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Eleonora had been staring at that computer for over an hour, her mind filled with ideas (all instantly discarded) on how to renovate some items for M.E.G.
It wasn't a difficult job, it's just that the constant restrictions her superiors imposed on her made it all the more boring (What was wrong with scaring the travelers a little?)
But someone had to do it, and she handled it better than anyone.
She moved her chair away from her desk a bit to glance at the few colleagues who remained in that office.
Many were busy planning new expeditions for the levels, while others were studying the strange objects they often found on their expeditions.
But otherwise, everything was normal.
She then decided to return to where she had left off, which proved difficult when a scream interrupted her activity.
"Oh God, that bird!" Someone exclaimed, and she sighed when she heard that.
She knew that bird well.
A parrot, colored in almost every shade of blue, was flying briskly toward the woman's station, then landing delicately on the plastic surface.
As soon as it landed, it adjusted its feathery coat, ignoring everything else.
Eleonora watched the whole scene with evident calm, while the other scientists (not yet accustomed to the parrot's visits) watched her attentively.
"Jerry, what are you bringing me today?" the woman asked.
The parrot pulled out a note (from who knows where, and we don't want to ask) and handed it to her, who immediately opened it.
Inside was a message, a line of text in the cultist's distinct handwriting.
"Meet me on level 214, I have someone to show you.
Bring... someone who knows Spanish?
What do you want now?"
The parrot didn't responded (well, not that anyone expected otherwise), but instead flew up and sat on the woman's shoulder, indicating the exit with one wing.
"Okay, I'll call Josef.
Let's see what Bluebird wants to show me."
Some time later~
"Do we really have to go?
I don't trust that madman's messages," the frontline explorer muttered, trying to ignore the bird's gaze.
"And why does he need someone who knows Spanish anyway?"
"The sooner we go, the sooner we'll be gone.
His messages always need deciphering." the scientist replied monotonously.
"And then I want to see what he has to say."
"Then it's a good thing I managed to keep Ares and Virgil away for this."
"You shouldn't leave those two alone. You know how aggressive Ares is toward Virgil."
"I know, but bringing them here in such a small space doesn't seem like a great idea, you know?"
The two colleagues walked along the long path that would lead them to the confession garden.
It was an... unusual place to choose:
They couldn't go outside the existing brick walls, which made it impossible for anyone to set up an outpost.
The only accessible space was the garden itself, an almost surreal place in a perpetual state of bloom, always colored by a never-changing sunset, which makes the place quite pleasant (at least, compared to other "gardens").
Perhaps the most iconic part, however, was the statue inside the narrow perimeter: it depicted the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, who, for some still-unknown reason, could tell when someone was lying or telling the truth (requiring confessions, however, in exchange for knowledge).
The rest of the garden was a normal garden in bloom with some of the most beautiful flowers anyone could ever see.
All protected by a small wooden gate.
The two colleagues opened the small door, entering the actual level.
And the first thing they saw was... a little girl?
She had reddish skin, typical of South America, and dark, curly hair.
She was wearing old, rather random clothes (probably found in other levels?), and had bandages over her mouth that covered half her face, which was already covered by dark green glasses.
The most worrying thing, however, was that she was in the company of a... Deathmoth?
The creature was clearly female, judging by its size, which made the situation strange, given that only with males could one hope for some sort of domestication.
Unlike other females she'd encountered, however, this one seemed more docile (at least towards the girl).
"Oh my goodness, what's one of those things doing with her?" Josef exclaimed, attracting the girl's attention.
"I don't know, but it seems to be attached to her for some reason." Eleonora replied, noticing the way the Deathmoth curled up on the girl's skirt.
"But it's strange, and—"
"Hi Eleonora."
A sudden voice startled the frontline, who immediately hid behind the woman, who had remained still.
"Hi, Bluebird...." She greeted as well.
"I see your message was serious."
From a corner of the garden, a rather tall, stooped figure emerged, one she had come to recognize over the years.
That day, however, he seemed to be without a helmet (or rather, a mask, but it looked like both), which set off alarm bells.
"Of course i was serious, dear.
You apparently brought dear Henderson with you," he replied, with a smile that unnerved me.
"Okay, buddy, everything I know I learned from my girlfriend, but I can't hold long conversations." He tried to explain with his usual modesty.
"Did you at least ask her name?"
"Mirabel Madrigal.
She told me when she ran toward me."
Eleonora took the tablet and began searching, finding no results.
No missing persons report, no one connected to her, nothing.
She looked back at the girl, who seemed to be cowering as far away from them as possible, and was looking fearfully at Josef's visor.
Meanwhile, the Deathmoth seemed to be on the defensive, its claws exposed.
"Josef, take off your hood and go talk to him. I need to have a word with Bluebird." The woman concluded, putting the tablet back.
"I really need to?
Fantastic..." He concluded, taking off his visor.
As soon as he walked away, Eleonora turned to Bluebird, who had meanwhile retrieved his trusty companion.
"You haven't played any of your games, have you?" she asked in a less than gentle tone.
"Without Jerry and the language barrier, I can't work miracles, dear.
But I'd like to know what this poor soul has to say. It's not easy to find someone who can tame a female Deathmoth."
"Don't start. I'll take her to the base and see if I can find out who she is.
It seems strange that I can't find anything on this girl."
"Maybe she's not from this world. You should look further afield.
Maybe she doesn't belong here."
"...None of us belong here."
Josef watched their discussion, making sure it didn't escalate.
When he turned around, he saw that the girl was particularly intrigued by his camera (which he always carried with him even when it wasn't needed).
The entity with her, however, had returned to sleep mode and seemed to ignore the man.
The man swallowed, trying to ignore the creature.
"¿Te gusta? Es una cámara bastante resistente, incluso sobrevivió a una caída."He commented, picking up the camera
"Mi nombre es Josef Henderson, soy de M.E.G. Es un placer conocerte.."
"M.E.G?" Mirabel asked, as if she knew something about it.
"...Sí, trabajamos para descubrir qué son estos mundos de otro mundo..
Yo, en particular, exploro y recopilo información para científicos como la doctor Eleonora Fabri aquí.."
"Fabri!?"
The girl immediately stood up and, followed by the entity, strode toward the woman, who seemed confused by this gesture.
Mirabel took a folder from her handmade bag, holding it up so she could see it, and pointed to it, as if asking her to confirm that it was hers.
"This is my old travel guide translated into Spanish. There are a couple of copies in other languages around the Backrooms." she said, then turned to the girl.
"I wrote it to help people, but the translation is by Dr. Sanchez." she added, nodding.
The girl stared at her for a few seconds and then, without warning, hugged her, murmuring something.
"She's telling you she thanks you." Josef said.
"It seems to have been helpful."
"Well, I'm glad." she replied, looking back at the girl.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Some time later, at the base~
After making sure Mirabel was okay, they took her into the base to try to figure out where she came from.
She was currently in the infirmary, sitting on the bed in complete silence while some scientists ran tests.
Luckily for them, the Deathmoth seemed to listen to Mirabel and stayed by her side.
Eleonora and Josef watched her from behind the glass, curious about the relationship between the girl and the entity.
"What do you think it could be?
Taming an entity is almost impossible for us, how did she?" Josef commented.
"I don't know, maybe there's something strange about the entity rather than the girl.
But she seems very attached to the creature." She replied, writing something in her notebook.
"According to what she told us, she fell into the backrooms four years ago, after her house collapsed.
I don't understand the part about the gifts, though."
"Gifts?" the confused frontline asked.
"According to Sanchez's translation, Mirabel comes from a family with gifts, but she didn't say what kind.
Except she doesn't have any, which makes her a bit of an outsider." She explained, a sense of uncertainty creeping over her.
"Well, a bit unlucky..."
After a few minutes, one of the researchers, White, arrived, looking confused.
"Fabri, bad news: No information on her." the man announced.
"We ran the DNA comparison and it turns up nothing."
"It's impossible that you can't find anything," Eleonora replied.
"If I tell you I didn't find anything, then it's nothing," her colleague retorted, a little offended.
"Maybe we have a new entity on our hands."
"That could be the case.
It's not as if all entities are monsters with strange and scary looks," Josef added, imitating claws with his hands.
"Honestly, this girl doesn't seem like an entity to me.
She's acting like a normal unfortunate trapped in the Backrooms, trying to survive, and who by pure chance managed to befriend a Deathmoth."
"I recommend that Mirabel stay here, I have a feeling we're onto something interesting." White commented.
Eleonora remained silent for a moment, considering what to do and White's words, and then nodded to Josef to enter the infirmary.
When they entered, the girl's face lit up.
"Hola!" She greeted with a smile.
"Hola dear."The doctor greeted in turn, then turned to her colleague.
"Tell her she'll be staying with us for a while, but not to worry, we won't hurt her."
"De acuerdo.Hola Mirabel, hablamos con el personal y creemos que lo mejor es que te quedes con nosotros en la base por ahora." He explained.
"¿Puedo quedarme con Lily?" the girl asked, probably pointing to the entity with her.
"Um... well..." Josef turned to Eleonora, who seemed (for some reason) to agree with the request.
"Si no causa problemas aquí dentro y no ataca a nadie, sí, podemos quedárnosla.."
"¡Gracias!
Lily es muy buena, no tienes nada que temer. "
"Let's hope..."