After assisting Arisa in her duties, I return to Valerie's room. I find her sitting on her bed holding her stuffed animal. I can tell she’s been sitting there for a while looking out the window.

“I’m back!” I say.

Her face lights up when I enter the room. She jumps to her feet and grabs my arm, pulling towards her small table. She still doesn't talk, but I can tell she wants to play. It's a bit cramped, but I sit down in her tiny chair. She gives me one of her stuffed animals and begins moving hers around. This is her favorite way of playing with me and it’s pretty adorable. However, I have different plans for today.

“Hey Valerie, I know another game we could play.”

She tilts her head while giving me a blank stare.

“We can go outside!” I say with enthusiasm, while pointing towards the window, “It’s fun to play outside sometimes.”

Looking up at the window, her expression darkens. She shakes her head. This might be harder than I thought.

“Aw, but it’ll be fun. I know you’ve been wanting to see what's out there.”

She shakes her head again, squeezing her stuffed animal tighter.

I know she’s nervous, but for this to work I need her to want to leave. Forcing her to come along would defeat the purpose of rescuing her, since she might end up hating me. Now of course this isn’t a necessary step, but I don’t want to be like Terry.

Looking around her room, an idea comes to mind as I glance at the stuffed dolphin she gave me.

“We can bring him with you, I’m sure he’d love to see what’s outside too.” I carefully explain, referring to her stuffed bunny she’s holding in her arms.

Valerie looks at the bunny as if she’s expecting its approval. I never realized how attached she must be to it, but it makes sense. It’s been her only friend, since she’s been here.

After a few moments, she then gives me a nod. Thank you Mr.Bunny.

Taking her hand, we make our way through the hallway. It seems this section of the facility is clear, so we shouldn’t run into any issues. Arisa should be on the camera’s right about now, so there shouldn’t be any issues there. That just means we should be careful not to make too much noise when walking on these hollow metallic floors.

While taking such caution, we end up at the end of the corridor. Still no one is in sight, so we take the path to the left. Then I get a call through my watch.

“I see both of you are still in section four, did you run into any issues?” Arisa asks with haste.

“None at all; Valerie and I are making our way towards the front entrance.” I explain to her, turning to check each corner we pass by.

“Well, did she give you any trouble?”

“Well I did have to wait for permission.” I chuckle.

“Huh, permission from who?” she asks.

“Ya know, her bunny friend…” I say with embarrassment, realizing now that the whole ordeal was a bit silly. It didn’t help that Arisa started laughing.

“She really has you wrapped around her finger, doesn’t she?” she says further rubbing it in.

“No! I just wanted to be fair…” I snap back at her mocking tone.

She laughs. “No need to get worked up, I’m just excited that everything is going to plan. Just remember to contact me when you get there.”

“Got it!”

She ends the call. Using my ID card, the mechanical door slides open. Based on our conversation earlier, the storage room shouldn’t be too far from here. Arisa says it's our only other exit out of this facility, since security is lacking around there.

As we turn another corner, I realize that all of this is happening so fast. Maybe I got too comfortable? The intention from the beginning was to retrieve my target, and now I’m this close to accomplishing it. I even managed to somehow gain an ally.

Once we make it down to the first floor, the entrance to the storage room shouldn’t be too far away. I’m so close.

Taking Valerie into my arms, I begin running down the stairwell. The entrance to the storage room shouldn’t be too far from here. And considering no one else has caught on to us yet, Valerie will finally be able to see the outside world. Given the sullen look on her face, it’s clear she isn’t aware of the changes that’s about to happen, but she doesn’t need to know. I don’t want to spoil it for her.

Kicking open the door in front of us, it leads us to another long hallway. Running through that hallway, I see a huge metal door with the words “Material Storage” above it.

“This is it!” I shout in excitement, before putting Valerie down. Beyond this should be the home stretch.

With my arm outstretched, I open the door. The room itself is huge, with numerous metal containers scattered about in the wide open space. Past all of these containers is a huge shutter gate where I suspect shipments come and go, and it’s time we follow suit.

I realize that Arisa is nowhere to be found, I lift up my watch.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Aah!” screams a high pitched voice. It sounds like Valerie.

The moment I turn around, I’m met with a sharp strike to the chest. My body recoils and before I could realize what’s going on, I’m struck once again. This time I’m hit in the stomach, which knocks me backwards into a metal container. On impact, the feeling of panic and asphyxiation hit me all at once. I can't even see in front of me because of the dizziness. How did it end up like this?

I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. This pain is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. What was that? My mind is all over the place, searching for a quick answer, but I hear footsteps. More specifically, the clicking of heels against the metallic walkway above. They’re steady and deliberate, so it isn’t Arisa’s. The only other person it could be, comes coupled with the worst possible outcome.

“And here I thought you were a cooperative young man. It just seems like I can never catch a break…” says Ms.Oppix from the upper level.

The urge to get away causes my heartbeat to quicken. I lean against the container to get myself up, as the pain starts to subside. I still feel terrible, but my body is in a rush. With the danger I'm facing, It’s like a heightened sense of awareness. An instinct for self preservation. And as the dizziness subsides, I notice the culprits in front of me.

With her usual poise, Ms.Oppix steadily walks down the stairs with her hands placed behind her back. Her heels click against the hollow metal, while two large figures in lab coats stand near the door. Their attire is the same as the other researchers in this facility, but I can tell their physique isn’t Elven from the length of their sleeves. Their arms are lanky with thin brown hair, but have enough definition to be considered muscular.

Firmly planted on the floor are their hand-like feet and equally toned hairy legs. With my vision cleared up, I realize that they’re the monkey men I’ve seen walking around the facility.

“Look at him, he thought he could pull a fast one.” says one of the monkey men, with a thin smile along his face as he cracks his knuckles.

“Quite a foolish man he is, Though he did get this far. He at least deserves some praise for that.” the other one explains while rubbing his chin. He adjusts his glasses in a particular manner, while sticking up his nose.

A click of her heel hits the ground floor. “It seems you two went a bit overboard. What would you do if you killed him?”

A smile widens into a disturbing grin on the monkey man's face. “We’d just throw him out along with the rest of the garbage we collect around here.” he laughs.

“I think Madam Oppix’s point is that killing him would have made more trouble for her.” says the other one pushing up his glasses.

“Well he would have gotten away with the test subject…”

Overhearing their conversation, I notice a shadow approaching me. Looking up, I realize Ms.Oppix is standing over me with her hands still held behind her back. She has the same firm expression, with a tinge of scorn behind it.

She grabs my face and jerks it closer; lifting me up off the ground with unforeseen strength.

“What exactly were you planning to do with her?” she asks in a low tone while staring deep into my eyes. Looking for an answer, I’m reminded of Valerie's squeal from early.

“Where’s Valerie?” I ask her with bated breath, glaring back at her.

“You're not gonna answer my question? I was hoping you would cooperate, but I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

She drops me to my feet and punches me in the face. I grab on to the side of my face and glance at the blood in the palm of my hand. For a professor, the strength behind her punch was unexpected.

“I see why you boys are so forceful, that was rather refreshing.” She says letting out a deep breath and wiping her hand with her handkerchief. “Now then, Arisa would you please...”

No way. Waltzing into the storage room in her usual getup, is Arisa holding Valerie as she’s squirming in her arms. Her expression is unmoving. What’s going on?

“Arisa, was all of this just a trick?!” I shout while gritting my teeth.

Her expression is un-moving, along with an endless gaze that seems to peer into my soul. I hit the metal container with my fist, realizing how much of a fool I am. I took her kindness as a sudden change of heart, but it was rigged from the start. She’s always made a conscious effort to cause me trouble since I’ve been here, so why did I think this would be any different? Was it her smile?

Looking at her deadpan expression, I’m reminded of the cheeky grin she usually gives me. I’m half expecting her to flash a grin and say “Just kidding! Hehe.” Yeah that’s what she’ll do;this is all a charade.

“Alright, you’ve got me! Enough with the theatrics, I know you’re just fooling around.” I say with my hands up in resignation, shaking my head. “Come on, let’s ditch these guy’s and get Valerie out of here!”

The room falls into a deafening silence, as if I just made a sudden outburst. The two monkey men look at each other in confusion and shrug their shoulders.

“Is it normal for humans to laugh when faced with danger?” asks the monkey man, looking for an answer from the one with glasses.

He clears his throat. “I think this is a classic case of denial. It’s when an inferior species finds itself backed into a corner and their imagination begins to run wild.”

“Well isn’t this interesting, not only did she inform me of the matter, but she also put you up to it.” Ms.Oppix explains while placing her hand on Arisa’s shoulder. “As much as her antics can be a bother, she has truly outdone herself with this wonderful scheme.”

Arisa lets Valerie go, but the monkey man with glasses takes her hand. Footsteps creep up from the hall behind them, as a dozen soldiers march in with guns. At this point, the mission is a failure.

I can feel my body shaking, stricken with the harsh reality of betrayal. While the person who led me on, continues to give me a blank stare.

“...Come on, laugh.”

Ms.Oppix fixes her glasses and looks at me. “Sorry?”

“I said, laugh dammit! I know you want to. This is probably your biggest prank yet, you’re barely managing to hold it in aren’t you? I can tell!” I shout at Arisa while pointing my finger at her.

I feel a flushed sensation in my cheeks as my blood begins to boil. My fist clenched at my side, like a gun holstered. Though compared to everyone else in here, my strength could hardly be compared to a slingshot.

However, I couldn’t let reality stop me now. It was only until recently that I decided to see the world around me for what it truly was, and that ignorance has gotten me this far. Why should I change now?

Throwing away every ounce of caution and self preservation, I close my eyes and spring forward. Each step forth is guided by my motivation to save Valerie. I can’t depend on someone else to save her, so I reach towards her with my hand outstretched. That is until I’m struck in the face once again.

“Dammit…” I say, before almost losing consciousness.

Glancing in the direction the punch came from, it was none other than Arisa. Still giving me the same look, as if looking down on me.

“Even under these circumstances your priority is still Valerie? You're a good man Mr.Clover, if that is your real name anyways.” Oppix says.

“Huh, what do you mean-” I try to say before Arisa punches me in the stomach. Clutching my stomach, I shudder in pain as I’m gasping for air.

Oppix sighs and shakes her head. “Enough with the act. I knew something was off about your employer, but seeing how cooperative you were, I ignored it. If you kept up your little act, you could have continued to fool me...and no one takes me for a fool.”

She raises her hand, signaling each of her soldiers to lower their guns.

“Now, tell me. Who do you work for?” She asks.

“Like I’d tell you-”

Arisa punches me in the face again.

“He’s still managing to stay on his feet? That’s kind of impressive. It’s a good thing you don’t break easily, but you’re still human…” Ms.Oppix says, as a smug grin creeps across her face.