Chapter Text
"Abigail Brooks?"
"Hm?" The woman responded quickly. She wasn't sure why she had been called to this place- a sealed-off, ominous government building- but she wasn't sure if she was ready to find out.
It's not like she was a criminal. She lived a fairly boring life as an accountant at a supermarket. The worst she ever got up to was occasionally urban exploring, but she hasn't done that in a while.
Abigail had been staring at the ancient 80s wallpaper of the waiting room for what felt like hours, waiting for someone to call her inside and tell her what the hell had been going on- and now it seemed someone was finally here to do that.
- ONE WEEK EARLIER -
Caine was happy.
It seemed everything was beginning to go well for him! After nearly three decades of trying to get the humans to like him, he was finally able to befriend them! He was actually on his way to meet the girls and Zooble for hot cocoa, for what they called a "Girls, Theys and Caines' Night".
As he zoomed into the cafe, he immediately spotted them at a table, with an empty chair for him! He could get used to this, he thought, as he sat down.
"Hows it going, my extra crunchy jalapeño poppers?" He greeted in his usual enthusiastic way.
"It's.. ..good, actually!" Pomni replied- she still wasn't used to his silly greetings. "We were actually about to play a game of uno. Its better with four people, actually." She said, as Zooble dealt the cards.
"..Wait, four?" Caine did a quick headcount, and quickly noticed a lack of Ragatha. "..where's Ragatha?"
"..She.. ..Said she wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to push it. I think she went to go see Kinger, but I'm not sure." Gangle spoke up. Kinger was kind of their communal Dad at this point, and also the resident advice-giver/therapist. If anyone could cheer Ragatha up, it would be him.
"..Oh. Okay." Caine responded, as they began their game of uno. But a thought nagged at him. Ragatha never missed their hangout nights. What was upsetting her? Did he do something wrong? His thoughts delved to the worst possible theories. What if she was abstracting? What if it was his fault? Caine tried not to show it, but he wasn't able to focus much on their uno rounds or hot cocoa.
After their game ended, Caine decided he'd take a quick trip to Ragatha's room. After all, it wouldn't hurt to check on her.
"Come in!" Ragatha yelled, once she heard the knock.
As Caine entered, he quickly noticed Ragatha.. ..wasn't doing so well. Her hair was messy, she was wrapped in blankets, and her face was wet with tears- but thankfully, no signs of abstraction.
"..Are you doing okay..? What's wrong..?" Caine asked. He wasn't the best comforter, but he wanted to atleast try.
"..It's silly.."
"..It can't be that silly if you're upset about it, right? Do you want to talk about it maybe? ..I can't guarantee I'm as good a listener as Kinger, but it can't hurt to try..?" He answered.
Ragatha paused for a moment. She tried to figure out what she wanted to say.
"..Well.. ..I guess I'm just mourning the idea that I could ever leave..? ..I don't know if that makes any sense, but.. ..I almost miss the hope that some day, I could leave this place. But now I know.. ..I was never out there in the first place. I was never Suzie Ackerman.. ..Shes living a life somewhere.. ..and I'm here." She began, avoiding eye contact.
Caine sat down on her bed next to her and thought for a minute.
Ragatha continued, "..And.. ..It's so wierd knowing that the real Suzie- the real all of us- are just.. ..living their lives. Not knowing we exist. And I'm also thinking.. ..Ill never know whats going on in the world now. I only know of the world up until 2008. Ill never know what's going on outside.. ..sure, you have internet connection now but you aren't like, keeping tabs on anything going on outside- except for the human versions of us.."
She paused again.
"..I'm sorry, I'm rambling--"
"No! Don't be- It's alright. Thank you for telling me all of this- I want to know when something upsets you guys, even if its something I can't necessarily fix.." He answered quickly. In truth, he liked when people vented to him- that meant they trusted him enough to do so, which meant alot.
So, they continued to talk for a few hours, going from that topic to others. When Caine finally left, it hit him; maybe he couldn't change how they felt about being unable to leave. But he could absolutely keep tabs and update them on what was going on outside.
So, Caine got to work. He scoured the internet, looking for events that happened from the 90s through the 2020s. And he began to create a slideshow. He thought this would be a good gift for the cast, and it might help cheer up Ragatha.
But he soon realised this would be a LOT of work. Turns out a lot of things could happen in 30 years, who could have guessed?
So, he began with the 1990s. Cloning, the death of Princess Diana, Columbine.. ..lots of things happened. Of course, he tried to limit it to things he thought would interest Kinger, since everyone else knew what happened then.
Next, the 2000s. A lot more happened then. 9/11, the War on Terror, Obama, Social Media.. ..man, the human world had some dark stuff. Caine noticed himself falling into rabbit hole after rabbit hole. Of course, he made sure to check sources, making sure he only took down the most reliable information for them.
He clicked one source; an Fbi.gov link, not entirely sure what it was. As soon as he did, he immediately noticed glitching and pop-ups around him- saying things like ACCESS DENIED and UNAUTHORIZED USER DETECTED.
In a panic, he got out of the website, and took a break from searching to calm down. He had never had that happen before, and he hoped it wouldn't happen again.
Surely, that could have zero negative reprocussions, right?
- ONE WEEK IN THE FUTURE -
"Mrs Brooks, do you have any idea why we asked to speak with you today?" The lady at the desk asked, her piercing blue eyes seeming to gaze into Abigail's soul.
"..um, no, ma'am..?" Abigail racked her brain for any crimes she could've committed. Nothing she could think of, except maybe the urban exploring.
"Well, we're not allowed to tell you much for confidentiality, but we believe you may be connected to an attempted breach of FBI documents- you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Mrs Brooks?" The lady asked, glaring into her soul.
Meanwhile, Abigail was bewildered.
"..What?? Why would you possibly think that??" She was no criminal, that's for sure. Worst she'd ever done is urban exploring and shoplifting. She wasn't some spy!
"Again, we can't disclose much. But we found your fingerprints on some technology used to breach FBI systems."
"...Are you sure those are mine?"
"..We tested multiple against your on-file prints, and they were a match. Also, by law we're required to tell you- we have a warrant to search your apartment. If all is going smoothly, officers should be there right about now."
"WHAT?- Surely you can't just.. Do that without a heads-up?? Oh god, what are my roommates going to think?-" Abigail took out her phone, and, like she predicted, her roommates- Elle and Leah- were blowing up her phone. "..oh god.."
"We can't legally hold you here without consent, but I would like you to know, Brooks, when we find evidence against you, and we will, chances are you'll be put away for a long time."
Abigail stared at the table. The prints had to be wrong, or something? She hadn't committed any crime, that was certain. She wasn't quite sure how she had ended up wrapped up in this mess, but she sure as hell wasn't about to spend life in prison for someone else's crimes.
"..Can I go now..?" She eventually answered, in a voice that sounded too small to be hers. As soon as she got the go-ahead to leave, she stood up, still stunned, and quickly walked out.
- AN HOUR LATER -
"Abby!" Two voices yelled in unison. The taller of the two, a tall emo woman, began to yell;
"Care to tell us why the hell some cops just trashed our apartment?!" The woman, Elle, yelled, looking a mix of stunned and angry.
"Yeah, Abs. You should've told us if you did anything illegal, we would've helped you cover it up." The shorter, Leah, joked. Though despite her joking manner, she looked upset.
"I- I didn't do anything illegal. They think I've broken into an FBI database, I don't know why. This is just a huge misunderstanding. I'm sure they'll figure that out soon enough." Abigail sighed, seeming more as if she was trying to convince herself than anyone else. As she stepped inside, she immediately noticed the mess.
"..They took some of your stuff. I saw them walk out with your laptop, and they wouldn't let us into your room while they were there, but I think I heard glass break." Leah continued.
Abigail sighed, walking into her room. While she normally kept everything decently neat, the officers sure didn't. Drawers on the floor, clothes everywhere, and like Leah said, glass on the floor. Abby recognised what it was immediately.
"..oh nonono.." It was the remains of a vintage clown music box- A gift Abigail was given as a child from her deceased father. It was in pieces- no way it could be fixed.
After everything that happened that day, this was the final straw. She fell to the floor, sobbing. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"..Ugh, look at the mess. Let me help you clean this stuff up." Elle muttered, picking up clothes and neatly folding them back in the drawers. Meanwhile, Leah took a look at the pieces of the music box.
"..Hm.. ..I wonder what can be done about this. I cant guarantee I can put it back together, but im sure some of these pieces could be made into something new?" She picked up the clown head, still intact. "I'm sure it could be made into.. ..something? Maybe a Pendant? We could think of something. But you should get some sleep, Abby. Ellie and I'll work on your room- would you mind sleeping on the couch tonight?"
Abby nodded, walking over to the couch, and laying down. She didn't know what was going on, but she was lucky to have such good friends.