Chapter Text
After somehow managing to survive jumping from a train going at full speed, being stabbed, left for dead, and then being miraculously revived by Giblet's cane-taser-weapon-thing, everything became an even bigger rollercoaster than what it already was. After all, who would expect to wake up after being presumed dead, only to find out that the very important thing you were looking for all this time— the negation formula— was the one and only literal brain inside a supercomputer that you've worked needlessly hard to get rid of not that long ago? Yea, exactly. Not many people. They weren't sure they were still uh.. 'people' anyways.. What normal human survives all of this?
Not the time for questions like these, they suppose, because there are much bigger and more important things at stake. Like getting Poppy back! … Again !! …. Yaaayyyyy……!!
Seriously, what does everyone have with her? Basically every single toy being they met in this place was either going after the girl's throat or wanting to have her as leverage over the Prototype in one way or another!
Speaking of him, there were numerous questions swimming around their mind about him. For example, why does he look like an amalgamation with that lower body? Why a spider visage of all things? Did he do that deliberately just so he would be scarier to everyone? To get more respect? Did Harley build them for him? The Doctor refused to answer that question when interrogated. And also, why the weird unhealthy obsession with Poppy? What's that about?? It seems nobody except him know the answer. Hell, even Poppy doesn't! And she's the main point of all this.. whatever this is.
They're getting sidetracked again.. Oh well.
Convincing the Doctor to transfer himself into Glowby was definetly a nightmare in of itself, as both parties protested. And they did understand, yes, but what's more practical? Carry around a heavy computer/TV screen or a simple digital bracelet? Exactly. Eventually, Harely finally relented and albeit they did feel sorry for Glowby to have to share space with a sadistic scientist who probably was the reason that it itself was basically alive as a toy, they didn't exactly have time to spare.
The longer they waited and prolonged things with unnecessary dialogue and standing around wasting breath and energy, the farther away the Prototype got away with Poppy. And as much as they were on edge with all of this going on around the porcelain doll, she was the only one with an actual plan who knew what they were doing here. Somewhat, at least. Even then, it was rather nice to have some company to talk to again instead of being alone or fighting for their life.
Giblet was rather talkative. Not a bad trait to have, certainly understandable for how long he must've been here alone for. Though he does sometimes strike them as annoying with his constant suggestions, despite them knowing what to do. Almost nagging.. But they're still happy to have someone on their side again. Doey will.. be missed. He was a nice lad… lads? All three were nice company.. Mostly..
The Doctor on the other hand, they aren't sure what to feel about him. He isn't necessarily as talkative, but he will give you a piece of his mind, unprompted and usually rude. Or blunt, one of those for sure. Still, the feelings of uncertainity were strong, especially with the jolt their body suffered every time Harley spoke up out of nowhere. Damn sadist was taking pleasure in it too, for sure. Oh, they will never forget the look of satisfaction when he saw them limp closer in disbelief. The guy for sure won't let them live that dowm. Probably ever.
They could also swear they saw Chum a few times. Never for long, but just a streak in their vision; behind closing doors, off in the distant window. That gave them some sort of hope. Because Chum was with the Prototype. Yes, that wasn't necessarily a good thing, but it did mean that wherever Chum was must be also where Prototype is hanging around at. Or at least, where Prototype will come find him, then there would be the chance to follow him to Poppy. Unless he'd notice and connect the dots, instead turning it into a trap for them. And they did hear that he is a rather smart one.
Even then, it's worth a shot.. There's not many others they can rely on. Kissy was… probably dead.. They aren't sure, none of them are. Huggy is the same story.. Though, there was a lot of that very special goo that they're all made out of. So just maybe, if they survived with enough strength…
They should't be having false hopes.. this place already drained them enough, if their physical and mental state was enough to go by. Who wouldn't be worn out after constant fear, chase, near death experiences, numerous injuries and other stuff?
The good news is that Sawyer is able to connect to the whole place's cameras and look through them. As well as being able to control many things due to his privileges. Having to explain that the omni-hand was no more proved to be very difficult, but it's not like it was needed in here now anyways.
It's honestly been a while since they used the grabpack. Ever since they made it out of the server room, the use of the grabpack was few and far between, which was honestly surprising, but then again, they're probably nearing the Earth's core at this rate. Seriously, how deep is this damn place?!
They just kept descending and descending and descending. Was Prototype seriously keeping Poppy in the center of the planet??
Walking through unknown corridors, they limped slowly as Giblet wobbled by. It was astonishing how quick the fella was when he was turned inside out— as they learned from some chats with him— and he was possibly also a kid still! Just maybe, they weren't sure on that and Giblet wasn't either. Brain washing from that weird lady does this to you.
And here they were. A grown ass person, struggling to walk, while this being who endured much worse than they could ever wish to, was already ahead of them. A little bit of them was envious, though only for the seemingly unending stamina and insane survivability. Still, they wouldn't like to be a toy, obviously. Maybe it was just the weird lady's tactics messing with their brain still a bit. Wasn't too long ago since that all went down.
The small inside-outimal slowed down to a stop once he noticed the human struggling to follow, his expression one of sympathy. "We- we uh.. can take a small breather! If- if you want, that is! I mean, the Prototype is.. not really close, but.. you seem like you could use a bit of a break!!" He said, ears drooping down a bit as he looked at their tired face, blood slowly drying on the— by now ragged— shirt from the stab wound.
They stopped too, looked down at him, eyes clouded with exhaustion as their breath shuddered just a bit. Heart palpitations became much more prevalent without any good rest, and all the dust they've been breathing in from this place as well as everything else possible in the air? Yeah, that doesn't do the lungs any better, too.
Taking a deeper breath to steady themself, they nodded a bit. "Maybe.. a break would be nice.. but.." they spoke, voice quiet, low. Only to be stopped by the Doctor cutting in from the digital bracelet.
"But remember, every second we aren't moving, your.. 'targets' are only getting farther away from you.."
They hated how they could practically hear the smugness in it, could feel it seeping under their skin like the dread of him being right. And they hated that he was right. Every second of rest cost them valuable time to get Poppy back. So Sawyer did have a point. One they couldn't so easily ignore.
Glancing at the singular eye watching them, amused, from the wristband, they let out a sigh, shaking their head, before looking at Giblet, and then past him. Forcing themself off the wall they leaned on for a moment, they let out a deep breath, before trudging on, much to the dismay of Giblet, who still tried to gently persuade some rest into them. It did not work, though. The dread is stronger than exhaustion in this moment.
But for how long?
The red coloured outimal gave up rather quickly after that, seeing that the human was set on continuing. And on they went. The place was even more decrepit down there and they had to wonder.. how in the hell did Playtime Co. even manage to build down here??? Who would agree with building all of this down here??! Oh well, better not question their former employer, seeing as they've done far worse to the orphans..
"Giblet," the shortest glanced up at that, humming as he curiously tilted his head, ears flopping a little with the movement. "have you ever been down here..?" They looked at the smaller, who seemed to look around the place a bit, brows knit together, lips in a tight line. "Can't say I have… it was dangerous leaving base.. especially for places this far away.." he responded honestly, the human nodding. "Yeah, that's understandable.." their tired eyes fell upon the bracelet. "Doctor Sawyer?" They beckoned the old scientist, the screen of Glowby lighting up with a single eye. "If you plan to question me on knowledge of this place, you must know my answer already." He replied, cold, blunt, eye unamused this time, making them let out a half huff half groan.
Right, eyes everywhere, whatever. "Do you know where the Prototype is right now?" They asked, the Doctor humming as the screen went dark, but not fully, signifying he just closed his eye. Probably so he could snoop through the cameras set up in this whole place. "Yes and no." He replied after a bit, the eye opening back up. The answer alone made their blood boil slightly. Was it so hard to speak clearly and not in riddles?? What does that even mean?!
"Right. So?" They continued, the eye squinting at them, radiating offense to his great speech not being immediately understood by an overly exhausted person and a guy who's been surviving mostly alone for years on scraps without many friendly contacts.
"It means," Harley started, "that I did not see him on the cameras. However, I have seen traces of where he's been. How recent, I cannot tell precisely, but I know where he's been and seldom where he might be headed." he conducted, proud of himself for this observation.
"Awesome. And where is that?" They couldn't fight the tired irritation in their tone, wanting him to just spit it out clearly for god's sake! They aren't in the mood, nor have the mental capacity right now to connect dots and solve puzzles! Harley simply glared at them, they could feel it, but didn't necessarily care much. "Bioengineering storage and cryogenics." He spat out, the scowl clear in his voice.
Their steps stuttered a bit from the shock. "You froze people he—?! You know what, I'm not even— why would I be surprised at all at this point, sure whatever, yeah." The Doctor for sure raised a brow at their sudden thought changes, but they were way too exhausted to really think about stuff too much. "Okay, look." Giblet suddenly spoke up, making them turn at him.
"We're all exhausted—" "I am not." "—was not talking to you, Doctor Sawyer. Anyways," the friendly outimal jumped up on some rubble, raising his taser cane in front of the used-to-be-employee, making them stop. "you really need some rest, yeah? We can chase the Prototype when we have enough energy." He said, trying once again to gently persuade the ex-employee to rest. "But you've heard Sawyer, Giblet.." they responded, giving the red one a saddened look. "We can't waste time, the Prototype—" "I know! And I am not saying he's not right, I'm just—…just saying that some rest will do us good.. Both of us.." his ears drooped, pinning back slightly, pulling out his secret weapon;
Puppy eyes. Or, well. Eye.
They let out a huff. "Giblet, you know—" the ears pinned back more, brows furrowing, a pleading expression set on his face. Squinting, the ex-employee tries not to give in to the propaganda of at least some sleep.
To no avail.
"Sawyer, can you find the closest safe space?" The eye on the tiny screen blinks open in astonishment. "You wish to rest? Right when what you want is at your fingertips?—" Groaning, they roll their eyes, looking off to the side. "Actually, according to your own observation, it's more like half the entire complex away, so, chop chop."
The Doctor, presumably stunned, took a moment, before scoffing and actually.. surprisingly doing just that. Seems like this audacity got him so out of it he just complied without any complains.
Giblet just smiled, letting out a sigh as he hopped off of the pieces of rubble, halfway to the ground before the ex-employee snatched him, making the outimal yelp. "Butcher? What are you—??" They just let out a quiet hum. "You said you're tired, no? You don't weigh much, and I don't mind holding you for a while." They said, holding him literally like you would a plushie. Or perhaps an oversized cat.
"Well, yes, but—!" They shushed him, starting to follow the instructions that Sawyer displayed on the screen. "Are you sure about this 'break' of yours? I'm certain that your little doll friend would appreciate it if—" The Doctor's sentence turned into a jumble of noise as the human flailed their arm with the wristband on around, Giblet only watching the display of clear irritation with mild amusement.
"I know what Poppy would appreciate, but alas, won't be of much help for her if we can't stay on our feet, now would we, Doctor?" They hissed, the eye glaring at them from the screen, clearly dazed by the violent motions despite now only being sentient lines of code. "As you wish.." Harley sneered, before his screen turned dark, the little face of Glowby appearing as the little light chirped in confusion and displeasure, having been forced into the back of the subconscious by Harley. How the two fit into the same little object? No idea, but it works, so they won't question it.
Ducking through a broken door they managed to open thanks to the help of the grabpack, they walked into the middle of a hallway. It was obviously in ruin, the wall peeling off there, some rubble over on the other side, broken down doors, a hole in one wall, giving clear access to the room behind it…
Definetly a.. place.
The walls were half tiled, and the hall looked rather.. sterile? If you'd imagine a hospital of sorts, or just how Reanimation looked, just.. different. Slightly. Honestly, they've been down here for so long that everything is just starting to look the same..
Walking through the hall, they peeked into the hole in the wall, Giblet looking around as well from their arms. One would think it's rather gross, to hold something like this, but being honest, it was nice to hold something warm and friendly.
The room was obviously destroyed. They wouldn't be surprised if the Prototype made his way through here at some point, hence the wall being broken. But even then, they maneuvered through the hole and over the rubble. They did trip a little, but kept their ballance, accidentally squeezing Giblet a little bit, to which he then reassured that it's fine and not to worry, that he had handled worse.
Fair point.
Glancing around, the edges of their vision already blurry at the promise of some much needed sleep, they examined the room a bit more. There were more rooms here, with open doorways, some chairs, tables, chalkboards.. some boards with names written in marker, more cutouts of both old and new characters made by the Company and all sorts of stuff. Everything that their brain refused to acknowledge at this moment.
"Harley, open the door." They spoke to the wristband, standing in front of a door that only had a code input plate, therefore no way to get inside with just a grabpack. The door stayed shut.
Giblet shifted in their arms, looking up at them, ears drooping slightly. "Maybe.. um.. shaking him wasn't the best idea..?" He suggested. "I mean, I for sure wouldn't appreciate it.. so I don't know if shaking someone who controls everything around us was a.. y'know.. Good idea..?" He explained a bit, the ex-employee letting out a deep sigh, closing their eyes, the irritation bubbling under their skin. "Harley. I am far too tired for this foolery. Open. The door." They spoke, one arm raising up as they rubbed their temples, huffing when more time passed by and the door still didn't open.
They were getting fed up.
Giblet started to sort of try and get out of their grip by now, muttering something about him staying awake and watching over them, to make sure they get some rest without disturbances or danger, but they refused to let him go.
Steady. Calm… and steady. A quiet exhale.
"You know, your main system has been transferred to this little wristband." They started, voice low, cold. "You can access cameras and interact with things, but you cannot leave this unless I take you to a computer." Giblet, seeing the point of the conversation, waited in anticipation as the threat carried on. "So, to remind you in simpler words; I am your only way out."
No movement, the lights only flickered sometimes, like nothing happened.
And then the door slid open.
The ex-employee sighed and walked inside, jolting weakly as the door clamped shut after they entered. Glancing around, it appeared to be some sort of a smaller office, nothing too fancy or degraded. There were a few notes on the table, but they could worry about those later. For now it was important to actually get a bit of rest in..
"I.. didn't expect this from you, Butcher.. but I do guess that's part of the reason you're even alive down here, eh?" Giblet tried to light up the mood a little, surprised that the Doctor listened to this actually very valid threat. Guess he is a smart man after all.
All he received was a hum as the human collapsed down with a pained huff and groan, the outimal letting out another yelp, though actually unharmed himself, just safely held and shielded by the forementioned Playtime Butcher's arms.
"Uhm.. you can let me go now, Butcher, I think I'll be fine to find myself a place to nap here." When that elicited no response, Giblet realised that the arms around him had gotten completely lax, the muscles easing their tension for once in a goddamn long while. "Butcher..?" His voice was quieter now, understanding that he won't get through to the out cold ex-employee.
Giblet himself was nervous to actually close his eyes, worried that they might actually just pass on.. that this was a last spur of energy after getting stabbed and whatnot. And their breathing was rather shallow and quiet, laboured almost, but for now they seemed fine.
And as for the outimal himself, he wasn't actually as tired, but he could definetly use a moment of peace. He thought about leaving the now lax hold of the Butcher's grip, but the worry of him waking up to a corpse was more alarming, so he decided to stay and monitor through naps. Hopefully.
Harley did not speak up, probably just scoping the grounds outside and tracking.
Looking out for them, if you squinted hard enough and believed the man had some smithereen of compassion left inside.
So, for a moment, things were peaceful as the world went dark.
Waking up to the voice of Harley Sawyer was definetly.. a way to wake up, that's for sure. They probably never shot up so fast before in their life. The sudden movement woke up Giblet, who basically fell out of their arms due to the speed they stood up at. But he caught himself, ears pinned back in worry, looking at the ex-employee as they staggered.
Perhaps they stood up way too fast. The world swayed, and they did with it, breathing becoming shallow as they felt their heart beat in their throat, making it even harder to breathe. Their legs then buckled, and they slumped to the ground, barely catching themself with their hands, body going into a full on tremble in response to the rush of adrenaline. Giblet, of course, immediately rushed over to check on them.
"Ah. You're awake now, I see. How.. peculiar, that my voice alone has this effect on you.." They could feel the smirk and sick amusement in the Doctor's voice, but they were too busy trying to steady their breathing to respond. Their head was spinning and they felt almost sick, deciding to sort of half-lay down for a moment with deep shuddery breaths. Damn this place. That's even more trauma to add to their life story.
As Giblet stood by, lightly patting their shoulder, looking as compassionate as ever, Harley continued to speak. "I assume you will be pleased by some of the information I've managed to find during your break." Taking the last deep breath, successfully calming down the heart and lungs enough, they sat up more, giving the outimal a small nod as thanks.
".. I swear if it's something useless.." they grumbled, but The Doctor only hummed. "I doubt you'd find the presence of a certain red furred individual useless." He spoke smugly, staying silent for a moment as he waited for them to understand who he meant. Honestly, he expected them to know immediately, but judging by the lack of proper reaction from them, he must've miscalculated.
The one who actually recognised who was mentioned was none other than Giblet. And although he started with excitement, it quickly died down once he realised the implications of Chum's presence. "How interesting.. " The Doctor mused. "I thought this is what you'd wanted all along?" The amusement and curiosity in his voice was clear.
You know, he doesn't seem like a very emotional guy, but he is so damn readable.
"It is." The human responded, slowly standing up, making sure they wouldn't nearly faint this time. "But we're still far too out of shape to do anything. If he finds us like this, it's—.." They silenced themself, looking off to the side, catching the way Giblet's ears drooped in their peripheral vision.
"…How about the Prototype?" They asked, turning their attention to the screen of the wristband. "Oh? I've got yet to see him.." Damn bastard sounded bored while saying that. Shaking their head, and with that shaking off the rest of the sleep left in them, they readjusted the grabpack. "We didn't rest for long, but at least we rested some. We need to get on the move again." They decided, Giblet perking up as he picked up his cane-taser, strapping it onto his back quickly.
"Doctor Harley, where is our next stop?" They asked ildly, waiting right in front of the still shut door. The scientist hummed, taking his sweet time to look through the camera systems to pinpoint a route to whatever place they needed to travel to now.
"The Storage.." he responded, the tiny screen lighting up with the map, with a highlighted route. And boy did it look.. long. Sighing in dismay, they steeled themselves, feeling the ache in their legs already before even stepping out. "Is Chum close?"
"That friend of yours is two hallways away.. digging in the electrical cabinets of all things.." Harley responded, uninterested. "He's been ordered to kick the camera systems back on.." The human mumbled under their breath, still a bit audible however. "Alright. We need to get out of here as soon as possible." Turning to look at the outimal, they pointed at him. "If we have to run, I'll carry you." And when Giblet tried to protest that he can just hide in a vent or something, they shushed him, refusing to hear him out.
The door slid open and they walked out.
Almost immediately tumbling over new rubble that just wasn't there before.
Cursing under their breath as they got up and wiped themselves off while walking off again,— for sure with brand new bruises— the Doctor's eye gleefully watched them from the small screen. "Oops~. I must've forgotten to tell you about that." They only grumbled at the smug voice, trudging on with Giblet right on their tail.
How did that rubble get there? A simple look up is all it took for the explanation to be found.
The place is slowly falling apart.
Great. As if being stuck down here wasn't terrifying enough. Let's add "try not to get crushed by the walls around you" to the list, why don't we?
"Wait a minute!" Giblet spoke up, making the ex-employee turn to glance at him, yet none of them stopped in their walk. "Why would Chum have to kick on the camera system? Harley is already using it! So that means it must already be on!!" He pointed out, at which their steps faltered for a moment, trying to think about the possible answer to this very valid question.
Why would Chum be there otherwise?
Doesn't that mean that the Prototype already knows where they are..?
Thinking about this only made shivers run up their spine, wishing that hopefully, it was just something else, like Chum having to reroute some energy or something..
Yeah, nothing made their nerves ease at this point, their walk picking up into a slight trot, Giblet having to speed up himself to keep by them.
Halls and corridors, rooms and actual cave segments, all passed by in a blur as their brain racked on trying to process this information and why exactly Chum was there, messing with the systems. A possible answer surfaced after Harley showed up on the wristband. "I've lost connection to the cameras in this area." He said, rather intrigued, before the eye blinked shut and the map showed up again, dimmer in colour now, probably since Harley couldn't connect to them anymore.
Now there were two possible answers.
Either the Doctor couldn't access the cameras because Chum just turned the system off in a try to hide them, perhaps still working on their side from the enemy lines…
Or because the Prototype was using them.
And if he was, then that meant that he.. saw them.
Letting out a growl, they grabbed a hold of Giblet and sped up even more. They weren't as fast as they'd like, stumbling here and there, rushing puzzles on the way to get doors open again— seriously, who made this place?! Having to do three different puzzles to go to a toilet doesn't even sound that farfetched now— they were passing by rather fast, trying to run through this section as fast as possible.
Only to run into a damn huge hole in the ground leading to who knows where again, meaning that they had to take a detour to get through.
That didn't make them any happier, though Giblet pointing out the conveniently placed vent next to them was quite helpful.
All the while the cameras followed their every move.
Coughing a bit at the amount of dust and everything else in that vent, they regretted not bringing the stupid gas mask from Home sweet home. Would've been real useful right now, and their lungs could be spared another infection or two.
Giblet led the way, being exactly vent-sized helped him move faster as he looked through the openings in the shafts to check out where it was best to drop down. "Why did we run?" He piped up suddenly. "I-I mean, not like i don't trust your judgement or anything, it's just uh.." They shook their head a little. "Had a bad feeling.. is all." Right after finishing that sentence, they started to hack their lungs out again, conveniently rousing up even more dust in the vents.
They were surprised how the toys going through these vents even breathed here. Their lungs felt like they were about to have a seizure and they were here for like, what, a minute, two max?
Whatever.
"I think I see a good spot to get out of here!" The outimal whisper-yelled, making the ex-employee's head turn towards him, crawling closer through the tight space to hopefully get a glance. "Harley, how's the cameras?" They asked in a whisper, panting a bit with occasional coughs as they tried to catch their breath. "Hmm.. I still cannot connect to the system in this section.." he muttered, seeming to think about why exactly that is. The human meanwhile looked out of the vent with Giblet, eyes snapping around as they tried to look for any threat or way to progress through the place.
Because of course nothing could ever be a nice smooth linear walk..
The place beyond the vent looked mostly like any other room in this damn Company. Tall ceiling, tiled walls and floor, many desks and chairs, big glass windows.. notes here, cutouts there, some unknown machinery.. Yup, work of Playtime Co.
Creaaak..
And the world dipped and tilted, followed by some very not good sounding cracks.
Giblet stumbled a bit, backing away from the opening.
"I'm too heavy, we can't stay here for long, we need to move." The Butcher urged, nudging the outimal to the side to continue walking, which he quickly obeyed. "There must be a path there somewhere around here! No way they would only have one door connecting to a whole other part of the Company!" Giblet muttered, the human humming in agreement. The more they moved, the more creaks and cracks sounded, and the more the vent tilted. These vent systems were way too old and unkempt to hold them up.
And also, they were not created with the intent to hold up a whole person inside it. Not while hung in a room, that is. In the walls, it seemed fine.
"We really need to hurry..!" They said, hearing a screw pop as one side of the vent dipped more. Giblet freaked out, not knowing wether to reach out for them or back away, but before he could even properly think of which of those options to choose, the metal bent and groaned, suddenly dislodging right between the two of them, and the human was basically flung out head first right towards the ground. They swore they saw a glint of yellow somewhere above the vent right when it broke open, so, wishing upon any bit of luck, they shot out the blue grabpack hand..
Which latched onto a hanging handle, and with that, mid-fall, they managed to swing themself over onto the ground relatively safe. Quick thinking truly is part of their survival skills at this point, huh?
However, there was no time to spare, because just a few seconds after that— and hearing a crash from the part of the vent that broke off and fell— there was another creak, and with that, Giblet let out a squeak as he slid to the now hanging opening of the part he was in, barely clinging to the edge, plush and felt fingers slipping.
Not wasting another second, the human stood up, struggling a bit, before realising that they won't be able to run under to catch him in time. So, they eyed the vent, the outimal's struggling hanging body, before doing something risky.
"Giblet! Grab the cable and hold on tight!" Both grabpack hands flung out, barely missing the red outimal, who's grip managed to slip right at that moment. Falling into the black cables of the hands, yelling, he locked his hands around one of the cables, holding onto it for dear life as it retracted back towards the grabpack— and towards the human.
Giblet dropped onto the ground once he had ground under his feet, panting and trembling just a little. The fall.. probably wouldn't have killed him, but boy would it hurt a lot.. Feeling a hand on his back, the outimal looked up, ears droopy from stress, as the ex-employee looked down at him, giving him a nod, which he then returned. "Thank you, Butcher- ! Hah- .. that was very close.." They only nodded in response, letting out a few deep breaths, also calming themself down from this situation.
Not a single moment of peace, huh?
Noticing a lack of a certain cane's presence on the other's back, they tilted their head, before standing up and looking over the railing onto the lower floor. Very far for some, but not too far for someone with a grabpack. And with another grabpack pull, the cane was in their hand, holding it out for Giblet to take.
He lighted up just a little at seeing the cane, taking it and strapping it back onto his back immediately. "Ah, thanks! I didn't even realise it fell.. You're a life saver!" He said, gleeful, thankful, standing up himself. They only gave a small smile, before jumping as a voice spoke up.
"You are halfway there, although I must say you took quite the detour.. Have you been that bored with my simple quick route?" Sighing, the human let out a quiet groan. "Maybe if you'd tell us that the ground was missing, it could've been easier.." They grumbled, the amused chuckle from the Doctor scraping at their bones. "Then give us a new route! We can't waste time here, we don't know what the Prototype might be planning.." Giblet piped up, hopping onto a table nearby, checking the note set aside on it who knows how long ago.
"Hm. According to the map, I should be able to find a way around from here.. It might take a while, though, so I suggest you get nice and comfortable for a minute..~" There it was again, the sly, cunning tone. The human groaned again, dragging a hand down their face, only to realise they just smeared some blood on themself. Since when was their hand bleeding? Looking at the ground where they fell down onto and then quickly got up, they could see that the perpetrator was the mess of glass shards and rubble on the floor. Great..
"But," Harley started. "I've been able to connect to the camera system in the Bioengineering Storage. Seems like the sectors have separate systems." He finished, amused, which was followed by a small sigh from the ex-employee. "Good. Then we better get going." The sooner they're out of his vision, the better. Sawyer chuckled a bit. "Give me a few minutes, won't you?" and then the screen went dark again, with Glowby's clueless semi-content face popping on a second later.
Shaking off the fresh blood from their hand, they made sure to wipe off the wound into a part of their shirt. It's beyond ruined at this point, so who cares about some extra blood stains? Giblet looked at them in sympathy. "You know, maybe we could look around for some left behind clothes meanwhile?" he suggested, the taller humming.
"Sure." They agreed. "Sounds good." After all, if they're stuck here for a moment, why not use it on something more productive? Despite the obvious bad feeling that something was watching them, and that something not being Harley.
Forcing open an already broken door, they shuffled in through the gap, the room itself not seeming like anything new, but there were things strewn about that could be worthwhile to look through. Giblet limped over to some storage shelves, pulling the drawers out to try and find something of use, muttering something about there having to be some old clothes for sure. Spotting a locker out of the corner of their eye, the Playtime Butcher made their way over, attempting to open it, surprisingly finding it unlocked.
There wasn't much inside, other than a few stickers on the inside of the locker door, but hey, there was some sort of an old uniform. That'll do! "Find somethin' yet?" Giblet asked from the other side of the room, digging through drawers, possibly even trying to find some hand sanitizer for the wounds. It wouldn't be the best thing to use, but it would certainly be a safer option than just leaving the wound uncleaned like this. Then again, they've been here for who knows how long at this point with numerous injuries and they seem rather.. alive, yes, let's put it that way. So they doubt much would happen with all sorts of things already in their bloodstream and whatnot.
"Yeah, found some old clothes, we're all good." They said, taking the old uniform out and ripping ut up, albeit with some struggle, but still. Then, they wrapped the smaller rag around their hand, tightly. The rest, they wrapped around their midrif, securing the stabwound to the best of their abilities, even though it won't be the best. The outimal skipped over, looking saddened and sympathetic. "Once all this is over with, i will repay you for your kindness and bravery." He muttered quietly. "Hm?" The human questioned. "What's this about all of a sudden?"
Giblet looked down, off to the side. "What you've gone through for us is already way too much.. It's scary watching our only chance to be free get so close to death so many times.." He admitted, then shaking his head. "But we are close! I can feel it! This must be the final stretch, and then we can be done with it!" He smiled up excitedly, the optimism making the human's lips twitch up a bit. "Hm." A glance at the digital wristband as the screen lighted up with a new path mapped out.
"Then we should get going." They motioned to the broken down door, Giblet nodding and squeezing through, and just before the ex-employee slipped through the entrance, they grabbed a vhs tape at the edge of a desk that caught their eye.
Walking over rubble, slowly trudgung through the ruined room, a door slid open without the use of a grabpack, or even that of a code in the pinpad. The slow whirring stopped as the camera deactivated, the red blinking light turning dim as the view switched.
Seems like the Playtime Butcher has some help. Perhaps an insider? The outimal was already on the radar for previous insubordination, therefore it wouldn't be in charge of anything important for him.
The camera focused in on red fur, big hands pulling at and rearranging wires.
Could it be? Oh, for sure not, Chum knows the consequences for disobedience. He knows better than to try being a traitor.
Or does he?
The screen turned black, disconnected from the system for the moment.
A massive form turned around with mechanical clicks, the sound of metal against tile reverberated through the room as multiple legs carried it over to a singular table, sterile white light blazing down onto a small pale figure with bright red curly hair.
Leaning over the porcelain doll, sharp, long and thin claws took hold of her face, tilting it to the side, the grip as gentle as a simple breeze. The awful cracks on her face were illuminated, deep, exposing the raw muscle underneath. He doesn't want to hurt her again.
"I will fix yOu, Poppy." Multiple voices switched in the singular sentence, the last one reminiscent of a once-ally to the doll.
The other hand, with claws just as sharp and pointy, picked up a shard of porcelain, the previous let go of her face, now picking up a scalpel, dipping said metal into a vat of purple-orange sludge. Carefully, he slid the small knife on a part of her exposed flesh, just enough so the sludge would cover it, before pressing the shard into the wound, watching intensly as the gel filled the gaps inbetween the cracks, holding the fragment in it's previous place.
"I will make you better."
Sharp claws reached over to grab another porcelain shard.
Here is a silly lil "fanart" image done by https://www.tumblr.com/the-mirror-sunflower-owo, who is also my Beta reader! Go look at them if you wanna, he's got some really nice stuff with an even better art style! :33
