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"… mother… I earned the degree… I'm ready to reach perfection… … uh?"
Mirii's eyes blinked, before opening them fully and staring at the darkness.
"Hmm…?" She yawned loudly, opening her arms and standing upwards. "What happened…? Why I was sitting down…?"
…
"I FELL ASLEEP!" Her eyes opened wide.
Immediately, her hand picked up her smartphone and turned the screen on: the '9:40' was standing on the top side, as the '0' was replaced by the '1' right after. Below the time, a rectangular shape with a text printed on it.
"… Rof even called me this morning!" Her right thumb pressed the screen. "I thought I could always notice any calls with just the vibration feature!"
Several icons filled up the screen, as the thumb just hovered above it.
"… nngh… he must be worried about me… and if I call him right now, who knows what kind of living being will immediately go after me, while I'm in this pitch-black cave…!"
Her thumb moved a bit around.
"… I will send him a message." She pressed an icon. "Hopefully, he will understand and wait just long enough, so I can call him once I have the possibility…!"
Her other thumb hovered on the screen too, which was now showing several letters below, each enclosed inside a small square. Both thumbs tapped on the several letters, seemingly without even stopping.
"I will… call you later… please, wait for at least half a hour…" Her right thumb landed on a blue rectangle, which had the 'Send' word on it. "Sigh… how I could fell asleep like that?! Curses, curses!"
Her thumb swiped on the screen, now scrolling through several icons.
"How could I have such puny limits too?! I was even feeling better, after all that running!"
She pressed on a flashlight icon: from behind the smartphone, a light projected the floor below. Her hand pointed the smartphone to the right, revealing the walls and part of the floor. She began walking in that direction.
"If I'm letting my emotions get the best of me too, I would really start to think a drastic method to use for getting rid of all of them."
Her head lowered a bit.
"Actually, I do need to control myself more, when I'm standing in front of Hunley… but how I can do that?" She blushed a bit. "Whenever he's around me… I-I lower my guard too easily…"
Her head shook quickly.
"No! I can't think of any other problem, right now!" She frowned. "I have to focus! Focus on this cave!"
Her irises bounced left and right…
"The lanterns are off… probably they expired on their own." Her eyes squeezed a bit. "… now that I think about them… why are there lanterns in this hallway? Is there something important at the end of this corridor…?"
The smartphone revealed another lantern hanging on the wall.
"The scientist is also in here… which means, there is a pad at the end of this passage."
A water drop hit the girl: she yelped, squeezing her eyes.
"I must be careful around this cave… I can feel the humidity in the air." She reopened her eyes. "… I can also smell that disgusting beverage used by that obese joke…!"
Her smartphone pointed in between the walls, now showing a door-shaped exit.
"I wasn't that far from the exit too… nnnngggh!" She frowned a lot. "Luckily, I have slept comfortably… … wait."
She stopped, as her mouth flattened.
"… MY CLOTHES!" Mirii twisted around herself, as her free hand moved on her clothes' surface. "I SLEPT ON THE DIRT!"
Her teeth gritted, as her eyebrows went up.
"M-my tentacles must have touched the ground too…!" Her eyes squeezed. "I-I must take a shower! I-I have to get rid of all this filth…!"
She began breathing loudly, as she turned around and tracking down several shapes covered in shadows: a pile almost reaching the ceiling on the left, a shelf on its right side, a door-shaped entrance and a large box on the right.
"… c-calm down, Mirii…" Sweat covered her forehead. "I-I'm still fine… I-I have still some decent hygiene"
"Who are you?!"
The girl gasped, immediately pointing her smartphone over the box: steel fences popped out, as the Inkling man was sitting behind them.
"Ah!" His arms covered his eyes. "Wh-what the shell!"
"… it appears I finally found you." Her head rose. "Thus, I have completed my mission."
"M-mission?!" His arms were pressing on his face. "You went all the way in here, just to save me?"
"… you are an innocent, after all." She nodded. "We do not leave anyone behind us… even our own enemies."
"I-I'm not your enemy!" The man stands up, as he lowered his arms and slightly squeezed his eyes, while looking at the girl. "In fact, we are on the same boat!"
Mirii's eyes squeezed a bit.
"You are involved into Project Neo, right?!" He opened his arms. "I-I was working in one of their labs, when the Stingrays attacked us."
The girl's face went paler, as her irises shrunk.
"At least, that's what I think it happened…" His head shook, looking downwards. "… I don't know why I woke up inside a closed room…"
"E-enough chatting!" Sweat covered her face. "I-I must release you"
"Are you a scientist too by any chance?" The man's mouth downturned, as he took some steps over to the fence. "Or are you an Agent?"
"I-I'm a regular Squid who fights Stingrays and stop this project-NO!" Her hands covered her mouth, as her smartphone fell on the floor. "NO!" She bended down on her knees, catching her device and bringing it back up.
"… you want to stop Project Neo…?" His voice came from the darkness.
Her hand pointed the light over the man, revealing his neutral expression.
"Yo-you heard it wrong!" Her head shook violently. "I never said"
"Then, we are definitively not enemies…" He smiled.
…
"… for a long time, I wanted to get out of that darn laboratory…" He frowned for one second. "I tried to find a legal way of dropping this stupid job and just get out of that business…" He sighed. "They do not let people escape their grasp… once you are in, you are forced to work for them until the end of the project…"
Mirii lowered her eyebrows.
"What are your true intentions…?"
"Intentions of freedom!" His hands grasped the fence, while bending forward. "I-I'm tired of that project! I'm tired of even remembering its name! It's a full disaster for Squid kind!"
The girl kept staring back at the man.
"I-I'm sure you know we are forced to make experiments on Squids… technically we do that for the better, but we all know that there are individuals who are using those scientific results for their own affairs!"
He frowned.
"That's also why I wanted to get out… we are hurting the city with our experiments! I don't want to be part of that, at all!"
He punched the fence.
"I know some more scientists, who are as frustrated as I am with the whole situation… I'm sure they are forced to work in another laboratory, since their contracts is obligating them to do so."
"Sir, I'm letting you out of this cage…" Mirii walked in front of the fence, pointing her smartphone around it.
The light stopped on a large lock, presenting a keyhole on the middle.
"Yo-you still don't believe me?!" He turned his head in the direction of the lock. "Why are you refusing to listen?!"
"I listened to you… but I don't understand why are you telling me all this." Her free hand lifted the lock, as her irises inspected it.
"That's because I want you to help me…" His eyebrows went up.
Mirii kept looking at the lock.
"… I know a Project Neo laboratory on this island… I worked in there the first times…" His head lowered. "I wish I could go to the police and denounce the whole place… bu-but if I do that, the members of Project Neo will surely denounce me back!" His hands went on his head. "They would probably keep me inside a prison for the rest of my life…"
"... thus, you wish to send me on said spot and stop the whole activity?" Her head rose.
"That would be great!" His head rose back, as he smiled. "Can I count on you?"
"Hmm…" She stood still for a few seconds. "… this lock doesn't look too tough…"
"Hey!" He frowned. "I asked you a question!"
"Be quiet, please." Her eyes closed. "I must concentrate…"
"Wh-why you have to act in such obnoxious way?!" He growled, as he moved around the prison, waving his arms. "I'm begging for your help! Why are you ignoring"
"I will inspect that room." The girl walked towards it, pointing her smartphone forward. "The key could be"
"You know what?! You can even leave me in here, since you don't seem to care a thing about my words anyway!" His voice came from behind.
Mirii stopped.
"… then, I will leave." She turned behind and walked the other way.
Her steps were echoing a bit, as-
"N-no, wait! Wait!" The man's voice came from her left side. "Don't leave me in here! I-I said all that, because of the stress! I-I was too stressed!"
Mirii stopped once more.
"You have your last chance, sir." Pointing back at the door, the girl walked towards it. "One more shout and I will truly leave you behind…"
The man mumbled…
"… I'm almost there…" Her head rose. "I just need to apply a bit more pressure, before I will finally receive the truth out of his mouth…!"
The girl stopped in front of the door, quickly scanning it with her irises. Her free hand grasped the handle, twisting it around before making a clicking sound. Pushing the door ahead, her smartphone immediately revealed a square-shaped small room, filled with several treasure chests.
Only the middle chest had a key inserted inside the lock… but all chests were closed. Mirii walked towards the key: once near it, her left hand pulled it out and carried it in front of her eyes, as she began admiring its old-like gold color.
"… it might be a great idea, if I check those treasure chests first." She nodded, grasping the key a bit.
Lowering down on her knees, her hands went on the chest: the right hand in particular, was pushing her portable device against the chest. She snorted, as her hands were applying more force.
SLAM!
The chest opened wide, revealing a large collection of clear bottles: Mirii's eyelids lowered to the middle.
"Why I'm even surprised…?" Her head shook slowly, as she closed the chest back. "Of course he wouldn't possibly hide any gold, nor any Project Neo evidence in this"
"I-I have a deal! Please, listen to me!"
Her ears rose.
"… he finally gave up…!" She smiled, as she turned behind and walked away from the chests.
The smartphone kicked off the darkness, as the man had his hands gripping the steel fence.
"Did you find the key?!"
"No, I haven't found anything of use…" Her head rose.
"We will think about that, later on!" His hand palms slammed on the fence. "L-listen to my words, please…! I-I can give you anything in exchange!"
"… hmpf!" Her eyes closed. "I don't see the usefulness of your words…"
"I-I can pay you well, if you help me…!" His teeth gritted, as his eyebrows went up.
Mirii's head shook.
"I do not need any economical incomes..."
"Th-then, I can… I can…" Sweat jumped out from his head. "… I can tell you one of the experiments I was working on, before!"
The girl kept her previous expression…
"… not even that?!" His eyes expanded.
"No more talking, sir." She walked towards the prison. "I will try release you"
"Alright, fine!" The man frowned, as he folded his arms. "The place I was referring to, is called Happy Squid Land! It's located just outside the small city on this island… can't tell you where, exactly." He snorted. "Try searching that activity with your smartphone, if you still care about our society!"
"… Happy Squid Land… that name sounds familiar…"