Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 32: The Trip

3rd person
Phil and Smiley walked down the white barren hallway together, listening cautiously for humanoids. He wasn't sure why Lila had declined his rescuing, but at least Smiley was there, by his side, as she always was. "Where are we going?" Smiley asked in a low voice. "Wherever there aren't humanoids. A way out would be nice," Phil said. He figured that there wasn't much time to look for his other friends before he woke up, and that they were in nice holding cells, like Smiley and Lila were. Smiley gave a small nod and continued following him. They turned a couple of corners and found themselves in front of a secure steel door. It looked impossible to open, with more locks and latches than Phil could count. "There's no way we can get in here," Smiley mumbled. Phil didn't respond. He didn't want to admit that Smiley was right, since it felt like he could always get him and his friends out of any situation they got into. "It can't be impossible..." Phil whispered after a moment of silence.

Smiley shrugged. He tried everything he could think of, but he couldn't move anything on the door. After about fifteen minutes, Smiley grew restless. "Phil, you can't open that door. Let's just find another way out. This might not even be the exit," she said. "It has to be. What else would be behind a door so secure?" Phil said. Smiley soon heard distant footsteps. Smiley grabbed Phil's arm and dragged him away from the door as quickly as she could. Phil and Smiley hid around the corner of the hallway closest to them. The humanoid turned the corner of the hallway Phil and Smiley had been in seconds before. The humanoid wasn't deaf, though, and had heard them running down the hallway. They morphed their arm into a gun and speed walked down the hallway past the door to find them.

Smiley wanted to run away, but Phil wouldn't go with her. He was confident that the humanoid would either run past them or turn before they reached them. Phil was wrong. The humanoid soon found them, and immediately aimed and shot before they had a chance to react. Rather than a bullet, the gun fired a large net, which caught both of them and then contracted, squeezing both of them tightly. "How did you guys even get out?" The humanoid asked in a deep voice. The pair stayed silent. "Hey. I asked how you escaped," he said, prodding Phil with his gun. Phil avoided eye contact and remained silent. The humanoid pressed on his wrist screen and mumbled something into it. A few minutes later, more humanoids arrived to haul the net out of the hallway. Smiley liked Phil and Phil liked Smiley, but even then, they didn't enjoy being so squished together.

Smiley was especially annoyed when her hair would fall into her eye and she couldn't do anything about it, since the net was squishing her arm so close to her body. They were dragged for a few minutes until they came to a gray door. One humanoid who seemed to lead the others placed their gloved hand on a black pad next to the door which opened it. Inside was a white room, which they went into. The humanoid signaled to the others to leave, and the door closed behind them. The humanoid untangled Phil and Smiley. "Are you guys okay?" they asked in a masculine monotone voice, pressing something on their wrist screen. "Yeah," Smiley replied, speaking for both of them. "Good," the humanoid said. His wrist screen buzzed and then he began talking into it. "Yeah, I got them. No, I have no idea. Oh. Really? She wasn't here, where did she come from? I know, but still. Frozen? Are they dead? Good. I really can't, just get 12876, he's good for that. Yeah. Alright, out," he said, lowering his wrist screen from his face.

"So, tell me. How did you escape?" He asked. The pair didn't respond and stared at him blankly. "I know you pretended to use the bathroom, but what about you? That glass is bulletproof," he said, looking to Phil then to Smiley. Smiley glanced at Phil, who subtly shook his head. "I..." Smiley said, looking back at the humanoid. He loomed over her, even when crouching, and stared her in the eyes intently. "I... Th- There was a pen with a metal thing and I stabbed the glass with it and it broke..." Smiley said, hardly pausing during her explanation. After she explained her escape, she refused to even glance towards Phil. "...I see..." the humanoid said, turning back towards Phil. "Did you have anything to do with it?" He asked. "...I..." Phil stammered. "...I only went by her cell..." Phil mumbled.