Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Timeline of Life

1970: Born August 8th

1977: First started defying family and their values (7 years old)

1984: Fights family to go to college, delay marriage (14 years old)

1987: graduated early, Started college in Biology, plant focus (16/17 years old) May-Aug

1988: Summer Internship in Human functions (meets Pierre 17) June

1988: Christmas gift: disowned by family (18 years old) December

1989: Winter Graduated College, hired at factory (19 years old) December

1990: first surgery in factory (19 years old) February

1990: missed BBI critter surgery, finally decides to open up more to coworkers, still hides where her home is located. (19/20 years old) August

1991: Started meeting with police and legal teams (20 years old) January

1992: Assisting with VIP adoptions (prevent mistakes with people who could start problems) (20/21 years old)

1995: missed work and decided to not call coworkers to skip too (25 years old) August

2005: finds VHS and letter on Doorstep, returns to factory (35 years old) June

The reason Paige graduated early was because she wanted to go to college, and if she was under 18, then parents can’t marry her off immediately upon graduating high school. She worked to graduate college early because she was paying for it all herself and couldn’t afford 4 years. Taking many summer classes also meant she could live on campus and not go home or live in her car.

Personal Experiment Timeline

0001: Poppy (prior to 1989)

1006: The prototype (early 1989)

1015: unknown failure

1026: unknown failure (lived 45-minutes)

1160: Boxy Boo (first success BBI)

1163: Pianosaurus

1170: Huggy Wuggy

1172: Kissy Missy

1222: Mommy Long Legs (Marie Payne)

1224: Bunzo Bunny (musical memory)

1225: PJ Pug-a-pillar (statues)

1223; 1226-1230: mini wuggies (wack a wuggy)

1180: Miss Delight (trial run with toy as teacher, limiting staff)

1181: Dogday

1182: Hoppy Hopscotch

1183: Kickin Chicken

1184: Picky Piggy

1185: Crafty Corn

1186: Bobby Bearhug (failed surgery caused more to fix mistakes)

1187: Bubba Bubbaphant

1188: Catnap (Theodore Grambell) 

1189-1195: Miss Delight’s sisters (finished limiting staff)

1199: Bron (Thomas Clarke)

1166: Yarnaby (Quinn Navidson)

1322: Doey the Doghman (Jack Ayers, Kevin Barnes, Matthew Hallard)

1354: The doctor (Harley Sawyer)

1391: Green Mini Huggy (abandoned during hour of joy)

1393: Bron (abandoned during hour of joy)

1395: Bunzo Bunny (Danny, abandoned during hour of joy)

1398: PJ Puggapillar (abandoned during hour of joy)

1399: Bubba Bubbaphant (abandoned during hour of joy)

1424: unknown (catalepsy and speech impairment, unfit to perform tasks)

1467: unknown (last known experiment, no information)

The reason for the experiment numbers to not change, even though the order they happen changes is because they are given their number before the surgery. Some of the children who were given toys early on showed enough progress to designate a toy and their bigger bodies plans. Some improved at faster rates and is why some of the numbers end up out of order. I also don’t know, nor is it completely important for me to know the exact number and order of the experiments. P.W. would not know exactly everything like The Doctor would, but generally who and when some came for experimentation.

Chapter Text

I always hated these meetings. If something goes wrong, I am the first to be in trouble, if things go well, it is another reason for me to keep doing them. The interaction wasn’t a problem, the officers were usually polite and were always glad to see the visitors enjoying the tour in the factory. No, it was the reason they were here that was always the issue. I am not qualified for this and everyone knows it.

I walked up to the office I have learned to hate, unlocked the door, and slipped inside quickly before locking the door behind me. The camera makes sure I don’t do anything I’m not supposed to, such as looking at files and the computer, but I have no interest in knowing more. What I do is enough. The object I was here for was in the back corner behind a diploma hanging off the wall. Behind it was a safe full of money I needed to get before my meeting started. There was more than enough money, but I was instructed to only take $4,000. As I counted the money eight different times, I paused and stared into the safe. There looked to be more money than usual, but no notes about what has changed.

I was going to shrug my shoulders and walk out with the money I needed, but something stopped me. I felt really uncomfortable and my gut was twisting. I hid the money and shut the safe before stepping back and staring at the chair at the desk. I couldn’t explain what made me uncomfortable, but it wasn’t because there was someone trying to get in, and there wasn’t anything in the room watching me, minus the camera, but my hairs were standing on end. My mind started to scream at me while I started to walk to the door.

That’s not enough. I second guessed my counting and quickly placed my back against the door to count for a ninth time that I grabbed the correct amount. I did, but I was still worried that it wasn’t enough and I needed more. With a sigh, I opened the safe again and pulled out an extra $1500 before placing that money in a separate hidden pocket. “If nothing happens, then I can put it back, better too much than not enough, right?”

I whispered to myself as I finally shut the safe and quickly left the office for the meeting. Officer Sam was the one waiting when I got to the entrance, and I led him to the meeting room we normally use for this situation. Sam looked nervous and kept glancing around. There has never been a situation while he was here, so I don’t know what could be putting him on edge.

“How has your family been doing?” I asked to distract him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, they have been doing…okay.” something in his voice sounded a little off.

“You just had a baby a few months ago, right? Did everything go well?”

“No, everything was fine with the birth and he is doing just fine. My wife, however, was diagnosed a little after giving birth and she is struggling. Mark and Sara are both trying to cheer her up, but they are kids and don’t understand what is going on.”

“Is it terminal?” I asked while holding the door for him to walk in.

“Not unless we can’t get treatment. With the newborn, money is a little tight and with Christmas around the corner, I can’t come up with the money to cover everything.”

The moment Sam stated that, I knew this meeting wasn’t going to be normal. Whenever they say money is tight, there is a high chance they won’t accept the normal amount, if they accept any.

“Well, if this meeting wraps up fast, maybe you can take a few minutes to go see your wife and make sure she is okay. Shame you can't take time off to be with her, but you are a good man, and I am sure she understands you need to provide financially first.”

We both sat down and he passed me a manila envelope. As normal, I took it and read through what the company was at risk of being investigated for, and I would pass the money to stop that from happening and give reasons for it being normal. Surprisingly, there wasn’t that much. A few that we have been fighting about for months now, and minor one’s that could easily be denied, just a hassle for investigation.

“We have talked through two of these before, would you like me to repeat the information from before?” I was being honest when I wanted to help him get to his wife for a little while during the work day.”

“Is there anything else you would like to say to quell the concerns?” Sam was fidgeting with his fingers.

“The factor is constantly running, and with how large the building is, we have an order that we take care of maintenance. To ensure that everything gets done right, we don’t have more than four areas being renovated or fixed at any given time. The areas in question still meet safety standards, but I was informed for this meeting that they are the next on the list, but there is talk of using new material. They are just doing more research into it first.”

“Do you have a time frame?”

I answered honestly. “That kind of thing is not my expertise. I can ask and send you an email if you need it, but I don’t have the knowledge to give accurate information.”

“I understand. I’ll contact Pierre if it is needed. About the new stuff…”

“Yes, this isn’t my expertise either, however I do know the answer. You have seen our security system, and how much we pride ourselves on it.” Same nodded and I continued. “Some parts of our security is kept under wraps for even some employees. We don’t want anyone stealing, and if they know where security cameras are, they can find ways to get around it. This is part of the hidden security. Huggy Wuggy’s eyes can move around and allow security to look at suspicious individuals more closely without the camera’s in the corners needing to move and leave other blind spots. For the most part, they are not in use and just move around on their own to give the statue a bit of personality.”

I know who this concern came from. We don’t bring him up in conversation, but he spoke about it both within and outside the factory, so one of his family members must have submitted the “claim”. We have a safety measure in place in case this one does result in further investigation, but if I do my job right, that won’t be needed.

“You seem concerned.” I pulled out the normal amount of money we give and slid it back on the table. “Is there anything else I can clarify for you?”

The look on his face was of a lot of guilt. He didn’t immediately count it, so I knew this meeting was going south.

“The orphans. Are they kept away from the dangerous parts of the factory?”

“Of course. They are kept safe and prevented from being able to just run through the factory for safety reasons. We have security measures that prevent them from going somewhere dangerous, and people who are not authorized from going and kidnapping them. Their safety and happiness is a priority, and a large part of what Elliott Ludwig built this company on. While waiting to be adopted, they are being taught in a schoolhouse environment and we have a place for them to run and play in a safe manner. Each one is also allowed to pick any toy from Playtime’s lineup that is their personal friend throughout their time here, and help them move to the next phase in their lives.”

Sam stood up. “I think that is all of the concerns. I think this might be our last meeting.”

I panicked. “Oh, are you getting a promotion or moving to a new precinct?” I stood up and stopped him from reaching the door.

Sam was silent and I knew this meeting went terribly. He made up his mind before coming here.

“Well, before you leave, here. A gift from Playtime. Hopefully this can give you more breathing room and take care of your wife.” I handed him the rest of the money I had taken and watched his reaction.

Sam stared down at it in shock before his face shifted and tears began to fall down his face. I made sure he was able to sit back down in the chair and pulled some tissues from my pocket.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He cried a bit.

“Tell me what’s going on and I will do my best to help you.” I was grasping at straws to fix the situation.

“We don’t have a baby sitter and the family is in another town that isn’t easy to travel to and from. I need to take care of christmas so my older children don’t feel ignored and make sure our newborn gets proper care. My wife needs this treatment.” Sam just poured out all his stress and I listened. 

When he seemed to be done, I offered what little I could. “I don’t know about a baby, but there are plenty of high school students that are probably looking for some part time work who could help watch Mark and Sara for a few hours. Did your kids ever make a list of gifts they wanted?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been trying to find a time to go and do all of this. Some of them are toys from Playtime.” He pulled out two folded pieces of paper with children's handwriting.

I looked over what they all asked for, even seeing they wanted baby Fin to get a couple of plushies too.

“I can get the one’s from playtime after my shift so you don’t have to search the quickly emptying shelves of the supermarkets. The rest would be for you to find, though if your wife is admitted for treatment, maybe keeping the kids with her while you run to do the shopping could be an option. Maybe talk to your job about taking some time off, even if it’s just working a half day to give you time.”

“Thank you. I would greatly appreciate your help with the toys. And, thank you for what you have done for me.I truly thank you. But, that wasn’t procedure, was it?” Sam asked his voice hesitant as if he didn’t really want to say the last part out loud.

“No, procedure has me being as objective as possible during the meetings and not socializing. As for what I just gave you, I am a human and I value the lives of others. You have clearly been very stressed and it has affected you, and will soon affect your family. I take liberties where necessary to communicate and assist where I can with others. We are all human and we need some empathy sometimes. What I gifted you was not approved by my supervisors and I don’t know if I will be punished for it, but we all do what we need in our best interests.”

Actually saying the truth out loud would be equivialnt to a suicide mission on my part, so I continued to be vague about what it is I did. Officer Sam knows what I mean though, and simply nodded.

“Here, I will give you my number. If you would help me get them the toys, I would greatly appreciate it. Don’t worry about this meeting. Everything checks out and I do believe the new complaint can be thrown away, I understand security being kept a secret, and there is no reason for them to demand security secrets. We are still taking care of the other two, and I think just submitting the updates to safety will be enough. That is something your superiors might want to start on that.”

“Of course, if needed, will you return for another meeting?” I do need to know this before I walk him back.

“If not me, then Officer Zack. I think we can go back to our usual meetings then.”

I smiled and walked him back to the front. “After work, I will grab those toys and reach out to meet you somewhere. This meeting still managed to end early, so go see your wife and let her know things will be taken care of. I hope to hear that she is healthy soon.”

I saw Pierre waiting at the entrance. He had a fake smile on his face and I knew I was in trouble. Officer Sam saw him too and greeted the man.

“Did the meeting go well? I’m sorry I was unable to be there, but P.W. knows what she is doing.”

“Yes, I didn’t have high hopes for reaching an agreement today before I arrived, but she is an excellent employee and quelled any fears I had. P.W. has the information I advised you send for the investigations to not go through, and everything should work out fine.”

There was a secret meaning in those words that the employees and visitors would not be able to understand if they were listening, but Pierre understood. I had another meeting once Officer Sam leaves and hope that doesn’t lead me to face consequences.

“Hope you have a great rest of your day. We have another meeting to get to.” with one last wave, I followed Pierre away from the entrance and the office I was in earlier.

“Why was there more money taken than permitted?” He was right to the point after I locked the door.

“My gut told me I didn’t grab enough. I tried recounting multiple times, but I was worried I was off so I grabbed more. If I wasn’t off and the meeting went as normal, I was going to return the money and continue on the day. During the meeting, Officer Sam implied that the kickback money wasn’t going to stop him from telling others and I was able to persuade him with the additional money. If there is any reprimand, I will say he is expecting me to contact him later tonight and will know if something happened to me on account of the meeting.”

I threw the last bit in as a threat of a full investigation if I disappear. That wasn’t something I planned to happen, but I accidently brought work closer to my personal life.

“What was he saying about information for the investigations?” He was testing what I did to punish me. I know it.

“There are the safety concerns and I stated that there are no more than four areas at any given time being renovated, but that everything is up to code and safety regulations. I don’t know what the maintenance aspect of the factory is, but there is discussion about improving the rails we have with a different material for them to last longer, however research is still being done into the matter. Sending over proof that we are maintaining them will be enough to get rid of those prolonged investigation claims. There was a new one, but that was also the issue with Rowan. There was already a statement made as to why that was happening, and I used it. Security was made aware that if I bring in an officer, that is the issue I have to have them address. Sam said that it was unnecessary for us to reveal our security secrets because it is to protect the people and company. That one will be able to be thrown out.”

“Is this going to be a habit of yours?”

“No.”

“As long as Officer Sam continues to uphold his end of the deal, I will be willing to overlook this. Don’t make it a habit.”

I nodded and was allowed to leave, which I promptly went to find the nearest port-a-lounge and just sit in it for the allotted five minutes I am allowed. The lucky thing about being up here is that the factory workers and toy production area doesn’t need to use them as often, so there is not a line to wait at. I think these are used for private phone calls, or hiding from an employee if there is harassment. It doesn’t bother me why the factory workers use them, just that it was available for me to step into for a few minutes to gather my thoughts with what just happened.

“Okay. After work, grab a Candy Cat, Bunzo Bunny, and a Huggy Wuggy. Call Sam and deliver the gifts, go home, doodle dancing mushrooms, and sleep.

I took the whole five minutes to just calm down after a near catastrophe on the legal end I should have never been a part of, before heading back to my office to reach out to necessary staff about the safety information.

I was in for a long day.

Dear P.W.

Thank you again for your help. I know my children will love the gifts you picked up for me, and I appreciate that they were already wrapped. My wife is grateful as well and wanted to tell you that you helped alleviate some of the stress around the holidays she was losing sleep over. I will be sure to keep you informed with everything. 

Again, thank you.

Officer Sam

Chapter Text

I was down near the labs going over the surgical tools and making sure everything was accounted for. I wasn’t sure what they were used for, or why there were so many if the orphans were all kept safe, but it wasn’t my job to question. I was more curious about if I could try surgically stitching plants together and if it would work the same as a graft or not. It would have to be something I try doing at home though, as I didn’t have the plants or permission to do it.

“Stations 1,3, 4, and 5 are in order with all materials clean and accounted for. Station 2 is being disinfected, and I won’t be able to properly set it up for the next five minutes or so.” I explained to one of the other scientists.

Said individual was about to respond, but the door was thrown open and The Doctor walked in followed by another employee carrying a child. The child in question looked hurt and was clearly struggling to breathe. Before I could ask what was going on, the child was dropped on the table and The Doctor looked at me.

“Fix him. Fix him or face punishment.”

I looked at the other scientist who was quickly leaving the room with the other employee, leaving me alone with The Doctor and an injured child.

“I’m not a doctor. I’m just a biologist. He needs a hospital, not me.”

“You will. I will watch as you do. Now.” his tone left no room for argument, and I just looked back at the child.

The little boy looked to be around eight years old at the oldest. There were scratches all over him with larger gashes on the arm, neck, and abdomen. It almost looked like he was attacked by a wild animal, but if it was one of the orphans, then that shouldn’t be possible. 

“You will have to tell me where things are because I don’t know.” That was the only thing I could think of to retort with as I began to move the child to lay flat on his back moving the shirt to see if there were any other injuries I didn’t immediately see. 

We had a heart monitor with every station so I turned it on and connected it to the child so I could hear if he was doing okay. My other concern was finding a way to make sure he was getting oxygen. I didn’t see it immediately, so I asked him to get it. The Doctor didn’t start to move, and it pissed me off. This was a child dying on a table and thrusted in my hands. I was not going to let him push me around right now. I grabbed the large scalpel.

“Go get the machine, now!” I held it up and was ready to stab him with it if he scoffed. I have never attacked someone before, but I made sure I knew how to use a weapon after my parents kicked me out. I know I could stab him.

With an eye roll, he grabbed the machine, and I began to remove the clothes from the child as a one last check to make sure there were no hidden injuries. My biggest concern was there being internal bleeding, but if there wasn’t, I didn’t want to cut the child up anymore. I didn’t have any assistance outside of what I could threaten out of The Doctor, and I really didn’t know what I was doing, but I know human anatomy, and I studied the blood flow and clotting in individuals during an internship. The injury on his abdomen had two risks, one was tearing the intestine, the other was damage to the appendix.

There was simple fabric covering the large gashes to slow bleeding which I was grateful for as it gave me some time to finish connecting the oxygen supply and removing the clothes in the way. I didn’t see it at first, but there were puncture wounds on the child’s left thigh, which were luckily not bleeding as bad, and actually missed the veins.

As I threw on some gloves, I asked the next question. “What caused him to be hurt like this?”

I gently pushed down on the abdomen to check for clotting or any masses.

“The boy was in the Play Place. He had been complaining of stomach pains all day apparently but had testing and was sent to the Wack-A-Wuggy. This child continued to cry and moved around where the wuggies were able to get to him. They were all pulled away, and he was brought here.”

There was no sympathy in the man's voice, and I wanted to punch his apathetic face. Before I could continue the dream of harming him, I saw the boy convulse when I pressed on his stomach. I haven’t seen this child before, so I am not certain, but seeing him react as if he was puking. I grabbed the suction tube and turned it on before removing the oxygen mask and pulling him on his side. There was vomit in his throat and I quickly did what I could to clean it from his airways. It was all liquid, as if he wasn’t fed yet and I was getting more and more concerned.

“Did he eat today?” It was a little after one so the child should have eaten at least twice, there should have been food.

“Apparently not. He has been complaining and not eating.” He sounded bored.

When I was sure that everything was out of his airways, I removed the suction tube and put the oxygen mask back on. The boy's heartbeat was irregular, but I was just going to trust it was normal for now. I knew where the defibrillator was, so if something went wrong, I could at least grab it, but for now, I needed to check the appendix.

I took a deep breath, then used the scalpel to open the gash more. I cut deep enough to see the organs but took care to not actually hit the organs. I used the tools necessary to see the intestines. There was a mark on them, but no actual evidence of the organ being touched. My eyes were more drawn to the appendix, though. It was inflamed, swollen, and that is when I realized too late that there was nothing numbing the child’s pain. 

I was about to ask for something to numb the pain, but then the appendix burst. The one thing I think I could say was good, is that I was holding the appendix, so it didn’t burst in his body, just in my hands and on me.

I got to work cleaning the area and making sure everything was sealed with no internal bleeding before quickly stitching the area up. With the abdomen, and appendicitis taken care of, I moved to check the neck. There was struggle breathing when he came in, but I want to believe that that was due to the appendix and not because the spine and windpipe were damaged. It looked like the vein was severed, but I couldn’t see any deeper damage. The heavy bleeding was from the vein.

I sighed and finished cleaning everything up and stopping the bleeding. I never got back to asking for something to numb the pain, but there was also no other incident to which this boy started to puke. He had many bandages wrapped around him, some patches where bandages would have been excess, and three gashes with stitches keeping them closed.

The Doctor watched the entire time and didn’t offer any other support. All he did was nod his head and write more information down. I didn’t even see him grab a clipboard or hear him writing. We walked over and opened the door, at which the other two employees walked back in and dressed the boy in a hospital gown. I stood there with the body's blood and ruptured organs over my hands, arms, and clothes. The one thing I could be happy about is that it didn’t get on my face and hair. The others didn’t bother to look at me as they took the child from the room.

“Your stitches were not medical standard. Why?”

He was fucking evaluating my work like I was a medical student in an exam, and not a biologist thrown into a situation I was never qualified to do.

“I don’t know what the standards are. I have only ever stitched up clothes and toys. The human body is different from those.

“You took anatomy. Surely your school would have taught you the basics.”

“Yeah, that’s why I knew where the appendix was and not thinking that it was the kidney. Unless you were a nurse or doctor, you were not taught the basics of surgical stitching. Dissections are not equivalent to surgery.” I was done.

There are showers and I have some spare clothes here, they were supposed to be for an emergency, like my period starting, or if a drink gets spilled on me. Not impromptu surgery. They were not conventional for me to wear to finish my shift, and I didn’t have any spare shoes, so I was going home whether they liked it or not. As I walked to the door, The Doctor stopped me.

“Where are you going?”

“To shower and go home. I am not going to stay like this. I don’t give a shit how long the rest of my shift is.” as I was about to leave the room, he spoke up again. 

“You are not to leave until after you meet with me.”

I was done so I kept walking to the locker room with my spare clothes. It was nice that the showers came with the basic soap and shampoo that ensured disinfection, but I was ready to go home so I could properly scrub my skin. It didn’t matter what the punishment was, I was ready to quit or tell the police that we were doing shoddy military surgeries as if we were out on the battlefield with no qualifications.

By the time I was bathed and changed, Leith Pierre was waiting for me at the exit to the showers. I was clearly no longer wearing work appropriate attire, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. I didn’t care to try and be professional with the man who hired me, I just wanted to leave.

“Excuse me, I am going home and burning these clothes. Don’t expect me to come back.”

“Actually, you need to come with me. We need to have a meeting before you get the rest of the day off.”

I thought about running. I honestly considered it but resigned to follow him. I did stop to grab my stuff from my locker so I could go home and have no requirement to come back. What I was leaving behind wasn’t stuff I would miss. A basic calendar and notes on the company that I wanted to just keep with me in case people talked about things I wasn’t aware of. Nothing really necessary to take home. Once I had everything, and my ruined clothes were safely hidden in my backpack, I continued to follow him to his office. The Doctor was waiting for us in the office and the door was locked behind me.

“Have a seat.”

“I’m good.” I didn’t want to have someone between me and the door, but it was too late.

“I insist.” Pierre’s tone was dark, and I quickly did what he asked.

“This is about what you just did. I know it was surprising, and you were out of your depths, but you did well. You found what was wrong with Samuel, kept him alive and cleaned him up for a simple healing, all on your own. That takes genuine skill. Granted, you didn’t numb the kid so he felt every bit of it, but we can look past that. You were put on the spot.”

“Why was I? What is wrong with you people to do that instead of taking him to the hospital?” Nobody answered this question before, but I was hoping to at least find out now.

“Because we think you would be a good fit for our project. You have been a big help so far, and now we have gotten the chance to see your skills applied in a more productive way. We just need you to sign some documents and you will be all set to officially join the project.” There was a contract on the desk with a pen for me to sign. The paper was basically an NDA with information that I would be directly assisting The Doctor and Pierre in anything they demand of me. They should have printed it on red paper because this was not going to end well for me.

“No. I won’t sign that. I am going to quit.” I stated firmly. 

“No, you won’t.” He placed another paper on the desk. This was my employee contract with certain lines highlighted. “You signed a contract that means you cannot quit. Anything you do to directly harm the company, and our goals will result in you being dealt with or terminated. You agreed to this, so now you have a choice. Either sign the new contract with a change in role or find out exactly what the paper means when we “deal” with you.”

The Doctor moved a TV into my view and put a VHS tape in. I watched as an arm from an unknown person was ripped off and stripped of the flesh before welding metal between the bones and veins. The screen cut to a long metal arm moved in front of a security camera in a room. Within, it took a small clock and threw it. I would only see the bone from the forearm, but I have no doubt more of the person was used.

“You have seen experimentations with rats and have participated in recording information from the poppy’s we grow. Now, you can learn what it all was for. Do you want to be part of the research that can save thousands of lives, or do you want to be the experiment that gets us there?” The Doctor casually asked as if I wasn’t just shown someone being dismembered by his hands.

I took the contract and read it over. Similar to my first, the details are vague and require an NDA after this for me to learn exactly what it is I will be doing, but this one is more specific about noncompliance. Specifically, I will be agreeing to participate within the experiments as a test subject. The extent of my participation, however, was depending on the severity of my discretion.

I didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t even let me stay in my normal position and just sign an NDA to not speak about what I saw or did. I have no choice but to change my position whenever they see fit. There was one thought going through my head as I took the pen. I don’t want to die.

I felt disgusted with myself as I signed and initialized my chosen name on the document.

“Good to see you agree with our plans. I knew you would be a great fit when I first met you. Now, I will go ahead and let you have the rest of today, and tomorrow off as we rework your schedule and decide what exactly you will start with. We don’t need you threatening to stab any other staff members because you didn’t take time to process your new promotion.” Pierre laughed at the end.

I wanted to kick him, but the desk was in my way. I sighed instead and nodded my head. “Am I free to leave now?” I just really wanted to sleep now.

“Yes, come back here on Thursday when you get here and we will go over your new position and expectations.”

Finally, I heard the door unlock and stood up to make my exit. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I didn’t want to show up to work anymore. But I was too stupid and sign the first job offer without questioning anything. Now, there was nothing I could do but follow instructions.

Dear Pierre,

This situation should have never happened. If you wish to continue the use of whack-a-wuggy in the Play Place, you can’t let them have teeth. The strings are not enough if another child has a situation like this boy. Either remove them from the testing or make it impossible for them to bite the children if they do manage to get too close. I don’t know how you cover up that kind of trauma for a child to be adopted out. Someone will start asking questions.

P.W.

Chapter Text

I hated the meetings with the lawyers. They were trained for this kind of stuff and to weed out the truth in everything that is said. And the Johnson and Smith Law Firm was brutal about it. Officer Zack would be at this meeting today, with his wife, Stacy. Sam let me know earlier that he was taking the week off to spend with his wife as she was finishing up the last week of recovery and couldn’t do much around the house yet. I congratulated them and prepared for a meeting with the couple.

Stacy didn’t take flack. If I was off my game, then it would be difficult to fix it. Pierre was supposed to be with me as well as a lawyer from the company, but an emergency happened, and they were forced to take care of that issue. I wasn’t given enough information, but something about a machine malfunction or hungover employee. I wasn’t really paying attention as I was losing sleep lately. I smiled as I arrived at the front to see them talking. It looked like we had a school here on a field trip to learn about the factory. I could pick out a few toys being named, but not why.

“Hello, Stacy, Zack. Please follow me this way and we can get started.” As I turned to go back into the factory, a child stopped me.

“Hey! Why do they get to go before us? We got here first!” The little girl cried with others around her.

“I’m sorry, but I am not a tour guide, nor are they getting to see all the amazing parts of the factory. They came here for a boring meeting with me where I stumbled my way through a speech. You all are here for fun; they are here for work and will only see a meeting room." I explain calmly while turning to the children.

“Will we get to see where all the toys are made?” Another boy, who looked very familiar to the one I first “helped” before my promotion.

It threw me off a bit to see him, but I kept my composure before answering, though with less certainty. “Well, I don’t plan the tours, and I know how big the factory is…You do get to go to Make-A-Toy, and the specific process of making Mommy Long Legs and Huggy Wuggy. But I don’t know if it is every toy. Seeing it all can take a few days if you want to learn as much information as we can provide.”

Finally, a teacher called the students attention, and I was able to make an escape to the relative safety of the meeting room. As I held the door, Stacy looked to have a gentle smile on her face as if she was thinking about something else and not what we are here to discuss.

“Sorry about the hold up, children can be so curious, and I see it as being wrong to ignore them. They are people too.”

Zack nodded and looked at Stacy as she responded. “Yes, children are always a joy to be around…”

There was something in her voice, I couldn’t quite tell what. I decided to take a gamble as I sat down. “Oh? Are you planning for a baby?”

Stacy flushed when I asked, and I wasn’t certain if I was right or wrong. Either way, this was a new side of Stacy I didn’t know how to handle and was worried. “No, that isn’t an option for us. Children, I don’t think will be an option for us to have…”

I realized what the tone was: melancholy. “If you are wanting them, and are looking into options, Playtime highly encourages adoptions to help give children a second chance at a home and family. Obviously, we have an on-site orphanage here, but I can help you get in contact with other places if you want. Ludwig never said this in a public interview, but he had mentioned once that adoption isn’t just for the children, but for the adults who become their parents. It is a chance at something they may otherwise not get and bring them equal joy as the child.”

Zack laughed a bit. “Wouldn’t he be upset if you are recommending other orphanages and not the one at Playtime?”

“Actually, no. he worked hand and hand with several orphanages before opening up our on site one. It was in part because others were becoming overcrowded and for the betterment of the children, they all worked together to make sure no place had overcrowding. And, if those places are unable to help hopeful parents, then they are sent here. We just want to make sure that the child is placed in the best family for them, and the families can adopt the best child for them.”

Stacy looked at her watch. “As much as I would like to continue this conversation, we do have work to do.”

“Of course. Pierre and our legal team are not able to join us today as there was an incident they are taking care of.”

“Do you know what the incident was?” Officer Zack asked.

“One of the factory workers arrived at work intoxicated but managed to make it to his workstation before anyone realized he was drunk. I don’t know what else happened. I am sure he could explain it better once it is resolved, or at least under control.”

“I see. This is just a meeting to make sure all information is acquired for the lawsuit to either continue or get resolved out of court. We can make time for another meeting if unable to be resolved.”

“Yes. I do have some information, and if there is anything missing, I can try to retrieve it if readily available.”

The meeting officially began, and I did everything I could to confirm the information and take notes about the important parts. Luckily, this suit was about a recent visit with a parent who was actively ignoring their child and the security cameras showed that the parent was being neglectful and actively pushing the child around to cause the child to fall down the stairs, so it would be a fairly open and shut case. While the area was seated as the next place for routine maintenance, there was a fresh coat of yellow paint so people could see the steps and caution when going up and down.

“Okay, I think this case will be over fairly soon. Do you know what the plan was with the case on your side?”

“Get it thrown out so both sides could save money instead of the case being dragged out. There is enough evidence to show that it was not the fault of Playtime, and instead the parent. We hope that was just a one-time incident and the child is not normally treated that way by the parents. A judge might have comments about how the parent treated the child.” I stated.

Stacy nodded while looking at some of the papers. “Yes. I do too. All right. That was all I needed to speak to you about in regard to the lawsuit.”

She stopped talking, though I think she wanted to speak more about our previous topic.

“If you have time, we scheduled the meeting to last for another hour. I can talk to you both about the adoption program we have here so you both can understand and talk about it together.

Zack smiled and spoke up. “I would appreciate that. This meeting was supposed to lead into our lunch so I think we can take the time.”

“Of course. We have a cafeteria up here where you can get lunch, and we can come back in here to talk it through.” 

I led them to get our lunch while I thought through what I was going to say and how to explain the process. There were some pamphlets near the welcome desk and some documents I could print off quickly to give them to help. I took them back to the conference room and excused myself to get the things printed off.

“Okay. So, you know the basics of the adoption process, correct? Good. Before the process could really get started, you will need to have a home visit to evaluate if there is both spaces, and a safe environment to raise the child. There is usually an evaluation of the parents as well, and if there are already children in the home, they would be interviewed as well. If there is anything that says someone in the house has reservations, counseling is recommended to talk through it with everyone, so you are on the same page and there doesn’t become problems with the addition of a new child.”

I went into some more detail that the home visit would entail and what to consider before submitting an application. Pets, religion, and background does have an impact on adoption. 

“When it comes to the application, there is a questionnaire included to find out a bit of what you are looking for, or what you can handle. Not every child was given up at birth, some were unfortunate to remember losing their parents, or being removed from the house. If they have specific needs, this questionnaire can help determine if a child might be a good fit within the home. Once the application and home visits are completed, we will introduce you to some of the children through their documents and later meet the child yourselves. The process can take a few weeks, if everything goes smoothly and documents get processed fully within the first week, or up to a year. Are there any questions?”

I know I dumped a lot of information on them suddenly, but they both are good at processing a lot of information quickly as part of their jobs.

“There is a fee for adoptions, correct?” Stacy asked.

“Yes. Like most legal documents, there is a fee to get it approved, and then we have internal fees to help the children. Those who are in a position to start meeting the families begin specific counseling to help them prepare and process what getting adopted means. I am not familiar with everything involved, but I do know this much. If you choose to go through with it, there is a team who will be working directly with you and the children. They can go into more details.”

The conversation lasted the remainder of the hour answering questions, going over the documents, and occasionally me leaving the room to retrieve more information. By the time the meeting was over, Stacy and Zack looked surer in their plans, and I led them back to the entrance.

“Thank you again for the help. I have one last question.” Stacy looked back at Zack as he nodded.

“Of course, I will do my best to answer.”

“Would you be able to participate in the process? We are familiar with you and you with us. You have been with the children, and I believe you would be able to help us find a child who would work well with us.”

My eyebrows shot up behind my bangs. “Oh, umm. I don’t know if that will be possible. My position doesn’t have me working with the children all the time. That will have to be something to discuss with the case worker you are assigned.”

“I understand. I hope the next time we meet, it will be about this, and not my work.”

“As do I.” With that, the couple left, and I went to write up an email about the meeting and the expected outcome. Afterwards, I took time to email those in charge of the adoption process, let them know of the couple that might be reaching out soon, and what they had requested during the conversation.

“Okay. Now onto my other tasks. Monitoring the recovery process.”

I was sitting at my desk and reading the email our adoption department sent, dreading every mention of it being an option. I had approval from them to assist with choosing potential children, but both The Doctor and Pierre had their own set of restrictions I needed to follow.

No children scheduled for surgery.

No children with high marks on their tests and observations.

No children who would tell about their time in the Playcare that would lead to the parents questioning the safety of the children.

No children who show potential but are too young to participate.

Basically, no children who I could be experimenting on within the next month. I wasn’t happy with it, but the adoption would just be blocked if I tried. Once I sent a response stating I understood, I began looking through the documents of the orphans for a list of children who would meet the criteria for all parties involved.

They couldn’t be too young because Stacy and Zack have physically and mentally demanding jobs that neither are willing to take extended time off for, so anyone under the age of six was out. Children over the age of thirteen were out too as they would have definitely understood what was going on, and many were already being chosen by the Doctor. Most of the children here were above average in learning, so it made it harder to find someone, but one girl did stand out.

Her name was Lexy, and she arrived at Playcare two years ago when she was only six. Her life was a mess by the police reports, and it took a year for her to feel comfortable enough to interact with the adults. There were a few essays from the schoolhouse that were in her files I was able to look through to get a better idea of her personality, and they were about who she looked up to. It wasn’t the people here, but the police who saved her. Another essay from a year later was about her and a fellow orphan, Victor. She sees him as a brother and wrote she only wanted to be adopted if he was going too.

Victor arrived almost a year ago and is only five years old. He doesn’t seem to remember it, but his mom was an alcoholic and killed herself while drunk driving with him in the car. He never spoke about it, but if there is an adult nearby who can’t keep their balance, he has been noted to get visibly tense and avoid them. His school grades are on the lower side, but he is still only five.

The observations with them in the Play place are roughly average. Lexy’s good with the Whack-a-Wuggy, and has good hand eye coordination when it comes to the suspended loops with PJ Pugappilliar, but struggled more with the memory game. Victor was great at the memory game but was fairly slow on the others. Together they pass the thresholds, but alone they both fall short in at least one area.

I gathered the information on a couple of other children, confirmed they would all be in the Playplace, and made my way up for observations. It was both easier, and harder to observe them today than on previous days. I was making observations on how they interact with other children, and reactions under stress that may be helpful for future parents who want to adopt them. I don’t know if I am really being objective with these observations, but they were more my observations on personality that could differ in a non controlled environment.

“So, how is the side project going?” Pierre stood next to me as we watched the children go through Statues.

“I think Lexy would be the best fit with them, but she doesn’t want to be adopted without Victor. I asked all the children in this round to be the ones that have potential for the adoption so I can see how they interact with others.”

“These children meet the criteria?” with a vague overview, they all looked to be doing well, but that was because PJ was moving slower than normal.

“They are not the worst, but their scores are all average with at least one area being a failing point. I am also going off mental health and how they talk about their time here. If they speak of the red gas, then it isn’t safe to let them go with a lawyer and officer.”

He silently nodded and watched as the game ended. “Will they adopt two children? Or are you going to tear them apart?”

“I want to see if they will adopt two. With Stacy adopting and being one of the head lawyers at her firm, they would no longer be able to take on cases against us without questions about personal life getting in the way. While we would have to deal with a different law firm, it wouldn’t be the best one in the region.”

Pierre was silent and I panicked. “I have also been stalking the social media of her coworkers; she isn’t the only one who is looking to adopt but seems like the only one actively looking into adoptions. If all goes well with us, others might reach out.”

There was now a dilemma with our adoption program. It gave us test subjects for the Bigger Bodies Initiative, which cost the company a lot of money to care for but gave the company better publicity for being child and family focused and becomes heavily scrutinized if adoptions fall through and children disappear. Adopting them out brought back some money from caring for the children but also came with the risk of them talking about what they went through, and if it was traumatizing.

“Do you think these children will not be up to the standard of the couple?”

“I think Lexy will definitely be what they are looking for in a child, as she encapsulated the two of them and their interests. However, if the only children being adopted out are those with mediocre test results, or below average, there will be questions of our ability to properly teach the children within our care.”

“And what of Victor?”

“I have a meeting with them today after their shifts, and I want to bring up the possibility of adopting two children. If they are insistent on only one, then I will not recommend Lexy and Victor as options. The children do not know why they were requested for testing and in this grouping, and I don’t intend to mention adoption until after Stacy and Zack give their input.”

Pierre smiled. “It seems you have been really thinking through these things. I am proud of how far you have come since I first met you at your internship. Keep up the good work.”

With that, Pierre walked away and left me to continue pondering the children I could recommend for the couple.

“Before we continue through what I have found, I wanted to ask you a question in regard to your family.” I started the meeting after all pleasantries had taken place.

“Of course. If there wasn’t something clear in our papers or the home visit, please ask so it can be cleared up.” Zack was the first to speak with Stacy nodding along.

“The home visit clarified there were four bedrooms within the home. Did you hope to have multiple children?” I tried to be professional, but my thoughts failed me at the last minute, and I might have sounded more accusing than anything.

“Yes, when we got married and were looking for a home, we wanted to have multiple children.” Stacy answered.

“Would you be open to adopting more than one child at this time, or do you prefer to only focus on one?” I felt too out of my depths with this conversation, and I think it showed.

The two were silent at first and looked at each other in a silent conversation. I made sure to look away from them so they could have some extra privacy but kept them in my peripheral vision to see how they reacted to this.

“We are not…opposed to this…but we would like to understand the reason for this to be brought up now.” Zack wasn’t sure of his own answer, but I nodded and got to explaining.

“Based on what I know about the two of you, in our own meetings, and from your application, I found a child I thought would be a perfect fit with your family, however, the child in question has made it clear they have no intention of leaving without another child too. I have strong reason to believe the other child feels the same way about their own adoption. If you were open to adopting two children, I would show you their information and discuss it further with you. If you do not feel comfortable with that, then I have a different ordered list of children we could go through.”

The person in charge of the adoption finally nodded and wrote something down on a small notepad before watching what Stacy and Zack would say.

“Are they siblings?” Stacy asked.

“No, these two met here last year and are just really close. While it is not encouraged to think of each other as siblings here, they insist they were supposed to be and correct the staff when it is brought up. I don’t think there are any siblings within Playcare, at least none that I am aware of and are up for adoption at this time.”

Stacy paused before speaking up. “What do you mean by that?”

The woman over the adoption spoke up this time. “It means that children who have just left a traumatic experience are not immediately available for potential families to adopt as they need time to process and heal from what they just went through. We have counselors here that all the children speak to at least once a week to help us get an idea of who they are and what they need from in a family. Because they are so young, and often fragile, we take the time to get to know the children and then gain our trust before bringing up finding a new family. As adults, you understand what is going on and the need for honesty. See it as lucky or not, we do not have any siblings here at Playcare.”

Stacy nodded along and was satisfied with the answer she was given. “I see. That makes sense. Could we see who these children you speak of are?”

With a nod, I slid the list of names to the woman heading the meeting, and she shared the appropriate files. As Zack and Stacy looked over the two profiles, I added a bit of information.

“Lexy was the one I had in mind when looking at her files, but she has made it clear she is not interested in being adopted without Victor. Even without that statement, both children would have ended up on the list I recommended you look at first.” I ignored the fact Victor was still under six for the next couple of months.

They took a few minutes to read through and point out information of interest to each other. As I observed, I took notice of how Lexy’s appearance was similar to Stacy’s. They both had blonde hair with curls. Stacy clearly straightened hers out so they only curled at the end, but she had a cowlick by her bangs that showed her hair did curl more than how she presented it. Zack had a persistent smile on his face as he went over the information about the children and their interests. His eyes kept going back to the picture of Victor, though I didn’t know why.

“Lexy,” Stacy began. “Was she ever tested for drugs?”

I blinked in surprise at the sudden comment. I didn’t think about looking into that, and didn’t have the answer. Luckily, I was not required to have that information as it is already with us in more detailed files that their adoption head was keeping a hold of.

“Yes, she was tested, but luckily showed she was not given, or unknowingly consumed any. Is she, or both of them, children you would be interested in meeting with?”

The couple nodded and the lady wrote some more information down. “Would you like to look at the other children’s information, or stick with just these two for now?”

“I think we want to meet these two first. From first looks, they seem perfect.” Zack’s smile didn’t fade, and he sounded genuinely happy about this.

I stayed quiet as the conversations continued, with various meetings set up for one on one and group meetings. I did not need to be here for the rest of the meetings, unless something went wrong and Lexy and Victor were no longer an option, but it felt too wrong for me to leave now. It also gave me more insight into the adoption process, if the child doesn’t meet the basic criteria first.

“P.W. Thank you again for helping us. I don’t think we would have begun this process without being able to talk it through with you first. Truly, you are an angel for helping us with this.” Stacy said while reaching out to hold my hands.

Bile crept into the back of my throat at her words, but I didn’t show I felt anything. “I am happy to be able to help you. Not only you, but these children deserve good homes, and I know you are able to provide that.”

Stacy had a tear in her eye and nodded enthusiastically. “I have a couple of co-workers who are either looking into adoption or have family who are looking into it. You are so good at reading people, would it be okay for me to recommend you help them out as well? If they choose to adopt through Playtime?”

I felt dread at having to do this again, but I nodded agreed, not sure how to say no in this situation. “If they wish for my help, I will provide it. I wish you both the best of luck.”

Outside of a few interactions with the children, I really didn’t have any part in the adoption process. Stella Greyber ended up taking over meetings with the couple. Because of the limited time Zack and Stacy had to come and meet the children, I was the one who met with Lexy and Victor to talk through adoption and the kind of people Zack and Stacy were. Lexy was the most standoffish about the ordeal, but that was because I met with her first, since Victor was in the middle of an intense game of hide and seek and I didn’t want to disrupt it. Once it was explained they would both possibly be adopted together, she immediately changed her mind.

Victor was more interested in the idea first, then questioned what would happen to Lexy. He was ecstatic to find out they both might be adopted together and begged to know how to make sure that happened. I simply talked through what living in a house would be like again, explained their jobs and how their day to day lives might look, and shared hobbies they would most likely be part of as these were things the couple did on their days off.

I had only met with the couple one other time, and that was to get a list of expectations and habits to help introduce the children to, so I was sure I wouldn’t learn of when they would officially be adopted until supposedly after they are gone. I wasn’t too upset about that as Stella’s personality was…something that took getting used to. It was a surprise, however, for Victor to run up to me while I was overseeing one of our latest experiments as she threw a fit.

“P.W.! Hey!” Victor yelled before running right into the side of my leg with a bright smile.

My heart nearly stopped because we were in an area that was not safe for children, or unauthorized personnel. I quickly looked around to try and locate the experiment, but she was hiding somewhere in the ceiling. The others around me immediately started watching around to hopefully prevent an accident as I dealt with Victor.

“Victor! What are you doing here? How did you get in here?” I put my hand on his head to try and obscure his vision, but I don’t know how well I did.

“I’m being adopted! We are leaving today!” He cheered in excitement before hugging my leg tighter.

“That’s good to hear! I’m sure you and Lexy will do wonderful in your new homes, but you really shouldn’t keep them waiting. They might get worried.” I tried to start walking back to the door and to safety, but I was stopped by a pink hand.

“What’s that?” Victor’s excitement disappeared as he saw the long arm, and a second coming down to reveal the new experiment.

Shit! What am I supposed to say?!

“Hello, little one. What’s your name?” The experiment said while coming to completely block the path out.

“My name’s Victor. Who are you?” He spoke nervously and I just held his head against me and stepped to be between them.

“My name…is Mommy LongLegs. What are you doing here?” She held her hand out and left it for Victor to shake.

“Victor was one of the orphans here. Today, he is being adopted with another child to their new homes. Victor, your new parents are waiting for you.”

I needed her to get out of the way, and the others could deal with her, I just needed to prevent Victor from saying anything about what he saw. Instead of finding an escape, however, Victor carefully shook her hand in greeting.

“I saw P.W. and I wanted to say goodbye after she helped me get adopted by my new family. She is the one who helped me, and Lexy get adopted to the same family so we could stay together. I just wanted to make sure I said goodbye.”

“She did? Well, P.W. is very kind. She is also right, don’t keep your new family waiting for you.” Mommy LongLegs finally stood up and moved so I could walk Victor out, and directly to his family. Before I could get out the door, Victor turned around.

“What are you?”

This took everyone back and nobody had an answer. The experiment looked just as surprised by the question. I panicked and quickly blurted out. “She’s a new toy we are going to produce.”

“Really?!” Victor looked directly at me with joy.

She is now…

“Yep, the company was testing out a new toy, and through the magic of love and imagination, Mommy Long Legs came to life to help us with the creation of her toys. We really do have to go now, but please keep it a secret. We want it to be a surprise when we release her toy to the public. So, watch out for advertisements on TV.”

I was finally able to get him out of the room and heading up to where I assumed Zack and Stacy would be waiting. As I walked, I did reprimand Victor for just running around the factory where it isn’t the safest, but also to make sure he wasn’t going to tell anyone of the giant toy he just met. As he was agreeing and zipping his mouth shut with his fingers, I heard Stella call out Victor’s name, and I changed direction to meet her halfway.

“Oh, good. You found him. Victor, where did you go?” Stella asked while checking him over.

“I just wanted to say goodbye to P.W. as she helped me find a home with Lexy. I’m sorry.” Victor looked down in shame.

“You wanting to say goodbye isn’t the problem. But I need you to tell me, or your parents where you go so, we don’t worry about your safety if you disappear. Please. In the future, let people know where you are going and don’t just run off.” Stella looked like she was about to cry at the thought of Victor running off again.

“I promise. Are my new parents mad at me?”

“No, just worried. Come on now, Lexy is with them waiting.” Stella began to walk off, but Victor held her hand and stopped. 

“Wait. You should say goodbye to Lexy too. She is going to miss you.”

I was getting ready to turn back and leave but paused at Victor’s words. As much as I wanted to just leave and not see them again, I nodded my head and followed into the room with the waiting family. Lexy immediately ran to Victor when he walked into the room and grilled him for information as to why he ran off without saying anything. Zack and Stacy looked relieved when they saw him completely unharmed and his reasoning for disappearing. Stella began to speak to the couple, but I drowned it out as Lexy walked up to me.

“Thank you for watching out for my brother. And for helping us stay together. The other kids say this isn’t something that ever happens, so thank you for doing things differently.” She paused as she hugged me, and I hugged back. “I think I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m sure you are going to have a great time with your new family, you will forget all about me. And that’s okay. I’m happy I could help you out in the brief time we knew each other.”

Finally, the new family was walking out of the factory to start their new lives together, and I now had a mess to deal with. I was at least glad that two children were adopted into a good family.

Dear Pierre,

There will be an official report on the experiment later on today, but this information was more important and would not have a place within the report.

Today, while we were observing the experiment 1222, a young boy ran into the room instead of following Greyber to his new family. Experiment 1222 saw him and prevented him from leaving the room he ran into, however, showed no signs of being hostile towards him. She gave herself a name, and to prevent any information leaks, I had to lie about her existence. She calls herself “Mommy LongLegs” and I claimed it was a new toy we were developing.

As the company needs more revenue and is limited on ideas as it is, looking into creating a genuine toy version of her for marketing might be a starting point. Based on the reaction I witnessed, viewing her as a toy, and the ability to play with a toy version of experiment 1222 improved the child's opinion of her. 

As it will be explained in the report, Experiment 1222 is not suited for work around the factory, but her personality and way she acts around children and the other experiments may allow for another use within Playplace. While it would mean that we lose the potential of limiting the number of people hired to work within the factory, it will limit the number of people working with the orphan and could ask questions. 

Currently Experiment 1222 is a failure, but I do not think this has to stay that way. We should try placing her in a different role to see if she may be better suited for the position. 

Let me know if there will be a meeting set up about this event, and I will add it to my schedule.

P.W.

Chapter Text

It was one of the few days a month that I “get off” (read: have to work, but no mandatory plans or items written in schedule). As such, I get to take the time sitting at my desk all day working out the schedule for the next weeks/month that I wasn’t able to write in my schedule yet. With so much of my job not being written down or shared in email, it was crucial for me to list out everything in my schedule in a personal calendar, and on a week by week basis ensure my co-workers knew when I was unavailable. 

With the plans for several new Bigger Bodies experiments, I was going to have to plan out my breaks and documentation enough to have time in the day to sit in the port-a-lounge. With everything that is supposed to happen, I am not looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I have no choice and there is nothing I can do to even hope for an out.

During a brief moment of looking up to rest my eyes from the lines on the day by day calendar, I noticed a child walking past my door. Not just any child, it was Theodore Grambell. He was one of the children recommended for one of the new experiments. He shouldn’t be anywhere near my office. I didn’t think he was even going to Game Station today, so there was no reason for him to be out of Playcare. 

Out of concern, I stood up from my desk and called out his name. “Hey, Theo! What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

Theo stopped and slowly turned around, but didn’t meet my eye. “I came here looking for something for my friend.”

I remember there being notes in his file about an imaginary friend, and how he has disciplinary issues with getting into places he shouldn’t and stealing, but it feels like a stretch for him to get here on his own. Or at least without severe lack of protocol for the people in charge of watching and transporting the children.

“What was it you were looking for? And who is this friend?” 

If it was another child, then I would have to report it, if it was an employee, then that was an immediate report, but if this was his imaginary friend, then I might be able to avoid commenting on it. It would be a shame to get the kid in trouble right before he is scheduled for surgery. That’s just too much bad luck.

“He’s a secret. And he asked me to find specific papers for him. But I can’t tell you which ones.”

“Is this your imaginary friend? My co-workers mentioned you have one.”

I simply lean against my office door as we speak to show I was not a threat, or was I really angry with him.

“He’s not imaginary!” Theo almost yelled.

“I won’t judge you if you have one. I had a few when I was growing, and they did end up sticking around longer than they should have, but there isn’t a problem with them. What is a problem, imaginary or not, is when this friend is trying to get you in trouble.”

Theo looked down and the ground with a red face. I glanced in the hall to check if there was anyone else walking in the hall or close enough to hear us through the wall. Luckily there didn’t seem to be anyone and I stepped out of my door. 

“Hey, why don’t you come in here, and we can talk through it. If there are some papers your friend needs that are not personal files, I might be able to help you out, but I will have to take you back to Game Station after. Okay?”

Theo looked up at me as I dragged my arm in front of me so I could guide him inside in a dramatic way. This caused him to giggle and finally entered my office and I shut the door behind me. I sat down and quickly closed my personal calendar and changed to a different tab in case Theo tried to read any of it.

“How did you meet your friend?” I really didn’t know anything about Theo or how he got here, but I have noticed how he stays away from the others. I have noticed several children who keep to themselves, but none seem to get in trouble like Theo does.

“I met him while I was here. He talks to me a lot and keeps me company, even at night when I am trying to sleep.”

“Does he make you stay up late?”

“No, if I start to fall asleep, he leaves me alone, but when I can’t sleep and I am just laying awake, he talks to me.”

“That’s nice. Sometimes I wish there was someone I could talk to when I am laying in bed. I had a roommate in college and we would do that until one of us quit answering.”

“My friend tells me things about the building and the workers.”

“Really? Like what? I might be able to tell you more, or if what was said is correct.” I don’t think I would actually tell him the truth about a lot of places, but it might give me an idea as to who is setting Theo up for trouble.”

The things Theo said were fairly accurate, and concerning. Theo knew he could get to the offices here from the Game Station during the large transition of children to and from the train. I made a mental note of the safety risk as he spoke but didn’t make any indication that I was making notes about what he said. There were only a few things that I could tell him about the building he stated, and that was mostly the safety concerns with him walking around on his own.

“If I had the grab packs other employees use then I wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Theo tried to reason away my concerns.

“Not true. The grab packs do not make this place safer. In fact, they are their own safety risk to the employees who wear them. It's one of the reasons I don’t wear one. I don’t want to deal with the safety risks, and my job does not require me to wear one.”

“But why are we given them to use if they are not safe? My friend said you all would lie to me about them.” I could tell he was wanting to stop answering, and I had to do something to prevent that. 

“The one’s you use in the Playplace are missing a key component that makes mine unsafe. That is the ability to conduct energy.” Once I knew I had his attention, I continued. “The employee grab packs allow us to conduct energy when wearing them in case power goes out in an area, or to unlock certain areas to people who are authorized to enter. Especially when using the green hand, electricity is dangerous. Take it from someone who electrocuted herself trying to plug in a computer cord while not being able to see the outlet, one mistake can do anything from numbing your entire arm, like I did, to causing your heart to stop. It is not something to play with, and everyone who uses one must watch safety videos on it constantly. Especially if someone gets hurt while using them.”

“Did you really get electrocuted?” Theo looked at me concerned.

“Yep. I put my fingers between the prongs of the cord so I could find the outlet, as I wasn’t able to see it, and because my finger was in the way, I shocked myself. I lost feeling in my finger and parts of my hand and arm leading up to my elbow. It felt like I had a bunch of pins and needles stabbed into my arm because of that and it took several minutes to get the feeling back. I don’t wish anyone to feel what it is like to be electrocuted.” I started to rub my arm as I spoke, still remembering the feeling, and often having that part of my arm still going numb every now and then, though that could be because of a different health concern.

“I don’t think he knows it's dangerous. He wants to help me, and I need to help him.” Theo spoke while looking down at the desk. 

I thought about asking him more about this friend, but it didn’t sound like the right time to ask about his comment. Instead, I ripped out a spare page in the back of my planner and passed it to Theo with a pencil.

“Could you draw a picture of you and your friend? Either something you both have done together, or something you want to do with them? I am curious about this friend. And if there is a way I can help, I will.”

Theo smiled and started to draw on the paper, and I decided to draw too. I had gotten a new plant for my office recently and figured I could draw it and come up with a name. Plants usually did better when you were positive around them.

After a few minutes, Theo spoke up. “What are you drawing?”

I pointed to the plant on my desk. “My plant. I think I am going to name it Tobias.” This got him to laugh.

“Why are you naming a plant?”

“Because I learned that if you name plants and talk to them in a positive way, they grow better. It’s like people. Speak to them and treat them kindly, and they flourish in life. What about you? What did you draw you and your friend doing?”

Theo happily turned the paper for me to see Theo sitting on a bed with a long, slender hand peeking out from under the bed. I recognized the almost robotic looking arm and was immediately concerned. If this was who I thought it was, then Theo was in danger. I still couldn’t do anything to concern him, or else he would start lying or just not answer. However, I needed him to not blindly trust this thing. It’s already killed one person trying to escape, I have no doubt he would kill Theo too.

“This is your friend?”

“Yep. When nobody else talks to me, he will. He has kept me company, but his voice is always changing. Do you know him?”

“Kind of. I don’t know him well, but I do know of him, and…he isn’t the kindest. I know someone he hurt, and he never apologized for it. He hurt her really badly, and she left.” I couldn’t tell him the truth and that the one in question was left in his cell to die, but he was the direct cause of her death.

“He didn’t tell me that. Is he going to hurt me too?” The question didn’t sound quite right. 

“I don’t know. Normally, the people who want to hurt you don’t tell you, and try to gain your trust and trick you. Sometimes people can change, however, don’t try to befriend someone with the idea of changing them. This friend of yours has already gotten you in trouble multiple times, I don’t want to see you physically hurt by him.”

“How do you know if someone isn’t trustworthy?” Theo asked.

“You don’t. You look at what they do and what they say, if they keep their promises, if they lie, and what kind of secrets they want you to keep. If you get in trouble because of what someone asks you or tells you to do, that is a sign they are not a good person.”

“Am I going to get in trouble now?” 

I sighed and stood up. “Probably, but I will do my best to help you out. It’s not your fault a friend you trusted put you in this situation. But come on, it’s…oh wow. It is almost dinner time. I didn’t realize so much time had passed already.”

I saw that the clock showed 5:30pm and the last train to Playcare would be leaving any minute. If I miss the train, then I will have to walk Theo all the way back. I grabbed his paper and ripped the one I drew Tobias on and walked out of my office to lead Theo back. We ended up missing the train, so I walked him through the underground passageways and sewers to get to the cable car that transports people to Playcare. I was lucky enough that there were a few people down there to help guide me where I needed to go and didn’t have to find a grab pack to use. Theo kept watching in awe at the other workers, so I did my best to distract him until we made it to the Ludwig Cable Car.

I saw several of the staff running around and gathering the children into different groups, and I suspect it is because Theo is missing, but it could also be for something else. I don’t come down here often enough to know what is normal.

“Sorry, this area is restricted. Nobody is allowed to enter or leave.” One of the people standing near the platform called out as I opened the door.

“Is something wrong?” I asked before I stepped off the car.

“No. One of the children is missing and we don’t know where he is.”

“It wouldn’t be Theodore Grambell, would it?” 

“How did you know?!” The employee looked at me concerned and accusingly.

I simply stepped out and Theo held onto the back of my shirt as he followed. The worker immediately spoke into a radio before stepping forward to grab at the child.

“Where were you? Do you know how worried we were for your location and safety?”

“Hey, it’s not his fault. He got lost and missed the train back here. I found him and helped lead him back. Whoever is watching the train station to and from Playcare needs to rethink the security. Theo could have gotten hurt while he was lost. He’s lucky he ran into me.”

I didn’t specify the information of where he was or what we talked about, and because Theo was hiding, I doubt he would say anything to contradict what I said. I was trying to keep him out of trouble, and Theo knows that.

The employee glared at me for a minute before motioning for Theo to come with him. I felt the grip on my shirt tighten, and I just placed my hand on his head.

“It’s okay, they were all just worried about where you went. They need to make sure you are safe, then you can go eat dinner and go to sleep. I have some work I still need to finish, so I have to head back.”

“Will I get to see you again?” Theo looked up at me.

I didn’t want to break his spirits, but I also didn’t want to tell him that I definitely would be. He was listed as one of the children who would be used for experiments and I would no doubt be seeing him there if the current schedule is anything to go by. I would probably be the one doing it. The Doctor was performing different surgeries that Theodore’s name never made the list for.

“Maybe. I have a lot of work I need to do.”

“You’re nice to me. I want to see you again.” With that, Theo let go and walked with the other employee.

I watched him leave the platform before getting on the cart and heading back to my office to finish my work before the factory closed down. I really didn’t want to be here once we closed.

“Sorry, Theo. But I don’t think you will like me much longer.”

Dear Pierre,

The security with the Prototype is insufficient; he is either escaping his cell, or finding a way to communicate with the children. The child Theodore Grambell is in constant communication with it to claim they are friends, and is the cause of him getting in trouble. Something needs to change about the security to prevent it from escaping or communicating with those unauthorized.

P.W.

Unfortunately, I was put in charge of heading to Playcare to inform the children who were selected for surgery that they would be leaving. I was at least not alone, but I wasn’t familiar with the person coming with me. The children in Playcare were doing various games and a couple of rides. It would be hard to find the children, but I was informed that the children would all be brought together for the announcement. Most of the children I didn’t recognize, but I did see Theo as he sat by himself. He was moving a stick around, where he got it wasn’t sure, and I saw his mouth moving, but stopped when he looked up and saw me. I smiled before seeing him stand up and run towards my direction with a smile on his face.

“Hey P.W.! What are you doing here?”

“My coworker asked me to help him and that meant I had to come here.” As I was speaking, I felt like I might be having a hot-flash. I could feel myself taking deeper breaths and had to widen my stance so I didn’t fall. I tried looking around to see if maybe I was standing right next to a heater that I didn’t originally notice, but there was nothing.

“Are you okay?”

I looked down at Theodore, but something was very wrong. His hair was normally brown, but it looked black. His skin was supposed to be pale, but it looked a purplish green.

“Hey, umm. Do you know where the bathroom is? I don’t feel so well.” I had to place my hand on his head so I didn’t fall backwards.

“The counselor's office on the hill is closest.” I saw his arm move, but I didn’t see where it was pointing. There was a black spot in my vision that prevented me from seeing too well.

“Thank….you…” I tried to say between deep breaths.

He took my hand and started to lead me to the large building. It was supposed to be a red and white brick building, almost like a government building in the neighboring town, but the red looked brown and the white was inconsistent in color. I could feel my legs going numb as I walked up the hill, but I could vaguely see the door now. I squeezed Theo’s hand before I managed to give him instructions.

“Theo, go find help. Please.” I felt his hand let go and I thought I heard him yell, but my ears were ringing at that point. I tried to keep going, but my leg gave out on me at the entrance.

I tried to continue to take deep breaths as I waited for the world to quit spinning, and I felt someone’s hands on my arm and shoulder.

The world felt muffled and I couldn’t quite make out what was being said, so I tried to explain. What I could. “I need a bathroom. Please.”

I was physically pulled off the ground and stumbled my way through the building into the bathroom. I was lucky to make it to the toilet before I was throwing up what little I had consumed. I felt like I was severely overheating, but there was nothing I could do but cry as the pain finally hit me. There was still another person with me, and I could hear them a little better, but I still couldn’t see.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” I heard a woman’s voice.

“My period. I’m sorry.” It was true. I didn’t know that my period would happen today, but even if I knew, there was no stopping this from happening.

I don’t know how long I was in the bathroom, but I was exhausted, and still struggling to stay standing when I finally walked out. One of the female employees helped walk me out of the building to leave Playcare and get my stuff. I think I heard them say someone was going to take me home, but I never told people where I lived, and I didn’t want to tell them. I really just needed a few hours and I could dry on my own, but nobody was listening to me.

A fellow scientist, Camryn, met me and walked me to her vehicle. I did have to stop a couple of times while going through the factory, but we eventually made it to her car. I carefully sat in the back of the car, and promptly passed out.

I was out of work for at least three days. I was in a hospital the next time I woke up, and informed them that they would be keeping me at least overnight to make sure there were no medical complications because apparently the pain and reaction I had to my period starting was “not normal”, and “should have been looked at years ago.”

I missed the surgery, and I was not allowed to leave the hospital until all testing was done, and either my period ended, or someone came to pick me up. Because the hospital was one and a half towns away from where I live and my job, I had no choice but to ask Camryn to come back for me after work one day. 

She was worried about me and I did get the full story of what other people saw, and the concerns the children had when I basically collapsed. It should have pushed back the timeline, but The Doctor didn’t want to wait, so changed the schedule for who was working which surgery while I was gone. There were a few mistakes made during it, and I would have to go in and fix it. Namely Bobby Bearhug being unable to hear, speak, or move. Kickin woke up more than once mid surgery and has a greater trauma as a result.

“You are expected to go in and fix some of this.” Camryn told me.

“Bobby, yes. What does he expect me to do with Kickin? You can’t go in and erase his memory of what happened.”

I wanted to avoid sending them back to surgery if it wasn’t necessary. Bobby is the only one that can’t be left like she is.

“You aren’t the only person who thinks that. The biggest concern with Kickin is that he might scare the children if he talks about what happened.”

“It was traumatizing, I doubt he will willingly talk about it. I think the observation period will help us know if he is okay to go out with the children.” I sat in silence for a few moments before making a terrible suggestion.

“The only thing I could think of is to recommend him for testing. See where his mind is and if he tries to talk about it with others.”

The one risk of recommending experiments or testing is you usually are the one to do them. That is how I was put in charge of the “high priority” adoptions and I suspect my bitching at my supervisors is the reason I am being put in charge of some of the surgeries even though I was not the most qualified. If I am a major part of the “secret projects” then I am less likely to tell others outside about it. I don’t want to go to jail, nor do I want to die, despite what the doctors at the hospital believed when I was admitted.

“Are you going back to work tomorrow?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, unless I start to show symptoms again, I am cleared for work. Light duty, and recommended sitting often. I don’t know if the doctors would okay me for surgery, but I could probably monitor, or sit in a chair.”

“Well, I have the day off tomorrow, so good luck pleading your case. By the way, I need your address. I don’t know where to drop you off.”

“Oh, just take me to the factory. That’s where my car is, and I can’t get to work without it in the morning.” I really didn’t want to tell anyone where I live, even if I am on good terms with Camryn.

“Are you sure?” She glanced my way, but didn’t fully take her eyes off the road.

“Yeah, besides, the factory is closer to our location than my home. I don’t want you to drive that far.”

She was silent for a moment before sighing and agreeing to drop me off. “You know…you don’t need to hide everything about yourself from us. Sometimes it’s good to open up to coworkers. Especially if you don’t have anyone in your personal life.”

“That was targeted. Whose to say I don’t have anyone in my personal life?”

Camryn’s face turned a shade of pink before answering. “We have kind of been watching you, and the way you answer our questions. Not once have you mentioned having plans after work, and you stay until the last hour of the factory’s doors being open half the time. You also don’t use your phone. You don’t even have it now. It’s sitting on your desk, but for three days, nobody tried to contact you, and there was no emergency contact at the hospital.”

I didn’t think about that. I knew I didn’t have my phone, because I used the hospital's phone to call Camryn if she would pick me up after she got off. If there was anyone in my life, then they would have called, or came to the factory looking for me, but I don’t have that anymore.

“I’m usually too tired after work to do things, and I have a garden I take care of on my days off. Besides, you know we are not encouraged to have close friends due to the nature of our jobs.”

“Yeah, outside of work. Not within work.”

I was quiet for a while. There wasn’t anything I could really say to deny what she clearly knows.

“I don’t have good luck with friends. So I keep my distance.”

“Then try giving us more of a chance while at work. If things go well, maybe meet us outside of work every now and then?”

“...Maybe.” The conversation died down after that. We did stop to get dinner, but the conversation mostly moved to work gossip and how some people were messing up in kind of dumb ways. Mostly people outside of the labs either with the orphans, or on the factory floor. Turns out, the person who came to work wasted didn’t even know he was drunk. Some medical issue caused it and was unavoidable at the time.

By the time we got back to the factory, it was dark and my car sat alone in the lot. The few cars remaining all belonged to the security team or workers who stayed overnight with the orphans. I grabbed what little belongings I had, and my trash from dinner, before finally leaving the car and wishing Camryn a good night.

She waited around for me to get in my vehicle and turned on before she turned to head to her own home. I followed her for a bit, but turned in a different direction, and took a longer route home, mostly so I could get gas before my tank was empty.

My car lights lit up my garden as I drove by and I made a mental note that I would really need to water the plants before work tomorrow, and find time to pull the weeds that no doubt have tried to take over the past few days.

“Sleep in a good bed first, deal with the plants in the morning.” I spoke while dragging myself to my room for comfortable clothes and sleep.

The following day was long and torturous. Everyone kept questioning me and joking they thought I died. I had to go to Playcare so I could properly apologize to the counselor I scared when collapsing outside the building. Unfortunately, Theodore wasn’t in Playcare when I went, but instead in the Game station, so I couldn’t apologize to him either. The only thing I could do was head back to my office and finish filling out some paperwork before starting the surgery on Bobby Bearhug to try and fix her hearing and speech. I was at least thankful that they chose to only do three experiments at most. Bobby, Kickin, and Dogday were first, and once they were confirmed to be stable, we would add another three. Catnap would be in the last group, as there was still debate about which child would be the best suited for him, but that wouldn’t be for about a month.

“Hey, We found a chair that is stable enough, and tall enough for you to sit in while you work, and as long as Bobby doesn’t get up or try moving, you shouldn’t need to move around much. Are you ready?” Greg stuck his head in my office after a couple of hours.

“I guess. Can you make sure whoever is in charge of anesthetics keeps her under? Preferably not the same person who was there for Kickin.”

“Don’t worry about it. He has the day off today. And I will be there to assist you. We won’t let that issue happen again.”

I nodded and followed him to the room. Bobby was physically carried there, strapped down, where I could see her panicking. She didn’t look any better than this morning, and I ended up sketching an image of what she looked like on a notecard for a brief before and after I am done.

The place was cleaned and I was ready to go, the only thing we had to really worry about was Bobby staying asleep, and whoever did the first surgery didn’t completely sever the nerves in their mistake.

“If you can hear me, I am going to try and fix you. Just take a deep breath and relax.” I started while the anesthetics were injected into her body.

It took a few hours, and I was starving at the end, but I think I succeeded. At the end, when we were prepping to move her to an observation room, I saw her eyes…open? There were glowing white dots in the eye sockets and while they didn’t quite focus on anything, they were consistent with looking in the same general direction as movement. That gave me hope she could see, and possibly hear. Her arm did try to lift, but she barely got her elbow off the table before it flopped back down. She kind of hummed when it happened, so I have more evidence that she is likely to be able to speak, or at least make noises to communicate now.

I missed out on lunch completely with how late we started, but Camryn made sure I had food in my office and a sticky note reminding me to eat and drink fluids which I appreciated. “I’ll have to do something to show my gratitude. Maybe when my plants officially start producing, I can bring some to her. Or maybe try growing her favorite fruit and give all of it to her…”

I continued to think while eating my lunch at five in the afternoon. I would need to stay later to make sure my calendar was up to date with everything that happened, and I need to write a report on the surgery. Depending on Bobby, I might be writing my first observations before I can leave. “Oh, I need to make sure I leave before eleven. I’ll be locked in otherwise.”

With the changes going on, a new security measure “kindly suggests” you leave or stay in your designated working spot, or with security in their office if you are fast enough. Huggy is allowed to roam around the factory when closed and we want to avoid being mistaken as an intruder. With a plan in mind, I got to work on the paperwork and hoped I wouldn’t get too caught up in it.

It was around nine when I finally sat back and stretched. There were no indications that Bobby woke up again, but I was going to check myself before I left for the night. Most of my coworkers were already gone. Greg and Camryn left around six and Dr. White was given the day off. I didn’t hear or see The Doctor or Pierre today, but I wasn’t too upset about that.

I grabbed a clipboard and paper to write on in case she was awake, or waking up by the time I arrived, but also planned to leave the clipboard by the holding cell and leave immediately if she wasn’t. As I left the office, I felt a slight pain in my stomach and considered going back to my office for some medicine, or a hand warmer to shove in the front of my pants, but shrugged it off for now. There was other stuff I needed to do, and I could be going home in the next few minutes. 

It was a little unsettling to see there was basically nobody here. I was used to hearing soft spoken voices and people passing through the halls, but I seemed to be the only one here. That was definitely wrong because there needed to be a few people to monitor the recovery at night in case something went wrong. It started to make me physically uncomfortable to walk around the place alone and with most of the lights out. I would have started to run if I could. I knew it was me overreacting and it would have an effect on me being able to sleep at home, so I took a deep breath, and continued through the next room.

Or I would have, if there wasn’t suddenly two people yelling in panic about a child. I tried to run to the voices but they were a couple of halls away and I wasn’t sure of where they were.

“Someone get a gurney! Hurry!”

I stopped long enough to grab one out to the room I was passing before I called out. “I got one!”

Footsteps were running and spotted me before grabbing the gurney and rushing back the way he came. “Are you cleared to do surgeries?”

“Yes! What’s wrong?”

“The fucking Prototype got out and a kid got hurt because of it. We aren’t able to lead or perform any surgeries and the Doctor left. Please help!”

I felt dread crawling all over me as I continued to follow another worker with a child in his arms. It wasn’t any child, but Theodore. There was more yelling, but this time from security as they were moving down a further hallway.

“His heart stopped. What do we do?” The other guy said.

“Get him on the gurney!” I yelled. 

Once Theodore was on, I jumped up and started to perform CPR. “Get me to the operating room, now!”

I had to brace myself while they ran down the halls and I did everything I could to keep the boy's heart beating. I started huffing out small breaths to the tune of Staying Alive while trying to remember the protocol for this situation.

If they were already assigned a toy, perform the surgery. If they were not assigned a toy and their chances of survive are slim to none, perform surgery for smaller toys unless there was notes about possibly using them for something else. Theodore was considered for Catnap, so that’s what I have to do.

I could feel Theodore start to stir, and he began to cough weakly, but couldn’t really get himself to breathe. When we got to the room, an oxygen mask was immediately put on his face to help him breathe and I took a moment to check his pulse. It was very weak but there so I got off the gurney and helped put the heart monitor on him. The room was luckily already prepped and ready and the only thing we needed to do was get scrubs on or just wash our hands. I didn’t trust we had enough time for complete scrubs so I called for the long gloves and face shield.

“We don’t have time for scrubs. Wash your hands and get gloves.”

I instructed the two to start getting ready as they would be the two preparing him for surgery.

Theodore could barely move his hand and I felt guilt. “Hey, I am going to do the best I can to save you. Please just hold on. I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure what I was apologizing for. It was either because I asked him to hang on to life instead of escaping in the arms of death, or because I didn’t do more to stop him from trusting the Prototype. I should have done more to try and stop it, but I didn’t, and now Theodore was forced to go through this to survive. I wanted to destroy the thing when I was done for what he did to Theo. The kid didn’t deserve that betrayal.

“Go, we’ll get him under and the rest set up.”

I nodded and quickly left the room. There wasn’t a chair for me to sit in, but with only three of us, and it being a full surgery, I couldn’t afford to sit down.

Hour 1: 10pm

It was less of doing the proper procedure and more making sure Theo was stable the entire time. We had someone from security step in the door and explain the Prototype was willingly taken back to his cell and there was going to be constant observations on it for a while. Only thing he asks now is to know when Theo is saved, as that is the only reason he didn’t escape.

Hour 4:

This should have been when most surgeries were ending, but Theo was different. We didn’t have enough staff and there were genuine concerns about if he was going to survive this, but we chose to work slow and precisely. It was tiring, but nobody could leave. Theo almost didn’t look like a human child, but also nowhere near looking like a toy. It was just gore on the table with a beating heart and functional lungs. 

Hour 6

There ended up being a mistake during the process. None of us were prepared for this and were not able to take proper measures to be ready. Security had walked off, but promised to be back and we tried waiting for them, but our bodies had needs and we couldn’t all just wait to use the bathroom. I sent one of the guys, I think his name was Mike, ran out and planned to tag back in with the other, Jason, so he would have the chance to go. I was the poor soul who would have to hold it, or piss myself. 

I was distracted by a lot of stuff, and forgot to check that Mike was keeping up with anesthetics, but it was too late and the bathroom wasn’t that close. The moment Theo started to move I panicked.

“Shit! He’s waking up. Put him back under!” I tried to be quiet but I genuinely panicked.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I’m not going to operate on another child who will feel the whole thing. No it’s not.” I had to close my eyes and lean on the table for a moment while Theo went back to sleep.

“...Another?”

“Yes, the first kid I operated on had appendicitis and I was thrown in without much help and did the whole thing without putting him under first. The Doctor watched the whole thing and only helped me when I pulled a knife and threatened to stab him if he couldn’t find me oxygen. That was it.”

Finally, we started again.

Hour 10:

We were notified that the doors would be opening soon, and security would escort Pierre and the Doctor down here as soon as they parked their cars. I asked that if they were aware of anyone else who worked down here, to bring them quickly as well. I hoped one of them would be here early enough to relieve me at least to the bathroom. My eyes were blurry with how long I was staring at Catnap as I worked to make sure everything went right. The two were more cautious with not letting him wake up, and I appreciated it.

“I was just informed that the Bear woke up.” The security guy spoke after listening to his radio.

“Tell whoever is over there to get some paper and start writing down what she does and when she wakes up. We need information and observations on her movements and if she can speak and hear. Please. We can’t leave.”

I was given an okay, and went back to work.

Hour 13:

Nobody was coming. It was still the three of us and the security guy. None of the leadership came in, and Camryn was off today. A couple of people called out, and I suspect they were all people who worked down here. Greg wasn’t meant to come in until later, and Security said they would find his number and call him in, but I still had to wait. While Catnap hasn’t woken up again, the machines were making concerning sounds. I had Jason writing down every moment something sounded off so when someone more awake came, they would know what was happening.

Hour 16:

Catnap was finally steady and all stats were reading as normal. My eyes were at this point blurry and I couldn’t do more even if I wanted to. Greg wasn’t able to come in and our leadership was still MIA, but I finally got done and shuffled my way out of the room. 

My legs hurt and I was swaying pretty badly, but I kept telling myself I could handle it. I just needed to pee and I would be fine.

“Sorry nobody could come to relieve you in time. There was an emergency and police prevented anyone from entering the building until it was taken care of. Someone had a medical emergency at the entrance and they couldn’t be moved.”

Security actually held me up and walked me to the bathroom.

“And my superiors?”

“We are still unsure. Pierre had a meeting off site but we were informed Dr. Sawyer was supposed to be here when the doors first opened, so one team member is trying to find out what happened to him. If by noon we don’t hear from him, we are sending police to his home to check for any accidents involving his vehicle.”

He left me at the bathroom door and I was finally able to go in.

“Hey—” I stopped the coworker from trying to be cheerful with me about having a half day of work.

“Don’t. I have been awake for 32 hours without sleep and spent the last 16 doing surgery to save a kid after The Prototype tricked him. I don’t want your happiness. I want to die. Someone go do observations on Bobby Bearhug, Dogday, and Kickin Chicken. Find Jason and Mike to get an explanation on what happened during the surgery on Catnap, and see security on the report about The Prototype’s escape attempt. I am going to my office and am going to sleep. Nobody disturbs me until I wake up on my own unless there is a fire, or I get to punch our superiors because nobody was here, nor were they answering their phones.”

I then turned and walked to my office and curled up under my desk to sleep off everything that happened.

Pierre,

Attached is the VHS Tape from the night showing the Prototype’s escape attempt and subsequent accident with orphan Theodore Gambrell. Also attached are the reports from security about the detaining and monitoring of the experiment all night and what it claimed to have happened leading up to the escape attempt.

There are also several documents attached about what happened to the orphan Theodore and the sixteen hour surgery that took place with three members on staff to work. While there are definitely concerns and the need for close monitoring of the experiment Catnap, it was overall a success. 

The last couple of reports are from security staff monitoring the new experiments at the request of the worker P.W. as the building was sealed off from anyone entering due to a medical emergency preventing anyone from entering until after 1pm. While they are probably not as good as the normal observations, security did their best to take objective notes on what they could.

I recommend reworking the schedule so there is better staff after closing in case of these situations happening again. P.W. was supposed to leave hours before the incident, and could have cost the orphan his life.

Chase,

Security

Pierre,

Attached is an additional report on Catnap's attempt to escape. He was unable to make it further than the elevator but began to hunt those who were tasked with bringing him back. Due to his nature, the tranquilizer darts are not as affective on him as the others. Please let me know if there is another method of subduing him and we will implement it for the future.

Head Security

Chapter Text

I was walking into work with Camryn while having a “heated debate” about using criminals with a life sentence as living donors for blood and organ transplants for people who are on the waiting list or in times of crisis like fires and hurricanes when injuries were high and blood donations were needed.

“Yes they are isolated from the world and paying for their crimes by not getting to interact with others and lose freedom of doing what they want, but they are essentially a waste of money for taxpayers as they live there for free. They should be required to donate blood and nonessential organs if they are a match for others.” I tried to convince her.

“Do you really want the liver of a killer in your body? No! It might rub off on me and I could start committing crimes.”

My mouth dropped open and I just stared at Camryn while she clocked in. There was no way she could think that and know what we do.

“I’m sorry? Didn’t this conversation start out because you donated blood and your arm was still sore?”

She stared at me, before pouting. “There is a difference between us and criminals.”

I was trying to think of a way to counter her, when Alex walked up behind me and spoke into my ear. “Hey, there sweetheart. Good to see you at work every day.”

I instinctually ducked and pulled my shoulders up to protect my neck from this stranger. He really wasn’t a stranger, as we have spoken to each other nearly every day we work together for the past two months, but I didn’t want to get to know him, and most of the conversation is him flirting with me. There wasn’t anything I could do about it though, as Pierre definitely didn’t care, and HR didn’t see it as harassment since he doesn’t touch me, and he hasn’t followed me after work. I think that’s bullshit, and Camryn and Greg agree, but HR is mostly an old guy who stares at women' s curves, and one girl who has a crush on Alex, so they are no help.

“Some days I wish I didn’t have to come to work.” I reply while turning to face him.

He laughed and clocked in before continuing his flirting. “It can’t be worse than working in the factory. But, if you want a distraction from the stress, I’ll take you out to dinner and have a fun time.”

I was done with this at this point and was tempted to punch him, but I would be the only one punished for it, and after the recent struggles in the lab, I wasn’t ready to make another mistake. I didn’t really think it through, but the conversation with Greg offering to pretend to be my boyfriend just to get him to leave me alone, or claiming to be into girls, but that kind of harassment might result in being scheduled for my own testing, was in the front of my mind this morning.

“Alex, I already have a boyfriend and am in a happy relationship. You clearly are not getting the hint, and he is about to do something about it.”

I saw Camryn’s back tense as she tried not to laugh, and luckily, Alex was looking at me, not her. I had to control my breathing, and hope my face didn’t go red.

“Oh? If you really have a boyfriend, then why haven’t you ever mentioned him?”

“Because I like to keep my personal and professional life separate, and frankly, it isn’t any of your business. I said no when you first asked me out, and that should have been the end of you harassing me.”

“Then what’s his name?”

I really didn’t have anything to say, as I never thought through this lie, and the original lie was Greg, not an imaginary guy. “Tobias. Now for the last time: Stop asking and leave me alone. I am in a happy relationship.”

We finally got to the point where our paths split, and I kept walking, this time beside Camryn to the train to take us further in the factory to our department. Once he was out of earshot, Camryn finally started to giggle. She still was quiet, because other people might start asking questions, but my face burned with her laughing at me.

“So, Tobias.” She started.

“Don’t. I know we talked about it, and I was originally going to say to him,” She knew I was referring to Greg. “But I panicked.”

“He is definitely going to ask our coworkers questions. So, what are you going to tell them?”

“That I have a boyfriend and we are in a happy relationship.”

“I don’t know. I think I will have to meet the guy dating my work bestie.”

I laughed at that, and thought through the pros and cons of using a real person's photo and the likelihood of Alex reaching out. He is pretty persistent, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try and catch me in a lie.

“Hey, everyone. Congratulations to our very own P.W. as she now has a boyfriend!” Camryn called out the moment we walked in and found everyone by the coffee machine outside my office door.”

“Oh really? Who is it?” Dr. White asked.

Everyone knew that I was being harassed and nobody was stopping it. I unlocked my office and opened the door before turning back to everyone. Greg actually looked nervous. My guess is he never spoke to his wife about this lie he was willing to help me with, and she might get angry.

“His name is Tobias.”

With a sigh, Greg then asked. “Can we meet him?”

I glared at him before answering. “You all already have.”

I then proceeded to point into my office at the plant on my desk. Everyone burst out laughing at the idea that I was dating a plant.

“You really named it Tobias?” Camryn finally asked.

“Yep, I named it when Theo wandered down here and I found him.” My tone ended sadder than I meant, but it was terrible what happened to him.

“So, how long have you known each other?” Greg questioned while offering me an empty cup.

“I got him around six months ago? A little after I got here, I wanted some life in my office.” I answered honestly.

“Aww, their high school sweethearts.” Camryn smiled and took a sip of her own coffee.

“What do you mean?” I asked while making myself hot chocolate.

I wasn’t a big fan of coffee, as it made my hands shake and it was terrible for surgery, and the taste was just something I wasn’t a fan of. I alternate, more like once every week, to drink hot chocolate, but I have my own tea in my office that I drink before really starting to work. Most of it was chamomile to help calm my nerves from what I do everyday. Some of my coworkers started drinking tea before or after surgery to help relax after their own surgeries, and I had to hide my tea so it would last more than three days.

“Well, you can’t just tell him you’ve been dating for a few months, so instead say six years. That would mean you were high school sweethearts and the relationship was steady.”

I did the math in my head. If I was dating Tobias for the last six years, we would have started dating when I was fourteen. That would definitely be suspicious if we were dating that long, and no way that relationship would have lasted.

“You forget that I graduated both high school, and college early. I’m only twenty. That would mean we have been dating since I was fourteen.”

“Then say you were childhood friends and started officially dating when you started college. How long would that have been?” Dr. White questioned.

“Around seventeen. So three years would have been more likely.”

I started to think of some bullshit story of being friends for years and agreed to start dating when we got into the same college. I studied biology and he went for engineering or something that didn’t have a license you could just look up. Otherwise I would say he was a doctor and worked two towns over. It also would make it likely that I would move away if I took the lie far enough and we got married. So his job would probably have to pay less than mine, so I would be the breadwinner.

“Well, if we get asked, we will tell Alex that you do have a boyfriend and we have been told a bit about how you two started dating, and Camryn can easily tell him she has met Tobias, and we have seen a picture on your desk.” Greg smiled and the rest agreed with him.

“Before the end of work, you need to tell us what he studied, and the job he has. Maybe make sure he doesn’t have a job that would pay more than yours so you aren’t dating him for years and it is justified why you don’t leave.”

“Not like she would be able to anyways.” I didn’t see who said it, but I rolled my eyes while walking to my desk to check what meeting I had, or if there were just observations planned for today.

“Okay, I have it worked out. Tobias went to college for accounting and foreign languages. He works in communication and foreign assistance so he doesn’t want to leave his job, and currently works a few towns over, but we constantly talk and are trying to make plans for the future and living arrangements. He only makes around $20,000 a year, and I make $50,000 so it doesn’t make sense for me to quit my job and move to live with him.”

“Okay, perfect. I can remember that, and that is really the extent of the relationship I know about.” Camryn stated while we were walking to lunch.

With a plan prepared, I felt more confident about the lie. This time, if he starts to look into my personal life and pressuring me to talk about my outside relationships, or going so far as to stalk me, then HR will finally step in. I hope it doesn’t go that far, but I was ready in case it did.

“Would it be weird if I purchased my own engagement ring? I would help stop people from doing what Alex is doing in the future.” I wasn’t expecting an answer, but Dr. White chuckled.

“I have seen women do that before to avoid being asked out, but it was more of a promise ring.”

There was a lot I needed to think about.

[one year later]

I had my three days off and took the time to visit the garden center and get a couple of plants to line the walls of my house by the front porch to make it look pretty. It meant that I had more places to water and weed, but it gave my house a little more personality on the outside. I got a couple of bloodroots to place by the steps and the small path at my porch, and Blackhaw Viburnum on the sides to grow under my windows. I was excited about the new plants and seeing how they grow. I also had another plant I was taking to my office to add a little more life there.

I was asked to come in later than normal today as I had a meeting that was expected to go later than normal and would put my hours over unintentionally. It meant I wouldn’t have the normal morning conversations at the coffee machine, nor would I find out about what was going on until lunch, but that was fine. It also meant I could avoid Alex and his glares.

When I got to the office, I saw my office door was still open after I forgot to close it. It wasn’t too much of a problem because there were a few documents in there that others would need while I was gone, but something was immediately wrong. Tobias was not sitting on my desk anymore. I knew everyone would be down near the labs and observation cells, so I quickly ran down there to confront whoever knocked him off my desk.

I was lucky that all the suspects were standing around having their own conversation and I wouldn’t need to run around looking for them.

“What the fuck happened?” I was pissed.

I startled the ones who had their backs to me.

“Well good morning to you, too.” Camryn glared at me.

“What are you talking about?” Greg asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“Why is Tobias on the floor? Who knocked him off the desk and killed him?” I could still see the poor plant on the ground with all the leaves dead and dirt spread everywhere. The pot was completely shattered and would not have been able to be used again.

“We didn’t know what to do. You were the one with the vast knowledge on plants, and there wasn’t any pots down here to use.” Camryn tried to avoid blame, but informed me that they were all aware and didn’t try to fix it.

“So you just left my dead husband on the floor? How do you not know to repot a plant after breaking the pot? Of course he was going to die!”

As I yelled at them, I saw Catnap walking past in the distance to an observation cell for a weekly check up. He just stared at me as he passed and I was ashamed that one of the experiments just heard me claim to be married to a plant and it died.

“You were gone for three days and we didn’t know how you wanted to re-pot or care for an injured plant. We thought you would be back to take care of it. You always take care of these things for us.” Greg argued back.

“I make your coffee for you, but I don’t see any of you starving for it.”

The group was silent.

“Have none of you been drinking coffee this entire time?” I was in disbelief. These people survive on it at the beginning of our shifts and it baffles me that none of them have had coffee in the three days I was gone.

“Why?!? I left you guys with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate—”

“We don’t know how to use the coffee machine. You got a brand new one and the buttons don’t make sense.” Jason complained.

“So all of you just waited for me to return? All of you have college degrees! How did you not just read the instruction manual?”

“I tried but it didn’t make sense so I just left it alone instead of breaking it. I didn’t want to have to explain why it was broken after just buying it.” Camryn huffed.

I was about to yell again, but instead took a breath. “Okay, let’s just take a step back.”

They all smiled and took a large step back.

“No, I didn’t mean—” I physically pushed my hands as I exhaled again. “I’m going to bury Tobias, make a pot of coffee, then I am going to highlight the basic instructions for you all to read, because I work with a bunch of illiterate fucks… and if this situation ever happens again with my new plant, I will force you under the knife and sell your organs on the black market.”

I wasn’t entirely serious, but my tone didn’t give me away, and I was not afraid to pull a surgical knife on them. Dr. White watched me pull one on The Doctor once. I was pissed, but I couldn’t just leave Tobias on the floor of my office. I could at least put his body to use as fertilized for the poppies in the lab.

I spent the time cleaning up, mourning the loss of my husband, and trying to decide how I would explain this, or if I would pretend that he wasn’t dead. I looked at the new plant and considered naming it Tobias as well, but it wasn’t right. I would have to think of a new name. 

“You and I are married now. Congratulations.” I would have to think of a new name, but for now, I still have a spouse to lie to people about and that is all that matters.

Chapter Text

My instructions were clear on the first day of work, go straight to security and let them know I was here for my first day of work and they would get me sorted out with a nametag and instructions as to where I should go. There wasn’t a tour planned for today, so there wasn’t a whole lot of activity in the entrance outside of employees walking in for the day. Security was sitting in their room off to the side having casual conversations while watching the wall of screens as the workers went about their jobs.

“Umm, hello. I am a new hire, and Leith Pierre instructed me to come to you for my nametag and instructions…” I wasn’t sure what else I should say and let my sentence fall off.

“Oh, yeah. We were told you would be coming. Do you have the paperwork?” One of the workers with a name tag saying Steve stood up and shook my hand.

I gave him the papers I had filled out the day before so all necessary information was finally turned in.

“Oh yeah. I’ve been waiting for you to come in. I wanted to know why you chose this as your name tag.”

The others stopped what they were doing and looked at me before laughing a bit. “I’m sorry? I don’t understand.”

“Player Worker. What made you decide to make this your name tag?”

“Oh,” I blushed. “Pierre said I was allowed to write whatever I wanted for a name tag that I wanted to go by, and it didn’t have to be a name. It’s still my initials, and I am used to signing just my initials.”

“I see that, so have fun with the new name. Hope you don’t get annoyed with it.” I watch Steve open a draw and pull a name tag and lanyard out.

“Hope you don’t mind, but we took precautions in case there are people visiting and sees your nametag. We love having fun, but some people take major offense to it.”

The lanyard had a photo of me taken after my meeting with Pierre and my signing of the hiring contract. Below it was supposed to be my name, instead of Paige Willson, or Player Worker, were my two initials. P.W. I checked my nametag, and saw the same two letters as my name.

Playtime Factory

     Employee

         P.W

I smile as I put the tag on. I was excited to finally have a job and security in my life for once. And depending on what I do here, I may be able to start my own research project, or who knows, maybe I can be a person to help with scientific accuracy on one of their cartoons if they focus on science.

One step at a time. I need to know what I am doing here first.

“Okay, it looks like you are going to be heading further down in the factory to meet with your new coworkers in innovation. They are some of the backbone of the company. I am sure you will do great things down there with them. Come on, I’ll lead you part way, and my coworker Jack will lead you the rest of the way.”

I nodded my head and followed him out of the door and past the front desk. I kept mentally preparing myself for what I might find while in the factory and my job.

“So, what does P.W. stand for?” Camryn asked while sitting down at the lunch table with me and a few other workers.

“Yeah, I’ve wanted to ask you about it, but…things got really busy with a sudden…change of direction.” Greg asked eagerly, but also tripped over his words trying to not say anything he wasn’t supposed to.

I was trying to listen to Camryn and be more friendly with the others, but I wasn’t so sure. The nametag I was fine with talking about, but much further than me getting hired was where I was more likely to clamp up.

“It’s my real initials, but I was told I could pick anything I wanted for my name here and I chose something else, but it still has my initials. So officially, my name in Playtime Co. is Player Worker.”

This caused the entire table to burst into laughter and caught the attention of many other people in the cafeteria eating their own lunches. I started to blush and felt my ears burning as everyone else continued to laugh. When I tried to drink from my own water, I started to choke and when I thought about how funny the situation was.

“Dude! I should have thought of that. Aww Man!” Greg finally stated, almost yelling.

“To be fair, I don’t think any man could get away with a name like that. I would immediately know not to trust you and keep my distance. Any guy who brags about the name “Player”, who isn’t an athlete, is someone I would keep at a distance and be looking for any signs of him being a creep.” Camryn spoke while catching her breath.

“I was thinking about the new video games that are coming out. You know the player 1, player 2? That is what I was thinking about when I picked the name as we make toys for children. And I am a worker here, where we make toys and games… why wouldn’t I want to do something to bring me closer to my job. It’s not like this was what I thought I was going to be doing.”

“None of us thought this is what we would be doing.” Camryn stated while taking a shot of water.

“Not the specifics of our job. I mean being here. I focused my studies on plants and when I needed more credits, I took on classes that fit within my schedule. It just so happened to be anatomy classes that were being offered. I was looking for jobs in agricultural research up until the day I graduated. I just couldn’t get an interview anywhere and became desperate for a job. Pierre was the one who reached out to me directly. If I wasn’t so worried about getting a job, I might have looked for a different job, but the benefits seemed perfect for me.”

“You don’t even get vacation days. What do you mean perfect?”

The table laughed again as we remembered comparing work contracts and how mine was obviously missing some important parts. None of us got the same contract, and the benefits did vary, but mine was the only one missing vacation days and technically insurance, though I still get it.

“I think some of my benefits beat out vacation days. I mean, my credit looks beautiful with no debts from college after merely a year, and I could afford my own house before the first year here. I will take that over vacation days. Besides, it’s not like I work everyday, and every two weeks, I get an additional day off.”

“Why do you get three days off? No fair!” Greg glared at me.

“Not really, they don’t like to pay overtime to certain employees, and P.W. Here is one of them. She stays late most of the time so the additional day off is to prevent her from accumulating too much overtime.”

“You should bring us lunch on your day off. Make it up to us for your slacking.”

“Bold of you to assume I can cook.” I wasn’t lying entirely. I grow my own plants to avoid buying from stores or going out to eat, but I almost always miss a step in the cooking process. Sometimes it works out, while other times I mourn the meal I was forced to eat, or throw out.

“Careful, Greg. Your wife might not be happy you are begging another woman to make you food.”

I choked on my food when Camryn spoke up. I didn’t know he was married, though, I didn’t know a whole lot about the others I work with. I watched a few others make jabs at Greg and what his comment implied, but my eyes caught someone else’s. He was sitting a few tables away, and just watching our table interact. I looked away and continued to interact with the people I work directly with, but I could see him out of the corner of my eye still watching.

As our lunch break ended, I got up to dump my trash and return my tray, and met the same guy over there.

“Hey, there. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here. Are you new?” He stood a head taller than me and smiled while looking down at me.

“Not really, I’ve been here since winter last year.” I stated, not quick enough to do the math on how many months I have actually been here.

“Really? What part of the factory do you work in?”

“Oh, umm…innovation.” I just named the department Pierre was over as that was technically what I was hired for. I just don’t know if that is what we all call our department. I would need to check.

“Oh? So, you’re one of the people coming up with ways to keep us afloat and take credit for the best toys in production?” 

I really didn’t know how to respond, but the guy was following me  as I walked back towards Camryn and Greg.

“I don’t have anything to do with that yet. Everything in production is already stuff planned out before I arrived.”

The man laughed and leaned back while continuing to follow me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you will come up with the next best thing for Playtime. By the way, my name’s Alex. I hope to see you around more often.”

Finally, I was able to walk in a different direction as Alex and back to the safety of my coworkers. I held a tight smile as I motioned for us to go back to the hole we work in, away from the hundreds of other workers who have lives to talk about. Camryn looked at me, then back at Alex as we left the main floor and entrance of the factory to catch the train to our elevator.

“Who was he?” She asked once we were safe enough away.

“I don’t know. He said his name was Alex, and he works in the factory setting. He wanted to know what part I worked in since he hadn’t seen me before. I guess that’s the first time we were both in the cafeteria at the same time.”

“Unless his shift changed, then you definitely have been in the cafeteria at the same time, guess he’s never paid attention.” Greg mentioned it while boarding the train.

“I think it was you guys laughing so loud that it caught the attention of the entire room.” I mumble while sitting down.

“Do you want to talk to him more? Maybe have friends outside of our poor pit of defects.” Camryn nudged me.

“I’m good. I don’t know what to say to him. It felt awkward. And he was staring at me from our table for like, ten minutes before following me to throw away my trash.”

“You are just shy, and we were all intimidating to walk up to. Maybe you need some more time to talk first.”

I roll my eyes at Camryn’s joke of me making new friends. I talk to them out of convenience and not being an ass who leeches off my coworkers help. Being more friendly with them is more a favor to Camryn for not abandoning me at the hospital two towns over, and even driving me there in the first place. I know when to return kindness, and when not to push my luck.

“I wouldn’t do that. I can’t be certain, but there is an Alex in the factory that doesn’t have great rumors connected to him. It might be him, or someone else. Just be careful.” Greg said while in thought. 

I kept his words in mind in case I ever see Alex again, and I continue to my office to write reports about what the experiments have been doing and improving. I tried not to think much about Alex for the rest of the day, as there were plenty other things which needed my attention.

I was standing in the Playcare with two care workers and Stella Grayber as I was announcing the newest child to be adopted. The Smiling Critters were all standing nearby, some holding children and crossing fingers as to who might be going to their new home today, others watching from a distance, uncertainty in their eyes, or just contempt. I ignored them and didn’t focus on their faces or opinions, I was only focused on finding the child I was delivering to their parents today.

“Go on, tell us who it is.” Stella’s voice held more cheer than she probably felt. Her eyes were tired, but she hid it well.

“The child being adopted today is…” I added in a dramatic pause for the children’s sake. “Chris!”

The children around me all cheered and I saw Chris start to tear up before pulling on Kickin’s arm in excitement. I kept a polite smile on my face as I waited for Chris to gather his few belongings and say goodbye to those he would miss. I was aware that some of the critters were watching me, and while too far away, a couple of children were asking them questions while watching me. I tried to ignore it, but it feels more personal for children to judge me than adults. They don’t have a filter or enough life experience for me to brush off their comments.

“Once he grabs his things, are you going back to your office, or are you going to walk him to the entrance?” Stella asked me.

“I don’t want a repeat of Victor, so I’ll walk with him to the front.” I replied as a little girl walked up to me with a brave face.

“Excuse me,” I looked down at a child i don’t think I have met, or observed before. “What does your name tag say?”

I wasn’t expecting that. “Oh, it says my name, Playtime Co., and that I am an employee. Why?”

“What does the name say?”

“P.W.”

“Why?”

“Because that is my name?” I wasn’t sure how to answer, and I didn’t want to go in circles with a little girl.

“That’s not a real name.” She crossed her arms like she was the authority.

“It is. And many people have names that are only two letters. Isn’t there someone here whose name is TJ?”

“... But P.W. doesn’t sound like a name.” 

I really wanted to make a comment that Garnet was a rock, not a name, but it would be going too far with a child. I looked up for a moment to see if Chris was on his way, but it looked like he was still in Home Sweet Home as Catnap and Kickin were by the door, watching me.

“My nametag only shows my initials, but it is what everyone calls me, so it is my name. It is rude to tell people what they are called isn’t a real name. Most people don’t get to choose what they are named.”

“Then what is your real name?” She smiled up at me like she didn’t just spend three minutes trying to insult me.

I sighed and bent down to get closer to her ear and not have everyone over hear me. “My real name is Player Worker.”

The girl bursted out laughing and immediately ran off to Bubba and Bobby to report back what she found out about me. I stood back up and turned away so I didn’t see the looks the critters were giving me. By this time, Chris was running back out of the building with a simple bag of a few items. Once he got to me, he turned around one last time to wave goodbye to all the other children and critters before we made it to the exit.

Stella followed us, as she was head over adoptions and most things that deal with the children being taken care of, and smiled. “So, is that really what your name is?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. My name is P.W. and I expect you to use it.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I plan to, it’s just funny that you chose that as your name.”

I was a little upset that she continued to talk about it. “Why?”

“I would have never thought of that. I just chose the name Stella, and kept my last name. Though, I have contemplated officially changing my name to Stella. I think it is funny. It fits with the theme of the company.”

The rest of the trip was mostly silent with Chris talking about what he plans to do once he is settled in his new home, and what he hopes he can have and do with new parents. I listened and nodded along while Stella was the one who kept up the conversation until we got to the parents and finally said goodbye.

“You know, not many people take advantage of that in the hiring process. I don’t even know if the people on the factory floor had the option. It would have been nice for everyone to get that chance, and to pick childish names like your, or ones associated with peoples hobbies. It would help the child within everyone stay alive and close to their hearts.”

Stella continued to ramble about her thoughts and desire to stay a child the rest of the way back, and I was happy when I could head back to my office and away from the strange conversation.

Chapter Text

I was looking at the schedule planned for everyone today and the information on the children, and something didn’t seem right.

“Hey, why are, like, all of the children here terminally ill?”

Greg paused in his own preparations and came to look at the stack in my hand. He looked concerned, but not surprised. 

“They all were recently born within the last few years. I think the parents didn’t want the hospital bills, so they put them up for adoption. I wonder if The Doctor had a say in them.”

I remember a conversation in school about some families who can’t deal with children with disabilities, and a nursing student mentioned the number of children born with disabilities who are abandoned by their parents. Most were due to drug exposure. While we are not close to a hospital, I don’t doubt we have contact with several.

“Oh, I asked about it. It is the easiest way to get test subjects without concerns of people asking why there doesn’t seem to be any for adoption. Their deaths are not questioned, and we seem like a good company for taking these children in for their last time in life. It also saves other orphanages money on resources.” Camryn walked over carrying a couple boxes of surgical gloves and disinfectant wipes.

“Then are we prolonging their lives, or their suffering?” I felt sick with the idea that I would be performing my first surgery to turn a child into a toy, and it didn’t help that I was likely going to prolong the suffering of a child with cancer.

“I have a recommendation for you.” Dr. White walked over. “Don’t ask questions if you don’t want to know the answer. It helps get through the day.”

Dr. White has been working here longer than the rest of us, and he actually knows what the secret is with the Poppy dolls. He wasn’t given the same kind of contract as us, but is in the same boat about not being able to leave. There is a chance he will get to retire, though, so there are some positives in his life here. I would never ask him, but I think he was one of the people who worked on The Prototype.

“Okay, new question. This child has cancer and it is spreading. Are we sure I am not about to give a toy cancer?” I held up the profile of a three year old girl I was ordered to work on.

“The organs you will be using are the brain, heart, lungs, and digestive organs. All children have been carefully monitored and confirmed that none of these organs show signs of cancerous cells.” Dr. White explained.

We continued to prepare for our respective surgeries, and checked that all tools were cleaned and accounted for. We spent the last week studying the process The Doctor has laid out for us, and the terminally ill children were to be our practice. If we succeed, the children will get to live longer as toys, if we fail, then the preferred subjects are not sacrificed. Part of me hoped we would not be able to succeed, but too many failures will result in me being used.

I thought the surgery was going to be the worst part of this. Unfortunately, I was so very wrong. After the surgery is completed, we are to sit and watch the toy until it shows signs of consciousness and write what all we observe. They were all confused and scared. If they were able to wake up, their movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. I associated it to when dogs wear booties for the first time. From what others have said, many can’t talk, and we are lucky if they can focus enough to listen to our instructions. 

Experiment 1009 was the one I was observing. She was a little Bobby Bearhug plushy who kept falling over from turning her head. I had to keep it together as I asked questions and wrote down what happened. While she could hear me, and follow simple instructions, she had no voice, and any movements that involved turning her head would just result in her falling over. More than once, she nearly fell off the table and one of the others would have to catch her.

1009 couldn’t cry, but her breathing and heart rate showed signs of distress. I don’t blame her, as she was only three. I kept watching as her oxygen levels continued to lower, and her movements continued to slow down. Once I confirmed one of her lungs completely stopped working, I stopped the normal examination and laid her back down. Her heart rate spiked for a couple of minutes as the oxygen levels plummeted and she finally died. 

“Time of death: 17:32.” I was lucky enough to not have to do an autopsy, as I wouldn’t know what to look for, and instead confirmed my report to send to The Doctor.

I walked back to my office after dropping off the report and grabbed a tea pack and my mug to boil some water. I wanted something to help me relax, and I was ready to cry in the safety of my office. I don’t think my coworkers would still be working, as none have survived as long as The Prototype, for some unknown reason, but I doubt anyone is interested in talking after today’s assignment.

It is stupid, but I want to curl into a ball under my desk and pretend I do not work here and didn’t just kill a child. Ironic, and it made me physically sick. I was small enough (i.e. starved enough) to sit under my desk in relative comfort and I let my tears finally fall where nobody could see me. There was a camera in here, and the walls were not entirely sound proof, so I couldn’t just sob my eyes out, but there was no stopping my tears. My body shook with the sobs I held in and my eyes burned with salty tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t keep holding my mug without risk of dropping it, so it sat beside my chair slowly losing its warmth and over-steeping the bag. Everything felt like it was too much, and like nothing at the same time.

I vaguely heard a knock at the door, but that could have also been my elbow hitting my desk, and I didn’t have the will to move. Whoever was at the door ended up just coming in and I covered my mouth and held my breath so I wouldn’t be found. There was movement in my office, but I didn’t hear any voices. Instead of watching the opening, I just closed my eyes and buried them in my arm until whoever it was leaves again. I didn’t want anyone here to see me like this: weak.

“Why are you on the floor? This is completely unprofessional of you.” I heard the voice of Pierre and I almost puked.

He was the reason I was here and having to do this. He planned for me to be put in a situation to do surgery on one child, then showed me the results of the Prototype and promised to do the same to me if I tried to leave or tell anyone.

“Mr. Pierre, please. She is still basically a child herself. Give her time.” There was a softer voice speaking to the bastard.

It definitely wasn’t the Doctor. I don’t think he has even looked at me since that first surgery, and he wasn’t there to supervise this one. Couldn’t be Camryn as the voice belonged to a male, so I guess it is Dr. White.

There were shuffling of feet and the door shutting, before the sounds of someone sitting down beside me, but still giving me my space. After a few moments, the voice spoke again.

“Your drink is getting pretty cool. You should start to drink it now. The warmth might make you feel better.” It was Dr. White. 

He didn’t say much about my emotions, just made a simple observation and a suggestion to solve a couple problems: my emotions, and my ignored drink.

“How do you do it?” I croaked out.

“Hmm?” He simply tilted his head.

“How do you work here? Do all of this and still smile?” It made no sense.

“I think about the good  I was doing when I started. This wasn’t something we were always doing, and Ludwig probably would have tried to stop it if he knew the extent of the experiments, but I started here always with the intention to help the children, and for a while, that is what I did.”

He pulled out a small personal pack of Kleenex and offered me one. “There was an accident that cost Ludwig his adopted daughter and he was distraught. While I can’t talk to you about what happened, saving her is what caused what we are doing. It started out with rats, but soon moved on to children, and any willing adult. There is a different goal I keep in mind with every experiment that might be different than the Doctor’s or Pierre’s. That is in regards to the children we were experimenting on.”

I had to slide down a bit to lift my head, but I finally looked at him and took my cup in my hands.

“It is awful, the children are being put in a situation they can never return from, but the chance to save them from dying of terminal illnesses in a painful way is something I can hope for. I don’t like what I do, but their lives up until the point we put them under was spent fighting an illness ready to kill them and having the best moments of their lives when their parents otherwise abandoned them to die. We are learning our mistakes and getting closer to having some survive longer than a couple of hours. Eventually they will survive and can go on to live new lives.”

“But what happens when we run out of terminally ill kids?” I know they wouldn’t stick to just those going to die, but did Dr. White think about that?

He was silent for a moment. “I hope I don’t have to do that, but it isn’t my choice anymore. Nor is it your choice to just leave. We will continue to do what we think is right, and when that is no longer an option, we do what we can to survive.”

And that was the truth. The moment we were hired, our only choice was to decide if we wanted to survive. We no longer get to decide on what is right or wrong.

“I hate it here.”

“You don’t get the choice to leave anymore.”

We sat in silence for a while as I processed what I did, and what we both would have to do. There was no way I was the only one dealing with this, but I didn’t want to go around asking others. I did appreciate Dr. White coming and just sitting with me while I processed the child I basically killed.

“If this can help you, then I recommend you try to not think of them as human. Once they are the subjects for experiments, do not think of them as human. There is only so much the human mind can handle. Start to draw the line at what you will spend time caring and grieving for.”

With that, Dr. White stood up and started to leave my office. “Oh, before I leave. Pierre came in to let you know you could leave early, as long as all your documentation was completed and correct. Since you weren’t working on it, I figured you were done.”

I nodded my head, but he couldn’t see me. With a last goodbye, my door was opened and shut again leaving me alone. I made the decision to finish my tea before leaving, and I would decide tomorrow if I was going to come back, or if I was going to try and run away. It wouldn’t be the first time I tried.

I was right in that I wasn’t the only one affected. The next day, Camryn walked up and hugged me once I walked in. Greg sighed in relief as she seemed to finally let him go and he ran to the coffee machine. Nobody seemed to be in a happy, or in a talkative mood, but Dr. White kept a kind smile on his face and let us know the assignments we had for the day.

I finally learned his smile was rarely genuine, but he kept up a facade for the benefit of others. I could fake a smile, and make sure that the factory workers wouldn’t notice it when I finally went to lunch. It was something I had while being harassed by my classmates, and something I learned from watching my parents interact with those who snubbed them. I hated the fake smile, and I never wanted to use it, but now I see it is inevitable to have to learn.

“You all are going to hate it, but at the end of the week, there are more surgeries planned for you to participate in. Try to learn from your past mistakes and be better this time.” I heard Dr. White say over Camyrn’s head as she squeezed the life out of me.

My back popped from how she gripped my torso. I almost fell if she wasn’t holding me so tight. I had to hold my breath until she let go to limit the pain I felt. Pierre walked past us as I heard Camryn take a breath to argue, but she stopped and just held onto me until after he walked past.

Finally she let me go and I took in a breath. “Why?”

“Yesterday was the worst and I didn’t see you before you left. We are in this together, so we need to keep an eye on not only our own mental sanity, but each other's, too.” Camryn explained like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Greg just shrugged and took a long sip of coffee. It made sense what Camryn was saying, but I didn’t want to go around checking on everyone who works with us. That would just be too mentally taxing and I don’t really talk to anyone else.

“I think there is a memo on your desks, and feedback on the experiments from yesterday from The Doctor. I recommend reading over them at least a couple of times before Saturday. “ Dr. White spoke while looking back towards the other offices.

“Uhg! Fine, then I will go and deal with that, but if it is nothing but critiques, I might have to beat somebody up.” Camryn grumbled as she finally walked away.

Greg sighed and followed her to his own office and left me with Dr. White. “If it is too much to care about all your coworkers, then pick a few you feel most at ease or closest to you to care about. I know you are not the most social even within the office.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. See you later.” I spoke before heading into my own office to see what kind of memo was written about yesterday.

Research Team

Congratulations on your excellent work and dedication to this company! I have seen and read through your reports and am pleased with the progress I am seeing. Keep up the good work and I know we will see great progress in the coming months.

This is also a reminder that you should read over your contracted obligations from when you were hired. Every single one of you is important to the work we do here, and the company would be very different without your hard work and dedication to your jobs.

Pierre

Chapter Text

The day was slow, but I just knew there was something wrong. I couldn’t tell what, so I just made sure that everything I was in charge of was in order and no signs of issues. The feeling didn’t go away, so I reached out to my co-workers as they passed by to make sure the things they were in charge of were in order and not at risk of causing issues. I got a couple of eye rolls, but they claimed they would do it. As the day went on, the feeling didn’t go away, but just got worse. I was making another cup of tea while contemplating bringing up my concerns to my superiors, but didn’t know how to explain it in a way they would believe or take seriously.

I felt my heart nearly stop when I heard the rushing footsteps coming my way. My first thought was there was a containment breach, or one of the orphans got themselves into a position of nearly dying, again. Instead, I see Stella rushing down the hallway with a file clutched in her hand and tears in her eyes. That was definitely something new, and I wasn’t sure how to react.

“Do you know where The Doctor is? Or Pierre? I need to speak to them about…something.”

“They are in a meeting right now. What happened?” I was probing for information so I might have gossip to contribute to with my coworkers one day.

“Do you know if a child named Jeremy was brought here for testing or something today?” She sounded panicked and tried not to cry.

“Not that I know of. We didn’t have any surgeries scheduled and all testing is supposed to be done in the Game Station. Is a child missing?” The pit in my stomach slowly grew and I dreaded where the conversation was going.

“Then do you know who wrote this? Maybe you recognize the handwriting?”

She showed me the file of a young boy Jeremy. I remember him being one of the options I pulled a while back for a different potential adoption. All the information showed the next step was for him to go home with this new family, but instead of signing off on the official adoption date, it just said testing.

I recognized that handwriting. It belonged to The Doctor, and it meant he was the one who decided that Jeremy would no longer be adopted.

“Here, let me check something.” I motioned for her to follow me into my office and I checked through the staff calendar we used to decide the best times for group meetings. There should have been no testing or surgeries listed for the last two weeks, but apparently, testing was added to the end of last week, and a surgery was done yesterday. Both by The Doctor. Subject 1258 was all it said. No child, no reason, no toy.

“When did you last see Jeremy?”

“It was before my day off last week. Why?”

“Because there was suddenly testing and surgery added to the calendar within the last seven days. There is no information on who the testing was done on, but with your paper, I have reason to suspect it was him. Come on, we need to find out to confirm.”

I locked my computer and took Stella further into the offices to a filing cabinet we kept all the subjects files in. I dug through it until I found Subject 1258’s file and confirmed that Jeremy was suddenly taken for testing and quick surgery because The Doctor decided he was the perfect candidate for whatever shit idea he had. I didn’t say anything and just handed the file over to Stella to read herself what happened to the child.

“Why was this suddenly such a concern?” I didn’t know what else to ask.

“The Hartmann’s came to finish signing for the adoption and I had just grabbed the file before meeting them. It was during the meeting I saw the file had testing down and I checked my email, but there was no information about what happened. They are very upset and I came here to find out what happened, and if the testing hadn’t taken place yet, maybe get Jeremy so he could go to his new home.” There were tears in her eyes.

I was pissed and stormed over to the meeting room where the two were supposed to be. Banged on the door before forcing it open to reveal only Pierre in the room. He looked frustrated with me but I beat him to speaking. 

“What the Fuck is the point of standard regulation if you aren’t going to follow it?” I still had Jeremy’s file in my hand and threw it on the table before motioning for Stella to hand me the file of Subject 1258 to include.

“I’m sorry, what is this about?” He kept his cool while looking over the files, clearly seeing the Doctor’s handwriting of testing.

“Jeremy has been in the process of being adopted for months. I had confirmation he was one of the children who did not qualify for any testing and could be adopted out. Today was supposed to be that final signing and him leaving. During the meeting with his new parents, this came up. I checked the calendar and found a testing and surgery added to it all happening quickly in the last couple of days. Because Jeremy had met a family ready to adopt him, he should have been prevented from going any further in the experiments, but He didn’t care.”

Pierre’s eye twitched, but he kept his composure. He read through the files and confirmed the information I said was true while Stella stood behind me twisting her fingers.

“Do the parents know?” The fucking gall of this man.

“They are waiting for answers right now. Stella was off the day he did this and he made sure to add it to the calendar in a way we wouldn’t see or have time to stop him. That was intentionally calculated with no regard to the position it puts the company in with a now missing child who was one signature away from going home.” I gripped my hands in fists to try and not yell more for others to hear me.

“Stella, what did you tell the family before you came here?” Pierre’s tone took a slight turn and I huffed.

I hated that I let myself get dragged into this, but at least now I know why I felt dread about today. Pierre was definitely not someone who could talk to the family about what happened, as he is emotionally distant on a good day, a condescending bastard the rest of the time. I tapped my foot trying to figure out what to do as we still had a family needing answers and Stella’s, I’m sorry. I don’t know. Isn’t going to work. 

“Give me an illness.” I stated while taking a look at Jeremy’s file one last time.

“What?” They both looked at me confused.

“Give me an illness that was suddenly found and terminal and I will talk to the family about the issue.”

“And why?” Pierre watched me carefully.

“Because I want to punch the Doctor in the face for the shit he just pulled, but physical violence isn’t something I can get away with. So I need to be far away from the places he might be and the family needs some bullshit answer for this situation. Stella doesn’t know what happened and that was clear if she suddenly goes with all the answers, that is suspicious. You are the head of innovation, not a doctor and wouldn’t know what is going on. I have enough science background to be able to talk about it and I can lie about just being a doctor on staff. Give me an illness, and I will explain it.”

I’ve managed to talk to police and lawyers alone with basically no assistance or preparation, surely parents won’t be so hard. I already have experience gaslighting my own to get my way with education. 

“If you insist, don’t mess up. Jeremy unfortunately had cancer and it quickly spread through him. We were unable to catch it in time and he didn’t have long to live.” Pierre said while heading to the door.

“Are you sure?” Stella asked.

“When people get cancer, you do a lot of tests and start chemo treatment, so testing would make sense.”

“But how would you explain it suddenly happening?” Stella asked as we walked back to the family.

“His test records show evidence of brain cancer with the occasional slurred speech, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite, dizziness, weight loss, and drowsiness. Originally, this was all written off as normal. Different stressors in a child's life could cause issues with appetite and sleep habits, and talk of adoption had him distracted a few times during normal education. We can just say he had a seizure the day testing was written down and you were not informed as we were trying to figure out what happened, and because you had a different adoption you were assisting with, we failed to properly inform you. Does that sound like a good enough lie you could back up?”

I wasn’t sure how much she did in regards to adoptions in close succession, so I needed her to be able to explain that. I could take over everything else and explain what the issue was on our end with The Doctor being shit at communicating so I wouldn’t be the one taking the fall. He was also originally a known and successful brain surgeon or something before something here, so there is evidence to back up him knowing how to do the testing.

“Y-yeah. I can do that. Thank you.” Her voice was softer.

I felt bad that she was thrown into this situation, especially after I had cleared it with every one of my coworkers, including The Doctor, that Jeremy would not be a candidate for the BBI. As we got closer to the office the parents were in, I started to prepare myself for what was awaiting me, and hoped that it would all go well.

“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann?... I have some…unfortunate news.” I began as I walked into the room.

The meeting with them was long, and included a lot of yelling and sobbing on the parents part. I did everything I could to keep calm and console them the best I could. Stella ended up doing a better job at that, and was the only reason she stayed in the room instead of running away from them for this issue. I didn’t bring any documents with me and was going mostly off of my memory for the dates and what brain cancer causes, but they were willing to believe me to an extent. 

“But how did you not catch it sooner? Shouldn’t you have found it and stopped it?” Mrs. Hartmann begged.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to. We wouldn’t have caught it before he came to you all if he didn’t have a seizure, and that was if he survived that long. All the treatment we have done has only been to ease his pain as there is nothing we can do. I am not the one who has been watching him, but his nurses have just done everything to ease his passing. Going as far as to have a couple of the smiling critter mascots visit him for stories of a new adventure.”

There was one lucky thing about Mrs. Hartmann that played in my favor. She was wearing strong perfume and it burned my eyes. As I spoke, I was able to avoid sneezing, but my eyes burned with unshed tears as I prevented myself from sneezing. It made the lie seem more genuine.

“Then why wasn’t Ms. Greyber informed?” Mr. Hartmann was a little more rational and angry in all his comments and questions. He was the one I was really working towards convincing.

“Our head doctor is good at his work, however he…isn’t the best when it comes to communication with his coworkers. None of us were aware he started to test for causes of Jeremy’s seizure until he asked for a more in depth test of the cancer to find out how far along it was. With everything going on and Stella working on another adoption, we failed to informed her of the results once it was confirmed. That is our fault. As his coworker, and knowing it is not uncommon for him to not properly communicate information to everyone involved, I should have double checked she was informed so she could let you know, and maybe get the chance to say goodbye.” I bowed my head and bit my lip while trying to think of any other information they needed to know.

“Would we be able to…take Jeremy and bury him?” Mrs. Hartmann asked.

I was happy that I was looking down and they couldn’t see my face as I would not have been able to explain my shock.

“Ummm. No. I’m sorry. While it is unfortunate, and many people rather not think about it, all the children in the orphanage have notes that in case of death, their bodies would be donated to science so in cases like Jeremy, studies can be done to help prevent or find better cures for cancer in young children, or their organs are donated to other children in need who can’t accept the organs from adults. Jeremy will not have a body for a grave. I can get you the death certificate, but that is it.”

I made a mental note to check the proper information for this, in case I was wrong, but child organs were in high demand, and anyone’s body can be donated to science so on the surface, I was right.

“You do this for all the children?” There was horror in Mrs. Hartmann’s voice.

“Yes. Majority of the time, it doesn’t come to that and when they are adopted, it is up to the parents if they wish to continue to allow them to be donors or not. We work with many other orphanages and hospitals in cases of abandoned children and many people abandon children who have terminal illnesses and can’t bear to raise a child who will die in a few years. We often will receive them to help other orphanages save money on cost and give them the best years of their lives, however short they may be. If we know they will not live for long, we do not label their files as being able to be adopted, and instead make sure they have the happiest time and can forget about their short lifespan.”

Most of what I said was not a lie and it made it easier to tell the couple. Finally, they seemed satisfied enough with my answers and Stella ran off to retrieve a death certificate for the child along with a photo of him when he was still alive and happy. I continued to explain what I could and console the couple as they processed exactly what happened that day.

“If you wish, Stella can help you start the process of adoption again, and I will make sure all medical documents are there and properly up to date for the entire process, or I can give you the resources for another orphanage if this brings up too many memories, but I do recommend taking time to grieve before starting again. It is unfair to the next child if the only thing you do is think of Jeremy while trying to raise them.”

When Stella came back, I took my chance to leave, but watched from a distance as the couple left and seemed to be satisfied enough with the answers we gave. Once everything was over, Stella chose to follow me again so she could report what happened with the situation and file it as a legitimate incident report. When we got back to where my office was, I saw Camryn and Dr. White talking.

“Hey, did you ever find out what made you so nervous about today?” Camyrn asked with a smile.

It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know what was going on, but that just made me mad and I chose to Punch a filing cabinet to get rid of some excess anger I had. Dr. White gripped his mug close to his chest as I did it, and Stella jumped back at the sudden noise.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. Who made the mistake?” He asked cautiously.

“Do you remember how there was a memo going around that everyone signed in agreement stating that the children I pick out on a list are to not be selected by anyone but the families looking to adopt? The ones I already got prior confirmation they were not suitable for testing, but for adoption?” I ask with a kindness in my voice I didn’t actually feel.

“Oh, no.” Was all Camryn could say.

“Oh yes. And have you guys checked the calendar recently? Like within the last three days?”

I could see the horror in Camryn’s eyes and she shook her head.

“Don’t tell me someone didn’t follow regulation…”

“Not just anyone, Dr. White. The Doctor himself didn’t follow regulation. He knows he didn’t and it is why he didn’t fill out proper documentation of who subject 1258 was. And guess what that child was supposed to do today? Be adopted.”

I could see them glance between me and Stella, and the understanding of exactly what went wrong today dawned on them.

“Stella, use my office and write up a report about what happened and the decision we came to when speaking to the Hartmann’s. I am going to contemplate actually using the scalpel on the jerk while making sure everyone knows what to say in case Jeremy is ever brought up again.”

Stella nodded as I unlocked my office door and pulled out some paper for the incident report. With a quiet thanks, she sat down at my desk and started writing while I stood outside to give her space and explain the lie I gave the couple.

“You still managed to throw him under the bus? I’m impressed.”

“This isn’t his first mistake and he point blank told someone he doesn’t bother with meaningless documentation when others can do it instead. He just doesn’t let people know there is no current documentation leading up to his surgeries.” There was more than one reminder from various colleagues to keep up with documentation when you do anything so everyone knows what is going on.

I kept glancing in the office to make sure Stella wasn’t going through my things or trying to use my computer, but she was polite to just use what I handed her. She seemed to be keeping it together better than when she first ran into me, and that was good. The three of us continued to discuss issues we have seen with documentation and the new concerns with the Doctor’s selection process. For the most part, The Doctor just fails to properly label the child as potential for testing, and someone else has to clean up his mess. This seems like the first time he took someone who was listed as ready to adopt and put them into further testing. The bigger issue is a group of about five scientists who don’t care to follow procedures with surgeries and lets others clean up their mess. Bobby Bearhug was the first obvious result of them not caring, and subject 1204 was another. Both were one’s I had to clean up.

“Okay, I think I have it all written down. Could you read over it and sign that this is what happened while you were there. There needs to be some consequence for this and if you can sign, that means he is more likely to face punishment.” Stella stood and handed me the paper.

Camryn stood over my shoulder while I read through the incident that took place and how it was a direct cause of The Doctor not following protocol. There was a note that the event was recorded and added more evidence for her statement and what I said was written down with the observations of the couple’s reaction. While I complained about the Doctor not writing everything down and leaving it to others, I was happy she wrote everything from our interaction as it meant I didn’t have to write anything now. I simply signed my name and handed it back to her.

“Looks good. And there is definitely a paper trail now.”

With a nod, Stella walked off to find Pierre to hand over the report and for him to deal with the brat of a man. I was emotionally exhausted after today and just wanted to take a nap now. I checked the clock to see that I wasted three hours talking with the couple and convincing them that it was a tragic accident and not conscious negligence on our part.

“Last hour. Are you going to finish your work or leave early?” Camryn asked.

“Are you wanting an excuse to leave early?” I couldn’t bring myself to speak more than monotone.

“Possibly.” Dr. White smiled.

That was new. He usually stayed to the end of his shift, and only later to finish documentation or the task he was working on.

“You know what? Sure. I don’t want to be here anymore. I’ll sleep in my car for the last hour if I need to.” 

I walked into my office to properly put away and shut down my computer while the other two ran off to shut down and lock their own offices. I left a sticky note on my door for people walking by to know I left early and to see Stella’s report for the reason I left. Most won’t question it or go seeking her out, and anyone who knows the situation would just gossip about how bad it was.

The chance to go home early and sleep was rare and I often did not take advantage of it, but today I was going to.

Dear Pierre,

In regards to the conversation we had earlier, please see Stella Greyber’s incident report with my signature to learn of the immediate outcome of the unfortunate events with Jeremy and the Hartmann’s. My recommendation is to remind all staff that if surgery or testing is added to the calander less than two weeks out, then an email needs to be sent out with everyone added who would need to be in the know to prevent this situation from starting again. This wasn’t a one time occurrence, it is only the time that a family was involved. It would be in the best interest of everyone for this to never happen again.

P.W.

Chapter Text

“The first cost cutting measure in the company was the Make-A-Friend machine, right?” I was digging through some of the oldest files in the office while calling back to Camryn.

“Why would the Make-A-Friend be cost cutting?” She looked back at me from where she was looking over the finances.

“The machine is self-regulating or something. So it doesn’t need someone to maintain it, and it does all the work of putting the plushies together so we don’t need an assembly line. You’ve been on the tour before. How many people were working to Make-A-Friend?” I never got around to getting an actual tour of the building, so I am a little lost if not going directly below or to the cafeteria.

She thought for a moment. “I think there were only three people. One was the tour guide, one explained the machine, and helped the third with packaging boxes of completed toys before all the children got the chance to make their own.”

“So two people because the tourism department is something completely separate. There are several throughout the factory, and let's assume all of them only have two people to assist with turning them on/off, and packaging. It was around the 50s that it was invented, right? So there should be evidence of people either losing their jobs, or moving to different departments.”

“1960 actually, and let me find the finances for those years…” There was more paper moving around while I switched to a new cabinet drawer.

“Aha! Found it!” I abandoned my own search in favor of what she found. “There were a couple rounds of layoffs, but most people seem to have been transferred to new departments. It looks like the tourism department actually grew in size after this, and the Innovation Department was also started around this time.

“Okay, so we can’t create any more of the Make-A-Friend machines because the newer toys just can’t be made by them. What else do we have?” I sighed when that came up with nothing.

“The first contract with Warren Bach Construction was in 1930 and then renewed for another 18 years in 1972. The contract is due for renewal in a couple of months. Either we cancel the renewal, or try to convince them to do work for us at a lower cost. Maybe if it is related to the orphans we can appeal to their humanity?” 

Camryn always sounded hopeful whenever the orphans were brought up. She still looks at them as people and it tears her apart every time she does surgery. Unlike Stella, Camryn couldn’t bring herself to think that what we were doing was benefitting the orphans, or anyone.

“That is for Pierre and Roth to figure out between them, but it is a start and we can mark that down as an option.”

I went back to the filing cabinet I was looking through and started to sort through the years the toys were each created and the immediate success rates of them.

“We have an entire innovation department supposedly making the new toys on the market. I really don’t know how true that is, as Mommy Long Legs was a complete accident, but what if we offer other staff the chance to come up with their own ideas for new toys on the market?”

“Like, everyone in the factory can come up with ideas?” Camryn asked. 

“Sure. We can do a suggestion box for like, a month or something, and then go through what the hundreds of people working here would think would make a good toy. We could also extend it to the orphans to see what they like.”

“I don’t know. Have you seen the rejected toys?”

I immediately thought of Kick-Me-Paul. “Yeah, Roth thought adding a “y” to the end of Kick-Me-Paul would make it sellable. Downside is he will try to take claim for all of these suggestions if he thinks they will get us more profit. The upside is that it wouldn’t be his ideas. Adding a “y”, making it blue…those are shitty ideas on how to make a great toy. People loved Huggy because his arms were long enough to wrap around the child, and the velcro on his hands meant he wouldn’t let go even when you did. Not because he was fucking blue and his name ended in a Y.”

I kind of ranted a bit at the end, but Roth actually pissed me off with his mismanagement of the marketing department, and his fuck-up with the Smiling Critters.

“Where does this pissy mood come from?” She was laughing a bit, but she hasn’t actually seen me get mad like Dr. White has.

“I got the joy of seeing some security tapes and guess who was messing with the gas chambers before heading back to the toy production line? I don’t know why he did it, but there is definitely evidence that he was the one to put the red gas in the toy Catnap’s before they were sent to stores. I know they just destroyed the tape proving it was his fault, but that wasn’t the only thing he did.” I was telling her more than I probably should, but I was never outright told not to say anything about seeing that security tape.

“Shit, what else did he do?” Camryn completely put the papers down and faced me, eager to learn what I knew.

I laughed and indulged her. “He was the one who needed to sign off on all the marketing stuff for the toys and the factory, that included him reading over the scripts or watching the cartoons to make sure they were up to Playtime standards and changing what he thought was necessary. You know how Catnap was just creepy? Roth saw that and said it was okay, not once seeing how a silent stalker of a character wasn’t a good idea… Do you remember how some people in marketing were really pissed off with the show being cancelled?”

“Yeah? I think there were a couple of people who were going to try and buy the rights to the show so they could keep working on it.”

“I don’t know if they are the same people, but I was passing by on my way to lunch late, and one of them threw something down while yelling, “I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but nooo we need diversity in the cast. Not everyone can speak, so let’s keep Catnap silent and have no means of communication!””

“No, that was a conscious decision on his part?” Camryn was in disbelief. 

Her dad was in a work accident that took his voice and severely damaged his throat while her grandmother lost her hearing. Neither of them speak, but have both learned different ways to communicate with others that isn’t just sign language. While I can’t confirm how true that statement is, the thought that Catnap was made mute as a diversity thing and not for awareness and education just pissed her off.

“We should get everyone else on the Fuck Roth band wagon. My dad was excited when he found out that there was a toy that didn’t speak in the cartoon. He even asked me to offer his services at work to teach sign language if it was to be added to the cartoon to help with awareness.”

We both laughed at the idea of the entire research and  innovation department collectively hating on Roth, and continued looking for ways to cut costs.

“We should check to see who is quitting or retiring, maybe some of these jobs can be worked by high school students as part time? It means they don’t get paid the same benefits as full time employees, and usually will be paid less for the same work. If it is in the tourism department, then that is simply teaching them the script and the path they take.” I wasn’t confident in the statement, but it was an option. I just didn’t want to have the full time people fired just to hire high schoolers. People will kick up a stink about that.

“I’ll make a note of it, but they might just make some people part time. We don’t do tours daily and I know they don’t get paid as well as other parts of the factory. Maybe we could just make them part time so they can get another job to support their families?”

I shrugged and we marked that as a potential place for cut backs.

“Okay, let’s step away from the factory people and go to the more secure departments.”

I slammed the draw shut and sat on the floor. I took my water bottle and drank a couple mouthfuls before putting it away and talking through the areas there we could cut back.

“So BBI can’t really be used on the factory floor because we still need people working here and having tours. Huggy is the only exception because he does stay still at least until closing when nobody is around except security who knows, and the people working with the orphans who are sealed away. I assume that is where our cuts are going to have to come from.” Camryn went over what we both knew and I nodded along.

“We already have the first example of a teacher working effectively. We could make more of her to teach the other subjects. I know two teachers are leaving. One’s moving to a new country, the other wants to be a stay at home mother.” I remember hearing some of the children talk about how they love Miss Delight and wished she taught all of their classes.

“I know we have the plan to make the Smiling Critters to occasionally enter Playcare, but what if they took on the main role of caretaker and entertainer? It would get them out of the cells and have a concrete purpose.” Camryn suggested.

“I think they were supposed to work in the factory, right? At least the others were planned for it and Catnap was always going in Playcare. It will keep them as familiar faces to the children and can enact their own adventures with the group. Maybe it will help the children who are more weary around Catnap to get to know him better.”

“Yep. We would have to keep the counselors and at least some of the adoption staff. We also need to at least keep the night shift so there is someone monitoring the children’s health the whole time.” 

“That would be eight toys for the hundred plus children with constant rotation.” Camryn shared my same hesitancy.  “Actually sixteen if we have a bunch of Delight’s in the school. And depending on the other toys we have available, we could have up to twenty.” I was trying to think of the toys that were sane enough, and non violent to allow near the children.

“Mommy is in the Game Station, I don’t think we should move her as that already cut down on the number of workers there. Bunzo, PJ, and the mini wuggies should all stay there, too. Too much trauma. Should we recommend Huggy?”

“He is security, and I don’t think him suddenly disappearing from the front could be easily explained. Maybe Kissy? She hasn’t shown any threatening behavior, but she is anxious.” I didn’t see many reports on Kissy, but she has been alone in Storage block B for a bit instead of helping in the factory.

“We definitely don’t want Boxy Boo to eat the children, what about Yarnaby? He seemed to like the attention from the security staff.”

As much as I wanted to say yes, and get the chance to see him again, that wasn’t an option. “The Doctor won’t let that happen. He has nearly banned all security from interacting with him and Yarnaby is the newest member of security, becoming his personal guard dog. I don’t even get to go near him anymore. That, and he is aggressive if he doesn’t know you. Too risky with the children.”

This was also ignoring the fact that his mouth splits his head open and there is an extra set of teeth that looks creepy.

“Damnit. Okay, what about Poppy? She is used in the experiments a lot, but maybe interactions will improve her mood? Kind of like Kissy.”

“Poppy might be an option, but would need heavy supervision and limited interaction. She knows a lot and I don’t want another incident like with The Prototype.” I was still furious about what happened to Theodore and quickly changed the topic.

We continued looking through the experiments of who could take over jobs of employees and in which department they could be allowed. There really wasn’t much we could do with limiting the staff outside of keeping night staff and counselors. Security was able to be lessened to the day staff and select night staff in areas below the factory. We were also able to bring up annual reviews for keeping staff and laying the more problematic staff off.

“If the people who cause the most problems are fired, or taken to the labs, then that limits who all we pay, and maybe have meetings about concerns and let them offer their own solutions. Wasn’t there a guy named Rich who voiced his opinions in a more violent way?” I vaguely remembered someone like that.

“Yeah, you weren’t here at the time, but he was more violent in his yelling, but had some good points. Unfortunately, his anger prevented anyone from taking him seriously. I don’t know what happened to him.” Camryn gave me some more information.

“Do you think the tapes with him complaining still exist? If they do, we can see if he mentioned any solutions and list them.”

“Even if those tapes are missing, people did agree with his opinion, and were just silent about it. Maybe an anonymous suggestion box first, then going through the options in a meeting with them could help.”

“Get them to do the bulk of the work as people who deal with the problems, then let management decide if it is too much.” There was a hint of joy in her voice at not needing to do that work herself, and I agreed.

“Let’s get to lunch first, I am starving and the words on the pages are blurring together.”

“Yes, and because I have a meeting, you can write the initial report of what we found, and maybe be given next steps, or no longer look through this as it isn’t our job to begin with.” Camryn finished stacking the papers on the floor before we locked the office and left for lunch.

Dear Pierre,

After looking through the initial paper for finances, Camryn and I have located a few areas that could potentially be places to save money. We wish to know your opinion on the current suggestions before digging closer into the specific departments.

For the immediate concern of too many people knowing about the project and orphan safety, we believe reworking staff to the night shift and counselors should be the only ones with the orphans. The new teacher and program has worked well and the children have positive approval. Including that with the rest of the subjects would mean fewer adults and more streamlined education. Using the mascots will also give the children a chance to have their own adventures like in the cartoons and will also take care of the daytime staff. 

With concerns around the factory, there is not much I can offer in ways to cut costs. I do not know the factory floor well enough to know what are safety concerns and what is costing us money. One idea we had, however, was allowing staff to put their input on new toy ideas. While the Marketing and Innovation teams which approve the toys we do make should have final say, it brings in more perspectives of what people might want to see.

A few things to note that might also be taken into consideration is the contract with Brach Warren Construction is set to end this year and we either need to renew it, or find another company who would continue the construction projects that may be cheaper, or we gain more benefit from than we lose.

Please do not ask me to do the busy work you do not want to do. I have other tasks I could not complete today because you didn’t want to look through old files.

P.W.

P.W.

The reason I chose for you and Camyrn to go through these files and find places to save money is because you both have experience I do not. You yourself stated before that you spent the majority of your time in college without an income and learned every possible method you could to save money without compromising your health, safety, or education. While we value you more in the current position as part of the innovation team, your employee contract does state you will be asked to assist in various departments as the need arises and at the discretion of your superiors.

I do appreciate your hard work and we will be looking into the things you have suggested, though I can’t guarantee they will all be used.

Pierre

Chapter Text

The last few days were dragging in the facility with more and more experiments actually surviving surgery and each person stuck with dozens of toys to monitor and test. It left little time for just talking and getting a chance to relax or keep up with the social lives. I ended up staying overnight to conduct observations and a couple of final tests before planning to go to sleep in my office, but there was a risk of a containment breach and I had to stay and distract the toys from trying to escape. Some of the mini smiling critters have started to try eating the staff members and it was better to keep them at a distance instead of letting them chew through your pants to get at your ankles.

By the time morning came, I was exhausted and ready for a nap. My coworkers came in with smiles on their faces and rubbed it in my face that they got not only a full night's rest, but I apparently missed the festival's opening night…again.

“You really need to ask for the day off so you don’t get too caught up working and finally see the festival. I think you would enjoy the lantern light release.” Camryn smiled as she recounted her view from her car window going home.

“Oh well. I think I had more fun. Laying in the floor of the mini critter cell, getting the chance to snuggle with all the plushies,”

“Get nibbled alive~.” Greg smiled at the thought.

“No, not me. They didn’t dare come near. I had to stop them from eating security and they fixed the busted door.” I finally told them the truth.

“Was that the only door that had issues? Or was there anything else?” Dr. White asked while making his morning coffee.

“Just that one. Security did a sweep of the cells to make sure there were no other issues and did a restart of some of the systems when morning security arrived so there wouldn’t be any issues with surveillance. Why?”

“There was a temporary power surge and parts of the city lost power. If only one cell had issues, then either it didn’t reach this far and it’s a coincidence, or the back up generators kept the rest of the building from issues.” He explained.

I thought about it for a moment before Greg spoke up. “Maybe because a lot of the building wasn’t using power, it didn’t cause as many issues. Either way, we should all check our work stations and make sure we don’t notice any problems.”

With the others agreeing, I walked back to my office and curled up under the desk for a nap. I could hear the others laughing and I got comfortable, before their voices became nothing more than a muffle as I relaxed.

My foot violently twitched and caused me to kick the wall of my desk and woke me up with a gasp. I had to roll out from under the desk before I stretched my legs. The watch on my wrist let me know that it was getting close to lunch so I forced sleep from my eyes and stretched my limbs while standing up. Today was an easy day so I wasn’t worried about not getting my tasks done before leaving later this afternoon because of a nap lasting pretty much all morning.

The office area seemed to be deserted, so I just continued my way up to the factory floor and towards the cafeteria to finally eat. There was an odd sense of calm in the building, even with all the loud noises, and it almost put me on edge. But security was making additional rounds with maintenance to ensure the power surge didn’t cause any other issues, and I felt at ease. As I passed by the upper management offices, I could hear voices speaking. I almost ignored it, but Camryn’s voice was clear and I slowed down to try and hear what they were talking about. I realized that almost the rest of my team was in there for the meeting, and it seems nobody else tried to wake me up for it. I just rolled my eyes with the intention of asking about it later, but the sound of them about ending it and about to leave caused me to back up a bit so it didn’t appear like I was eavesdropping. 

There were other people around from different departments, but luckily none of them seemed to really be paying attention to me. Camryn, Greg, and Dr. White left the office first and turned around to look back in. I tried to walk up like it was natural, but the door pretty much blocked me from sight by the time they turned around so I stopped on the other side and waited for it to close. I heard them talk about wanting to get lunch, and Greg asking if one of them should go back down to wake me as the door was being shut by Pierre.

“Aww, you guys were going to let me starve?” I asked in a fake cheery voice, a little louder than I meant to.

There was a sudden shriek as Pierre jumped up and backwards in the air. His feet left the floor and the look on his face was one of horror, and I could have sworn I saw life nearly leave him. Everyone around us then stopped walking and just stared at the scene unfolding. Cam was doing everything in her power to not burst out laughing, and Dr. White stepped in to hide her face in case Pierre suddenly turned around. Greg was holding it together a little better, but his shoulders were shaking after what he witnessed. Dr. White was the only one who didn’t seem to struggle to keep in his reaction.

I, on the other hand, kept a fake smile on my face, as it turned into a nervous one. As much as it might be nice to see him have a heart attack and die, I don’t know what they would do to my career, or anyone else since The Doctor still answered to Pierre, and with him gone, there would be no oversight to what the monster would do.

After what felt like an eternity, Pierre seemed to gain his wit again, and said the words I had dreamed of hearing for years now. “You’re fired.”

I was overcome with happiness and disbelief, I made a critical mistake. “Really? I’m actually fired?” 

I couldn’t believe my luck. Nobody down there gets fired and can just leave, but he said it. Pierre said those words with plenty of witnesses to it that didn’t work in innovation or knew the dark secrets of the factory. I started to picture getting to leave and finding an actual job in my desired profession. One that didn’t involve working with humans or animals as the experiments, and something that helped people and the planet. I felt a sense of purpose I have not felt since first getting hired and it was all thanks to me scaring Pierre. On accident.

“...No. And don’t you ever do that again.” 

And with that, Pierre turned and walked away. Taking my dreams of freedom with him.

Once he was out of earshot, Cam finally laughed out loud, and Greg chuckled. Dr. White was the only kind person to just shake his head and look at me with pity. There was nothing any one of us could do to change his mind, and pushing the matter would do me no good unless I wanted to be the next experiment.

“I can’t believe you wasted the chance he gave you! “Really?” girl, you should have bolted.” Camryn, my dear friend, just continued to rub it in my face.

Greg placed a hand on my shoulder before leading me to lunch with them. “It’s okay, you were probably still sleepy and just making sure you heard him right. As much as Cam is right, we don’t blame you. You get to stay with us.”

His words did not help my mood, and tears were burning my eyes, but I couldn’t let them fall, less one of the other employees came up and asked what was wrong, or worse: spread rumors about me and my near firing.

“I let myself dream about a different career. I did that in front of him.”

“There is no use in dwelling on the past, even if it was only a minute ago. Let’s go eat. Unless you planned to stay the night before you came to work, I doubt you have eaten since lunch yesterday.” Dr. White spoke before we entered the cafeteria and got our food. 

As much as I didn’t want to dwell on the events I can no longer change, it did bring my mood down for the rest of the day. Not even perfectly made hot chocolate could improve my mood.

It took a week before I felt like my old self working here again and buried a small notebook with my hopes and dreams to remove them from my mind and not affect my work. I had to stop by security and unfortunately requested the use of one of the grab packs for my work today, but since I only needed it for an hour or two, it was something I could deal with.

“Hey, have you seen the new posters with the rules on them?” the security guard asked.

“No, why?”

“There is a new rule added. That's all everyone has been talking about the last two days. Here, I’ll show you.”

He handed me the grab pack and led me into a different room where a new poster was on the wall. There were three do’s and three don'ts in the factory. At the bottom of the don’t section was something that brought a genuine smile to my face. Don’t hide behind doors to scare Pierre.

“I heard that someone was standing behind a door and when Pierre closed it, the girl started to talk and it scared the life out of him. He apparently said she was fired, but then took it back after the girl almost cried for her actions.” He chuckled as he recounted what some other employee told him.

I didn’t really need to force a laugh out. While it was embarrassing that that is the story spreading through the factory, my glimmer of hope being mistaken for being upset was kind of funny. Even more so that there is an official poster banning what I did from everyone else in the factory.

“I don’t think this new rule made it down to innovation yet, so I’m going to let them know. Thanks for getting me the grab pack.” I said before turning to leave.

“No problem.”

“Some girl?” Greg asked in confusion.

“Apparently when I am sleepy, and filled with hope, I don’t look like an adult.” I guessed at the reasoning behind the wording in the factory.

“I mean, you are a stick and at best are as tall as a ninth grader. When was the last time you grew up?” Camryn asked while sizing me up and down.

“Eighth grade. In my defense, I couldn’t afford food in college and I am still paying off some debts. There also isn’t a grocery store, or fast food place I can stop at on the way home. They are all in the opposite direction when I leave.”

“Get some meat on those bones then people won’t call you a girl. Upgrade to women.” Cam smiled while nudging me. 

I nudged her back a little harder with my elbow and she actually pulled back in pain. “I was joking at first, but your elbows are sharp and pointy. Maybe you should be eating more. Weren’t you starting a garden?”

“Yeah. In another week or so, I can start to harvest some of the plants. Until then it is shopping for produce at the supermarket on my days off. If I am not too tired to leave my house.”

“Just start buying food or snacks with a high carb count so you can start gaining weight then. It is concerning that you don’t take care of yourself in both a physically and mentally taxing job.”

I let them pester me for the rest of the time it took to make coffee before we split our separate ways, knowing that I do need to eat more, and probably had enough in savings now to not shop so frugally to stock my fridge and pantry. The image of Pierre telling someone to update the rules sign to add that also made the day a little brighter.

P.W.

I am sure you are aware of the new posters around the building with new rules. I expect you to follow them, and I was serious about not doing it again. Whether on accident or on purpose, make sure you take steps to prevent it. I am sure you are aware of the consequences for not following the rules here.

Pierre

Chapter Text

I hate paperwork. I truly do. The words are written or printed to be too small to read and all the pages blur together way too much to be able to actually read and get them filed in a timely manner. What made it worse, however, was that I was having to go through paperwork on the children and determine if any of them are good enough candidates for adoption without taking away the primary selection for the experiments. The names were often changing as more children were either brought in, adopted (rarely), or experimented on and disappeared. A few names were still consistent, and it made it hard because I risked growing attached, but I couldn’t let Pierre know that.

As I sorted through the N’s, I paused and started to make sure there were not any pages that were sticking together. One specific child should have been in the stack, but was missing: Quinn Navidson. 

Quinn wasn’t suited for anything other than just being a kid in the Playcare, at least that was what his last documents showed. He caused fights and had a bit of a disciplinary issue when in class and didn’t care enough to try while in the game station. This kind of behavior prevents him from being on the list of potential for adoption, but it could be that getting out of here is what he needs.

I got up from my desk and made my way over to the cabinet that holds all the subjects and started to flip through to find any new ones that weren’t there yesterday. There were a couple of surgeries in the past three days, so if he was chosen, then it would be in the section of new experiments. I still didn’t see it, so my last attempt was heading down to the cell blocks and looking for the file there. 

I dreaded going down there, even if I didn’t have anything I had to test or study. I tried to keep out of sight of the windows so the toys never saw me, or my face. There were just times where it was too much for me to bear looking at. There was one hall where that wasn’t an option, though. I had to walk down the halls where the smiling critters were being kept. While they usually couldn’t see each other, they could see the doctors as they passed and watched with uncaring eyes. I took a mental breath before quickly walking down the hall and passing the eight toys.

I could feel their eyes watching me as I passed, knowing that was out of the ordinary, for anyone to be walking through at this time usually meant there was something wrong, or someone was in trouble; be it human workers or toy experiments.

“Hey! You completed the surgery on Bobby, right?” Someone called out and I almost tripped.

I had to stop and turn to the coworker while Dogday and Picky could see me. “The second one, yeah. Why?”

“Can you check and see if this is within normal parameters or if I should recommend she go back again?”

I bit my lip, but nodded my head and walked over to see what was going on. Bobby was clearly nervous and kept wringing her paws while looking between us and the test she was supposed to be doing.

“It’s the hearing part I am having issues with. I almost have to yell to get her attention and she keeps trying to move towards the window while I am talking to her.”

“Try doing it again so I can see.” I step back a bit to watch what happens.

“Subject 1186. Press each button that associates with what I say. Are the instructions clear?” The man spoke normally and we waited for Bobby to do anything. She kept looking around and I wasn’t sure if she knew he spoke to her.

This time, he said it again, but louder and I watched as she tried to step closer before a loud noise went off in her cell. I observed a little more before I asked to take over.

“Sure. If she answers just to you, though. I am filing a discrimination report against it.”

I rolled my eyes before taking his seat and moving it closer to the window. “Subject 1186. Can you hear me?” I asked at the same tone as the guy's second attempt.

“Umm. A little.” Bobby started to step closer, but stopped herself.

I then looked at the dials and found the one that mutes the mic and adjusts the volume. It was turned down pretty low, so I moved it to about half volume. “Are you able to hear better?”

“Yes…I can.”

I turned the sound up as high as it would go and spoke one last time. “Is this better to hear and understand me?”

“...Yes?”

“Is it too loud?”

“A little.”

I moved the dial back roughly between the two settings. “Is this more preferable to hearing what I am saying clearly?”

“Yes.”

I turned my head and spoke to the guy now looking annoyed. “It’s not just an on and off knob. You actually have to adjust the sound as well. It might also help if you pull the chair closer and center your face to where you should be speaking. As for your original question, no. I don’t recommend more surgery. This is within the scope of acceptable hearing for the experiments and if we all follow protocol, she will not have that many issues following directions.”

He huffed as I stood from the seat and complained. “These seats are so uncomfortable to sit in. I was just comfortable before you went and moved everything.”

I rolled my eyes before continuing down the hall, ignoring the glare Catnap sent me as I finally passed his cell. I didn’t see any new toys so I moved further to the surgery rooms and initial testing and stabilizing rooms. The first two rooms had nothing in them while the second had a different wuggy toy that was too small to be like Kissy and Huggy, but too big to be with the whack a wuggies. His head was tilting more than it should be and didn’t seem to have control of his arms. I stopped long enough to read the file, but left once I knew it wasn’t Quinn.

The next room had a lot more security guarding it, but they allowed me to see the files once I showed my badge. Policy allows those who run surgical teams to see pretty much any file on the subjects and who they once were. While I couldn’t just take over the studying and testing, I was allowed to look at the information, but I still couldn’t see anything in the room yet.

Subject 1166

Name: Yarnaby

Formerly: Quinn Navidson

I took a deep breath before flipping through the files to figure out why he was chosen for Yarnaby. The last two test logs showed improvement in agility and speed, but his knowledge seemed to get worse. There were also a couple of notes that reference The Doctor having conversations with him and becoming better acquainted before these improvements happened. He was also the one who scheduled and signed off on this surgery.

“How long has he been down here?” I asked one of the security members.

“The last two days. He woke up last night and it was clear the original holding cell wasn’t going to be big enough so we are currently transferring him here.”

I nodded and stepped to the side to watch everything unfold. It was a little upsetting that I couldn’t convince him to improve enough to be placed on the adoption list, and I felt all kinds of uncomfortable emotions just knowing it was The Doctor of all people who was able to reach him. But it is too late to change anything and dwelling on it will only cause me more depression.

I took a glance around, and noticed something off with the door. “Hey, is he coming through here, or the back door within that holding room?”

If he was coming through the room we were currently in, then I needed to run before something went wrong. If he wasn’t…

“No, the back door. See?”

Just as he spoke, the alarm went off and the door opened to reveal a giant Yarnaby as he leapt into the room and slid on the floor. His momentum caused him to hit the doors into our area, and caused them to open up with the lock not on.

Emergency was called into the radios as the lower levels were being put on lockdown, and all I could do was push myself against the wall and hope he didn’t think to attack me.

Yarnaby’s tail began to furiously wag and he jumped around the room, finally opening his mouth to reveal the cruelty of the doctors. His entire head opened up vertically instead of the obvious mouth the store toy, and this creature had.

“Stay back!” Someone yelled from behind Yarnaby.

The giant toy just kept jumping around and spinning to look at everyone in the room. He didn’t bother to attack, but the evidence of weapons was making everyone tense. I didn’t see any signs of aggression in his actions, and despite being based on a cat, Yarnaby was acting more like a dog.

“We need to get him back in the cell, but we are highly discouraged from using our weapons to even shoot near him. What do we do?”

Someone else in the room called out. Nobody was offering solutions, so I hoped for a miracle. “Hey, Yarnaby! Howya doin’?” I asked and took a step away from the security guard I was originally using as a shield.

Someone swore at me, but I kept going. “Do you know that’s you? Are you happy to be jumping around?”

Yarnaby focused on my cheerful voice and obviously defenseless body. There was a moment where he growled at me and I was ready to accept my fate, but then he headbutted me with his tail still wagging. At that, I forgot what he was and what I was doing there. I put my hands in his yarn-like fur and pet him. His purring made me genuinely smile. There was a moment of silence from everyone except us before a commanding voice spoke up.

“Can you get him to go back into the containment room?”

“Not a clue.” I responded before moving a bit and causing Yarnaby to sit up and open his mouth wide. 

I was finally able to see his whole mouth and it made me feel bad for him. Not only does he have no brain, but there is a set of small teeth separating his mouth from his throat. There were just so many things wrong with the way they designed his BB version.

“Come on. We need you back in the room so some doctors can take a look at you.” I don’t think he really understood me, but my tone indicated to him we were about to play.

He jumped back up and waited for me to move before smacking his paws next to me. I had to keep moving to avoid being squashed, and ended up running around the room a couple of times before I got him to chase me into the containment room. For better or for worse, the doors are not designed to immediately slam shut once the button is pressed to seal them, so I was able to slip back through before the door shut while Yarnaby couldn’t get through. 

I felt a little bad when Yarnaby started to whine, but security was giving me a check to make sure I wasn’t injured before making an incident report. I was just a little sweaty and was able to dodge his paws. I thought for a moment that it might have been because he didn’t really want to hurt me, just play, but I brushed it aside when one of the Doctor’s personal surgical assistants poked her head in the room.

“Is it all clear now?”

Some of the security looked at her appalled by her audacity, but let her know that it was.

“Hey, how did Quinn Navidson get approval for surgery? None of his test scores or counselling sessions indicated he was up to the standards set by Pierre and The Doctor.” I questioned so I knew what documentation to request in case someone asks about him going missing.

“The Doctor was the one to approve it. Said he was ready, and can continue to improve after. We have evidence of other subjects continuing to improve to the standard set.”

“Yeah, no. This isn’t the case if all but one of his scores meet the bench mark and that one score is pretty much there, with no disciplinary issues. Quinn barely started to improve and other scores went down.”

She looked uncomfortable by my statement, knowing I was right, but it wasn’t her choice.

“Okay. New question. Why the face? He had a perfectly good mouth and you kept the fake seam that indicated it should open. Instead,” I gestured to the containment where Yarnaby opened his mouth and cried out.

“That was for deception. Another…choice The Doctor made.”

I just sighed and looked back at the toy. He slightly tilted his head and I repeated the process. For a moment, we both just kept tilting our heads side to side while I thought of anything else I needed to ask.

“Is that all? We need to continue the initial testing.” 

I was going to say something sarcastic, but I didn't know her name and had to turn around and look at her nametag. “I don’t know, Jess. Does anyone on your team plan to complete the paperwork so I have documentation of his selection?”

She nodded her head. “Then that is all I needed. Good luck. Bye-bye, Yarnaby~. I’ll see you again.”

With that, I walked past her and began the trek back up to my office. I definitely planned to come back and interact with Yarnaby. Outside of his mouth, he might be really fun for the children to play with. 

“Wow, I’ve never seen you in a good mood while down here. Did they finally let you animate science lessons for the kids?” Greg asked while looking away from the room with Kickin.

“No, and I am not holding hope for that to ever happen.”

“Then what made you happy?”

“I got to meet Yarnaby. For a toy based on a cat, he acts more like a puppy and it has made my day.”

Greg’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t realize there was someone already chosen for that. Who was it?”

The reminder of why I was down there in the first place soured my mood a bit and my smile dropped.

“There’s the face I’m used to. What went wrong?”

“Quinn Navidson was selected even though he was nowhere near the benchmark for said selection. There is no paperwork yet so I went to actually find out what happened. Jess claimed they would get the proper paperwork to me so I have it filed away.”

“If he made you so happy just interacting, then I might go see for myself what kind of toy Yarnaby is.”

I chose to not say what happened to his head, and nodded. “Well, I have to finish sorting the paperwork for the kids. Greg, Don’t be like them. Actually file the paperwork so I don’t have to go hunting down children.”

“Understood, see you before I leave.”

With that, I finished heading back to my office and added notes about Quinn and marked some more potential children that could stay or be added to the adoption track for Stella and Pierre to approve.

“What is wrong with you!?” I was startled from my thoughts by Camryn’s shriek, her voice cracking part way through.

What do you mean?” I asked while turning away from my computer to give her my undivided attention.

Camryn glared at me while Greg looked a little ill. At first I was genuinely confused, but with Greg being here, I think I can suspect what she is mad about. I really don’t like to assume things here, so I continued to act like I had no clue what she was talking about.

“You could have told us about what they did to Yarnaby.” With my suspicions confirmed, I stood up and walked around my desk to have a better conversation.

“I did. I told Greg what happened to Navidson. Did he not tell you?” I knew what she meant, but I also needed a break from thinking.

“No. Not the kid, his face.” This time, Greg spoke up.

“Oh, yeah…I didn’t really know how to describe it, so I figured it was better to see it first hand.”

Cam’s glare grew worse and I turned to not look directly at her. Greg just sighed and leaned against my door frame. 

“At least you saw it while he was in containment. Imagine my surprise when he breaks out and is yelling at you while close enough to eat you.”

That statement gave her pause. “He broke out?”

“Kind of. The door was not properly secured and when he went bounding into the containment, his fabric paws did nothing to stop him from sliding into the door and opening it. By some miracle, he was not aggressive. He seemed to just want to play. For a cat, he acts more like a puppy.”

Greg just shook his head. “There was plenty of security to monitor him so he didn’t try to break out, but he seemed more aggressive than what you described.”

“Were they testing on him?” I asked, looking for a solution to the differing reactions.

“A little. He wasn’t very receptive to the testing, but he started to get hostile when we entered the area to observe.”

I thought about Greg's words. It didn’t really make sense for him to suddenly become so hostile when two more people entered the area, especially since they didn’t have weapons, unlike the security in the room who did.

“Maybe that was just the kind of person the kid was?” Cam guessed.

“Kind of? He didn’t care about the testing in the game station and intentionally didn’t try his best, even with Mommy and the employees trying to give him incentive to do better. Even I tried my hand at getting him to improve. Quinn wasn’t the biggest fan of being here, and wanted to go live with his grandparents, but they couldn’t take care of him. I think the note in his file was that if he could improve in his behavior, and schooling, they would be able to take him in. They also mentioned they were fine with him being adopted by someone else if it meant they could see him again.”

“Seriously?” Greg was surprised. 

“He wasn’t originally brought here. It was his attitude that moved him from foster care a town or so over to here. I think someone let them know the chances of him improving were slim. Counselors talked to him about it, but they didn’t seem to get through to him. I tried my hand at it a few times as well. My note was to not recommend him for the experiments due to his temperament, but my opinion isn’t valued by The Doctor. It was him who seemed to get through to the kid the most.” I said the last part bitterly under my breath.

While on the outside, him getting through to, and encouraging children to be better was a good thing, it was his plans with them that made it a problem.

“Wait a second, is this the kid that had security brought out to control him a couple of times? What if he is able to recognize some people and that is why he was more docile compared to when we went.” Camryn asked.

“Maybe. I can try to be a part of Yarnaby’s monitoring and see if that is the case, or if I was just seen as a plaything the whole time.” I did want to see Yarnaby again, as he made me really happy just looking at him.

“That would be a bruise to the ego.” Greg snorted. 

“Yeah, if she had one.” 

I rolled my eyes as the two took jabs at me, but smiled, nonetheless. It was times like these I could forget what was down the hall, or further underground.

“Anyways, good luck with that. I think I will continue to keep a moderately safe distance away from the toys, so they don’t come after me. If you have any paperwork to take to Pierre, I can do that for you. I have my own I am taking now, so it can save you the trip.” Camryn spoke while lifting her own files she was holding the entire time.

“Nah, I got it. It was all documents on orphans and their categories today. I need to stop by Stella’s office first to get her approval for any changes I made anyways.”

“So when did this become part of your job again?” Greg gave my desk of papers the side eye.

“When Zack and Stacy asked me by name to help with the adoption process. I think Pierre is looking for enough evidence that I am not a good employee, or I am too much of a liability.” I was fond of that memory as I was able to get a child out of here and with a loving family.

“Making you part of so many departments is a sure-fire way to make you a liability if you ever snap.”

“I think that’s the point.” Cam whispered loudly.

“At this point, I think I figured out how my luck works. It will not kill me, but I will suffer. Hence working here and with more than I should be doing, but not getting formally reprimanded when I occasionally speak out of turn.”

We finished up our conversation and proceeded to our next locations to finish the day. Stella was surprised Quinn was no longer in the files but just shook her head and continued with her business. I was lucky enough to catch a couple of The Doctor’s personal assistants in the hall and weaseled my way into working with Yarnaby again. It was mostly observations, especially when The Doctor wouldn’t be around, but it was something and it brought me a small bit of joy to see the toy bouncing around, even if his head was unnerving.

To whom it may concern

As of this memo, no staff members are to interact with Subject 1166 unless I explicitly tell you. Everyone who was originally assigned to testing and monitoring Subject 1166 will no longer be responsible for it. Continue on with all other assignments as normal.

Dr. Sawyer

“Well, shit.”

Chapter Text

As silly as it may seem, I took to humming the intro song to the Smiling Critter cartoon when I was at risk of having a bad day and I would be in the presence of the children. Apparently, Stella believes I have a calming smile the children trust unconditionally. Clearly she wasn’t around when Quinn decided I was a threat to his carefully crafted persona and he took to attacking me with a grab pack just because I smiled when I greeted him.

My task in the Game station was one I was a little more pleased with doing, even if Mommy Longlegs has shown her clear distaste for me, and every other adult she has seen. I can’t blame her, but the children do pick up on her attitude, and there is a chance some might start to act out to mimic her behavior. Regardless of her opinion, I still needed her help locating a specific child.

“Hello, Mommy Longlegs!” I called out to her once I saw her.

She was smiling and talking with some of the children, but her smile dropped when she saw me. “Oh, hello. What are you doing here? Don’t you normally hide in the observation rooms?”

I ignored the jab at me and went on with my question. “I am looking for a specific child. His name is Nicolas Smith. Do you know if he is doing one of the tests or out here?”

She glared at me for a moment. “And why are you looking for him?”

“I need to do some additional testing to determine the next steps with him.” I began to pull out his file so I could show her the information, knowing she wouldn’t tell me a thing without proof of what I wanted.

“Nope. I won’t be a part of that. So you can go away, and leave my children alone. Monster.”

The last part was said under her breath, and I bit my tongue to try avoiding how hurt I felt.

“You have seen him take the musical memory tests and I am sure you are aware of how terrible his scores are during it.” My statement caused her to pause.

“Some children learn at a slower pace than others.”

“Maybe, but in other situations, Nicolas shows remarkable skills for memory and quick thinking. You can ask Miss Delight about his grades and habits during lessons, but she has brought up the same concern I have, which requires an additional test.”

Mommy stared at me for a moment before asking. “And what, pray tell, would this additional testing be?”

“A color blind test. I have reason to believe that is why he is failing at musical memory, and if he is colorblind, then I can work on adding him to an adoption list to go home to a family who would be able to help him in a way Miss Delight and our caregivers are not able to.”

Her eyes widened and she moved closer. “How would this get him added to an adoption list?”

I lowered my voice so the children who had started to move closer to listen to our conversation wouldn’t hear. “Certain disabilities and learning problems qualify children for adoption instead of experiments. I have a personal list of children who are off limits for anything other than adoption that not even Doctor Sawyer is able to touch. I would like to add Nicolas to that list, but I have to prove he can’t perceive color normally. So do you know where he is?”

She stared at me for a long moment, probably trying to see if I was lying in any way before standing back to her normal posture and responding in her normal voice. “Nicolas is currently in wack-a-wuggy, but he should be finishing up any moment. I will go get him and bring him back here. Stay and wait for my return.” 

I nodded my head, knowing Mommy was very protective and only let a few adults wander around the Game Station freely. I was clearly not one of those people, and I doubt my coworkers were any different. I took the chance to look around the entrance of the Game Station to see who all was around and what the children seemed to be most interested in. The older children seemed to have the most fun with the foam pit, while the younger kids kept running around some of the cardboard cutouts of the various characters. I saw the train doors begin to open with Dogday stepping out and greeting some of the children who were nearby.

“Hello, kids! It’s time to go back to Playcare. My friends and I have a wonderful adventure waiting for you all to join us!” More and more children ran to board the train, excited for the adventure they may be able to go on once back in their home.

I turned away to see if Mommy Longlegs was returning with Nicolas, and felt Dogday’s eyes staring at me. When I looked back to see if the kids were boarding safely, I could see Dogday’s smile turned strained before looking back at one of the smaller kids who started asking questions about what they would be doing. At the same time, Mommy came back with Nicolas following. His eyes lit up when he saw Dogday and almost ran past me, but was stopped by a long pink arm.

“Nicolas, this is P.W. She wants to do one more test with you before you go back to Playcare. Will you please follow her?”

Nicolas looked up at me for a long moment before back at Dogday, who was watching our interaction, now that all the other children were on the train. “Will I still get to join in the adventure?”

“Of course. This will only take a few minutes and I will make sure you make it to the Playcare for the adventure. I am sure Dogday and the others wouldn’t completely leave you out of the fun.” I explained with a smile. 

“Okay, where will we be going?”

I motion for him to follow me away from the train and to the stairs leading to the observation rooms. There was a meeting room that was often used to finish writing the reports from observing the tests. With no children in the Game station, and several minutes passing since the last games, the room was empty for everyone except me, a counselor, and a nurse.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked nervously when he saw everyone in the room.

“No, they are here to help me out. I noticed that you have trouble with the musical memory, and Miss Delight has mentioned some concerns for some of the lessons she and her sisters give you. Do you have trouble with seeing during musical memory?”

“No, I can see the directions just fine.” Nicolas said it quickly while looking away from me.

I pulled out a seat for him while nodding my head. “Are you able to see the colors when instructed?”

He sat down and I pushed the chair in slightly. “...Yes?”

“It sounds like you are not telling the truth. Again, you are not in trouble.” I respond while taking my own seat. 

The nurse in the room took over the questioning. “In that case, I’m sure you won’t have any problems answering some questions. Try to answer as fast as you can. What number is this?”

It was a simple color blind test with numbers made of dots in various shades of colors. Some were done quickly and without issue while others did not get a response within an acceptable timeframe. There were a few where he didn’t get the number at all. There were a few other cards the nurse held up that didn’t actually have a number in them, and you could tell Nicolas was trying to guess at what the number was. After a couple of minutes, the nurse finally ended and showed us the number he got wrong with a note of what colors were used in the test.

“After the test, I think it is safe to conclude that you are red-green color blind. I will get to work on the proper documentation to add to his file, did you get all the information you needed?”

I nodded my head and wrote down my own notes for why he should be recommended for the adoption track.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked timidly.

“No, not at all. It just means that you're not able to do the musical memory in the way it is set up. Miss Delight will also have to give you a few different assignments so you can complete what she hands out without being at a disadvantage.” The counselor explained.

“She’s right. Now that I know why you struggle with musical memory, I can try to talk with Mommy Longlegs about making the game fair for you. There may be others who are colorblind and would struggle the same way you do. This also means that we can inform families who are interested in adopting so they can accommodate for this.” I explained and thought about if Stella would be able to do that or if it would be blocked.

A quieter question paused my thoughts. “Am I broken?”

“No,sweetie. You are not broken, you are just a little different. There is nothing wrong with that.” The counselor spoke up.

“She’s right. Look at Bobby Bearhug and Catnap, for example. Bobby can’t hear very well and Catnap struggles to speak other times. They are not broken, just a little different. There is nothing wrong with that.” I didn’t go into details about why they had problems hearing and speaking, but it seemed to make Nicolas feel better.

“Okay, it looks like it is time to get you to Playcare. Come on and I will take you back. P.W., is there anything else you need from us?”

“No, that was all. Thank you for taking the time to help me with this.” I responded while standing up.

I walked back to the entrance of the Game Station and waited for Mommy to come down from the roof where she was spying on the meeting.

“Well, did you get the information you wanted?” She sounded so condescending.

“Yes. He is colorblind, and will no longer be doing musical memory. If we are lucky, we can program a version that is more user friendly for him, but until that happens, he won’t be doing it anymore.”

“And what about his future?” I knew this was the most important question for her.

“Once I pass the information onto Stella and get the documents from the nurse who administered the test, I can move on to putting his file on the adoption track. Stella and the others who are in charge of adoptions will take over helping him find his forever home.”

I saw her relax a bit, but I didn’t pay attention to it. I said my goodbyes and ignored the don’t come back unless… comment she said while walking away. I instead moved to head up to the cafeteria so I could finally grab a late lunch.

Stella

Attached are the documents in relation to Nicolas Smith including an updated medical record to indicate his colorblindness. Please let me know if there is any additional information you need about the updated medical papers and I will work on getting that together. Please help find him a good home with this in mind.

P.W.

Pierre

Attached are the updated files on the child Nicolas Smith. After additional testing was completed, it was determined this child is red-green color blind and is the reasoning behind inconsistent results in class and during musical memory. I recommend him to be put on the adoption list to prevent any complications that may arise with experimentation.

P.W.

Chapter Text

Pierre ended up hounding me to get all my assignments completed and do the testing on Kickin before the following week because I was out for three days and completely ruined the surgery schedule. As predicted, I was the one to do the additional testing on Kickin to determine if he was safe enough around the children, or if something needed to be done to prevent him from talking about what he went through. I ended up just not going home after the surgery on Catnap and continued to work through the paperwork and plan for additional testing on Kickin.

There was someone sitting at the observation window to monitor my interaction, and presumably there to call for help if I am in danger, or report if I do anything stupid to warrant me getting punished. The guy there looked like he could still be in college, but seemed completely unbothered by sitting there. He had a name badge, but I couldn’t read it from my eyes not wanting to focus enough to read small print. It was going to make my job harder if I couldn’t read my own notes or plans for this test.

“Is everything ready?” I felt my throat trying to object to me talking, but pushed through. I was exhausted and water wasn’t helping me wake up.

“Yep. Subject 1183 is awake and showing full consciousness. Security knows you are doing this and several people are on standby, but one would be by after you start as they are having a discussion about the last few nights. Would you rather wait for them to get here?”

“No. I don’t have time to wait. There's more I need to do after this.”

I walked to the door and swiped my card so I could enter the room with my clipboard. Kickin was sitting in the room in the corner and was carefully watching the door as it opened and I walked in. The window allowed me to see the boy sitting at the console, and I could hear him breathing through the speaker. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kickin was on edge because of that.

“Hello. I will be running a few tests on you to determine your capabilities and cognition to do your job properly. Do you understand.”

I watched the yellow blob in the corner of the room, but didn’t see any reaction to me. I squinted my eyes to try and get them to focus, but it wasn’t helping. With a frown, I turned and walked back out of the room and took the kid watching us.

“Is that coffee?” I glared at the coffee mug.

“Uh…yeah? There is no rule against having coffee—”

I cut him off as I grabbed the mug and drank everything inside the practically full cup. It wasn’t very flavorful and was made with milk and sugar instead of an actual flavored creamer. I frowned at the bottom of the cup, but looked at the observer and could actually see his face.

“What was that for!?” 

I was finally able to make out his name tag to see Peter West was his actual name. A more recent hire who complains of only being a biologist and skips work when he gets the chance. The only reason he wasn’t fired yet was because Dr. White covers for him and The Doctor is still picking his brain for any important information he might have learned from his schooling in Europe.

“I need it far more than you do if I am the one doing the testing and in the room with the experiments. I’ll get you a new cup after I am done.”

I pressed the button so the widow would act as a two way mirror before walking back into the open door for the room. Kickin stayed in the corner and just watched me.

“Let’s try this again. Did you understand the instructions I gave you? If you can, please voice your response.”

“Yes…I did.”

“Good. Now. What is your name?”

“...Umm. I don’t remember.”

“What sounds like it could be familiar?” I needed to know how much Kickin remembered of his past and what was missing.

Kicking rubbed his feathered hands together and looked down to think but kept me in his peripherals.

“Ki-...I think I’m a chicken and my name is Ken...something.”

He was close. The child used was named Keith, but with him waking up during the surgery, he probably heard them talk about being a chicken and maybe what that chicken was called.

“Your name is Kickin Chicken. Some will refer to you as Subject 1183. If you are called that, you will need to respond to the instructions. Do you understand?”

He nodded at first before answering in the affirmative. 

“For the duration of this test, I will alternate between the two so you get used to being called and responding to both names. I will be going through a series of questions and just answer to the best of your ability. If I, or the observer, have reason to believe you are not answering truthfully, the test will be postponed until sufficient punishment is administered. Do you understand?”

Again, Kickin answered yes. This one was quicker than before with a quick and obvious nod. I proceeded with the test, using Kickin more than Subject 1183 as I personally don’t care to call them that. I was using the questions the counselors ask the children when they first arrive to determine the kind of trauma they may be coming in with. I was going to let others have the final say as I really wasn’t in a head space to do this today. I ended up forgetting some of the things I wanted to ask, so I went off random things. I started to ask about what he knew of the other Smiling Critters, and his thoughts from what he had seen. 

I ended up staring off into space more than once, trying to figure out if the rest of the surgeries were completed. It made sense they would have as they were scheduled to be done by the end of the week, and I waited until the last minute to do this. His cell was situated where he could see the others passing by. 

“Umm… Are you done?”

“Huh?” My eyes felt like they were stuck in the corner of the room, not looking at Kickin.

“I asked if you were done with the questions?”

“Oh, yeah.” 

I took a few tries moving my head before my eyes were willing to follow. At that point, I could look back at the chicken and see the nervousness on his face. He looked like a kid who wanted to ask a question, but not get in trouble. With a yawn, I put him out of his misery.

“Do you have any questions for me before I leave you alone?”

His glowing eyes darted around the room before landing on me again and asking quietly.

“How is she?”

“Who.”

“B-bobby. I saw her and…she looked in a lot of pain. I never heard her cry out, but I could hear her hitting things….”

I nodded as he trailed off.

“I had to take her back for surgery because yours wasn’t the only one botched. Her eyes are looking like yours now with the little white glow, and she was humming or something when she was brought back here…sometime this week. I haven’t heard of anything being wrong, but I am also not in charge of her.”

“Could you…check for me? And let me know if she is doing okay?”

I watched him for several minutes while my body decided if it was going to sneeze or just burn my nose and eyes. I tried to nod, but was turning my body to the door and left quickly. Bobby was a few cells down now instead of being right next door. I passed by the other Smiling Critters who were either away and stressed, or unconscious. Bobby was at the end.

I could see her sitting up this time, and the light in her eyes was still there. She looked around nervously, and tried to move, but not by much. I could hear her breathing while she struggled to lift herself with her arms. The furthest she tried to do was move where her legs were positioned, but otherwise didn’t try to stand or move around the room. A note was left explaining there would be a simple mobility test later on for progress.

I trudged my way back and was briefly stopped by Cam in front of Picky’s room. “You look a little rough. Did you finish testing?”

“Yeah, Kickin asked about Bobby, I came to see to answer. Then I am going to sleep.”

“Okay, is she doing better?”

“She can move her limbs intentionally, her eyes glow, and I think she can speak. Someone is testing mobility later.”

“Okay, sleep well. Don’t push yourself too hard.” she called as I trudged back to the room.

“Bobby is better, but I don’t know if she can hear or really speak. Someone else will do that testing. Anything else?”

“Uh, no. That was all.”

His voice shied away from me at my, possibly frustrated, tone. My only defense is that I am tired and the only thing stopping me from curling on the floor and sleeping was the bright lights causing a headache.

“I will see you…eventually.” I said before leaving back to my office.

I barely crawled completely under my desk before I was knocked out.

I woke up to giggling and shushing. I stretched my legs and toes completely before relaxing again and opening my eyes. Camryn was sitting in my chair and holding a camera while smiling brightly at me. I took a minute to blink consciousness back into my eyes before I rolled to sit on the floor and look at them.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Did you know you do acrobatics in your sleep?” Cam was still giddy while asking.

“What?” 

I was then handed a few photos that were just finishing developing to find she had been taking pictures of me sleeping. I almost looked like a pretzel with one leg bent with my knee to my chin, with the opposite arm bent up and around my head. My hips and shoulders were not in line with each other. I was still tired, but I tried to process what I was seeing.

“Please don’t take pictures of me while I sleep? Why are you in my office anyways?”

“Bobby started to talk and communicate with the staff. Dogday has completed all of his after care assessments and Kickin might get to interact with him. Depending on their interactions, the other Smiling Critters might be able to do their recovery together instead of alone.”

I nodded and reached above my head for a water bottle. “What about Catnap?”

I hadn’t heard much from him outside of the fact I didn’t kill him. He was not going to be part of my workload, and The Doctor seems insistent on keeping it that way.

“There are no attempts being made for him to interact with the others. He for the most part lives in a gas chamber where nobody can really get to him. It will be after he shows signs of obedience that he will go into Playcare for his chosen job.” Greg answered and I quickly turned to see when he arrived.

Camryn giggled before continuing. “I think he is only going to be in Playcare for the night and will be doing experiments in the labs the rest of the time. I watched him in his room for a while. He waited until I was spacing out before running at the window and hitting the glass with his face and paw.”

“Oof. It’s not my problem, so I think I will leave that alone. Is it time to go home?”

“Yep. Pack your stuff.” Greg moved to leave my office as I finally pulled myself off the floor.

I should have written out a report of the day, and the improvements on Kickin, but I was done and could do it in the morning. Pierre could be mad all he wanted, but I was at least on time 98% of the time with reports, unlike most of the workers down here.

Chapter Text

“...Subject 1354’s surgery went just as I expected it to. Physical recovery time will be a week at most. Mental recovery will be a little longer, but that is more for the adjusting period.”

I paused at the door to Pierre’s office when I heard Dr. White explaining a surgery he just completed. It was weird. I hadn’t seen any scheduled surgeries. Not even The Doctor added in his own sudden surgeries today. I was tempted to listen in more, but the rule Pierre set for me was at the front of my mind while I also wanted to get the paperwork in my hand to my boss quickly so I could pack up and leave early.

“Excused me…” I knocked on the cracked door while announcing myself.

“Come in.” 

I entered at Pierre’s voice and nodded to Dr. White who stepped out of the way. I glanced around the room to see what might have been new, and for the file on Subject 1354 so I knew what the new toy was. I have been getting more and more curious over the years about what is going on and it was getting concerning.

“This is the latest data about the Projects and Stella was wanting to schedule a meeting with you about adjusting the selection process. Do you know where The Doctor is? I had several of his files dumped on the table outside my office and there was no note on what I should do with them. I didn’t see him in his office, and it is a bit of a mess so they would get lost otherwise.”

I glanced at Dr. White in case he knew where the man in question was, but he only smiled. This smile didn’t sit right. I know his fake smile, and I am familiar with his genuine, but this wasn’t either. I wanted to focus harder, to confirm if it was a smirk or if the nerves in his face were dying, but Pierre called my attention again.

“Ah, yes. You will be taking over those observations. Dr. Sawyer is taking on a different role and right now we are redistributing his cases. If there is a case you were assigned that you don’t think you can handle, then switch with someone else. You have until the end of the month to finalize all of the cases.”

I thought for a moment that one of the cases might be Yarnaby, and I was about to race out of the room to find out, or locate it and take it, but I was stopped.

“By the way, there will be new regulations soon. Please make sure the others know that their schedule should be cleared for next Monday afternoon. Provided no other accidents happen in that time, I want everyone there. Please let Stella know that I can meet with her in the morning, and she should have everything prepared in advance. Help her to make sure she isn’t being unreasonable. Actually, make sure your whole day is open so you can be a part of both meetings.”

“Yes, sir.” I huffed and glanced back at Dr. White.

He still had the smug smile on his face and it was a little off putting to see.

We all expected the meeting to be standard stuff. Reassigning some cases for an individual to focus or other projects, talk about our shortcomings and the need to correct them, point out who is the lowest in the group with the most failures (never looking at The Doctor), and bringing up any concerns we have that doesn’t involve questioning what we are doing overall. And that was how it started. A few people switched files, I was told specifically I would not get Catnap’s file, and someone brought up replacing some of the surgical tools we were using. When asked about where The Doctor was, the meeting took a very big turn.

“Dr. Sawyer will no longer be your direct report for the future. From now on, Dr. White will be in charge of those decisions. He will be assigning the cases.” Pierre smiled.

“What happened to Dr. Sawyer?” Mike asked.

“Let this be a reminder to everyone: If you make mistakes, you will be punished accordingly for them. Dr. Sawyer was kind enough to be Subject 1354. In the future, any questions you have about the experiments and testing can be asked to either Dr. White, or Subject 1354. I am sure you will find his knowledge to be useful for you.”

I was dumbfounded when I heard this information. As much as I loved that he was no longer in charge, but I didn’t expect him to be a new experiment, much less a glorified computer we were expected to go to for questions. I looked to Dr. White to see what he was thinking, and he was smirking. There was a certain amount of pride that wasn’t always there, and his eyes looked almost giddy at the new position.

“I plan to make a few changes around here that will make things easier, but until I send out an announcement, please continue by the standards we have already put in place. I know I will get this department into the proper shape where Sawyer continuously failed.”

The confidence in his voice sounded more like arrogance. Pierre didn’t make a comment on Dr. White’s statement, and just continued to explain the new role Subject 1354 would play in our work.

Cam and Greg were lost in thought while looking over some of the files they traded. It was a lot of information to take in, but seeing this new side of Dr. White was kind of throwing me off. I just floated through the rest of the meeting and started to get up to leave with everyone when Pierre held me back.

“P.W. You still have another meeting. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Isn’t this exciting for you? You no longer have to listen to the man who made your life so difficult. And I am finally getting the position I deserve. I think we are all winning here.” The condescending tone was grating on me.

“I’m still expected to go to him for questions.” I pointed out we would still be working with him.

“Bah! You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you won’t really need to ask him questions. You’ve always had a good head on you and strong instincts in the job. You are a valuable asset to us all.”

That statement gave me pause. I was reminded of what I was told about my file and the amount of work I was doing. It was frustrating to know Dr. White most likely has access to it and has full control over what gets added or removed from it based on the experiments and testing I normally do.

“I’ll make sure you get the proper respect and recognition you deserve. Just keep up the good work and follow my orders. I am in charge of you now.”

I made a sour face as Dr. White left the room with a chuckle. Pierre then reentered (I didn’t know he left) with Stella following behind him.

“One meeting down, let’s get this one over with, shall we?”

“How the fuck do you just do something like that? He was glad when he was responding, and smirking when Pierre explained ‘The Doctor wouldn’t be doing his normal work anymore.’”

“I mean…we all wanted him gone. This is what we were all threatened with, so it should make sense for him to have the same…termination process.” Camryn spoke up.

“I don’t think that’s what she meant.”

“Thanks. Greg.” I slump to the floor of my office and just process what I used to know about Dr. White.

“With that being said, he definitely acted differently around you.” Greg continued.

“What!” I was shocked.

“Not like Alex. Nowhere near what Alex does, but Dr. White does act a little differently. He has a kinder smile and definitely helped you more than me.”

I tried to understand what Greg was referring to. I couldn’t see it, but if he only acted a certain way around me, I wouldn’t see how it could be different.

“You’re right. I don’t think he has ever offered me advice unless I asked specifically, or you were around. What’s up with that?”

“Are you sure it isn’t like Alex?” I was having my doubts.

“Positive. It was pretty much being a kinder mentor to you while keeping a bit of a distance. There is something weird about it.”

They continued to talk about what they noticed and how he interacted differently with me compared to others, but something stuck out to me. Specifically how he reacted around The Doctor. The first time I met him, Dr. White ran out of the room when he walked in with a child being carried after him. The Doctor demands people to listen to him and what he says must be right. That was a kind of power and control many people strive for, and often try to imitate. Dr. White never imitated that, he hid from it. And yet, he was proud of himself and his work. Now effectively taking over the experimentations.

I crawled up to reach my desk and started messing on my computer to look up any information I could on Dr. White.

“What are you doing?” Cam watched with interest.

“Finding out who Dr. White is. Why is he even working here? He started before us.”

I started on the public search engine, but after a few minutes of seeing normal results, I looked at the human directory from Playtime. Every child who enters Playtime’s care, worker’s, and former workers are all kept in records that were being transferred to online. Only the computers in the building with a specific software on them could get this information, but I was not smart enough to know how that worked. I was just one of the lucky people with access.

“When did we stop the young genius program?” Greg asked while I looked through the categories down to our department.

“Good question.” I skipped over it and clicked on our department and the appropriate file.

It had all the normal information an HR department would have on an employee, but my computer allowed me to look through more information.

“Why is his file, like…forty years old?” Cam pointed to the date created and last used being far longer than his time as an employee here.

“Was Playtime ever accused of violating child labor laws?” I clicked for a more detailed page and saw it was first created under the category of “Young Genius” from decades prior.

There was a photo of him as a child, smiling bright while listing the information for when he was a kid here. It was listed in a way that wasn’t normal for Pierre’s documentation style. The signature on the scanned paper confirmed this was done by Elliott.

“So he’s been here a while…Is this what those kids were being trained for?” Greg asked while moving my mouse to show other images from his time in the program.

There were various photos of him working on schoolwork and experiments with a smile on his face, but what Camryn stopped him on was a different photo.

“I know those eyes. Is that Sawyer?”

I looked closer at an individual in the background and could confirm it. I backed out of Dr. White’s file and looked up Harley Sawyer in the system. Sure enough, there were two files. One of current employment, and one from his time at the Young Genius Program.

“You know, I think there is history between them.” I said while looking through the overview page.

“You think? Sawyer got kicked out while White stayed through the whole program. You would think he would have been the head of surgery.” Greg shot back.

“Not so. Dr. White published research, but was a basic bitch of a pediatrician. The Doctor was the leader in his field of Brain surgery and research into better methods of operating.” 

It painted a clear picture of their relationship. Sawyer was a certified genius, but had issues getting along with humans. Dr. White was smart, and used his social interactions to move him forward, but didn’t have the same smarts to be considered for the higher position.”

“I wonder how many other people from the program came back to work here.” Cam asked while taking my mouse from me.

“I don’t know names that well. So it’s up to you guys to figure it out.”

I moved to let Cam sit down and watched her scroll through the files of the children who were part of the now discontinued program. The names didn’t stick out to me as anything special, and Greg kept his mouth shut while Cam scrolled, so I don’t think there were many who joined. I was about to recommend we go back to our initial plan, but stopped Cam when I saw a familiar name: Lucas Patterson.

“Stop. Click his file.” I pointed him out.

Sure enough, it was the same person I knew. My professor in college and the one who got me an internship with him. I started to tap my foot while trying to think about what this could end up meaning.

“Do you recognize him?” Greg asked.

“That’s my professor.” I took my mouse back and went to a more detailed page of what he did while in the program, and a brief note on what he went on to do.

There was a note in the details page I clicked on to read.

Dr. Patterson is now a professor within the biology department of Northwestern University. When reaching out to join the project, he was initially interested, but deemed he would not be able to give the time commitments joining the project would intel. Instead, he will look for students he could send our way and join the project. Currently have one student in mind and will be observing her during an internship for compatibility.

“There’s….” Greg started but trailed off.

“What are—” Cam equally lost her confidence in her question.

“Based on when this project started, I think this is me. He only does internships every three years and his last one had a focus on rats and meth. I was the only intern at the site from any of the researchers.” 

There was a lot wrong with everything leading up to me coming here. The only reason I agreed was because Pierre reached out to me, and I met him at my internship. After a moment of silence, and rereading the file, I backed out of everything and opened up a basic web browser. I looked up my professor’s name and found that he was in close contact with Dr. White through graduation as they worked on the same research projects for their internships. 

“I am so sorry—” Camryn started but I stopped her.

“There is nothing you could have done. It’s my fault for not paying enough attention to the contract I signed and not looking further out for other jobs. There is only one thing I can do from here.”

Gerg eyed me. “And what would that be?”

“I’m gonna make Dr. White my bitch for being part of the problem. He wanted power and was Pierre’s little pet to get it. I will be taking that away from him. He doesn’t get away with that.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” 

“All he is good for here is surgeries and follow-ups with the experiments. I am the one with a hell of a lot more control and say in the selection and distribution of children and responsibilities. I will block him from getting his hands on any child without following the exact protocol and if that means I need to scare other workers into following the exact protocol laid out for safety reasons, so be it. Now. Who has Yarnaby’s file? I need him for this to work.”

I stormed out of my office and just started to walk the halls. There was a lot of information I was missing, and I couldn’t just demand it of any of the people here.

P.W. 

Unfortunately, I will not be turning over Yarnaby’s file to you. He has a specific job and you do not have the authorization or clearance to take on his observations. As Pierre has said, you will not take over Catnap’s observations. Just continue to work with the mini smiling critters so we can implement them into Playcare within the next year.

Dr. White

Head of Special Projects

Chapter Text

The reports I was seeing from the reactions to the Smiling Critters in the Playcare were about what I expected. Bobby and Kickin are the most nervous of the two, but that makes sense for what they had to go through to get to where we are. Dogday is playing his part perfectly and everyone seems to get along with him. With the personalities all being different, there is almost no child who can’t find something relatable to the others. The only issue that was showing up was the discomfort children felt around Catnap. Stella was very strongly against letting Catnap reenter the Playcare for the benefit of the children he terrified.

I guessed this would happen when the staff started to remove the shower heads above all the beds, but it wasn’t really fair to him. He doesn’t talk much, and most of the time he isn’t let into Playcare until it is time to put the children to sleep. It meant they didn’t have the time to get to know him like the other Critters, and he is unfortunately much bigger than the others.

“Hey, Greg.” I called out down the hall for him.

“What’s up?” He poked his head out of his office.

“You had a pet that looked really aggressive, right? How did you convince others it wasn’t a threat?”

I wasn’t allowed any pets, and by the time they were going to be used as a reward, I was already planning my escape so I had no context to pet owning.

“Oh, Snoopy? Yeah he terrified the children of the neighborhood when we first got him, but now he deters others from trying to kidnap the kids within his sight.”

I nodded my head and listened more.

“I borrowed my neighbor's yard that had a fence and showed the kids he was trained. They took turns feeding him a treat for a trick and eventually they were comfortable enough to pet and play with him. He still looks threatening, though he is up there in years.”

I nodded along and looked back at the reports. “They’re not animals.”

Greg looked over the documents I was staring at, confused. “...no?”

“They act like animals sometimes.”

“What are you going on about?”

I finally looked up and voiced what would be my next experiment. “Do you think catnip will affect Catnap?”

Greg just looked at me with confused horror on his face. I didn’t break eye contact, but I could see his arm raise before dropping down on my head.

“Let the people who get life insurance for your death they are about to get  paid.”

“They don’t exist. Will you monitor for me? Catnap’s handler is out for the next two days and I’m not bringing this to The Doctor.”

“Wait, you’re doing it now?” He looked baffled.

“Yep. There is nothing on mine, or your schedule and the Smiling Critters are all chilling with nothing to do. Let’s get it over with.”

I moved to drop the papers off and quickly grabbed my car keys.

“If you are not back in twenty minutes, I am heading home early and you will be on your own.”

“Bet!” I yelled before racing up to the entrance.

I took a gamble at running to the farmers market earlier in the morning and bought some catnip to put around my garden to deter insects. I could probably go back for more tomorrow…if the whole town doesn’t suddenly decide they need catnip.

I was lucky that the sun wasn’t frying everything in my car yet, or else this would have been a waste of money. I took only a couple of the plants before quickly walking back into the building. There were a few confused looks, and the unfortunate stop of a tour group where some child spotted me.

“What are you doing with plants?” the child asked, completely ignoring the teen trying to give a tour of the factory.

“Plants don’t have a use in a toy factory!” Some smaller kid yelled out.

“I am conducting research. The use of plants in our research is what helped us make the smiling critters with their unique, long lasting smells.”

I wanted to be bratty at the kid, but it wasn’t my job. As much as the children in grocery stores were getting on my nerves, not every kid was like that. I quickly turned and ran off to leave the underpaid teen to answer more questions he had no idea how to answer. I should feel bad, but what else did he expect when taking a job at a factory that is known for keeping secrets.

“Ba dadundumm!! I have the supplies.” I cheered when I ran up behind Greg.

“How–!? Nevermind. I will watch and take detailed notes on your death so I can get the most out of your life insurance.” Greg sighed before walking off to where Catnap was being kept. 

“Just make sure he doesn’t try to spray the Red Smoke into the hall. I will do my best to survive.” I instructed with a thumbs up and grabbed a gas mask before opening the door and walking in. 

Catnap was scratching the floor when I entered. I kept one plant in my hand with the gas mask and tossed the other plant to him. “Here. impromptu testing. Please smell this and tell me what you think.”

I really had no idea what I was doing, and I just knew Greg was laughing at me from outside. I held my breath while Catnap glared at me before leaning down to the plant. If he tried to gas the room, I could slip my mask on and exhale to get the gas out of the mask before there was a risk of me inhaling, but Catnap didn’t do that. He actually sniffed it like I asked.

Instead of telling me what he thought, I watched him faceplant into the plant and broke the plastic container so it was easier to get to. I watched for another moment before turning to look at the one way mirror.

“I don’t have a notebook, write on a piece of paper and we will burn it later.”

My voice caught the cat's attention and he looked back up at me. He looked a little more docile.

“I’m going to be honest with you. You scare the kids and Stella wants to get rid of you. At least keep you out of Playcare and from the children. If that happens, you will be subjected to continuous testing until The Doctor completely breaks you. I don’t want that.”

I moved to hold the other plant in my hand. I saw his eyes focus on it, but his face stayed close to the one I threw at him.

“If the children do not fear you, then that will not be what happens. Is this plant something you like?”

He nodded his head.

“If I was to come closer, would you attack me to get it from my hand?”

“Yes.” He finally answered and I watched his nails stretch out for a moment.

“If a child was holding this plant, would you attack them to get it?”

He paused for a long moment. I waited for him to answer and stayed in a relaxed position. His claws retracted into his paws before he finally answered.

“No…”

“My plan is to let children have bits of this plant and hold them while near you. I want them to trust you so you are not stuck in the cells all the time. But to do that, you can’t attack me while I come near you. Will you let me help you?”

His white pupils seemed to grow the more he breathed in the plant. It was the most relaxed I have seen him since he first left surgery. I didn’t try to move in case he took it as a threat and just leaned more on one leg to relax.

“Fine.”

I took careful steps closer just to see if he changes his mind, but the only thing he does is sit up and has bits of dirt and catnip on his lip. I pulled a few of the leaf-stems off the one in my hand and rubbed it on my palm before lifting my hand up, fully expecting him to try and bite it. Instead, he pushed his head against my palm where the plant was and continued to breathe in. I saw bits of Red Smoke leave his mouth and I stopped breathing while fumbling to put the mask on. 

“Okay!” I exhaled while stepping away.

Catnap didn’t move his feet, but his head started to follow until I was out of reach. The gas stopped trickling from his mouth and he watched me.

“Maybe try not to do that, but if you can act like this around the children, they might trust you more. I know your job sucks, but I will do my best to help the children trust you. Tomorrow, you have nothing to do, so I will have people take you to Playcare and I will find some of the braver children to give the catnip to. Are you willing to try this?”

He nodded.

“Great. You can keep that one. And tomorrow we will work on the trust the children have in you.”

I quickly left the room and forced myself to cough in case I inhaled the Red Smoke.

“That went better than I was expecting. Why did this work?” Greg was baffled while watching me.

“Fucking luck, that’s how. Now I need to go to Playcare and find the brave children to help me with this.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“Don’t jinx me with your pessimistic thoughts. I don’t know what to do after this to help him.”

Greg lifted his hands in surrender and we parted ways to finish our tasks for the day, if he wasn’t just leaving.

I took the Elliott Express into Playcare and was greeted by one of the counselors. “What is going on? I was unaware of any children being adopted out today.”

“They are not. I was actually wondering if there were any children who would be willing to help me with something tomorrow.”

“What does it include?”

“Holding a plant and willingly greeting Catnap with it.” I held the plant up to show her.

“And…how will this help with them being afraid of him?” She asked skeptically.

“Catnap will act more like a cat when he smells this. I just tested it out with him and talked about the plan. He is willing to try if the children are.”

With a suspicious nod, I followed her as she gathered some of the children. The Smiling Critters were out here today and watched when certain children were called to come to me. I ignored their stares and sat down on the ground to explain to the children what they were called for, and how I needed their help. These children were eager to help me and were enthusiastic to try and befriend the giant toy.

“Okay. Tomorrow morning, probably after some of your lessons, I will come back and you guys will help me show the others that Catnap isn’t really that scary. He is just big, and shy.”

With a nod of their heads and some verbal agreements, I let them go back to their games and went to pack up belongings so I could leave for the day. I would have to cut the plant up when I get here so I give an even amount to those children, and hope nobody tries to stop me since the documentation for this test is virtually nonexistent and I don’t plan to share it with others only for it to be used against him.

Security had to escort us through to the Playcare. Since he didn’t go in during the day, but later in the evening, I made sure there was adequate security that could handle if he tried to suddenly run. Stella met me at the entrance, and security waited just outside to not interact with the children. I could see the nervous look in the eyes of the children, so I motioned my arm for Catnap to head to a more secluded place.

“Are you sure you know what you are doing? It’s bad enough he is here every night.”

“I do. For the benefit of the children, they need to know he isn’t someone to be afraid of. They know that with the other Smiling Critters. Where are they?”

I looked around to try and find them, but they were nowhere to be found.

“The children who are not part of classes right now are in the Playhouse. They are all in there on an adventure.” 

I nodded. “Can you go get the children who were willing to help me?”

“I already let the teachers know, and an announcement was given to those in the playhouse. They should be here soon. What if this doesn’t work and it terrifies the children more?” The nervousness in her voice started to leak through.

I watched Catnap take perch by a large fake tree near Home Sweet Home and watched us interact. I watched for any movement or indication he was talking to something that managed to get into Playcare, but there was no sign of that. He just watched us interact, the tip of his tail flicking every few seconds.

“The suggestion is taking him back to surgery in an attempt to make him more friendly but we all know that won’t help. I am hoping they don’t try to make a second. There would be too many safety risks having two of them walking around.” I saw a Miss Delight lead three children out of the schoolhouse around the same time screams came from those leaving the Playhouse. Dogday was following those children before he cheerfully greeted Catnap.

I walked further and greeted the children, confirmed they understood what they were supposed to do, then walked closer to where Dogday was talking to Catnap. I rather he wasn't here because I didn’t know him very well, but seemed to be the one who kept the other critters calm and open to listening to the workers. I would rather he not tell anyone what I am about to do.

Catnap continued to glance back at me and the children, but quietly spoke with Dogday. Their friendship was nowhere near what the cartoons would claim, but Dogday was the only one who really interacted with Catnap when he showed up. It is suspected the others' lack of interacting with him might attribute to the children being more nervous.

“I would rather Dogday not be over here for this. Can you keep him away?” I turned to Stella and asked quietly.

“You want to do this alone?”

“I did it before. He knows this is for his safety as much as the children’s happiness. It will be fine.”

I waved her off and passed Dogday as we were called away. The children followed at a distance and I pulled the bag of catnip from my coat for Catnap to see, but not anyone else.

“Do you remember what we did yesterday? It’s the same thing.”

I spoke calmly and watched for any sign of aggression from him. There was none, and he stayed in his position as I pulled some of the plant out. I felt like a drug dealer to a bunch of kids when I gently placed some in their nervously waiting hands. 

If there is ever a reason to execute an employee, it would be for passing drugs to the children.

I kept the thought to myself as I stepped closer to demonstrate to the children what to do. Catnap’s eyes watched me closely, as if I was playing a trick on him, before moving his face closer to smell. Once again, he just pressed his nose and mouth to my hand where the plant was sitting.

I could hear the giggles from the children and one of them walked closer to see what I was doing.

“Are you ready to try?” I asked.

With eager nods, they lined up behind me, and I slowly lowered my hand so the children could reach Catnap when his head lowered with it. They were still hesitant, but Catnap continued to keep his face in their hands and inhale the smell of catnip. Eventually, one of the children raised their hand cautiously so they could pet him. The plant in their hand caused Catnap to move his head to them and they jumped back in surprise.

I stepped between them and held the plant out before lowering his head further. “It’s okay. This is what we agreed on, remember? They’ll be gentle.”

I raised my other hand to test it first, and I was able to get my hand to rest on the top of his head. He made a noise, but didn’t push away. His tail flicked, and I kept an eye on it as the child tried again. Catnap didn’t say or move as the small hand started to pet him, and the giggles let the other children know it was okay to touch him. I took a moment to glance behind me and saw a bunch of children looking out the windows of the schoolhouse with a couple of the Miss Delights watching as well.

“Is Catnap going to be here with us during the day as well?” One of the boys asked.

“For today. I don’t know about everyday life. His job is at night to help you all go to sleep. That means he needs time during the day to sleep.” I explained.

While it was true, it wasn’t like he could get much sleep in the observation and lab rooms. I couldn’t imagine him getting any sleep here if the children were so loud and wanting him to join in on their games. The plus side is the cartoon they watch doesn’t have Catnap joining in on the adventures so it isn’t something the children immediately expect of him.

“Can you all keep a secret about the plant? I don’t want everyone to know.” I checked my watch to see the classes were going to let out soon.

With the group all nodding, I held the open bag to them to drop the plant back in. “the smell will stay on your hand for a little while. Catnap, will you be okay when all the children come out?”

He blinked slowly at me. Outside of when he is huffing catnip, he doesn’t relax around me, and I needed to know if he would be nice to the children who don’t have catnip on their hands. I didn’t move my eyes from him as he moved to sit up and tower over me. It felt intimidating, but I didn’t feel like my life was in danger. Not yet, at least.

“I will be.” 

“Good. You know Home Sweet Home. There are several Miss Delights in the schoolhouse, and they are particular about who goes in. The counselor’s office is normally closed so the children in there can have privacy. Feel free to go into the playhouse with the children or sit out here in the open. I will be here for a while, so let me know if you get tired and I can take you back.”

I turned to walk off, but one of the boys stopped me.

“Where do they go when not here?” He was talking about all of the smiling critters as the Miss Delights stay in the school.

“They have rooms they go back to so they can rest between their time here with you all.” I was vague about where they go. It is technically a room, but was more a prison cell for them and had nothing to be comfortable. I was hit in the head and turned to see Catnap standing and was walking away. His tail almost hit me again as he walked.

“He said he wanted to stretch his legs first.” One of the children giggled.

“That’s fine. Do you think you guys can convince the others that Catnap is someone they can trust? My word can only do so much.”

A couple of them saluted before running to the doors of the school to wait for their friends. Dogday was walking to Catnap and Stella was continuing to watch me so I walked closer to her.

“He did that on purpose.”

“I know. But I am pushing him to do a lot more than he is supposed to. If him “accidentally” hitting me in the head with his tail is the only thing he does, then I take that as a win.”

She nodded slowly, but looked suspicious. The bell rang and the children ran out of the school to have fun with a group of them going towards Catnap, who sat back down in his original spot. Dogday was with him again and he excitedly greeted the children who were interested in seeing the giant cat during the day.

Dear P.W. 

I will write to you as well. Catnap is doing better in the Playcare now and there have been no incidents. The children seem less afraid of him, though if any of them got scared during the day or had a bad dream, they have negative reactions to Catnap wandering the halls. I am still not a fan of him being here, but he is carrying out his job and lets the children play with his tail or rest around him. I left out the circumstances in my report, but I will tell him if Catnap’s attitude gets worse. 

Please continue to monitor Catnap when in the labs and inform me of when he is in a bad mood. I don’t want him near the children when that happens.

Stella Grayber

Grace

If I see you attempt to touch any of my experiments with your fucked up conditioning treatments, I will feed you to Boxy Boo. I don't mess with your work, don't even think about fucking up mine.

P.W.

Chapter Text

I shouldn’t complain, it distracts me from my normal work, but I was close to actually voicing my whines about the extra paperwork I have been forced to do on top of the normal stuff. Stella left a note telling me there was a couple looking to adopt and mentioned me by name again, so I was in charge of finding them a child. While it meant I could make sure a child got out of here, I was starting to resent Zack and Stacy for mentioning me by name to everyone for this help. It meant, on top of everything, I was having to plan meetings with them, go through all the files again, plan to have selected children in the game station for me to observe, talk with said child, and do the paperwork for adoptions. Stella also became my supervisor for the duration of the adoption process which meant I was answering to three people every day instead of two.

Stella ended up scheduling the meeting where little Thomas could go home without confirming it with me and I had to fight with my schedule to make it work without being locked down here for the night. The weekly progress reports were done faster than the probably should have, but there is rarely any change with the toys I am observing. They are not the Bigger Bodies and couldn’t really speak, so it was seeing if they could hear and understand me and check their mobility. I could get away with not instructing them through more complex tasks today but wouldn’t be able to put it off next week. I took colored tabs and placed them on my documents as I went so organizing and filing wouldn’t take as much time, if people put things away correctly, and I had a folder to keep all documents separated while I travelled without having to run back to my office for the next stack. By the time I was done, I had to physically run to get to Playcare in time to pick the kid up and make it to the front entrance to be able to go home.

I got some weird looks, and someone called on a radio to check for any emergencies, but I ignored them as I ran. By the time I made it to the Elliott Express, I was heaving and had to sit to catch my breath before pretending I wasn’t rushing when I greeted the children and retrieved Thomas. Not every child would be in Playcare right now, but Thomas would, and it would be the first time he hears of officially being adopted. I don’t know what to do if he decides to not go. I have been lucky so far that all the children are excited to leave.

Stella would be waiting with the parents while I get Thomas, so one of the other workers was down there to call the children and get them excited for the announcement. I put on the brightest smile I could for the children and waited for them to all gather around. The smiling critters and Miss Delights all gathered to hear the news as well. The teachers stayed near the schoolhouse, and the critters stayed a few feet away so it would be a moment for the kids. None of the toys looked very excited, but their fake smiles grew once they saw a kid turn to look at them.

“Our special P.W. is here with a very important announcement, so listen closely!” The worker cheerfully spoke to the children.

“I do. I have been in contact….and a family has decided to adopt one of the very special children here.” I started and the squeals of the children grew before quieting down.

I let my eyes land on each one of the children here, knowing that the process is kept hidden from them for a reason, before looking at one of the less enthusiastic children. She had stated she was not interested in being adopted, and she was taking extra counseling sessions to help her process her emotions. Her frown grew as we made eye contact, but before she could say anything, I turned my head and offered my hand out to Thomas Dillard.

“Thomas! The Owens have decided that you would be a perfect fit in their family and want to take you home with them.”

The children cheered while the little girl sighed in relief before cheering as well.

At least she doesn’t wish the others to stay and be miserable with her.

Turning my attention away from her, I watched as the children celebrated and Thomas ran back to Home Sweet Home for his things. There were a few others who followed, including Catnap entering the house with him. I tried to tune out the children as I waited for him to return with all his belongings so the Owens’ could take him home. There was a nervousness in the Critters eyes, and I made sure to ignore them. Or tried to. 

I couldn’t hear, but there were a few children asking Dogday and Kickin a question with Bobby and Crafty leaning closer to hear. They all looked concerned, but Kickin was the one to walk over to me.

“Um, excuse me. P.W.?”

“Yes, that is me. What is it?” I asked while glancing back at the home.

“Some of the children, and us, are curious about what you say.” He started while placing his wing on a child who was hugging his leg.

I started to get worried I was swearing or something. “What about it?”

This time, the little girl spoke up. “Why don't you say 'chosen’ when you come here? You always say adopted while the others say chosen.”

I froze at the realization of what I had done. “I…didn’t know that was how the others talked. It was never something I was informed of. Only that I was to come down here and inform the child they were being adopted and take them to their new families so they could go home.”

The girl nodded and ran back to the children to tell them my answer. I could hear her this time. She was calling me weird for not knowing. I almost called her a brat under my breath, but Kickin was still there.

“Was there something else you needed?”

“Thomas…Is he really leaving?” The question had a hidden meaning and I knew it well.

“Yes. The Owens have been in the process for the last month to adopt him and he will be leaving Playtime’s care. I only help on some adoptions, and all the ones I help on, I come to retrieve the child. The first, and last time I didn’t come to get the children, Victor ran off and met Mommy before we had put her in the Game Station. She was aggressive until meeting him and I was able to get him to his new family safely.”

Kickin was quiet while watching the children. There was some kind of hesitancy, and I wasn’t sure how to fix it. The children will catch on if he isn’t careful. The personality he is supposed to have is fading with his anxiousness. I saw the door open and Thomas came running out with his bag of belongings, Catnap standing in the doorway to watch him.

“I will never come here to choose a child. I swear that on my life.” I said before smiling and letting Thomas run into my leg to slow his momentum.

“Can I say goodbye to the Smiling Critters?”

“Of course. I will wait for you by the express cart. Say your goodbyes.” I took his bag and walked off so he could have some privacy in his farewell.

It took a few minutes, so I quickly messaged Stella that we would be delayed but he finally finished saying goodbye and jumped on the cart. The critters seemed to be smiling brighter as they waved us off, Thomas pressing his face to the window to watch us leave. Catnap continued to watch from the home, but I didn’t pay much mind. He was protective of what he considered his territory, and I was not allowed in there.

“I think I will really miss them.” I heard Thomas speak quietly.

“I’m sure they will miss you too, but you are going to your new home. Knowing that makes them far happier than you leaving is making them sad. That is their job. To watch and keep you happy until you move on to the next chapter in life.” I didn’t want to say adopted, as many children never will be, but they all don’t just die.

Once we made it up front for Thomas to go home, I stood away and thought about what I learned. The smile on the critters' faces were just as bright as they normally have for the children in their games, but that isn’t what they usually do for children when they are chosen or adopted out. They were never told the orphans were used for the experiments, but the information definitely got out early on to them. It was entirely unfair, but I am happy I told them the truth. All the other children were a coin toss in the favor of experimentation, but I could at least confirm to them that the children I go to retrieve would not suffer their same fate.

“What took so long? They started to get worried that an accident occurred and your text didn’t give any info.” Stella asked while we walked back down.

“I let Thomas say goodbye to the critters and it took longer than I thought it would. Hey, why does everyone else tell the children they are chosen?” I figured I would find out the reasoning behind the wording.

“Because they are. They were chosen to be adopted by a family,” Stella lowered her voice and leaned closer to my ear. “Or chosen for the experiments.”

“So it is a way to technically not lie to them?”

“Yes. Do you not do that?” She returned to her normal voice puzzled.

“No. I was never told that. A kid came up with Kickin to ask and called me weird because I didn’t know.”

“What do you say?” 

“I say they are being adopted, because that is what is happening to all the kids I go to retrieve.” I lowered my voice this time as we entered a hall that, while empty, would make my voice echo for others to hear.

“That’s not the protocol made.” Stella pointed out.

“I am not changing. The critters know what happened to the children, and my wording is the one way they know the children are escaping their fate.”

Stella sighed at my blatant refusal to follow protocol with the children. “You know you’re a hypocrite, right?”

“My wording doesn’t affect anyone else. It is when actions and documentation isn’t done properly that I take major issues with.” I countered.

“Fine. It’s not like you do this all the time. Just don’t tell the children you mourn for them if you are there when one is chosen.”

“Like I am stupid enough to do that.” I laughed while she shook her head. 

Stella may be part of a completely different department, and one of the head chairmen of the company, but she would be subjected to the same punishment as me. I was at the point I was being flippant with the threat, but I was good enough at my job that it had to really be considered before just throwing me under the knife.

“I will finish up all the paperwork; you can go back to…your job.” Stella spoke as we made it back to our offices.

“Thanks. I need to rework my schedule now since you didn’t double check with me before planning for Thomas to leave today. Have fun with the kids.” I waved bye while moving to my office.

P.W.

After taking time to consider your words, I am willing to overlook your statement when interacting with the orphans as long as nobody else starts to use the same language. There is magic in words, and the children have already started to pick up on how you speak differently but laugh at your reasoning. If others begin to use the same language, I will require you to follow the established protocol. While your primary job is important for the company, I will not let you take the magic from the children while they are under my supervision.

I’m sure you understand.

Stella Grayber

Chapter Text

Today was something new. I was meeting with the marketing team for talks of a new toy or even toy line. The Doctor needed new toys and marketing needed a solid plan for selling new toys so the company could stay afloat. When Pierre told me I would be part of the meeting, I initially refused. I wanted nothing to do with Roth and his theft of ideas, then I was told he was gone for the next two weeks and why this meeting was happening. I blocked off two whole days for this to ensure we fleshed out as much as possible. I didn’t want his filthy hands on another toy product. Especially if I was part of it. Pierre didn’t care and marketing was on board, so we would all be on the same page.

“Okay. P.W., thank you for taking time out of your busy day to join us. Hopefully with your fresh perspective, we can come up with something to wow the world.” The team lead, Jesse stated.

“Thank you. I hope my limited expertise can help you all as well.”

I didn't pay close attention to things that interested kids, but there was one interesting conversation at the store I could lean on. I just listened at first. They knew marketing better than me, and I just needed to take notes, and guide them to consider a few ideas The Doctor seemed to need for more experiments. The current debate was on the number of toys they would work on. Either focus on only one and hope for a big win, or do multiple. I spoke up when there was a moment.

“I think we need to do multiple toys. The Smiling Critters started out so well because they each had different personalities to appeal to more children.”

Really, I needed more toy options to bring back.

“We don’t want a repeat of their incident...” Jesse looked at me almost accusatory.

“There are more than eight personalities, and Roth isn't here. You are in charge and have final say on everything here. You have two weeks of full control, and you listen to your team. As long as production starts before he returns, you can make sure it isn’t a repeat of the Smiling Critters.” I heard quiet murmurs of agreement as I watched him think over my words.

“Fine. We will take two hours  to plan something like this out. If we can’t, we go back to a single toy idea.”

The rest agreed and got to work. We ended up making a list of every personality trait that could be made into a defining person. An additional list of animals was made as potentials for this new group that would vary between cute and cuddley, to weird or obscure. Once we ran out of ideas, personalities were slowly removed from the board that would be too far off the Playtime Branding. We had about forty personalities by the end, excluding the Smiling Critters.

“The toys that did the best included a natural smell. We could add that to them. Should it still be calming scents?” One person suggested.

“I recommend not using any of the same smells as before. We should also use new animals. We have plenty of cats and bunnies running around here.” I added.

Some people laughed at the idea of bunnies and cats running around the factory. I envied their naivety.

“Well, what kind of personalities will we use? They need to kind of go together.” Jesse asked while looking at the list. There were a few I kept eyeing, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know how many we should have, but it probably needed to be more than three.

“What if we appeal to the horror trend?” Someone spoke up and I turned to them with interest.

“Continue.” Jesse prompted.

“As people get older, they gain more interest in horror movies and often talk down to children's toys. What if we have an introduction toy line to this genre while still being kid friendly?"

“Children naturally have a morbid curiosity. We can lean into that through the kinds of animals we choose.” I added with a thought.

There were kids a few days ago who had been talking about a dead rat they found in the woods near their neighborhood. Nothing was going to eat it, so they were watching it slowly decay for the past few weeks and talking about it at the store. I have no doubt there are kids all over the world who do the same thing.

“And how would we keep it on brand?”

If only you knew how on brand it was. I kept that thought to myself.

“Do like the looney tunes or Tom and Jerry shows. Cartoon violence and silly pranks.” I offered instead.

There was more conversation and a grouping of personalities that are not seen as cute or always desirable, but common to see in people. Eventually, I watched them settle on a name: Nightmare Critters.

“We should have less cute animals like a rat or salamander as part of the group.”

I kept listening as they planned out the animals from the existing list and tossed around ideas for scents to use. Some obvious ones were chosen based on their name: Shark, rat, vampire bat, raven, dragon (to be opposite of crafty), and alligator.

“Have a black sheep. To all adults, it is obvious why they are part of this group.” I nodded my head in agreement with this statement and they added it along with an alligator.

“We should give them all teeth. Help set them apart from the Smiling Critters and show that they are all predators.”

“We can, but leave the teeth off the salamander and raven. They don’t have teeth naturally, so we should keep it accurate to the animals.” Jesse agreed and made a running list of common character traits for the toys.

“What kind of smells are we going to have?”

I had a thought and spoke up. “What if the rat smelled like catnip?”

They actually thought about my suggestion and I waited to hear their response. 

“No. If a family has a cat, they might tear it up trying to get to the core of the smell. We don’t want to risk it.” Jess decided, which was fair.

“If we made cat toy balls of our characters, then we definitely should.” Someone voted.

“Write that down for later. We will need to change branding in fifty years and that can be the new track.” Called a person to my left.

“Let’s pick some scents that make people happy. Like coffee, chocolate, and smoke from a camp fire.”

While they debated the scents they would be using, and which one made sense for the items, I brought up an important question.

“What age are you looking to market the toys for?”

All conversations stopped when they heard my voice. When nobody spoke up, but were paying attention, I continued.

“Coffee is more of an adult drink and small children don’t always like camping.”

“If we are following the horror trend, maybe market and use themes that middle school kids can relate to?” someone suggested. 

I listened and made some notes that might interest The Doctor. Specifically, selecting the older children who it is too late to adopt without asking or saying the wrong thing for investigations into our orphanage and those caring for them. I kept my ear out to the conversations that were taking place around me. The scents were put on hold until they figured out personalities and slightly deeper characters.

A few had shifted to working on the style for both the art and what the toys themselves would look like. Another group was selecting which personality would be given to each toy. They were working with vanity, emo, depressed, gluttonous, and gossip toys to flesh out first. One had to be the leader, and the dragon obsessed with money and popularity was their initial pick for an obvious leader. I wasn’t a fan, and pulled on my own experience to try and get them to change their minds.

“What if you make the depressed one a reluctant leader to the others? The implications that the others are using the dragon for something, and we shouldn’t advertise that. Those who are depressed often self isolate or believe they do not have friends and a support system outside their families. Have the leader depressed, but with friends who drag them to be part of the fun.” I offered.

“I like that idea. My sister was depressed in school so I want this character to be something she could have found comfort in back then.”

“Ask her about the concept and we can make adjustments tomorrow.” Jesse spoke while working on rough sketches of the characters.

After a while, and well past the two hour limit, my stomach growled loudly while working on notes I could risk people snooping through. The others laughed and Jesse finally looked up.

“We normally skip lunch until the project is completed and ready for production, or sacrifice someone to get food from a place near the factory. It is just easier for us all to continue working.”

“I can get you food. I can’t contribute like everyone else.”

“Hell yeah! Let her go!” Someone immediately tore a paper and wrote down their order. 

The group passed the paper around to add orders until the paper made its round to me. I looked over the food people asked for and calculated how much money I had on me, and if my debit card made it back in my wallet or left in my house.

“I’m not bringing drinks down here. That’s too risky for me to drop, and I don’t want to keep going back and forth to my car.”

“It’s fine. We have our own stash down here. We’ll have a cash pot for you when you get back to cover the cost. Plus gas.” Jesse smiled before getting back to work. 

I nodded and left to feed the workers trying to save the company from bankruptcy. Apparently, this place knew this order well. It was a sign Playtime was coming out with a new toy or cartoon. The employees here packed all the food in a box I could just carry back to them. There were twelve meals which all included fries, but no drinks. I bit my lip when looking at the total but reminded myself that one, I am not broke anymore, and two, they were paying me back for this.

“Thank you, and we look forward to what’s coming next!” I smiled and left with the carefully packed food.

By the time I got back to the meeting room, I was shocked. There were dozens of sketches for these characters and dynamics in the relationship between them. There were still questions they were trying to answer, but a lot of it was already decided. I set the food down on an open spot at the table and looked at my watch to confirm the time. I was only gone for an hour, but this looked like days of work.

“Is this how you always work?” I asked shocked.

“When Roth isn’t an ass, yes.”

I laughed and set the box of food down in an open spot. I wouldn’t pull anything out until they were ready so there was no grease on the papers scattered about.

“Give us some input on this. Should we do another cartoon, or should we write a comic for them?”

I just bit into my own sandwich and had to quickly chew. “What would end up being the difference?”

“We would need an intro song, voice actors, and submit for animations. It would reach more people, but our target audience might ignore it.” Jesse explained.

“What would their theme song even sound like?” Another worker asked.

I started humming what I would think would go along with the characteristics of the critters while a couple of people listened in. I suddenly stopped as my eyes widened a bit. “Think I am humming a mix of Addams family and Monster Mash. I don’t know. I’m not the most musically inclined person.”

“Don’t worry. I handle the concepts and send them off for proper development. With that being said, I vote that the nightmare critters keep a halloween vibe to them and their music.

A few people shot off ideas about the kind of sounds and instruments that should be used and a staple of their music while I continued to think about the benefits of a cartoon over comics.

“I don’t know how you guys budget for these kinds of things, but what if you did both? The cartoon can be simple antics and pranks like Tom and Jerry or Loony Tunes, and the comic can be more story based?”

The group stopped and thought about it for a moment before a woman spoke up.

“We technically have the left over budget from cancelling those spinoffs, if we…I can’t believe I’m saying this…give up on reviving our pride and joy, it can offset costs.”

She looked devastated at even mentioning the possibility.

“Playtime won’t do it. At least not for several years, and even then. This is the closest thing we have to a second chance and doing it right. With luck, this turns out great and we can try using the smiling critters as recurring side characters for more diverse interactions.”

Jesse seemed certain of this idea so I continued to sit and listen to them talk over what they wanted to do. It left me mostly silent, but it was great to get out of the labs for a day. Maybe two.

“P.W., are you available for the next two days? We want to continue to pass some ideas off you to flesh out some things we might be overlooking. If you have anyone you can ask for opinions on this as well, we would love for you to bring that information back to us. If not, that is okay. You were a big help today.” I nodded at Jesse while I finished writing my own notes.

My last hour of work was just going to be writing up the report for what The Doctor might be able to expect for the future, but I could limit the amount of information I give him and spread it out over the next few days to keep me out of the labs.

“Yes. I will confirm my schedule, but I should have at least some time over the next couple of days to come back and help. Honestly, thanks for getting me out of the basement. It’s a great change of pace for me.”

“Hey! We should make you a recurring character as thanks for all your help.” The muscles spasmed in my neck at the comment. 

“Please no.”

“Meg has a pretty good idea. Obviously we wouldn’t add a random human, but we could throw in a character named after you that works as background in the comics.” Jesse was smiling as he spoke.

“I don't use my real name at work for a reason. No.”

“A loud gasp came from beside me as Meg exaggerated her reaction. “You mean your name isn’t Player Worker? My life has been a lie!”

The others laughed while I sagged into my seat.

“If it really bothers you, we don’t do it. But I think having a character named “The Player” with no defining characteristics could help with some children feeling more immersed in the stories.”

“You can be the Zelda of the Nightmare critter comic.”

“Meg, I love you, but I will be feeding you to the incinerator if you call Link Zelda one more time. I overlooked you calling Mario Luigi last week, this isn’t going to become a thing.”

I turned away from the threats that were taking place and looked back at Jesse. “I like my work life balance, and really don’t want people to point and say I look like a character from a Playtime comic. Especially if they know I work here. I like privacy.”

“How many people know you listed your legal name as Player?”

“Maybe four people. These are the same four I am planning to ask for feedback for you guys.”

Jesse paused for a minute before continuing. “I do like the idea of a character named The Player, but it would be your rights. Worst case scenario, we pick a different title, or just use one of the other toys as the reoccurring side character to represent readers. Maybe reach out to the animators about their opinions.”

His ramblings continued as he talked through the idea and work around before I interrupted.

“Let me think about it for now. I don’t think most of the workers know what I look like so I could probably get away with walking through the factory without people pointing it out. I don’t know. Let me warm up to the idea before I decide and regret it later.”

“We have a week, even if you aren’t able to join us again after you decide, just shoot an email letting us know you agree. WE can work with last minute changes like that.”

With a final goodbye, I left to reach my office. With the door shut, I decided to make a couple of phone calls.

“Hello, Stacy?.... Yes, I’m doing fine. I was wondering if I could borrow you and your family for some research on a new toy line…..No, just asking some questions on what your children think and what you might think of the age group…..I was talking with marketing today and they wanted some opinions. You were the first person I thought of…..Thank you, I will see you in a few days.”

One down, one to go. I typed in Sams’s number to hear his opinion and children’s ideas. They are not the target group age, but if they go with the idea of a cartoon, it is likely they will see it. He shared the idea of meeting, so I planned for the meeting to be at the same time with both families. It also meant that I could leave the building for a couple of hours and still get paid for it since it was work related.

I finally sat down and typed out part of what was talked about in the meeting today, making sure to leave out just enough to justify me going back the next couple of days.

“Hey! You’re back!” Cam poked her head in my office with a smile.

“Yep. Long enough to write a report, then I am running. I won’t be down here tomorrow either.”

“Oh, is it a struggle for new ideas?”

“Maybe….Hey, can I bounce some ideas off you and Greg? They want some more opinions on an idea, and I said I would try to ask some people.”

“Of course! Greg is just finishing up and we were going to head out early. Do you want to stop at the local bakery to talk and get a treat?” There was hope in her eyes.

“Sure. If you guys answer honestly, I will go.”

“Yes! Greg! Pack up, P.W. agreed to meet after hours!” She immediately ran off.

“Too bad it’s to talk about work.”

Doctor

Attached is the information we went over in the meeting today. There is still some hesitance with using multiple characters, but they are working through the potential idea. Over the next two days, I will give you more information as their plans get finalized and sent off for production.

P.W

Chapter Text

“I’m going on vacation! I’m going on vacation~!” I was practically skipping while I left my office. After three years I was finally getting a vacation. It was my normal two days off, but I was also able to leave for an entire week to experience my first agricultural research convention. I spent so much time brokeI forgot what it was like to have spending money for whatever I wanted.

“You have no life outside these walls. What could have possibly given you hope?” Camryn asked, her own bag packed us so she could leave.

“There is this agricultural research convention in the next state over and it is the first year I can go. If I had the funds in college, I would have gone and tried to get hired by them. But life sucks so now I’m here.”

There were so many details I left out, but we were on the factory floor and she has been witness to some of the bullshit. As we made it up to the entrance, and through the path of the tour groups, one being there now, I heard Greg’s voice call from behind us.

“P.W! The boss wants to put a tracker on you before you leave so you don’t get the idea of leaving and not coming back.”

“No!” I immediately ran for the exit before Chase caught me at the security door.

“Alright, Speedy. You just did that in front of kids. Go come up with a lie so rumors don’t spread.”

I sighed before walking back to where Cam and Greg were bent over with laughter while the teen workers looked lost on how to explain what just happened to the questioning families he was guiding. There was no reason I should have needed to do this. It’s a teenager who I have heard complain and make jokes about this job and how much it sucks at times. He should have been able to make something up on the spot and my coworkers could cover. 

“Hey…Sorry to leave you with that.” I addressed the tour guide first.

“I need to make sure you all know that is a joke. I am not being held against my will…” lies.

“And our boss would never put a tracker on his employees.” You don’t even make it out of the building if you need to.”

“This is my last day before vacation and my coworkers are poking fun at me.” 

A little girl raised her hand.

“Yes?” Cam asked.

“What department are you?”

“We work really close with the research and innovation departments here. It’s our hard work which brings toys from mere ideas to reality.” I smiled and nodded along.

Finally, the tour guide brought the attention back to himself and I could make my escape out the front doors. Greg and Cam followed closely behind me while Chase just waved us off from the security office.

“In all seriousness. I am leaving tonight and won’t come back to the state until next Tuesday. This place better not fall apart in that time.”

“Will we be able to reach you if it does?” Greg joked.

“Nope!” 

And with that, I was gone. 

It was a week of pure bliss. I was surrounded by people in my field of study who were actually doing good in the world with sustainable research for agriculture. I was even able to catch up with an underclassman I bonded with my senior year. I took on false hope when she offered to introduce me to the company she works with if I ever wanted to switch back to my original career goals. The entire week I avoided anything to do with Playtime Co. outside of brief mention that I work there. The first couple of days caused me so much anxiety, I didn’t leave the hotel room until the day of the convention opening in fear something would happen. Once I gathered my courage, I was able to forget and relax. It was the most fun I had since college and my internship.

I came home the night before I had work again and stopped at the store for food I ran out of before I left. There were not a lot of people, but there were definitely quiet whispers from the other customers and employees. I could only assume it was the rumor mill running at full steam and didn’t want to be brought into the conversation. I was tired from driving all day and wanted to sleep before I returned to my nightmare of a job.

Once I got home, I saw my answering machine flashing and the dread I had been pushing down got worse. I set my groceries down and pressed a button to hear all the messages left for me.

“There are 33 new messages.”

“What the hell?” My cell phone didn’t have any messages or missed phone calls on it and I was checking every hour, even waking up in the middle of the night when panicked someone was calling.

“Message 1: hey P.W! Congratulations on your vacation. I demand your secrets when you get back.”

The message was short and from Cam the day I left. I took a breath and listened to more.

“Message 2: Greg said my message would cause you unnecessary stress, so I will leave at least one every day. Enjoy my nonsensical rambling.”

I laughed and felt more at ease before turning back to my groceries to put away. I wasn’t happy she almost gave me a heart attack, but at least nothing serious happened on day one. It would have been strange for them to have an emergency and not call my cell phone about it.

“Message 5: I’m not at work today, but Greg is. There is something about a presentation in the theatre today. They originally sent an email with yours and Greg’s names down as helping with it, but with you gone, plans had to change. Last I heard, people wanted to make you come back, but Pierre put a stop to that. Greg was trying to get out of it too. I don’t know if he ever did.”

The Doctor was proud of the presentation being planned, though I never paid attention to what was going on. I wouldn’t be there and none of my tasks included helping with the presentation so I was ready to ignore it all.

“Message 7: P.W. you need to return to the factory immediately. All vacation time is cancelled.---”

I slammed my hand on the counter and ended up knocking a box of pasta on the floor. The message ended quickly and I didn’t hear the reasoning behind why vacation time was cancelled. That was sent on the third day of my vacation. The rest of the messages began to filter between Cam and other workers calling and telling me I needed to return to work as soon as possible and it was not something I could just ignore. None of the messages informed me of what happened, but they were persistent about calling. The last three messages left me feeling sick.

“Message 31: P.W. You are expected to return to work first thing in the morning to discuss your unauthorized use of company funds.”

This was from Pierre.

“Message 32: It’s reported that all efforts have been made to contact you. If you don’t show up, they will frame you for theft. They will try to move the focus of what happened. Please come back.” 

That was from Camryn.

“Message 33: Hey, P.W…” I nearly collapsed hearing Greg’s voice.

“I’m not sure how much you’ve heard, but things got pretty hectic here. I was told all efforts have been made to contact you. If you don't come back, Pierre will frame you for stealing from the company. I doubt he will let the police simply arrest you. Please come back in the morning.”

“End of messages.”

I sat on the floor for what felt like hours after hearing all of it. I wasn’t surprised by the threat. I was given access to money nobody in my position should have been given, and got away with giving more money than I was told twice now. I would be more shocked if they weren’t keeping track of it somehow.

It was midnight by the time I pulled myself off the floor, so I just dragged myself to bed with plans to eat and shower in the morning. Cam and Greg both mentioned every effort to contact me was made, but my cell phone had no missed calls and they both had that number. I wasn’t okay with what that implied.

I woke up two hours before I needed to, but couldn’t go back to sleep. I got ready as normal and drove to work long before any kind of traffic attempted to slow me down. There were basically no cars in the lot so I parked closer to the entrance than I normally would. The doors wouldn’t unlock for another hour and a half so I pulled out a sketchbook and got comfortable while waiting for my chance to enter and more cars to arrive. 

I started to put my sketchbook away when something smacked on my car window. I immediately screamed and kicked back, as if that would save me from my death. There was laughter from outside of my car and I glared at the woman cackling so early in the morning. Who else would it be than Camryn? I could see Greg walking over from where he must have parked with a shake of his head.

“Why would you do that? I thought Pierre sicked Huggy on me.” I cried while kicking my car door open.

“And you thought kicking your car window would save you?” Greg asked as he got closer.

“It’s not like the car was going to protect me either. Also, why did it take until last night for you to call me? Based on the 33 missed messages, I thought you died.” I was still clueless, but Playtime was good about hiding facts from the news, so I couldn’t get my information anywhere but from my coworkers.

“My wife isn’t too pleased that I am close to two female coworkers, especially one who is single, so I didn’t call until Cam begged me to call as well.”

I noticed there were significantly fewer vehicles in the parking lot than normal for the factory opening up. Security was standing at the doors and checking the ID of everyone who was on their way inside. 

“So I still have no idea what is going on.” I say as we get in line.

“Just wait until you get in.” Greg sighed.

He and Cam entered with no issue, but when I showed my ID, I got pulled to the side just inside the door. “Call the head of security. We need an escort.”

My heart was pounding, but I rolled my eyes to pretend I wasn’t terrified.

“You brought this on yourself.” Was the only response from the guard. 

I watched a few others enter until our Chief of Security walked up to me. “P.W.?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come with me.”

I was finally allowed to move past the front door and into the building proper. He took me to the doors of the theatre where some of my coworkers, Stella, and Pierre were waiting.

“Look who finally decided to show up? Why didn’t you answer any of our calls?” Mike asked.

“I wasn’t home. You all knew this and still chose to only call my landline.” I defended myself.

“We made every effort to call—” 

“Bullshit.” I cut him off. “Not one person called my cell phone and it is written down in my files as the primary means of contacting me.”

I refused to let myself get slandered because nobody could read or cared to try and read.

“Hey! That’s enough. P.W., the water damage affected personal files as well so none of us could read the primary contact you had written down. Right now, we still have a mess to clean up before the factory can start running again.” Cam answered.

“Yeah? In all 33 messages, I was never told what happened. Care to explain?” I looked right at Pierre.

Stella huffed and tilted her head to the door. I was hesitant, but opened it to see the remains of the destruction. There was clear evidence of a fire, but more concerning was the blood stains on the floor and walls. 

“What happened?”

“The presentation. It was to show off the toys. Obviously it failed.” Stella ranted out.

My mind ran through all of the experiments we could have used and it not go this bad. The Smiling Critters minus Catnap, the Nightmare Critters maybe, Kissy, I was in the process of proving some of the mini critters could safely interact with people and would have been acceptable options. This amount of violence shouldn’t have happened.

“Who did you use?”

“Boxy Boo, Mommy, some of the wuggies from the Game Station.” Greg answered.

“So all of the toys that are marked as dangerous and under strict regulation were brought here? Pray tell. How did that turn out?”

Fucking Catnap would have been better since he can be bribed. None of them should have been okayed for use in a presentation. The presentation should have never even happened since we do not have a consistent outcome of toys being safe for interaction without heavy supervision.

“Several visitors and workers were killed. They all started running around the factory so it went on lockdown while extraction teams contained them back to their areas. It was two days ago that any workers were allowed back in the factory. News wants answers and we pushed them off saying we had an investigation into what happened.” Cam answered as if she was reading a script. 

I looked back and waited for their answers. 

“That will be your job. Because you were not here for the presentation and extraction, you will now figure out what to tell the media by the end of the day.” Pierre smiled.

“What!?”

“You're good with words. It’s not the first time you’ve done this. I have other matters to attend to.”

The bastard then walked off.

“Stella. Where was the majority of this? Did it make it below?”

“No. When it happened, Playcare was put on lockdown and nobody was allowed to use the elevator, or Elliott’s express until everything was secured.”

I made a mental note of it and turned back to the room our Chief of Security was still watching me while Greg and Cam looked around the room.

“Are you escorting me everywhere today?” I asked without turning around.

“You are currently a risk. Once your assignment is completed, I will have no reason to continue to follow you around the building.”

And that was my whole day. I documented the damage I saw and made plausible excuses for why it happened while avoiding any mention of what was being presented. A gas leak to cause hallucination and fire to cause the deaths. I didn't know what the extraction team was or what they agreed to, so I didn’t bother writing an excuse for their deaths. I asked to see any surviving tapes on the incident while I finalized the BS report and went through emails about the event. 

There wasn’t much, but some parts could be used to corroborate my story. If you ignored the more obvious parts that proved the death and stupidity of the entire event.

“Why did you not come in?”

“Huh?” I was taken by surprise when security spoke up after being silent outside of answering my requests.

“People reached out, but you claimed they didn’t try to reach out.”

I turned away from my desk to look at him. 

“Pierre, Greg, and Camryn have my cell number. They all called me in the past and if it really was an emergency I was needed for, they would have called that. Pierre was looking for an excuse to distract the press and have someone else do his dirty work. That’s why he didn’t call my cell.”

“Why do you have all this access as a simple worker?”

The question caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Your personal file needs an omni hand to access everything, and it is an extensive list.”

This piqued my interest.

“What does it say?” I asked.

“Sorry. You are not authorized access.”

“Boo! Don’t offer me a taste if I can’t have the treat. It’s my file, I should get to see it.”

I pouted at the denial of seeing my file.

“I think you’re better off not knowing…how much work they shove on you. Security and experiments aside, if you left, this place might collapse.”

“No shit. I go to the hospital and the Smiling Critter surgeries get fucked with the Prototype finalizing escape plans. I go on vacation and this happens. I need breaks before I really mess up, but any time I’m gone, serious issues come up. Is it me?”

This got him laughing.

“If it was, we might as well lock you down here so nothing else goes wrong.”

“It won’t help. Catnap and Huggy have both made escape attempts during my normal working schedule. And the Prototype tried the night I returned from my hospital stay.”

I finally turned back to finish my report so I could plan out the next few days to catch up on my normal work load.

Pierre

Attached is an explanation that could be given to the public with careful clips from security footage to corroborate the story should they ask for proof. I have no idea what the extraction team is and what they know so you will have to come up with the story should someone ask. This is not his only mistake, but also your worst oversight due to you letting him get away with this for so long. I know I am not the first to point this out. You are The Boss. Make the right decision for the company before it is too late.

P.W.

Chapter Text

“Where is Kickin?” My finger tapped angrily on the clipboard.

“What do you mean?” Preston asked while we stood in front of an empty cell.

“I have an interview with him today. He is supposed to be in here. Where is he?”

“Back in Playcare? What are you talking about? You did the interview yesterday?”

I was staring a hole into the glass until he said that. I felt a pop in my neck as I quickly turned to face him.

“What are you talking about?”

He looked nervous while answering. “Yeah, you did this yesterday and submitted the work into the computer. Don't you remember? Subject 1183 had asked about you coming back to Playcare to inform a child of being adopted. He was basically begging you to have news of a new adoption. It was you who gave the okay to send him back.”

I slowly shook my head while trying to process what he was saying. I am meticulous about my work and when I do things. I never move when I do interviews unless there is a valid reason or safety concern. Even then, I remember and write it down.

“Maybe you forgot. You had a bad headache yesterday and spent your break in the dark. Greg recommended you go home early.”

“I… Did I do anything else yesterday?” 

“I’m not sure. I was only around for your interview with Kickin. I only heard from Greg that you spent your break in the dark.”

I nodded my head and moved to the next part of my tasks. I still had daily interactions with the mini critters. They were still kept near the northwest cell block, but not directly inside. It didn’t help me that my day was upended, so my nerves were going to be shot after the end of this.

“Where are my mini critters?” 

Once again, the subject I was going to see was not where they should be. This was always their cell when not with me. I flagged down security to figure it out.

“Oh, we moved them to the holding cells near Playcare. I thought you were here for that conversation?”

“When did that conversation happen?” Nothing felt right at the moment.

“Around five pm. I think a few minutes after. Are you okay?”

“Ah! There you are. P.W., you are one of the hardest people to track down here. It would really help if you stopped avoiding the cameras.” Pierre’s voice echoed in the hallway.

Security straightened up, but still looked a little concerned at me.

“Is there a problem?”

“When were my test subjects moved?”

I turned to him to find the answers.

“Yesterday right after you got done with the stress test. I was here personally when it happened along with Jessica and Dr. White. I thought you went to the doctor about your stress levels.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“You filled out an updated medical file. Were you given any new medication?”

That sounded vaguely right. “What day is it?”

“Thursday, June sixteenth.” Pierre sounded too calm for this conversation. He’s chewed people out for more reasonable questions.”

“I thought it was Wednesday…”

“Here, I was needing to go over your progress here anyways. Let’s head to my office and figure this out together.”

“Okay…” I didn’t feel tied to reality at the moment. I just needed help and answers.

“Have either of you noticed certain cameras are being turned off at the same time every day?” Cam asked while we ate lunch.

“Yeah. They stay on in the lead up to the Labs, but it seems like they get turned off down there.”

“I normally avoid them so I’ve never seen–” I was cut off by my alarm going off.

“You got a lot more strict about your habits? Are you really setting alarms for lunch now?” Cam asked while I moved my lunch bag in front of me.

“No, I set it so I can take my medicine at the same time every day. I’m trying to prevent the side effects of not taking them on time. I keep forgetting parts of my day and more than once I tried to do the same test or interview on the toys two days in a row.”

“Is that why you take time at the end of the day to write what you did everyday?” Greg set his sandwich down.

“Yeah. I’m not used to marking my calendar so I can’t just make a daily to do list anymore.”

I paused to swallow the large chalky pill.

“Maybe go back to the doctors and tell them of the side effects? That sounds serious.” Cam gently placed her hand on the table beside me.

“I did. They changed what I take and when I take it before instructing me to take it at the same time every day. Apparently a symptom of severe depression is memory loss.”

“Dang. Is that what I have to look forward to soon?” Greg asked.

“Hey! Surprise meeting. Lunch is ending early.” I refused to turn around to see who ruined our break.

“Boo!” Cam yelled after.

“By the way, you stopped scheduling anything between 2 and 4 pm. What are you doing during that time?”

I passed Greg my trash before standing up.

“Meeting with Pierre or White. They have me talking about my work and any updates that I have. Or concerns about security.” It felt like a lie as I said it.

“Are they listening?”

“If they are, they are taking their sweet time implementing anything.” I can’t remember what I even said.

“Bring up the concerns about the cameras being turned off in the labs. There, and the shelf are the two worst places for security cameras to be going out.” Cam piped up

“Sure, but they're going to ask how I know since I don’t enter the labs.”

“Tell them several of us are concerned about it and bring it to your attention. Be the Rich Innovation never had. I’ll ask my wife to make you lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting.”

“Deal!” I immediately agreed. 

“What are you doing here? Isn’t it your day off?” Cam’s head popped into my office while I was getting my computer booted up

“It’s Saturday.” I responded, trying to not make it sound like a question.

“It’s Sunday. Go home before you get caught.”

“Fuck! My computer is so slow!” I whined.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall and from the side of Cam’s face, I could see the panic.

“Pierre! What are you doing down here?”

I looked for a place to hide as his voice came closer.

“P.W.? You know it’s your day off, right?”

“Yep! Just came to check on my plant. I forgot to water her and didn’t want the negativity to kill her before I could water.”

He looked unimpressed by my lie.

“Since you're here, I have some work for you.”

My soul died a little more while he gave me the task of confirming where each important experiment was that nobody else had time for.

“Can I say no?”

“Nope! I need it to be done and nobody else has time. So hurry up. You can leave once you're done.”

The bitch just walked off after that. 

“Do you think calling him a twink would get me fired or is that a term he wouldn’t know what it meant.”

“He might think less of you since it wouldn’t even apply to him. Might want to hurry. With luck, you can get out of here before lunch and eat good food. Get that milkshake you’ve been missing out on.”

The groan that left me hurt my vocal cords with the deep tone I produced.

“Jessica. If you don’t stop snooping through my files, I will break your fingers and make you useless.” I did not want to be dealing with her right now.

“You can’t just take all the best children and prevent me from doing my job. You are the reason we aren’t making progress.” She bit back.

“We have 386 children in Playcare at any given time. You can leave my 20 alone.”

She threw the file on the floor and I thought about kicking her to the ground to grab it, but my balance didn’t feel all there. I chose to just level her with a stare while she continued to throw her tantrum.

“You can complain all you want, but this list is the only reason you are alive today to complain.”

“What? Are you trying to say you saved me?”

“I sure didn’t recommend you to be an experiment. You lacked the qualifications the Doctor was looking for and if a certain family did choose to adopt from us, you would have been my first pick. Not my fault they waited until after you aged out to decide they were ready. I don’t even know why you came back. Your test scores indicated you would not be fit for this position, and your lack of authoritative respect now is just more proof of it.”

“How dare you–”

“I don’t give a shit what anyone here thinks about me. But I will feed you the toys if you don’t respect my authority and restrictions of who you are not allowed to touch. Stella signs off on 300 children who meet the criteria for you to take. Don’t go snooping where you don’t belong.” 

Half of what I said was a lie. I knew of her file, and I remember looking it over, but I never pulled it aside. She was too old to be adopted and we had a cutoff age for most of the experiments. Jessica was completely corrupted by this place and had nothing to hold on to outside these walls. If I can convince her that I am the reason she could even be here and doing this work today, then maybe she will leave my kids alone. No amount of kissing ass to Pierre and White is going to let her take the children I selected and pulled from the experimentation list.

Her voice was so annoying with every word she said and desire she wanted. Nobody can do the things she is doing and not know how wrong it was. She’s outright killed two of them for not paying attention. Nobody would give her a formal warning for that. She doesn’t understand her position…

“Why are you still here? —Scratch that. Why are you gripping a knife?” I blinked in surprise at Greg’s voice and the concern it held.

In my hand was a hunting knife I forgot to take from my bag before work a few days ago. I thought I had it locked in my truck.

“I know you said you were going to start carrying one around as a threat to some of the worst offenders, but you don’t need to have a death grip on it while staring a hole into your desk.”

He took a step into my office, but kept close to the door.

“What time is it?” I was not in my office when I spoke to Jessica. We were in the halls near the shelf after I chased her down.

“7:30. Had an issue in the labs so I was kept late to take care of that. What kept you here?”

I confirmed the time and quickly shut my computer down while shoving the knife back into my bag.

“I don’t remember. I had a fight with Jessica and I guess the anger blinded me to anything else I did after.”

It wasn’t even six when I caught up to her. Maybe five thirty. The argument wasn’t a long one. I would remember more of it.

“What did she do this time?”

“Stole one of my kids and tried to get others to pull them from Playcare.”

“Damn. That’s bold. Not even Dr. White would try and he outranks you.”

“She thinks I take all the best candidates and am the sole reason we haven’t made a complete breakthrough in science. She’s like an egotistical Doctor Sawyer without the credibility to back it up. I have 20 kids I can keep out of experimentation for the sole purpose of adoption to high profile families. 300 are approved by Stella for experiments the rest either are not old enough or don’t meet requirements. Why do you need mine?”

I huffed while digging around my office for my personal phone and keys that are missing from my bag.

“You’re a godmother, right?” Greg sounded hesitant while asking.

“Legally, yes. Non-drinking wine aunt and significantly older sister is more my position. Why?”

“I think it suits you really well. Outside of the fact you mouth off to bratty kids behind their backs, you are really good at protecting kids under your care.”

“Don’t say that. Lexy reached out to me the other day on how to deal with bullies without involving her parents. I’m picking her and Victor up from school to see what she’s dealing with so I can give her actual advice.”

I slammed my hand on my keys when I finally found them.

“You just proved my point.”

“My choice is to pull a knife and threaten my bullies' lives. I can’t tell a ten-year-old that.”

“You have good intuition. I believe you can give her good advice. Just make sure you set an alarm.”

I groaned. “I have been. My doctor is out of town for a couple of more weeks due to a family emergency, and with the flu and stomach bug going around, I would rather not sit in a waiting room on my day off to see if a different doctor can fit me in. I don’t trust things won’t fall apart while I’m out sick again.”

“Ah. Our guardian angel with broken wings baring a scalpel on those who risk our lives unnecessarily. Maybe the memory problem isn’t depression or medication but instead memories of your time flying and helping others trying to break through the cynical and apathetic facade you wear around here.”

“Hush you, don’t you have someone waiting for you to go home?”

“She knows. I was calling her before I realized your office light was still on and hung up to check that you were okay. Actually, she wanted me to tell you she thinks you should try looking for a new job, or change to a different department if you can.”

“She thinks it's the job causing this?”

“No. She firmly believes it's the medicine, but you started taking it because you work down here. If you get a doctor’s note saying you can’t continue working down here, legally Pierre has to move you to a different department or let you go.”

“Ha! Like he won’t just turn me into an experiment first. I have confirmation from several people, those who like me and those who hate me, that plans exist to turn me into an experiment once I fuck up bad enough. Or when I finish Project Integration.”

Something strange settled in my chest as I spoke. Who told me that? Was it actually said or just implied? Why don’t I feel dread?

“Well, I’m not getting locked down here tonight so you better hurry up.” Greg pulled me from my spiraling and I jumped up to leave with him.

“If I get the chance again, I swear I’m not coming back. You and Cam will be left for dead.”

“As long as my wife stays the beneficiary of your life insurance, I’ll accept it.”

“Eh. I have godchildren I need to take care of too.”

“Then give them your bank account and home. It's probably equal to or greater than your insurance.”

“Why do you think about my assets more than me?”

“Because I have a home and family too and actually monitor my own assets.”

We made it out the door and parted ways to our vehicles.

“Hey, Greg!” I called back at the last minute.

“Hm?”

“I expect you to do the same thing. If you manage to escape, leave us for dead. Don’t come back.”

He was silent for a moment. “Deal. Good luck.”

P.W. 

Due to the concerns about your health, I have added a meeting to the calendar to discuss plans going forward. If possible, bring a copy of the doctor's note on the diagnosis so we may determine the next steps in your work here. Your work is very important and we need to know the best method to keep you working and not making mistakes. The meeting will be at the office right outside the labs at 2pm. Do not be late.

Pierre

Chapter Text

“Audio log for Project Integration: 0001. My name is…P.W.---”

“It has to be your name.”

“What?! That is my name. It’s on my nametag.”

“Documents.”

“I literally sign ever—”

“Employment documents. Hahaha!”

“You wanted to run this project on your own. You gotta do it properly.”

Ugh! Fine. I’m not rerecording this. Ahem. My name is… Player Worker”

Snickering can be heard in the background.

“Hush you! This is my audio log. Be quiet so I can do it. Project Integration is an attempt to find use for the subjects that does not include them sitting in the labs all day and wasting already limited resources while Dr. Harley Sawyer and Leith Pierre continue fine tuning their Special Projects with the Bigger Bodies Initiative. The following subjects have been selected for Project Integration for their more docile personalities and lack of outward aggression with everyone that interacts with them. Subjects 1204, 1206, 1211, 1213, 1214, 1216, 1218, and 1221. My tests—”

“Make sure you explain what they are. There’s no video on the tape.”

“What did I say? Greg!”

More quiet laughing could be heard.

“Camryn, you are no better. You argued with me on my damn name.”

A deep sigh was heard.

“The subjects are each one of the eight smiling critters in their mini plushy versions used for experimentation on new surgical techniques or practice before more of the Bigger Bodies were attempted. My tests will include observations and slow integration of interactions between the subjects and employees through means of positive reinforcement. Once I can prove they are able to interact with no hostility, I will slowly introduce them to the orphans for careful supervision of their interactions. The end goal is to have them, and other smaller versions of the toys enter the playhouse within Playcare for interactions and freeing up space within the labs for other necessary use. End log.”

I sighed and turned to my coworkers who were watching and listening from the door of my office. “Did you really have to be here?”

“Hey! If I wasn’t, you would have left out important information and had to restart.” Camyrn faked a pout.

“My hero.” The sarcasm in my voice was heavy.

“How do you feel actually heading your own project? Do you want to try and get us to be your assistants so we can dump our work too?” Camryn breezed past my slight frustrations.

“You don’t want that. I still have all my usual work, I just now have to fit this into my schedule.”

“What? That doesn’t seem right.” Greg was appalled.

“Yeah, well. I am the only one who works with the priority adoptions and gathers those children’s records. And unfortunately, I am one of the better scientists that can head surgeries. Unless you both want to double your workload…”

“I’m good. I have almost run out of time for everything else. But since we have a small break…show us your little toys and then we can go get lunch.”

“Cam, you’re insufferable. Let’s go.”

I led them to the holding cell for the eight mini critters I was solely in charge of taking care of. I had some things placed in there to see how they move and interact with each other within a simulated Playhouse. So far they were just exploring it while communicating in squeaks to each other. There is no evidence that they can actually speak, but they know their numbers and the toy they are.

“So how are you going about this?” Greg asked.

“I’m treating them like baby wolves. I fully expect them to try and bite me, and will try positive reinforcement to keep them docile.”

“Do you think that will work?” Cam had her face against the glass as the toys took turns sliding down the triangle shape I set in there.

“I trained Catnap to accept staff interactions so he wouldn’t be tested on every day. At least these guys weren’t aggressive from the start.”

“We can’t bring kids here to get them used to people.”

“I am going to use recordings of the children running and screaming to get them used to the noises, and if I can keep contact with them for long periods of time, I will take them to Playcare or the Game Station for a few kids to interact with and monitor how they handle it.”

My stomach growled at that moment and they both turned to look at me.

“It is time for lunch. Let’s go.” Greg smiled and we followed after him.

“Audio log for Project Integration: 0026. While my coworkers are under the impression I am doing nothing, I am making progress. I will not rush this and risk them attacking the children in a location staff can’t quickly access, so I am slow with the interactions. Currently, the subjects no longer sit in the far corner every time I enter the room, but they do stick close to the back wall. They are hesitant to look at what I change, but readily eat the food I leave in the room with them. I have watched them try to move the foam blocks on their own but it seems to be too heavy for the eight of them. While it would be important knowledge, I don’t want to see how many mini toys it would take to knock the blocks over to trap a small child.

Currently, I enter the room twice a day to move their blocks around and watch what they do while they know I am there. I enter once more to provide them with food and water, and watch from the other side of the glass for an extra two hours of monitoring. Tomorrow I have my schedule set up for me to have four hours to sit in the room with them the entire time for observation. Security will be on standby and I will be writing out some basic reports to seem like I am not paying attention. I will have a flare gun with me and it will be in open view of them so they know I am not defenseless. This action will go on for two weeks. End log.”

“Audio log for Project Integration: 0030. Currently I am sitting in the room with the subjects. The last hour they were cautious and made sure at least two of them were watching me at all times, but they finally accepted me being here and went back to messing with the objects in the room. They still watch me, but they have accepted to come to the middle of the room to play. Subject 1213 has taken an interest in the papers I have and watches every time I flip to a new page. I suspect if more time goes on, she will try to take the pages.

There was a suspicion that the personalities would line up to those of the Bigger Bodies due to the way children have been chosen for each toy, but it does not seem to be the case for them. Subject 1206 is the Dogday of this group, but he is not the leader. Subject 1213 is Bobby, but she is the least likely one to initiate contact with the others. I will have to look back at the children chosen for them to see if there is a reason for this.

In a few weeks, I will make sure the flare gun stays out of sight, or even leave it outside to see how they react if there is no obvious weapon. Security has started to fight over who takes this work as it is basically an extended break for them. I don’t mind as of right now. They stay awake and won’t leave without telling me to step out. These guys are good and look a little exhausted. I think they come from areas closer to the labs.

They finally started to pay attention to me talking. I don’t feel like I’m in danger, but they are focused on me now…”

“...They don’t like me silently staring back, they have moved to start hiding again. It makes sense for them to focus on how much I am talking now. I don’t say more than a few words at a time when I am filling out reports. I’m going to give it a couple more days before I start playing recordings of the children. If they show negative reactions to just my voice for extended periods of time, then I may not be able to continue with the project… End log.”

“Hey. You interact with children in your personal life. Help me out.” I spoke while walking into Camryn’s office.

“Aren’t you the godmother of Officer Sam’s children?”

“More like an estranged older sister or aunt. I don’t see them often. Anyways. How do I introduce the children to these tiny toys? I don’t know how to explain what they are.”

“Huh. Can’t say people. What about animatronics?”

“Wouldn’t they question why there is no place for batteries or a remote control?” I sat in her spare chair.

“How old are the children you are going to use?”

“Currently between five and nine. I’m trying to plan for the older children.”

“Well…it’s not like the older ones ever get to leave. With luck they will join the staff, but I don’t think that’s ever happened.”

It was a false promise made long before either of us joined Playtime. Orphans who age out could promise to take a job with innovation or research and someone would take them on as a mentor-mentee relationship. It was something to do with the Young Genius Program Ludwig made decades ago. It was something I wanted to double check in my free time, or if I get locked in here overnight again.

“I think it will still work. The older kids don’t participate in the games as often, and as long as someone doesn’t try to tear them apart, we can keep the lie up. There isn’t a whole lot of staff you would have to lie to, most are aware and can repeat the lie.”

I nodded in thought. “Should I try doing it during lessons again or see if Mommy Longlegs would let me use the game station when most of the kids leave?”

Camryn opened her mouth to answer before pausing. “I about said to bring them to the toys. But that would have been a big mistake. If you want more privacy, ask Stella about the Game Station. If we want the children to be more comfortable, use Playcare. You’ve done it before with Catnap.”

“Yeah…I’ll schedule it to be right after breakfast for them so the kids will still be tired and maybe not too overwhelmed.”

“I thought the project was progressing.”

“It is, but sudden changes cause them to shy away. While I have yet to see any acts of aggression, small children might end up changing that. Hence, a sample size of the children they would interact with.”

“If this all works out, do you plan to vet for more of the mini toys?”

“Dr. White and Pierre talked about having someone else take over once it was a success so I could go back to my normal work. They think I am slacking with how much effort I put into Project Integration.”

“Yeah…they started to throw extra work at me because you seem to have slowed down.”

“It’s their work they don’t want to do, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Please hurry up. I like going home. My fiancé said we would have issues if my job stayed this busy while trying to plan for a wedding.”

I laughed and made a mental note. “When are you planning the wedding?”

“We are looking at October in ‘95. We are saving to get married, honeymoon, and move into a house around the same time.” Camryn had stars in her eyes.

“Well, that is over a year away, and I should be done before the end of the year. Just tell him you were taking on some of my work while I take care of a big project. If it upsets him…he can give me a call and I will just lie saying it is my effort to take Pierre’s job when he finally retires. I just have to prove myself with this project.”

The lighthearted laugh sounded more forced at my statement, but I ignored it.

“Did you plan to introduce them to the Bigger Bodies? The Smiling and Nightmare Critters will be interacting with them a lot.”

“Yeah. I want to prove they can safely interact with kids beforehand. They are more willing to go with new plans if there is proof that the children are excited for it.”

Have you mentioned anything to Stella?” Cam started to move papers around her desk without really working on them.

“No, I wanted your advice before bringing it up to her. She’s been more agitated recently and nit picking any time I am not 100% prepared. I’ll let her pick the kids and finalize where we are meeting, but I need a plan for how to introduce the toys to the children. I don’t think it is safe to treat them like the toys when introducing them .”

“You have mentioned the toys like puppies. When my neighbor sold their puppies, they were all in a fenced-in area for people to see before entering to interact with them.”

I thought about how to go about it and decided it was easier to fence a place in Playcare than the Game Station.

“Thaks. I’ll tell you how it goes before planning the meeting between them and the bigger bodies.”

I stood up and quickly left the room. It would take working together with five others to plan when all toys were available.

“Audio log: 0192 for Project Integration. I have successfully completed five different interactions between my toys and the children….that doesn’t sound right. Wooops….each group had ten children each and no signs of issues. I did not take into account that the children would talk to each other about their meetings but it worked in my favor. With each group, it took less time for the children to feel comfortable interacting. Many are disappointed they can’t speak, but immediately give them their own voices Stella has informed me that the Bigger Bodies have asked about the intentions of the mini’s and are now aware they will be meeting them in the coming days.

My biggest concern is that Catnap might try to attack them. The Doctor and Pierre have both taken him into testing and interrogations recently and he has been more agitated. I have started to tell the mini’s what I am doing next so they know when they will be interacting with others and when it is just me.

I have gotten some interesting information observing their interactions. I can only assume it is because they know me the best, but they act more…childish? When it is just me and security watching from the window. When with the children, they will hesitate a bit, but willingly allow themselves to be picked up for whatever the children decide they want to do. Subject 1216 is the one who interacts first with the children, with the others quickly following his lead, but is not the leader of the group. Just the bravest.

They are more interested in what I am working on when I am just sitting in the room with them. More than once they have taken my pen or paper when I was distracted . I think they are able to read, or are trying to teach themselves, but I can’t tell if they are getting anything out of it. As dangerous as it might be, I almost want to see if they can learn to read. I would stick to things in Playcare or the children use and would limit how much I say… this is something I will look into after I introduce them to the Bigger Bodies. 

I believe I am on track for this project to be able to start adding more subjects by 1994. I am working out a rough set of guidelines to follow when determining which toys should be allowed into Playcare.  My only hope is that whoever is added to the project will listen to my guidelines. I am not at the level of frustration and lashing out as Stella, but I am getting ready to buy a hunting knife and hold it when dealing with people who don’t listen and follow procedures. Heh. imagine if I pulled that on Pierre or The Doctor. How fast would I be punished for that…”

Yelling can be heard in the background.

“End audio Log. Jack!”

It sucked not getting to be in charge of the interaction of the Smiling critters and my mini critters, but the meeting was seen as an emergency and my time is worth nothing here. I was able to explain the instructions clearly before the Bigger Bodies arrived, but couldn’t see the first interactions... The meeting really didn’t need to happen. Or at least I didn’t need to be there. An email could have given me all the information I needed.

By the time I returned, my mini’s were no longer in their fenced-in area, and Cam was kind enough to be taking copious notes for me while the others kind of ignored what was happening. Unfortunately, that also means that nobody was paying attention to Catnap. I quickly turned the mic on and spoke into it.

“Catnap, please do not kill them. The children are excited to play with them and they are currently the only things that can crawl through the Playhouse and lead the children who get lost out without it being an employee.”

Catnap looked in the mirror. He knew exactly where I was and I didn’t try to move away. 

The mini Crafty finally cried out under him before he lifted his paw and she ran to the other mini’s. I took a mask off the wall and entered the room to check on what went wrong. Security flanked me and the Bigger Bodies moved to be along the wall when we entered.

My voice was muffled, and the mini’s didn’t recognize me immediately.

“Subject 1211.” The mini Catnap walked with her to me. There was no evidence of her being injured and she was moving with no sign of distress.

“Sorry. Catnap has been…tired lately. He has been pulled from Playcare during the day and working immediately at night.” Dogday started.

I wasn’t aware of this. If I was, I would have asked him not to participate until he could rest. With the Nightmare Critters in Playcare, they started to justify pulling him more often. I felt bad but he was jeopardizing my project.

I picked the mini crafty up and moved her limbs and head to ensure no injuries.

“If you wish to end this, just say so and you will be led back to Playcare. I will pull you all away a few more times for this, but while I am doing this, you shouldn’t be called for other testing. I don’t care if you take this time to sleep, just don’t kill them.”

“Are they going to be in Playcare with us?? Like, all of them?” Hoppy asked.

“No. I will be screening them for signs of aggression. I don’t want to risk the children getting bit if I just threw a bunch in with you guys. For now it will just be these eight.  It will be more than a year before any more are brought in.”

“Will the Nightmare Critters meet them too?” Kickin asked.

“Yes. I wanted you all to meet them first, and will alternate which group is pulled here for a couple of hours.

I was starting to suspect nobody was answering the questions they had. It was coming up on the end of the time, so I opened the tote I carried the mini’s around in.

“Finish up and say goodbye. Time is almost up and the Game Station is going to close soon.

Bobby was really attached to the mini’s and it showed in her farewells. The others were not as attached yet, but they showed willingness to interact. Catnap was the only one who stared threateningly.

“Subject 1188 has shown hostility. He won’t be able to return.”

“I believe you nearly shot your coworkers after three days of losing sleep here. He has a reason for testing. You were just standing guard in a nonhostile area. I don’t want to hear you talking.”

The reason Tom was security here was because he was trigger happy and could cause the greatest harm in the shortest amount of time in case Catnap tried to escape. I didn’t want him here.

The minis waited patiently for me to tilt the tote and crawled in as they were taught to. I was quick to flip the tote and put a lid on them before walking back out of the room and letting security escort the Bigger Bodies back to Playcare.

“I was wondering why the tote was in there.” Cam glanced at me coming back while finishing her writing.

“Thanks for this. Did anything else happen?”

"They were a little put off by seeing themselves like that. Crafty and Catnap were the scariest to the minis ,and Bobby was sad none of them could speak. The mini catnap was the first to approach, then the bubba took the lead with investigating the others. I had to prompt them to take them out of the fence, or pull it down before they really started to interact. Otherwise I was just watching and writing what we observed.”

“So you didn’t answer any questions?”

“They didn’t ask. You just wanted their interaction written down with limited intervention. That was the only time I saw Catnap get aggressive.”

“I’ll look into ways to avoid that.” I waited another moment to gather the papers from her and took the minis back to their designated observation cell.

“Audio Log 0211 for Project Integration. I have taken several days to see the interactions between my subjects and the Bigger Bodies. Catnap…we will get back to him. For the most part, all Bigger Bodies reacted positively to the mini’s and the idea of them joining in playcare to move around the playhouse. The Nightmare Critters are more aggressive in their interactions, but it is the equivalent of eleven-year-olds bullying the weaker kids off the playset. More pushing them around and pretending to be kind and helpful before either dropping them, or moving the blocks around on them. The Smiling Critters have been talking to them about different games they can play with the orphans that included them, and about the smaller places the children sometimes get stuck. With that being said, the minis have a favorite.

Catnap has shown very little interest in the mini’s outside of the initial attempt to flatten the small Crafty. It was two days before they interacted again, having spent the previous day with the Nightmare Critters, and somewhere in that time these small toys decided they liked Catnap. I have watched them get close to him and wait for him to stop staring or growling at them before moving closer. The Picky was the first to make physical contact before being swatted away, but they are persistent. By the fourth day of this, Catnap gave up on keeping personal space and the minis celebrated that win. Now when Catnap gives a command, they will stop what it is they are doing and do it as long as it does not hurt themselves or others in the room.

He did try to command them to attack me the next time I walked in the room. I let their interaction last longer because I needed to work up the nerve to actually go in there again, but my fears seemed unfounded.

The mini Dogday was out of sight when I entered with security to have them escort the Bigger Bodies back to Playcare, but Bobby had several of the minis in a hug and falsely assumed he was with the others. Instead of taking the chance to run out of the room unnoticed, the mini Dogday ran into the back of my leg. It did scare me and I jumped, but nothing happened. He only headbutted me and the force of it running at me caused him to fall over and just watch me. The following is the interaction between me and Catnap:

Catnap, was this what you were expecting?

Catnap proceeded to hiss at me before responding. He was supposed to bite you.

They know better than to bite the hand that feeds. Without me, they would still be in the cell blocks. At least I am giving them purpose.

He hissed at me again while the mini walked back to the others and waited by their tote.

I then explained the plan to have all twenty four toys interact with each other before officially introducing them to Playcare. They all seem to understand and agree. But I’ve heard talks of some of them going back under the knife so we’ll see how they do. 

I might end up spending the night in Playcare so the minis can get used to the Playhouse. I don’t know. Catnap is very protective of the place and has trapped workers in the counselor’s office all night by blocking the door. If he does the same to me, then I’ve wasted my night when I could be back home in bed…These are all things I need to think over before we…I finish my part of the project. 

The current decision is for me to finish my proof of concept with these eight and a group of scientists already decided on will then start getting more groups of the mini critters while I return to my normal work and answer any of their questions as they repeat the process I did, minus bringing the Bigger Bodies aside to meet and interact with the newcomers. It will be around 1994 when more toys are introduced to the project.

There is some event that is happening the Doctor is in charge of. He demanded everyone turn over details about the subjects under our care without explaining much. Just that ‘those in charge of experiments will be contacted for further information in the planning’ I don’t know what he is planning, but being vague and secretive will just backfire. My hope is it happens while I am on vacation and not affected by it. I’m a little worried what would happen if the subjects involved in Project Integration are chosen. I don’t want him to have a negative effect on my work. I’m finally in a position that my superiors are not breathing down my neck on every little thing I do, but I am heavily scrutinized for the smallest of infractions. Regardless if I was the direct cause of it.

I’ve gotten off track. Anything I missed here will be in my next log. For now, I have to get back to normal work. End Audio Log.”

“Audio Log 0232 for Project Integration.

Something had to go wrong. I shouldn’t be surprised. I found the eight perfect mini critters that showed no signs of aggression and I was able to be alone in a room with them without them attempting to attack or even escape when I left plenty of chances for them to. When Catnap instructed them to attack me, one only headbutted me in the back of the leg and laid on its back just watching me after. I had full control of the project and only had to show progress. Stella was happy with the interactions between the children and the Bigger Bodies all seemed to get along well enough to allow them to exist in the Playcare instead of figuring out a way to efficiently take them in and out every night.

I want to blame The Doctor, but I don’t think he had anything to do with this. If he did I will put laxatives in his food and drinks and knock him out before switching the location of all his toes and ears.  Inhale…..exhale….

My normal location for the monitored interactions was changed. I don’t know why, or who decided it, but my security for the day informed me of the change and led me further into the observation rooms. Everything was set up as it should have been, so I just let the minis go and explore the new room and waited for the Bigger Bodies to come in. I was not the only one monitoring and making notes. There were others who were making updates on how their charges interacted with others. I took a moment to step away and answer questions for a problem that came up elsewhere. It isn’t important what. In that time….things went wrong.

Baba Chops decided their normal level of aggression was not enough and completely attacked my mini Dogday. Security didn’t want to open the door and stood in my way when I tried to get the door open instead. There is now an incident report of me attacking security for getting in my way. They were not the only ones with a key to the room, so I did get the door open and demanded the experiments to either get against the wall, or leave and return to their cells.

The…smiling Critters got against the wall, actually holding the remaining minis to protect them, and the Nightmare’s were escorted out. Minus Baba.

Baba was still attacking and eating the mini Dogday, and I still had the chair I used to attack security, so I attacked her. There is no lasting damage to Baba, but she had a habit of jumping around and tried attacking me. It took too long for security to get their act together and I about stole a gun just to shoot the sheep.

By the time everything calmed down, my…the mini Dogday was dead, Baba Chops had been hit with a folding chair seven times, one security guard was on the floor with a concussion, and the Smiling Critters, Bigger Body and minis, were silent and emotional. The following is the conversation had in the room recorded from the security cameras:

‘All subjects return to your cells until further notice’

‘What…what is going to happen?’ Bobby asked quietly.

‘Subject 1206 will be disposed of and an investigation into what exactly happened will take place. If you are not involved, then you will return to Playcare.’

At this point the mini critters were surrounding their friend and crying audibly. Since they would only be put in a tote, I wasn’t worried about getting them out of the room and secured. The remaining scientists and security got everyone but Catnap and Dogday out of the room. Dogday had looked horrified at what he witnessed. 

I informed them there was nothing I could do to save the toy, and they needed to leave before security became aggressive. It took a moment, and Catnap pushing him, before Dogday left. The Smiling Critters were released back into Playcare within the hour while the Nightmare Critters were held for longer. I took the minis to my office and left them in here with me. Right now they are sleeping in the flipped over tote with my blanket I keep in here. This entire event has put me behind in my project, and now I have to wait and see if this causes them to become aggressive, or if they truly are my blessings and just mourn the loss of their friend.

This event has also led to a new issue. The Nightmare Critters were going to be taken back to Playcare, but they had to be returned to the labs and cells nearby. Catnap is acting more territorial and threatening anyone who isn’t the designated staff in Playcare. He knocked the children out earlier than normal, with the others not done getting the kids to their beds in Home Sweet Home, before causing problems for the staff trying to return the Nightmare Critters. Several staff were knocked out, and the Nightmares were barricaded in a different room before it was decided to take them back. I don’t know what is going to happen, but if Catnap is refusing the Nightmare Critters back in Playcare, then it is going to be a nightmare for everyone to figure out how to either get them back, or take on a new task.

…

I got attached to the minis. I won’t ever find them again after this, but I am attached. I didn’t let them see, but I shed some tears before making this log. They are so pure and innocent. I’m tempted to steal them and take them home with me. I should never have brought them to my office, but they are sad and this is the first time they have seen death and murder. Their observation room isn’t where they need to be.

…

Project Integration will be delayed by two weeks while I determine how the events of today affect their temperament and the decision of what happens to the Nightmare Critters while Catnap refuses them back into Playcare. I can only talk to the Bigger Bodies, there isn’t a way for me to ask the minis how they feel or what happened. The camera shows it as being unprompted. I will have to look into what my next steps will be. End Audio Log.”

“Audio Log 0269 for Project Integration.

There will be plenty of other logs and reports about The Theatre Incident, so I won’t go over it in this log. I am currently in the observation room with my mini critters and they are eating. Due to the events and lockdown of the factory, there were several subjects that were forgotten about and did not get fed. If they were doing their days in Playcare, it wouldn’t have been a problem as all the Smiling Critters had access to food and could have been distributed to my minis as well. With them being in their observation room and on lockdown, no food was given to them for the last several days. This will add an additional setback as I have to observe how they react to the lack of and limited food. I think this will only set me back by a few days. But if they get aggressive around limited food, then it will take more time.

As of right now, they did not get upset when I entered the room, and have not tried to steal food from each other, or aggressively take it from my hand and run away. We might be fine but I want to take some extra precautions.

That is all for the update, I will make more detailed log tomorrow if I missed anything on this one. End log.”

“Audio Log 0432 for Project Integration.

Everything is showing positive results. The children are happy with the new toys to play with and the Smiling Critters have shown no signs of aggression or frustrations. The Nightmare Critters were not sent back to Playcare and have new tasks near the labs. Having to explain what happened for there only to be seven mini critters and no Dogday took some time. I had already told the children the minis were my toys so I had to tell them that I couldn’t bear to lose them all and kept Dogday with me. The other workers laughed at me for it, but the children took it seriously and I didn’t have to explain that he died.

I am no longer directly involved with this project, but I will get emails and updates on it as the others progress with their sets of mini critters. Cam celebrated by bringing me a chocolate cake when I told her I would be resuming all of my normal work today. I also got a random phone call that just had a man saying “thank you” so I can guess that it was her fiancé.

We estimate that maybe one hundred or so mini critters can be added into playcare if they meet the criteria I have set aside, and if Catnap agrees to let them stay. He is currently the most aggressive but is still focused on the workers. Outside of mini Crafty’s first meeting, he hasn’t threatened them in any serious way.

I am sad that I will not get to do this again. This project was the best part of my day for the last year. I will miss it, but I can focus again on finding children for adoptions again and getting more of them out of here. 

I guess one positive is these minis will still be labeled as my charges and I can still schedule time in my day to interact with them. Not as much as this last year, but some. I might try teaching them to read. I don’t think knowing how to read a map is the best idea, but we do still have a concern of children getting lost in the Playhouse, so them knowing how to read a map to lead them back out would be beneficial. They just can’t see any other maps to know how to escape. It is not my top priority right now.

This is the last audio log I will be making for Project Integration. All further logs will be made by the workers taking over selection and observation for more mini toys unless something major happens. End Log.”

Fate of the Mini Critters:

Subject 1204: Picky

Eaten by the other toys in the graveyard trying to find safety with Bubba and Crafty.

Subject 1206: Dogday

Dogday was attacked during a planned meeting between the mini critters and Bigger Body Smiling and Nightmare Critters. Baba killed him and as a result got the Nightmare Critters banned from Playcare by Catnap.

Subject 1211: Crafty

Died in the early years after the Hour of Joy when food was limited. She never found Doey or the resistance.

Subject 1213: Bobby

Survived the next ten years in Playcare for the events of the game.

Subject 1214: Kickin

Survived the next ten years in Playcare for events of the game.

Subject 1216: Catnap

Shortly after Dogday had been captured by Catnap, a group of mini critters went to investigate and discussions of eating Dogday were started, mini Catnap was used as the scape goat by the rest because he was the closest and Catnap killed him as a demonstration of what would happen to the rest.

Subject 1218: Bubba

Bubba found his way to the entrance of the labs when trying to return to safety and was killed by The Prototype near the entrance. Died believing he was the last of the mini critters.

Subject 1221: Hoppy

Hoppy was eaten by the other mini critters in the Playhouse when there was not enough food and infighting began. She was the last of the mini critters to die in Playcare after the Hour of Joy. Mini Bobby and Kickin were able to escape when Hoppy was attacked, and they stayed closer to Home Sweet Home to avoid the other starving critters to prevent her death from being meaningless.

Chapter Text

I felt the sun shining on my eyes that started me out in a bad mood. It took me a second to realize the sun shouldn’t have been shining on my eyes. I sat up with a weight resting in the back of my throat and chest. My alarm clock was sitting beside my bed and the hands were completely unmoving. The batteries ended up dying and I didn’t check before I went to bed. It was still stuck at 11:36.

I checked my phone for the time and saw it was 7:24 in the morning. 

“I should call Greg and Cam. Tell them to call out with me. They were getting drinks with me. Even let them come here to steal from my garden…”

I physically jumped in my bed with my heart racing. The feeling in my throat was a lot worse and I only managed to grab my phone as I stumbled to my bathroom. The time was showing 10:46 in the morning. I managed to sit in front of my toilet and take deep breaths before I started to puke. 

My body didn’t bother to digest dinner from last night so I felt every piece of vegetable and grain of rice from my teriyaki. I had to hold my breath long enough to fill the cup on the sink before dry heaving into the toilet again. I had to be quick to drink it before my body rejected it with more of my dinner. It helped to get the rice out of my throat so I wasn’t suffocating on it. My noise burned as some of it wanted to come out of my nostrils. Tears were slow to leave my eyes as I suffered in front of my toilet.

It took several minutes before I felt like there was nothing else. I was definitely not going to work now. They could survive without me for the day. I can check on the Integration Project tomorrow. My phone showed no missed calls but would if I don’t show up by noon. 

I refilled my water and drank half of it before leaning against the wall. I didn’t feel sick, but I felt terrible from puking. My anxiety was building. Cam should have called me by this point. I could see the house phone in the mirror, but there wasn’t a message waiting for me to listen.

I called Pierre first. As my boss, he needed to know first. There was no answer. It was 10:57 and I wasn’t aware of a meeting so he should have answered his phone. I tried once more.

No answer.

I left a message on this one explaining I was in my bathroom sick and couldn’t drive to work.

I tried calling Cam next. She answers my calls no matter what time it is as long as she isn’t in a meeting. I can have her tell Pierre I won’t be coming in. My only hope was I wouldn’t puke while talking to her. It was the one thing she couldn’t deal with.

“Maybe her getting sick will get her the rest of the day off…Greg can take her home and get the chance to leave early…”

No answer.

I sat up again and dry heaved into the toilet again. It was mostly spit, but I could taste my stomach acid.

I tried her cell one more time, leaving another message. Still no answer.

“Hey, Cam. Pierre isn’t answering his phone. I won’t be able to come into work, *heave*. Sorry. I’m sick in my bathroom right now. Can you let him know, or have him check his phone? I left a message with him…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I felt myself starting to cry as the anxiety was building and quickly called Greg. It was 11:02. Someone should be answering their phone.

No answer. 

I tried one more time. He always leaves meetings if someone calls him twice. Everyone looks the other way because he is good enough at his job and Cam or I always fill him in. He should answer.

No answer.

“Hey, Greg. Umm…sorry I am sick in my bathroom right now and tried to call out….nobody is answering their phones. Can you let Pierre know when you get this? And you or Cam call me back. I’m starting to panic a bit…Just call me back.”

I leaned over the toilet to gag again. I have to cough to get the stomach acid out of my throat. There was something very wrong. If it was a containment breech, then it should have just been underground and not affect Cam or Greg. They don’t do tests on Tuesdays, they do paperwork on Tuesdays so their Fridays are easier.

I made one last call to Dr. White. It was 11:11, the wishing hour. I made a wish someone would answer me.

No answer.

I curled on the ground and sobbed. There was something very wrong, but there was no way I could get to the Factory without causing a wreck. My eyes were heavy while I laid on the floor so I closed them and let my tears fall. I didn’t know why it scared me so much.

I lifted my head off the floor and felt the dry tears on my face. My phone showed it was 12:27. I checked to see if there was a call I missed. Nothing. The house phone showed the same thing. I felt numb. It made sense for me as I had no reason to cry. Crying was always so draining, and I don’t know why.

I still felt the weight on my throat and chest. As I stood, I remembered one last number I could call. It was the security at the Factory. They would get upset for a pointless call, but if something did happen below and the alarm didn’t go off, someone can check or shut down the factory for the extraction team to take care of it.

No answer.

There wasn’t a way for me to leave a message on these phones.

My stomach hurt, this time with hunger, so I went to my kitchen and cut up some leftover onion and peppers for an omelet. I started making some tea to calm my nerves and slow the shaking in my hands. My phone was still charged and I was going to sit outside with the window open so I could hear when the phone rings.

My garden needs to be checked and I can get ingredients for soup. That sounded like a good dinner. Homemade tomato soup. I felt the sun moving across the sky as I worked slowly. There was never a call. They either didn’t care to answer or were too busy to check. I would just have to check tomorrow when I go to work.

I was distracted while cooking and cut my finger open. I checked the phones one last time before heading to my bathroom to clean it up. As I was getting the bandaid wrapped around my finger, my cell phone went off. I left it in the kitchen and ran to the counter to answer it without even checking the caller.

“Hello?” I sounded desperate.

“Paige?” 

It was Sam. Not my coworkers or boss.

“Oh, hi Sam. I thought you were someone else for a minute. Is everything okay? Is your family good?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. I was calling because…Have you seen the news?”

“Huh? No. Why?” I walked to my TV to turn it on to find out what was happening.

“Did you go in to work today?”

“No. I missed my alarm and woke up sick.”

I had to flip through a couple of channels to find the local news.

“Have you heard from anyone at the factory?”

There was an image of the factory on screen and talk of missing people.

“No. I tried calling Pierre and a few of my coworkers around eleven but nobody answered. I passed out on my bathroom floor and woke up around 12:30 before calling the security there to see if I could get a hold of someone. They didn’t answer either and I haven’t received a call back.”

The news went to a commercial break before I could understand what they were talking about.

“Can you come down to the sheriff's office? I need to ask you some questions. Did you use your home phone to call or your cell?”

“My cell.”

“Do you have a recording of the messages you left?”

“I think so.”

“We need to hear them. Nobody from the factory made it home and families have been calling for the last hour. Both people that worked there and families who went for tours this morning. We can’t get in contact with any of them. You are the first person to answer, but if you didn’t go to work…”

“I’ll be there soon. I need to turn my stove off.”

I was rushing around the kitchen to make sure everything was off and not at risk of starting a fire before rushing out the door and to my truck. I was definitely speeding a bit, but there are hundreds of missing people, so I’m sure the police will look the other way.

“Hi, I’m here to speak with officer Sam?” I told reception.

“We are in the middle of–”

“He called me twenty minutes ago and asked me to come in.” I cut her off.

She looked at me for a moment before calling his desk number. It took only a minute for him to get me and walk me back to an interrogation room. Officer Zack met us there and I took a seat.

“Can you tell us what happened this morning when you were calling? Or the day before?”

I noticed they didn’t turn the recorder on when asking, so they suspected it to be something to do with the less than legal side of my job.

“Yesterday was normal operations for us. There were no incidents to report from my department, and what I understand, nothing on the factory floor. Security made no mentions of abnormalities and maintenance didn’t notify anyone of machines needing repairs. I left late due to a project I was running and trying to get some paperwork in order, but I didn’t interact with any…one who was part of that project. I went to get drinks with a couple of coworkers to celebrate Camryn getting married in a couple of months and Greg having a kid, but there was nothing that would indicate something going wrong at the Factory.”

I explained what I could while still avoiding the truth. They didn’t really know it and I wanted to keep it that way.

“Was there anything planned for today?”

“Routine check-ups and standard testing. Nothing that required movement…except one. We had a relocation from storage, but security was prepared and had done this before. I don’t see that being the reason nobody went home.”

“What makes you so sure?” Zack asked.

I lowered my voice before answering. “She has anxiety and causes harm to herself. She isn’t aggressive to others and she was excited for being moved out of storage to Playcare. She wouldn’t risk going back into isolation.”

Sam and Zack nodded their heads before turning the recorder on and asking the standard questions about where I was today and what happened yesterday. I answered all the questions and let the recordings of my messages play out.

“Why didn’t you leave a message on the first call you made to these people?” Sam asked.

“I was planning to call twice and didn’t want to leave a message if they were going to answer the call on the second try.”

“Why did you not try leaving a message with security?” Zach then questioned.

“The phones at security don’t have a way to leave messages. I don’t know why they are like that.”

“If nobody answered, what was your reasoning for not calling the police?”

I was taken aback by that question. “I didn’t think it was a missing person? I thought they were either in a meeting, or something went wrong that required the factory to evacuate and they didn’t have their cells. I trusted my coworkers to call me back when they get the chance.”

“What would cause the factory to go on lockdown?”

“I misspoke a bit. The factory almost always gets evacuated. It would be the places near the orphans that would go on lockdown. That would happen in the case of a gas leak as the ventilation for their areas is completely different to the factory and the children would be safer in Playcare than trying to exit the factory and get sick from a gas leak. Many of the children there are terminally ill and would be in greater danger than an adult.”

Before the next question could be asked, the ground and walls began to shake and we realized there was an earthquake happening at that time.

We did the best we could while it lasted, but I fell from the strength of it. It lasted several minutes before stopping and they both called out to make sure nobody got hurt. My thoughts were focused on the factory. I moved to a TV that was covering the news and there was a crew on site. You could hear crashing and knew immediately there were things in the factory that didn’t withstand the size. The building itself didn’t collapse, but there were clear stress cracks in the walls.

Hundreds of cars were outside and shifted. Authorities were running around the building and I recognized some of them. They worked closely with Pierre.

“We just got word that the factory is currently too dangerous to enter and no teams would be sent inside to search for the missing people until the building was deemed safe again. Radar detection will be used instead to search for people inside. We ask that all families be patient while authorities look for the best way to enter and retrieve anyone who may be inside.”

“Paige, are you okay?”

Sam walked up to me.

“Nobody is entering the factory. Stress cracks on the exterior leaves them too worried about the building collapsing.”

“That’s what the news said?” He looked to see what they were saying and saw the people too.

We both knew there was nobody going in with Pierre’s police friends in charge.

“Okay, the interview is over. If you don’t feel safe going home, you can stay here or head to my house. My kids and wife are worried about you, and I haven’t told them I was able to get in contact and see you yet.”

“I was making tomato soup…I should check and see the damage it caused to my house.”

“Call me when you get home, or my wife. I want to make sure you are safe. If your coworkers call you, record the call and call me if they can’t call the police themselves. We now have more problems tonight.”

I nodded my head and walked to my truck. I just sat in it for several minutes before I bothered to go home.

“Sam?”

“Sorry, not your husband. Would you take a phone call from an estranged aunt?”

“Paige! Oh, we’ve been so worried about you when we heard the missing persons reports rolling in. Are you okay? Have you talked to Zach?”

I forced out a laugh while I wiped up the spill. I wouldn’t be able to make enough to have leftovers anymore, but I had enough to make a little more than one serving.

“Yeah. He called me an hour ago and I just got back from the sheriff’s office answering questions. I didn’t go to work today, but I also can’t get in contact with my coworkers.”

“Are you okay? You are more than welcome to come stay the night here.”

“I’m fine now. After having a panic attack on my bathroom floor this morning when I couldn’t get in contact with anyone, I have been feeling pretty numb to emotions. Right now I am cleaning up my soup and making some more. I’ll let you know if anything changes with me, and I will call Sam if my coworkers call me before anyone makes it into the Factory.”

There was a pause and I took the chance to add water to a smaller pot.

“Umm…Are you watching the news?”

“No, I’ve been avoiding it a bit since I got home. Why?”

“They went looking for signs of people in the factory. There is no trace of people inside. It’s like they all left and didn’t take their cars.”

I couldn’t tell her that there was a deep underground cavern that wouldn’t show people down there through the technology we have. No factory worker would be allowed down there, so they very well could have left the factory and disappeared.

“This might end up on the national news. Oh, those families must be devastated.”

“Yeah…”

“Call me to keep me updated on how you are doing. The kids are worried about you and I bet Zach’s kids are worried too.”

“Zach was with us in the interrogation room, so he can let them know I am alive and well.”

I was a little distracted.

“Paige. Listen, I know you like your privacy, but give me your address. If I don’t hear from  you, I’m sending my husband to check on you. Please come here tomorrow. If nothing else, let me feed you. You might not have family to worry about you, but I know you cared about your coworkers and them being missing is going to have its toll on you soon. Come to me before that happens. Please.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Of course. You are like family to us.”

I gave her my address before hanging up and went through the motions of finishing dinner. I was going through the motions of existing. The knowledge of everything was too much.

“Hello?”

“Is this Max?”

“Paige?”

“It’s me. Hey…I was wondering if that position was still available? I am kind of without a job now and still need to afford my house and food.”

“Of course! I was worried about you when I saw the news. I will talk to my boss and call you back. Are you okay?”

“Yeah…as okay as I can be knowing everyone I worked with suddenly disappeared and there is no sign of what happened after a month of searching.”

“Okay. Give me a couple of hours and I will call you back.”

“...Thanks Max.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

“You let them–”

“...” 

“You let them—” she took a deep breath.

“And you didn’t think they would do something like this?! Tell me this is some kind of joke! My god how could you do that–”

“Not just me. There– there were others and we all knew this wasn’t right.” His voice started to rise before becoming a whispered yell.

The fighting was soon to attract toys to their hiding spot.

“Who? Who could have possibly done this? You would have had to have an omni hand to do this much damage. Did P.W. do this? That bitch–”

“P.W. wasn’t a part of this. Stella was the one who had the omni hand. Nobody brought her into the plan.”

“Wow. The one who has been the most vocal about how much she hates this place but hasn’t been disposed of yet wasn’t a part of the plan? Preston. Do you really think I am going to believe that?”

“Have you seen her work recently? Or any of the plans Pierre and the Doctor had in store for her? Unless Dr. White made large “improvements” and changed Pierre’s mind; she was going to be the next one to take over Playtime and the projects. P.W. may hate this place and would have agreed with us, she wouldn’t—. She wouldn’t stop it. I don’t know what she would do. Stella was the one who said not to bring her on.”

Their voices lowered again, but it was too late. The toys knew survivors were near. It was only a matter of time before they were caught. The toys didn’t have to be quick about hunting down survivors, nobody could escape down here and would all be caught eventually.

“... So nobody trusted her. Good. P.W. was a pain in the ass on the best day. She should have been gotten rid of a long time ago. At least I can believe she’s finally dead. Too bad we couldn’t turn her into an experiment for everything she’s done.”

“...”

“What?”

“You don’t know?”

“Don’t know what? Preston.”

“P.W. didn’t show up to work. I went to find her and see if it was possible to get her away from her work… her office was the same as the day before and nobody had seen her.”

“Are you kidding me? Out of everyone who deserved to die here, she just didn’t show up and avoided this whole mess? Every time something goes wrong and people die, she just happens to not be here to see it. Do you really think that is some kind of coincidence?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Are you dumb?”

“Do you know how many times she came in on her day off to take care of other people’s mistakes? In the nearly six years she’s worked here, she only went on vacation once. P.W. pushed people to follow protocol and demanded changes because she saw the problems with what we had. Every mistake and casualty was because people didn’t follow protocol and she wasn’t here to stop it. Yarnaby got out of confinement a week after passing all tests and she stopped him from rampaging. She stopped the Nightmare critters from killing the Smiling Critters because she was there and paying attention to the interactions. The Prototype escaped the night P.W. was in the hospital. Catnap escaped the night she finally went home after staying down here for three straight days. Huggy escaped–you guessed it— the day she was off. She planned her vacation and took care to check in with everyone who was taking over her work during that time and even offered to look over what others were planning to do and warn of any risks that might happen in that time. Nobody told her about the event that would be happening or which toys would be used. I have no doubt she would have tried to stop it. P.W. hated this place as much –if not more than I do, but at least she tries to protect us. She’s brave enough to say what nobody else would and knows what we were doing down here wasn’t for good. The moment Ludwig used the first human test subject just to bring his daughter back…that was the moment everything we did went wrong. It should have never happened…”

His ranting hid the sounds outside the barricaded door.

“She didn’t protect anything. All she ever did was get in my way while I tried to do my job. Do you know how many experiments she postponed or stopped altogether just because she decided a child was part of her own special list? We could have made so much more progress, saved so many people, but she just kept getting in the way.”

“Do you even hear yourself? Those were children who were alive and well. WE weren’t saving anyone. We were killing children to create monsters. If an—”

Finally, they were found, and would be caught. The toys knew where they were, and were going to make a game out of chasing and catching them. Then, they would be brought to the lab, and find out exactly what they put everyone through.