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Their day had started a little differently from normal since there was usually no one else at home apart from them. So when there was a purple kissy missy in their kitchen eating cereal when they woke up... they had to remind themselves that everything that happened the day before was not just a dream.
Because the toy in their kitchen was real. The fact she could talk was real. And the things Riley talked about after her happy meal dinner yesterday...it should be real even though some part of their mind wanted to refuse that a toy company couldn’t possibly be doing something that evil and sadistic.
However, they had to believe it since the proof was right in front of them.
Silently, they joined Riley at the table with a banana as two slices of bread were being made into toast behind them. Once the slices popped up, they slid one into their mouth and handed the less burned one to Riley who eagerly took it with her yellow mitten hand.
After they finished off what they had, they headed to their bedroom to change back into their uniform. Then, they jogged over to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their face to rinse off the tiredness in their eyes.
They stared into the mirror as they thought back to the horrors that Riley recounted to him. They knew it might just be the surface of what was going on. And if they were doing something as cruel as human experimentation, he had no doubt that their employer would have no trouble getting rid of them, especially since they were just an expendable janitor.
So they started to practice an alibi to themselves in the mirror after they brushed their teeth. They tried to steady their expression as they began to talk to themselves. “Hello, Mr. Pierre. Did I see something? What? Nope. Not at all. Why did I stop outside the front of the factory? My CD player was not cooperating with my cds. You know how it is. Why don’t I get it fixed? It’s not the first thing on my list I need to fix—“
Especially since they had to shop this weekend for more bedding and food for their new occupant. And they might have to repeat this trip every weekend from now on depending on how many new additions will join in.
“I saw nothing at all. I saw some blood that I had to clean but I assume it was just due to some accidents with the doors. I knew someone back in kindergarten that slammed his finger in the door. Why did I stop on the camera’s? I was just thinking about my mother criticizing me on my life choices—“ They startled when they notice something slender and furry out of the side of their eye. But they relaxed when they realized it was just Riley watching them from the doorway of the bathroom. “Hi. Riley. Did you enjoy your breakfast?”
“Yeah,” Riley nodded, leaning her weight against the doorway. The tension in her shoulders had lessened significantly from when they first met them a night again. There was still a bit of hesitation in her body language like she was guarded, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Yet her eyes held so much hope as she gazed at them.
They brushed down their janitor uniform, frowning when she flinched at the bright yellow show with the company logo printed over their breast pocket. “Do you—do you think I’m doing a good job with these answers?”
Riley looked away with hesitance before turning to them with her painted red smiling lips trying to twitch down. “... Don’t die.”
Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence. “Looks like I have to work on it more. Does it look like I was obviously lying?”
Riley tilted their head and gestured at them. They mimicked their confused action before taking the gesture as a notion to continue their make-up answers to whatever question that his boss might ask.
“Hm. It’s ok,” Riley admitted.
“Really?” Again, Riley seemed worried. Was she doing a so-so motion with her hand at her side? Maybe it would be better to keep repeating it until they believe that it's its true and they are not stumbling over any words. “I’ll practice on the way there anyway.”
They squeezed past Riley and went down the hallway to collect everything they needed for their regular shift. Keys? Check. ID card? Check. Wallet? Check. Phone? Yeah, right. Their Motorola micro broke some time ago. Maybe they should get that fixed so Riley can call him from the home landline.
“Okay. There aren't many neighbors around here so you can probably head outside if you want. But try to wear clothes to hide the purple. You can raid my closet if you want,” They gestured to the kitchen that they knew was stocked up especially in the deep freezer. It was mostly pre-made stuff but it was better than nothing. “And like I said before, you can help yourself to any food in my pantry and fridge.”
“Be safe,” Riley whispered as the janitor shrugged on their jacket.
They turned their head and smiled as they lifted their hand to wave at their child who was quietly watching from behind the door. “I’ll try.”
Riley waved shyly as they slowly shut the door and locked it behind him. The back door was a simple latch that Riley could open on her own if she wanted to roll in the grass like she did the night before.
They hope that their new friend could freely sunbathe under the real warmth of the sun instead of the plastic one down in Playcare. They only wish that Riley would start to feel more comfortable in their place, more safe than she ever was at that place.
They smiled as they thought about the new freedom that Riley had, yet that thought was quickly drowned out by the knowledge that there were a lot more toys and children like her back at the factory.
Children like her that may never know the warmth of the sun like she could right now. Or the taste of fast food that will fill their bellies instead of being forced to fight one another for scraps.
Maybe... maybe they could help them like they helped her.
If they don’t get killed first.
*
If they had hurried to the front door noticeably faster than they had before, they would blame it on the fact they were worried they would be late.
They were surprised when they were not immediately called into the office as soon as they walked into the door. Hell, they were shocked they weren’t shot dead once they exited the car.
Heh. There’s no way a toy company had snipers.
They stopped and looked up to where the front gate was located through the entrance doors. Or did they?
Whatever the answer was, they didn’t want to find out. They slipped out of the janitorial area with their cart, heading towards their normal areas when their name was called out.
They froze and turned to see the head of the janitorial department heading over to them. Oh no. What could this be about? They didn’t see anything right?
“Hey, Williams.”
They turned to face their boss calmly. “Yes, sir?”
‘Please don’t ask anything. Please don’t ask me anything.’ They chanted to themselves as they clutched onto the mop handle.
Their boss sighed, awkwardly scratching his neck. His scruffy beard was still as untamed as ever, showcasing the stickiness that seemed to shine in the company’s overhead lights. His tired brown eyes gazed over their cart. “I need you to take over Roger’s shift from now on. He was let go from the job a little while ago.”
“Oh!” Okay. He just wanted him to move shifts. Wait, what happened to Roger then? They didn’t know him well, but they looked fine a few days ago—wait. Did they—get rid of him? “What does that entail, Mr. Baker.”
“Well, apart from today, you can start coming in a little later since it’s more afternoon into night shift compared to your regular one.” Apart from today means that he must be expecting him to take a double shift for the second time in a row. “I got the instructions from up above.”
That must mean that Pierre signed off on this. If that’s the case, they need to tread carefully. They shook off their inner worries and smiled at their boss, trying to come off as appreciative for someone about to work over 12 hours in one day when they weren’t prepared for it. “Really? Did I clean up that good?
“It seems like you did.” Mr. Baker chuckled. “Altough I do have to ask this, they wanted me to know if you saw something weird?”
Here it is. “Well, the area was a bit larger than what I assumed. But I figured it out eventually.” Those puzzles were a pain in the ass. They said, “I heard a few rats or mice. But I was just going to tell Roger to set out some mouse traps to get rid of the problem.”
Mr. Baker hummed and rubbed underneath his hairy chin. “Well, now you can take care of it yourself.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can. Do you know where I can find those?”
“Yeah. They should be some in the second janitor closet near the bathrooms in the right corridor. We keep the mouse traps there with rat poison.” Mr. Baker pointed out to the right corridor in the lobby. Their eyes naturally traveled to the standing Huggy whose eyes were fixed straight ahead. They looked over to focus back on their boss who turned to him with a gentle smile. “There should be some overstock of cleaning supplies there if you need to restock your stuff or the regular supply closet.”
They nodded to their boss. “Thank you, sir. Is that all you need from me?”
“Yep.” Mr Baker replied. “Enjoy your shift. Your shift will be officially moved tomorrow. So you don’t have to come in until 1pm at the latest.”
“Alright. Thank you again, sir.” They responded with a kind smile, trying not to let their eyes linger on the tall blue toy behind their boss. “Have a good day.”
He laughed then nodded at them, “Same to you.”
They really hoped their boss wasn’t part of it. Oh god, how many of their coworkers knew? The first floor workers might not know. But everyone else? Just—just how many people did they know suspected something was wrong or knew exactly what was going on under everyone else’s noses?
Maybe no one on the first floor knew especially due to the rather strict rules employees had to follow. No speaking, questioning or doing anything fun when they are working. There was that brief period of lunch where everyone could talk. And the small pauses in between where they could sneak a few whispers to one another when they passed by.
But other than that, it wasn’t really an open area to discuss whether or not they know or believe in conspiracies related to the company. As far as they know, they could be the only one who knows out of the other janitors and warehouse workers. At least one of the ones who are still alive...
‘Whew. Okay. Focus. Riley will be waiting for me after this. I can’t mess this up,” They thought to themselves.
So they got to work.
*
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful during their normal shift hours. They had to snack during their lunch break via the branded vending machines with Poppy Playtime snacks. The pretzels were arguably the best ones compared to the rather artificial tasting chips with either Mommy Long Legs or Huggy plastered on the plastic. The Healthy Bron themed snacks weren’t too bad with the pretzels combined with a Smiling Critter flavored soda. The Kickin Chicken Lemon combined with Hoppy Hopscotch Lime was the best thing to wash down the dry pretzels with.
After that, they just stuck with cleaning the first floors as per their regular job. But considering their shifts were going to change, they took more time with it than usual since this could possibly be the last time they moved around this area.
It took some time for their next shift to officially start. The only thing they focused on was getting to have another snack from the vending machines while all the warehouse workers were starting to finish up.
When everyone had headed home, they took the same path they took the other night. Hopefully, there won’t be much issue if they remembered the puzzle solutions from the other night.
They had started working on cleansing the walls of splatters and puddles. Sometimes they were made to mask up to get rid of spilled unidentifiable substances. Other times it was just dusting off or wiping down equipment and some office desks that he came across.
They were glad that they haven’t run into anything resembling a prison yet. The area they are in must be between the weird prison cells Riley told him about and the Playcare area.
It doesn’t matter though because this place is still creepy.
Their eyes roamed over the cameras every now and then. Between each chore only to find the red light trained on their form. It wasn’t until they started going deeper into darkened hallways far enough away from the typical walkways where they began to notice the cameras were damaged.
They perked up, sliding this cart towards those areas on purpose. Some of the cameras’ lenses seemed to be stained or painted over with red—that they wanted to think was stolen paint from somewhere in the Playcare. They don’t want to think about it being anything else.
They were in the midst of mopping up the back rooms when their cleaning was interrupted by the tell tale sign of a scratching inside the vent. They glanced to the side to see a piece of wire making its way past the vent as little paws struggled to undo the screws from the other side.
With a little whistle, they moved their cart closest to the vent to hide it from any camera that might still be working. The janitor got to work scrubbing down the tables inside that room, sweeping away the empty plastic bottles and chip bags into their bag. They came back to their cart and placed the trash inside their personal trash can as the vent softly popped open.
They ignored the soft ‘pap’ sounds of the critters celebrating their success and the whispered-yell of ‘Freedom!’. They turned around to see the critters making their way inside his trash can like Riley had done the night before. When a Hoppy plush was about to jump in, the toy paused.
“They’re looking,” the Hoppy whispered.
“They looked at one of us last night but didn’t do anything to them. Just trust it for now,” a Bubba tried to reassure her. “We can always attack them if they truly do anything.”
Somehow the threat of bodily harm calmed the Hoppy enough for them to follow the others in and close the lid after.
A Crafty Corn critter sniffed and recoiled away from her own blue paw from within the tall trash can. “Ew. It smells gross here.”
“Well, I’m still doing my job here.” At the sound of their voice, all seven of the critters became quiet. Wait, seven? They glanced down to see a mini Bobby Bearhug waiting inside the vent with a Rabie Baby glaring at him from further within. “Don’t you want to come?”
“We need to tell everyone that you’re real. Spread the word.” Bobby whispered. Their beady black eyes were trained on him as they swayed on their feet inside the small vent. “You’re the one who helped Riley escape, aren’t you?”
They glanced over their shoulder to the trainer cameras before kneeling down to their cart. Bobby stumbled back further into the vent as the janitor started pretending to mess with their cart. When they were out of sight of any cameras, they nodded to the toy which made Bobby’s shoulders relax.
“And you’ll come back?” The hope in their voice was so fragile they feared they might break it if they so much as wait another second to reply—
“I will.” They promised quietly.
“Good.” The Rabie Baby spoke up then. Their voice more raspier and glitchy than Bobby’s. The pink and white bat gently pushed Bobby out of the way just so they could see their scary smiling face as they started to threaten them. “If you prove yourself to be like the others, it won’t look good for you.”
“I don’t doubt it.” They really did not want to have a sea of critters attacking them on all sides.
One of the critters, Kickin Chicken, spoke up from within the trash can. “Okay, get a move on. We need to go before someone sees us.”
Then, Simon Smoke poked their head up, “We’ll send a message with them to tell you we’re safe. Keep an eye out for it.”
“Hm,” Bobby nodded. Simon Smoke and Rabie Baby saluted towards each other before both of them set some kind of plan in motion. Simon ducked back under the trash lid, gently lowering it as he whispered something to the other critters within. While that happened, Rabie Baby silently instructed them to place the vent back on and quickly tighten it.
“Hey, before you leave, tell your friends I’m setting some mouse traps in certain corners, I don’t want them to get hurt but I made up an excuse of hearing rats so—“
“We got it.” Rabie Baby waved off their concern with one of their wings.
They followed the orders as fast as they could while making sure the vent wouldn’t fall. They needed to hurry up before anyone viewing through the cameras could see that he was spending way too much time in one corner of this floor.
“We’ll see you again, janitor.” Bobby gave their farewell before they left with the Rabie Baby through the vents.
They turned back to the trash can to see that most of the critters were placing the bits of bags above their own bodies to hide their brightly colored fur away from sight.
However, that didn’t stop Simon from sticking his head out from an empty chip bag. “Hey, what’s the plan?”
“Simple. You’ll follow the same steps,” They muttered down the trash can as they prepared the mouse traps. If the toys were inside the vents, they would place these in the corners. “Just follow my lead.”
*
It felt like deja vu as they messed with their car radio outside the factory wall. They waited by the same vent as before until they spotted several tiny critters in multiple colors sprinting towards the bumper of their car. They heard a few whispers as a minute or two passed while the critters got themselves ready. They didn’t start moving the car until he got a red dragon tail waving in his driver side mirror.
Slowly, the janitor made their way up the path and scanned their ID card to get through the guarded gates. The forest around the factory opened up to the not-so-busy street as soon as the gates opened.
They immediately went into a dimly lit parking lot of a smoke store. Once they put their car in park, they looked around and gently opened the passenger side door. Once the door was open, they heard the stampede of light footsteps making their way towards the front of the car.
It wasn’t long before their passenger seat and backseat was filled with curious critters looking everywhere inside and outside their car. Simon was chilling in the front seat listening to the music on the radio. Crafty had gotten herself on the dashboard and was smelling the car freshener while Kickin started playing with the gimmick dice that was swinging from the mirror.
Bubba was exploring the backseat floor while Dogday and Catnap wrestled with each other over who got to share the middle seat or not.
Hoppy latched onto a window and was looking out at the night sky with astonishment in her eyes. Her black bead eyes seemed to shine in the moonlight which gave her the appearance of pupils. “Look, it’s the moon! Is it always this bright?”
“Yeah, more often than not.” They replied easily, closing the passenger door behind them all. “And sometimes it changes to a reddish color.”
“What? You have to be lying.” Kickin spun around on the dashboard only to immediately cling onto the hanging freshener when they almost slipped.
The janitor held out their hands to make sure the chicken toy was steady before answering. “No, I’m not. It happens around autumn. I’m not sure the scientific reason, but it’s pretty when it occurs.” Then, they took a look at all of the critters spread throughout their car. “Is anyone hungry?”
“YES.” Almost all of the critters replied at once with a sense of urgency and plea in their tones. All of the attention snapped to them at once like they had a meal already in their hands.
“Alright. Here, you might want to get down from there when I start driving. I know a food place further up ahead.” They carefully picked up Crafty and Kickin and placed them on the backseat. They shifted the car out of park and started to make the familiar trip back to the signature yellow ‘M’ sign. “Then, I’ll get you settled back at home.”
Crafty spoke up from the back once they got to a red light. “Can— do you have art supplies at your house?”
“Yeah.” They answered.
Simon nodded, “Good. We’ll need that.”
“For what?” The janitor asked
“You’ll see— is that McDonald’s?!” Simon shouted, his full attention going to the beacon of colored light in the distance.
After that, the entire car’s backseat was filled with chatter over happy meals and how they never got to try one of them before. There were whispers over what kind of toy they would get with it and arguments about whether to get the hamburger or the nugget meal.
However, they had to put their foot down and say no when the critters asked if they could get their own milkshake...
Only to immediately fold and buy a few large ones with the intent to put them in glasses when they got home.
Hey, these kids deserve a little sweet treat after everything they’ve been through. Plus, they got enough to make sure Riley got her own glass too.