Episode 24

Before Midori could even notice, a whole day had already gone by and the moon was already high in the sky. Midori was laying on her bed, patiently waiting for Atlas. Outside the thunders could be heard in the distance, letting her know that it was about to rain. She had heard her nurse saying that that night there would be a storm. Every second that passed felt like an eternity. She was starting to fell desperate. Midori sat at the edge of the bed, considering if she should go out to look for him.

But just as she was about to, the door opened slowly. A smile formed on her lips automatically.

— You're late… —she said softly—.

— I'm sorry. My nurse didn't want to leave the room.

— Do you think she knows it was you who stole her card?

— I think she's starting to suspect.

Atlas gets closer to her and takes both of her hands.

— Today's the day, Midori. Today we will discover what's happening. I know that in that place we'll find the truth.

Midori nodded. She felt confident about it. She knows that today was going to be the day where all of this ends. Atlas engulfed Midori in a tight hug. Midori did the same, burrowing her face on his neck. A few seconds later, Midori raised her head.

— What's wrong?

Midori stayed there a few seconds without saying anything. Trying to decipher if the footsteps she was hearing were coming to her room. As seconds passed, she noticed that her suspicion was correct.

— Hide, I think my nurse is coming.

Atlas didn't hesitate for a second and quickly hid under the bed. Midori lay down and covered herself from head to toe, just as her door opened up.

— Are you sleeping, miss Midori?

Midori thought of stating silent, but the nurse was getting closer to where she was.

— Yes, what's wrong?

Midori abruptly got up, making the nurse to stop on her tracks.

— Ah, no. I was just checking how you were.

— I feel wonderful.

— All right, miss Midori.

And with that, the nurse left the room. Once outside, she clicked her tongue and walked away. Midori breathed out a deep sigh, she couldn't deny that that scared her a bit.

— I think your nurse also suspects that you're doing something. —said Atlas, getting out from under the bed—.

— I think so too…

— Do we go now? —Atlas extended his hand—.

— Let's go.

Midori took Atlas' hand and, like the previous times, they made the already familiar way to the basement. That night there were more nurses all over the place, as if they had increased the security. While going down, they had to hide many times on their way.

When they arrived to the last floor, they went directly to hide behind the boxes. In that moment, Atlas' nurse was exiting the place; she seemed to be agitated as she ran up the stairs.

— Let's do this quickly, I think she will notice I'm not there. —whispered Atlas—.

Once it was safe to go out, they went back inside the laboratory. It was as cold as they remember. They passed by the incubators carefully, but, since she couldn't see, Midori stumbled down with some cables, falling to the floor. That made some noise, as one of the machines also fell down.

— Are you okay!? —said Atlas, kneeling by her side—.

— Y-yeah… it was only a stumble…

— Let's go quickly, that machine did a lot of noise.

Midori tried to quickly get back to her feet, Atlas guiding her by the hand until they were in front of the door they previously saw. When he found the card reader, he quickly swiped the card on it. Luckily for them it also worked on that door. They went inside carefully, it seemed to be an office.

— Where are we? —asked Midori— It's not cold anymore.

— It's like an office… Can you stay by the door while I look around?

Midori nodded and stayed right next to the door. Atlas started to move around the room, searching in the drawers but they were all empty. He sat down in the desk that was right in the middle of the room, there wasn't anything in there. Atlas hit the desk with a first, feeling frustrated.

— Where could the information be stored…?

In his state of frustration, he kicked under the table. Pain quickly shot through his foot, making him tilt his head in curiosity; what he just kicked didn't feel like wood. He crouched down and right there, bellow the desk, he spotted a safe.

— It's here!

However, just as he was celebrating, a strong push made Midori fall down the floor. Her nurse had just entered the room.

TO BE CONTINUED.