The Conundrum Corporation |Oumasai

Chapter 18

"Wow, from a worker to a spy. Never saw that coming!" I laughed. Shuichi looked at me annoyed. He put a finger to his lips and I kept quiet. I shrugged at his movement and carried on walking. The hallways were deadly silent and it looked like a hospital in a horror film. The walls were a clean white and the lights were a dim yellow. Not to mention the floor had piles of dust which seemed to fling up in the air when I stepped.
"Where exactly are we?" I whispered, not wanting to angry Shuichi.
"We're on the first floor of the Isolation Section. There are two floors, filled with insane Hope-Lies," he murmured. I nodded and carried on following him. After I left the medical room, Shuichi took me to the Isolation Section so that we could find Yuri. A risky move, but what could we do? We need answers and we need them fast, otherwise bad things may happen.

"Ugh. How long will we be walking for?!" I groaned as we walked up into an elevator. He frowned.
"Come on, we haven't been walking for that long," he muttered. I pointed at my arm.
"Says that man who wasn't sleeping for hours and wasn't injected," I grumbled. He smiled apologetically. I smiled back at him - no longer annoyed.
"I've got a question," I asked. He looked at me curious.
"Why are there so many elevators?" I asked. There were barely any stairs or escalators in the sections.
"We have to get to different places quickly when a Hope-Lies escapes out of their cage," he explained.
"That makes sense," I nodded. The elevator stopped and we had reached the second floor. Shuichi carried on walking out and I looked at the doors. They were made of metal and you couldn't see what was inside. You could hear screeches, like nails on a chalkboard, from some Hope-Lies scratching the doors. I furrowed my eyebrows, the noise was quite annoying.
"Can you tell them to stop making so much noise or something?" I sighed. Shuichi smiled a little.
"Never forget that Hope-Lies are dangerous creatures that can kill you in a heartbeat," he replied. "I'm only doing this because you're convinced that Yuri is safe and that she knows something."
"Of course she's safe, look at her she's a swan!" I laughed.
"Swans can do a lot of dangerous things. She can also turn into a human," he explained.
"Stop being so paranoid," I grumbled.
"Sorry," he laughed and the stopped walking.
"Do you hear that," he whispered. I whipped my head around.
"No, hear what?" I questioned.
"Shh. Let's be quiet. I doubt anyone is here but we need to be cautious," he sighed. I nodded. I looked at the metal doors. Some Hope-Lies were muttering nonsense to themselves and one was going on and on about hope and despair. It's quite weird. I wonder how they got the Hope-Lies in here in the first place. If they're insane, then wouldn't they have fought back to the employees who tried to put them here? Possibly even kill. There were multiple Hope-Lies here. Finding Yuri may be hard.
"How would we know which room she is in?" I whispered. He pondered the thought for a moment.
"Don't know?" I questioned.
"I think that we will be able to spot her...somehow. How about we call her name and see is she responds?" he suggested, quietly.
"That's a stupid idea," I responded.
"All your ideas are quite stupid. The fact that you're here is stupid," a voice spoke up.
"No! We are here for a friend," I argued.
"More importantly, who spoke?" Shuichi asked. We looked around and the voice came from the door on the far left. I looked at Shuichi who was already making his way to the door.
"Who are you?" he asked. "Judging from your voice, you're that plant." Plant? A plant that can talk? This world is strange. The fact that Hope-Lies are hidden from us in the real world and you can only see them if you join the corporation, is so odd. Yet again, it's only for our safety.
"Wow. I've encountered a leader," the plant spoke up.
"Yes. Shuichi Saihara," Shumai nodded.
"I see. No leaders come here," the plant sighed.
"We are looking for someone. Maybe you know them," I continued. "Her name is Yuri but she goes by Swan Girl to the rest of the Hope-Lies."
"Yuri...I heard a girl's voice come down here some time ago. That could have been her," it answered.
"Where do you think the voice went off to?" Shuichi asked.
"Down the hall and a left," the plant sighed. I stood there shocked. It's quite specific.
"Thanks. We will be off," Shuichi smiled and walked off. I nodded and walked straight ahead to where the single hall ascended into two.
"How was it so specific?" I asked.
"Plant is this towering rose that is surprisingly   intelligent. However, due to its massive thorns, it kept pricking people. Although it is not an evil Hope-Lie, we can not manage it," he sighed.
"I see," I responded. Poor plant. It's not even evil, yet because of how it was made it needs to be kept down here. I don't really feel bad for things but that is just upsetting.

Make a left. Got it. I looked at the doors in the corridor. They were silent. Not a sound could be heard.
"Yuri?" I whispered. Shuichi walked up to each door and put his ear against it. What is he doing? Well, he is a detective. Might as well let him do all the work.
"Not this one," he muttered and moved onto the next door. After checking the ten doors on one side he moved onto the other side. He put his ear to one and his eyes pricked open.
"Found her," he smiled.
"How?" I gasped and rushed up to the door.
"If you listen closely, you can hear her crying," he explained. He then got some keys out and gently placed one of them into the lock.
"Yuri?" I questioned. There she was...looking like a mess. Her blonde hair was falling down her shoulders messily and her ballerina outfit was ruined.
"What...are you doing here?" she mumbled through sobs. I ran up to her and helped her up. Shuichi did the same and she was standing up in a few minutes. Her knees were trembling  and her voice was weak, yet she spoke up,
"You know...you really played a wild card...coming to me."
•
They're lying to you.
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