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Footsteps thudded against the metal steps leading back to the surface. It was barely audible over the constant grinding and roars of gears. Out of the factory came two sports balls of yellow-green and grey to meet Snowball and Robot Flower head on. While the other one said nothing to the pair, the robot asked, “So?”
“She doesn’t remember a thing.” Golf ball grumbled. “She’s retained all the basic functions to live, sure, but her name, friends, hobbies, skills… they’re all out the window. There’s nothing left to salvage from the erasement.”
“You’ve… you’ve got to be kidding.” Robot Flower pleaded.
Golf ball struggled to continue, “L-look, I know the two of us have never seen eye to eye… but she’s gone.”
Tennis ball added on, “Golf ball may be herself at times, but I've seen it for myself. We’ve done all we can do. The algebraliens have done all they can do. You’ve seen Two with Gaty. If there was any hope… then we would've seen it in her.”
Not a single expression came from the faceless robot, but her tone and choice of words said it all, “N-no. No no nonono! There’s got to be a way! If someone can erase another out of existence, then surely someone can bring back another’s memories! We’ve done the wackiest things before! This should be easy! It should be possible! It should-”
“Stop it.”
The robot replica stopped as Snowball continued, “They’re right. I don’t want to admit it, but they’re right. We’ve lost her. She’s here… but not there.”
That’s not true. Rage built up within the metal armor. It clawed to be set free, to scream, to fight, to plea, but nothing came. That’s not true… became …don’t let it be so.
“What will we tell Grassy?” Tennis ball’s quiet voice sounded like thunder within the tense and silent moment. “He’s as close to Basketball as the both of you.”
“We’ll tell him the truth.” Snowball claimed. “He’s strong. He can take it.”
“You may say that, but he can’t handle heavy situations.” Robot Flower argued. “Yes, he’s doing better, but… I can’t imagine what this will do to him.”
I feel like breaking down as I speak.
“But he deserves to know the truth!”
“What if he can’t handle the truth?! What then?!”
“Guys…” The soft tone was never heard from the smaller ball. Such a phenomenon halted the two to hear her speak, “Just… don’t tell him everything yet. Tell him we’re still treating her. If we are sure we can’t figure something out in the next couple of days… then we’ll leave it up to you.”
The two glanced away from each other. When nothing more was said, Robot Flower piped up, “Could I at least… come see her?”
“There’s no harm in it.” Tennis ball looked at Golf ball for conformation.
“We’ll take you to her.” Her gaze fell onto Snowball, not saying a word to him.
After a brief moment of consideration, he finally answered, “Not now. I… I should go check on Grassy.” And with that, Snowball left without another word, leaving the other three to head into the factory.
Arriving at the bottom of the staircase, Golf ball halted the other three before stepping onto the main floor. In the center of the underground factory, there was Basketball looking through Golf ball’s stuff. For a moment, Robot Flower’s non-existent heart fluttered and spun as the orange ball picked up a metal pipe. She gazed at it for a minute, examining it, but said nothing and put it away. Then she picked up a wrench, examined it, and put it away. Then she picked out a device.
Golf ball leaned to the others and whispered, “That’s my Skrink-a-tron. She’s seen it and stolen it millions of times.”
And as soon as she said that, Basketball put it away: “Weird.”
The single word tore Robot Flower apart. The voice strangled her and what she said melted her innards. The object who was once a brilliant inventor, amazing friend, and wonderful team member, was reduced to a clueless static character.
With a sigh, Golf ball finally allowed the three to finish their descent. Basketball heard them coming and looked up to witness Golf ball ask, “None of that looked familiar to you?”
“Well, of course the pipe and wrench did. Everyone knows what those things are. But what was with the weird purple box? And was that a button on the side? Will it detonate if I press it?”
“No, it will not detonate. Do you really not remember what it does?”
She shook her head, “No. It looked otherworldly, really.”
The dimpled ball shook her head, “It’s just the basics and the very basics at that.”
“Maybe we’ve missed something.” Tennis ball attempted to reason. “Is there really nothing to help us out here?”
“We could look again, but after three whole attempts, it’s basically useless.” Golf ball turned to Robot Flower. “We’ll leave you two alone. Just… don’t try to freak her out too much. We don’t know if this is the full extent of mind erasement.”
And with that, the pair left Basketball and Robot Flower alone in the room. Although all the gears and machines stirred a constant grind and roar, silence split the two apart. They stared into each other without a word.
Basketball was the first to speak, “I’m sorry… really. I really wish I remembered everything. The past sounded so nice.”
“It’s not your fault that this happened.” Robot Flower replied sincerely. “Don’t apologize for it.”
“But I wish I remembered. Just with the way you and the other one ran up to me yesterday… that meant the world to you… and it meant nothing to me.”
The memory flooded back without her command. Gaty, Barf bag, and Basketball popped back out of nowhere soon after One was defeated. They all collapsed on the ground and slowly rose to their feet as their respective friends ran up to them. Robot Flower and Grassy shouted her name as they swiftly approached. Basketball saw them coming and shakily got to her feet, staring and trembling. She fell backwards when Robot Flower and Grassy embraced her.
“You’re back!” Robot Flower had said. “It worked! You’re back!”
“Grassy missed you!” Grassy exclaimed. “Grassy missed his friends and he was all alone! But now Basketball is back! Everything is normal again!”
“Huh? What?” Basketball tried to pull away slightly. “Are you guys talking about me?”
“Of course we are! We wouldn’t forget about you! We looked for you the second you disappeared and when we were finally let out of that torture chamber for us eliminateds, we were finally able to defeat One-”
“P-please, slow down.” Basketball found the strength in her legs to stand up. “Can we take one thing at a time? Who are you?”
Robot Flower stood there silently for a moment before answering, “Robot Flower… Basketball, are you okay?”
“I’m Grassy!” Grassy exclaimed before looking at Robot Flower. “Of course she’s okay! She’s standing right here!”
Basketball looked at herself and said, “Basketball… I mean… are you implying that to be my name? I suppose it fits being a basketball and all.”
And then it hit Robot Flower. She took Basketball by her sides and asked, “Basketball, please tell me you remember who I am.”
Robot Flower could’ve sworn her eyes were clouded and unfocused when she replied, “You just said it yourself. You are Robot Flower.”
Soon afterward, Two and Saw took to Gaty, Donut and the rest of his former team was with Barf bag, while Golf ball decided to take her now former enemy down to her underground factory for some research. This left Robot Flower and Grassy all alone and the little patch of grass bombarded her with questions; questions she didn’t know how to answer.
Snowball fortunately swooped by and distracted Grassy for the rest of the day. Of course, he too was a bit shaken from the outcome, but he wasn’t about to let Grassy learn the truth, not if they could salvage Basketball’s memory.
But they couldn’t and she had no idea how to break the news.
No… Robot Flower retrieved the confidence she was shutting down for. I’m not giving up that easily.
“Maybe there’s something else we can try.” The robot said after a while. “I’ve got an idea that might spark your memory.”
“Really?” A sparkle of hope flashed from Basketball’s eyes.
“Yeah. Here, follow me.”
<><><>
The pair finished ascending the stairs and arrived onto the floor of green. Basketball gazed about at the monochrome color palette as Robot Flower explained, “You and Golf ball are big rivals. While that dimpled menace has her underground factory, you have your above ground factory!” She pushed the door aside and led her in.
It almost appeared as they had left it. Some items appeared out of place, but it was still pretty close. Robot Flower hoped it was close enough for the outcome she desired. Speaking of, Basketball gazed about the place, taking in the main details, “It’s a workshop.”
“Yeah!”
“I don’t like the color though.”
“Oh… that’s strange. This was where you decided to put it.”
“Must’ve been the only available room, I suppose.” She walked further inside.
The electric currents running through her systems halted as her hard drive swam. Was that a guess or a sliver of a memory coming back to her? Was she remembering her past? Their time together? Was she going to get her dear Basketball back?
Basketball peered at one of the monitors and clicked the mouse a couple of times. The prompt for a password appeared and she uneasily turned to Robot Flower: “So…”
That hope slowly filtered out and the robot leaned down to type in her long and stupidly complicated password. The meaning of such only left more pain as she tore herself away from it and allowed Basketball to slowly navigate her folders and files. It was agonizing to watch her double click one, gaze through it with little intrigue, and exit out just to do it all over again at least ten times.
Then she stopped at a file which caught her attention. Robot Flower leaned back in to read it as Basketball read it outloud, “Blueprints on Robot Flower. Did I… create you?”
“No, but you were the one person to care for me. You’d repair me whenever I broke down and make updates to improve my life.”
Basketball began reading through it and gazing at the diagrams. Sadness haunted her words, “And now… I can’t do that anymore.” She scrolled further. “I can’t comprehend any of this. The names of parts or the instructions to fix such. I…” She refused to meet the robot’s gaze beside her. “I’m sorry.”
“Wait. No. Surely you can figure it out.” Robot Flower reached out to rest her metal hand stub on her.
“How? How am I supposed to remember who I am?!” She took a step back and gestured to the room. “This place is grand! I once worked in this very room! I knew everything I had in here! I knew how to fix things! I knew how to look after you! But look at me now…” A glimmer appeared at the corner of her eye. “I’ve been reduced to nothing.”
“Basketball…” Robot Flower’s voice was soft and hesitant, “Don’t say that…”
“Just… leave me alone for now, okay?” Basketball began to walk away. She headed for the door, but stopped to stumble, “This is… it’s all too much. I need to breathe. I need to think.”
And with that, the sports ball left the room.
Robot Flower stared after her as her worst fear became the full reality. The assault on her wellbeing had finally won and what remained was a battlefield of wires and oil, torn to shreds from the pain and stress. The one object who cared about her and the object she cared about the most was truly gone.
And to make matters worse… this all started because of her.
<><><>
It took a while before Robot Flower left the above ground factory. Night had fallen onto the hotel and it was nearly time for her to recharge. Her battery was getting pretty low, but she barely took notice. The thoughts were too much for her, but she knew she couldn’t stay in there forever.
Besides, she told herself that checking on Grassy would be the best thing to do at the moment. The poor guy probably wasn’t informed about Basketball’s wellbeing since she was taken to the underground yesterday. He deserved to know that she was alright at the very least.
She debated on telling him the truth. She firmly believed the worst at that point and Snowball did have the point of him deserving to know. But it was so late at night… he deserved at least one more peaceful sleep. And maybe Basketball should be there when she broke the truth. The poor guy has a weak heart, (mentally,) they should make the truth as easy to swallow as possible.
She knocked twice on the door to his room and got silence. “It’s RF. I’m coming in.” She announced before entering the room. At first she saw nothing except an empty room without a Grassy in sight.
That was until a Snowball reared his head from looking under the bed. Robot Flower stared at him for a minute before asking, “What are you doing?”
He stared at her for a long moment, too long to be comfortable for Snowball. Eventually, he answered, “Looking for Grassy.”
“Oh. You’re playing hide and seek to pass the time?”
Snowball stared at her with the slightest suggestion of an underlying emotion hiding behind that face. The realization came through, “Where is he?!”
“I don’t know!” Snowball threw his hands out in an angry manner. “How am I supposed to know?!”
“Maybe because you’re the one in here! Have you thought of that, dimwit?”
“Don’t you get mad at me! You’re the one who didn’t want to tell him the truth!”
…
“YOU DID NOT TELL HIM!”
“I did tell him! He deserved to know! He’s not a child!”
“But we should’ve taken measures to ensure that he could’ve taken the news easier! We could’ve taken it slow, had Basketball in here herself to assure him it would be okay! We could’ve had friends to help him through this! You probably just said it and left it at that!”
“Is this really the main topic right now?!” Snowball exclaimed. “When I told him, he looked to be taking it well! Then he asked me to be alone for a bit so I left him alone. When I came back to check on him, he was gone!”
“Oh gosh.” Robot Flower’s gaze flew across the room before running up to the window. The world outside was grand, empty, and dark. “He could be anywhere!”
“Like I don’t know that?! Help me find him first! Yell at me later, okay?”
The unlikely pair began to tear the room apart in an attempt to find the blades of grass.
<><><>
Turns out, asking to be alone without knowing where you are wasn’t a great idea in hindsight. So, Basketball figured she could at least pass the time by exploring this hotel. She climbed the stairs and visited every floor twice, but didn’t spend much time on the green floor. Not after that whole ordeal. Something had to look familiar. Anything had to. Just one simple detail was all she asked for. Was that too much to ask?
Was she really too far gone? What past life was she missing out on? What was she missing now? Why did life have to do her this way?
On the yellow floor, she stopped when a far away sound in the midst of a quiet hall froze her in place. She gazed about, trying to find the source, but no object presented themself. The noise came again and this time she looked up to spot a vent grill. The noise came from beyond, muffled and far away. An instinct told her to leave whatever it was alone, but something different deep inside her told her otherwise.
To her right, a door stood slightly ajar. Pushing it aside, she found it to be a small closet with a single ladder inside. Placing it under the vent grill, she began to carefully climb up. Without arms, it was a bit difficult, but luckily the ladder was at a slant, so it was more like climbing very steep stairs.
Nudging the vent grill open, Basketball peered inside the vent. It was dark, cold, and empty as far as she could see, but now the noise was louder. It was ragged, unorganized, and raspy. The incoherency somehow called out to her and she couldn’t turn away.
It took a minute for her to squeeze through the small opening and crouch inside the vent. The passageway scraped every side of her, notifying her that she wasn’t supposed to be here, but that noise couldn’t go ignored. So, she began to walk on her knees to traverse further down the shaft. Metal creaked beneath her and as the atmosphere became darker, the noise grew more audible.
When she turned the corner, she finally found the source. The patch of grass, Grassy she believed to be his name, sat in the vent, sniffling and bringing his legs close to him. Her mouth parted to speak, but what was there to be said? She couldn’t remember who this object was.
Grassy tore his face upwards and found Basketball in front of him. His face didn’t shine, but he held his mouth agape and his eyes grew wide. Her supposed name left his lungs, “Basketball?”
From what she was told, this object cared about her deeply in her past, but she remembered none of it. A deep will to comfort the smaller object silently screamed at her, but no reassuring words drifted up her throat. She had nothing to offer.
Instead, Grassy got up and basically tackled Basketball into an embrace. The large ball stiffened as Grassy buried his face into her. His sobs became heavier and louder and his grip on her tightened as he sniffled, “Grassy misses Basketball…” Multiple sniffles and hiccups passed before he continued, “She doesn’t remember me. You’re… not here.”
“I am here.” Her voice was soft in the instant reply. “I’m here now. It’s okay.”
“You don’t remember….” His breathing was ragged. “You cared… no one else cared about me…. Grassy needed respect. Snowball respected me. Blocky respected me. Basketball respected me.” He paused and pushed himself away from her. “You don’t remember now…. It’s all gone. You’re not here.”
“G-Grassy, please, I’m here. I’m here for you.” Basketball shuffled closer and finally contorted her legs to sit inside the vent. “Talk to me, please. Why did you hide in here?”
“Grassy’s safe here. He’s safe from everyone in the vents.”
“Then let’s stay here a while.” She offered him. “I… may not be here fully, but I’m here for you.”
Grassy sniffled again before looking up at her in wonder, “For me?”
“We’ll sit here as long as you need before we head back into the hotel.”
He hesitated for a moment, considering his next actions. And then he tackled Basketball again, melting into her while crying, “But…”
“Just try to rest easily, okay? We'll stay here all night if we have to.”
The blades of grass flinched and sobbed for possibly the next half hour and Basketball kept delivering soft, reassuring statements to him. Eventually, it all died down and his uneven breathing turned rhythmic. Glancing down at him, Basketball realized he had fallen asleep against her. She slowly leaned against the vent wall, careful not to wake him.
And she soon fell asleep too and dreamed of what could have been.
