As Michelle left the tower, she sighed a bit. "Hey," Suzy said, which made her turn to the front. "I heard a lot of crashing; are you OK?"
Michelle glanced at Kevin and noticed he was looking down, before looking at the front. "We're fine, Suzy," she said. "We tried putting the code in the locker, but it was jammed, so I had to destroy it."
Kevin was shocked and looked at Michelle. "But on the plus side, we got all the levers; we'll be on the other side shortly," she continued. "Okie dokie!" Suzy shouted.
Michelle smiled a bit before approaching the chain with the green wheel. "Why did you do that?" Kevin asked. Michelle glanced at Kevin. "I'm well aware that you hate liars, but you..." he continued.
When Michelle was close to the chain with the green wheel, she placed the lever in the empty slot. "Yeah, I'm a huge hypocrite on myself. Plus, you know how she doesn't like us fighting against each other," she said.
Michelle looked at Kevin. "If I have to lie to keep Katie happy... then I'll do it with a smile," she continued. Kevin remained silent and looked down as Michelle pulled the lever, which made the green wheel pull the chain.
Michelle stretched her arm to the lever near the blue wheel and pulled it. After Michelle retracted her arm, she stretched both arms to the lever near the red wheel and the lever near the yellow wheel before pulling them.
As the chains started pulling on the door, Michelle sighed and placed her hand against her chest. "Something wrong?" Kevin asked.
Michelle rubbed her hand against her chest. "I don't know if it's because of me destroying things back at the tower or if it's the stretching, but it's a little hard for me to breathe in this thing..." she said.
Kevin tilted his head. Hard to breathe... he thought before examining Michelle. I mean, it has been a while since I've seen her, so I guess there's gonna be changes to the human body, especially since women have...
When Kevin looked at Michelle's chest, his face turned red. Michelle looked at Kevin. "You alright?" she asked. Kevin quickly pulled himself off Michelle, which shocked her.
Soon after, Kevin held Michelle in his arms. "We should get going!" he shouted before quickly approaching the gate. Michelle looked at her right shoulder and saw some blue and red dough before picking it off her.
As Michelle held the dough in her hand, she noticed it was a little runny, which concerned her. When the duo left the workyard, they saw Suzy on the other side. "Over here!" she shouted before walking to the left.
A dough arm formed on Kevin's back before he opened the door on the right before entering. As Michelle looked at Kevin's free arm, she noticed it was a little runny. "Hey Kev... are you alright?" she asked.
Kevin remained silent as he went through the hole and approached the other door. As the duo entered another room, Michelle sternly looked at Kevin as he opened the door with his free hand. "I know you can hear me, damn it. Are you alright?" she asked. "Your body..."
Kevin ignored Michelle as he opened the door before entering. The duo saw a small hole, which made Kevin crouch before entering it. Soon after, the duo saw planks covering a broken vent.
Kevin quickly pulled the planks off the broken vent with his free hand before placing Michelle on the ground as the dough arm retracted. "You go on ahead; I'm right behind you," he said. Michelle turned to Kevin. "You didn't—" he held her hands, which surprised her.
Kevin looked at Michelle with soft eyes. "Please..." he said, lowly. Michelle stared at Kevin before pulling her hands away. "Don't think this is over yet," she said. Kevin nodded as Michelle crawled into the vent.
When Michelle was out of Kevin's sight, he looked at his slightly runny hands. Kevin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Damn it... I thought I had more time... he thought before crawling into the vent.
When Michelle got out of the vent, she saw Suzy. "Suzy," she said. Suzy turned to Michelle before smiling and waving. "You're here!" she shouted. Suzy noticed something before looking at Michelle, concerned. "But where's Big Brother?" she asked.
Michelle looked at the vent. "He's crawling through the vent as we speak," she said before stepping back. "However..." As Kevin got out of the vent, he was on his hands and knees, panting, as his body was slightly runny.
Suzy was shocked and quickly approached Kevin. "Big Brother!" she shouted. Michelle knelt to Kevin when Suzy was close. "What's happening to him?" she asked.
Suzy looked at Michelle. "This happens every time Big Brother's parts are away from him," she said. "If he's away for too long, he'll get runny..." Michelle looked at Suzy. "What happens if he can't reach his body?" she asked.
Suzy was scared. "I... I don't know..." she said, lowly, before slime tears fell from her eyes. "Is he gonna die?" Kevin froze before quickly standing up. "N-No, I'm not gonna die..." he said, lowly.
Michelle stood up and sternly looked at Kevin. "Then what will happen?" she asked. Kevin looked at Michelle before looking down. "I basically become a puddle of dough, but it'll be like I'm in a coma-like state until the main body finds me," he said.
Michelle sighed and placed her hand against her head. "For someone really smart, this is the dumbest thing you've ever done, you dumbass..." she said, lowly. Suzy was scared. "What do we do now?" she asked.
Michelle took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm gonna go ahead on my own, you take your brother back to Safe Haven," she said.
Kevin turned his head to Michelle. "Hang on, you can't—" she glared at him, which made him stop, "Listen here, god dammit, you've been taking care of mine and Suzy's well being ever since you saw me back at Pianosaurus's cell, but didn't take care of your well being."
Michelle pointed at Kevin. "You knew what would happen if you separated and yet you didn't give a damn," she continued. "So as your friend who gives a damn about you, you are going back to Safe Haven with Suzy and returning to yourself."
Kevin looked at Michelle. "But your—" she placed her hand against her chest, "Don't worry about my sprained ankle! If I have to, I can walk slowly, shoot a flare at a smaller enemy, or hide if a larger enemy comes by."
Kevin remained silent and looked down. "And I know you just told me that gentle voices trigger you, but please, Kevin..." Michelle said as she held his hand. "Please go back to Safe Haven... I'll be fine..." Kevin stared at Michelle's hands before nodding. "OK..." he said, lowly.
Kevin turned his head to the hole in the ground. "The generator is in a bad state, so we usually keep the power off here..." he continued before looking at Michelle. "But for you... we can turn it on; it'll open a door downstairs."
Michelle nodded as she let go of Kevin's hand before slowly approaching the hole. Kevin looked at Suzy, who nodded and followed Michelle. "I can help you get down to the lower level," she said.
Michelle turned her head to Suzy before gently smiling. "Thank you, Suzy," she said. Suzy smiled as she wrapped her hands around Michelle's waist before lowering to the hole.
After Suzy unwrapped her hands and retracted them, Michelle saw shelves leaning against one another, forming a small gap in between them. Michelle lowered the GrabPack's arms before going through the gap.
When Michelle was on the other side, she turned her flashlight on before slowly walking forward. As Michelle turned the corner, she saw a battery socket in the distance, which made her slowly approach it.
When Michelle was close to the battery socket, she saw a pink arm lower down from a large hole holding a battery. "Here, Big Brother wanted me to give this to you," Suzy said.
Michelle pulled the left trigger, launching the blue hand and grabbing the battery. "Thank you," she said before retracting it. As Suzy's arm went back into the hole, Michelle plugged the battery into the socket, which lit the room up.
Michelle turned her flashlight off before entering the center part. Soon after, Michelle found a mechanism with three gears missing. "Looks like I'll need to find which gear goes where," she said before walking to the back.
When Michelle walked to the back, she turned her head to the left and saw a gear on a desk before aiming and pulling the left trigger.
The blue hand grabbed the gear before retracting. "You might be one of the important gears..." Michelle said, lowly, before approaching the mechanism and pulling the left trigger.
When Michelle placed the gear in the first slot, it started spinning. "If it goes like that, I need to find two large gears," she continued before walking around.
When Michelle was near an opening, she turned her head to the left and saw a larger gear behind a few crates, which made her slowly approach it.
After Michelle stood on top of a crate, she pulled the right trigger, launching the red hand and grabbing the gear before retracting back. "That's one down," Michelle said before slowly getting off the boxes and walking forward.
When Michelle was close to a T-section in the fencing, she walked to the left and saw a large gear on the lower shelf. "And there's the other," Michelle continued before pulling the left trigger.
The blue hand grabbed the gear before retracting. "Now to put you two in place," Michelle said before walking away.
When Michelle was close to the mechanism, she aimed the large gear at the second slot before pulling the left trigger, launching the blue hand and placing it in, which made it spin.
After the blue hand retracted, Michelle aimed the larger gear at the third slot before pulling the right trigger. The red hand placed the larger gear in the third socket, which made the shutter open. "Great job, Misha! It should be a straight shot from here!" Suzy shouted.
Michelle giggled. "Thank you, Suzy," she said before realizing something. "Doesn't Safe Haven have a way to defend itself?" Michelle heard Suzy hum. "Probably... Big Brother and I can go on ahead and have them turned off for you," she said.
Michelle nodded. "Alright," she said before walking forward. When Michelle was close to the shutter, she heard a voice. "Misha," Kevin said.
Michelle stopped and looked up. "When your voice became gentle... it didn't trigger me," Kevin continued; she was shocked before looking away.
Michelle took a deep breath and exhaled before looking up with a smile. "That's good to hear. Now go back to your body, idiot... I'll see you in Safe Haven..." she said. "I'll... we'll see you inside," Kevin said. Michelle nodded before walking forward and turning left.