Work Text:
Clock in.
007n7 is a good person.
Break time.
He texts his son and promises him that he’ll be home in time to cook today.
Back to work.
007n7 is a good person, but he’s tired.
Clock out.
007n7 is a good person, or at least he’s trying to be.
Arrive home late.
He’s here an hour and a half later than he promised to. c00lkidd seems to have eaten dinner already, or at least that’s what the empty cans on the counter tell him. They’re out of canned vegetables; he’ll have to buy more.
007n7 treads towards c00lkidd’s room and presses his ear against the door to hear his son’s near silent snoring. It’s unusual for c00lkidd to go to bed so early, but he brushes the thought aside. 007n7 silently whispers goodnight to him, but a pang stabs at his chest knowing it’s not the same as a real “goodnight.”
007n7 is trying to be a good person, but it’s so damn difficult.
Sun up, drop ‘Kidd off at school, clock in.
007n7 is tired.
Break time, pick ‘Kidd up, ask him about his day, get a dry answer, drop him off at home, go back to work.
007n7 doesn’t remember the last time he’s had a proper conversation with his son.
Arrive home.
He’s on time today, and c00lkidd seems shocked. He gives his son an exhausted smile and knows that his little boy can already see right through him.
They play a game or two, and he allows himself to sigh in relief; maybe he can rest easy knowing he’s made good on his promises today. He tucks his son in just as he wishes he always could, and then goes to bed.
Sun up, drop ‘Kidd off at school, clock in.
118o8 had to pick c00lkidd up today. 007n7 is glad he at least has one friend in his frankly miserable adult life, though they’re really just neighbors, and the only topic they ever talk about is their sons. He’s running out of things to say about c00lkidd.
Clock in.
Work was tiring, though that’s nothing new.
Clock out.
007n7 greets c00lkidd with a smile. c00lkidd doesn’t return it.
Clock in.
There’s more canned food in the pantry than ingredients in the fridge.
Clock out.
007n7 is trying so hard to be a good person.
Clock in.
118o8 calls him, but it goes to voicemail. She ends up reaching out to him via text instead, telling him that c00lkidd and her son, Bluudud, pick too many fights with each other.
Clock out.
007n7 tries to tell c00lkidd to stop, but it’s as if his son can’t hear him.
Clock in.
118o8 tells 007n7 she can’t pick up c00lkidd from school anymore. She doesn’t elaborate on why, and she doesn’t need to.
Clock out.
Is he a good person?
Clock in.
He’s seriously starting to doubt it, even though he’s tried so hard.
Clock out.
Work was tiring.
Clock in.
He hasn’t touched the c00lgui in years, but he’s getting tempted.
Clock out.
c00lkidd doesn’t even call him “dad” anymore. His name might as well just be “hey” or “you.”
Clock in.
007n7 is trying to be a good father, but it’s not working out. Neither are his multiple jobs.
Clock out.
007n7 locks himself in his bedroom. c00lkidd is somewhere alone in the living room, and he can’t find it in himself to do anything with him today.
Clock in.
Everything is getting on his nerves, and that only makes him feel guiltier.
Clock out.
The dishes piled up in the sink were washed for the first time in days. It wasn’t 007n7. c00lkidd must’ve figured out how to use the dishwasher on his own.
Clock in.
007n7 saw Bluudud taking a walk while on his commute to work today. The kid gawked at him through his car’s window as if he’d seen a ghost, and 007n7 doesn’t know why.
Clock out.
He’s surprised Elliot hasn’t fired him by now. His customer service smile is… lacking. Maybe he should use the c00lgui to fix it, or something. Would that be too much?
Clock in.
He was fired from Bloxxer King today. That was long overdue, really.
Clock out.
He picks up the c00lgui again, or at least a less harmful copy. The older commands are unbearable to look at- echoes of a past he’d long since buried, because he’s a damn good person.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 spends a long day supplying the ingredients for Builder Brother’s Pizzeria, but he finally goes home early for once. His clones have taken care of his mailman and barista job. c00lkidd seems shocked to see him home already and leaps into his arms.
Clock in, clock out.
He doesn’t know why he hadn’t done this sooner. It wasn’t like using an inferior copy of the original c00lgui would hurt anybody.
Clock in, clock out.
Maybe he’d listened to his cousin and the law too much. As long as nobody catches him, he’ll be fine.
Clock in, clock out.
He’s doing a good job.
Clock in, clock out.
Maybe he can be a good person.
Clock in, clock out.
Maybe he can be a good father.
Clock in, clock out.
c00lkidd is so happy. Finally, 007n7 can be happy too.
Clock in, clock out.
Things are going back to how they always should’ve been.
Clock in, clock out.
118o8 runs towards him and nearly topples him over to hand him some spare carnival tickets.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 deploys three clones that day so that he can visit the carnival with c00lkidd. He’ll never forget his son’s enthusiastic shrieking and the joy on his son’s face. Precious moments like those are the only things his heart still beats for.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 bakes homemade brownies from scratch for the first time and nervously hands a tray of them to 118o8. She texts him for the first time in ages and tells him that she and Bluudud loved them.
Clock in, clock out.
With the help of the c00lgui, he finally has his life together. He tried so hard, and it’s finally come to him; the life he deserved. He’s finally doing well for himself and his son, finally doing something good.
Clock in, clock out.
Police detected exploit activity in the neighborhood. They don’t trace it back to him, but he withdraws his clones.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 waits for a bit, and then begins using them again. He’s not stealthy enough and receives a fine once they catch him.
He seethes slightly at the thought that one of his neighbors must’ve snitched on him. No, not 118o8- she wouldn’t. Must’ve been his other neighbor. He’s almost tempted to get some kind of petty revenge until he’s informed that the server’s anti-cheat is what ratted him out.
The officer at his door, intruding on his life, stares at him, exasperation on her face, as if he didn’t need this, and as if this is all the trouble he’s worth- a fine. He’s almost tempted to tell her about the buildings he’d leveled in his prime.
Clock in, clock out.
007e7 calls him over for Christmas dinner with their family. 007n7 declines; they’re no family of his, not after they excommunicated him when word of his exploits got out. c00lkidd is all he needs.
Clock in, clock out.
That officer is back. He racks his brain for polite ways to tell her to fuck off, but comes up empty.
Clock in, clock out.
He’s probably this close to having another ankle monitor put on him, but he could just delete it if he tried.
Clock in, clock out.
He could ;kill that officer too, but that would be far too much. He’s never killed anybody anyway.
Clock in, clock out.
Working three jobs is so much easier like this, but he’s still hardly making any money. Somebody should beat it through Builderman’s thick skull that the minimum wage is too little.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 has done too much.
He’s hunched over in a cold room walled in by stone, sitting with his head between his knees, trying not to think about the person beside him who’d thrown up on their shoes, or the man seething in the corner. 007e7 pays for his bail and doesn’t make eye contact with him even though he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Clock in, clock out.
Everything has gone back to how it was before. 007n7 doesn’t even want to think about how disappointed c00lkidd might feel. The only difference is 007n7’s been fired from every job except for his job at Builder Brother’s. He doesn’t have the words to thank Elliot.
Clock in, clock out.
The original copy of the c00lgui is missing. He doesn’t think a thing of it.
Clock in, clock out.
He’s pretty sure Elliot is the only person who treats him like an actual person anymore, even if only by loose definition. He still looks at 007n7 with his eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion. Elliot probably thinks he can’t notice, but he does.
Clock in, clock out.
c00lkidd has had leftover pizza for nearly an entire week in a row now.
Clock in, clock out.
Elliot’s little sister, Mia, came to work today and screamed when she saw 007n7. He stared at her, confused, and told her he didn’t remember her, and she’d been so offended. He later heard through a coworker and not through either of the Builder siblings themselves that she’d once been caught in a fire from one of his old exploits and was barely lucky enough made it out uninjured. He doesn’t know why Elliot even hired him in the first place.
Clock in, clock out.
Another officer is at his door. He insists it can’t be for exploiting, and they laugh in his face and tell him it’s for leaving his kid at home.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 entrusts his son to 118o8, and she drops c00lkidd off crying because of something Bluudud said.
Clock in, clock out.
Over the summer, he brings c00lkidd to Builder Brother’s Pizzeria during his shifts instead. He certainly brings more life to the place, though Elliot seems tired of his constant screaming. 007n7, annoyed, shakes his head to himself- he’s not dumb enough to offend his boss, and certainly not his boss who he’s terrorized in the past and has graciously given him a job, but he’s sure Mia has done her own share of screaming too. She’s around the same age as his son, or at least he assumes she is.
Clock in, clock out.
This is so exhausting.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 is a good person.
Clock in, clock out.
His relationship with c00lkidd is back to how it used to be. He couldn’t be more upset about it, but c00lkidd seems even more so.
Clock in, clock out.
Maybe he should leave c00lkidd with a clone of himself while he’s at work. Or maybe not. c00lkidd would know the difference.
Clock in, clock out.
He heads to bed early and locks his bedroom door, maggots settling in his gut as he pretends not to hear c00lkidd’s soft footsteps in the hall.
Clock in, clock out.
He can’t do this anymore.
Clock in, clock out.
He overhears some customer’s child at Builder Brother’s Pizzeria striking up a conversation with c00lkidd. She asks for his favorite food, and c00lkidd’s answer is instant noodles. 007n7 supposes that’s one of the only things in his son’s diet besides leftover pizza now.
Clock in, clock out.
Apparently Bluudud had been hit by a car. 118o8 texts him and tells him her son was dead- pronounced beyond saving at the scene. 007n7 doesn’t show up to the funeral, and only then finds out that he was one of the only few people 118o8 had invited.
Clock in, clock out.
c00lkidd is always so, so, angry, and 007n7 is so, so, tired.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 enters a screaming match with a customer who deserved it, but he knows he’s setting a terrible example for his son.
Clock in, clock out.
He clenches his teeth as a customer picks a fight with him.
Clock in, clock out.
007n7 wishes he could lash out again this time, but more embarrassingly so, he ends up crying instead. Far too old for this, and too ashamed to continue in front of several customers, he abandons the register as the only cashier and runs for the bathroom, passing by the manager’s office on the way. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Elliot through the window filing paperwork at his desk, and he doesn’t want to know if Elliot had seen him too or not.
Clock in, clock out.
c00lkidd somehow broke the soda machines and won’t tell anyone how. He repeats this several times over the course of over a week.
Clock in, clock out.
The ovens start erupting in symphony, and Elliot begs 007n7 to leave his son at home. He refuses. Can’t Elliot understand c00lkidd doesn’t have anywhere else left to go?
Clock in, clock out.
He’s wondering why his shift is going by so quickly when he comes to the realization that the clocks are malfunctioning.
Clock in, clock out.
All the fire extinguishers are replaced with rubber duckies, and 007n7 thinks he knows the culprit. Elliot, swearing under his breath, hastily orders more extinguishers.
Clock in, clock out.
The soda machines now play Spooky Scary Skeletons upon use. c00lkidd thinks it’s funny, but Elliot doesn’t.
Clock in, clock out.
The pizzeria is on fire. He searches desperately for c00lkidd, calling his name as loud as he can over the sound of the alarm blaring and prying rubble off the ground, until he realizes c00lkidd is the one who started it. His son grins at him, wider than he’s ever seen, and holds the original c00lgui panel up high.
007n7 is fired.
Even with his scolding, c00lkidd seems elated that he’s beginning to stay home more, only to punch a crack into the TV once he realizes that 007n7 is only going to spend the entire time job hunting; not even to any avail.
He’s about as willing to ask for help as he is to willingly bathe in hot coals, but no job will hire him with his criminal record, nor his previous reputation as a hacker. His previous jobs were all obtained by luck, but it seemed that none of that was in his favor this time.
It doesn’t take him long to realize that there’s not much he can do as one man. After finally sucking it up and deciding to ask for aid, his cousin tells him to get a job- not helpful, but he does send him some robux to temporarily keep him afloat. As for 118o8, she won’t answer his texts, and it’s only now that he realizes her blinds have been drawn and there has been no activity in her house for the past few weeks. He doesn’t bother to attempt to locate her with the c00lgui- she knows how to cover her tracks, and there’s nothing she can do to help him anymore.
Sleep.
He dreams of distorted laughter and a purple hoodie draped over his shoulders. A cold sweat clings to his skin as he wakes up.
Sleep.
The only room he frequents is his own bedroom. He has everything he needs in here- laptop to search for odd jobs with, his bed to sleep in if he has the time to, and he’s begun to move his toothbrush in here too. Despite this, he can’t help but feel that something is missing. He receives a text from 007e7 later about a Robloxian News post with a video of his son lighting the pizzeria on fire again, and 007n7’s stomach writhes. At least c00lkidd knows to teleport home so that nobody will find them.
Sleep.
It takes him two days to realize he’s hungry, and he opens up the pantry to find it completely devoid of items. His eyes slowly trail towards the trash can, which is filled with empty cans and instant noodle cups. He doesn’t bother to check the fridge; he knows there’s nothing in it.
Sleep.
Another fire breaks out due to his son’s hand, but taking the c00lgui from him doesn’t stop anything. It only now occurs to him that he underestimated his son’s intelligence; c00lkidd made a damn copy.
Sleep.
He needs to save his money for his bills, as his odd jobs don’t cover it all anymore. He ends up bringing out the original c00lgui and presses the Invisible command. A foreboding chill washes over him as he disappears from human sight, and he teleports himself to the nearest grocery store to swipe items off the shelves. He duplicates them as soon as he gets home, but knows that the copied food will be flavorless. He hopes the cops won’t come after him for just this one time.
Sleep.
007n7 realizes he used to tuck c00lkidd into bed, and that most of his day was backlit by the background noise of c00lkidd’s cartoons. Time itself seems to have run far away from him, hiding in a place he can never again reach.
Sleep.
When he’s not doing odd jobs, he locks himself in his room to rest, wishing his too-short naps could keep him unconscious forever.
Sleep.
c00lkidd doesn’t even play with his toys anymore. 007n7 isn’t even sure if it’s because he’s too old to like toys or not, but he soon realizes it’s because c00lkidd is using the c00lgui instead. He’s long since given up on reprimanding him.
Sleep.
The door to c00lkidd’s room is left ajar in the morning, but 007n7 thinks nothing of it. He’ll probably come back in the afternoon with a new shiny line added to his outstanding criminal record. The only reason his son hasn’t been arrested yet is because of Roblox HQ’s sudden collapse, and then the local government, and the local police soon after. At this point, 007n7 is considering exploiting more to keep them both afloat.
Sleep.
It’s the next day, and c00lkidd still hasn’t come back. He must be real busy.
Sleep.
Something bad must’ve happened.
Sleep.
Something bad must’ve happened, and 007n7 let it happen.
Sleep.
Surely his son would have come back by now.
Sleep.
All 007n7 does is sleep, but he’s still so tired.
Sleep.
He brings out the c00lgui again and types in a command- ;tp me c00lkidd. Nothing happens. He tries again. ;tp c00lkidd me.
Sleep.
c00lkidd is gone.
Sleep.
007n7 is a horrible person.
Sleep.
007n7 is a horrible father.
Sleep.
It both feels like only yesterday and forever ago that c00lkidd was a little pill baby squirming around in his arms. A small bundle of joy, left crying and clueless on his doorstep.
Sleep.
He can’t recall the last time he’s felt joy.
Sleep.
He’s going to find his son.
Search.
He searches in every place his son could’ve possibly decided to go.
Search.
He looks under every nook and cranny.
Search.
He chases after every false lead.
Search.
It’s been months.
Search.
Nobody has seen him.
Search.
007n7 doesn’t remember the last time he hasn’t felt exhausted.
Search.
It seems that a month takes much longer to pass than he initially thought it would, but a year comes by all too quickly.
Search.
c00lkidd is really gone.
Sleep.
What if he isn’t gone? What if 007n7 hasn’t searched hard enough, or worse, c00lkidd doesn’t want to be found?
Sleep.
He's really gone.
Sleep.
There’s nothing to live for anymore.
Sleep.
007e7 offers him his condolences, but it means nothing.
Sleep.
Elliot is near the bottom of his contacts list. 118o8’s name sits even lower. The contact that he expects to see at the bottom of his list blocked him a long time ago.
Sleep.
There’s nothing left for him to do.
Sleep.
He kept a gun in a locked safe to protect himself and his son if he ever needed to.
Sleep.
He doesn’t want to think about it.
Sleep.
He knows he kept it pre-loaded.
Sleep.
The gun is a nice weight in his hands. The metal is cool to the touch, and he wonders if the bullet will be too.
Sleep.
He considers writing a note, but doesn’t. Nobody will miss him. Maybe they’ll even be glad he’s gone.
Sleep.
The gun is so cold against his skull. He lets the tip kiss his skin, then sets it down on his bedsheet with shaking hands. He can’t do this.
Sleep.
He’s so tired.
Sleep.
The house’s bills are overdue, but he doesn’t plan on paying them.
Sleep.
He’s done with running away. This has to happen. He can’t be miserable forever.
Sleep.
e7 calls him several times, but 007n7 only mutes his phone. He doesn’t need any reason to second-guess himself.
Sleep.
He’s so, so, tired.
Sleep.
He raises the gun to his head with a final, resounding click.
Sleep.