- What chemical? - Amber asked. We didn't know the answer, but more importantly, she was a little bit too loud.
The armed guards noticed our team and ran over to catch us. Right as one of them aimed at us, Anthony stepped forward and said something to the guard.
- I'm here to investigate and those people - he mentioned us - were found by me along the way. We'll detain them while I investigate.
What? Is he betraying us?
The armed guards escorted us to a container with windows and forced us into it. They locked us up, but not before Anthony came over.
- May I tell the prisoners something? - he turned to the guards, which agreed as he went up the stairs to the container.
- I'm doing this so that they won't suspect you. Plus, you have a pretty good view from here. I've connected my translator to yours, so you'll hear me all the time. Inform me about anything dubious. Sorry for placing you in the boondocks , but it's the only safe option we have - Anthony told us.18Please respect copyright.PENANAla0ssnG47Q
- Okay - I accepted this.
- Act as if you're real prisoners - Anthony left us.
- Yay, we're in jail! - Sebastian exclaimed happily - AGAIN!
- That's... not how prisoners act... - Claudius commented.
- This is horrible... I don't deserve to be in here! - Harold grumped. His acting was actually solid, but I got the impression that he wasn't acting.
I looked around the container. There was only a dirty chair and a tiny table, along with a toilet in the corner of the container, obstructed by green blinds. Outside the window was the site with the crane. Dad came over to the empty box and inspected it, with the puzzled scientists watching him. Anthony did a few things with the box, but I couldn't see what it was.18Please respect copyright.PENANAzfDdGcdMT5
- No fingerprints; the thief must have been wearing gloves - I heard through the translator. So that's what he inspected!18Please respect copyright.PENANAdd1ahzJZTe
The scientists looked around, probably suspecting each other. All of them were wearing gloves for safety reasons.
- How long will we sit here? - Harold asked out of the blue. We didn't reply, focused on dad's investigation.
Anthony moved on to checking possible footsteps left over by the thief. After looking at the soles of the scientist's shoes, he finally found a clue. Two trails that didn't match the soles.
- Over there! - Anthony pointed at them. I called over the others and we spotted the footprints.
Claudius went to the opposite side of the container and noticed some movement outside, behind the orange bushes. Excitedly, he informed Anthony through the translator, imitating an adult voice.
- I spotted someone moving behind the detention container! - he said.
Anthony repeated the information to the scientists, who got closer to the bushes and saw nobody. However, my father found fresh trails matching the suspicious footprints. Whoever snuck past the bushes was likely the culpirt. Anthony followed the new trails. We heard distant footsteps through the translator. At the corner of my eye, Anthony froze, listening.
I have a strengthened sense of hearing and it's possible that I inherited this trait from my dad, as he found the direction from which the noise came and continued there. Upon distancing himself from the armed guards (which were lacking behind him), he reached out to us.
- Hey, nice work. The thiefs are nearby and I'm following them. Once we capture them, we'll... - Anthony stopped when he presumably noticed something important - Oh no...! - I heard garbled sounds of fighting. Something bad was happening and my dad was involved.18Please respect copyright.PENANAzSnvVQwZA3
- Ouch! - a guard yelped in Chinese.
- Dad?! - I asked through the translator with concern. The reply didn't come.
My father and the guards were too far away from us to see. If we wanted to help, we had to break ourselves out of prison.
- Let's get out of here! - Amber tried to punch through the metal door, but to no avail.
- Stop, you'll attract the other guards! - Sebastian prevented her from continuing. He tried to open the door, but unsurprisingly, it was locked.
Claudius came over and tried to use his mechanical arm to force the door open. He broke the screwdriver attatchment whilst trying to pick the lock. He used the wrench to loosen the lock, but we still couldn't escape. He ended up smashing his way through with the mini-hammer.
The armed guards were surprised when they saw Claudius with a hammer. We quickly followed him out of the container. Obviously, the guards opened fire, damaging the metal door. We managed to hop away as the bullets whistled above our heads.
We ran over to the trail of footprints with the guards in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, the scientists didn't really react, as they were too confused by the theft in the first place.
Fortunately for us, one of the guards slipped on a stone-like blob,, falling face-first into the dirt. The others continued without him. This gave us the idea to use the bioengineered flora against them.18Please respect copyright.PENANAW4CEulOH1a
One of the guards was taken down by me leading him to a tree trunk he didn't notice. He fell over, dropping his rifle. I picked it up and continued fleeing. I had no idea about using a rifle, but I'd look more menacing to enemies with it.
Amber fooled another guard into getting stuck in dark orange vines hanging off a peculiar tree. As the guard scrambled, he got completely tangled in the vines. Sebastian and Claudius led the last two guards onto a field of greenish mushrooms. The Chinese obviously continued their pursuit, stepping on the fungi. The shrooms retaliated by emitting a teal mist into the air. I didn't know its properties, but it was highly unpleasent for the guards, who ended up stopping to rub it off their faces.
Harold ended up stepping on the mushrooms to, but seeing the mist rise around him made him run even faster, to the point where he almost tripped on a stick.
We ran so far that we lost the trail and had to back track to find it. This time, we were a bit slower but more careful. The trails led us to a gray building hidden in the artificial jungle. Harold was so stunned by the current situation that he actually fell over.
I froze in horror as I saw the blue-haired woman who helped us with engineering a bush. She and the man from earlier dragged my unconscious father into the building. Above the duo was a text reading "RESTRICTED SECTOR".
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