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"HELP! SOMEONE!"
Hun was rushing down the hallway, turning his head left and right, seeing nothing but shut doors. He was panting, while producing sweat on his limbs and forehead.
"HEY YOU!"
The boy slid, turning behind once his feet were pressing on the crystal-clear floor: an Inkling woman, whose stomach was slightly rounder, was folding her arms and standing in front of the opened door to the left side. Her eyebrows kept lowering, as she was cumulating oxygen in her lungs.
"No shouting!" She released all the oxygen, as her forefinger waved up and down.
"I-I need help!" Hun resumed his run, this time going after the woman. "My friend is in trouble!"
"S-someone is in trouble?!" Her eyes expanded, immediately releasing her arms. "Where is your friend?!"
"At the entrance!" He pointed the hallway's exit, as he gritted his teeth. "She has strong stomach aches!"
The boy saw the old man running after him, while the woman zipped back inside the room.
"No, no! Wait a moment!" The old man released a loud pant, as he slowed down instantly.
"Glada! Come out! Quick!" Her voice was coming from the opened door.
"I have heard that!" Another female voice emerged from the room.
Hun stopped in front of the opened door, watching a taller Inkling woman running out of the room: she was wearing glasses and a white coat.
"You said she is at the entrance, right?!" She stopped in front of the boy.
"Glada, no!" The man was now walking, almost reaching the two Inklings. "She is refusing to receive any help!"
"So?! We are talking about someone's health here!" Glada frowned, thrusting her arms on various sides. "Would you really leave a Squid suffering like this?!"
"You know well that I would never do that!" The man also frowned, lifting his posture. "But you also know well that we cannot help Squids in need, if they choose so…"
"Turf that rule! She's going to thank us for the service!" Her head turned to the right, watching Hun. "She is at the entrance, right?!"
Hun nodded.
"She is suffering from strong stomach aches!" His arms opened for a brief moment. "I don't understand why she doesn't want to be cured, though… I know she always looks out for herself!"
The man's ears opened.
"But we must help her out! At all costs!" He rushed forward, passing the old man.
"You better call for help!" The woman patted his chest, as she dashed after Hun.
The old man lowered his head, as his face went darker.
"Wh-what do you want to do, mister…?!" The other woman's hands clasped, as she couldn't stop breathing loudly.
"… I will call the reinforcements…" He twisted over the room, as he walked and passed the woman, entering inside it. "Close the door."
"Uhm?!" The woman twisted behind first, before looking back at him. "But"
"I said…" The man stopped, as he grabbed his smartphone. "… close the door."
She kept her mouth open… as she sighed and nodded. She walked back inside, pulling the door with her.
Clic.
Hun ran as fast as he could, as he immediately locate the receptionist in the middle of the hall. She was standing still, pressing her hands on the counter and looking at the boy and Glada.
"Your friend escaped outside!" The woman rose her eyebrows, as her mouth waved. "I-I couldn't stop her in time…"
"It can't be!" He was now turning over the building's entrance, glancing over the outside area and seeing the bushes on the sides. "Mirii would never run away!"
"Sh-she saw me calling for help through the phone…" Her elbows landed on the counter, as her hands grabbed the sides of her head. "… sh-she was also giving me this menacing look, while she made her escape…! I-I alerted the guards right afterwards, though…"
"That girl must be nuts!" Glada looked over the entrance too, clenching her fists. "Why is she so careless about herself?!"
"She is not careless!" Hun dashed over the multi-door, as he frowned. "Follow me!"
"Where are you going?!" Glada opened her arms wide. "She could be anywhere at this point!"
"I think I have an idea!" As soon as the boy's hands touched the door, he turned behind. "We came with a vehicle! She might be headed over there!"
"… sorry for this, but don't you think that would be a bit too predictable for a fugitive?" Glada's hand gently grabbed her chin, carefully lowering her irises and grabbing her elbow with her other hand. "Our only hope is to block the gate before she manages to cross it…"
The receptionist lowered her hands to the middle, as her mouth downturned.
"… I-I don't think I have said that to the guards…" She sighed. "… should I call them again…?"
"I don't care if reaching the vehicle is predictable!" The boy pulled the door. "I still want to check!" He crossed the door, as he jumped across all the stair steps and landed on the asphalt.
"… that guy is also nuts…" Glada sighed, closing her eyes. "This is one of those days, huh…"
Suddenly, a music starts playing from Glada's clothing. She grabs a device, looking at the screen. She stretched the side of her mouth, as her hand carried the item over her ear.
"Yeah?" Her free hand curled her nearest tentacle.
He told me everything.
"Who did that?" Glada frowned. "Look, if you want to play riddle games again"
Glada, are you in front of the entrance?
"… yes." She glanced over the door, easing her frown down a bit. "There was supposed to be a girl here, but"
She escaped?!
"Why the surprise?" She smiled, while still keeping her eyebrows down. "Is she"
Jessie, call the guards! Tell them to block any girl who wants to leave the area!
"… you are drooling over her, again…" Glada rolled her eyes.
Forgive me for that. Were you saying?
"Is she important for you or something?" The woman snorted.
Yes, she is.
"Hmm…" She turned behind, looking at the receptionist sitting on her office chair and shyly look over the computer screen. "I don't understand this riddle, Jack…"
You don't have to. All you need to know is that girl must be brought inside the utility room.
"… so, I was right…" A small chuckle escaped her mouth. "That stomach ache wasn't an ordinary one at all."
Can you tell me something different, but still related to the current case?
"Yes, I talked with the receptionist over there." The woman turned over her, while smiling. "She called the guards before your precious, lil' secretary did…" She snickered.
That's a low blow, Glada. Right now, Jessie is ordering them to close the gate and send someone to find the girl. If you do not have any patients to look out for, can you search the escapist?
"I thought she was at the entrance…" Her head shook. "… but I can't stay away from my post, Jack. You know that I have a duty to follow."
… I always liked that side of yours…
Glada blushed, as her eyes closed and sincerely smiled.
… yes, Jessie?
The woman instantly frowned.
... I see. That's a good thing.
"What good thing?!" The woman bended forward, while puffs of smoke came from her ears. "Aaaaah, you are just impossible! What's the point of talking to you, if you cannot mention her name at least once?!"
Glada, calm down.
"I have to go, now." Nervously, the woman walked over the hallway to the right. "See you at lunch, as usual."
… uff. Alright.
Glada brought her smartphone below her face, pressing its screen with her thumb. She shook her head once more.
"As I said… this is one of those days…"
"Uff… uff…"
A large bush was growing on a small garden, surrounded by trees and flowers who had each a different shape. Behind the large bush, Mirii was massaging her stomach… while gritting her teeth and refusing to squeeze her eyes in a similar manner.
"This pain just doesn't want to be expelled from my stomach…" She snorted, looking carefully at the lonely road. "… but I cannot allow myself to utilize the cursed 'utility' room…"
Her legs let her bottom fall on the short grass.
"Ugh! I shouldn't had run that much… ow, ow!" Her hand rotated around her stomach at increasingly speed. "How is it possible that technology couldn't stop this terrible pain?! What is wrong with my stomach?!"
Her irises turned to her right…
"… to think that, earlier on, I wanted to find the supposed 'utility' room… … now I'm making sure that such room is as far away from me as possible!"
Her right hand caressed her right tentacle, while still keeping her irises to the right side.
"So, all those rumors I have read on the Hidden Sea… they were true."
Her left hand closed into a fist.
"I would have spitted on my face, if I caught myself spreading rumors and finding out that such information was just as false…" She sighed. "… I wonder what Hunley is doing right-GAAAAH!"
Her mouth sealed, as she fell down on her back and rolled left and right, while kicking the grass and the bush's leafs.
"T-terrible! Atrocious! UNBERABLE!" She stopped, starting to breath loudly and enlarging her eyes. "If I don't do something about this… th-they will truly carry me over that room… and running experiments just like they did with all those other cavies…"
Her hands landed on her stomach, pressing on it gently.
"… hmm… now that I think more about it…" Her hands slid off the stomach, touching the grass nearby. "When I have those stomach aches… there is a strange feeling running inside my mind… GAAAH!"
Her teeth gritted again, as her feet resumed their kicks.
"GAAAAAAAH!"
Suddenly, Mirii turned into a Squid. Her tentacles were waving on the grass, her irises were looking around calmly…
"… the pain went away immediately!" She rose her back. "Who would have thought that this other form was so effective against stomach aches?!"
Mirii looked her tentacles, then to the right side.
"… it would still be wise to look around the Inknet and find any information about this phenomenon…"