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"Wow! I have never seen so many great drawings!"
Hun's head was turning left and right, watching paintings on the walls and sculptures near the walls, surrounded by a fence rope. The floor had a chess-type formation of white and black tiles, reflecting the two Inklings stepping on them. Sunrays were passing through large windows, resting on the floor and forming a light square on it.
"This is why I consider Museum d'Alfonsino, artistic perfection." Mirii smiled a bit. "I would love to teach you the wisdom behind each masterpiece, so you will be able to appreciate true art as much as I do." Her eyes closed.
Don't make me laugh, Mirii…
A vein popped out from Mirii's right side of her forehead.
"… do you dare contradicting perfection?"
Yes, because I'm seeing a lot of ignorance behind your words…
Multiple veins popped out from Mirii's forehead.
"Do you wish to see me closing the communication?!" Mirii's hands went behind her earpieces, while gritting her teeth.
I will report your behavior, if you attempt to do that… you should consider treating me as your ally instead of believing to be more powerful than I am.
Mirii growled a bit.
"I don't accept insults like this… give me a good reason for making me listen to your words…"
The reason? All I have to do is to mention my vast experience with the operations happening inside this museum… which I'll recap in few words, so I don't distract you two too much.
Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
As you know, we received requests by the museum for investigating those seemingly cases of smuggling. While me and my husband were exploring the structure, we happened to discover something weird with the paintings…
Mirii's head rose.
"Hmpf, I assume you are referring to the poor skills of those supposed smugglers"
No, not that… the paintings had waves coming from each of them!
"Waves…?" Mirii's head turned to her left
Her eyes pointed at an Inkling woman wearing a long dress, sitting on a chair. The woman was smiling, with her hands on her lap and her eyes looking towards the painting.
Even now, there are waves coming out of the paintings… thanks to your Hero Suit, however, those waves are harmless. But from what we learned, those waves seem to impact on the minds…
Mirii's irises shrunk.
A girl, an Inkling, was watching one of those… and suddenly, she turned into a Squid while making weird noises. She stood like that for at least one day… and other two cases happened around that time as well.
"Wh-why the news never talked about this?!" Mirii's mouth opened wide.
Because the information was kept sealed… by the Headquarters themselves. They managed to stop any journalists into getting too much information… although, I'm having a hunch that none of those journalists had the courage to dive into the museum's weird case. Nevertheless, no one is aware of this… mysterious events happened only on certain days, far away from each other.
"Paintings who make Inklings turn into Squids…?" Sweat covered Mirii's forehead, as her teeth gritted. "I-I wouldn't get that worried about this supposed danger… if Hunley turned into a Squid, th-that would only mean an advantage for him! Thus"
Sigh, I knew you would try to defend the museum… I warned you about not thinking to be more powerful than I am. You gave me no choice, Mirii… I'll use my experience against your claims.
"N-nngh!" Mirii's face was covered in sweat.
An Inkling woman, after watching a painting… she began throwing punches and kicks to an Inkling man nearby!
"Wh-WHAT?!" Mirii bended forward, as her eyes expanded.
Yes… the smuggling activity is nothing more than another project of those scientists. According to our data, the museum's basement area holds almost all the original paintings stolen by the people behind Project Neo.
"N-no!" Mirii's teeth gritted, as her eyebrows went up. "If I don't see any proofs, th-there could still be"
Mirii, what's up with your behavior…? You would better explain that to
"Aga, I-I should see the whole situation in more details…" Mirii swallowed silently. "I-I can't just admit I did indeed overestimated the museum."
Overesti-wait, what are you saying?! What's THIS?!
Sweat jumped out from Mirii's forehead.
"Ehm… I-I always judge any type of artistic buildings before deciding to even be associated with such… reality." Her eyes closed. "Listen, maybe we should"
Oh… my… … I really should pull you down from your world of dreams, Mirii.
Mirii's eyes expanded.
"Hey, don't make me your enemy!" Hun frowned, as he bended forward. "Give some respect to my friends!"
Sigh… no, I don't have the time to continue this discussion… but let me warn you, Mirii.
Mirii growled, frowning a bit.
If you don't put your dreams aside… Project Neo will once again get away with its crimes.
"N… nngh…" Mirii's teeth gritted, as sweat covered her face.
Don't let any utopian ideas protect that project… or else I'll believe that you are actually cheering for Project
"NO!" Mirii bended forward, as her irises shrunk. "No…"
… watch your backs, since I have to contact my husband. Over.
Mirii's head rose, as her mouth was waving and her eyebrows went up.
"… no… I… I can still use my last card…" Her eyes squeezed. "No matter her words… as long as I have this shield of doubt, I-I can still let my decision survive…"
"Mirii…" Hun went in front of the girl, as his mouth downturned. "… do you want to stop for a moment? I can stop with you, if you are thinking"
"Hunley…" Mirii blushes, while smiling a bit and lowering her head to neutral position. "… if I stop, that would mean her logic did really hurt my credibility… at this point, I have no choice."
Mirii nodded.
"I'll let the evidence talk instead of her… and right now, it's best if I put this problem apart." She tilted to her right slightly. "We must be ready for any incoming enemies…"
Hun tilted his head down, watching the floor.
"… Mirii, can you wait for a second? I want to run a little check with this floor…" He turned into a Squid.
He slides to his right, with the floor behind him clean. Mirii's mouth downturned, with her irises watching the Squid.
"Curses… in this case, let me deal with those enemies." Mirii nodded.
"Actually, let me get near the enemies!" Hun turned into his humanoid form. "I can quickly change into a Squid while jumping! I can attack them fast enough to return into this form…"
"N-no, follow as I said!" Mirii's teeth gritted a bit. "The Charger might be lurking around those corridors… I'll use my special skill once I see this enemy."
"Special skill…?" Hun's mouth opened a bit.
"… I'll explain it later on, Hunley." Mirii nodded, as she turned forward. "Let's proceed now…"
Mirii walked forward, as Hun quickly moves to her right side. Both the Inklings were turning their shoulders left and right.
Bad news: the Charger got my husband!
"Drat…" Mirii frowned a bit.
Not only that: the Charger is fleeing towards your direction! Hide behind a sculpture and BE ready!
Mirii turned to her left, seeing a sculpture of an Inkling man with mustaches above his mouth, wearing mountain-type military clothes: the left foot was standing on a small rock and the head was a bit tilted upwards, staring directly towards the wall.
The girl dashed, as her right forefinger was pressing her weapon's trigger. Hun went right behind Mirii, as both were behind the statue. The boy tilted to his left a bit.
"… I'm seeing no one, Mirii…" His voice whispered.
"Hunley, get behind me…" Mirii's voice was whispering, as her eyes were looking through the statue's knees. "… I'm hearing steps…"
Gradually, steps were echoing in the air, coming in a quick succession. Around Mirii, everything felt going much slower.
"This weapon does have a very long range, unlike other Charger types… that means…" Mirii frowned.
The girl jumped on her right, with her knees bending in midair: her weapon pointed towards an Inkling woman pointing her Charger-type weapon towards Mirii.
BLAM!
SPLAT!
A small Squid flied towards the ceiling. Two feet landed on the floor.
… good shot, Mirii.
"Thank you." Mirii's head rose. "Now… are those earpieces capable of letting me communicate with my friends?"
Yes, just tell me which Agent you want to talk with.
"Grina." Mirii nodded.
Alright, just a sec…
… huh? Hello?
"Grina?" Mirii began walking forward.
MIrii?! Bu-but… wait, are still in the museum?
"Yes, I am… together with Hunley." Mirii's head turned to her right, seeing Hun walking along with her. "I splatted the Charger."
Ah, great! That's what that piece of ship gets for messin' with us… but now, listen up: let's all meet in front of the Great Squid.
"… the entrance?" Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
Yep! Get a bit of rush on those feet, though: there might be other Squids lurking around, you know… more than us 2, even! Once you reach us, we are gonna talk briefly about the basement location, since… heh, I'll give Aga the honors for that. I'm still scratching my head on that turnaround!
"Understood." Mirii nodded. "Hunley, let's run." She dashed. "Aga, are you listening to us?"
Yes, what's it?
"I was wondering… where is Mr. Harry, now?" Mirii's mouth shrunk a bit.
He's back inside the van… there is a Base Pad in there, in case someone is splatted. However, I'm actually keeping an eye on him for a moment… according to the computer, his injuries don't seem that insignificant. I'm activing the van's healing system and let it do all the work.
"Ok!" Mirii panted a bit loudly. "Aga, please turn off the communication I recently requested: me and Hunley will meet Grina and Bars in just a minute, with probably no enemy encounter."
Mirii's head rose, closing her eyes for a moment.
"No matter the… final vote I gave to the museum: I'm going into the depth of this museum and sing its truth, whenever I like it or not!" She frowned a bit.