Chapter Text
Jane Doe is a stubborn woman.
Anyone who worked with her in the past could tell you that. They’d also say she was a private woman.
But she lit up when it came to John.
John Doe
The light of her life, her soulmate, her one and only love. They were a team, he went out in the field while she sat back and did research, they were effective, efficient, and completely trusted the other.
When did it go wrong? Was it the day he got sick? Old code creeping into his skin that fought treatments like a rabid dog?
Was it the day they went home? The illness appearing to be in remission and they just wanted one day together, normal, safe, home?
Was it march 18th, the very next day when John lost himself and attacked her in their own home. The last time she saw him, running off towards Roblox HQ while she dragged her bloody and buzzing body to a phone to warn Builderman?
Was it when the rumors of her and John being hackers started? A misunderstanding spreading into a playground rumor, that only exploded that fateful day?
Was it the night John found her crying herself to sleep over yet another failed attempt to start a family? Something they desperately wanted for so long?
Jane shook her head. Looking over the files and notes in her hand before shoving them into her satchel. It didn’t matter, her husband was missing. The admins were no help. She suspected Builderman was keeping things from her, so she had only herself to rely on.
So she did what she did best.
She threw herself into research, trying to find any lead on where John could be.
He couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air, she dug her teeth into finding out more about the Old code infection, a way to possibly cure it, it’s origins. Anything, everything, no matter how small.
It wasn’t long until their shared home became covered wall to wall in her notes, connected by red threads to try and unlock a lead.
After many months of digging, of watching more and more people go missing, of theorizing John might be among them, she found her breakthrough.
She was at a cabin, her bag full of notes, some crystals for protection, and an axe on her back. The cabin was run down and dilapidated, looking like a solid breeze could knock it all down. But all her leads pointed to this one place,
Rumors of a beast lurking inside, whispers of people going missing. It was the most recent case of a missing persons, she had to look.
She opened the door with hesitance only because she was being cautious. The inside was no better, papers scattered about, random cans of cola and paint tossed around, she smelled old blood.
She stepped inside, looking around, the vail of her brimmed hat swaying at the motion, the tailcoat of her trench coat breezed behind her, she took in the stair air around her and breathed.
Something was wrong here, she felt it in her code.
And her gut was never wrong.
Suddenly, the windows and cracks to the outside went dark, an ominous read buzzing around, the air felt silent, like the moment before a gun goes off.
Something was behind her.
Ah, you found me.
She freezes as a buzzing static voice fills the air, her lungs feel weighed down by a suffocating aura of paranoia, she feels like she’s being watched.
She grabs her axe and turns towards the voice, and is met with a living shadow looming across the wall, beady red eyes studying her closely.
How smart. How persistent. Not even the Admins have found me. Yet one little robloxian did. You should feel proud. Jane Doe.
She wants to speak, to ask how this thing knew her name, but the words are dead on her tongue.
The shadow is circling her now, like a panther stalking its prey.
Persistence like that deserves a reward. A one time offer, just for you. Jane Doe. The thing speaks, choice echoing into her very code.
She follows it with her eyes, fighting to keep her breath even.
I will take you to whom you seek. I will take you to your husband. I will bring you to John Doe.
Her world froze.
John
The man she’s been searching for years for. Ever since he disappeared that March 18th. The man she went into hiding trying to find.
Her beloved husband.
The man Builderman failed.
Her breath hitched and finally she has her words.
“Where is he?”
The shadow chuckled, and she thought she saw the shape of a top hat in the dark of its form.
I will take you to him. Today only. We go now or not at all. Do you accept?
She thinks about the notes scattered on the floor of her home, that fell out of her bag in the shuffle, about the missing robloxians that have been vanishing for months. She thinks about admins being among them.
Of this is the being behind it, it could be a major break in the case.
But.
But…
But he can take her to John.
Desperation triumphs over rationality, the thought of her goal being so achingly close.
She lowers her axe.
“Take me to him. Please!”
A cackling laugh echoes into the walls, the code, her very bones. And then her vision goes red, clouded by static.
And her world goes black.
As you wish.
~~~~~
“Hey! Hello?? Are you alive? Wake up!” Someone was calling to her, her body ached, her head throbbed, but she still fought to squint her eyes open.
She was met with a pink tv screen with a little emoticon face, blinking at her owlishly.
The tv smiled. “Oh good! You are awake! I was worried you were dead for a minute there, but all your vitals looked okay. That I can tell anyways, I just know where pulse points are and cpr.” The girl rambles, and Jane pushes herself up to a sitting position. Getting a better look at her companion, the girl clearly had a tv for a head, and is wearing some sort of skater getup. A wire plug tail sways slowly behind her, and Jane thinks she sees a skateboard on her back.
“…Who…Where…” she croaks, throat raw, but thankfully the girl seems to understand what she’s asking.
“I’m Veeronica! Nice to meet you, as for where we are uh… I donno!” She announces happily, though it felt slightly forced. “It’s a lot of forest, I tried to explore but I found you and decided it’d be better to make sure you’re okay.”
Probably a smart move, Jane nods and pushes herself to her feet.
“…Jane, and… thanks.” She nods, adjusting her wide brimmed hat, the veil was still in tact, and swayed gently with the breeze.
But she cared more that the flower tucked into the brim was still there, paused in time like the day he gave it to her.
“Nice to meet you Jane! Let’s try and find out more about this place. I’ve never been to an experience that looks like this” Veeronica explains, bouncing on her heels slightly.
She’s in good spirits at least, that makes one of them.
“Right… just give me a second, please,” she still feels a bit disoriented, and wants to check what she has on her. Vee gives a thumbs up and occupies herself with inspecting the nearby area. Jane checks her pockets and satchel.
A few crystals, she had those on her, her notebook and files are gone, expected, and her axe lays at her feet. She has nothing else.
She picks the axe up and slings it over her back, she probably should have expected whatever brought her here would disarm her, but why leave the axe?
Then again, Veeronica had her skateboard and looked to have spray cans too, she was actively tagging one of the trees with a doodle of some blue face, she wishes she had a blank notebook at least, research is her element. She digs into her bag again, and almost like something was listening, a cheap, blank notebook and a shitty pen are inside.
It feels like a mockery, but she’s used napkins before so this is marginally better.
She can work with what she has.
“Veeronica…” she calls, and the android looks back.
“Call me Vee ms Jane!” She chirps, Jane nods.
“Vee, what’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?” She flips to an open page in this notebook. The pages are crinkled and dirty.
Still better than scribbling on coffee stained printer paper that was recycled.
“Hm, well I was skating along, listening to music, tagging buildings, a usual afternoon for me. Then I think I saw a poster?… after that… um” she can see Vee’s screen glitch a moment, like she’s buffering. That smile falling.
“I remember thinking about uh… past stuff, started getting stuck in a logic loop about it… next thing I know I shut down” she shakes her head, and that smile reappears. “Woke up here and then found you!”
Jane nods, writing it all down. “Right, thanks.”
“What about you Maam?” Vee asks, and Jane pauses. Ah, right, only fair she returns the favor, she can write down her thoughts too. She flips to an open page.
“I was following leads about… a missing person” she explains. “Found myself in a cabin, then… something found me” her memory of the encounter is already getting fuzzy, and she frantically scribbled all she remembers down before it’s gone. “He offered to take me to my husband… and I accepted” is what she says aloud. Vee frowns a moment, then steps closer.
“You lost your husband? I’m so sorry, Mrs Jane” Vee sympathized. Jane shook her head.
“If that shadow can be trusted… I’ll find him here.” She shuts the notebook. Vee looks like she’s about to ask how she can help, is this girl a helperbot model? But is interrupted when they hear the trees rustling.
“Oh shit- hey!” A voice calls over, Jane and Vee turn their attention and see a man with grey skin and a black suit with dark shades wave over at them while approaching. Jane didn’t know anyone else was here, she’s looking at them with wide eyes.
“You guys new?” He asks, sounding casual.
“Uh” Jane starts, unsure what to say, but Vee speaks up first.
“Yeppers! We just got here. Not sure what here is though, you live here? I’m Veeronica! But call me Vee, okay? Nice to meet you!”
“Uh, cool. I’m Chance” they introduce, somehow only slightly thrown off but how forward Vee was being. They look over at her a moment, expectantly.
“…Jane” she introduces, and he nods.
“Right, Vee and Jane. Look how about I lead you back to the rest, there’s uh, a lot to explain and I am not the guy to do that”
Jane was hesitant, unsure if they could trust this stranger. But Vee seemed optimistic, and what other options did she have?
She still feels her axe over her shoulder.
“Okay, lead the way, Chance.” She agrees. Chance grinned and made a motion for them to follow.
“We all hang out in a cabin this way, it’s uh… it’s going to be a lot so just a heads up, and keep an open mind? We got some real weirdos here” they laugh, Jane blinks in confusion but Vee skips ahead.
“Weirdos are some of the best kind of people! I can’t wait to meet everyone!” She’s being optimistic, but Jane can’t shake the lingering dread in her stomach.
She’s felt like the very air was watching her this entire time.
As they walk through the woods, a cabin becomes visible, she sees a few more in the distance connected by a clearing.
Wherever this is, whatever she just got herself into, she will learn and she will figure it out.
Because John is here. It’ll all be worth it if John is here.
And that’s the mantra she repeats to herself as they approach the cabin.