"So uh... Got a name?" Scratching the back of his neck, Zhao Wei asked.
The girl continued to move forward while ignoring him. "Why that's a beautiful name, my name is Wang Zhao Hui, thanks for asking." He murmured to himself.
"What is this place anyway? Seems like a bizarre way to plan a construction... then again I don't exactly have Giant beasts to hunt where I come from, yours might and this might all make perfect sense to your people... Sorry I didn't mean 'your' people like I'm stereotyping or anything, I'm not racist I just meant like..."
"Is something wrong with you or are you just incapable of keeping quiet?" The girl finally relented, staring daggers at him.
He was quite surprised to have turned around and found that the person who had both saved him and held him down was barely three quarters of his height. With dainty little hands to match, the girl was dressed in a baggy sweater and pants which would've seemed so out of place, if it weren't for the oversized lab coat and goggles she sported. Her hair was tied in a braid and a small utility belt slung diagonally from her shoulders to her waist.
At first Zhao Wei was content with following the mysterious figure's back as she walked to wherever she was leading him. But even in the dim lighting of the crawl space they were moving through, he could see her legs shaking and beads of sweat building on her skin with every step despite her putting on a tough exterior. So he thought maybe he'd try annoy her.
"Oh, so the lady speaks," Zhao Wei grinned. "Sorry, for a second there I thought you were mute, but I heard you whisper just now, so then I realized you were just trying to act mysterious."
The girl blushed as she looked at him, he'd hit the nail on the head. "I am not acting mysterious! You're in a lot of danger right now, so if you want to stay alive shut up!!"
Zhao Wei was about to continue to tease before he saw her face become a little worried. They were currently standing next to a vent which led into a small room.
Like the rest of the building's interior, the room looked plain and tasteless, a desk was all that decorated the room while several books littered the area.
And towards a corner, was the same little girl who was standing next to him, yet looking a lot worse for wear, it didn't look like she was malnourished or overworked, just tired for some reason. She was working some lights under her hands which looked similar to the magic circles he left behind every time he placed a trap.
There was a single door leading to this room, but it was currently being blocked by a chair which was propped up against the handle. Someone was on the other side furiously trying to enter while banging on the door.
"Wait here! Don't do anything no matter what happens." The girl next to him spoke, in the next moment, her whole body disintegrated, leaving behind gravel and sand in a pile of her clothes and accessories.
Whoever was at the other side of the door got impatient and decided to push through, the legs of the chair couldn't bear the weight of the person's strength and snapped, instantly giving way.
The girl immediately dispersed the lights magic circle as the figure broke in. Zhao Wei who was spying from the vent was stunned, it was an older version of the girl.
"Why Terry! I did not hear you knock, you know that's the 4th chair this week with not much resources around we might end up running out at this rate." The girl said pretending to read a book a cheeky smile drawn across her face.
The older version looked around, "I'm sure we can spare a few of those Miss Grendolyn..." She frowned. "And I believe we agreed that you would stop giving people fake names, I would much prefer being called Gren9."
"No... you told me I should stop making names for you, I simply pretended I was listening and responded with grunts." She responded. "Besides, I don't feel like having to call my own name out all the time, it's weird enough seeing my reflection every where I go."
"Weird is not the issue here miss, most of them have enough individuality as it is, I don't think making them their own person is very helpful to our cause." Gren9 spoke in exasperation.
"Your cause not mine," The little girl's smile turned very quickly, "I don't remember ordering you to lock yourselves into your roles."
"You know it's not exactly what we want either." The older version looked down. "When you get your skills back, you can fix the issue yourself and do whatever you want, by then I won't have to pester you with this every day." With that she took out a rectangular metal plate from her sleeve.
It seemed normal enough, but the sudden downpour of sweat that came off the little girl as she saw it said otherwise. "Must we do this everyday, can't we just do it when you're sure, you guys have a combined intellect comparable to 50% of my own, you'll figure it out."
"Unfortunately miss, several mediocre people in a room does not a genius make." She looked troubled, "we need to do the adjustment little by little, or else we'd just stray off the path and go too far without knowing."
She moved closer to the bed and pushed the plate forward, Grendolyn reluctantly put her hand forward. The moment she touched the unassuming plate however, several patterns began to glow in a violent orange light all over the plates body.
As it continued to circulate, the plate began to discharge tendrils of lighting like energy that made it's way to Grendolyn's arm, her face tensed as it rapidly closed in with her skin.
Zhao Wei looked worriedly from the vents and was about to step forward when she turned to look at him, and shook her head. Gren9 too occupied by the plate to notice.