Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“There's six more eliminations” Liam couldn't believe the guy, the absolute gall that he had—saying this all with a blanked-out expression plastered on his face as if it were some causal, as if it was normal. Here he was yelling out the frustrations that had been building up over 7 months. And Airy? He just… stood there. Having the appearance of someone stuck in a boring work meet rather than being berated and yelled at over people’s lives.

Liam wasn't sure what he was expecting to confront when he entered that cave, but he certainly never expected it to be a normal person. A random stranger that Liam could've passed by on his bicycle to work. This had been the guy who had trapped not only him but his friends, his fellow captives for 7 months. The person who had kidnapped, tormented, killed, and then abandoned them all. He expected to see a monster, some egotistical, power-hungry maniac, but all he saw when he parted those curtains of vines was this broken pathetic shell of a guy.

His dull apathetic stare only felt like someone had rubbed salt in Liam’s wound. In anger, Liam grabbed the computer, this action almost automatically gaining a response from Airy.

“Backpack wait-”

The copper lantern yelled out with the first sense of emotion that Liam had heard in their entire conversation thus far. He stepped forward in an attempt to stop Liam from engaging in any rash decisions.

“My name is not Backpack!”

Liam yelled back tired of hearing that word being used to name him, that degrading word with months of baggage attached to it.

“That computer controls everything I do. If you destroy it, I won't be able to send the Contestants back”
Airy quickly replied in an attempt to reason with him.

“Really? Let me just do it myself then”

Placing down the computer, Liam immediately began messing around trying to find anything to help out his friends. Unfortunately to him, it was all just a pile of nonsense. On the other hand, Airy just stared at Liam as he attempted to understand and failed to figure out how to send his friends back home. The small ounce of concern Airy once had previously now, began to deplete. Not like there was much Liam could do as Airy was the only one who knew how the computer functioned and hurting Airy could result in more harm than progress.

*Rustling*

Liam looked away from the monitor and stared at Airy accusedly. “What was that Airy?”
“I don't know.” Airy shrugged his shoulders. Liam turned away from the computer and towards the entrance to the cave. Glancing back and forth between the two, Liam didn’t and couldn’t know if he could trust Airy. Airy just stood there in silence joining him in staring at those vines, that silence was beginning to annoy Liam but for once he was glad he was quiet.

Beep beep beep be-

The fuzzy creature looked over at the time, groaning as the last few seconds of their vacation began fleeting away. Getting out of bed yawning, they began rubbing their eyes attempting to get rid of the tiredness. He had barely slept that night. Insomnia plaguing his mind as he watched the hours tick by, continuously tossing and turning throughout the night. They especially were not looking forward to going back to work. Though someone had to do it.

They walked to their kitchen, beginning to prepare their breakfast. He propped down the toaster placing the toast in. As they were about to walk off they caught their reflection in the side of that little silver toaster.

What happened to him? They used to be so energetic, he used to have dreams of living a happy fulfilling life. When they were first offered the job all those eons ago, they were ecstatic. All of the possibilities: being in charge of creating your own worlds as you see fit, having a nice office space that can be arranged to your fitting, and best of all no people that they had to talk to, or so they thought. They were young then, very young and naive. Of course the job wasn't that simple as they've come to find out-

Pop

“Ah! Oh just the toast…”

They sighed grabbing the toast while he continued on finishing his morning routine

He stepped out onto the grass as the small portal closed behind him. A small wind picked up gently breezing through his fur. They closed their eyes, breathing in the refreshing wind. At least this was a bonus, probably the only positive thing about his job. The sounds of the gushing stream and pouring waterfall, the serene environment relaxing whatever nerves they had. Taking in the sight one more time, he turned around and began to walk to the cave-

Thump

“Ow what the-?”

They stumbled back, instantly nursing his forehead, they looked up in confusion expecting the sight of a lush green forest- only to be greeted with the sight of a wall, a cabin wall. It didn't process in his head at first at what exactly they were looking at.

“Is that a…. Cabin…?”

They began slowly circling it, taking in everything there was to view. All those years ago, when he left for his vacation… This place was bare. With the exception of the logs by the cliff and the computer in the cave. Suddenly now there was a cabin, with a wooden bed and table, and also a fireplace?

“Geez, What happened in the 10 years I was gone? How did-”

“My name is not Backpack!”

The loud voice emerged from the cave’s direction. Bit by bit a sense of dread sunk into them. Someone was inside HIS cave with HIS computer.

“Wait- oh no oh no, not the computer!”

They quickly rushed over to the cave not even caring about concealing his presence.

Rustle rustle

Chapter Text

The vines parted, letting a harsh stream of light brighten up the cave, followed by the sound of footsteps coming to a halt. Liam flinched at the sudden increase in brightness and quickly brought up his hand to shield his eyes from the light source. Bit by bit Liam’s eyes began adjusting to the extra lighting. The source of the light was soon revealed as a short, blue fluff-covered square who just stood still and stared. Their eyes locked on a lantern and especially on a green backpack.

The more that Liam stared at whoever this was the more they noticed other details about them. Their square-shaped eyes with one looking significantly much lower than the other, two antennas ending in small bumps that were a darker shade of blue, and triangle hands. Their fur, emitting a bright yellowish glow overpowering that of the computer's screen.

“ What the heck is happening, who is that?! Are they with Airy? Why is it staring at me? Are they even breathing?”

Thoughts began rushing into his head. Worst-case scenario after worst-case scenario. Their motionless state made him wonder if they were even there or if this was another hallucination like with the rock.

“Who are you?”

Snapping out of his thoughts Liam looked up at the stranger. Remembering all his past deaths before Airy, Liam stood up and backed away from the computer opposite to Airy. 

“I said. Who. Are. You?”

They repeated as they began walking in Liam's direction, completely ignoring Airy who was standing in the opposite corner. 

“Please, I mean no harm. My name is Liam.” 

Not knowing why the creature was placing all of their attention on him. He put his arms up in defense attempting to show no harm. It seemed to work as the creature calmed a bit. Everything seemed to be fine. 

That was until they glanced a peek at the computer. Completely ignoring Liam now, they instantly appeared agitated.

“What happened to my computer?! What did you do?!”

Instantly running to the computer, they began furiously clicking around the computer now gaining the attention of Airy, who quietly approached, peeking over the creature staring at the monitor. The square looked up and jumped. The sight of Airy hovering so close to them, seemingly oblivious to the concept of personal space, disturbed him. Especially since he didn’t hear the lantern approaching. The creature stared daggers at Airy, who continued staring at the monitor.

“What happens to all my settings?! My codes?  I had it all organized. It's going to take forever to fix this. You… You HORRENDOUS-”

“You know how the computer works?”

Airy asked bluntly, a hint of curiosity gleaming in his dull eyes.

“What- Yes I do, why wouldn’t I-? That's beside the point, how did either of you even get here?!”

They brought their attention back to Liam and then to Airy.

“This place is restricted and off limits, neither of you should even have access to this world.”

“I died and flipped through the radio.”

Airy mumbled as he continued staring at the monitor. Liam began slowly but cautiously approaching as well.

“What do you mean off limits? I also came here through the radio. ( Thanks to Stone’s Sticky Notes anyway.) ”

“The radio?”

He stared at them both in confusion, their face contorting into realization. 

“Oh, you meant the Universe Modulator? But that’s impossible, I severed that room’s connection to this world before- I left. I… I made sure of it…”

They paused in thought for a moment. 

“Hold on”

They began clacking away at the computer Liam peeked at the monitor but whatever was being done was lost to him. Meanwhile Airy looked at what was being done with interest.

“Huh… Shoot I did forget to sever the connection. So you two really did stumble here by chance.”

He dug his face into his hands, mumbling incoherent speech neither could understand.

Sigh

They stood up from the computer's stool and turned to the both of them. 

“I'm Orion. Liam, right?”

He offered a handshake, but Liam looked at it with hesitation. Orion sighed as they dropped their hand.

“Sorry if I spooked you. That wasn't my intention. It's just that I got back from my break, I barely got any sleep, just to return to my work computer and office vandalized. You understand right?”

“Oh uh, yeah I guess that makes sense.”

Liam said, scratching his head.

“But I'm still upset that you two messed with my computer.”

Liam stared at the monitor not understanding what he was looking at. To him, it all just looked like piles of jumbled-up code and lists upon lists of number combinations.

“Do you and Airy work together?”

“No, who’s that?”

Liam breathed out a small sigh of relief.

“ At least I don't have to worry about two people to go against.”

“Me… I’m Airy, I'm the host of ONE.”

“Hm, never heard of it. Wait… is that a planet?”

They began pointing at the Plane and walked around Airy to get to a closer peak.

“Yeah, it’s the Plane, I made it.”

“Well Airy, you did a very good job on making it.”

As they observed the Plane he began seeing movement. Confused, they took a closer look. People. There are people on this planet. Instantly they froze, slowly turning his gaze towards Airy.

“Are those people?! ARE THOSE PEOPLE ON THAT PLANET!”

“Yeah, They’re my contestants for ONE.”

Airy began smiling a bit as he stared at the Plane. Liam glared at him, frustrated that he found amusement in his friends' captivity. Orion stared at Airy, his mouth agape. 

“You- you” 

Orion inhales deeply. 

“You managed to get your hands on a very VERY important device that has the power to bend the rules of reality…. And you used it to…. To Play A GAME?!”

Orian just started at Airy in disbelief.

“I thought it would be fun….”

Orain just stared at Airy, he breathed out.

“How long? How long have you had these people trapped here?”

“Originally only a few weeks. I got into an accident though … So I had to recover.”

Airy said unenthusiastically, he lifted his arm placing a hand near the gaping hole on his head.

“How long?”

“7 months….”

Liam replied for Airy bitterly.

“7… Months… 7 MONTHS!?”

“You know how the computer works since it's yours right? So can you send my friends back please?” 

Liam interjected.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do that.”

“What why?! You know how the computer works and you could send them back easily.”

“There’s 7 contestants left, they can’t be sent back yet.”

Liam glared back at Airy as he began fighting back the urge to lunge at Airy and punch him. 

“No Airy, it’s not because there’s 7 contestants left. While yes teleporting your friends would be easy. There are rules and processes present that make it difficult.

“What- What do you mean….?”

“This is going to take a while to explain”

“I have time”

“Alright… so, my entire job is to create new planets with the occasional universe or galaxy, some containing life, others not. The majority of what I do is the creation and incubation part. The computer helps a lot with speeding up the process. Of course, such a device that allows you access to almost every corner of the universe has a lot of rules attached to it. You know since otherwise there would be more chaos in this already messy reality. You understand so far?”

“Wait, so you’re like a God?”

“Well technically Demigod, but even then most of the powers I have I get from the computer”

Orion sat back down on the stool, Airy at some point began walking off. Much to the dismay of Liam, but as long as he wasn't next to the computer, Airy couldn't do much to cause more harm to his friends. 

“Anyways, where was I? Oh right, rules. One of these rules set in place is a time limit for the lifeforms transported to a planet, any planet here. Like I said some planets contain life, but creating life can be very tricky and time-consuming. This is even more so when your boss expects you to meet a certain quota of planets or universes created. As a result, I occasionally need to bring already existing life forms from previously made planets.”

“Life- lifeforms, like people?”

“I mostly pick out nonsentient beings that aren't capable yet of self-awareness. Like animals, and plants. You know beings that won't freak out too much on arrival”

“Oh okay, I was worried…”

The thought of having a more sentient self-aware life stuck on one of those barren wastelands scared him.

“Alright. Since I deal with life in my job and I have a deadline to finish these planets. That means there has to be a cut-off date for when I can return them. If the lifeforms can manage to adapt to their new planet then they stay and the planet develops like normal. On the other hand, if they seem to struggle or unhappy then I send them back, but it has to be done in 5 months. Once that time passes they can't be sent back.”

“5 months? Why 5 months specifically?”

“Honestly since it will cause problems. Problems for both me and the inhabitants. 

For me because like I said before I have to meet a certain quota and 5 months is the most that is given to me before the planet begins to get taken and put where it's needed. Anything longer than 5 months wastes time.”

“For the Inhabitants problems will also arise: Having to readjust back to your old life, having to deal with the consequences of being gone for 5 or more months. Additionally, having their connection to their original universe severed.”

“What? But I got sent back to Earth, I can still access my home.”

“I was getting there, being disconnected from your original universe doesn’t mean you can't return per se. You still can, but it'll just be that… your world will reject you. As in, you'll die after some time when you return home.”

“The power used to teleport you here and to keep the planet stable in its infancy greatly disrupts your mortal bodies. Especially after 5 months of exposure, your body becomes accustomed to it, to the point that if you strain too far away, your body after some time will begin shutting down.” 

“Wait, I was on the Plane for 7 months. Am I going to die? Again?”

“Eh… well no since you returned… both the planets and this forest are connected so, you'll be fine.”

“So this means I can never go back home, I can’t send my friends back home?”

Liam looked over at the Plane, as all of his friends were huddled around each other. What was he going to do, he came all this way to help them. All of it was for nothing. What was the point in Stone giving him those notes if he couldn't even do anything to help?! He felt his eyes slowly blurring up.

“I’m sorry, there’s nothing much that I can do. Even if I could do something, your friend kinda messed up my computer. It'll take a while to re-”

“Airy is not my friend”

Liam slumped down by the computer hugging his knee. Tears began running down his face followed by sniffles. He was tired, exhausted, and couldn't hold it in anymore. The stresses, anxieties, and sleep deprivation building up over the past few days of consistently dying, watching Bryce disappear, and finally confronting Airy, in addition to those torturous 7 months. All of it and now this revelation, all of this opened a floodgate he hadn't realized been filled.

“Oh, uh.”

Orion slowly sat down next to Liam. Unsure of what to do they tried soothing him.

“Hey,  uh… want to talk about what's troubling you?”

“Every time I think I get close to finding a solution to save my friends-”

Sniffle

“I get pushed back to square one over and over again. I just want to go home, to see my friends go home. Now that's not even possible.”

Sounds of sobs echoed throughout the cave. These cave walls that witnessed a decade of tears, pains, and frustrations. Walls that have witnessed the horrors and pains that Airy had cast upon them. Walls that now bear witness to a man, a man who mere moments ago had eyes burning with determination and scorn, now reduced to shambles as the last glimmers of hope of a life back to normalcy were stripped away from him.

“Look Liam, uh how about today you go try to rest a bit. I know from experience that you look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?”

“... I don't remember. Even then I can't sleep. What if Airy tries something while I'm gone?”

Sniffle

“Look I can take of Airy for now, and how about tomorrow we can figure something out to help your friends. Ok?”

“Ok.”

Liam wiped away the tears running down his face and began standing up, suddenly flinching.

“Ow! These stupid parts are too sharp.”

He began to take out the cassette pieces.

“I could fix that for you if you want.”

“It's not mine, but sure, I don't have any need for these pieces.”

Liam began grabbing the pieces and placing them on the table. 

“I'm gonna go.”

“Bye”

Liam began trudging out of the cave into the sunlight. He didn't spot Airy anywhere, which he was grateful for. He didn't want to deal with Airy right now. Especially not in the current state he was in.

Deciding to go into the cabin for some privacy, Liam took out Texty and opened up the Laptop. He sat down on the stool and placed Texty on the table, turning on ‘Text To Speech Synthesizer’

“What do I do Texty? You heard what happened right?”

“Yes and I don't know”

“Why did Stone send us here if he knew this would happen?”

“I don't know, but that person mentioned they could help us. They'll keep an eye on Airy.” 

“Yeah”

“We should kill Airy” 

“WHAT No, I'm not killing him.”

“Well the original owner is back so we don't need Airy anymore”

“But what if he ends up somewhere else and causes more harm in the afterlife whatever radio room- That's a stupid idea-”

“Hi…..”

Liam quickly closed the laptop and hid Texty. He turned around to see Airy standing in the door frame with a basket full of reeds. Liam definitely didn't want him to know that Texty was here. He just hoped that he hid Texty fast enough, as he nervously stared back at Airy. Airy just seemed unbothered by Liam being in his little home, as he proceeded to walk inside.

“I brought reeds”

“Reeds? For what?”

“Bedding”

Airy knelt on the ground, gently pulling apart the reeds and patting them on the ground. 

“Did you know Airy?”

Airy halted for a bit and looked over at Liam.

“What?”

“About the time limit?”

“No”

Liam remained quiet for a bit, staring at Airy, like all previous attempts, he just couldn’t read his face at all. He decided to ask something else, something that had been plaguing his mind for a while.

“Why me? Us? Why did you choose US specifically for ONE?”

“You all looked like you’d be fun contestants. You especially.”

For the first time, Liam saw Airy have an expression of contentment, pure genuine happiness. Sure it was a small smile, but it was something. He returned to his task of pulling apart the reeds and placing them down.

“You were a great contestant”

Liam just stared in silence, he felt sick. All this time he kept pondering why, why any of them? What did Airy see in them, what did they do to deserve being trapped on the Plane? All for it to just be because Airy thought that they would be fun.

He quietly stood up and left the cabin, leaving Airy alone.

Airy was putting out the campfire, it was getting late, and besides he had an idea for a new challenge. Just as he was filling his basket with sand and a stone he saw Orion leave the cave for a walk. 

Airy soon after entering the cave, placed the basket of sand down. Switching the plug onto the other empty planet, he began pouring the sand and stone onto it for downsizing. 

He sat down on the stool and began to typ-

“Access Denied”

“What?”

Chapter Text

“Access Denied”

“What?” 

That was odd, nothing like that had happened before. Maybe one of the wires got disconnected today when Backpack yanked the computer. That wasn't a big problem, he could fix it. 

Standing up he walked to the back of the computer, checking for any damaged or loose wires. 

As far as he could tell from first glance, nothing seemed out of order. Pulling the computer closer, he began inspecting-

“Ow…”

He rubbed the part of his shade that hit the computer. It's been months since the accident. Even though day by day he's been learning to adjust more to having one eye, he still occasionally bumps into things. His depth perception wasn't as good as it used to be.

Anyways, what was he doing again? Oh right, checking for any damage to the computer.

He began closely examining the computer, examining every port, cable… nothing.

Maybe he needed to pull the turn-off and back-on trick. Walking back to the front of the computer, he turned it off and waited a short while as it powered back on. 

Ding

As it played its little jingle, Airy began looking at the home page. He could already see that some of his work was gone. Most likely due to the square guy… he didn't really remember their name. 

“Square… Squarey”

He always did have difficulty with names…

Oh right, his work, that was fine he could always retype it, at this point it was muscle memory. He began attempting once again to downsize the sand and stone.

“Access Denied”

Something began bubbling up inside of him, he wasn't sure what it was. It felt familiar yet foreign, something he had once known but forgotten. Erased by his years of isolation, his memories slowly chipped away over the years, like rocks being ground down into fine sand.

Looking at the unchanging planet, he tried putting the plug into a different spare planet. Maybe there was something wrong with that one planet.

Yeah, yeah that was the reason. 

Plugging the plug into a different planet and transferring over the sand and stone he reattempted to-

“Access Denied”

Maybe another planet?

“Access Denied”

Eventually, the last planet he was left with was the Plane. He felt his hands begin shaking, he wasn't sure why.

Placing the plug onto the Plane he tried once again to-

Plop

He turned to see that the plug had fallen out. The contestants must've gotten to the bottom. He grabbed the plug and placed it back in.

Ok, now to test it out and-

“Access Denied”

He began randomly typing something, anything onto the computer. He attempted to turn on the microphone. Move the mouse. Nothing was working.

That bubbling feeling kept getting worse by the second. His eye began losing focus. He looked over at the Plane, he looked at his contestants. He saw how miserable they were, they needed him. He was the Host and they were his contestants. Contestants needed a host to compete, and he was failing at it. Again. 

He felt something wet land on his hand, there was water in the cave. That wasn't possible it hadn't rained in a while and the nearest water source wasn't close enough to- 

Another water droplet landed on his hand. He felt his eye stinging blurring.

Oh he was crying. 

He placed a hand on his face feeling tears falling dripping. What was happening to him?

Orion returned from their nightly stroll, feeling the night breeze gently blowing through his fur. Looking up at the sky they noticed some clouds rolling in, dark heavy ones. 

“That might cause some problems…”

He shivered, remembering how slippery the cave gets when wet. All past accidents they've nearly gotten into. 

Anyhow he felt refreshed and needed to go back to fixing the files. 

Parting the vines they entered the cave to Airy sitting at the computer.

“Airy? Shouldn't you be asleep? I thought you mortals needed to sleep more consistently.”

Airy turned around silently staring at Orion as a stream of tears poured from his face.

“ Oh geez, what happened to him?!”  

“Somethings wrong with the computer.”

“Oh uh, nothing's wrong with the computer.” 

Airy, despite crying, still had that stiff hollow expression he usually had, with the occasional wiping away of tears. 

Orion had witnessed his fair share of horrors in his eons of living and creating. But the sight of this man. Crying and staring at them with that pinprick eye, sitting there motionless. It, rubbed him the wrong way.

“I just blocked you from being able to use it in any capacity.”

This seems to stir something in Airy, as he flinched and stood up, his breathing quickening. The stool screeched against the rocky floor making an unpleasant sound.

“How? Why?”

Although Airy’s face lacked emotion, his eye was drenched with pain. A gaze as though he witnessed Orion murder his family. A face of betrayal and deep hurt. With a gleam of desperation. 

Orion took a step back, seeing how distressed Airy was acting, they were unsure of how he would react.

“I just got traces of you from your creation and used those traces to make the computer reject any commands from you.”

Airy began approaching Orion, attempting to grab them by the shoulders, but failing. Starling him, Orion shoved Airy away instinctively, who stumbled back nearly falling.

“You need to undo it, I have to complete ONE, there's only 6 eliminations left.”

A hint of urgency could be heard as his voice trembled a bit.

“You can't do that anymore”

“I have to, I'm the host, contestants need their host. I can’t have another Season canceled, I’ve been doing a good job this time.” 

The pleading appeared wrong on the lantern, his bored tone not matching with the pleading in his eyes. Orion began slowly shuffling towards the computer. 

"No Airy, I'm not giving you access again. You disorganized my computer, kidnapped people that should have never been here, and who knows what else.”

Orion said firmly. Sitting down on the computer, they restarted their task of reorganizing what was left over of the ruined files.

Shuffle shuffle, clank 

Looking over Orion saw Airy sitting on the ground with the Plane pulled closer to the ground. Airy was silently watching over them as some more tears began remerging. Bit by bit the tiny sniffling turned into a quiet sob.

Some of the tears managing to land on the planet itself. Acting more like large rain droplets. The contestants on the Plane who were previously screaming and protesting, now looked up anxiously at the sky. Both Airy’s sobbing and shaking, along with the droplets caused the Plane to tremble heavily, resembling an earthquake. One that managed to knock down their little shed, they spent so long constructing. 

Orion abandoned his work and rushed over pulling Airy away, seeing how much the people were panicking and the destruction he was causing.

“You're hurting them, Airy, you need to let them go.”

He didn’t flinch when he was pulled away, only looking over at the Plane, at his contestants, and the chaos he caused, he was doing it again. He thought he was doing better, that he was improving over his mistake with Season One.  But he wasn’t, he was just continuing his past mistakes. Now he didn’t even have the computer to fix it. He needed to get better.

To Orion it appeared as though Airy was spacing off, staring at nothing in particular, just zoning out. Thinking about something to help distract Airy, Orion walked off to retrieve something.

“Here, it might help you calm down.”

Airy slowly looked at what they brought.

“My cassette”

He mumbled as he grabbed it and inspected it. It looked just how it was the moment he dropped it, it was fixed. Well except for the cracks and destruction brought upon it.

Walking through the cool grass like he’d done multiple times before, Airy went and sat by the pond. Except this time it didn’t feel as comforting as it used to. The sounds of the waterfall drowned out the sounds of the lantern’s quiet sniffling. 

He looked down at the cassette and placed his tape inside, hearing that click he waited as the song began playing.

“I’m wishing you all well~”

Thinking over the events of the cave, his mind started wandering, as he wiped tears away.

“Mind at peace within yourself~”

He was going to improve, he was going to get better, and maybe a 3rd Season would turn out better than his last two attempts. 

“Covers up I cast you off~”

He already had the new batch one contestants picked out thanks to Magazine’s help.

“I’ll be watching as you breathe~”

He just needed a way to access the Plane and finish Season 2, surely it’ll work, this time.

“I lie still, you move, I send~”

He stared at the pitch-black water as it poured endlessly into the pond. Moonlight getting snuffed out by the rain clouds rolling in making it difficult to see, but Airy didn’t mind. He got his cassette back.

“You off around the bend~"

Chapter Text

It was a nice cool morning,  despite the light of day being dampened by the heavy dark fluff of rain clouds floating around. Liam slowly sat up from his night of slumber, letting out a yawn, slightly shivering as the cool morning wind blew in. 

Despite it not being the best sleep ever (the reeds doing very little in providing cushioning or warmth from the cold grass) Liam admittedly did feel well-rested. Finally getting some much-needed rest after who knows how long many days of anxiety, rage, and sleep deprivation. Liam slowly got out of bed, well more like ground, and began looking around the cabin, it was empty. He couldn’t worry about Airy right now, he had to go resolve the best he could of the mess Airy brought them into. 

He exited the cabin and spotted Airy leaning against a stalagmite beside the waterfall deep in slumber, one hand holding on to a now-fixed cassette tape. He heard very faint music playing from Airy’s direction but was quickly drowned out by the sound of the gushing water. He looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that this was the person that was the cause of their torment. Thought that didn't matter for now.

“Well, at least he’s distracted right now.”

He thought, unaware of the lantern's late-night spiral. Ignoring him Liam went towards the cave parting the vines. Orion was busily typing away on the computer, not taking notice or care of Liam’s entrance. 

The first thing he had noticed when he scanned the cave was that the Plane was no longer in its original place, no longer plugged in. In the spot where it usually floated, another planet took its place. The second thing Liam noticed, Orion. 

“Morning.”

“Oh huh?”

Orion stopped and turned around staring at him. They looked confused for a split second as though he was lost in a daze of sorts. At that moment Liam felt some sort of deja vu. 

“Liam, Right? Sorry, I had a very busy night, things happened.. and I forgot I have guests now.”

“You said yesterday you could try to help me out with my friends”

“Oh right yeah, I did. Well, I figured out a solution or more of a concept or an idea to help you out with that. Though first thing first, the Plane can no longer stay connected to this computer.”

“Wait what?”

“No, don’t worry it's not for any serious reason, I just need the plug free since I need it to make new planets!”

Orion quickly interjected realizing that he might have caused more panic than reassurance.

“Also the Plane has been around long enough that It doesn’t need the support of the computer to survive on its own.”

“But what about my friends, they’re still on there. If I can’t assess the computer how will I be able to interact with them? I can’t just abandon them like that, like… Like Airy did .”

“Well about that, that's where the solution for that comes in. Since you’re so close to them and know what their needs will be, I decided to make you their guardian. That way you can watch over them and tend to their needs. On top of that Airy can’t do anything to them if you’re watching over them” 

Liam was taken aback. Him in charge of a planet, with lives ? He couldn’t be in charge of a planet, he barely knew the first things about babysitting a planet. Besides he felt so scatterbrained as a result of Airy that he could barely take care of himself. What if he got caught up in the power and became like Airy…

“Me?! But I don’t know anything about planets or people watching. I thought you needed that computer to even access the Plane, and I know absolutely nothing about that planet. How will I even-”

“Hey hey, like I said it was a concept of an idea, I’m still working on certain parts. I would help you figure things out, it will take time to learn. If I had another computer it would make this easier, but unfortunately, I don’t”

Gasp

“What?”

“I need to go”

Liam took a few steps back before running out of the cave, leaving behind a confused Orion. 

Quickly opening the Laptop, Liam began talking to Texty.

“Texty, did you hear what they said?”

“Yes Liam, you don’t need to ask me that every time, I can hear your conversations even when you close the laptop.”

“Sorry, wait- never mind. If what Orion said is true are you fine with the idea of being connected to the Plane?”

“Sure lol, if it’s to help out our friends then I’ll do it”

“You don't have any problems with it?”

“No, just don't drop me, or bring me near water”

“Alright then, there's no turning back from this.”

Liam reentered the cave, a hint of excitement yet nervousness radiating off of him.

“Oh, you’re back, are you ok?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Alright, since you just up and left, it worried me.”

“About having another computer present making things easier…..”

Liam unzipped himself, pulling out Texty. Proudly presenting it to Orion like a kid handing their parents a drawing.

“You have a laptop?”

“This is not just any laptop, this is Texty's laptop. He's one of my friends, I met him on the Plane, when Airy…”

Liam looked down at the small rectangular slab. Even now it was hard to believe that everything that occurred happened. Sometimes he imagines himself waking up back in his bed, all of this being a weird nightmare. Shaking the feeling off he looked back at Orion.

“Anyways will this work?”

“Oh yes, that'll work fine, I just wasn't expecting you to have a laptop here. Let alone one that was sentient.”

Orion looked at Texty.

“Can I see him?”

Liam nodded, gently and slowly handing over Texty to Orion, making sure that nothing wrong happened now. Orion placed him down on the desktop table, slowly inspecting the Laptop, and opening it up.

“I can just transfer over some of the code needed to care for and tend to your friends' needs over to Texty.”

“Oh, thank you.”

They leaned over, pulling the plug out of the new planets and inserting it into the laptop.

“This will take a while, but I’ll make sure to keep the code simple so that you’ll both be able to understand it. If you're ever stuck, I'm here.”

Liam sighed in relief. Watching as Orion opened the laptop. Everything was going to be fine no-

Beep beep

Liam cringed at the sound, as the low-battery notification played out. How could he have forgotten that? It's been a long time since he's charged Texty.  While he did have the charger, how would he use it? Where would he plug the charger?

“What about charging me? Is there an outlet somewhere?”

Texty’s generated voices echoed throughout the cave.

“Oh, Liam can just bring you to my house to charge, just make sure to come back.”

Orion said nonchalantly, as he opened some box code.

“Oh alright… Wait, you have a house?!”

“Yeah? Don't worry, as long as he's connected to the main computer he'll stay charged.”

They typed some stuff into the main computer, turning off the beeping noise and activating the charging symbol. 

“This won’t take long.”

It was another mundane day, or was it night now? She didn't care, days blended into each other, did time even matter anymore? She just couldn't bring herself to mark a shift, their attempt at protest only led to more disaster. They lost their shack now, their one only monument a symbol of normalcy, reduced to shambles.

Was it a punishment? Did Airy finally have enough of their retaliation, taking matters into his own hands? He hasn't returned for a while now. 7 more months? If what Soda- Bryce told her was correct. At least they succeeded in removing the plug.

There were less of them now. Way less of them, it felt emptier, more alone. Tray and Whippy Creamy returned to their inanimate forms. Atom?  None of them heard anything from him since the shaking. So now it was just Her, Mo- Charlotte, Bryce, and Subway Seat. Just 4 left.

She felt tears running down her face, she was crying again. It felt like it was all she had been doing lately. She held onto Bryce crying her heart out, she was so tired of all of this. She couldn't even tell if she even wanted to go home anymore. So much about her had changed, she barely remembered her old life. All that was left was Scenty. But her name wasn't Scenty, it was Amelia. But she didn't feel like Amelia anymore.

Bryce held her back, he was crying as well but compared to Amelia it was much more somber. Was it regret? He was the one who encouraged the others to protest. It didn't matter at this moment, Amelia needed comfort right now. To be honest, he also wanted some comfort.

“GUYS!!!”

The sudden loud noise reverberated throughout the Plane, making them all flinch. Tray and Whippy Creamy remerged from their inanimate forms, looking around in confusion and somewhat panic. Though despite this, they all began feeling something that they hadn't felt in a long while. Hope.

The sound of a keyboard clacking could be heard until it disappeared altogether. 

“Sorry, guys it's me!!!”

“BACKPACK!!!”

Chapter Text

“Here you go, you should be able to communicate and control the Plane.”

Orion said, handing over Texty back to Liam. Along with a spare plug they conveniently teleported in from somewhere.

“Thank you so much!”

Liam said, carefully retrieving the laptop back into his possession.

He walked over to the cave wall and sat down. Slowly placing Texty down to have free hands, Liam gently pulled the Plane closer toward him. He plugged in the cable from the Plane to Texty.

 Looking at this glowing green floating planet it reminded him of a balloon. A very big delicate balloon containing the precious lives of his friends.  

Liam stared at the Plane, at his friends, it's been a while since he'd last seen them. A part of him felt relieved, relieved in the fact that Airy was no longer in control over them. Another part felt dread of the bad news he had to deliver. 

At least, he wasn't entirely alone in this. He had Texty with him to help bear the burden of this role. He also had Orion to help out whenever he got stuck. 

Texty opened up a tab for the mic settings. 

“Ready Liam?”

Breathing out a sigh, he stared at Texty.

“I'm ready.”

“BACKPACK!!!”

All of them stood up from the ground, their previous sorrows being placed on the back burner.

Amelia wiped away her tears and looked up to the sky as the voice of a friend talked back.

“I'm so happy to see all of you again.”

Liam chuckled, he felt some hot tears pricking his eyes. For once, in fact, for the first time in a long while, they were ones of joy. Pure unbridled happiness. Sniffling as he wiped away the tears.

“Same here, it felt like forever.”

A text-to-speech voice joined in, causing some confused glances from the planet's residents. All but one.

“Texty, nice to hear from you again!”

Bryce yelled out, this gaining recognition from the others as they began cheering but also wondering how the text box managed to get there.

“Hi Bryce, we made it to Airy.”

Texty replied in a slightly distorted sing-songy tone.

“How did you get there Backpack?”

“What happened to Airy?”

“Is ONE over?”

One by one, all of the residents began bombarding Liam with questions. Slowly getting overwhelmed he tried to reply to all of their questions the best that he could. All of them were curious about everything, and the hope of home once again entered their minds. 

“Whoa guys slow down, I can’t answer all of you at once.”

“We can finally go back home!”

Liam froze, a lump forming in his throat, a painful silence filling the air. The cheers of the residents slowed down, the weight of silence suffocating the air. They began murmuring amongst themselves, dread filling up the small planet once again. 

“Backpack?”

Liam looked down at them, his eyes landing on Amelia. Oh Amelia, out of all of them, she was the one he wanted to help the most. The one who pushed him to get so far to where he is now. Amelia, who now was looking up towards the sky, her face contorting back into that dreaded sorrow and despondency.

“Liam? What’s wrong.”

“I… We…”

He inhaled deeply, looking around anywhere else, not being able to bear the sight.

“We can’t go home.”

All chatter and movement on the Plane stopped, and distress filled the air, as the reply became more coherent in their minds, the reality slowly sinking in. They were trapped in that forsaken landscape, possibly for eternity. 

More questions quickly fired towards Liam again, this time with concerns and confusion.

“Look, look, guys, it's all so hard to explain. I was confronting Airy and- and we got interrupted by someone. All of us are trapped in this place, because of some time limit. We can’t return.” 

Liam spoke quickly attempting to make it straightforward, only achieving to fumble over his words. Words continued to pile up in his mind, each one attempting to get out, like a dam about to burst. 

“Airy doomed us by teleporting us here”

Her mind started racing, she couldn't stay here. She had to leave, she couldn’t die again from that mold. She needs to get treatment, and finally get rid of the mold from pulsing around inside her. Memories flooded her mind of those agonizing 7 months. Feeling every last second as the sensation of the mold slowly grew, slowly consuming what was left of her body. Day after agonizing day feeling as if her own body began failing her. Until one day… her body shut down. Now she was about to experience it all over again. 

She thought of Parker and her friends, they gave her money to help treat it, but instead, she squandered it all. Now here she was stuck endlessly rotting away on a nowhere planet. Every painstaking second passing by only served as a reminder of her eventual demise. 

Parker was one of the continuous thoughts plaguing her mind, the only good thought that wasn't the mold or her regrets. She couldn't really remember when she first began thinking of him again, but ever since her death, his face was stuck in her mind. The last look he ever gave her…. it haunts her. Even more so now as a result of that weird vision…

She was back in Dismals Canyon, she remembered that trip like it was yesterday. It was early September, and the weather beginning to get cooler as the grasp of autumn began slowly creeping in. She had heard stories of the beautiful sight of bioluminescent light covering the canyons’ walls. After talking it over with her friends, they all decided to have a little get-together, reserving a small cabin for a week's trip. Nothing in the stories she was told could compare to the breathtaking sights of the real thing. The sight of hundreds and thousands of tiny blue lights brightening up the ceiling and walls. Each one appears like a star, giving the impression of a small galaxy. It was one of her favorite memories, one that only grew her love of spelunking. 

But that place… wasn't the Dismal Canyon, or at least she thought it wasn’t, something looked different, off . Though considering she was in such a daze and confusion from suddenly having all her senses back, she didn’t notice it at the time. 

“Charlotte!”

She heard him, Parker, she turned around and saw him on the other side of the cave entrance, calling her.

“Charlotte, come here!”

He began motioning for her to come over. She began stumbling towards him, giving her the appearance of a baby stumbling to take its first steps. Months of her lack of walking along with the slow deterioration of her legs made it difficult for her to walk. Her brain and body, trying to remember how to take a step forward.

“P-parker?”

She slowly mumbled, as she slowly reached out her hand to him. She couldn't tell if this was a weird dream or not but in all of this confusion…. He felt safe , comforting… inviting . She wanted to get closer, she needed to check if it was really him. 

“Let’s go home-”

Pop

The geometrical green field came back into view, the shade of the big wooden pool granting her relief from the unforgiving sun. She couldn’t see out of her right eye anymore.

“I guess whatever happened, it sent you back to how you were at the beginning of the competition. Weird.”

“What about my mold? It’s going to get worse again. Liam, I can't stay here.”

She placed a hand on her mold-infested eye, she couldn't feel it. How long would it take until she couldn't feel her own body anymore?

“I don't know, I'm still trying to work all of this out. You guys won't have to worry about Airy anymore, on the bright side. At least while me and Texty are around.”

Charlotte tensed as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. Looking over, she eased as she was greeted with the sight of Amelia. 

“Charlotte, follow me, breathe in, breathe out.”

Amelia said, trying to soothe her, though it was clear enough occurring watching. Amelia herself was beginning to fall apart from everything occurring. Despite this she smiled at Charlotte, trying to bring some hope in what little they had left. 

“At least Airy can't hurt us anymore…”

They all sat around a small picnic table that came with an umbrella. Texty had teleported it in a while ago. It quickly became a popular spot for the residents. It wasn't a very fancy table, but it was a sturdy functional table that did the job. Besides, it did serve as a functional replacement providing some extra shade, while they attempted to remake their shed. 

Despite their sour mood earlier, some of them were looking slightly more cheerful. However, the heavy cloud of uncertainty still lingered. Charlotte sat close to the others, she already tried isolating herself once before. She didn't want to be alone this time. While a few of the others chatted eagerly with each other, she kept to herself. 

She wasn't particularly close to the others as a result of her refusing to talk or hang out with the others for the duration of the 7 months. Quietly trailing off, her mind began staring into the table's repeating pattern. 

“We'll be ok Charlotte”

She looked up to Amelia. Charlotte wasn't sure what it was but she felt the closest to her. Maybe it was just because recently and for the longest time, they were the only ones trapped there with an actual life to return to. Maybe a bit of Amelia reminded her of Parker. Or maybe because she was the only one she talked to the most. 

Charlotte and Liam barely talked to each other. Subway Seat and Whippy Creamy began feeling burdened from their shift visits. She didn't know much about Tray. Bryce? He was one of the lucky ones that got eliminated before Airy left. So that just left Amelia. 

In the end, she didn't and probably never would know why, though she didn't mind either way.

“Back- Liam will find a way to help you get rid of your mold.”

“But what if he can't?”

Amelia looked down in silence.

“We can only hope.”

The sound of a keyboard could be heard faintly in the background, pausing every now and then and resuming. 

“Alright, are you guys ready?”

“Yeah!”

“So what are your wishes? It’s the least I can do.”

One by one all of their wishes got granted. Whippy Creamy got a brand-new pair of sunglasses, Subway Seat got a beanie and a scarf, and Tray wished for a meal for all of them to share.

Now it was Amelia's, Bryce's, and Charlotte's turn.

“What about you three?”

The three of them looked at each other.

“You two go first, you've been here much much longer than me. You two deserve it.”

“Thank you, Bryce”

Amelia said, allowing Charlotte to go first. She still needed a second to think about what to wish for.

“I wish for this mold to leave my body, permanently.”

“I will help you get rid of it Charlotte, I promise. Texty is helping me do research for treatments.”

“What do you want, Amelia?”

Tray asked, her mouth full of food, she began munching as soon as the food appeared. This was the first meal she's ever had and she was thoroughly enjoying it. It was just an average burger, but to Tray, along with Whippy Creamy and Subway Seat, it was the best meal in the world. 

Amelia hadn't known what she would've wished for if she had won ONE. Even now when given the opportunity of a wish, no strings attached, her mind was still blank. Though the idea of never returning home hurt, even if she could never go back, she wanted a piece of it here on the Plane. She remembered something, she remembered how much she enjoyed them, something that she took for granted back on Earth. She wanted to see them again.

“I… I wish for a sunset to happen, even if it’s just a one-time event.”

Was all that Amelia managed to get out.

“I think I can make that work, though it might take a while. Are you fine with waiting?”

“Yes, it’s not like I have anything planned today.”

One more person was left, Bryce.

“Bryce, before you make your wish, I want to tell you something.”

The soda bottle perked up.

“What is it, Liam?”

“You can still leave, the time limit hasn’t affected you yet…”

All chatter stopped, everyone staring at Bryce.

“I… can go back?”

Bryce stared off in disbelief.

“Go Bryce, you still can go back to your old life.”

“It was nice seeing you again, but it’s unfair to force you to stay.

 Slowly they all began encouraging him to leave, to go back home.

“Live your life for us, we can’t ever return but you can.”

He stood up and began saying his goodbyes to everyone.

“Before you send me back, can let me have three requests?”

Liam chuckled.

“That wouldn’t be fair to the others, but sure, as a parting gift from me. What do you request?”

“First, you let me stay to enjoy this meal with everyone. I haven't eaten in a while and I want some time to wind down before I go back. Secondly, contact me every now and then, to catch up. Lastly, send me a copy of the sticky notes. You never know what can happen, at least that way I’ll have some way of direction to go if something goes wrong.”

“I think I will be able to manage that. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Bye Bryce.”

Texty joined in, playing some sad fanfare music. This caused some laughter to emit from everyone.

“I’ll miss you too texty.”

They were hanging around the grass. They had long since finished their meals and were taking in some of the sun. Bryce's absence was noticeable as there were only 5 of them now. Although he was only there for about two days, the impact he left on them wouldn't leave as quickly. 

Amelia was attempting to go back into the routine of the shifts. Gaining back some form of control or agency. Once again she was teaching the others some yoga.

“Then you just-”

“Is it me? Or is the sky turning orange?”

Tray interrupted.

“What?!”

The rest of them opened their eyes, dropping the position they were currently in. Just as Tray mentioned, the sky was indeed trying to dim. The sun was lowering. 

Amelia stared at the sky, the sun’s rays reflecting off her face. The lights all mixed and blended, creating a stunning arc of colors. A beautiful palette of purples, oranges, and pinks painted the sky as the sun began lowering.  In its place, a much smaller dimmer grey ball began taking over the sky. Amelia felt tears running down her face. 

She got her wish.

Chapter Text

Bags hung under his eyelids, a meek smile forming on his face. Surveying the Plane, he glanced over Amelia and the others as they huddled together. Tiny bodies squashed into a blob of color. They all gazed up at the sky, as the once endless day gave away to night. The sun at long last lowered, in its place, a moon sat up high. A gentle glow beaming down on the inhabitants' tired faces.

Yawn

Feeling his eyelids getting heavy, he stood up stretching his limbs.

Beep beep

“Liam, it’s late.”

9:49 pm

Numbers blinked on the screen as it alerted the backpack.

“Already?”

He hadn’t realized it would take this long. Having spent all day working with Texty, especially Orion, working different lines of code. His entire mind is preoccupied with programming an entire day and night cycle. 

“At least we figured it out.” 

Memories of warm constant sunlight burning into his fabric. No, Liam wouldn’t let them be trapped in an eternal sun.

Liam rubbed his eyes, as he took a final glance at the Plane. Some of them stayed on the grass, lying down as they scanned the sky, their eyes shutting. Others favored the table instead, chatting a bit as yawns exited their mouths.

“What am I going to do with the Plane?”

He didn’t want to leave it here in case Airy returned. Liam wasn’t sure how Airy would react to the modifications done to his little planet. Although the Plane wouldn't entirely be alone, Orion being there and all. Airy couldn’t access the computer or the Plane while Orion was here. 

“Orion is busy with work, I don't want to burden them with looking over two planets at once.”

“He's done so much already.”

“What?”

“Texty, I’m having a hard time- yawn deciding what to do with the Plane.”

“You could hide the Plane?”

“With how ridiculously big it is? Where would we even find a big enough spot to hide it? Airy would notice it right away!”

:( 

Sigh

“I’m sorry. I shouldn't yell at you.”

“You could shrink it.”

Orion chimed in.

“What?”

“Compared to the process of making a code for a day and night cycle, making the code for shrinking is much easier.”

Orion knelt close to Texty’s on the ground. Their glowing fur reflected off the cave floor, bouncing up onto the Planes’ underside.

“Do you mind me inserting some extra code?”

“No”

Plopping down, Orion scooted Texty closer as he began typing away some lines of code.

Sure enough, the Plane began shrinking, not stopping until it was small enough for Liam to hide or store in his main pocket.

“There you go, be careful going to bed. It’s pouring tonight.”

Nudging his head towards the cave entrance, sure enough, some puddles were forming around the entrance.

“Here you go”

“Thank you.”

Grabbing the laptop from Orion, he closed Texty, stuffing him inside his main pocket. Cupping the Plane he took one last glance at his friends. They were significantly smaller. More vulnerable. Nervously, Liam placed the Plane with Texty hoping that it wouldn’t get too damaged as he moved.

Walking towards the mouth of the cave, using the walls to maintain balance, he peered out of the vines. 

Shshshsh

Sigh

“Orion wasn’t lying….”

Making matters worse, it was pitch black. The sun had set a while ago, he didn’t even have the luxury of the moon’s light. Whatever light it emitted was snuffed out by the dark heavy clouds. A dim glow caught his eye, coming from the cabin.

“Airy…”

Liam began thinking over his options for sleep that night, neither were that pleasant.

“I would much rather stay in this cave… It’s too dark and slippery...”

Besides all that he would meet in that cabin were reeds and grass without much cushioning and a lantern he despised. 

“But if I sleep here, I’d have to deal with cold, rocky, puddle-covered floors.” 

He also had Texty and the Plane stored inside him, which would not be ideal when sleeping on rocky floors.

Sigh

“Cabin it is.”

Yes, he would have to deal with Airy, but the grass and wood would provide better cushioning for Texty and the Plane. The wooden cabin would also provide better warmth than a rocky cave. 

Splat splat splat

Heavy footsteps trampled the grass as Liam speed walked towards the cabin using Airy’s light as a guide. Managing to make it inside before the rain-soaked too far into his fabric. 

Plop plop plop

Drops of water leaked down from the cabin's entrance, landing on Liam’s face.

“With you around the bend~”

Staring at Airy, sitting on his bed, he appeared more like a statue than a person, his gaze staring off into who knew where. 

Liam stepped further inside, escaping the rain droplets hammering away outside. Airy turned, unfocusing on whatever he was staring at, now focusing on Liam. 

“Hi…”

His apathy mixed with his disheveled appearance stirred something in Liam. He hadn’t noticed too much before, his mind too preoccupied with revenge. But after a long night’s rest, and his mind preoccupied with helping out his friends, Airy looked older… pathetic . Bags having formed from long nights of restlessness, hung underneath his eye. Little scratches and dents coated his body, not to mention his broken eye. Airy’s dim light made it difficult to see, but Liam swore, he could see faint tear stains coating his face.

“You’re an angel when you sleep~”

It reminded him of something, or was it someone?

“How I want your soul to keep~”

yawn

Who was it that this reminded him of? 

“On, and on around the bend~”

“…”

“Julien.” 

Memories of Julien flooded his mind. Him being stuck on that chair in the radio room. How out of it he looked, how he could barely string a single word. He felt disgusted with himself, he was comparing Julien, a victim like himself, to Airy, a monster .

…

“I’ve found some important stuff while you were gone.”

“We weren’t the first”

…

Pulling out the stool he scooted a bit close to Airy, who only stared as Liam closed in.

“You're approaching me?”

“I have- yawn questions. What happened to the First?”

Airy froze, he stared at the cassette in his hand for what felt like an eternity. He looked around a bit before he placed the cassette down by his side.

“The First…?”

Ma***a* stared at the monitor, inspecting the code plastered all over the screen. It had been a few years since he first discovered the place after he died. 

All of those deaths, all of those worlds he had to endure. Until he finally found peace and tranquility in this forest. It was a nice new home and he wasn’t complaining. He didn’t want to return to the radio room, leaving his newfound safety and comfort up for chance again. 

But he wasn't lying if he were to say that the isolation and boredom kept gnawing away at him. 

Currently, the only thing keeping his mind busy was this computer. 

Sure it was complicated, but it became a puzzle that gave him something to look forward to. Even now, (though he’s been at it for years ) he still struggles with comprehending some of the clutter. Still, he was making progress, each day he began to understand more of the mechanics and functions of this relic.

He’d been in a decent enough mood lately. His cabin has been turning out great, recently finishing the frame. He couldn’t wait to have a proper shelter. Considering how much it rained around here. He didn't like getting wet.  

On top of that, he’d made an entire planet! Yes, it was a small one, and yes he discovered this place’s weird ability by accident but he was proud of it. 

Today he connected the little planet to the computer using a plug that was lying around. Attempting out some sort of new code to see if anything new happened.

“Done.”

Squinting his eyes he scanned the screen for errors before feeling satisfied with the results.

Click

“…”

Pop

Noticing something in the corner of his eye, he glanced at the planet. Seeing movement, he leaned forward. 

There was a person on his planet.

“Shoot.”

“What the hell?! Where am I?!”

Staring at her surroundings, a small green button paced back and forth. Feeling her vision blur, she gripped her head as she plopped on the floor, her mind spinning.

“Where- no, what was this place?! How did I get here?!”

…

An entire person, this wasn’t the expected outcome. 

“What should I do?”

Shifting around he felt something cool touch his arm.

“The microphone. Maybe…?”

…

“Hi.”

“AH!!!”

Jumping onto her feet, her eyes darted back and forth. Attempting in vain to identify the origin of the voice.

“Who's there!? What is this place!? Please take me home.”

“Im….”

…

Wait… What was his name again? Martin ? No, that's not right. Was it Matthew? He knew there was an A somewhere in it. It’ll come back to him eventually.

“Are you like the air or something?  Why can't I see yo-”

“Yeah… yeah! I'm the air, uh… I'm…”

“Name name name…”

“A… Airy. I’m Airy!”

Button looked up at the sky, fidgeting with her hands.

“Airy?”

“Yes.”

“Well, why did you bring me here? How…”

“Why did he bring her here?”

He looked over at the monitor, the word host catching his attention. 

“Host? Person…? People… Games. Competition show! Yes, that could work.”

“I brought you here, uh… to compete in my competition called… uh… ONE.”

“Competition?”

“Yes, there will be challenges, eliminations, and a prize!”

“Look, I just want to go home. I can't stay here, I have midterms coming up and I need to study.” 

Crossing her arms, she began aggressively tapping her foot, her brows furrowing slightly.

“Uh… but don't you want to stay for the prize…. Uh… Button?”

“My name is Jessie, and if this was really a competition, how did I even qualify for this? I never signed up for anything. I never did an interview. I don’t even know how I got here…” 

Rustle rustle

She began pacing around, more and more questions filling up her head.

“Where are the other contestants and…”

That's right he needed more people for a competition. But he couldn't just bring more people here, could he? He could… no one was there to stop him. 

Looking at Jess… Jessica - wait no Jenny… Button. Looking at Button, she was a person. When was the last time he'd spoken to anyone? It felt a little nice to interact with someone else again. Maybe this could be fun. 

Opening up a new blank doc, he began making a website.

“Alright, uh, Calculatory got the most votes, so he's eliminated.”

As he inserted the code, Airy looked over at his planet. So far everything was going well. He did have a few minor hiccups here and there. Nearly crushing some of them with the sticks. He still felt bad about it, but hey, no one got hurt. 

Pop

Calculatory was gone.

… 

“Oh right, I need to make a new challenge. What should  it be?”

Maybe some fresh air would do him some good. He walked out of the cave taking in a big breath of air. The tree branches swayed gently in the cool wave of wind.

Some clouds began rolling in overhead, rain would be coming soon. He would have to sleep in the cave again. 

Stepping on the cool grass, Airy walked around the open field area.

“Challenge ideas…”

“What if I made more competitions…  Seasons…”

More people. Vivid images of contestants teaming up and joining forces trying to win a challenge. The excitement and anticipation on their faces of who would move on or stay. He wouldn’t be alone as much. It sounded enticing… Fun .

“Ah!”

Pulling his foot back, he inspected the floor finding a small pile of rocks. 

“Oh rocks?”

Picking one up, he turned it around in his hand.

“Rock tossing? That could work, sounds simple and fun.”

He scooped up the rest of the rocks as he ventured back to the cave. Making multiple stops as the rocks kept slipping out of his arms. 

“I should spare some time into making a basket…”

…

Reentering the cave, he sat down and placed the rocks on the desktop. Turning on the microphone he began speaking to the contestants once again.

“Hey guys, I'm back.”

“Your next challenge is to-”

Thud

Sitting in silence, she focused on the grass in front of her. 

Flashes of memories entered Jessie’s mind of her and her mother going to parks and having picnics. What’s she doing now? Did she notice by now that her precious daughter was missing? How was Isabella? She witnessed her disappearance. Hopeful she wasn’t freaking out too much.

Sigh

“Can I sit with you?”

“Huh?”

Being snapped out of her train of thought she looked up at the teen in front of her.

“Oh sure yeah. Sandra right?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks.”

“…”

“This is my fault.”

“What is?”

The smaller object hugged her knees, eyes watering up, as she stared at the grass below.

“Being trapped here, in this endless field.”

“What, no Sandra, it’s not your fault this-”

“But it is, this must be some sort of punishment. My dad was right, I should have stayed at home.”

Sniffle

“I was mad- sniffle at him. I wanted to go to the party, he said ‘No’ and I snuck out. Now I’m- sniffle stuck here and don’t know when I will go home.”

Tears rolled down her eyes, staining her red fabric. Jessie wrapped an arm around her, as she patted her back.

“No this is, a weird unfortunate circumstance. Sneaking out, staying home, it wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Sniffle

“Sandra, look at me.  When you do escape, go hug your dad. He loves you very much and is waiting for you to return, alright?”

“Mhmm..”

Wiping away her tears, Sandra gave her a small smile.

“Hey guys, I’m back.”

…

“Oh wait sorry.”

He pushed the mic to the side as he bent over to pick up a rock that rolled off the table.

Smiling at the small planet, he pulled the mic back, reiterating the challenge.

“Your next challenge… is to throw these rocks. The first three contestants whose rocks are thrown the furthest win. 3, 2, 1, Go…”

Standing up he angled the rock that fell earlier over the small planet and watched it fall.

…

Sniffle

“Jessie?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it me, or is the sky getting dark?”

“Huh?”

…

Surveying the planet he heard screaming.

Crunch 

A small cloud of dirt and grass formed around it as dirt sediments and grass blades dripped onto the floor.

“Uh… Guys?”

“…”

“Guys?”

Turning over to the computer, he began plugging and unplugging the microphone.

“Maybe there’s an error or a bug.”

Click

“Guys?”

ERROR NOTHING IS CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER

“What?”

His eyes burned and blurred, wiping his eyes, he glanced down at his hands. They were shaking and wet. Visceral sobs slowly exited the Lantern.

“Why was he crying?”

Adjusting the microphone again, he spoke into it.

“Uh contestants, there seems to... have been an error. ONE will be going... on a hiatus.  I’ll- I’ll get back to... you when I can fix it.”

He looked back at the planet, more damage was visible now as dirt clouds finally settled down. 

Underneath the rock, he saw some movement. He stood up taking a closer inspection.

“Guy?!”

Wiping away tears, he quickly rushed to the planet.

“Thank goodness you guys are ok”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

He lifted the rock a bit, spotting the dark green arm sticking out from under the rubble, twitching. 

“Button!”

Gently pulling the arm up, Airy’s eyes filled with hope expecting to see Button's worried face. 

Her body wasn’t attached to the end. 

Quickly dropping it, he noticed the arm’s owner buried much deeper in the planet. Her little green body split in half, covered in dirt, debris, and… paste.

Glancing around the planet- rubble, his other contestants came more into view.

Toothpaste himself was torn open from the impact. His face was no longer visible, his contents spilled along the grass, dirt, rock, and corpses.

Scarfy didn’t look too visibly damaged, well at least compared to the others. Her body however was stained with dirt, paste, and torn in some areas. Pieces of Button’s shards stuck into her soft fabric. Her soft fabric had stuck to the sharp rougher edges of the rock. Her little body gently swayed back and forth as it dangled motionlessly. 

Caney and Whistle? They seemed to have been near each other at the time of impact. Their bodies both snapped and bent into unrecognizable shapes, all mended together. Arms and legs, twisted and mangled in such shapes and angles that even if they did manage to survive, their limbs would never be functional again.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

He murdered them.

“What have I done?”

He dropped the toothpaste-covered rock onto the floor, crushing Scarfy once again. He couldn’t breathe, everything felt dizzy. Slumping onto the stool he leaned onto the table for support, and could only stare at his hands. His hands, which he could barely keep still, were stained with toothpaste’s remains.

He could barely see anymore, the tears weren’t stopping. 

He just murdered people…

“Oh god, they’re dead.”

Sobbing

“I killed them”

He slowly hugged himself, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. Fingers digging into his arms, maybe this was a dream. He just needed to wake up…

“Wake up, wake up, wake up”

Images flooded his head, slowly consuming his mind. He wasn’t going to escape this, was he?

“Wake up, wake up.”

“Now… I think I did a pretty good job.”

Liam just stared, his face contorting into a grimace, Airy stared at him gently smiling.

Rustle

“I’m going to sleep”

“Oh ok”

Sitting down on the reeds, keeping a long distance from the cabin’s entrance, the thought of what Airy had done clung to his mind. His friends, all of them peacefully sleeping, blissfully unaware of Airy’s previous victims. To think, if they were picked at an earlier time, all of them could’ve died instantly. Amelia... Tomato… both of them died during the first challenge.

He himself was still learning the basics, recovery was one of the things he was still trying to understand. 

“What if I damaged the Plane? No, I’m not like Airy. I’m not going to let myself repeat Airy’s mistakes. I’m not going to be like him.”

Sitting there in the dim glow of Airy’s fire, he made a promise to himself, one that he vowed to never break.

“I won't let anything hurt you guys, not now or ever... I promise…”

Backpack has been asleep for a while now… Being left in silence once again, Airy looked down at the grass, his mind zoning out.

“Season One…”  

He hadn't thought about his first attempt in long a while. At least not this deeply or intentionally. Thinking about it for too long made his head hurt, and most of the time he resorted to distracting himself from reme-

Shuffle shuffle

“Huh?”

Glazing over, he looked over at his shifting guest.

Sigh

“Oh, it’s just Backpack…”  

What was-?

“Airy…. ”

“...”

A chill trickled down his back… That… Voice… 

“Where did you go? 

Ha ha

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

A squeaking could be heard throughout the cabin, his light slowly getting brighter. Slowly he made out a silhouette, a small smile grew on the figure’s face, as it reached out a hand.

“Button?”

Ha ha

“Who else silly? Come join me!”

Sliding off the bed, he stepped forward as strands of reeds fell to the floor. Outstretching his hand, he needed to see if she was real. Taking a step closer-

“Hiss!”

A tear stung his eye as he winced. Soothed his side handle, he glanced down. 

Oh… The table… 

Looking back up, Button was gone.

He wanted to see his contestants, that would make him feel better. He didn’t care if he couldn’t interact or even communicate with them at the moment. He just needed to see them. 

Walking past Backpack, he stared out at the downpour. He hated getting wet, but it would be worth it. Walking out into the rain he headed directly to the cave. 

Plink Plink

Footprints marked the grass behind him. His mind churning with what his constants would be doing at this moment. He always found enjoyment in their little antics. Oh just just wanted to see them.

Squish Squish

While Season One was a chaotropic failure, Season Two was his magnum opus, and he was proud of it. Even then it did have some hiccups. His accident and consequential 7 months disappearance, and now not being able to access the computer. It didn’t matter he would find some way to bypass whatever restrictions Squarey put in place. 

Thoughts of starting a third season reentered his mind. This time it would be perfect. Maybe it would be even better than Season 2! The thought made him smile. These new people he picked out would be wonderful contestants, he had magazine to thank for that.

Huff Huff

Shuffle

Reaching the cave entrance he parted the vines and walked inside. Nearly slipping, he gripped the walls for support, he didn’t need a repeat of that accident. He slowly looked up at… the… Plane…

Huff

“Where’s… the… Plane ?”

Chapter Text

Sunlight shone ever so brightly upon the Plane’s inhabitants, grass blades pointing up towards the sky. Over in the fields, giggles could be heard sporadically by a small group of objects.

“We should definitely have a pool party!”

Tray began waving her arms around, her giggling slowing to a halt. She turned her gaze towards the others.

“Yeah, when was the last time we had one?”

Whippy Creamy lifted his brow, as he dazed off.

“I don't know, probably a few hundred shifts ago.”

Subway Seat rolled his eyes, as he shook his hand off. 

“What are shifts again, I’m having a hard time remembering, I’m just a silly lunch tray after all.”

Knocking on her head, Tray stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Oh, silly Tray.”

Whippy Creamy and Subway Seat looked at each other, making silly faces, the three of them bursting into another fit of laughter.

…

“Oh yeah let me tell you,  she spilled the milk all over the floor and slipped.”

Snort

Covering her mouth, Scenty leaned on the table.

“Sorry sorry, I just can’t help it.”

“Pfft, nah you’re ok. That served her right for messing with you”

Moldy reassured.

“Isn’t that right, Backpack?”

Colors faded ever so slightly from the sky, as the moonlight took over. He rubbed his arms for warmth and a sharp chill ran through his fabric. Everyone was staring at him, it felt suffocating. Unnerving smiles grew one by one as the sound of crunchy grass approached... 

“Wait, What?”

Backing up, his feet made contact with the grass. The little backpack stared as the others closed in.

Crunch Crunch

“G- Guys?”

Thud

“Ow!”  

“What the?! Wood? The pool…”

Feeling around, he made contact with the carved grooves. Quickly grabbing hold of the grooves he began climbing.

As he looked back down, backpack was surrounded, everywhere he turned his friends were closing in.

“What? Were there always this many?”

One by one, fingers pointed up, all eyes on him.

Pfft ha ha ha ha!!!

“Guys, what's wrong?”

Thud Thud

Bodies climbed over each other, one after the other attempting to climb up, yet only managing to dragged down in an endless loop.

“Oh, what do you mean by that Backpack? We’re the same as we've always been. Isn’t that right Moldy?”

Grimacing he backed away, his feet tracing along the pool's edge.

“That's right Scenty, we’ve always been like this Backpack.”

Aha ha ha

Clasp

Gasp

“Ah! Let go!”

Ha Ha

“Amelia?” 

“What's wrong Backpack? It's just me, don't you recognize me?”

 The little candle smiled back at him, tilting her head slightly.

“Please let go” 

Moonlight shone down reflecting off her dull eyes, this wasn’t Amelia.

“No, let go!” 

“Aw… Why won’t you come play with us Backpack?”

She pouted as she began dragging him down. Attempting to shove her away, his feet made contact with a puddle of water, as he stepped back.

“Ah!”

Thud

Grunt

“Dizzy… Why is everything hurting?”

 He felt the ground below him, that dreadful prickly grass. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted with Amelia standing over him.

“Good morning Backpack.”

Ha ha

“Huh? groan Amelia?”

“I’m sorry Backpack, now that Airy’s gone, we no longer need you.”

“M… Me?”

The smell of burnt plastic assaulted his senses. Water filled his eyes, tears dripped into his fabric. 

Hack hack

Slowly sitting up his body screamed in protest. 

“Did the sky always look red?”

“Ow!”

Quickly jolting his hand away, he looked down, seeing his leg broken. 

Hack hack

Nausea washed over him, his head pounding.

Panting

“Not, again.”

Ah!!! Aha ha ha ha ha…

Looking past… her . It was not the sky.

“It was really fun competing with you Backpack, but we have to go now!”

Remains of his friends, all churning and meshing. Smoke coated the sky as the conglomerate burnt away into ash. 

Gleaming at Backpack, she smiled gently, slowly leaning lower to his face, her breath brushing against his face.

“Goodbye Backpack.”

Slowly falling back, he watched as she let herself fall back.

Shatter

“Amelia?”

Sniffling 

“What's happening, everyone's dead. Why am I back here?”

The grass shook underneath him as his surroundings began to cave in. Holding on tightly to the grass, he looked on as the floor began cracking, fire and smoke spreading among the grass. 

“Ahh!”

Hah hah

Staring up, a familiar green figure towered over him, adjusting a shiny hood. A sadistic smile slowly crept along the doppelganger's face.

“Are you ready to go Backpack ?”

Snort ha ha ha

“ What -”

“Ah!”

Gripping onto whatever he could, Backpack closed his eyes as the floor shook faster.  Sounds of Liam's laughter filled the air slowly distorting. Looking up one last time he witnessed himself melting away, as Airy emerged from out of his skin.

“Goodbye Backpack, you were a great contestant.”

Sniffle

“Airy, please… I want to go… Home.”

“What even was home anymore?”

The floored around him darkened, looking up he-

CRACK!

“Ahhh!!!”

“Why was the world spinning? Am I still on the Plane? Everything is so dark and cold.”

“Please, Airy NO!!!”

He felt the shaking increase, a dim light blinding his eyes, he attempted to cover his eyes. Something was preventing him from raising his arms.

“Backpack.”

“Airy?!”

“God, he's so close, why is he grabbing me?”

“Let go of me!”

Grunt

Shoving him away, he watched as Airy stumbled back. Wrapping arms around his shoulders he began soothing away at the sore spots where Airy had shaken him around. 

“Breathe in, breathe out. It’s ok Liam, you’re not on the Plane anymore, you’re alive. It was a dream- nightmare.”

Rustle

Looking up he met the face of the lantern. Feeling his wrist getting grabbed, Liam attempted to pull away.

“Backpack-” 

“Huh!? Let go of me!”

“I can't do that right now.”

Sigh

“And for the last time, my name is not Back-  Ack! ”

Getting tugged along like a child, he dug his heel into the grass.

“AIRY, LET GO OF ME!!!”

Airy stopped and stared deeply into Liam’s eyes, his grip tightening.

“The Plane is gone .”

Chapter Text

Rain dripped, soaking into Liam’s fabric as he was dragged towards the cave. Attempting to keep a steady balance he tried keeping up with Airy’s pace but was ultimately outpaced by him. 

Reaching the cave, Liam felt colder than before, water dripping down his straps.

Cough cough

“Texty… The water most definitely got inside… Ah!”

Gripping onto the cave wall he tried to regain balance.

“Airy-”

“Look, the Plane is gone.”

“The Plane?”

Airy let go of Liam as he pointed at the empty spot in the air. Liam looked at Orion, who only stared back as they shrugged their shoulders subtly. 

“Oh right.”

“What happened to the Plane?! Where did it go?!”

“Y-you don't know?”.

The lantern slowly turned to face Liam. Desperation painted the old lantern as he began pacing, his breathing quickening.  

The green backpack stepped back, hesitant of Airy’s new sudden behavior.

“You two were in here all day- huff you should know .”

Sounds of raindrops and pebbles tumbling mixed with Airy as he paced around the cave he began searching behind every nook and cranny. 

 “Stalagmites? No. The computer? No! Where is it?”

“...”

 “Squarey’s new project!”

Grabbing the newly formed planet, he searched around the empty surface. His contestants just had to be there.

“Airy stop that!” 

Orion gripped Airy’s arm, prying him away from their newest creation.

“No!”

“It's gone Airy! I got sent it away to be placed in its proper universe.” 

“…”

All struggle stopped, and Airy seemed to calm down.

“You what…?”

“You would’ve known that if you stayed for my explanation- Ack!”

“Airy no!”

Grabbing a hold of Airy, Liam attempted to pull him away from Orion. Only managing to turn all of his attention towards him.

“No, no, no!”

He thrashed around, grabbing Liam’s hands and shoving him away.

Feeling himself slipping, Liam flailed his arms around attempting to regain balance. 

Thump

Splash 

Gasp

Liam froze, he was already soaked through the bone, and now he was stilling in a small puddle of rainwater. Grasping at cave walls, Liam stumbled back up. Texty and the Plane shifting around.

“....No…”

Losing access to the computer? That was one thing, he could always find a way around it. He could sorta handle it. This wasn’t the first time he's had issues with the computer. But the Plane being gone? His contestants being gone? Now of all times? That was something else entirely.

“Airy!”

“H-huh?”

She was here again, why was she looking at him like that? 

“Button please…”

“Huh?”

Huff

“Button you understand, right? I need to get it back!”

He grasped Liam’s sides pulling him closer to him. Tears streamed down Airy’s face slowly, a small trembling smile forming on his face. 

“Ack! Airy? Airy let go!”

“I’m doing it for all of you!”.”

“Airy, please you’re going to tear me apart!!!”

…

“Are you ready to go Backpack?”

Snort ha ha ha

“Goodbye Backpack, you were a great contestant.”

…

“Let me go, Airy!”

“AH!!”

Thud

Stumbling back, Airy stared at Liam.

“And for the millionth time, my name IS LIAM!”

Clunk

“Airy?”

“...”

“AIRY?!”

Disbelief filled Liam, Airy was on the floor. Airy, who earlier was crying and pacing around was suddenly on the ground.

Orion knelt, as he grabbed Airy’s wrist, placing his antenna close to his mouth.

“Hmmm… He’s still alive. I can still feel his pulse and his breathing sounds normal enough.”

“Oh….”

“...”

“What do I do? When he wakes up again he’s just going to-”

“I can handle it, besides, I finished my workload for the day”

“Huh.”

Sneeze

“Oh dear, you’re all soaked to the bone.”

“No kidding.”

“Exactly you could get sick. Hold on.”

Orion took a step back and waved his hand in an upward motion.

“Uh, what are you-?”

A line appeared as the space in the air parted. Liam stepped back double taking at all the commotion.

“What the heck is that?!”

Pluck Hiss

Orion approached Liam and outstretched their hand.

“Give me your hand”

“What why? Where does that lead to?”

“It’s a portal to my home.”

“To your home?”

“Yes, just let me tie this on you. It’s to help you reopen the portal and return here.”

“Can’t I just, you know store it?”

“Oh right.”

…

“Anyways just keep this on you and wave your hand to reopen the portal.”

“Oh ok… Thanks…”

“Anytime.”

Approaching the portal, Liam turned giving one last glance at Airy before disappearing into the air.

“Well, that didn’t go according to plan…”

Looking down at the uncinous lantern, he stood there in thought.

Sigh

“This is going to be a long night.”

Chapter Text

Pop

“Earth… I’m back on Earth.”

Greeting him back, the sight of a painted yellow wall. A cool breeze brushed against his face, the fresh ocean scent mixing with the nearby garbage. 

Oh right, he wasn’t in Bridgeport when Airy made him rejoin. He needed to get back home somehow.

Honk honk

Sounds of traffic filled the air front in the morning rush, as people hurried to their jobs.

Jobs. 

His Job. With all the chaos in the past few days: Liam appearing at his apartment,  his views on reality being skewed, constant death, and his rejoin . His job entirely slipped his mind. He wasn’t sure how long he was even gone for. Epic Burger was only shut down for a week, even if it hasn’t been a week, how long would it even take to get back to Connecticut?! 

Being in this alley wasn’t going to help him.

Walking out the alley his feet stepped upon the rough gritty sidewalks. It wasn’t the best sensation but he’d rather deal with the sidewalk than deal with the Plane’s grass any day.

Amelia. Liam. Once again he managed to escape. He’s back on Earth meanwhile the others were stuck with Airy, well Liam. Even now, when Liam managed to reach Airy, there wasn’t much Liam could do. Not with what he said about the 5-month limit. Airy really had doomed them all. 

“You just can’t move on can’t you?”

“Were you there for 7 months?! 7 months on a barren wasteland stripped of everything that gave you a purpose in life?! I’m dead to this world Soda Bottle don’t you get it?!”

Guilt racked Bryce as he remembered their last altercation. That dark stormy night now feels like an eternity ago. He couldn’t understand Liam, why he was so adamant on finding Airy, why he was so hellbent on reopening old wounds. After all they both managed to leave, ONE wasn’t their problem anymore. He managed to move on, he managed to improve his life. So why couldn’t Liam? 

His rejoin wasn’t something he even considered. Who would? However, ever since his return to that place, he felt more empathic, more of an understanding of why Liam was so persistent. Seeing everyone again after months of no communication, they looked so broken. Amelia? He could barely recognize her from their last encounter. The way she barely talked about returning home, more adjusted to the Plane. Charlotte? He barely knew the woman, but she looked more mellowed out. Heavy dread surrounded her as if she had seen the Grim Reaper himself. To think he was just going to abandon them, move on, and forget about them. 

He didn’t know why it was him, but he managed to be the only one spared from this, twice . He promised to live for them, that’s the least he could do in this situation. The first thing he needed to do was find some way to get to Connecticut and also know what day it was.

“Ok, so it’s October 4th, so I’ve only been gone for 3 days. So that just leaves today and two more days to get home.”

How was he going to return home? He could take a plane, but he didn’t have enough money on him at the moment to afford a plane ticket. Hitch-hiking would take too long. 

“Why didn't Stone write a sticky note to send me home?”

Thud

 “Hey! Watch where..! Uh?”

“Dé….so..lé… parles-tu… français…? ”

“Oh uh sorry I don’t…”

Why does he look so familiar?”

Staring at the man in front of him, appearing so scatterbrained. His body gently swayed side to side as if he he just learned to walk. His eyes, solely staring at Bryce, but not focusing on him specifically. All in all, giving more of the appearance of a zombie than a person.

“Where had he seen this man before?”

“Maison…”

“The website.”

“Wait, you’re Julien, right?”

“Vous… me… connai…ssez…?”

A glint of recognition lit up in the man's eyes. His gaze became more attentive to Bryce, as Julien stumbled closer to Bryce. This definitely was Julien. The teal-like strip on his face, the limb colors, it all matched the website’s image.

“Geez what did Airy do to him?”

“Sorry, I can’t understand you…. Uh…”

Bryce took a step back, as he scratched his head. How was he going to communicate with this man? He knew absolutely nothing about the French language, but he had to try some way to communicate. With few options, he made hand gestures in an attempt to talk.

“ You and me , Uh trapped because of Airy”

“Ai…ry?”

“Man, you need help… I wish I could help but….”

He didn’t have to help Julien but then, staring at his broken man, who had his life ruined because of Airy. 

“Liam”

If he were to leave this Julien it would be like abandoning Liam when he arrived at his doorstep. Like all of his fellow captives stuck behind on the Plane… He didn’t know what Julien had been put through at the hands of Airy. But the least he could do was help someone else who, like him, managed to escape from Airy.

Sigh

“Come with me”

Bryce waved his hand over, signaling for Julien to follow him. Julien stepped towards him, accidentally tripping over his leg and falling to the pavement.

Thud

“Here let me help.”

Bryce knelt beside Julien, placing his arm around his shoulder for support and balance. 

“We should get you a cane.”

“Mer…ci.”

It was his day off and he was feeling hungry. Opening up the cabinet, he pulled out a box of mac and cheese for lunch along with a pot. As the the pot was filling up with water, he peeked into the fridge grabbing ingredients. 

“Man, I should get some groceries…”

Mumbling under his breath, as he picked up some butter. Winching at the sorry state of his fridge. His eyes glazed over at the strawberries he had gotten the previous week, fluffy white fuzz growing over them. 

“Ew…”

He couldn’t remember why he got them in the first place. It didn’t matter, it was not like he could eat them now. Anyhow he needed to throw them out before they got any worse. Walking over to throw the fruit away he was met with the sight of a full garbage bag.

“Damn…”

Slam

“There you go.”

“Eau…”

Glancing up, He spots a certain soda bottle. One with a red label, a blue cap, and a very out-of-it toothpaste roll.

“ Wait, wasn't that guy with Liam… Now that I'm thinking about it Liam hasn’t called back yet. How is he?”

Looking at the two of them walking around, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to go talk to them. After all this guy would most likely know about Liam’s last whereabouts.

“I’ll find you some water.”

“Hey uh, you. You were with Liam, right? I saw you both at the store the other day.”

The pair stopped, Bryce, looking over at the nail meanwhile Julien just glanced around.

“Huh? Oh hey, yeah. Ooowen?”

“Yes. Do you know where Liam is right now? I'd like to chat more since we’re both on break now.”

Glancing over at the toothpaste, he just looked out of it, what happened to him? Looking back at Bryce, something felt off .

“He's.. uh… not here right now.”

Bryce shifted his eyes around looking, scratching his head again.

“Hm…”

The soda bottle was there the last time he'd seen Liam. To be honest that entire conversation now with hindsight felt weird to him. 

Liam had been missing for months presumed dead and he suddenly popped back up for a break. He’d apparently got a new job in Australia but never told anybody about it. Not to mention he never called or messaged him back, even though they were friends. Now Liam went back to ignoring him despite having a new phone number.

Not to mention throughout the conversation, Liam continuously glanced over at this soda bottle guy. Saying that he was booked on his break. How he looked happy to see him, but he could sense some uneasiness. And now the guy Owen last saw him with is here without Liam. Instead, he’s with another man who looks like he needs serious medical help. This all was weird.

Cough 

“Hey, your friend looks tired. You two could stay over if you want.” 

“Wait really?”

Bryce looked at Owen before looking back at Julien.

“I was about to make some lunch, it’s nothing special, just mac and cheese.” 

“That sounds nice.”

“So what's your name?”

“Quoi? Je ne…  comprends pas…”

Julien mumbled as he attempted to pick up the spoon. 

Clank

“Thank you, for the meal.”

“It was nothing, any ‘friend’ of Liam is a friend of mine.”

“...”

“I don’t think I got your name.”

“It’s Bryce, and this is Julien.”

Clank

“...”

Owen stared at his empty plate, as Bryce began helping out Julien with grasping a spoon.

Sigh

“Bryce, I don’t know what is happening with Liam. He just vanished one day, came back, and then left again.” 

Looking back up he stared directly at Bryce.

“I just want to know. Is he ok?”

“Yes, he's fine.”

“Hm… I'm just worried about him, you know.”

“Yes. I know that feeling.”

“...”

“I can clean up, you fed us and let us into your home. That's the least I can do.”

“Thank you…”

Shshsh

Owen stared down at the table top, as he watched over Julien for Bryce.

“Poor Man…”

Staring at Julien it made him reminded of Liam in a way. From way back in their college years, Liam slumped over his dorm desk after an all-nighter. He only hoped that Bryce was right and Liam was fine. He wasn't sure why he was overthinking it. He saw Liam just 2 days ago, and he looked physically ok. Now he has two strangers in his home, in vain hope to get even a glint of knowledge about him.

“ Liam, where are you…”

He looked over at his phone, all the unanswered calls, unread messages. Opening up an email he began writing to Liam.

Sigh

“This is stupid…”

“Sac… à.. dos…”

“Huh?”

“Sac… à dos…”

Looking up he saw Julien point at an old picture of him and Liam from college.

“You know Liam?”

“Li…am…? Liam… m'a… sauvé…”

As the portal closed behind him, Liam looked around Orion's house. It looked small only having a living room, where he was currently, a kitchen in the right corner, and a small hallway to the kitchen's left, leading to a door.

It looked strangely familiar, like a house back on Earth. Yet the walls seemed to breathe as they phased in and out. Dim colors cycled through the walls, mimicking the gentle light of the moon. There seemed to be no other doors, the home strangely devoid of windows. As he walked towards the kitchen, the floor sank slightly under his weight, feeling like marshmallows. The entire experience felt as though he was on a cloud.

Looking around it was barely decorated. Few pictures littered the floor, though it was hard to make out. As whatever did remain was covered up or torn. As for furniture, he could only see the bare minimum. A dining table for one, a chair, a couch, and a coffee table. 

Finding some paper towels, Liam did his best to dry himself.

Beep beep beep

“Hold on Texty, I'm almost done.”

Heading to the dining table, he unzipped himself and pulled out Texty, the Plane, and the two wires he had.

From his first inspection alone, no damage was done to any of them. He breathed out a sigh of relief. The Plane was intact and Texty himself was also fine albeit a little wet.

“Shit, he was wet!”

Liam quickly grabbed some paper towels immediately drying off Texty the best he could, slowly opening him up.

“Texty? Are you ok? Did the water hurt you?”

“L-Liam I'm fi-ne”

“Oh no, the water did damage you!”

“Nah I'm just messing with you :3”

“Texty, that's not funny.”

“Sorry… :(“

Sigh

“At least you're safe… just don't do that again.”

“I won't… Also, my battery is dying.”

“Oh shoot right.”

Looking around he found a free socket by the coffee table. Gently bringing Texty, the two cables, and the Plane over, Liam knelt by the small table and inspected the charger for any water damage. Unlike Texty the cable looked fine, but just in case he paper-dried it anyway.

“That was close, too close.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“I’m just very glad you're fine, I will let you rest for now, Texty. You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Liam, you too :D”

Closing Texty, he once more checked over the charger before plugging it into the socket and Texty.

Looking over at the Plane, Liam debated whether or not he should tell them about the altercation he had with Airy.

Looking at all of them sleeping they looked so peaceful. Happy even. No, he wouldn't tell them for now, let them enjoy the peace. They all deserved it after 7 months of hell. He looked down at the Batch 2 contestants, an idea forming in his head. 

Yawn

Though that'll have to wait for tomorrow, he needed to sleep.

Placing the Plane next to Texty, he sat down on the couch. He was still a bit wet and cold, but this couch was comfortable enough to negate any of those. He just hoped another nightmare wouldn’t appear. As he slowly laid back on the couch, he felt something wet splating inside him. Though right now he was too tired to care. His mind slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The moon's soft glow grew dimmer as bright colors filtered through the sky, the sun’s warm rays falling on the Plane and its inhabitants. Whippy Creamy, Tray, and Subway Seat stirred slowly, opening their eyes, as they adjusted to the daylight. They were the first to get up, standing up and stretching out their limbs. 

“So this is what a sunrise is like. Cool!”

A grin formed on Whippy Creamy’s face.

“It’s pretty.”

Tray clasped her hands.

“I’ve always seen sunrises and sunsets before… but never this close or without hiding my sentience…”

Subway Seat mumbled as he placed a hand on his face.

The three of them chartered among themselves, eyes gazing in awe at the lovely display.

Amelia and Charlotte were the next to get up, the sounds of chatter and sunlight shaking off the grogginess from sleep. At long last, they received a decent night's rest, not the best sleep from many contributing factors. From the lack of cushioning and uncomfortable positions from sleeping on a table. They missed the comfort of a bed, the softness of a blanket, and the fluffiness of pillows. However the lack of sunlight and dim lighting for once made it easier to sleep.

“Hm, the sunrise is pretty…”

Charlotte mumbled, slowly raising her head, and resting her face against her hand against the table.

Amelia nodded in agreement, as she rubbed her eyes.

“I’d thought I would never see one again…”

Yawn

Ha ha

“Me neither. I can’t believe I used to take them for granted. I mean look at them ,”

Charlotte gestured towards the second batch.

“They look so happy just from seeing this one phenomenon, meanwhile I’ve seen them my entire life. I never really noticed them.”

She stared down at the table, thinking over her life.

“How many things have I taken for granted, events- people I will never see again?”

Pop

“Hm?”

The scent of food wafted through the air, alerting the distant group. Heading towards the table, the second batch spotted a stack of fluffy pancakes with syrup and some milk to wash it down. Amelia and Charlotte, already placing some on their plates.

“Aw cool more food!”

Whippy Creamy immediately sat beside them both, stuffing food onto his plate. Tray and Subway Seat quickly joined, not far behind.

“Ooo, I always was curious about how pancakes tasted.”

“Me too, the kids at my school would always eat up the muffins during breakfast. I wonder if pancakes will taste the same.”

Tray said, placing some pancakes onto her plate.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh… I might’ve snuck in some crumbs when no one was around…”

He he…

Amelia and Charlotte stared at the three of them, the two of them eating their breakfast.

“Geez, how can they be so energetic this early? It’s like they’re kids on Christmas”

Charlotte teased.

“Hey, you're right. They do look like it…”

Click

“Good morning guys, I hope you liked the breakfast.”

“Hi Liam, We sure do!”

Tray waved, giving Liam a thumbs up, quickly adding more syrup.

“Aw, I got syrup on my fabric!”

Subway Seat grimaced at the stain, grabbing some napkins, as he attempted to rub it off.

“Stop, you'll make it worse”

Tray said, pulling his hand away.

“We can clean it off with the pool water.”

Sigh

“I guess you're right…”

Staring at them all, Liam glanced at Texty, three thick packets stacked beside him.

“I hope they like that idea. ”

“Hey… batch two…?”

“Hm?”

“How would you all like new names?”

“Huh?! New names?” 

Clatter

Tray clasped her hands together, dropping her fork.

“Actual real names this time? Not just after our objects?!” 

Subway Seat said placing the syrup-stained napkins on the table.

“Yes please, finally! Anything would be better than Whippy Creamy …” 

Whippy Creamy said exasperated, grimacing at his current name with disdain.

Chuckles

“Well, they looked enthusiastic at least, that’s all that mattered right now.”

“Yes, I will be letting you get new names. Since you guys aren’t returning to your world anytime soon, I thought why not let you have a form of autonomy? In the form of a new name”

Cheers emitted from the small group as they began murmuring among themselves.

“Me and Texty picked out an entire list of names for you to choose. We could always find more if you don’t like the options.”

Click 

“Give it a second.”

Thump

Three big packets fell from the sky beside the table.

Squeal

“I can't wait to have actual names like you two” 

Tray said towards Amelia and Charlotte excitedly picking up the packet. The food that she had so eagerly been eating before, now forgotten.

“So have you picked out names that you like?”

“Yes”

“So what did you all choose?"

“Ooo, Ooo, Can I go first?”

Tray raised her hand.

“Sure”

Stepping forward, she cleared her throat.

“Hello everyone, My name is Patricia Carlisle.”

Subway Seat chimed in.

“Oh, that's a nice name. Mine is Oswald Freedman.”

“What about you Whippy Creamy”

“Please don't call me that anymore. I'm Sean Keith.”

The other two look on bittersweetly

“At least they got something good out of all of this..”

Charlotte mumbled.

Ahem….

“What is it, Liam?”

“Charlotte, me, and Texty have been researching.”

“Yeah, and?”

“There’s nothing that we can do to stop the mold.” 

“Figures…”

“The treatment requires intense aggressive surgery, something that we can’t do. You'll need to go back to Earth for it.”

“Oh great, the only way to get rid of this is the one place I can’t return to. I’m stuck with this forever. ”

Placing her face into her hand, she began cursing herself.

“Why did I think that I would ever get rid of this mold? I should have gotten rid of it when I had the chance.”

Amelia patted her back, attempting to soothe her.

“Actually….”

Charlotte perked up.

“What do you mean actually?”

“You can return to Earth-”

Slam

“We what?! Have you been hiding this from us?!”

“Charlotte, please let him explain” 

Amelia soothed 

“But- Fine…”

“When I said that you can’t return home, I meant that you can't stay there anymore. At least not permanently. Your life force, soul, whatever is tethered to the Plane now. If you return to Earth again, you’ll die after some time.”

“Really? You’re kidding right?”

“So there's… still a chance?”

“That’s what Orion told me.”

Amelia and Charlotte both glanced up.

“I’m sorry what?! Who's Orion?!” 

“Oh geez…”

Everything was blurry, colors blending into each other.

Groan.

Rubbing his eyes, slowly, his vision adjusted, making out his surroundings. He was back in his cabin, the wooden ceiling staring back at him. 

What happened to him? What time was it?

Ack

A sharp pain ran through his head, as the lantern tried sitting up. Gripping his head, he looked up to spot Orion, sitting nearby. His antennas shifted, as their head tilted.

“You alright?”

“Bu… tton?”

“No, Orion.”

“Squarey?”

“No, I'm….”

Sigh

“You should lay back down.”

Memories resurfaced from that night. The Plane was gone, his contestants were gone, and 10 years of dedication, gone . 

“You sent them away?”

Airy mumbled weakly. 

“Yes, it was their time to go.”

Airy turned towards the outside, small droplets dripped from the door frame. The early sun reflected off of them giving the effect of twinkling stars. 

“Wood…”

He needed more firewood, in all the frenzy he’d been in lately, his mind had entirely slipped his low supplies. Especially after this rain, it would get cold… If he couldn’t get his contestants back he could at least do this one thing. That’s right, ONE was just on hiatus again… No problem. He’s dealt with hiatuses before…

Gripping the edge of the bed, he strained to stand up,  immediately getting the attention of Orion. Standing up, he rushed to Airy’s side and pushed him back down.

“No, you shouldn't be standing up right now… you should rest.”

“I need more… uh… wood… for my campfire...”

“No”

“But I need more wood….”

“I said no. Besides, it's too wet  right now to start a fire.”

“…”

“...”

“But it’ll get cold later…”

“I'll get you some to keep warm. Just stay here.”

“Uh… ok…”

Glancing at Airy one last time, Orion walked off.

“Oh geez, how should I-”

The portal reopened once again, a familiar blue alien passing through. 

“Oh great, perfect timing…”

“Hi, Orion.”

“Hello… Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good”

Now that the topic of returning to Earth was occurring, Liam remembered his short time back on Earth. 

“Uh, hey I remember when I went to Earth, I didn't die immediately? Whenever I entered other worlds I died immediately.”

“Well, it’s because that’s your home world, it still slightly remembers you enough to last around like a week. Those other worlds don’t recognize you enough to remain.”

“So we can go back, for a little bit….”

“Yes, you’ll still have to be sent back.”

“Oh…”

Liam looked back at the Plane.

“One week. They have one week…”

“Anyways I need to get some stuff.”

Orion began walking away towards the hallway.

“Who was that?!”

Charlotte spoke out.

“Oh, that's Orion.”

“He’s not with Airy right?”

Amelia looked on nervously.

“Oh no, no, they’re with us…”

“So we can return home….?”

“For a week, yes…”

Amelia and Charlotte glanced at each other. 

“Do you want to go back right now?”

“S-sure.”

Liam stared at the Batch 2 group.

“Do you three want to go too?”

The three of them looked at each other.

“Yes, even if it’s for a short while, I want to know what a normal life looks like.”

Oswald said.

Sigh

“Texty pulled up the code, you guys ready?”

They all murmured in agreement.

“I’ll give you an hour head up as a signal for your return. Uh, I'll place a… blue sticky note somewhere with “You ready?” written on.”

Pfft

“You ready? That's not ominous.”

Charlotte spoke

“What about you Liam?”

Patricia questioned.

“Me?”

“...”

“I don’t…”

“Liam?”

“You guys have fun, I need to keep things safe over here…”

“But Liam-”

Pop

He sent them home.

“Why did you do that?”

“Well, what if something happens to me if I go back? How am I supposed to protect my friends if I’m dead? What about Airy?”

“You have the sticky notes.”

“Oh right, Stone’s sticky notes-”

Gasp

That night before he went to sleep he swore he felt something splating inside him. 

“No… it couldn’t be…”

Quickly unzipping he frantically searched his main pocket pulling up soaked wads of paper.

“Liam what’s wrong?”

“They’re ruined….”

“New Email”

Chapter Text

Day One (11:25 am)

Darkness was the first thing she was met with. Well not entirely dark, faint glimpses of sunlight peaked in between the curtains. The cool sensation of wooden floors met her feet, but she didn't care.  It didn't take long for her to conclude that she was back.

“Home, she was home”

Flopping back on the couch she slumped down, staring at her ceiling. Resting her arm over her face, her hand skimmed over the mold. Her hand instantly flinched back in recoil.

“Ah right…”

Well, she was back home now meaning she had access to her medication again. It would at least make the mold more bearable, and lessen the pain and itchiness. But it wouldn't get rid of it, she needed that surgery. She doubted that she could secure surgery in only a week though, and the cost… She could worry about that later. Shifting up, she adjusted more into the soft cushions of the couch.

“Wait, was my couch always this soft…? Eh… whatever it must've been so long that I must've forgotten how soft it was.”

But it did feel nice.

Yawn

Despite having awakened an hour ago, she wanted to sleep again. Comfort and warmth filled her, for once in a long while, she felt… safe ? She wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it filled her with a sense of tiredness. Her body longed for the comfort of the couch, but it could wait for later. NOW she just needed her medication. Gazing up she noticed the TV had been replaced along with new furniture that hadn’t been there previously. 

“What happened to my-”

“Oh, this is what your house looks like? I’ve never been inside a house before.”

“Ah!”

Gripping her chest she turned right as she spotted a familiar-looking Subway Seat, who eagerly examined around her kitchen. Peeking inside the cabinets, inspecting her belongings, like a curious kitten just navigating the world.

“Sub- Oswald? Oh, It's just you… Don't scare me like that.”

“Sorry”

Oswald looked away sheepishly, now exiting the kitchen.

Sigh

Having calmed down from her previous scare, she gazed back at her TV. Something wasn’t right here.

“OW!” Watch where you’re stepping Oswald!”

“Sean?  Is that you? Where are you?”

Glancing around, neither Charlottle nor Oswald were able to spot Sean. Oswald looked at Charlotte anxiously.

“Is your house haunted?”

“What?! No, why would you-?

“Down here!”

Getting interrupted, the both of them stared down. They were met with the sight of a shrunk-down Sean, who was glaring up annoyed crossing his arms, puzzling Charlotte and amusing Oswald.

“Wait, why are you small?!”

“I don't know, why is Oswald big?”

“Aw, you look cute.”

Oswald said, lifting Sean off the ground.

“Hey let go of me!”

He protested as she squirmed. The sudden movement caused Oswald to drop him head first.

“OW!!! Stop hurting me.”

“Sorry…”

Watching the entire interaction, she felt something twisting, churning around inside. Unpleasant memories of Tomato falling off that pole resurfaced in her mind. The sickening sounds of that loud splat reverberated through her mind.

Crunch

“And don’t call me cute!”

Sean grumbled rubbing the sore spot on his head.

“Geez Charlotte, it's so dark in here…”

“Huh? I know that Sean.”

A burning sensation rushed through her head, all previous thoughts escaping from her mind. Instinctively reaching her hand up, she scratched, hoping to relieve the itch. Her fingers once again made contact with the fuzzy mold. 

“God this mold.”

Right, her medication…. She had forgotten about it. Standing up, she deeply inhaled as she began heading towards her bedroom.

“Alright, you two stay here, I'll be back!”

Crunch  Ack

“Charlotte, are you ok?”

Sean called out.

“Yeah, just stepped on something sharp”

Grabbed her foot as she attempted to soothe it, she tried finding what she stepped on.

“Twinkle twinkle little star-”

Soothing children's lullabies began loudly emitting from below filling the air, with soothing melodies.

“What the…?”

Looking down, she spotted a toy. A toy? She didn't own any toys, nor did she know anyone who had children. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even owned a toy. Picking it up she attempted to quickly shut it off, only causing it to replay the song once again.

“I swear-”

As a last-ditch effort, she smacked it, causing it to turn off. Unceremoniously letting it drop to the floor.

“Finally”

Creak 

Slowly looking up, all of them turned to face the bedroom door as a little pine cone emerged carrying a blanket. Oswald and Sean immediately reverted to their object forms, old habits returning.

Gasp

“Uh… I think this is yours.”

Charlotte motions to the toy on the floor, smiling awkwardly.

“Why is there a kid in my house?”

Cough cough

Covering her mouth as she coughed, the pinecone glanced down at the toy. Seeing how increasingly damaged it was. Glancing back at the grown stranger and the two objects, the little girl sniffed, eyes filled with fear as they threatened tears.

“Hey, hey, hey. There, there, uh… don’t cry.”

Charlotte put her hands up attempting to comfort the child. She was never that good with kids.

Sniffle

“No no no. Don’t cry. Please.”

The pinecone stepped back, glancing back to the bedroom. Taking one last look at Charlotte, she ran back to the bedroom, locking the door.

“Shoot.”

Eyes having adjusted to the darkness of the room, Charlotte began looking around. At a closer glance, she noticed that a lot of her furniture had been replaced, there were toys stern about, and a small family portrait on the wall, depicting the little pinecone and her parents. 

“It couldn’t be..”

A realization dawned on her. Denial settling in instead. There had to be some other explanation for this.

“I swear, did Liam send me to the wrong house? I mean he was quick with sending us back, maybe he messed up.”

Loud sobbing emerged from the bedroom, snapping Charlotte out of her trance.

“MAMI, PAPI!”

Cough cough

Rushing over to Oswald and Sean shaking them attempting to get them out of their unconscious states. This situation would not end well once her parents showed up.

“Guy, I think we need to leave.”

They didn’t budge.

“Wake up, please!”

“But there's people…”

Oswald mentioned gingerly, slowly emerging his eyes.

“You'll be fine I promise. Hum… mans… or whatever they’re called don't exist here.”

“You sure”

“Yes, No one will hurt you here for existing. But we need to go now.”

Sean began emerging his eyes, as Charlotte grabbed him, placing him on top of Oswald. Fully emerged Charlotte and Oswald headed towards the front door.

Rattle 

Charlotte and Oswald froze staring as the door opened. 

“¡Lina, Mija! Regresé con… la…”

A bigger pine cone entered the house, spotting them staring back at him dumbfounded. Sounds of groceries hit the floor as he lost grip of the bag, a box of children’s cough medicine spilling out.

“Who are you?! Why are you in my house?!”

Charlotte and Oswald glanced at each other, as the pine cone stepped forward accusatory.

“PAPI!!!”

The little girl cried from the bedroom, gaining the attention of the larger pinecone.

“What did you do to my daughter?!”

“I’m sorry sir, we entered the wrong house”

Charlotte said slowly backing up, bumping into Oswald.

“Ow.”

Thud

Pulling out his phone, the man began dialing.

“Hello? Yes-”

Plonk

“ Ack - Hijo te-”

Looking down Charlotte found Sean holding up another toy ready to throw.

“Sean what was that for?!”

“Uh, distraction.”

“Forget the toy, we need to go, NOW! ”

Picking up Sean again, the two of them shoved past the pinecone as he soothed his head. Darting down the street the house grew further and further away as the sounds of cars zoomed past. Charlotte was further ahead, stopping once she realized her two fellow companions were further behind. 

“Charlotte, wait, I don't have as much stamina as you!”

Pant Pant Ack

“Right, I forgot.”

Taking this small opening in time to catch her breath as well, Charlotte glanced back at the house they emerged from.

“Oh… That is my home… This is my neighborhood. I don't know what I was expecting. 7 months, no activity from me. They must’ve sold it to that family…”

Whoosh

Catching his breath Oswald began sprinting again, Sean holding on to his fabric for dear life. The car’s breeze offered some relief to the tired seat.

“You’re still sticky.”

Sean grimaced.

“I know… just bear with it for now.”

Ack!

His hand getting caught on a crack, Oswald fell over, landing face-first on the road. Sean was trapped underneath him, squirming under his weight, desperately attempting to push the heavier object off him.

“Get off of me!!! Help!”

Oswald lifted himself off the floor, letting Sean get out. 

“Thank you”

Sean wheezed, as he climbed out, dusting off pieces of tiny pebbles. His head slightly pounding,  as his vision began blurring. Charlotte stood there staring at them in disbelief.

Sigh

“Just get off the road, you two-”

Honk Honk

Oswald turned towards the sound, freezing in his spot like a deer in headlights, a car barreling towards him.

“Subway! Come on!”

Sean tried pulling his hand in a pathetic attempt to snap him out of this trance. Sean himself slowly zoned out, vertigo taking over his mind. Charlotte ran onto the road pushing them both away.

Grunt

Whoosh

Honk Honk

Turning back Charlotte stared at the car as it only got smaller as it drove off.

“Watch where you’re driving lunatic!!!”

She shook her fist at the car. 

“Oh….”

Charlotte glazed back at Oswald as he rubbed his head.

“I told you to get off the road, why did you just stand there?!”

“I’m sorry… I don't know… I just froze.”

Sean cut in as he tried to stand up.

“Yeah… He wasn’t him… self…”

“And you, why are you so reckless?! Throwing a toy at that guy, squirming in mid-air, staying on the road- We’re not on the Plane anymore, you will actually die !”

The both of them looked at each other dejected.

Wait… Why did this feel familiar?

“First you get a piece of your head ripped off because you wouldn't wear a helmet and now this? You can't keep doing this.”

Is this what it was for her friends whenever she put herself through perilous scenarios? With her head injury and the Silo Caverns….

Whoosh

The sounds of the car rushing by snapped her out of her thoughts. They were still on the road.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“On today's NEWS- Last night's game- now add 1 cup of milk-”

Click

“Nothing good is on.”

He grumbled as he placed the remote down, his hand knocking something over.

“What now…?”

Glimpsing towards his coffee table, he gazed upon piles of half-empty cups of instant ramen, wrappers, and take-out. Soda spilled over the table dripping on the floor.

“No, god damn it. Not the carpet.”

Quickly rushing in an attempt to prevent more spillage, his hand instead made contact with another pile. Accidentally knocking over a cup, cold mushy liquid spilled over his feet. He lifted his foot in disgust, as he looked down watching old fermented broth staining his feet, and some moldy… noodles… spilled out.

“Charlotte”

“Oh!”

Glancing around at the state of his home, how much it has gone to ruin.

“How did things get so bad?”

Placing his hand on his face, he flopped back onto the couch, memories of that day flooding into his mind. That whole argument the moment she vanished, how he felt. 

God, the aftermath .

No one believed him. Who would? Someone just vanishing out of thin air? That's insane. Slowly watching as everyone left him behind until in their eyes he evolved into a social pariah. All of this wouldn’t have been half as bad if someone anyone believed him.

Instead, the police thought he was a lunatic, a crackhead . The glint in their eyes as they mocked him. Goetz's smug face was the primary person that appeared in his mind. Oh, how he snickered and jeered, how he encouraged the other officers to participate in the harassment.  

“That god-forsaken officer.”

Gripping fists he kicked the ramen cup away. Falling to his side he placed his arm over his face, trying to think about anything else. But he couldn’t stop now that the floodgates were open. It wasn’t just the cops, it was his friends as well. 

“ Murderer”  

The word rang in his head, that horrible phrase, the label that they had given him. Parker couldn't believe it, Him a murderer ? It was almost laughable. Despite his protests and his denial of any involvement in her disappearance, could he blame them? He was the last one to see her, alive even, and he was the one who figured out about Charlotte's misuse of the money. It all pointed to him , and he had a clear motive too to harm her. 

Shuffle 

“Hm…”

Slowly turning his head towards the source of the noise he found a spilled pile of mail. Sliding off the couch he began shoveling them into a pile again. A few, in particular, caught his attention, his face grimaced as he stared at the words.

“Right…. Rent…”

He needed to pay rent, but he was running low on money. That. That was the final punchline to this entire joke that he calls his current life.

Somehow for reasons he didn't even know now, rumors of his potential and alleged involvement in Charlotte’s disappearance made it to his workplace. The looks on their faces, he just couldn’t bear it.

For weeks he lay in bed, often staring at the ceiling or on his phone mindlessly scrolling or reminiscing over old photos. Each passing day he found it harder and harder to even get out of his bed. He hated the way everyone just stared at him like he was some monster . But he wasn’t a monster, was he? Countless days spent gripping his bedsheets, his own mind toying with him.? 

“Was Charlotte even real? I mean she had to be, I have the pictures right here to prove it. Maybe I actually did kill her, maybe I really am a murderer. That sounds more probable than her just vanishing. Maybe that’s why my memories of that night are so fuzzy.:”

He swore he could feel his own sanity decreasing with each passing day. It was exhausting. Eventually, it caught up with him, in the form of a pink slip.

“You're…. Firing me?”

“I’m sorry Parker but you just haven't shown up for your shifts for weeks now. It’s affecting the workplace.”

“But… I have worked here for years!”

“It was nice working with you.”

The only silver lining in all of this was that he had enough savings to keep the apartment for some months. He had enough… Recently it's been dwindling, he wasn't sure what or where he would even go once it ran out. He didn't have the money to move, and he hadn’t exactly been looking for a job replacement. 

His eyes stung as he began sobbing.

“Oh, Charlotte. What happened to you?”

Sniffle

“What happened to me?”

“Moldster… Charlotte my head is aching…”

“It is?”

She looked over to Sean who was sitting on top of Oswald, his hand cradling his lid. 

“Can you remove your hand for a second?”

“Mh…”

Removing his hand, Charlotte took a closer inspection of his head.

“Shoot!”

Charlotte looked up at Oswald nervously.

“What is it?”

Oswald asked, looking at Sean. 

“What am I going to do?!” 

“There's a small crack forming on his lid.”

“I don't have any bandages, and I don't even have a house right now to rest in.”

“What how?!”

Oswald panicked.

“I don't know. Maybe when you dropped him? When you fell on top of him? Or when I shoved him out of the car's way?”

Sean looked up trying to stand.

“I have… a crack?”

“Here let me carry him, we can't risk him falling again.”

Charlotte insisted as she picked him up like a child.

“Oh god, I'm sounding like Parker…”

“Mmm, I'm not a baby”

“It's not permanent Sean, don't squirm.”

“Wait.”

“Parker!”

Knock knock

Stopping mid-sob he turned to look towards the front door. Who could it be? It’s not like anyone bothered to visit him lately anyway.

Sigh

“Who is it now? I swear it's that officer.”

Getting up he walked towards the door. Bringing up a hand he wiped away his tears not wanting to give whoever it was the satisfaction of his misery.

Creak

“Here to bother me again?”

“Parker…?”

He froze, his breath hitched. It couldn't be. 

“Charlotte…?”

He took a step back.

“No, it couldn't be… 7 months. You should be dead! Your mold should have… Your mold should have… Your mold it's still the same. How is this possible?!”

He looked down, spotting a half-asleep Sean in her arms.

“And, and, you have a baby now? Maybe I really am going insane!”

He gripped his head, he glanced at her again. She was alive by some miracle, here, on his doorstep! With a child no less.

“Parker! Parker. I'm here, I am real. I'll explain everything”

Ha ha

“God you're alive, I knew I was right. Everyone thought that I killed you!”

He stepped forward hugging his missing friend.

Sniffle

“I'm so glad to have you back. I am.”

Charlotte felt her eyes watering up, salty tears dripping down her face.

“Great, you're making me soggy.”

Sniffle

Parker chuckled a bit, as Charlotte hugged him back.

“I missed you too Parker.”

12:37 pm

Groan

“Hey, Parker. Do you have anything to help relieve Sean's pain?”

“Oh yeah.”

Charlotte looked down at Sean cradled on the living room couch. A blanket wrapped around him, as he rested on top of a pillow.

“Your friend seems nice.”

Oswald commented 

“Huh? Oh, yes, he is. One of the nicest people I know.”

“Is he the one you talked about? On the Plane?”

“Yes.”

Oswald looked between Charlotte and Sean, more specifically towards their heads.

“Will you both be fine, later?”

Sigh

“I hope so.”

Footsteps could be heard as Parker returned.

“Here's Tylenol and some water.”

Parker said, handing off the supplies to Charlotte.

“Thanks.”

Taking the bottle and water from Parker she gave them to Sean.

“Do you feel better?”

Oswald peered in.

“A little…”

Sean mumbled.

Yawn

“I want… to sleep…”

Sean muttered, retracing his limbs back into his normal object.

“Oh… okay goodnight Sean.”

Oswald said, awkwardly rubbing his hands together as he stared at Parker and Charlotte.

“I'll… go to sleep too…”

“So you met them in the Plane area you were trapped in?”

Parker gestured to the other two.

“Airy brought them there. I don't really understand where they come from, but they're with me now.”

“And they returned to their original sizes?”

“I assume so.”

Parker glazed back towards the now two inanimate friends that accompanied Charlotte throughout those 7 months.

“…”

“…”

“Sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting you out of all the people to show up.”

Parker mumbled sheepishly, as he rubbed his arm.

“No no- it's alright. Looks like you had it rough.”

He chuckled  

“I don't even know where to start.”

Looking at Parker, she felt something bitter forming inside. She needed to say something.

“Parker?”

“Yes?”

“These past 7 months I have had a lot of time to think. There are some things that I have experienced that made me rethink life, my choices, my behavior.”

She internally winced thinking back to her death and that clone of Parker that awaited her in that cave.

Sigh

“Look what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry.”

Parker snapped up, staring up into her eyes.

“Sorry?”

“Yes. I have come to realize you were right about certain things. On how reckless I was with my money and the money you all gave me,  my health, and how horrible I treated you all.”

“Charlotte.”

“I was an awful horrible friend. I can't believe it took me getting kidnapped and slowly dying to come to that realization. I can see why you were so concerned about me.”

“Charlotte… I forgive you. Well not entirely, I'm still a little mad about the money. But… I don’t care about that right now.”

“I… understand ”

Sigh

“Look, it's been 7 months. I was so confused and scared for the longest time. Jesus Charlotte, you just disappeared in front of me! I had no one to turn to about this. I felt myself believing in the idea that I was insane , that I hurt you . I- I- I'm just happy you're here safe and sound.”

“Thank you.”

Heh Heh

“You thanking me? Who are you? And what did you do to my Charlotte?”

He teased, pulling her closer.

“Oh shush you!”

Charlotte playfully pushed him.

“In all seriousness, you guys can stay at my home for now. It's not a 5-star hotel, but it'll be comfortable.”

“That'll be great.”

(11:40 am)

“Ya ya mija, No te preocupes, ya estoy aquí. No te van a lastimar.”

The older pinecone held the younger one, desperately attempting to calm his daughter. His poor little Catalina was shaken up by the entire experience. 

“Pero, dos de los people's se fueron mimi.!”

Cough cough

He placed a hand against her forehead.

“Ay Lina, te traje el jarabe, tómatelo. Te vas a sentir mejor.”

“Pero papi!”

Knock knock

“Coming! Esperate mija.”

Leaving his daughter on the bed, he went to the door, as he opened it.

“Oh glad that you made it, I’m Mateo.”

He greeted the officers.

“You made a report about a home invasion?”

“Oh yes, come in.”

Stepping aside, the police officer entered the tiny house glancing around. Lina peeked behind the door as he saw the officer with her father. 

Cough

The officer heard and spotted her staring back at him. She hid back behind the door, quickly shutting the door.

“My daughter, she’s shy…. Do you want anything? Water? Tea? Coffee?”

“No, that's fine. Can you tell if anything is missing, descriptions?”

The officer said as he pulled out a notepad.

“Nothing is missing, but they did damage my daughter's toy. One of them threw a toy at my face.”

He gestured toward the chipped-off piece from his head.

“My daughter, Lina, was very shaken up, she just kept sobbing. She kept talking about how some of them were asleep?”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, there were three of them. One of them was a… a… seat, from one of those… carts on the tracks?”

“A train?”

“No no, not a train, the ones that go underground.”

“A Subway?”

“Yes yes, a Subway Seat. His bottom was gray, his cushion was a deep blue with faded markings. His face was yellow and he had dark blue limbs.”

“And the others?”

“The other was a slice of white bread, her top right had a chunk missing with mold. She had dark brown and green limbs.”

“A slice of white bread with mold and a chunk of her right head missing?”

“Where had he heard that before?”

“Yes, There was a baby too! A whipped cream container that was white and blue, with dark blue limbs and face.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, thank you, Sir, we’ll find them.”

“Thank you, officer…?”

“Goetz. Officer Goetz.”

Chapter Text

Day One (8:25 am)

Thud

“Ow…”

Amelia winced up, as she soothed her glass as she hoped that she didn't chip. Looking up at the room, she stopped the familiarity of the place. This was her old yoga room. 

Murmur

Turning towards her right she noticed the early morning sun as it peaked in through the entrance, stretching out into the hallway.  Some people stood in the hallway as they chattered amongst themselves. All of them absorbed in their worlds to even notice the scented candle that had popped in just a room away.

Feeling the floor as she attempted to get a grip on her surroundings. The floor lying underneath her felt smooth and cool against her. Little specks of dirt and dust stuck to her hands, debris brought in from the outside as people entered and exited the studio. 

“Earth, earth, I am back on earth.”

Her mind buzzed. This was real, this wasn’t a dream. She was finally back. Liam had really done it, while yes only for a week, but he had done it. No more Airy.

Ha ha

Feeling something cold run down her face, she wiped her face as she smudged her glass. Her hand met contact with water. Tears. Just as she wiped one away more quickly poured out taking its place. Her view of the room was reduced to mere smudges as her vision blurred.

Hic.

Amelia placed her hands over her mouth, as she muffled out the sounds of her sobs. 

“Amelia… are you ok?”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Patricia peered up towards Amelia’s face. The little tray’s face filled with worry and concern as she checked in on her friend. Amelia slowly peered over at Patricia, blinking away tears,

“I don't know.”

Sniffle

Ha ha

“You’re small…”

“I guess I am”

Looking around the room, Patricia removed her hand from Amelia’s shoulder. Instead placing it against her face as she pondered the situation.

“Hey Amelia, is this your house?”

Confusion formed on Amelia’s face as she stared at Patricia, a fake smile slowly spread across the tray’s face.

“Huh?”

“I said, is this your house?”

She repeated.

“No… it isn’t? What does this-?”

“Are you sure? This looks like it would make a great living space!”

Pfft

“No, it wouldn’t…”

Sniffle

Amelia began whipping away some more tears.

“No, it would, you see there!”

Patricia pointed towards a corner.

“You can put a kitchen there, and over there!”

She pointed towards another corner.

“You can put a bed there!”

“But there's a glass panel, anyone could peek in”

Amelia gestured towards the window, her face no longer covered in tears.

“We can put a big blanket over it, like what was it those kids called it…”

“A curtain?”

“Yes, a curtain!”

Amelia slightly chuckled.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes… thank you.”

Swoosh

“Hey you're not supposed to be in here-”

“...”

“Amelia? What are you doing here?”

“Garrett?”

The two of them stared at each other, meanwhile, Patricia jumped behind Amelia to hide. As he stepped closer, Garrett looked over at Amelia, tear streaks and smudges coated her face. A small weak smile formed across her face.

“Follow me.”

Click

Garrett shut the door and looked at Amelia, who shifted about, fidgeting with her hands. Next to her sat a small Patricia who swung her feet back and forth. The little tray gazed around the small office as her mind absorbed the new views. 

“How am I going to explain what happened to me? What happened on the Plane? How would he even believe her about this? Sure they were friends, but they weren’t that close.” 

“Are you alright?”

“Yes…”

As Amelia glanced up, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. As she turned to check what it was, it was a camera. It was an average security camera mounted in the corner of the room.

Bile rose in the back of her throat, swallowing it back down she quickly glanced away. Early memories of ONE piled in, all those times she begged, and pleaded at those viewers. The desperation and hope that for once she would be granted freedom. Only to have that hope crumbled and trashed again and again, until she just gave up. 

“Please cover that camera.”

Garrett glanced up at the small camera.

“The camera?”

Only there weren't any viewers, were there? The votes didn't matter, It was all just a sick joke. That only left Airy who was the culprit for her prolonged suffering, why was she even surprised about it? She really believed there were viewers, it was all his fault, Airy had fooled them all.

“Please…”

“Alright.”

But knowing that there weren’t viewers, it didn't negate those 7 months where she genuinely believed she was being watched. That constant feeling of being monitored. Even now it lingered in the back of her mind. Back on the Plane, she learned to ignore it, it became her new normal, and it became background noise. It became all of their new normal. Except this wasn't the Plane, this was Earth, she was back on Earth. That lingering feeling should have gone away.

“Thank you”

Heading to the camera Garrett stuck a singular sticky note covering the lens.

“So where have you been?”

“Huh…. what do you mean?”

Amelia asked, turning towards Garrett again.

“Well for starters you’ve been gone for months on month. 7 months. You just went away for one day and cut all contact with everybody . I thought it was weird, and then the police came over with questions about you. Lastly, you just suddenly reappeared, here , with a child that I never even knew you had. So to reiterate. Where have you been?”

“Oh uh, I was… somewhere.”

Amelia mumbled, averting her gaze away.

“Hmm? Where exactly?”

“She was helping me out.”

Patricia cut him off, as she slid off the chair.

“Oh sorry, who are you little one? I never got your name.”

“Oh um… I'm Patricia. I’m… 5!”

She stuck out her hand as she gestured to the number five on it.

“Patricia? She was helping you? In what way?”

Garrett asked as he knelt, getting to her eye level.

“Yeah, my mommy is her friend. Mommy went on a field trip. Amelia is taking care of me now!”

“Yeah yeah, it's very difficult and complicated to explain, but my friend desperately needed my help.”

Amelia added playing along with Patricia trying to make up a believable story for her old friend.

“And you left in the middle of your shift. Why didn’t you cancel the class then, and inform me as both your friend and boss?”

“I… that wasn't the best choice and I understand that it was sudden…  it was just something that came up at the last minute and I didn't have the time to explain it to you. ”

His eyebrows furrowed slightly a look of worry as he looked between Patricia and Amelia.

“And you decided to go back here to the yoga studio, at 8 in the morning?”

“Yeah… I wanted to… see you again. I also wanted to introduce Patricia.”

He paused for a second, staring at them both.

“How did you even get inside?”

“Well through the entrance?”

Amelia shrugged her shoulders.

“I was coming back to my office and I didn't see the front door open or close. The studio you two were in was empty when I left the office, but when I returned I was made aware that there were people in the studio. When I came over to check it out it just so happened to have you two in it. Either me or the people in the hallway would have seen you enter.”

“I, uh, well. I was…”

Amelia once again began shifting in her chair, as Patricia came over and patted her hand for comfort.

“Amelia, what's going on? Please.”

“Do you still have my employment documents?”

“What? I guess so, but why?”

“Can I have them…? I want to check something…”

Sigh 

“Sure,  but only if you tell me what's wrong.”

“I promise…”

(8:53 am)

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

As she gazed upon the papers handed to her, her eyes landed upon her name.

“That's my name…”

“Amelia Euler”

Euler, that was her last name, she had forgotten it during those 7 months. How could she have forgotten it, she was lucky enough that Tray… Patricia remembered ‘Amelia’ for her. She never told Patricia her last name though. She didn’t think she needed to, after all. Airy did say they would have only been there for a few weeks or… months. 

The reality of being back home only settled in her mind more and more. Her, being here now staring at these sheets of paper. The sensation of the rustling and smoothness of them. Garrett nearby, in this office that old musty office smell wafting through the air. It astonished Amelia how quickly she had adjusted to life on the Plane after Airy left them. How easy and quick it was for her to let go. Sitting here made the Plane feel like a weird fever dream, but she wasn’t asleep.

Euler… If she remembered correctly, she got it from her father’s side. Her mother chose Amelia, though she was never told why. 

Attempting to think back on their faces, their features began blurring. Her mind grasping at straws as she tried to remember their faces, the image of them distorting more and more until there was nothing left but a blank expression.  She knew that her father was taller than her and that her mother always had the pleasant smell of roses lingering around and… and that they loved her, but their faces. Why couldn’t she remember their appearances or anything else about them?

What did the Plane do to her?! It ruined her life and it was ruining her memories. 

Airy. 

She scrunched up her hands as she crumpled the paper. This was all his fault, right? The reason why she can’t remember the reason why she felt like she was being watched. 

Panged with shame and guilt, she grimaced. Her own parents! She loved them, didn’t she? It was only 7 months, she couldn’t have forgotten them in such a short span, could she?! People that she had known for basically the majority of her life. She was able to remember Garrett and her house, so why not her own parents!? What would they think if they discovered that she had forgotten them? Should she call them, but would they even want to see her? She didn’t even remember their contact information and she didn't have her phone on her. Did they even realize that she was missing at all, they were in a different state entirely. They must have, she was their daughter , their one and only child . The police would have definitely contacted them about her disappearance, RIGHT?!”

“Amelia, are you ok,”

As she glanced up from the paper she looked towards Patricia.

“Uh, yes… I’m fine.”

She mumbled as she patted Patricia’s hand.

“Have some water.”

Garrett said as he handed her his water bottle.

Grabbing the bottle, Amelia sipped some water.

“Now can you explain to me what's happening with you?”

He asked as he crossed his arms, he sat down on the chair next to her.

“It's hard to explain… I already handled it anyway.”

Amelia shrugged him away.

“Just try, please?”

Sigh

“It had to do… with my parents… they've passed away.”

“Oh” dear…”

“It was last minute. I was called… as their first contact and so I left. It was my last chance to see them while they were alive so I went away…”

“...”

“When I arrived… there it was… too late. They were gone.”

Sigh

“To make it worse, a friend of mine…”

She looked over to Patricia, gently pulling her up onto her lap.

“Went away on a ‘field trip’ like Patricia said. She had no living relatives, so I opted to adopt her.”

“Amelia is nice!”

Patricia chimed in, clapping her hands. Garrett looked at Patricia, gently smiling at her.

“You didn't have to hide this from me. I know we didn't know each other that well but I am still your friend.”

“I know, I was just so lost and confused, the world didn't make sense anymore. I just forgot to check-in. I stayed in my hometown for a long time just trying to readjust to this.”

Sniffle

She pulled Patricia closer into a hug.

“Can… you just take me home, please…?”

“Yes yes of course I can. Where are you currently living?”

“Where I always have, that house by the park.”

“Where do you live now?”

“What do you mean, I just told you.”

Her eyes stared at him as her eyes filled with worry.

“Amelia…?”

“Yes?”

“If you are referring to the house near Cherry Park...”

“What about it?”

“It got caught on fire during a Fourth of July accident.”

“It burned down-?! What?! 

“What am I going to do?”

She gripped her head sliding off the chair holding tightly onto Patricia.

“We can fix it Amelia, don't we always?” 

Patricia chimed in, patting her shoulder.

“How? My house is gone.”

“You can stay in my office for today… later  you two can stay over until we figure something out.”

Amelia looked over at him.

“Thank you, I genuinely do not know what I would've done if it wasn't for you.”

Sigh

“Yes, I consider you a friend, it feels wrong just to leave you alone in your current state.”

(12:03 am)

“I'll go get lunch, do you want anything?”

Garrett asked after glancing at the clock.

“No, no thank you.”

Amelia declined, rubbing her arms.

“Can I have some snacks?!”

Patricia asked instead, her eyes lightening at the sound of food.

“Sure. Any requests ?”

“Chips.”

“Any flavor?”

“Surprise me!”

“Got it.”

Reaching the door he turned to face Amelia.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?”

“Yeah, I’m not craving anything.”

“Alright then, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Click

Patricia glanced at the cover camera as she began scooting close to Amelia.

“I didn't expect you to tell him that your parents died.”

“Well, I didn't know what else to tell him. I can’t tell him about the Plane, he won’t believe me.”

“Are your parents dead though?”

“No….”

Looking at the chip aisle Garrett looked at all the available options.

“Let's see, what would little Patricia like? Salt and vinegar, Classic…?”

Garrett mumbled as he looked at all the options.

Ding dong 

Sounds of the front door jingle played throughout the store. Garrett paid no mind to the sound, as he decided to pick out the classic plain flavor.

“This will do I suppose.”

Clink

“Ah! My bad.”

Looking up, Garrett met face-to-face with a bottle of fragrance oil. Standing behind her stood a tall white taper candle.

“Oh, sorry young man.”

“It's fine, I should’ve paid more attention. I didn’t damage you right?”

“No, no I’m fine.”

Sigh

“That’s good.”

The candle stepped forward.

“Not to be a bother but could you tell us where Cherry Park is located?”

Chapter Text

Crunch Crunch 

Cool, gentle grass brushed against his feet, as he walked between the trees. The cold night’s clouds dissipated away as gentle beams of sunlight peeked through the gaps. It warmed up his deflector, yet it did little as the cool morning wind gently blew. As it brushed against his face, some wind entered his head, chilling him to the bone. He wrapped a hand around his arm as he rubbed his hand up and down hoping to get some warmth from the friction. He shivered as he trudged past the tree. 

Yeah, it was going to get cold later. Winter was around the corner, and the cool autumn breeze grew unbearable as the days passed. Nights became longer leaving less time to do daily activities or plan and prepare for challenges. He was lucky it didn’t snow, but that didn’t mean that winters didn’t get extremely cold. Airy never did fair well in the cold, his body being metal and all, he was more prone to the cold. He couldn’t afford to waste the little oil he had left for light and warmth. He needed wood and fast. He just needed to find a tree big enough to last a while.  It shouldn’t take too long, there were plenty of trees around to choose from. He had company now, they would get cold too. He needed to do it for them too.

He stared at the soggy crumpled pile of paper lying in his hands. Little slips of paper that in any other situation wouldn’t mean anything, wouldn’t make him bat an eye. But these weren’t any little pieces of paper.

 No no no, this couldn’t be possible, he took very good care of them. All of those times that he died and they survived. Yet one fall in a puddle and they’ve been reduced to this. His one ticket home, well, he couldn't even go home if he wanted to. Sticky notes or not.

“What are you talking about?”

He shoved the pieces of paper towards Texty as he raised his voice.

“Look at them! They’re gone!”

Letting go of the wad of paper as they unceremoniously splattered on the floor. Liam gripped his face as he began pacing back and forth.

“Oh…”

“The code to Earth, Stone, to Airy! They are gone!!!”

“But you said you didn’t want to go home”

“I KNOW what I said, but with the sticky notes here I had the choice of whether or not I could go back and forth and…”

Liam stopped pacing around a chilling running down his arms, a tiny seed of fear sprouting in his mind. The cruel thought rooting across his thoughts. Now that the stick notes were gone… that would mean…

“What if I die !? How will I be able to get back here or well to that forest if I don’t have the sticky notes?!”

“Liam.”

“My friends, they'll all be stuck on Earth; they are going to die! I will be stuck wandering aimlessly around constantly dying in whatever that radio place is. I am going to turn out like Julien and and, oh god I don’t even want to think about even ending up like Airy. What if Airy finds you when I’m dead and begins ONE all over again? I can’t stand the idea of this starting all over again, losing all of this progress, of how far we have gotten”

“Liam… you’re not going to die.”

“You don't know that!”

He picked up Texty, his eyes staring at the monitor. Liam’s eyes glint as tears prick the edges of his eyes. Oh god, he was going to cry again. How much more was he going to cry because of all of this? Pulling up an arm wiping away the fresh tears he spoke again. His voice trembled as he tried to steady his voice.

“Texty, please t-tell me you have the notes memorized. Please tell me Stone’s notes aren’t entirely gone. You said… you heard everything right? So tell me you heard us reciting the code.”

“I… sorry, I did hear you guys… but I never thought to save them. You had the notes I never thought you would damage them.”

Ha ha

The pure absurdity of it all, something else of his taken. How much more would he have to lose?

“So if I die, that’s it? It’s over for all of us?”

“I should have saved them in hindsight…”

“Yes, you should have!”

“Don’t yell at me, it’s not my fault you got them wet!”

“It wasn't my fault that Airy dragged me there!”

“Well, you should have stayed in the cave!”

“And sleep on the cold floor?! With the puddles!”

“You know there were places in that cave that weren’t wet like near that computer!”

Liam placed Texty on the coffee table as he resumed pacing back and forth.

“Liam, are you ignoring me?”

Ignoring him, Liam walked up to Texty before grabbing his screen.

“Liam what are you doing? Wait! Liam don't you dare close me I-”

Liam watched as the laptop shut, the bright light of the monitor gone.

Sigh

As he slumped back down on the couch, he let himself fall over. What time was it? It couldn’t have been more than 6 hours. Yet why did it feel like an eternity? 

He was exhausted. His old happy life, before ONE, before Airy. It wasn’t his first time feeling exhausted. Those rare overtime shifts, those days in the office where even coffee couldn’t keep him up. As his mind slowly betrayed him as he felt his eyes close. Yeah, those nights were exhausting but this? 

Being in charge of a planet with his friends' lives while preserving his and Texty’s lives. All while balancing constantly looking out for the very person who brought him into this predicament in the first place. This, this was exhausting. He wished he could go back to when overtime was the most exhausted he’d been. Having to worry about forgetting to buy everything on his grocery list, what to get for his friend’s and family’s birthdays or holidays. Back then, where everything was easier when everything made sense. Back when he had his home, back when he felt happy, back when he woke up with something to look forward to. Trapped here he had nothing. Well, expect Texty and… Airy. 

How many days has he been here? 2… that's right 2. Today was day 3, wasn't it? All of these events occurring in only 2 days? No wonder he felt exhausted; this was too much for anyone. His head began pounding as he promptly began giving his head a message. Great, now a headache as well. 

This was his reality now. This was his home now. This was his home… . now . Oh god, this is his home now. He's never going back, he can never go back. The sticky note could have led him back here if he died and he messed it up. He's trapped here, like… how… Airy probably was. Did Airy come to this realization one day…? No what was he doing it’s his fault that he's stuck here, fixing his mistakes. Why is he comparing himself to him ? He is nothing like Airy, and he will never be anything like him.

What was he going to do?

“Hm… This will work.”

Airy spoke, spotting a tall tree. This would definitely last him for a long while. Approaching the tree he aimed carefully, as he grew closer, and swung chopping. 

Hiss

Airy stopped, feeling his head start vibrating. That was weird… it hasn’t ached since… his fall at the cave. Maybe it was a fluke, he couldn’t focus on that though he needed wood.

He resumed chopping, yet the pain didn’t go away. Every chop and swing left behind a shock coursing throughout his body. His head rang louder and louder. He paused his swinging again as he dropped the ax, grabbing a hold of his head. Why was it ringing? As he blinked his eyes blurred his vision as the world began spinning around him.  He took a step back placing the other hand on his head trying to stabilize himself. He leaned against something, it felt rough… tree bark? It didn't matter, he just needed support. Leaning against whatever it was he slowly slid down slumping on the ground.

“Airy!”

“Huh?”

“Airy care to join me?”

He glanced up, his vision focusing and refocusing on blurred colors of bright oranges, mixing among the trees. The color was prominent against the lush background of the habitat. He recognized that young voice, though faintly. It had been a decade after all.

“Come on, it’s been forever since I’ve been to the beach! We have a lot of catching up to do!”

The blur approached slowly emerging into focus as it stared down at him. 

“Scarfy?”

“Duh! Who else would it be?”

“Where is Button… Is she here?”

“No, she is busy with her homework or was it final? I don't remember. Anyways, what are you waiting for, we don’t have all day.”

She offered him a gentle smile. Airy slowly stood, his head still ached but it was manageable. He stumbled forward following the scarf as a cool breeze passed by him. He shivered, oh right it was going to get colder. He paused as the Scarf noticed him lagging behind.

“Why did you stop?”

“I need to chop the wood.”

“For what?”

“Warmth”

“Warmth smarth you can always chop it later! Don’t you want to have some fun?”

“Yes, but it will get dark.”

“Tch, alright fine then you go chop your tree.”

“Ok.”

Scarfy crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at his simple reply as she leaned against a nearby tree. On the other hand, Airy simply turned back toward the tree he’d been hacking away at earlier as he picked up the abandoned ax, his vision slowly returned to normal, the ringing lessening. It must’ve been from that fall the other day, some side effect. It didn’t matter now he had a tree to chop. Lifting the ax and aiming it just right maybe two to four more swings would do. Steady… steady… and-

“I guess you just don’t like me anymore.”

He stopped as he lowered the ax turning to face the Scarf as she examined her hand. Pushing herself off the tree she approached the lantern.

“What?”

“I guess you’ve grown bored with me, one of your old contestants. Right? Is that it? Am I not good enough for you? Is that why you got rid of me?”

She stopped, leaving very little distance between them as she pointed at him accusatory.

“No, you aren’t boring? I like you. I like all my contestants”

“Doesn’t seem like it, you always showed more preference to the others. To Button. Now with the new contestants, you don't even think of me anymore. You found a new replacement for me, haven't you? Magazine right? What made her better than me? Was I not entertaining you enough?!”

“Magazine was not a replacement, she was… she was…”

“What can't you think of anything? I’m sensing some favoritism, Airy. And favoritism in a competition with such a sophisticated and competent Host such as yourself, don’t you think that is a little unfair? Ha! You even gave her the decency to go back home. Which is more than what I can say for me or the rest of us.”

“I tried my best, everything I gave you was what I had at the moment. I didn’t know how to respawn you-”

“Tch sounds like an excuse.”

“I’m not making an excuse?”

“Yeah, whatever, go have fun with your new contestants. I know that you like them better anyway.”

“...”

Airy grew silent, as he looked away, fidgeting with the ax’s handle.

“Oh wait, that’s right. You don’t have your new contestants anymore, do you? But I guess that's the norm for you. Can’t protect your contestants to save your life. Typical.”

“Stop…”

Airy dropped the axe with a thump, staring at the teenager he didn’t remember her acting this way. 

“Aw, can’t handle the truth?”

“Stop”

Airy closed his eye as he brought his hands up holding his deflector. The grass crunched beneath him as he stumbled back.

“But I guess your silly tree is more important to you than any of us. Go ahead and finish chopping that tree. I’m leaving.”

Airy listened intently but heard nothing. Was Scarfy gone now? But there was no noise, no sound of grass crunching, no signs of her presence at all,  just silence. That ooh-so-familiar sound of nothing, just the gentle rustling of the branches and twigs as the wind blew by and his thoughts. Was Scarfy waiting for him?

“Scarfy?”

No reply came back, Airy opened his eye, she was gone. No sight of her at all, just him and silence among the sea of trees. He stared off where she last stood. What happened? Where did she go off too? He would have heard her move. This place is too quiet and isolated for him not to hear her walk away. He lost her again. He… lost her again…

“Uh heard some yelling over here.”

“...”

Liam looked up as Orion walked into the living room carrying with him a pile of blankets.

“I lost the sticky notes..”

“Sticky Notes?”

They tilted their head in curiosity at the green backpack.

“...”

“Mind if I sit down next to you?”

Liam nodded his head staring off at the wall. Orion quietly sat next to him, placing the pile of blankets on the coffee table.

“During my time on the Plane, there was this other person. Stone. I didn’t know him that well and it wasn’t like he could.”

“How so?”

 Orion stared down at the floor spotting the wad of paper on the floor.

“He didn’t have a mouth, at all. Though he did help us out, he wrote down some instructions on these sticky notes Airy gave us for a challenge. I don’t even remember what the challenge was about, but my team got put up for elimination and Stone was the first to go.”

“Oh”

He leaned over grabbing the abandoned notes.

“And I assume these are those notes?”

Liam nodded.

“I thought by coming here, by getting to Airy. I would be able to save everyone, that Airy would be stopped, that I would get to go back. Stone was the reason I got this far in the first place.”

Haha…

“Instead, I’m stuck here, my friends won’t ever be truly free, and Airy, I’ll always have to monitor him to avoid this all restarting again.”

Sigh

Liam brought his hands to his face as tears began to stream down. The floodgate opened up. Orion looked down at the sticky notes. Unfurling the edges, they attempted to open the notes, only managing to tear them in the process. 

“You came here with expectations of being a savior yet you find yourself feeling as though you failed. A deep  feeling where you are always so close to gaining something only for it to get taken away from you?”

Orion looked over at Liam, handing over the sticky notes. 

“That neverending feeling of there’s always more. Day in and day out you do your best to make things work out but nothing ever comes out of it. You’ve made decisions that you regretted and you want it to end. To go home, that all of this meant something, but in reality it meant nothing in the face of eternity. Next thing you know a millennium has passed, yet you're still stuck.” 

Liam sniffled as he took the sticky notes back from Orion, and Orion gave him some pats on the head.

“Yeah… I don’t know what I am meant to do anymore.”

“Take it from me, don't get discouraged, it may never get better, and it may feel like it will trudge on forever. It won’t, eventually everything comes to an end. One day you and your friends will live a better life than the situation Airy placed you in. What’s important is that you have to keep going. You have people you care about. They need you.”

“But what if it doesn’t, if we can’t even go home permanently, I can’t even go back if I wanted. My life was great before all of this, I lost everything.”

“Not everything you have your friend over here to talk to. You still have that determination and compassion for the people you care about. While you may never go back you can still contact your family and friends back home any time you want.”

Liam sat up, pausing for a few seconds.

“What do you mean”

“Mean what?”

“That I can contact my family and friends?”

“Oh. You have a laptop don’t you, from your earth?”

“Yeah?”

“Then you can message them from here.”

“I can contact them…?”

God why didn’t he think of that?! Texty was able to connect to the internet when he was researching treatments for Charlotte. He looked over at Texty.

“Thank you!”

Liam said while he wiped his tears away.

“No problem, you know where to find me.”

Orion said as he stood from the couch grabbing the blankets. Liam grabbed Texty as Orion reopened the portal and went away.

He started back to where he last spotted Scarfy. What happened to her? Where could she have just gone? Slowly walking up to where she stood, there lay no trace of her. No yarn scraps, footsteps, nothing. Was she playing a game-?

“Da da da da da da da da”

The sound of water splashing against water and rock echoed throughout the forest. A faint melody emitted throughout the air. The soft humming flowed over the splashing water. This melody felt familiar, warranting the lantern to follow. The song clung to the back of his mind, bringing forth a sense of, what was it called again? Familiarity? Nostalgia?

“Can I forgive what I cannot forget, and live a lie?”

He started back to where he last spotted Scarfy. Could that be her? Who else could it be? No one else had that voice, that high-pitched tone.

“I could give it one more try.”

“Why… deny this drive inside…”

Crunch crunch

“Just… looking for some… peace…”

Airy began walking towards the waterfall as forgotten lyrics tumbled out as they reentered his memories.

“Everytime I… get me some…”

“It gets the best of me.”

Crunch crunch

Exiting the forest he spotted the shorter orange scarf as she rested upon the sand, admiring the view. He quietly approached as she turned around smiling once more at the Lantern.

“Ah, Airy so glad you decided to join me. Trust me this is way more fun than any old tree.”

She scooted over patting down a place on the beach. Airy stared at her for a bit, curious.  She seemed peaceful again at the moment. Any previous traces of annoyance or bitterness were gone, replaced with that grin. Stepping closer he sat down feeling the cool sand shifting beneath him.

“Didn’t think you would remember that song.”

“How did you know that song..?”

“Heard it in pass by.”

“Oh… Okay.”

She looked away for a moment, breathing in the cool misty air.

“Pretty isn't it? I always wanted to go camping.”

“…”

Airy looked on at the waterfall, he couldn't deny it was a breathtaking scene. He began running his hand against the sand picking it up. Watching as the sand fell through his fingers. It looked soothing and entrancing, almost like watching the contestants. Oh right, the Plane was gone now. He was going to make them search the sand for a rock, but it never came to be. 

“Hey! You’re not ignoring me right?”

Oh right, Scarfy was here. He dropped the sand dusting off his hand.

“I’m not…”

“But you were.”

“I was not ignoring you.”

“You weren’t answering me.”

“I didn't hear you.”

“I was talking this entire time. Unless… You were thinking of them, right? Even here during this nice moment, you can’t help but think of them!”

Airy turned towards Scarfy again. 

“I like them. I can’t stop thinking about them. They're gone, they were here a few days ago… now they’re gone. Square-”

“So now you’re going to replace them too, right? You didn’t care about us did you, you only just cared about what you wanted.”

“No, nothing can replace my contestant, they’re all special. You’re special, Scarfy.”

“Oh just, why won't you just admit it? Why can’t you just admit you killed us because you wanted a fresh start, you enjoyed killing us !”

“No, I didn’t!”

Airy claimed as he raised his voice. Weakened voice muscles straining as he yelled out his claims. His stoic expression shifted as he stared at her, hurt and confused etched on. Why was she bringing this up again? He listened to her, didn’t he? He thought he did. She is lying, isn’t she? She is, she has to be. He loves his contestants; he wouldn't wish death or harm among them. Each and every one of them brought him joy. He didn't want to hurt or kill them, it was all an accident. He would do anything to protect them.

“No no, I get that I’m not wanted, I guess I'll take my leave.”

“Going where?”

The Scarf ignored him as she stood up. Dusting off her fabric.

“Scarfy?”

She glared at him as she began walking into the pond taking small deliberate steps. The water wrapped around her as it swirled around and around the pool.

“What are you doing?”

Ignored again as his attempts at communication failed. The scarf continued heading further and deeper into the pond. More and more the water rose barely reaching her face. 

Airy began standing up as she slowly turned back to face Airy, giving him one last smile.

“Wait it's dangerous over there, come back-”

“Goodbye, Airy.”

She waved to him before falling back into the water.

“Scarfy!"

She was going to drown, she was going to drown and he won’t be able to respawn her again. Her fabric… would weigh her down, she would be swept by the current. She was going to die in front of him again. He began trudging into the water heading to where Scarfy was. He couldn’t see her, where was she? Her bright orange hue should've popped out against the blue right? 

“Scarfy? Where are you?”

Airy dug his hands into the water sloshing around maybe if he could grab her hand- He stumbled as the current pushed him around. The harsh crashing of the waterfall drowned out his voice.

“Airy!?”

Thump

He felt a grip on his arm as he was dragged out of the water. He tugged and pulled attempting to get out of the grip of whoever was grabbing him.

“What are you doing here?! In the water after your fall? I told you to stay in the cabin!”

“No Squarey I can’t, Scarfy is in there, I have to get her.”

“Airy, who are you talking about?”

“Scarfy is drowning, can’t you see?”

Orion stared off into the pond, there was nothing out of the ordinary, the water moving around gently as it always had. Well except for the splashing of the grown lantern thrashing around frantically. 

“Airy there’s no one there...”

“No she is in there, she’s going to die again.”

Airy couldn’t breathe, his chest hurt as if someone was squeezing the life out of him, his vision began blurring again, and he couldn’t see. Why couldn’t he see why now of all times? He was going to fail her again. Why couldn’t he breathe?  

“I need… to.. help... her”

He gasped out. Orion slowly lowered him to the sand. Leaving him standing would be too much of a risk. Grabbing one of the blankets they picked out he wrapped it around Airy, granting him some warmth. 

“Sc.. arfy?”

“What do you feel around you?”

“What, Scarfy where she’s going to-?”

“List three things that you feel.”

“So…ft, blan-ket? Grainy… sand. Cold… wet… water”

“List 2 things that you can hear.”

“Rushing…. Water, you.”

“Take a deep breath for me and hold it in for 10 seconds.”

Airy held his breath, slowly counting the seconds. 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Slowly exhaling and calming down.

“How do you feel?”

“Tired.”

“Can you explain what happened?”

“...”

Airy stared out at the water as it lapped against the sand. Slowly shaking his head he wrapped the blanket around himself together.

“Alright, I'll get a fire started to warm you up.”

Airy nodded as he let out a heavy sigh.

Liam gingerly opened up Texty, staring at the blank screen looking for any presence.

“Texty”

No reply came back.

“Texty please, I'm sorry.”

The screen remained blank for a bit, a tab slowly opening up as Texty spoke.

“Liam. I am pissed”

“I, I didn’t mean it-”

“You yelled at me and shut me…”

“I shouldn’t have done that…”

“You’re only talking to me because you want something from me…”

“I am.”

“...”

Sigh

Liam scratched the back of his head as he looked away.

“I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Neither of us knew that the sticky notes would have been lost.”

“I’m still pissed at you, but you seem to need this connection back to Earth…”

“Yeah…”

“Alright, but I want a voice update in return, you never gave me my wish.”

“Okay, thank you very much. I promise I'll help you find a voice that you like better.”

Glaring as the screen’s light shone on his face, he pondered. Who would he contact first? He’d been waiting for this moment for so long, to finally be able to talk to the people he cared about. But who…? 

That’s right, Owen! He gave him his phone number the other day. But he didn't have a phone, so that would be useless. Email? Did he even have an email anymore, if he remembered correctly didn’t they make a policy where your email got deleted after long periods of inactivity? There was only one way to find out.

“Incorrect Password”

Liam was stumped, as he tried to get past the login screen. His password… What was it again? He was sure he inputted the correct one? Maybe it was a typo? 

“Incorrect Password”

“No… not this too…”

“You have caps locked on….”

“Huh?”

He tested it out on the search bar, he did have it on.

Trying once more, he filled out the information and logged in. The first thing he saw was a bunch of junk mail among other garbage. Something caught his eye. He recognized that email. 

“Owen…”

Opening up he watched as it loaded. His knee began to bounce as the email popped out.

Hey Liam, it’s me, Owen….

Chapter Text

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PbI51o4xofwTFO7Qx1pTk3Q0PEJLe4NPaQqmAJwX6oo/edit?tab=t.c9fcly9lwasp#heading=h.r34widctmtx1

Chapter Text

Reconnecting Inbox

Owen <[email protected]>

to me

Hey Liam, it’s me, Owen. How’ve you been lately? I know that we’ve just seen each other a few days ago, but I’m just curious what your trip back here has been like. It would be nice to sit and chat somewhere like we used to do, before your move. Maybe catch up on what we’ve missed, since we both have time off now. Maybe back in that old coffee shop we used to visit. I would have texted you, but I'm not sure if you also changed your phone number. I thought that it would be easier and more direct if I messaged you through a source that I already know you have. Email me back when you have the chance. Talk to you later.

His eyes gazed over the lines of text, reading and rereading. He felt the corners of his mouth turning up at the email. Owen. His friend. With everything that happened in what, 3 days now? Finally, this one small message, a nice change of pace, seeing this one thing, a sense of normalcy. A semblance of his old life, he had been deprived of.  Even if it was through small lines of text on a laptop screen, it was nice to hear back from him.

Now, to create a decent reply. He reached his hands over to type, except he couldn’t just outright tell him everything. How would he believe him? No, he needed to lie again. He couldn't ever meet up with him in person, not anymore. Maybe say that his trip was cut short, and he needs to go back to Australia. But questions would come up. He wiped his hands on the couch as drops of sweat began coating his palms. 

“Ugh, I can’t believe I'm going to lie to him again.”

“Not like you haven’t before.” Texty spoke up.

“Yeah, but when life was… easier. When it wasn’t this complicated, it was only small white lies. All of this ? I’m practically making it seem like I don't want to hang out with him.”

Sigh

“It’s going to end up snowballing with lies growing until even I can’t remember what it was that I lied about.”

“I could help you keep track of the lies.”

“Thanks, Texty, I guess I’ll figure it out as I go. Still doesn’t make it feel any better.”

Hitting the reply button, Liam began typing down his reply, reading it over once he was finished. 

“Uh, Texty…”

“Yeah?”

“Could you help check if this email looks alright?”

“Didn’t you work as a telemarketer in an office where you dealt with emails?”

“It’s been at least 7 months since I stepped foot in an office. Also, I want it to sound nice for my friend.”

“Fffffiiiinnnneeeee….”

The text-to-speech dragging out the word as the text cursor scrolled down the text.

“It looks good…”

“You sure?”

“YES.”

“Ok.”

With that, Liam pressed send.

“I hope that he’s doing ok.”

“I’m sure he is.” 

Glancing once more towards the sent email, Liam leaned back on the couch, looking up towards the ceiling. He shut his eyes. Only 3 days, at least he wasn't alone in all of this. Yet only 3 days of all of this mess felt longer. Only 6 more until everyone had to come back; he couldn't forget that.

Yet he felt a sort of dread creep in, a gnawing sensation coursing through him. Liam sat upright, clutching his front pouch. Why did he feel so empty? He grabbed the armrest of the couch as he stood. His vision was slightly blinded by a short stream of colors, causing discomfort. 

“Oh, what now?”

He muttered, lifting a hand to hold his head. He smacked his mouth, noticing just how dry it felt. In fact, his entire mouth felt as if it were a desert. What was happening? Was the stress of everything catching up to him? Losing his life was not enough; now his body hates him, too.

“Oh, don’t tell me I'm going to die, not after everything that I’ve finally accomplished.”

“Liam, are you ok? :(”

Texty spoke as the backpack stepped away from the couch.

“I don’t know Texty.”

He responded, as another gnawing pain coursed through him. 

“What is happening to me? Why do I feel so tired? I recently woke up.”

Grumble

“What was that? O_o”

“Oh”

Liam mentally face-palmed himself.

“I think I’m hungry…”

“Li…am…? Liam… m'a… sauvé…”

Julien muttered, pointing towards the photograph of Liam and Owen. His hand trembled as he quickly lowered it, making a thud against the wooden table. Yet his eyes remained glued as they gazed almost in awe, his mouth resting agape. His entire demeanor was as though he was reminiscing about a loved one.

“Ma… sue way?

Owen tilted his face, the words tumbling out of his mouth, his tongue unfamiliar with speaking the language.

“Oui”

Julien replied, not breaking his gaze. Owen shared a glance as he stared between the photo and the older man. That photo on the wall, an old one of course, taken back in his college days, taken during their graduation. The both of them holding each other by the shoulder smiling brightly, as they proudly showing off their degrees as they smile proudly at the camera. 

He could still remember that day, as clear as any. It helped that the day was chaotic and messy, causing much stress. For starters, they both somehow forgot to set up their alarms for the morning, leading to them missing their graduation rehearsal. In the process of getting ready for the graduation, Liam somehow managed to get food on his cap, wasting a few minutes on getting rid of said stain. Last of all, at the graduation, apparently his family had issues with the tickets; he didn’t remember the exact issues, but it was enough that it caused him immense frustration. 

Other than these incidents, though, the day was very pleasant and fun. Afterwards the both of them parted ways, saying goodbye. He was a bit worried about what the future held, but at the same time, excited about what the future could hold. There was also that little voice in his mind telling him that he might be the last time that he ever saw Liam. It was a shame, considering that Liam was the best friend and roommate that one could ask for. He could still remember the joy and shock that coursed through him when he entered his office for his first day to find Liam there as well. 

Yet he was gone now, the only people knowing about his whereabouts being Bryce and Julien here. If this man recognized Liam, perhaps this could be an opportunity to see Liam once again. If not that, then his actual whereabouts, either way, it could be a start. He scooted his chair forward as he leaned closer to Julien. 

“Did you see him recently? When? Where?”

Julien turned his face slowly towards the nail, his face tilting with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“Peux-tu… répéter ça…”

“Huh?”

Sigh Owen placed a hand on his face.

“This isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Ping

Owen sat upright, promptly picking up his phone, looking at the new notification. Maybe it was a reply from Liam. 

“Spam….”

Annoyed, he placed the phone down, redirecting his attention back to the disgruntled man. Julien instead glanced back towards the nai. Slowly lifting his arm, he pointed in his general direction. Owen, puzzled, looked behind him, wondering if there was something. Finding nothing, he turned back.

“What is it?”

He questioned.

“Téléphone.”

“Telephone?”

Owen glanced back at his phone, pointing at it as he glanced back at Julien.

“Phone?”

“Oui, traductions par… téléphone.”

“Tradukeshun par phone…?”

“Tradukeshun? What? Wait.”

Picking up the phone, he opened the Search Engine, looking for something as Bryce returned from the kitchen.

“Hey, I’m back. I finished the dishes.”

Bryce said as he sat back down at the table.

“Oh, uh. Thank you.”

Bryce looked at Julien as he stared intently at Owen.

“So what are you two doing?”

“Something to help us communicate better.”

“Oh.”

Bryce started, confused.

“And done.”

Owen said, tapping something on his phone. As the text-to-speech voice spoke out.

“Bonjour, je suis Owen, ravi de vous rencontrer. (Hello, I'm Owen, it's nice to meet you.) ”

Juelin's eyes lit up for a second as Owen passed the phone to him. 

“Je vais bien. C'est agréable que tu me comprennes maintenant. (I'm doing ok. It is nice that you can understand me now.) ”

“Oh, I see now."

Bryce muttered as the two exchanged the phone back and forth.

“Maintenant que nous avons fait les présentations, pourriez-vous me dire où et peut-être quand avez-vous vu Liam pour la dernière fois ? (Now that we got introductions out of the way, could you tell me where and possibly when was the last time that you saw Liam?) ”

With that, Owen looked at Julien as he waited for the man to reply. Julien sat there for a while, as if he were a statue rather than a living being, before he turned his face back to Owen.

“Oui.”

Honk Honk

“Here?”

Owen walked among the cool cement, glancing around the bridge's perimeter. Glancing out into the blue sea, the sun’s reflection shimmering upon the waves. The gust of wind blew occasionally as a car passed by. 

“Oui, c'est le dernier endroit où je l'ai vu. (Yes this is the last place I saw him.) ”

Oh, course, why did he think that it would be this easy to find Liam? He doesn’t even know where his new address is or where he is residing. Why did he expect a random stranger to understand? Especially one who couldn't even understand, this was just a waste of his time. Another random goose chase, like the police didn’t look around this area. Except it couldn’t be that they were lying or playing a prank. 

Resting his arms against the rails, joining Bryce, taking in the view. This. This was the exact area where Liam’s bicycle was found lying astray. That had to mean something; it wasn’t like that information was given out to the public. Neither of them should have known about where his belongings were found. 

“There are a couple of beaches back near my home.”

“Hm?”

Owen looked over towards Bryce.  

“There are? Well, I guess that makes sense. Australia is surrounded by water.”

“Australia? I don’t live in Australia.”

Bryce glanced towards Owen. 

“You don’t? I thought you did.”

“Really? What made you think that?” Bryce asked, tilting his face.

“I saw you with Liam the other day, and since he lives in Australia now, I just assumed.”

“Oh. Right.”

Bryce gazed back towards the sea. Owen’s gaze still lingered on him.

“If you aren't from Australia, then where are you from?”

“Connecticut.”

“Connecticut? Wow, that's pretty far. What brought you to San Francisco?”

“Uh…..”

Bryce straightened up, scratching the back of his head.

“Family. My sister, she’s uh having- had a baby shower.”

“Oh, really, congratulations. 

“Thanks.”

Julien gazed around beside them, not paying much attention to their conversation.  His eyes glimmered, his eyes absorbing everything greedily. Placing his hands against the cool metallic beams, tracing his fingers against the bolts and screw. Each unique piece comes together to make up this bridge. 

“C'est beau.” 

Owen turned to face the older man, puzzled yet amused at the man’s entrancement towards the beams. 

“At least someone is enjoying themselves in all of this.”

Still ashamed that he dragged an innocent man here for nothing. Despite the weird circumstances and coincidences. His expression darkened, a small seed of doubt swirling in the back of his mind as a particular thought tugged at the back of his mind. 

“Then how did you meet Liam?”

“Huh?”

Owen turned to face the Soda Bottle once again. 

“You are his coworker, you live in Connecticut. How did you meet Liam?”

Bryce stared at the nail, frozen. His vision moved up to make eye contact with Owen, he couldn’t read his expression, yet the air felt thick, the nail’s gaze heavy as if he could crush him.

“You said it yourself, you came here for family reasons. What business did you have being around Liam when you were at a party and he was booked?”

“Shoot.”

 Bryce averted his gaze.

“Well?”

Owen asked as he took a step forward.

“My car- rental car broke down.”

“What?”

Owen stopped.

“I had to wait for the car to be towed. I didn’t know my way around San Francisco on foot, and I bumped into Liam.”

“Oh really?”

Owen crossed his arms as he glared at Bryce.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“What do you mean, where?”

“If you bumped into him, then you would know where you two met.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“It was only last week that you saw him, how can you not remember?”

“... The cafe.”

“Cafe? There is like a hundred-”

“The one near the shooting range and the SFPD.”

Owen tilted his face as his mind conjured up where he meant.

“Oh.”

“He- Liam offered to help me to my sister's house, and he needed to buy a new charger. So we stopped by that store.”

“Oh…”

Owen backed away as he began scratching the back of his head, directing his gaze towards the ground sheepishly. 

“Sorry…”

“Yeah… maybe don’t go around accusing people of things.”

Owen sighed as he glanced back at Julien, who was covering the sides of his head as a car began honking by.

“I think I’ve seen enough. I’m going home.”

He began walking back towards his car down the sidewalk. He paused as he turned around to face both of them.

“You’re free to follow me, or you can leave. I don’t care which one you choose.”

“I- We.”

Bryce gestured to himself and Julien.

“We need some help finding the airport. My phone is dead, and I haven’t had the chance to get it charged. Would you mind dropping us off?”

“The airport? I guess that’s simple enough. It’s not that far anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Julien tilted his head, not understanding much of the conversation, yet he followed once he noticed them walking away.

Staring out of the windshield at the line of cars driving in front of him, occasionally peeking at his passengers through the rear-view mirror. Neither of them was doing anything in particular, except staring out their respective windows. Catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection, he grimaced. Ridicule, a day off from work, wasted driving to the Golden Gate following random directions. Well, at least things would return to normal after all of this is over. 

Sigh

He turned his attention back to the road, stepping on the brakes as the stop light turned red. Nothing. 

“What?”

Owen murmured. His body tensed up as he glanced down, and nothing was in the way of the brakes. He attempted to press the brakes. Nothing. His hands gripping the steering wheel, as his knuckles turned a lighter white.

“Hm?”

Bryce glanced out the windshield, the stoplight red, yet Owen had no signs of slowing down. 

“What are you doing? The light is red.”

Bryce stated, as he adjusted in his seat, his attention now entirely focused on Owen. Quickly, he stomped on the brakes one final time, the car jerking to a stop. A car driving across the crossroad nearly misses their car.

Honk Honk

Sitting there as the engine rumbled, his eyes glanced back at the rear-view mirror towards his passengers. In the backseat, Bryce gripped his seat, his eyes widening, his eyes looking up towards the nail in the front. Julien froze, nothing noticeable on his face, seemingly unbothered, yet his trembling limbs stated otherwise. 

“You almost killed us!”

Bryce yelled as he caught up with his breathing. 

“I wasn’t trying too!”

Owen said as he lowered his shoulders, his grip on the steering wheel. What was going on with him? He was usually good at driving. 

“I hope I didn’t get dented. My head.”

Bryce muttered as he rested back on the car seat, gripping his head.

“How much further is the airport?”

“Around… 15 minutes.”

Rumble

Owen stared out the windshield. His eyes glanced at the stoplight, surveying the crossroad. The light turned green as Owen started pressing the accelerator.

“VOITURE!”

“Huh?”

Honk

Grumble

He gripped his front pocket, the sensation of small pangs alerting him to a simple sensation. Hunger. How could he have forgotten about this? A basic function that everyone on Earth has experienced, including themselves. Except, when was the last time he ate? Sure, in his short time on Earth, he ate some food, craving popping up here and there. Yet he was so focused on his journey to stop Airy that food was the last thing on his mind. He had some water in San Francisco from that cafe. When he made that toast to Bryce.  

“A toast to ONE and all of its contestants, we’re coming to save you.” 

Has it really been three days since that toast? Three days without food? Had he really been neglecting himself this badly? Now that he was thinking about it, he- none of them had anything to eat for those 7 months trapped on the Plane. Airy never really did offer them any food, and there weren’t that many options for food in a barren wasteland. So why was he experiencing hunger now? He looked at the Plane, maybe whatever weird properties that Plane had prevented a huger? Yet somehow still allowed the passage of time. Well, he at least somewhat managed to hold up part of the toast he participated in. They were back home now, for a while, yes, but better than nothing, with the option to eat food again.

Grumble

 Speaking of food. He stood up as he began heading towards the kitchen again. 

“Where are you going?”

“I’m getting food.”

Liam replied as he searched around the kitchen. Hopefully, Orion didn’t mind, not like they really seemed bothered by his presence much. Other than the computer being messed with, but this was his home, better not to leave a mess. Glancing at the countertops, he found no fruit bowls or any vegetation. Except for a toaster and a coffee machine. He peeked inside the cabinets, finding boxes of what appeared to be snacks. He picked up a box, looking at the image depicting macaroni with blue sauce. 

“Macaroni and Cheese?” 

Attempting to read the label, he was met with unfamiliar characters and symbols. Turning the box to the side was a list that looked like instructions, images depicting the ingredients, along with numbers. Numbers, that something that he understood. 

“Ok, this is Mac and Cheese….”

Liam mumbled as he tried making out the ingredients. 

“Blue liquid in pan, water, 4 blue squares, cheese, wait, no, the cheese should already come in the package, so butter? Uh, blue liquid in a measuring cup. Huh?! Milk? Wait, would these even be the same measuring sizes like on Earth?”

He placed the box down as he pondered. 

Grumble

“Eh, screw it, I'm hungry…”

Liam stared down at his little portion of Mac and Cheese, gingerly pushing it around with his fork. Digging the fork into his cup, he placed it aside. He wasn’t hungry anymore. 

Sigh

He slouched back on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling. Sounds of footsteps were emitted from his upstairs neighbors.

Creak

“Hey, is that Mac and Cheese?”

Liam turned towards the door as Owen entered the dorm. 

“Yeah, I bought a new pack today, they were on sale.”

“You mind if I snag one?”

“No, go ahead.”

Sitting up, he glanced over at Owen as he began preparing his Mac and Cheese. The pouring of the water into the container and placing it inside the microwave, setting the time. He glanced away.

“Alright.”

Owen clapped his hands as he turned towards Liam. His grin faltered as he noticed how quiet it had been. 

“Hey, uh, you alright?”

Owen asked.

“Uh, yeah.” 

Liam muttered. Owen walked over and took a seat across from him. 

“Usually by now you're chatting up a storm.”

“I argue you're the more chatty one.”

Chuckle

“Oh, right. But still, Liam, something is up. If you're struggling with school work, I could help you.” 

“It's not school work.”

“Then what?”

Whirl

“Have you ever wondered what life will be like after college?”

“I guess I have on occasion.”

“I’ve been thinking about it more now that graduation is approaching.”

Liam grabbed his strap as his fingers fidgeted around with it.

“I never knew what I wanted to be or what career path I wanted. I just went to college because at least it would be something, and my parents would be proud. Not that I’m not happy about coming here, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to meet you. It's just. This entire thing, after graduation it’s ending. I’m just worried that after everything…”

He let go of his strap.

“You’ll amount to nothing and disappoint your family?”

“Well, yeah. I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“Hmm, well, even if you ever do end up disappointing your family, just know I will be here for you.”

Beep Beep Beep

“Oh, my Mac and Cheese is ready…”

Owen stood up from his bed, pausing for a second.

“Remember that, ok?”

“Thanks, Owen.”

Gasp

He gasped as his body slumped to the ground, his chest pounding and head ringing. The hard wooden flooring beneath him was cold to the touch. The sensation of the smooth planks grounded him slightly as his breathing slowed. Where was he?  He looked around as he tried to get a hold of his surroundings. He grabbed his head, a slight sting causing the nail to wince, confusion spread in his mind, as he tried to reconnect the series of events. Why did his body hurt? He looked down at himself, examining the source of pain. Yet he looked fine, no scratches, dents, he didn't bump into anything today, did he? 

He picked himself off the floor, hands shaking, legs wobbly as he stared at the ceiling, the harsh glare of the LED light illuminating the room, flickering in and out.  Stacks of textbooks and paper were strewn around the floor and bed.  Old posters taped onto walls, with spots full of peeling paint and small stains. It all felt comforting in a strange way, this small, cramped room. But why…?

Creak

“Hey Owen! How have you been?”

He glanced towards the source, the entrance of the room. He squinted his eyes as he tried to see past the entrance, yet the dim lighting illuminating the halls made it hard to see. Yet he could make out a silhouette just beyond the door frame. The shape and voice felt very familiar. 

“Liam?”

Owen’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. He took a step forward as the figure became clearer, the green outline, and his shorter stature. He was here, this was what he was hoping for today wasn’t. He reached a hand out slowly, taking small steps as if the green backpack would vanish if he moved too quickly.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since last week. Why haven’t you texted back?”

Liam didn’t mutter anything as he offered a smile, giving Owen a wave.

“Owen, let’s go.”

Owen paused as he glanced at his eyes, curiosity seeping in.

“Go where?”

“Wherever you want to. You wanted to hang out again, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Owen muttered as he neared the entrance.

“Owen!”

“AH!”

Owen tensed up as he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He turned as he shoved away the person behind him. He glanced down at the floor to find Bryce lying on the floor.

“Bryce?!”

Owen backstepped as he looked around the room, spotting an old radio. Wait, this was his dorm. Why were they both in his college dorm? 

“We’re dead.”

“What?”

Owen swerved, focusing his attention back on Bryce. The soda bottle picked himself off the ground, dusting himself off.

“What did you say?”

“We died.”

Owen stood there as confusion spread across his face. 

“Is this an idea of a joke to you?”

“I’m not joking.”

“That’s insane. If I am dead, how am I standing here, completely intact, talking to you? How can I move and talk and think if I were dead?”

“Well, you are dead, I can’t really prove it, but you are.”

“I’ve had enough, I’m going home with Liam. You two can go to the airport another way.”

“Liam?”

He turned back towards the entrance of the room, Liam still waiting there patiently. He wasn’t dead, he just couldn’t be. He glanced down at his hands. He couldn’t be dead, he still had a physical body, he had his senses, and wasn’t the afterlife supposed to be more grandeur? His college dorm is the last grandeur place in the world. Yet in the back of his head lingered a dull ache. Why did he have a headache? That didn’t matter. He looked up, Liam still standing there smiling, waving for him to come over. When did he get here? He had been searching for him today, and just now he showed up. At least he could see him again. But wasn’t he somewhere else today? He didn't remember entering his dorm. If only that irritating buzzing in the air were gone, then maybe he could think better. He felt a hand tug at him again. He yanked away as he glared at Bryce.

“What is your problem? I already said that I had had enough of you and that I’m going home.”

“Listen, I may not know you, but I know that Liam would never let me live it down if he discovered I let his friend die and disappear, who knows where. ”

Bryce grabbed his wrist as he dragged him further into the room. 

“I know how to send us back home, just wait.”

“And why should I believe you? You told me we are dead, but you said you can’t prove that we are dead.”

“Doesn’t this place look off to you? Do you remember ever arriving here? Don’t you remember the car crash?”

“Car Crash? What are you…”

Letting go of his wrist, Bryce began searching for something. Owen felt his arm drop as he gazed back towards Liam. The loud buzzing in his head was growing softer. 

“Where did I put them?”

Spotting beside a bed for the first time, he noticed a tube of toothpaste sitting on the floor on top of a carpet, his back resting against a bed. All previously life he had seen on first meeting was now gone, as the old man stared emptily at the radio. A tired expression lingered on his face, thin pricks of tears forming in the corner of his eyes. His body occasionally shivered, muttering away unintelligible words under his breath. Wait, since when did his dorm have a radio? 

“Ah ha! Here they are.” 

Snapping his attention back to Bryce, he noticed some slips of paper, long strings of numbers written on them. Curiosity filling him, he approached Bryce as he began fiddling with the radio.  

“What is that for?” 

“To get us home.”

“What do you mean, this will get us home. It's a radio and paper.”

“I have experience using this before. I don't know how this works, but it does somehow.” 

He sighed.

“Isn’t a radio supposed to play music? You can't even hear anything, maybe if you…”

Owen reached forward as he grabbed the antenna. Bryce glanced up, looking in horror.

“Wait, no!”

Pop

Plop

Opened his eyes, a heavy throbbing pulsating through his head. He lifted his hand in an attempt to soothe it out, yet paused as he caught sight of his nightmare. 

“Non.. ce n'est pas possible.”

The familiar room, with walls shimmering, mocking the beauty of sunsets back on Earth. Colors dancing and swaying almost as if they were trying to lull him into a state of peace and comfort. The endless horizon leading to who knows where, as it lured away his fellow contestants. He never understood why they ran off. Not like he could have, each and every one of them running off before he even had the chance to talk to them. Not to mention the language barrier. 

His hand slumped to the ground, as tiny droplets splashed back up, dissipating in midair. He glanced down, spotting his reflection, small ripples distorting his exhausted, weary expression staring back. 

This floor always perplexed him. One of the many mysteries of this room. Solid in form, yet malleable, each step feeling as though the ground would swallow him down beneath its shimmering face. Water splashed against his legs with each step he took, yet he remained dry. Although it did help offer him some entertainment in this still and endless purgatory.  

A purgatory that he had begun accustomed to calling home, as inconspicuous time passed, each second chipping away at his psyche. The hope of ever returning, the memories of his loved ones fading away. Each attempt at a recall of their faces, their voices slipping in between the cracks of his mind. Bit by bit, part of his body, his senses losing any meaning, feeling himself fuse with that forsaken chair. Was there ever an Earth to begin with? Maybe this room was all there ever was in his existence. The radio’s constant buzzing filled up his mind, as he endless turned the knob of a radio seeking for some sense of purpose. Purpose in a meaningless room, stuck in a perpetual state of boredom. Stuck in this room, waiting, waiting for nothing.

Yet he managed to escape, after so long. After decades? It didn’t matter; he managed to return home to Earth. Thanks to the backpack. Liam. He saved him, for that he would always be grateful. He could still remember it, the taste of freedom, it felt overwhelming, yet it was something. Something other than the endless orange and pink, something other than the buzzing. It hurts, it still hurts sometimes, from zero sensation to thousands of sensations all at once. The bright sun and the dark night, the loud honking of cars and the chatter of the streets, the terrible smell of trash and cigarette smoke. It was all too much, as he hid away in a dark, quiet alleyway for his first day. Not to mention the sensation of finally moving around his limbs after years of wasting away, making it difficult to traverse that already chaotic city.

 Slowly, he became more accustomed to it, although he still had a long road ahead of him to readjust. He had only been on Earth again for 3 days. After all, it wasn’t all terrible either, yes, there was bad, but he had forgotten about the good. The fresh morning breeze blowing against his face, the splashing of the ocean, and all of the little animals going about. The singing of birds in the morning sun, the beautiful flowers, trees, grass, and the sunlight beaming on his face, warming him up inside. The smell of a fresh meal, the delicious taste of food, and the taste of refreshing plain water. 

How cruel that he forgot about all of this. Being deprived of all this, given a small taste of freedom back. He was in heaven, only to get dragged back to hell, forced to have a glimpse of paradise, meanwhile trapped in his prison. Maybe he was always destined to be here, in this room, his eternal tomb.

“Wait, no!”

Pop

“Are you kidding me? “I could've…. I don't even have Texty.”

Bryce grumbled as he gripped his face. Owen, none the wiser, glanced around the living room. Confusion settled in place, as he observed the room, the texture of the world seemed different, pixelated, almost resembling an old arcade game. 

“What is this place?!”

Owen asked as he turned to face Bryce, confused at the sudden change of location. Julien glanced up, the floor becoming more solid beneath him. This wasn’t the waiting room anymore. Yet something felt off, taking in his surroundings, he stood up, and promptly hid behind a couch. 

“What’s up with him? “Huh? What are you?”

“Shh…”

Bryce shushed Owen as he grabbed his wrist, dragging him behind the couch, huddling alongside Julien in the tight space. Owen pulled his hand away as he scooted away from the two of them. 

“What? Can you explain what you are doing? What is any of this? Why are you so casual about any of this? Also, can you stop grabbing my wrist without warning?”

“Look, I promise I will explain what I know, but right now we need to be quiet or else we’ll die.”

“Die?”

“Yes. Oh, and I won't grab your wrist again.

Tap tap tap  

“Hmm? Seems like some bugs, passed by my virus scan. Strange. I can’t risk them hurting my best friend. Now, where could they be?” 

A text-to-speech voice akin to that of an old computer assistant spoke, as he circled slowly around the room. 

“What kind of corny line is that?” Owen whispered as Bryce elbowed him, glaring at the nail. 

“Playing hide and seek, aren’t we? Well, I do love a fun game of hide and seek.” The voice said, as he began counting down, his voice growing quieter as the footsteps grew distant.  

“You’re going to get us killed, again .” Bryce whispered. 

“Well, you don't have to be harsh about it,” Owen said as he soothed his arm. 

“Well, I don’t know anything about this situation, and whoever he was is gone for now. Can you explain?” 

“The radio can send us to different universes, each long string of numbers representing one location.” 

“And the paper with S.F. written on it was the paper to our universe?” 

“Yes. And-” 

Bryce felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turns over to Julien, as he gazes up, his eyes wide in fear.  

“Hm, what is it?” 

“Il est là” 

He said, pointing up, as Bryce and Owen followed the direction. A pair of gloved hands gripped the couch’s back. A pair of large black beady eyes staring locked in their direction. A wide, toothless smile grotesquely appeared across its face, the figure appearing to grow in size. The axolotl giggled at them as he lowered his head towards the terrified trio. 

“Found you”

Owen awoke again, panting, holding himself tightly, shaking intensely. He sat upright, his breathing quick but labored. His body felt on fire, each nerve along his body flaring up. The grip of that animal’s hand twisting him, contorting his body- How was it that an axolotl could be capable of snapping…. He felt nauseous, as he hugged himself tighter, as if he’d fall apart if he let go. Even as the pain faded away, his mind was not as quick to forget the horrors of what happened.

“Owen?”

A voice called out for him. He jumped, holding his breath as he looked up. He looked up, and it was Liam again. Wait, was he getting closer? He looked around; he was back in his dorm again. His messy, cramped dorm.

“Why are you here again? Why didn’t you come with us?” 

Owen asked Liam, expecting him to say something or do anything. Yet he simply stood there inside the room, smiling at him. 

“Owen?” 

Bryce walked in front of him, as he blocked Liam from his view. 

“Bryce?”

“Yes, Bryce. I'm not the axolotl. I’m not going to hurt you. You are safe here.”

Julien approached the two, staring off into a wall again, rubbing his arms together.

“What the hell was that! What is any of this? I’m dead, but I'm still here. I felt my body getting- I don't even want to think about that.”

“I did say I would explain. I should have done it earlier. We are dead. This room, this is where you go when you die. To be honest, I don't even know where this room is located. I guess it’s the afterlife of sorts.” 

“We are dead. It feels so surreal, like a dream. But if this is a dream, why did I feel all of that and not wake up?  What was that place? That creature?”

“I don't know, but like I said, that radio lets us travel to whatever world we want.”

“Any?”

“Yes,” Bryce pulls out the sticky notes as Julein eyed them.

“Terre…”

“I was about to send us home when you pulled up the antenna.”

Owen looked over at the radio. “How is it that a radio, of all things, has the ability to send you to an alternate world?”

‘Well, it’s the afterlife, I suppose anything is possible. Trust me, Liam and I have seen some weird stuff.”

“Wait, Liam died?! Well, that would explain why he’s over there then.”

Owen pointed towards Liam, who continued to stare. 

“He’s over there?”

Bryce looked to where Owen was pointing, spotting nothing, except an endless sea of pink and orange.

“I don’t think that's him.”

“I forgot to mention this, but this room messes with your mind. When I arrived here for the first time, I saw my sister on the horizon. She’s not here anymore.”

“Your sister? But didn’t you say… So both of you were lying to me then. So if that thing or whatever it is is not Liam, then where is he? Is he dead?”

”Not right now, at least last time I saw- well, more heard him. He was alive and seemed ok.”

“So he lied to me about being ok. He lied to me about being in Australia? So if he is not dead, is he back on Earth?”

Sigh. 

“Look, it's complicated, Liam did not intend to lie to you, to hurt you.”

“We are in the afterlife right now! I’m in my college dorm room, with a doppleganger of Liam waving me over! What could possibly be more complicated than this?”

“We were kidnapped onto a game show called ONE by a guy named Airy.”

“Kidnapped? But how, there was no trace of Liam anywhere, the police searched for hours, and there weren’t any signs of struggle.”

“He teleported us there, somehow.”  

“Teleportation, well, that would explain why there was no struggle and no trace of Liam anywhere.”

“I don’t know how he managed to do it, but he trapped us on this plane called the Plane, and he forced us to compete in challenges for a prize. A wish for anything we wanted. I don’t like talking about it. I was one of the lucky ones who got eliminated early on. Although Liam was left behind.”

“...”

“Terre”

“Look, I’m sorry if I'm being vague, I just don’t like talking about my experience on the Plane. I tried to avoid it for the past 7 months, but then Liam showed up on my doorstep and dragged me along. We both had horrible experiences there. Liam broke his leg, um, drowned, then got left to waste for those 7ish months, after Airy abandoned them. The challenges themselves were not hard, but just Airy, he just disregarded our safety and wasn’t that concerned about our safety.”

“He drowned… Airy murdered him, and I never knew… But you said he was alive. Where is he now?”

“With Airy…”

“Then we- I have to save him, I can’t just leave him there with- with a murder.”

“He isn’t alone with Airy, he has the others we were trapped with, and this guy named Orion.” Even if you did find him, you won’t be able to send him back. There were rules and time limits. If he returns now, he’ll just die.”

“But- but- I saw him the other day, with you, how did he not die then?!”

“... Wait, actually. Yeah.”

Bryce placed a hand to his face. 

“What do you mean: ‘Yeah’?”

“Back when I saw him, he mentioned he traveled to my apartment by hitchhiking. Apparently, it took him about a week. We both died that very night on a smoke stack.”

“How the hell is it then that he didn’t die immediately like he told you he would?”

“I don't know, Liam himself didn’t sound like he understood it much either! Maybe there’s a grace period or something.”

“Then how are you able to come back when he isn’t able to?!”

“Because I was only there for a couple of days, I was able to escape unaffected by whatever time limit Liam is bound to. I told you, it’s complicated.”

“Terre.”

Julien lunges forward, snatching the sticky notes away from Bryce.

“Hey! Wait!”

Julien ignored Bryce as he began turning the knob on the radio, as the numbers on the station began increasing. 

“Oh, right home.”

Owen stared at them both; his friend was out there, and he would never see him again. He turned over to stare at the Liam mimic as it smiled at him. Would this be the last thing he remembered him by? A mockery? 

“Est-ce… correct?”

Bryce looked over the code, glanced between the paper and the screen.

“Yes.”

Bryce nodded his head in confirmation.

“Bye, Liam…”

Pop

Whoosh

“We’re back…”

Bryce sighed in relief as he stared back at Owen, who was staring off in the direction where Liam once stood..

“I'm tired.”

Owen remarked as he processed the fact that he was on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Looking around at his surroundings, he noticed that it was darker, the sun lowering into the horizon as the sky shone in hues of orange and pink.

“I can’t believe it's already evening… How long were we in there?” Owen asked.  

“I have no idea.” 

Owen scratched his head as he looked at the two men.

“Want to stay over at my home for the night…?”

“Yeah sure.”

“And you?” 

Julien looked at both of them. 

“Oh, right, sorry.” 

He slowly searched for his phone, and he pulled it out and turned it on. 

“Oui.” 

“I’ll call us a ride. I don’t feel like walking.” 

Owen walked to the side as he looked for a driver. Julien sat on the ground, watching the cars pass by, flinching ever so slightly at the honking. 

“Ok, there is a driver nearby, around 6 minutes from here.”

“That's good, at least we won’t have to wait long.”

“Yeah.”

Owen looked off into the ocean, the waves growing darker as the sun’s light began disappearing into the horizon. He frowned, a pit forming in his stomach as he thought over the events of today.

“Hey, uh,  sorry for being suspicious of you earlier. It’s just that, Liam, he just disappeared for months , no call, update, only for him to return with you, and now he's gone again.”

“I understand, it sounds unbelievable. I was also skeptical at first.”

“Exactly. How? Why did this happen? Why Liam, why him, why you? And now he's just stuck somewhere suffering, and I can’t be there for him? I just won’t be able to speak to him again?”

 Owen leaned onto the rails of the Golden Gate, placing his hands to his face. He inhaled deeply. 

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't place this all on you. From the sound of it, you have had it pretty rough, too.” 

Bryce joined him on the rail as he stared at the rolling waves. 

“You can say that…” 

Bryce replied as he rubbed the side of his head that was struck by the lightning. He could still remember the burning as the lightning melting his plastic, how his hand felt like it was melted off. It only lasted a second, yet it felt like an eternity. 

“At least I know that he is somewhat safe, even if I can’t see him. I hope he is safe at least.”

“He will be. I may not have known him long, but he can take care of himself when it counts. Even if he is a bit impulsive at times.”

“ Hehe Yeah.”

Ding

Owen opened up his phone at the notification.

“Oh, our driver arrived.”

“Well, we better get going then.”

“What did I do?” 

Liam looked on in horror as the kitchen light began glowing red, a loud sting of beeping sound ringing out through the small home. A small string of smoke emitted from the pot of ‘Macaroni and Cheese’. 

“Liam, what is happening?!”

“Nothing.”

Liam attempted to assure as he quickly attempted to turn off the stove, moving the pot to the side.

Sigh

Liam dropped his shoulders as the smoke went away. He placed his hands up to his face as he looked upon the damage. The kitchen counter; stained with milk, cheese powder, and butter. The stove itself was covered in burnt milk that boiled over. 

Grumble

And he was still hungry! He gripped his front pocket again, frowning as he stared at his disaster. He grabbed the pot, the spoiled food, and instead of ruining it, he walked to a trash can and dumped the contents inside. Shaking the last of the content inside, he brought it over to the sink, filled with greasy sink water among other dirty dishes long ago dumped inside.  Bringing over the dishes, he rinsed them, grabbing a sponge as he began scrubbing. 

How could he mess up something as simple as mac and cheese?! A meal that he used to cook all the time back in college?!  That egg, too, is back in Bryce’s apartment. Liam gripped the pot as he scrubbed harder. He’d admit he was never the best at cooking, but he was knowledgeable enough to be able to whip up a decent dinner. He used to help his mother when it came to cooking meals, and he even remembered a couple of family recipes. Yet here he was, in a stranger's kitchen, struggling with mac and cheese.

Clatter

Placing the last of the dishes in the drying rack, he moved to the stove, cleaning up the best that he could before drying it off with paper towels. He gagged, the scent of smoke infused into his fabric, his hunger not helping. He went back to the living room.

“Texty, I'm going back to the forest for some fresh air. Want to come?”

“Uh, no, I feel safer here. Less water.”

“Alright, I'll be back.”

“Thanks.”

Owen thanked the driver as the car began driving off. One by one, the three of them entered his home. Going into his closet, he pulled out extra pillows and blankets as he handed them out to his guests.

“I have some extra blankets if you need more.”

“No, I'm fine.”

“Alright then. Call me if you need something, anything… Good night.”