina turned to her left, looking a bit up, as her left hand moved her fringe a bit around. "It was… trying to uncover a conspiracy… …"
"… and then?" Mirii's head rose, as her eyelids lowered in the middle.
"I'm trying to remember!" Grina's head lowered, as her right hand landed on her forehead. "Well… I… I remember they took care of that… and… I guess that's it for this one." Her head turned to her right. "There are more, of course…"
"Those you can come up with." Mirii snorted. "Stop this farce, Grina… I'll not change my decision." She turned to her left. "Instead, I'll secure this document inside a secret spot carefully hidden by me, in this treehouse… and then, we will walk back to the Headquarters and prepare ourselves for this exam."
Mirii walked forward.
"I really don't understand you, you know that?" Grina's eyebrows downturned, as her shoulders lowered. "You were listening more to me in the past… you followed me much more than before! Me, Barsy and you… we were always doing something productive! Whenever it was a match for the gold or visiting a new shop, we were much more active than nowadays!"
"Grina, bringing the past in the discussion is ineffective against me…" Mirii was bended down, looking at the wall. "… also, I thought you wanted to help us into getting rid of Project Neo."
"Sigh… it's too strong for me…" Grina's head turned to her left, tilting down, as her right hand picked her left elbow while her left arm was stretching down. "… I was scared today, Mirii. Not just because of that dark atmosphere…"
"I knew that…" Mirii stands up, as her fists were clenching. "… sooner or later, we had to face this." She turned behind. "Now, it's only a matter of accepting it… or not." Her head rose. "For now, let's just go back to the Headquarters… I have successfully put the piece of paper into the secret place." She nodded.
"… why were you agitated, before…?" Grina's head turned forward. "Were you and Hunry… scared of the environment?"
"A liquid monster was after us." Mirii's eyes closed.
"Wh-what?!" Grina bended forward, as her eyes expanded. "Th-that clone we have seen before?!"
"No, it resembled more Mirii, really!" Hun went in front of Grina. "We escaped just in time…"
Grina flattened her mouth, as her eyes were seeing Hun.
"… Hunry… you really don't know what I was saying before, don't you?" Her posture lifted, as her mouth downturned.
"No… but it did made me curious, actually." Hun grins a bit, as his eyes closed and his eyebrows went up.
Grina's mouth opened a bit.
"Someday, you should tell me some stories from the past… I'll listen!" Hun nodded, simply smiling.
Grina's eyes were seeing Hun for a second: her irises began shrinking.
You know, it would be a shame if Hunry goes to bed this soon… if he doesn't exaggerate with his job, maybe he can stay up for the whole movie.
Grina's eyes expanded.
"Mirii… I convinced her to watch that movie, because I pointed out how the movie was a great tool to make her stay closer to Hunry… … making her stay closer to Hunry…"
"Grina?"
Grina's eyes shrunk a bit, staring at Mirii looking at her.
"Huh? What?" Grina opened her mouth a bit.
"Why are you silent, all the sudden…?" Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
"Oh! Well… I… I have nothing more to say…?" Grina shrugged.
Mirii snorted, staring at her for 3 seconds: she passed Grina, walking towards the door.
"Let's move out. No further delays." Mirii's head rose.
The three Inklings began walking… as Grina formed a huge grin, while her eyebrows went a bit down and her hands began rubbing together.
"Eh eh… eh eh eh eh! Ooooh, Greta… you genius!" She snickered silently. "You've done it again!"