Chapter Text
Test Tube sat in the library, reading in the science section. Things had been boring since the show ended. She had tried every experiment in every book on her shelf. If she couldn’t find the answer to a question, she’d go to the lab and find the answer. But lately, there wasn’t so much as a hypothesis she couldn’t answer.
She had tried seeing how dirty the water in the pool was compared to the average swimming pool’s water. She had studied on and on about how different plants photosynthesize differently, using microscopes to see each process. She had gone as far as to keep jars of dust from various places in the lab to see how each of the collections differed on molecular levels. Yet she was still starved by boredom.
Until today.
The last few days, Test Tube had been reading books at the library, as suggested by her friends. Most of them were things she knew already. Science projects she had made in Object School. Today, however, she found a textbook titled “Psychology, and its relation to physical health”. Psychology wasn’t Test Tube’s go to, but it was better than nothing, right?
“An object’s well-being mentally can depend on their mental well-being physically, and vice versa. For example, if an object is sick, it may have a harder time holding up mentally. If an object is having a rough time emotionally, they’ll have a higher risk of getting sick. Another thing to add on is that an object’s physical type, such as Magazine or Tape, may also affect their thoughts. Studies have shown that objects that have to do with electricity and light, such as a lightning bolt or lamp, are more optimistic and find it easier to think of solutions to things. If something happens to ‘change’ the object’s physical type for an extended period of time, for example, removing an electronic object’s ability to use electricity, this may also affect their mental state and personality. This book goes over what is currently known about the connection between an object’s physical and mental state. There is, however, limited information due to lack of humane testing environments.”
Test Tube stopped reading at the end of the introduction. Now this was what she was looking for. Though how exactly do you test something like this? It’s not like any of the contestants would offer themselves to be tested on. And even if they did, others would intervene.
Well couldn’t she just… keep it secret? It would be dangerous, but wasn’t there a lack of information? What if she was one of the first to make a huge discovery? Test Tube grinned to herself at the thought.
No, what was she thinking? That’s immoral and inhumane, especially considering the only people close enough to the recording grounds of the show would be the same people she competed with.
…Maybe. But first and foremost, she should check out the book. She sat up and headed towards the front desk.
Maybe… just maybe.
Fan talked with Lightbulb and Paintbrush as the hotel’s lights flashed. “And then I said ‘Well yeah, that’s why he didn’t react!’“ Lightbulb said before laughing at herself. Fan didn’t completely understand the joke, and by the looks of it, neither did Paintbrush.
“So, how’s the anniversary party so far everybody?” She asked as she leaned against Paintbrush, who pushed her off of them quickly.
“It’s going great! It’s shocking how quickly two years pass! I feel like I was watching you guys with a bag of popcorn just yesterday…” Fan said, reminiscing about his time on the show. Usually he wasn’t much of a party person, but it had been two years since season two wrapped up. That’s two twos!
“Yeah, because you couldn’t help the team at all.” Paintbrush said.
“Still salty about it, Painty?” Lightbulb said, poking their arm in a joking manner. Paintbrush just groaned in response, but smiled afterwards.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt your guy’s fun, but I need a little help with my experiment.” Test Tube asked, walking up to the other three. “Could any of you guys spare an hour or two?”
“I don’t know, this is Inanimate Insanity’s second anniversary. I don’t want to miss it…” Fan said, scratching the back of his head.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! Besides, she had all those cool thingamabobs in her lab!” Lightbulb said, once again attempting to lean on Paintbrush. To her dismay, they stepped aside and she fell onto the floor. “Ow.”
“Well, I guess you’re right. I’m not much of a party person anyways. Unless we’re talking about that one song by Spoiled Lemon that goes-“
“Nope, we’re not doing this right now. I haven’t had enough to drink for this.” Paintbrush said. “Go do it at Test Tube’s lab or something. I need to take care of Baxter anyways.” They said, pointing towards the door.
“Alright, let’s go, Testy and Paper!” Lightbulb said, running towards the front exit.
“It’s Fan!” Fan shouted, sprinting after her.
“I should probably make sure they don’t do anything stupid.” Test Tube said, leaving Paintbrush by themselves. When she arrived at the vending machine, Test Tube found Fan and Lightbulb waiting for her. She was sure one of them would’ve tried to go in already if they weren’t arguing.
“Well you’re made out of paper, right? Then why aren’t you Paper?”
“Because Paper is Paper! We’re shaped completely differently as well!” Fan shouted, crossing his arms. Lightbulb did the same in retaliation.
“Calm down you two! We just got here, I don’t want us fighting already. Besides, Lightbulb made a huge mess in the lab last time I let you guys in, and that can’t happen again.” Test Tube shouted, successfully stopping the other two’s fight. “Now, I have to open the door, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Oo! Can I press the buttons? Can I? Can I?” Lightbulb said eagerly.
“Yes, you-” Test Tube said, being interrupted before she could finish.
“WHOO!” Lightbulb ran over to the door before Test Tube could fully understand what was happening. “Beep boop boop bop beep bop boop!” She said cheerfully as she pressed the buttons repeatedly. The vending machine opened up on its side, revealing a sort of vacuum tube. Lightbulb jumped in, soon to be followed by Fan and Test Tube.
As Fan slid out on the other side of the tube, he was met with Test Tube and Lightbulb now fighting instead of him.
“They’re on display though! And they’re so tempting…” Lightbulb said, staring into a bottle of… what even was that? Whatever it was, it was glowing a bright pink.
“That doesn’t mean it’s free to touch! Remember what happened last time? I should’ve just kept my lab a secret.” Test Tube said, shaking her head while she dragged Lightbulb towards a room. When she opened the door, it looked like a greenhouse. Fan stood there awkwardly as she entered and closed the door without giving him so much as a glance.
He walked over to the door to open it and join his friends, only for it to open in his face. “Sorry Fan, I just had to get-“ Test Tube said, stopping once she looked down at Fan. “Golly, I’m sorry! I should’ve looked out the window first! I’m just used to working alone in my lab.”
“Do you have any bandages? This might leave a mark.” Fan said, sitting up and rubbing his forehead.
“Oh yes! I’ll be right back!” Test Tube said, though paused before she turned around. “Also, sorry for almost third-wheeling you there. I needed to make sure Lightbulb didn’t do anything stupid. You get it, right pal?”
Fan looked up, smiling and nodding. “I get it. Just be careful next time, okay Testy?” Test Tube nodded back with a grin before spinning around and running back into the room filled with plants.
Test Tube went to the nearest medkit, which happened to be in the small greenhouse she had made prior to most of her experiments. She looked back at Fan. He had entered the room, forgetting to close the door behind him. By the looks of it, he had joined Lightbulb in looking at the plants Test Tube had collected. Fan had his phone out and was taking photos of a couple of ones he said he liked last time.
Test Tube looked down at the now open medkit on the countertop. What was she doing? These were her friends . Sure, she only needed one of them, but that didn’t make it much better. These were her teammates. The few people who, even if they were lying, would at least pretend to like her nerdy experiments and books.
No, she couldn’t be thinking like this now. She had to go through with this. They had to be getting bored of the same old as well, and neither of them seemed like the type to want to be recognized as a celebrity while walking around the city, just like Test Tube. They must be going through the same, wretched boredom. She was just helping them away from it. After all, there’s so many great scientists in history who made some risks and sacrifices like this. Her following a path that was practically carved out for her didn’t make her a monster right? No, it was all for the sake of-
“Testy? You doing okay?” Lightbulb asked, having walked up behind Test Tube while she was thinking.
“SCIENCE!” Test Tube yelped, jumping into the air out of surprise. The three of them stayed quiet for a couple of seconds as she caught her breath. “…Sorry.”
“You were breathing. Like, really fast. Are you doing okay?” Fan asked, standing beside Lightbulb with a worried look on his face. There was a small ripped bit on the top of him, though it didn’t go all the way through. A little bit of blood had gathered around the edges of it though.
“Y-yeah, of course I’m doing okay!” Test Tube blurted, still heavily breathing between words. “I just needed to see your injury again to see what treatment it needed.” She turned back to the medkit, cold sweat gathering on her body as she reached towards the bandaids, grabbing one.
“Fan, why don’t you go back? I don’t want you getting hurt again.” Test Tube said, placing the bandaid over Fan’s cut.
“It’s only one cut, I’ll be fine.” Fan said, poking the bandaid to make sure it would stay on.
“It’s my lab. I don’t feel like you’d be safe here. I can escort you out if you need it.”
“I said it’s only one cut. It’s not even big, and it’s bandaged. I’ll be fine, just at least let me make sure Lightbulb doesn’t touch anything!”
“You say that like I’m a responsibility, which I’m not!” Lightbulb said, not taking the situation seriously. Both of her friends ignored her.
“And I said it’s MY lab, and that I don’t feel like you’d be safe! You can come back another time if you want it that badly, I just don’t need you here right now. I only need one person to help anyways.”
“Oh, but didn’t you say you weren’t trying to third-wheel me? Well now look! I’m not even allowed because of a mistake YOU MADE! Thanks for nothing.” Fan said, glaring at Test Tube. Test Tube just walked towards the exit, listening to his footsteps as he followed. She hadn’t even completed step one of her plan yet and she was already feeling incredibly guilty. She pushed the feelings down as she went up with her two… should she really keep calling them friends now? She can’t get emotionally attached to them when she already has the experiment ready to go.
Lightbulb came out of the tube just quick enough to see Fan stomp away into the woods, Test Tube looking back at him. “You should probably go back too, Lightbulb.” She said, walking back towards the machine without looking at Lightbulb.
“Huh, you said that really loud. Almost as if it was on purpose and you wanted Fan to hear iiIIT-“ Lightbulb tried to finish her sentence, but was grabbed by the wrist by Test Tube as they re-entered her laboratory. The entrance closed behind them.
“Hey, if you needed me to walk, you could’ve just asked!” Lightbulb said, still trying to make fun out of the situation. Test Tube ignored her, dragging her to a room opposite to the greenhouse they were in before.
It was a fairly long ride. Lightbulb had begun letting Test Tube drag her around on the floor as she sat on the ground, enjoying the journey. “Say, this is fun! Why’d you leave Fan out of this?” No response.
One maze of crossways and keypads later, Test Tube reached the room she wanted. It was labeled “Hall 17” and had a wooden door with no windows. Lightbulb looked around at the other rooms. The hall reached out for a little. There were five doors on either side, but the space was very cramped, so much so that opening two doors at once would be a puzzle in itself. Some of the doors were labeled, though Lightbulb couldn’t read them before Test Tube blocked the way. The one they stopped in front of was labeled “1 - Electricity”, and was the first one in the hall.
“Ohh, you need help charging a generator? Why didn’t you say so!” Lightbulb said. Test Tube opened the door, the metal creaking against the hard floor. “Yeesh, might wanna get that checked out as well.” She entered the dark room without a word from Test Tube, only to have the door close behind her. Luckily, she already had her hand on the light switch ( which was rubber, strangely enough ).
When Lightbulb turned the lights on, she saw what was the exact opposite of what she was expecting. The floor was a weird, fluffy carpet. Whatever the carpet was planted on was also soft, making it awkward to walk on. In the corner to Lightbulb’s left, there was a bed inside of the floor without a frame. It was definitely a mattress, however it was level with the carpet. Outside from that, it looked close to the ones at the hotel, except with one yellow blanket instead of a couple red ones. The room was small enough for the bed to reach from one side to the other. There was also a large window right above it, as well as a matching bed across the room, but with orange blankets.
In the middle, closer to the yellow side, was a small shelf in the corner. It was inside the wall as well, though seemed pretty normal. Lightbulb walked over to it to see exactly what was on it. There was an empty journal with a brown cover, with a couple pages ripped out at the start. On the first page, there was a note written for her. “Write or draw whatever you’re feeling here. -Test Tube”. Alongside it were some puzzle books filled with mazes, crosswords, and spot the differences. There was also a slightly used pencil. When Lightbulb touched the shelf, it became apparent it was some sort of elastic. In fact, everything in the room was soft, even the walls.
Closer to the orange side was a calendar from 2011. It did, however, have the rest of the date correct. April 9th, circled. The rest of the squares were x’d out.
When Lightbulb turned back around, she saw two more things in her room. There were two things that looked like a mailbox next to the door on the wall, opposite to the beds. It appeared to be made of the same thing the shelf was. There was also a clock in the wall above the door. It was too high to reach. The door was cushioned as well, and was without a knob. What was Test Tube trying to achieve here, total child safety measures? Last but not least, there was a security camera in the very top of the corner.
“Hey Testy, this is the wrong room. Are you sure you labeled it right?” Lightbulb asked, looking up at the camera.
“I don’t think you understand the situation, E-1.”
“Woah, you can talk? Sorry, I just didn’t see a face or anything. Have you seen a scientist around her anywhere? Tall, green?”
“No- It’s me, Test Tube! I’m using the camera’s speaker to talk to you without entering your room.”
“Ohh, okay! Well Testy, this is the wrong room. Are you sure you-“ Before Lightbulb could continue her shenanigans, a high pitched ringing echoed through the speakers. Lightbulb put her hands on the side of her head, though it didn’t help as much as she hoped.
“There, will you listen now? You’re staying here until I choose to bring you somewhere else. The deposit by the door will bring food three times a day, at meal times. If you need anything, tell me.” Test Tube said, audibly annoyed. The speaker made a small ring before going completely silent.
Lightbulb looked around the room, a range of whites, light blues and yellows. The clock read 10:23. Now that she thought about it, it was getting a little late, and she was tired from being dragged around the lab. This was basically a sleepover, right? Test Tube had a bedtime, and Lightbulb didn’t want to keep her up past it. She sat down in the yellow bed, trying to shake the feeling that she had messed up somewhere.
Test Tube watched as Lightbulb flicked the light switch and laid down in her bed. That had gone much easier than she expected. Then again, Lightbulb is most likely still under some sort of false impression. Of course she would be, it’s Lightbulb.
Test Tube sighed, closing her laptop and sitting up. She was tired, but she couldn’t rest quite yet.
There was still one more part of the plan she needed to do tonight.