A muffled thud—the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground—yanked Coppelia's consciousness completely back to reality.
She found herself squatting on the floor, her hands firmly clamping down on the necks of two people. One was the black-robed researcher, and the other was Kelvin. Their faces had turned a bruising purple, foam gathered at the corners of their mouths, and their eyes had rolled back, signaling a loss of consciousness.
Coppelia immediately released her grip and stood up. Her mind was still somewhat chaotic.
Urgent shouts came from outside the door: "What's wrong in there? What was that noise?!"
She ignored the two lying on the ground, her body snapping into action as she rushed to the door in a few strides. The messy sound of footsteps outside was closing in.
She grabbed the inner edge of the metal door and, using all her strength, yanked it violently backward—with a loud clang, the heavy door slab smashed into the frame, shutting tight.
Almost at the exact moment the door closed, people outside began pounding on it, their knocks urgent and heavy.
"Open the door!"
"What happened inside?!"
Coppelia quickly scanned the inside of the door, looking for a bolt or latch, but the surface was bare, devoid of any locking mechanism. She had no choice but to immediately turn around, pressing her back against the cold metal panel. She dug her feet into the ground, her mechanical body erupting with powerful force to deadbolt it with her own weight.
The people outside began to ram the door. With every impact, the panel opened slightly inward, transmitting a dull vibration.
She tried to mobilize the Electro within her body to give the people outside a good shock, but she could only condense a tiny spark. The remaining energy was barely enough to maintain basic physical movement; it was completely insufficient to release elemental power.
Energy? Coppelia suddenly realized the problem. Her core should have been removed, so where was the energy driving her body coming from?
She lowered her head to look at her abdomen. Inside the bowl-sized hole, a Moon Spirit had buried its head deep inside, leaving only its rounded rear half and two long braids swaying gently outside.
Is this actually how it was solved?
The impact force behind her suddenly intensified. The door was smashed open to a palm-wide crack, and chaotic light and silhouettes flickered from outside. Coppelia gritted her teeth, exerting force with her shoulders and back, forcibly pressing the door back into place.
I must think of a way, quickly.
Without elemental reactions, she couldn't deal with the people outside who likely held weapons. Forcing her way out was too risky. What to do?
Her gaze swept rapidly across every corner of the room. The experimental table, scattered tools, cold walls... Finally, her sight landed on the metal tray in the corner. Her clothes and shoes were piled on it, and the ancient storage bronze mirror lay right beside them.
There is a way.
She rushed forward without hesitation and grabbed the bronze mirror. Just as she turned around, the door behind her was blasted completely open with an even louder crash!
A figure stumbled in. Coppelia didn't even look; she raised her leg and delivered a kick straight to the person's chest. The intruder gave a muffled grunt and flew backward, crashing into his companions rushing up from behind.
Seizing this momentary gap, Coppelia flashed back to the door, using her shoulders and back to jam the panel, slamming it shut again and holding it dead fast.
With a shift of her will, three faint white lights flashed in the air. Three plump Moon Spirits departed from the storage bronze mirror and appeared before her, lining up in a row, hovering quietly.
Three? Coppelia paused for a moment, looking again at the hole in her abdomen. There is one inside, too.
Before she was tricked into coming here by Kelvin, there were only three Moon Spirits in existence. This one is... Columbina must have created a new Moon Spirit. This meant she was safe!
Coppelia felt her body fill with strength again.
She held the bronze mirror out toward the Moon Spirit while using her heel to kick back the door gap that had been smashed open a sliver again. "Take this."
The middle Moon Spirit floated forward, nimbly coiling its soft braids around the edge of the bronze mirror, holding it like an arm.
Coppelia spoke very fast: "Listen to me. First, store my things inside." Her gaze pointed to the tray in the corner. "Then, take these two people lying on the ground..."
She paused.
The mirror had no problem storing items, and it could probably store her. But could it hold living humans? Would there be issues? Forget it, who cares!
"Store these two people inside as well," she continued her orders. "Finally, store me inside too. You take the mirror and leave. Dodge the people outside, find a corner with no one around, and then let us out. Do you understand?"
The Moon Spirit holding the bronze mirror did not hesitate after listening; it immediately turned and floated toward the tray in the corner.
Coppelia relaxed. It understood.
The Moon Spirit aimed the mirror, wrapped in its braids, at the clothing. With a flash of light, the dress and shoes vanished. It then floated to the unconscious black-robed researcher and Kelvin, and their figures disappeared one after another.
Finally, it floated back in front of Coppelia, aiming the mirror face at her.
Coppelia released the force holding the door and stood up straight.
White light swept past.
The next moment, the door panel was blasted completely open by immense force, rebounding inward against the wall with a deafening crash. Several men in black couldn't stop their momentum and stumbled into the room.
Almost at the same instant they broke in, the three Moon Spirits aimed for the gap above the crowd's heads. With a swish, they transformed into three streaking white lights, darting out from the top of the door frame and vanishing into the shadows of the external corridor in the blink of an eye.
The men who rushed in felt as if something white had flashed past the corners of their eyes. It was so fast it seemed like an illusion; they thought the overly bright lights in the room had just dazzled them, so they paid it no mind.
Their attention was immediately seized by the scene within the room.
It was empty.
The experimental table was empty. The floor was empty. The corners were empty. Aside from the cold instruments and that table, there was nothing.
A man in black at the doorway spoke with disbelief in his voice: "I... I am very certain. There was a researcher inside just now, and then another went in. It's impossible for there to be no one!"
Another person in the corner squatted down and inspected the two narrow ventilation vents on the wall: "There is only this one door. The grilles of the vents are intact, and the openings are tiny; only a Scarab could drill into them."
The person standing in the center of the room was quite tall. His face sank as his sharp gaze swept every corner. "The door couldn't have been locked from the inside. Just now, someone was absolutely using their body to block the door." He paused. "But he—or she—vanished suddenly. What does that make you think of?"
The person in the corner raised his head, his face somewhat pale. "That Moon God we just captured... her Authority is 'Space'."
The person in the center of the room nodded and turned to the man at the door. "What was this room originally researching?"
The man at the door swallowed, looking at the empty experimental table. "They were here... researching the mechanical construct that follows the Moon God." His voice grew increasingly dry. "Now... she is gone too."
Everyone in the room fell silent for a few seconds.
"We will immediately," he began, "report the situation here to the higher-ups."
____
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