Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Chapter 95

This photo turned out great! Chief Advisor, I think we should hang it in the Strategic Game Command Center. It just makes everyone feel at ease,” Garrett said, holding the framed group photo and following Lana around.

“Add it to the Game Warriors collection,” Lana replied.

“Already did. This is an extra print. I also sent copies to Lyra and Lil Lily. Lil Lily’s parents were thrilled,” Garrett said.

“Alright, let’s hang this one in the Strategic Game Command Center. By the way, how are the cats doing?” Lána asked.

“None of them have woken up yet,” Garrett replied.

Lana frowned. “They’re still out cold?”

“Yeah, their vitals are fine, but they’re just not coming around,” Garrett said.

“Let’s go check on them,” Lana said.

The cat room was right across from Lyra’s room, the door left slightly ajar.

Lana pushed the door open and stepped inside. Ten cats were lined up neatly on their cozy little beds, the indicator lights on their monitoring patches blinking away.

Lyra was sitting off to the side, staring at the Maine Titan’s belly.

Lily was leaning over nearby, resting her chin in her hands, watching too.

“Lana,” Lyra called out, looking up as Lana walked in.

“Chief Advisor!” Lily jumped up from her chair, stood up straight with her hands at her sides.

“Alright, you can call me Lana too,” Lana said.

Lana walked in, with Garrett following behind. The two of them stopped by the cat beds.

“Have you been watching them this whole time?” Lana asked.

“No, I just got here,” Lyra said, giving the Tricolor Mimic a gentle pat on the head. It felt the same as before, with no change.

Lana glanced over at the observer on duty in the corner. “How are things looking?”

The observer flipped through the record board. “Chief Advisor, ever since they got here, their heart rate, temperature, and breathing have all been perfectly normal. No fluctuations at all, and they haven’t shown any signs of waking up.”

“Nothing at all?” Lana asked.

“Absolutely nothing. We’ve tried tapping them, making noise, even changing the lights, but nothing does the trick,” the observer replied.

Lana nodded, then turned to Lyra. “Lyra, what do you think?”

“I have no idea,” Lyra said, shaking her head. Lyra thought, ‘I really can’t make sense of it.

“Back in the game, when we used Dream Butterfly, the cats reacted instantly. The Tricolor Mimic opened its mouth and made a sound, Ambercat had tears in its eyes, and Maine Titan’s pupils were actually focusing.

“But now, it’s like someone just pulled the plug on them,” she added.

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Garrett stood next to Silver Whisper, gently lifting its eyelid. “Do you think something happened when the game ended Maybe their souls got forced back in or something?”

“Their souls are still there,” Lyra replied.

She pointed to Ambercat’s chest.

“Right here, it’s intact. It hasn’t scattered or weakened, but it’s just not moving,” she explained.

She pointed at Maine Titan.

“This one’s got it too, pretty much in the same spot,” Lyra said.

“All ten cats have their souls intact,” she added.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief. Lana thought, ‘As long as the souls are still here. The worst thing would be if the game had suppressed or shredded them.”

“So why aren’t they waking up?” Lana asked.

“Wish I knew,” Lyra replied.

Suddenly, Lily pulled a bunch of stuff out of her pocket and dumped it all over the floor.

There was a cat wand, a laser pointer, a can of cat food, some orange peels, and a cat toy ball.

“Goddess Lyra, want to try these?” Lily asked.

Lyra glanced down at the pile of stuff.

“In the game, the System said these are supposed to work on cats. Not sure if they’ll actually work outside the game,” she

said.

“Let’s give it a shot,” Lana said, nodding.

Lily grabbed the cat wand, crouched down in front of the Tricolor Mimic, and waggled the feather in front of its nose.

She flicked it left, then right, and spun it around, the bell on top jingling like crazy.

The Tricolor Mimic didn’t budge at all. Lily thought, ‘Seriously? Not even a twitch?

Lily moved on to the other cats, but still got nothing. She thought, ‘Come on, guys, give me something.”

“Let’s try the laser pointer,” Lily said.

Lily took out the laser pointer and shined the red dot right on the Tricolor Mimic’s eyelid, then slowly dragged it down to the floor and back up again.

The Tricolor Mimic’s eyelid didn’t even flicker.

“How about the cat food?” Lily asked.

Lyra popped open the can and held it right under Ambercat’s nose, almost touching its nostrils.

Still, not a single movement. Not even a whisker twitched.

Lyra tried the can on every cat, but none of them reacted at all.

Lily crushed up some orange peels and held them right by the cats’ mouths, but still, nothing. She thought, ‘Seriously? Not

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Chapter 95

even a sniff?’

She rolled the cat toy ball over to their paws and bumped it against them a couple times, but it was no use.

“Game over, Lily said.

She slumped into her chair, throwing her hands up in defeat.

Total wipeout, she muttered.

Garrett bent over the data. The tests had not produced a single blip. “Looks like game-only stimuli stop working here. Maybe once they’re outside the game, they’re just ordinary items.”

“But the cats came out of the game as well,” Lily protested.

“We brought the cats, their souls, and even the items out, so how come their reactions are the only thing missing?” she asked.

/

“Maybe they need to wake up before they can react,” Lyra guessed.

The conversation went in circles again, and the room fell silent for a few seconds.

Lyra pulled out a deck of cards from her pocket: black with gold patterns, fifty-four cards in all. It was the Soul Deck.

“Let’s give this a shot,” she said.

Lana glanced over.

Lyra shuffled the cards. “I was planning to wait until the cats woke up and ask what they thought before using it.

“Sealing someone’s soul is a big deal. It feels only right to get their consent first.

“But with things like this, waiting around isn’t really an option.

“What if the game messed with things and locked their souls inside the cats?

“The Soul Deck can pull their souls out and store them in cards. Maybe a new vessel will help them wake up,” she suggested.

Lana didn’t answer right away. She was weighing the risks. “What if after we seal them, their souls end up stuck in the same state?”

“At least we’ll have ruled out one possibility,” Lyra replied.

Lyra shuffled the cards in her hands.

“We can find out if the cats’ bodies are what’s keeping their souls trapped,” she said.

Garrett glanced at Lana. “That makes sense. We’ve got ten cats and ten souls. Let’s try it on one first. The risk is manageable.”

“One card for one answer. Not a bad deal,” Lyra chimed in.

Lana thought for a moment. “Alright, let’s give it a shot.”

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