Chapter 39: Lost and Found
Unbeknownst to Malco, he was doing a far better job of going unnoticed than Quote. He didn't want to check with the soldier so soon, as it was doubtful he'd found anything by that point.
"I hope he's doing okay…"
He was familiar enough with him by that point to know that something had broken inside Quote just before. The look on his face when they'd found out that Curly had lost her memory didn't even begin to describe how he must have felt. Those two were closer than either of them likely understood, and while Malco was definitely accepted as a friend by the pair, theirs was a different kind of bond. He only hoped that Curly would be able to remember Quote, otherwise the soldier might have lost all of his motivation.
No sign of a jail so far. Malco passed by several clusters of Mimiga workers, all of whom ignored him like the ones from earlier. It was a little disheartening to not have a chance to interact with the creatures, as he had the least experience with them out of all three robots. Maybe once this was all over, he could properly introduce himself to them.
His footsteps, which had previously been making a soft thudding sound as he walked across the soil, abruptly changed to a hollow, metallic bang. Surprised, he looked down at the floor to see what he'd stepped on. It was some sort of metal panel, half-buried in the dirt and concealing what sounded like an empty space beneath. Malco pulled the panel as hard as he could, sliding it backwards to reveal a narrow staircase leading further underground. The hidden passageway didn't seem like something the Doctor would use for his prison, but there had to be something interesting at the bottom of it.
After checking to make sure that nobody was watching him, he walked down the stairs and found himself at a wooden door. Logically, such a hidden location wasn't meant to be accessed by just anyone, so rather than try to open it he instead knocked on the side. Quick footsteps could be heard behind it, and after a few seconds a small peephole slid open near the top. A pair of dark brown eyes stared down at him, narrowing when they met his bright red photoreceptor lenses.
"What's the password?" asked an adult woman's voice.
"There's a password? I'm here with-"
Apparently dissatisfied with his answer, the person behind the door shut the peephole and refused to speak again. Malco considered blowing it open with Napalm for a moment, but didn't let the minor annoyance get to him. It made perfect sense for her not to trust anyone in such a location; for all she knew, he was with the Doctor.
Retreating back up the stairs, he put the metal panel back over the entrance and mentally recorded its location for later. It was just a hunch, but he suspected that he'd found Doctor Momorin Sakamoto's hiding place. Malco attempted to contact Quote to relay the good news.
Strangely, he wasn't answering. His signal was still clear, but for some reason the soldier wouldn't respond to his connection. As troubled as that made him, he forgot all about it for the moment when a different communication link was answered.
"Hey! Hey you, wake up! Are you dead or something?!"
Quote could hear a faint voice calling for him, but he didn't drift back into consciousness for at least another half hour. Once he was finally awake, he sat up from where he lay with a moan of pain. His face felt like it had been mercilessly smashed in… oh, right. It really had been. One of those golem creatures- "Drolls," as that fishing Mimiga called them- had knocked him out. Where was he now?
His surroundings were universally made of dark blue rocks with natural, rough edges. So rough, in fact, he figured that whoever had brought him there appeared to have laid him down on the smoothest possible part of the floor. A sturdy gate of iron bars blocked off the small cavern from the rest of the plantation, and the door leading past them was shut tight with no handle on his side of it.
Well, at least he'd found the jail he was looking for.
Quote's nostrils flared upon detecting the smell of Mimiga fur, which he surprisingly hadn't been overwhelmed with in the Plantation (likely due to the scent of Demon Flowers tainting the air). Three of the small creatures were in the cell with him. He recognized one as Jack, the number-two from the village, and another as the farmer he'd briefly spoken to after first arriving. The last one- dressed in a simple green shirt that did nothing to hide how alarmingly fat he was for his size- was unfamiliar to the soldier.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Jack said. "You've been out for a while. Sue was in here before, trying to wake you up as much as she could. Some of the Doctor's minions came by and took her away, though."
"You should have seen it," the extra-large one added, stuffing his face with some unidentifiable fruit. "She was poking and shaking you really hard, but you just wouldn't come to."
Jack glared at him.
"For crying out loud, Mahin, haven't we told you to swallow before talking? You get your food all over yourself already."
As the two argued, Quote dusted himself off. Nothing in his face was broken- amazingly- and he hadn't even been relieved of his weapons. Bubbline, Spur, and King's sword sat on the ground nearby. That fisherman was right; Drolls were rather dumb by all standards.
The farmer Mimiga approached him with a smile.
"Sue must care for you a lot, based on how worried she looked. Before she was taken away, I think I saw her sneak something into your pocket."
Intrigued, he dug around in his pants before finding a folded letter. The handwriting was sloppy- not having thumbs must have made writing difficult- but legible all the same.
"Dear Quote,
It's me, Sue. In case I don't see you again, I guess I should tell you about how this whole mess started. I was dragged to this island with my Mom, Kazuma, Professor Booster, some research assistants… and Fuyuhiko Date, the Doctor. He somehow managed to force his way into our group as a medical specialist, insisting that he should come along with us for our own safety. Nobody trusted him from the get-go, but one way or another he wound up tagging along.
At some point, he found this weird artifact called the Demon Crown and declared himself our new master. He revealed that he'd known about it way before we came to this island, and that the only reason he wanted to come along was so he could find it. The powers it granted him were too much for us to handle, and two beings named Misery and Balrog awakened to do his bidding as well. Our only choices were to continue researching the island under his control, or be killed. I managed to escape him at first, but most of the other people we came here with are dead.
The Doctor is barely even human on the inside. You need to stop him before he has a chance to attack the surface. All the Mimiga here will be fed those red flowers and turned into monsters for his own army, and since I've become a Mimiga I'm sure the same will happen to me. The Demon Crown lets him control them once they've mutated, leaving him with the perfect force of killing machines for his conquest. He wants to rule the world with this island as his fortress, plain and simple. I even hear rumors among the workers that not even the flowers are good enough for him, and he's working on something more powerful…
If my Mom is still alive, she's holed up in a secret bunker around here and working on a plan to beat the Doctor. The password is 'yrots evac,' so if you can get out of here please do whatever you can to help her. We're all counting on you.
-Sue Sakamoto
P.S.: I don't know if you've seen him, but there's someone on this island wearing a green hood. Once the Demon Crown was claimed, he began to appear at random times, watching us from afar… he must know something. If you see him, find out what his deal is."
Quote put the letter back in his pocket and thought about what she'd said. Learning that the Doctor actually had a name was a surreal experience, as he had long since separated any human qualities from the wretched man. He needed to find Sue's mother, but none of his weapons appeared capable of busting him out of that cramped cell. It seemed that he was stuck for the moment… perhaps Malco could think of a solution, yet for some reason he wasn't making contact like he'd promised.
The three Mimiga were suddenly staring at the left-hand wall with their ears twitching. Quote didn't hear anything at first, but it soon became clear that a light crunching noise was making its way toward them. Eventually a chunk of the rock wall crumbled and fell apart, revealing a narrow tunnel which had been dug into the cell. Even more surprising than the unexpected rescue mission was the person who had carried it out. A headful of dirtied but still vibrant blonde hair poked into the confined space, and a pair of bright blue eyes looked over the four occupants.
"Hey guys, come on out through here. You should all be able to fit. No time to waste, people, let's go!"
A feeling Quote couldn't explain was surging through him as their rescuer made eye contact with him at last. She said nothing specific to him, but the look on her face told him everything he needed to know at that moment.
She recognized him.
"Come on, don't just stand there!" Curly said. "Quick, before someone comes to check on you!"
The soldier wasn't one to exaggerate, but for a brief moment he wondered if the island in the sky had analyzed his situation and sent its finest angel to help. At any other time he might have criticized himself for such a ridiculous comparison, but right then he was just too happy to think of anything else.
