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Gaty is eliminated?
Two stared at TV’s screen in disbelief, not wanting to even imagine for a second their life if they lost Gaty. It wasn’t such a big deal, objects got eliminated all the time. It was the point of the game; your team loses and you get put up for elimination. It wasn’t Two’s fault that Death P.A.C.T. Yet Again lost the last challenge because a bug snuck in their room. But why? Why did it have to be her of all members? Why couldn’t it be Tree, or Marker, or Black Hole, or Fanny, Pin, anyone ? Why did she have to be the one eliminated?
They were already upset today, feeling terrible from the bad weather of the storm (and did Four and X put something in that milk?). Knowing that not only did the contestants keep trashing the plane, fighting with each other, and doing the eliminations themselves, Gaty getting eliminated was the icing on top of the cake for this bad day. Hah, cake at stake.
Two realized that the ruckus and widespread panic was about the contestants who had gone missing, and they were grateful that the others were so protective of fellow competitors, but did they have to be so destructive about it? Nonetheless they teleported Eraser to the elimination zone before anything happened to him, and they wished they could say the same about Gaty. Really, they gave Gaty the ‘Clock treatment’ and teleported her to the kitchen to be Four and X’s helper. Two didn’t know how long she would be in there, or how long they could keep her in there without the contestants taking notice, but they just couldn’t lose her yet.
So they announced the contest, hosting stuff, yada yada, and when nobody was looking, they teleported into the kitchen. Gaty turned around and exclaimed happily, to which they grabbed the couch and brought it over, sitting down and beckoning her to do the same.
“Cool new gig I got you, eh?” Two asked, smiling at her. She smiled a bit nervously.
“It’s certainly interesting…”
Two glanced over as blue and yellow caught their eye, seeing the two chefs looking angrily at them and their former contestant. Well, at least Four was angry, ‘asking’ them to get the couch out. They were grateful that the challenge was far away, and they gestured to the periwinkle fence to follow them as they carried the couch back to their room.
“Why did you do this?”
Two was caught off guard by Gaty’s question, smiling nervously. “I’m sorry?”
“Why did you do this?” She asked again, her expression softening. “I know the kitchen’s not where we go when we’re eliminated.
The green integer gulped, feeling a lump in their throat. “Oh! Well, I… uh… thought that Four and X needed some help again after they lost Clock!” They nodded and smirked. “Oh yeah, that’s definitely the reason.”
Gaty eyed them. “Huh… Well, what happened to Clock?”
“Oh! I sent him to the elimination area after he resolved his conflict with Winner, and…” The number trailed off, glancing at Gaty who seemed even more confused.
She sputtered a bit, nervously asking, “What, do I have conflict with someone? Are… Are you keeping me here to resolve that? I didn’t think that I had any troubles with anyone! At least not on my team… Is it Robot Flower? But I thought she was fixed now! Is it-”
“Gaty, Gaty!” Two offered a hand on her head, resting on top of one of the three points. “Calm down. You don’t have an issue with anyone, I can assure you.”
She breathed a sigh of relief before faltering again. “But… Why am I here then? Why are you keeping me here?”
“O-Oh! I uh… ran out of spots in the elimination area!” Two felt cold sweat dripping down their forehead. “Yeah!”
“Two, I can tell you're lying… You can tell me. Seriously, who am I gonna tell, Four and X?” She scoffed.
Two tensed up, the words not only making them imagine a scenario, but hitting them like a ton of bricks. It felt too familiar. It made their pulse race, as if it was going three times as fast as its normal speed. They imagined telling her the truth, telling her everything about another algebralien that nobody was aware of, and that nobody had been aware of for quite some time, and out of curiosity, she’d ask Four and X about it. Perhaps asking about the pictures on the fridge that Two had seemed to notice. A picture of One, someone they hadn’t seen in a while, a picture of Four, a picture of themself, and then… It was too scribbled out for Two to tell, but they could’ve sworn under the chaotic lines it was…
Maybe the chefs would ask her where she got this idea, to which she would innocently say “oh, Two told me about this red number, and I wondered how many more of you there were.”
They could see Four and X coming up to them, Four angry as normal, but X looking blank. Two wouldn’t know how they’d react to this, maybe they’d be angry as well. Four would get all personal and up in their face, poking them and making them squirm.
“You told Gaty about him?!” The blue integer would snap, claws close to puncturing Two’s skin. “Why do you even still care?”
They can see themself responding defensively, holding back tears. “Why should I tell you? Why should you care about how I feel about this? It’s none of your business!”
“He’s been gone for more than a decade, Two! Just face it, he’s gone!”
“No! He’s not! You don’t know that! You don’t!”
“He’s gone, Two.”
“He’s gone !”
Granted, they didn’t know what Four would say and that was just their mind plaguing the scenario, but nonetheless tears pricked their eyes as they thought about their previous friend.
“Two?”
Gaty’s voice was soft, yet loud enough to get Two out of their thoughts as their eyes snapped to her. They rubbed them, acting like they were itchy when in reality they were wiping their tears away.
“Sorry, Gaty, uh, what were we talking about again?”
The gate frowned. “I’m just noticing that you’re lying and I wanted to let you know that you could tell me, unless it makes you uncomfortable.”
Two’s eyes widened. They weren’t talking to her anymore.
“You’re not a great liar, you know that? And it pains me that you think you need to keep things from me all the time.”
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I would just… really appreciate it if you didn’t keep things bottled up all the time. I care about you a lot, Two, and I need you to understand that.”
He squeezed their hand. Their breath hitched at the contact, the feeling of his warm hands against theirs. He was so rough, yet his hands were always soft, or at least felt soft to them.
“I… I’m sorry, Three , I just don’t want to lose you. Not again, and I feel silly to admit that,” Two admitted, only to realize the periwinkle gate staring up at them with a mix of surprise and confusion. The green integer’s pulse raced, a lump in their throat.
“Two…?” Gaty asked, caution lacing her voice. “Who’s Three…?”
They were panicking. They wanted to get out of here. How did they let that slip up, how, how, how?!
“Two?”
“Oh! Can you hear that? It sounds like the contestants need me! And you! Haha, you …” Two patted her head. “You should get back to Four and X! I’m sure they don’t appreciate a slacker!”
“No, wait-”
“Well, it was nice talking to you, Gaty! But if you don’t mind me, I’m going to get back to hosting! Because that’s my job! My job is to host! Buh-bye!”
“Two! Wait!”
They teleported back to the recovery center, panting softly and trying to calm themself down. They wiped sweat off of their forehead and sighed, looking at the recovery center.
Two had tried to use it multiple times, and it was always to see if they could revive their friend. Their friend who was potentially dead. But it never worked, which meant they never died. Two didn’t know if that should comfort them, or upset them even more, knowing that they were alive out there but refusing to come back. Were they really missing, or were they just tired of Two?
Just like everyone else had been at the Playground?
Two shuddered at the thought of it all, especially the way that Gaty had been looking at them. Three wasn’t dead but… if they didn’t know better, they would’ve said that she was practically his reincarnation from how much she reminded them of him.