Ruby (Now Completed!)

[Chapter 6]

Dr. Luka tried to spit it out, but it was too little too late. She collapsed to the floor, choking as the poison began to set in. Teto could only stand and stare, wondering whether or not she should panic.

Len knew he had to act quickly. The other scientists would come in to check on them if they stayed too long. He noticed the vent in the ceiling and dragged a paralyzed Teto in its direction. After shaking Teto back to consciousness, he began to give her orders.

"I'm gonna give you a boost, you need to knock loose the screws on that vent in the ceiling, then climb up. I'd appreciate some help up as well once you're up there, too."

Teto still didn't trust him very much, but she had reason enough to know that it was stupid to argue against him saving her. She stood on Len's hands and he raised her up to the vent. It only took her a few swings of her fists to knock the screws loose. Passing down the vent cover, Len helped her climb inside. Once she was up, she extended her arms to help him up as well. Len quickly replaced the cover to the best of his ability and beckoned for her to follow him.

"Question, is Dr. Luka dead?" She decided to ask after a few minutes of crawling.

"Psh, no, of course not." Len lied, not wanting to make her freak out again.

"Another question, where are we going?" Asked Teto again, this time more warily.

"To a safe haven I found in the ventilation system. Nobody knows about it, at least as far as I'm aware." Len replied, not lying this time.

Teto figured he was being sincere enough, and decided not to argue. But then, she had another thought.

"Hey, I'm glad you're saving me and all that crap, but I'm only gonna let you take me to this place on one condition."

Len stopped. He didn't like her having authority over him, but he really didn't want to lose her now.

"What's that, princess?"

Ignoring the part where he said "princess", Teto continued.

"We gotta bring Piko with us too."

Len sighed.

"You mean that guy you were talking with when I came to retrieve you?"

"Yep."

Len sighed again.

"It'll be hard, you know. I know where he's being held, but the rooms are all equipped with cameras. We can't just show our faces grabbing him without the Head finding out about it."

At this point, Teto didn't really care. She was determined that Piko would be going to the safe haven with them. Nothing would stop her from trying.

"I don't care. Just lead the way to his room, I'll come up with a plan."

It seemed like they were crawling for hours, but Teto had come up with a pretty good plan, at least in her opinion. She explained it to Len while they were crawling, and even he couldn't find any loopholes.

It wasn't much later before Len stopped in front of another vent cover.

"Here it is," He whispered. "Stay super quiet, I don't know if anyone's in there."

Len helped Teto crawl over the vent cover so she could turn around and look down at it from the other side. Neither of them could see anyone in Piko's room yet.

Len wanted to at least guarantee Teto's safety, so he tried to get her to give up.

"Ruby, I think this is too risky-" He was cut off by Teto's sharp glare.