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The young cookie only saw one thing ahead of him: the beam of his flashlight, piercing into the black of the hidden rooms. Bell Pepper Cookie had heard so many great things about Aloe Cookie- how they were one of the greatest thinkers of all time and did so many cool things and...seriously? He had made his own robots before, probably better than whatever Aloe was coming up with, and yet she got all the credit? So on the tour, he slipped away once everybody else was distracted, slipping into a hidden door. He just didn't expect how dark it would be!
Luckily for him he was prepared with a flashlight, but the inky black of the corridors left much to the imagination- some green lights upon the walls, some weird pipes and wires on the floor. He stifled a gasp as he took a step forward, feeling something sharp slip into his feet. Reaching down, he plucked it out, turning it around in his hands. A shard of metal of some kind. Hopefully he wasn't bleeding too badly. And with that, he continued to limp on, looking for the scientist's secrets or maybe anything he could use to show people that hey, Aloe isn't that great.
How long even was this corridor? The blackness went on and on, eventually his feet meeting the top of...stairs? Well, this was probably where the scientist had gone, and they just didn't bother turning on the lights! After all, why would they expect a curious pepper to follow? Yep, nothing was wrong at all, nothing but the fact that soon he would have so many cool ideas to go off...or maybe Aloe's secrets were lame. Hopefully not the last part.
There were two levels of stairs. One ended at another long hallway, blockaded partway down by a heavy door- there was a faint light coming from inside, but he didn't dare try the door. The other went much deeper down, maybe to what was the basement of the labs, ending at yet another heavy door. A quiet breathing came from inside, but looking through the small window in the top he didn't see any signs of life or light. It was just dark, dusty, and...the door was open.
He opened the door a crack, a squeak sounding from the old hinges- he stopped in his tracks, hoping Aloe wasn't there- although he did have a suspicion that they were upstairs where the light was. Whatever was down here would be something different, maybe some old projects or scrap metal he didn't want to think about? But when he opened the door, a smell of animals and decay came through- along with an unmistakable smell of cookies. Were people down here? It sure smelled like it- fierce and floral almost, sickeningly sweet with the aroma of decay underlying it... He could barely keep himself from turning back, leaving the labs, giving up. But if Aloe was doing something wrong down here...
He had so, so many doubts as he walked down the hall, turning the flashlight beam to see varied cages upon the wall, their contents dark- walking closer to one of them, a strange humming came from inside, and he turned the beam inside- just in time for a bright colored Cookie to slam their hands against the bars.
What are you doing here?! they screamed, their voice causing the cry of animals to sound from elsewhere in the halls- as if things were waking up. Get out of here! You don't- you don't want to see me like this! You- An animalistic cry came out of their throat, a sound that no Cookie should ever be able to make, the bright colored figure falling to their knees as limbs and silver metal sprouted out of their body- a terrible ripping sound spread through his ears as their skin and blood extended in an unnatural manner, segmented robotic pieces too large to fit inside them sprouting out, warping them into something that should never exist- and once it was done, the transformation complete, the warped Cookie bit at the bars, scratching out at him- and Bell Pepper fell back, everything inside his body calling out for him to run.
Why...why was this here? What happened to them? Did Aloe- no, Aloe wouldn't do this. Aloe had secrets, sure, but nothing as bad as...what he had just seen. Aloe was trying to help these people. Aloe was trying to save them from whatever they had became. Aloe...he didn't just walk into the lair of somebody who did this. Aloe wasn't perfect, but they wouldn't do something- no. He needed to ask them about this, calmly, find out the truth. Nobody else needed to know...and he would have to admit he broke in. He hated to have to do so, but after seeing what he just did- the beast still gnawing at the bars- he would have to own up and find out why this was happening. Aloe wouldn't get upset, would they?
He realized there was another cage behind him, and rapidly turned to look at it- it was just a spare, whirring robot parts still moving on dying energy, all in a pile in the center. Just some kind of boring storage area. He sighed, happy that there wasn't something else trying to get its claws on him, ignoring the overwhelming smell of croissants from the cage. A bit worried, he did decide to keep going- maybe there was a way upstairs from here? To find Aloe?
He turned the light into a few more cages, most of them being robot prototypes, old desks, random things thrown around- some of them he couldn't even make out what they were. Some spots didn't even have the solid cages, instead being full of papers and pictures scattered around- coffee stains, water spills, and one section was full of a series of pictures of some Cookie he didn't recognize. He picked one of them up, turning it around in a hand, looking for any sign of a name- and that wasn't hard. Their name was always plastered across things- old papers, scrawled on the back of the pictures, as if the writer was doing their absolute best not to forget their name. "Palm Tree Cookie", he whispered, turning one of the pages around, as if he was committing the name of this random person to memory... was this Aloe in some of the pictures? Bell Pepper dropped one of the pages, feeling as if he had intruded on something too personal for him. Well, this entire room may have been a bit too personal.
He heard a faint scratching from behind him- and expecting something to spring out at him, he turned around. Nothing but another darkened and locked cage- the light of the flashlight illuminating two figures inside. One was only a cat, paws held up on the top of the cage- glass stretching between the jars to keep her in. Upon seeing him turn towards them it stepped back, moving towards a huddled figure, pawing at their legs. The second figure held its head up- it had the face of a Cookie, yet with the ears and hairs of a feline on top of its thin figure.
"So there is somebody here." the larger one said, folding hands over one another- were those claws coming out of the finger digits? "I thought I heard something- especially after the screaming."
"I know I shouldn't be here." Bell Pepper said, only now realizing how dry their mouth was. "I...just followed Aloe down here."
The cat-cookie tilted its head, soft hair falling to the side as it did so. "Aloe Cookie is here? I've heard of them- but didn't know they were anywhere by here."
"Y...yeah. They work here. This is like, their laboratory or something."
"Interesting- did she happen to leave any food around?" The hopefulness in their eyes- Bell Pepper felt terrible for having to respond no, he hadn't seen anything.
"That's okay," they whispered, the look on their faces proving that it wasn't. "Well, nothing much we can do- there's no keys to this. But if...if anybody asks, can you tell them we're here? I know...some people will be looking for us. Madeleine probably never stopped..."
Bell Pepper was only a child...he wasn't expecting any of this, definitely not to be the one person to bring knowledge of these...creatures to the outside world. He just made a mistake- he needed to go back, leave it at this! Asking Aloe...maybe. Maybe he would bring it up. They did have to know about all of this, yeah?
"I can." he said, pushing his glasses closer to his face- "but...who are you?"
The cat-cookie stood up, long feline legs coming out from their waist- they were barely able to stand on them, waving their hands to stay in the air, heavily breathing as they did so. Running a finger (claw?) over the broken part of their glasses they looked him in the eye--
"I'm Espresso Cookie, and this is my cousin Latte." He motioned to the cat next to him- this one showing no signs of ever being a Cookie, except for the unusually intelligent light in their eyes. "We're professors, at...local magic academy..." Espresso couldn't even finish the sentence, collapsing on the ground in exhaustion, Latte curling up next to them. Bell Pepper, committing the names to memory, wanted no more of this- he would be seeing this place in his nightmares for years to come. Or was this a nightmare already?
He stepped backwards, backpedaling, eyes staring in front of him before starting to walk back at a brisk trot. He shouldn't be here! He shouldn't- there was the door, there was the beast from before (sleeping, luckily), and the doorknob... gone. No... where has it gone!? Prying his fingers into the side of the door, he couldn't get it to give way- and the more he tried, the more it seemed to lock.
He would have to try to go the other way. And he was dreading it.
Clutching his hands tight, hoping there were enough batteries in the flashlight, he walked the other way at a brisk trot- staring straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with a single other thing that would be a feature of his nightmares for the rest of his life. From the corner of his eyes he saw similar fixtures- long hallways, pictures, cages full of barely breathing things- he made the mistake of turning his head to look at one of them, a faint glow coming from it- he stared at it for a while, wondering what would cause that, before he realized that it was burning. The soft moans from it would again, be something he wouldn't forget.
Maybe I can help Aloe with them? To free them, or help them out... Aloe may not be as cool as I am, but at least they have good intentions! And with those thoughts repeating in his mind, he walked at a quick pace, ignoring everything else- he thought about closing his eyes, but almost tripped over a pile of debris on the floor. Eyes open, walk fast, don't look around... find the exit.
Don't look to the right, they're watching- they don't want blood, they want freedom, and the only one who could do that now was the Cookie who had put them there.
Bell Pepper, moving quick, panicking every second of the way, finally found a corner of the room- it turned to the side, and he paused at the corner, hoping that there wouldn't be infinitely more cages as it went on. But peeking around, he found himself face to face with a set of stairs- a weak light on top, illuminating the bottom few steps in a mysterious brightness. That was enough for Bell Pepper, the breath sticking in his throat as he walked for it-
Hey! A voice- and to be honest, he would prefer silence instead of hearing anybody speak at this point in time. But he had been taught that it was rude to ignore people talking to you, and so he turned around, adjusting his glasses again. The flashlight flickered a few times before a steady beam focused on it. Another Cookie- this one much smaller, young in face, but from their neck they cut into soft brown feathers and fur- more put together than the cats from before were, their proportions proper and health mostly intact.
"Do you work here?" they asked, fluffing out their feathers- some sort of detective's outfit placed over them as if they still had a legitimate profession.
"No. I'm...I'm...I got to get out of here. I'm not supposed to be here."
"Where did you come from?" This one seemed much friendlier than the others, but he still felt wrong speaking to it.
He pointed back the way he came. "Locked, though."
"Be careful. If Aloe's in here, you may be in trouble."
"Well- did Aloe put you here? Because they seem nice enough...I can ask them to get you out-"
"Don't. I'm warning you early: get out without anybody seeing you."
This shocked him, and he felt his heart beat faster than before- "...what? But...I can't just leave-"
"We're already done for. The only thing you can do now is save yourself."
And with that the bird-cat-cookie, whatever it was (he knew robots, not this!) turned away, hiding itself in the back- possibly where it would spend the rest of its days.
And Bell Pepper felt horrible, both as to what it said and how he would leave it there, but he started to climb the stairs as delicately as he could.
Aloe wasn't mad. Aloe would swear to the Tree that she wasn't mad!
"I love you, Aloe." whispered Palm, the voice crackly- of course it was. It was just a recording, an old voice from years prior that she had edited and placed inside the husk of Palm's old body. Sure, it was fake, but it was at least something!
"I'll bring you back someday." she whispered to the shell, "I'm getting close to finding the way to do it- and then, my love, I'll have you back. All of this will have been worth it."
Was she crying again? No, these were the tears of success! She would be able to bring her friend back, morality be damned! She...she would do anything for Palm Tree, she hadn't lost herself at all...
She ran a hand over her neck and the new structures inside of it, her fingers tracing the paths of the metal-
"And at the end of this, the both of us will be better for it! More than what we were before, we'll...we'll be legends...we'll ascend to the greatest science can give us..."
...What was that noise, shattering the calm! Shattering her alone time with Palm!
Bell Pepper, upon opening the doors at the top of the stairs, found themselves staring into the eyes of a furious Aloe Cookie.
Shielding themselves from the lights in this new room- bright and overpowering- he stared the scientist in the eyes, biting his lip.
"So." Aloe said, their voice still and calm, as if nothing at all was wrong- "you saw what I have down there."
"I'm sorry." Bell Pepper said, barely holding back from dropping to their knees. "I...I broke in, I wanted to see what you had down here- I didn't expect..."
"Don't worry." Aloe said, their voice eerily still, "it's all for a good cause."
"And that is-" and his eyes fell upon what was left of Palm, the smiling Cookie he had seen in the images, now left as an old corpse with a recorder in her head- and the piles upon piles of notes.
"Bringing my friend back, of course."
"But the things-" He motioned to the stairs, eyes wide-
"Tests, practice runs. Making sure I know what I'm doing- bringing somebody back, robotic or not, is harder than one would expect. I couldn't risk ruining her already! So I may have..."
"You did that?!" Bell Pepper yelled, clutching his fists. "You made those- I- I thought you were helping them or something! I didn't think you would-"
"All for a good cause."
"Those are people!" Bell Pepper said, screaming now- "People with lives! And they're not even dead now- what did you- why did you!"
"Sacrifices must be made."
Bell Pepper was unable to answer, shaking his head at a rapid pace, holding his head in his hands- Aloe wouldn't do something like that, but they did, and-
"I like you, Bell Pepper Cookie." the succulent admitted, "but I also know that you're not the kind to keep quiet about any of this."
Bell Pepper took a step back, closer to the stairs-
"I expect somebody will know about this, and then...without Palm, I don't have a purpose. I promised them I would save their life! I need to uphold that promise!"
"This isn't what she would have wanted!" He tried to run, to get around Aloe- circling around them, backpedaling closer to the door, hoping he could dash out and get back where the others were before Aloe caught up.
And was that a tear in Aloe's eye? A bit of hesitation, maybe? The thoughts that her best friend, her lover, would be disappointed by the madness she had went to in the hope that they would come back to her...?
"I must uphold the promise I made to her. I'm sorry, Bell Pepper Cookie." And with that Aloe gripped the sides of her jaws, a cracking sound coming off from them- the neck and bones extending with sheets of metal, curving in a snakelike motion.
"I hate to do this." she said, not even being a Cookie at this point- the length of her warped body reaching across the room, faster than Bell Pepper could run for the door.
He had only managed to put his hand on the doorknob when teeth gripped his shoulder, dragging him back with a grip tighter than anything should be able to--
He would be there for the rest of his life, part of Aloe's menagerie, not even the same person he once was- left with nothing but receding memories and regrets. Every so often the doors would open, a new resident being dropped in- and he didn't know how long it would take until Aloe finally found the peace in themselves and stopped the madness. Maybe it would be soon, or maybe it would be never- but false hopes were better than no hopes, and hope was all he had now.