Once again, as a reminder, do not make any editing or corrections to this, do not point to me of any mistakes. I will not make corrections. I`m leaving this mostly as is of what it was when Tojo and I rped this out. We both have different rp styles so expect there to be some inconsistencies in things such as apostrophes and tenses.
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As this turned into a rescue mission, Jacob led Maria through the corridors; occasionally, they would come against a ghoul or a robot, and with military training and some discipline, Jacob would use only a few bullets here or there to down one. Seemed he was fairly dingy with his bullets; the environment proved very unforgiving, and through great odds and after fighting through legions of berserk service bots and undead ghouls, they found themselves in one of the few safe areas; it was the deck where Shadow and Maria had often looked out into space. However, they weren't in space.. the surrounding created a rainbow-strobe like effect.

"..What the.." Jacob spoke, first time since they left the room; the pc hinted that they were very close to who they thought was Shadow.

Maria doesn`t stop but she does look at the window as she walks past it. Saddened that the Earth isn`t in view, she comments,"What has happened here? That wasn`t there before..."

"You got me..Miss.."

Turning around, he looked at a computer terminal.

"Busted..look, we're supposedly really close.."

Looking up, he tapped the side of his face. "I could give you a boost and let you climb into the vents.."

Maria stops and looks up to the vents that are above her reach. She quietly responds,"All right."

She runs through her head of where these vents go from memory. It was one of the places she would crawl up into when in her younger days she played hide n seek with Shadow. Unfortunately for her, his intelligence got him to learn quickly of her favourite hiding spot. There used to be things against the wal she used to climb up there but since the items are gone...Maria steps over to the vents to get closer to them and awaits the soldier to boost her up.

Before he did such, he handed to her the pc; throughout their entire venture together, the blip moved around into various areas; it had to have been Shadow looking for her. They were very close, and the dot wasn't moving much. He hoisted her up and allowed her to climb up into the vent; this would likely give her an avenue to escape the G.U.N. operative in favor of searching for Shadow.

Maria makes her way through the vent though she has to crawl due to lack of height space. Her glances switch between the pc and the path ahead of her. Being in the vents she is reminded of one time when she and Shadow were playing up in them, they were in another vent system where the vents were smaller. Shadow had actually gotten stuck in one spot and they had to scramble to get him un-stuck. They weren`t supposed to be up there and Gerald would always scold them for being in the vents. She smiles a bit remembering Shadow being stuck and the both of them panicked.

Luckily for her, this was one area free of monsters or rogue robotics; however, after further looking around, she'd actually hear something scrambling, then falling through; the vents rumbled slightly. Based on how close it was on the screen, it had to have been Shadow in the vents, just managing to get loose. After some crawling, she'd find the area where whatever had fallen through the floor, a dark room below her.

She looks through a slatted opening in the side of the vent and looks to see if she can see anything. She recognizes this room as one where when Shadow was still in the capsule, he was kept in this room. The only light source seems to be a green light on the empty capsule. On the top it was labeled "Project Shadow."

There was movement to the south, however..this wasn't unnatural movement, and she could see familiar glowing eyes; this was in fact Shadow. Sniffing the air, his sensitive nose could detect her. "..Maria?" He spoke quietly, looking around cautiously; funny how they found their way to this spot.

Maria turns herself to face his direction,"Shadow!"

"Maria!"

Happily rushing towards her, he enthusiastically hugged her, rubbing the side of his face against hers. "I spent hours wandering around trying to find you.."

Maria unconsciously drops the pc and throws her arms around Shadow tightly. She nuzzles the side of her face against his. She becomes emotional at this point from finding that Shadow is all right and a couple tears escape from her eyes,"I was so worried about you, Shadow."

"I was worried about -you-, Maria. I found a few things out. I think this is all one big dream-zone. They took our memories and made a night-mare out of it..it's just a big bad dream."

Noticeably, Shadow was carrying a small pistol and what looked like a scanner.

"It certainly does seem that way. The room we went to, to watch Earth...It doesn`t show space at all and-Oh! We have to hurry back. Jacob is still there."

Maria picks back up the pc she dropped.

"Jacob..?"

Shadow looked over to her with a questioning gaze, then looked over to the capsule that had once housed him. He looked at it with a mixed face. "..."

"He`s a GUN soldier, and oddly enough...It`s because of him I made it this far."

Maria looks over to the capsule that Shadow is looking at. She stifles a smile as she reminisces,"I`m not sure if you remember...But you were still in your tube, and I begged and begged grandfather to let me be there when he would let you out. Until then, I would come over and show you the picture books I had..."

"...."

His eyes opened a bit more, despite their tense situation; this was a safe zone right now, though all doors were sealed. He remembered back, thinking. "..I remember once, opening my eyes to see you..there..in front of me.."

Maria looks at Shadow, she smiles,"And I talked and talked and talked to you through that glass barrier..."

"..It's been a very long time.."

Pausing, looking into the capsule. "..I just remember flashes here and tid-bits there..But I did want to be with you when I emerged from the tube.."

Maria looks back at the capsule as well. She sighs softly,"Grandfather...being so busy as he was...forgot to tell me when he was letting you out...And I didn`t get to know you were released until the day after."

"..He meant for the best..he was a good man, just..caught up with trying to..find a cure for you, Maria."

Letting out a short sigh as he took the trip back from memory lane, he looked to her. "Come on..we need to get to the soldier and find a way out of here.."

"Right."

Maria starts crawling back through the vents the same way she came. She hops the soldier remained in the same room so they could find him.

Shadow began to follow after her; the soldier, however, was not in the room. There was just a sprawled note left on the floor where he had been standing. "Where is he.."

"That`s strange..."

Maria pops open the slatted door on the vent and she starts lowering herself over the edge of the opening. Then she lets herself drop down and she lands on her feet on the floor. She approaches the note to read it.

Shadow lept down after her, looking around, making sure nothing was amiss.

'Some kinda portal opened up behind the chair at the terminal just ahead, so I decided to take it; if you're reading this, I'm probably long gone. Good luck.'

That was all the note said.

Maria has mixed emotions about this, though it was probably for the best since Shadow probably would have torn his throat out on sight anyhow for being a GUN soldier. She turns to Shadow,"Well, it looks like we`re on our own now."

"Hm.. What was that letter..?"

Shadow asked, as he looked around; his expression lightened, he preferred being alone with Maria, holding up the pistol. The terminal was just ahead.

"It looks like Jacob had found an exit."

"Where..?"

She points forward to the terminal,"That way."

"Follow me..but stay close, and hold my hand.."

Shadow too the lead, expertly traveling down the hall, pistol pointed ahead; sure enough, there was a large computer terminal with a large chair behind it, and a large milky-looking portal. Shadow looked at it, then turned back to her. "..You want to try it?"

Maria looks at Shadow,"It`s the best lead we have of escaping here."

"..Alright, keep hold of my hand, and let's jump.."

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