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"… this could be a possible plan to use…!"
Mirii stands up, keeping her feet still on the floor.
"Sigh… I really didn't wanted to do this…" Her hands grabbed the cage's edges. "… but I have no other choice." Her eyes squeezed. "I must have been trying several plans for a hour…! This is truly my last resort…!"
Her hands shook the cage violently, as she fell on her bottom and slammed her head against the steel fences.
"OW!" Her hands covered the back of her head, while keeping her eyes closed. "CURSES!" Her teeth gritted.
Her right fist punched the floor, as her eyes were shyly opening…
"M-my head…! … nnnnnggghhh!" She growled, watching the closed door in the distance. "I'm willing to pay, with all the money I have currently in my possession, in order to open this cage, that door and receive the possibility to get out of"
A weird noise came from the door: the girl's ears rose.
Click.
The door screeched, revealing a shadowy figure from behind. Mirii snorted, standing up once more and grabbing the fences.
"What you, idiotic Stingrays, want from me?!" She frowned, grasping the fences tightly. "I will never tell you"
"Who goes there? A-a prisoner?"
Mirii's mouth opened, as her hands stopped their pressure over the fences.
"… wait…" Her eyes squeezed a bit. "That shadow shape… it doesn't resemble a Stingray at all!"
The shadowy figure began taking few steps in the girl's direction.
"Oh, thank turfness!" Some dim light pointed at the Inkling man's face, which was wearing a pair of rectangular glasses in front of his eyes. "I was afraid to be alone in this stinking ship!"
The girl's eyes expanded, as her face went paler. Her mouth flattened, almost letting it open against her own will.
"I-I'll get you out, don't worry!" He turned around. "Let me see, if I can find the keys around here…"
The man moved away, while still turning around his surroundings.
"… he's truly one of the scientists I met at the lab!" Sweat covered her forehead, following his movements with her irises. "Wh-what's he doing here?! Why is he in here?!"
Her irises shrunk slightly.
"… wh-what about the other scientists?! A-are they… a-alright?!" She swallowed silently. "Nnnnggh! No, I-I can't let him catching me off guard!" She frowned slightly. "I-I have to… concentrate! Focus on what kind of answer I could possibly give to such simpleton!"
"Oh, darn it! I can't find the key…!" He walked back in the middle, showing his sad face at the girl. "Do you happen to have a weapon with you? … ah, sorry!" He opened his hands, sweating a bit. "That was a stupid question!"
Mirii stared back at the man, with her mouth sealed.
"… on second thought… I shouldn't think too much about the possible consequences…" Her eyelids lowered to the middle. "Not only he didn't recognize me, but he is even more clueless than I was expecting…"
"Ehm… hello?" He waved his hand at the girl.
"Hmpf!" Mirii's head rose. "I was thinking a possible solution in front of this disaster… I'm requesting that you will be quiet, until I have a plan to share."
"Th-there is not enough time!" He turned behind, watching the opened door for a second, before returning back. "The Stingrays will come in here in any seconds! W-we have to"
"Silence!" Mirii folded her arms. "Don't ruin my concentration!" Her eyes closed. "Otherwise, you will never get me out of this cage…"
He swallowed, as he trembled and kept on turning behind.
"… what could he possibly do for me…?" Her head lowered. "The best solution would be to find the key, reach this cage and open the fences… unfortunately, he didn't even found the key for this cage. Let alone a ladder or some kind, which he could use for reaching this cage…"
She frowned, opening back her eyes and grasping her arms.
"N-no! Th-there must be something he could do to release me! I can't let this opportunity fly past me!" Her face went neutral, with her mouth opening a bit. "… how did he got in here? Perhaps the solution of this predicament is stored inside that simplistic brain of his…"
Mirii nodded, now looking back at the man wearing a white coat.
"How did you get out of your prison…?"
"How?" He chuckled, showing his teeth. "The Stingrays forgot to close the door for my cell…"
…
"… what?" She grimaced.
"I-I swear!" He showed his opened hands. "I was inside my prison for a long while… must have been hours!" He nodded. "I was getting so desperate for freedom that… that I tried pushing the door, thinking that it would never open! But it did… and I was so happy, that I ran away like a mad Squid!"
"I see…" Several sweat drops decorated the top of her head. "Why I was expecting the solution out of such buffoon?!"
Her mouth opened.
"… now that I made him talk this far… I could ask him that question too!" Her eyes closed for 2 seconds. "Besides you and me, are there other prisoners?"
The man shook his head.
"Although, I remember there were other two scientists with me…" His head lowered, sighing loudly. "… but we were in a different location, actually…"
Mirii's eyes were completely locked on his presence, as her face went paler.
"Those Stingrays… they want to know the labs where we work day and night…" His head pointed back at the girl, as he opened his arms. "Thing is, we only knew a couple of those labs! They tried to let us talk about stuff we didn't even know that much!"
His head shook.
"I'm sure the reason I was dragged in here, was to bring them in front of another Project Neo lab… I-I tried to make them waste their time, by giving them vague directions! It didn't really worked all that great…" His face saddened even more. "… w-we have to get out of here, miss! Those Stingrays will return by any seconds, ready to throw us into the sea!"
Mirii kept staring at the man… as she eventually nodded at him.
"Understood." Her head turned around. "You should find a way to reach my cage, first…"
"I can only see barrels and crates around me." He turned around, looking at a group of barrels resting on the floor, large wooden crates stacked up in several piles and even wooden panels in front of cannons. "Do you want me to pick them up and form some sort of ladder?"
"If you are capable to carry them all the way here… then, do it." The girl nodded. "Otherwise, you have to leave the room and explore the surroundings, in order to find a reliable way of reaching this cage and even find the key for releasing me."
"… leaving the room and explore, seems like the best solution I could follow!" He turned behind, running a bit over the door. "I will be right back!"
Mirii snorted, shaking her head…
"… I did it wrong leaving him all alone." Her right hand covered her eyes. "I should had pressed him into carrying those crates in here…" Leaving her hand down, she frowned. "Making him risk the whole operation wasn't even necessary at all!" Her fist punched the fence on the side. "Why I'm throwing myself into the realm of luck?! This is NOT how a true perfectionist would act!"
She snorted, as she took a few steps around her cage.
"Grrr… it's useless getting mad at this!" Her eyes squeezed, as her fists were shaking downwards. "I… I… I'm forced to wait… that's all."
She went down on the floor, sitting on it and grabbing her legs.
"… Hunley… I need you…"
Mirii's back was leaning against the fence, as her head was pointing upwards.
"If only I could escape this cage, by passing through the fence in my Squid form…" Her irises went up. "I must have been trying that solution for a brief while: how they managed to retrieve such ridiculous material that stops me from escaping?! Those Stingrays must be"
Step noises were coming from the girl's right: her head turned in their direction.
"Hang in there! I have found the key!"
The girl jumped back up, opening her mouth wide and staring back at the man: he was smiling, as he was carrying a ladder in his hands. He panted a bit, sweating slightly and slowing down once near the cage.
"You don't have any idea where I found it!" He stopped, carefully putting the ladder right on its entrance.
Mirii's hands were grabbing the fence, as she was watching the adult Inkling climbing the ladder at each step.
"… aren't you happy?" His feet glued on the last steps, simply staring back at the girl. "Why are you so quiet?"
"I have no interest into knowing where the key was!" Mirii frowned. "Be quick and release me from this prison, before the Stingrays will return!"
"Alright, alright!" Sweat jumped out from his head, resuming his climbing. "The key was near my previous prison, by the way…"
Mirii's mouth flattened.
"But I'm starting to grow suspicious over this situation…" His hand picked up the key from his pocket.
"S-suspicious?!" She stood completely still.
"… where are all the Stingrays?" He inserted the key inside the lock on the right. "I have been walking around the ship… even the main deck!" He turned the key, as the lock opened in a clicking sound. "It's literally as deserted as you could imagine…"
Mirii sighed silently, watching the cage door opening all the way, while releasing a loud, screeching noise.
"I'm not sure if we should run straight to the exit, though…" He went back down on the ladder. "What do you say?"
"… it would be wise to arm ourselves." Her head rose, as she walked in front of the opened cage, while staring down. "I'm not sure if the Stingrays' weapons can be used with our ink, though…"
"I think I have seen a weapon room nearby!" He walked away from the ladder, still staring back at Mirii. "Shall we go there?"
Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
"… now that I think about it… I can't search throughout this ship with this man standing around me. I can't let him find out, that I want to unveil the whole mystery behind such project!" She inhaled with her nose, silently. "I'm absolutely sure that the Project Neo clues are hidden inside this ship…! If I leave the ship, I might not have the chance to return in here and truly looking for them!"
"What are you thinking?" His arms folded. "… you know… the more I look to you, the more I feel like I have seen you somewhere…"
Mirii's face went paler, as her mouth stretched to the sides!
"I-I was thinking to visit the weapon room!" Immediately, the girl climbed down the ladder! "W-we might find something useful for defending ourselves from the Stingrays!"
The man kept his mouth sealed, following the girl's movements with his eyes.
"I-I'm ready to go!" She nodded, swallowing silently. "After you, sir!"
He kept his previous position, for a brief while… before turning behind and walking towards the door.
"… forgive me." He sighed. "I was thinking for a moment…"
Mirii didn't move an inch from the ladder, keeping her hands open and on her sides…
"… no, NO! Don't stand there!" She rushed forward, turning her run into a walk once closer to the man. "I can't allow any more suspicion over me!"
She panted, almost stumbling on the sides.
"I have to think of a way for exploring this ship, before the Stingrays return!" She frowned slightly. "… a way that allows me to do all that, without drawing the attention of the scientist… … maybe there is a way to achieve such task." Her head rose. "I have to think about it more, before I'm sure it would work perfectly."
Together with the man, Mirii passed through the room's entrance.