//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 Overheard Conversation // Story: Nueva-Delhi and the Snow Catastrophe // by oranzinispegasas //------------------------------// Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly decided to inspect other workshops of the factory in order to find the missing Max and, possibly, other clues. In the other workshops, there wasn't as much chaos as in the first one. They weren't as affected by it, though the shards occasionally crunched under their feet. The snowflake production workshops didn't provide any substantial clues. Nueva-Delhi didn't find anything interesting there, so they decided to move on. As soon as they approached the cloud production workshop, they heard voices coming from inside. Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly stopped in hesitation. "Who's in there?" Nueva-Delhi asked. "Aren't all the workers supposed to be focused on the first workshop? I thought these workshops should be empty..." "In theory, yes," Vasilly nodded. "Wait..." He listened, tilting his right ear. One voice was louder and angrier than the other. "Vetrov!" Vasilly suddenly exclaimed, surprised by the volume of his own voice. "Manager?" Nueva-Delhi asked, approaching the door. "Yes," Vasilly replied, now quieter. "And the second one is Agatov!" Nueva-Delhi pushed Vasilly away from the door and opened it slightly. Indeed, there were two horses in the workshop. One was short with a long, tousled black mane and snow-white fur. He looked rather scruffy. The other one was tall and slender, with dark gray fur and a shiny black mane similar to the first horse, but more polished. He was dressed to the nines. His jacket was clean and well-pressed, not a single wrinkle. "Interesting, what are they doing here?" Nueva-Delhi whispered. "Who knows what they could be up to here," Vasilly replied. "After all, the factory relies on them. But eavesdropping on other people's conversations isn't right." "But this could be important," Nueva-Delhi argued. "Nueva-Delhi," Vasilly said disapprovingly. "But just a little bit..." she pleaded, giving him puppy eyes. "Fine," Vasilly gave in and stood next to her. "Now it seems I'm an accomplice to the crime." "Not a crime," Nueva-Delhi corrected him. "An investigation." "That doesn't seem..." Vasilly began to correct her. "Quiet!" she shushed him. Richard nervously shifted from foot to foot. Alex paced around the workshop with a grim expression. "Just a little longer..." Richard whispered very quietly and pressed his ears. Alex suddenly turned to him, his eyes flashing with anger. "I gave you time!" he snapped. "How much more do you need?! I'm tired of waiting and wasting money!" "But just a little longer," Richard said plaintively. "You know, it's a gradual process..." "I'm tired of hearing this nonsense!" Alex interrupted him. "But they'll all be out of work!" Richard exclaimed. "I don't care what happens to them!" Alex growled. "I'm interested in finances and schedules. They're not meeting them! Let them find another job. It's not hard for creatures like them to find work." "You're cruel!" Richard shouted angrily. "Oh, really!" Alex replied. "And what do you think about suddenly having to shut down the factory?" Richard was stunned and stared blankly at Alex for a while. "You... you can't do this!" he said. "I have to," Alex replied proudly. "If... you don't do anything about it..." He turned around, and suddenly his gaze fell on Nueva-Delhi's face. He raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. Nueva-Delhi immediately hid behind the door and slammed it shut. She nearly hit Vasilly's nose with it. Before Vasilly could react, Nueva-Delhi darted down the corridor. Vasilly dashed after her. Just in time, the door opened, and Alex peeked out. "Stop!" he shouted. "Where are you going?" Nueva-Delhi didn't think of stopping. She needed to find a place to hide urgently. Her eyes darted around the walls and doors. Where to hide?.. Vasilly barely kept up with the restless little mare. He was already out of breath and was about to collapse on the floor. Ahead, a large metal door appeared, slightly ajar at the moment. Nueva-Delhi decided it was the best way out of the situation and darted into the room. She had to wait a bit for Vasilly, after which she pushed the door and it slammed shut with a deafening squeak. The little mare sighed in relief. Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly remained silent for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath. Steam billowed from their mouths. "I told you!" Vasilly exclaimed, grabbing his head. "I knew this wouldn't end well!" "Why not?" Nueva-Delhi argued. "We managed to escape. I don't see a problem." "Do you even know where we are?" asked Vasilly, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm. "No..." sighed Nueva-Delhi, looking around. The room was quite dark, and she could only make out the silhouettes of large boxes piled on top of each other. "This is a warehouse," said Vasilly. "The temperature is kept low here. And we don't have a key, and you slammed the door shut! We won't be able to get out of here now! And I'm afraid we'll freeze soon..." "You won't freeze," suddenly came a sad voice from the depths of the room.