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Record sat under a tree. It was in between challenges and she was feeling rather tired. She looked up at the sky. It was the same orange as the rest of the room. As much as she appreciated the company of Tissues and others, she couldn't help but hate the place. It was always so warm and humid. Most of the time she felt like she was just there. No one really bothering to talk to her; She almost felt like she was simply existing. No real purpose.
A few hours had past and she was still sat under the tree. She watched some other contestants run past in that time but none took a moment to ask Record if she was okay. Its not that she looked fine, not at all. She had a look on her face that made her look as if she was about to cry but everyone ignored her. They ignored every little problem she had. She brought her hand up and shook it in front of her face. It looked almost as if Record was trying to check if she was actually living or if she was an inanimate object. Which is ironic, given what she is.
Record had fallen asleep slightly after that last act. She needed the rest. She had been up late most nights and woke up early in case Daddy Long Legs had a new challenge. Record's sleep cycle wasn't healthy at all and she recognised she needed to fix it but wasn't sure how she could. A gentle tap on her shoulder woke her up from her midday nap.
"Record," the all too familiar voice of Tissues said. "Record, wake up." He repeated. Record opened her eyes. She seemed annoyed that she had been woken. Sleeping was one of the few things she still enjoyed doing as she had no thoughts while she slept. It was calm. It was peaceful. Almost like death. The idea of death seemed nice to her. It seemed like death would provide a release. She wouldn't need to think anymore. She wouldn't need to worry about anything anymore. At the same time, the idea of death scared Record slightly. She couldn't feel happy. She couldn't feel anything. Which probably wouldn't be nice.
"What?" Record asked in a tired and slightly irritated voice. She still looked exhausted after the nap. Tissues began to speak: "you look tired but you just slept. Maybe you need to wake up!" Tissues said happily. Tissues was overly positive and it annoyed Record. She didn't like that Tissues didn't get that she wasn't alright no matter how much she told him. They still acted like everything was okay and Record wasn't struggling. "Yeah sure whatever." Record brushed Tissues off. She stood up and looked up again, expecting something to have changed. Nothing was different. It was still the same orange. Record had the urge to punch it to try and make something different around here. "Come take a walk with me! That will... wake you up." Tissues smiled. He was trying to help this time. Record appreciated that. She got up and began to walk with Tissues.
Tissues and Record walked for about thirty minutes in silence before Record began to speak. "Tissues?" She said quietly. Tissues turned his body around and looked at Record, humming in response and stopping his waltz. "Do you ever feel like... you're just existing? Like nothing you do matters. Every choice you make will eventually fade out so whats the point in trying? We all die. Whats the point in living if we know the end. A death. Is it possible to die happily? Sure you can die on your own terms but can you truly die happily? I dunno. I don't know why I'm talking like this. I'm just kinda exhausted of this whole competition thing... its been a month now and we've only done three challenges. I'm sick of existing here. I really wanna exist somewhere else because its the same here. Kinda making me go stir crazy." Record rambled. Tissues looked confused but got what Record meant quickly. "Sometimes i feel sad... but then i think about my friends, you are included in that, and i think about my friends and I'm happy because i have happy memories with them and i can make more happy memories with them! I live because you can be sad... but happy times come! You just gotta seek happy memories out and not sink in sadness." Tissues explained. Record smiled and they continued to walk again.
After about another half hour, they had returned to the tree Tissues found Record at today. "I'm gonna... go talk to Eraser... do you wanna talk to Eraser too?" Tissues asked. He didn't wanna leave Record alone because he was slightly afraid if she spent too much time alone she might start thinking like that again, he didn't want that. "Yeah sure." Record smiled wider then before and began to walk over to Eraser with Tissues. "Thanks by the way." Record mumbled. "You're welcome! I'm you're friend I'm here to help." Tissues said back happily.