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Chapter Text

This person..they feel late. They don't know where they are going, but they have to go somewhere..They continue running, almost sprinting even. They soon reach the edge of the city, near a forest, slowly catching their breath. They don't know what to do next. Just sit there? Wait for someone? In this ass condition of a city? A bunch of thoughts swirl their head, and they look around. Forest for miles. Except for one building. It looked like some sort of worn down hotel. It had 5 floors. Maybe they should knock? Maybe there are people inside. They go up to the door and knock. No response. They knock again. This time, the sound of a door opening can be heard. A girl with blonde hair can be seen standing in the doorway.

"𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝚆𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎."  

"𝚄𝚑..𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎."

The blonde haired girl gently taps the newcomer's shoulder. The newcomer feels slightly less tense, but they still don't know what to expect.

"𝙽𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜! 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜!"

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?"

"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 １２-１５ 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢. 𝙾𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎! 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞?"

The newcomer slowly musters up a response.

"𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎."

Melodie smiles brightly, feeling glad that there are more people to be seen, despite not seeing more people-- besides the ones in the hotel--for a few months.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖." (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍.." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎, 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚢.)

Melodie enters the building, gesturing Kaylee to follow along. Kaylee slowly obliges, unsure of what to expect out of this place. The two make it inside, and Kaylee takes in her surroundings. The inside is rather nice, the main floor has a kitchen, a few fairly sized tables, and a couple other rooms. There are also some stairs in the distance, which will be useful for going to other floors. Someone in the kitchen notices the two and jogs up to them. The person had blonde hair with pink dyed tips. They looked quite excited to see the two.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎! 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?"

"𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢!" (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘?"

"𝚄𝚑...𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝.. 𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒!" (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙷𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎..." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙽𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝'𝚌𝚑𝚊 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎! 𝙱𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕." (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒)

"𝙷𝚎𝚑..𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚢! 𝙰 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕!" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝! 𝙸𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎...'𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎', 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢!" (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐.)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜, 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚍!" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝! 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜." (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

Kaylee walks towards the stairs while Melodie and Lassi head to the kitchen. Kaylee soon reaches the stairs and hops up to the second floor. Said floor seems to be a large recreation area, with a few people inside, the most noticeable being the two people chasing each other, trying to obtain something. The one holding an item has short and messy brunette hair, and the one chasing after her has slightly messy dark brunette hair.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢! 𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎! 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝!"

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝!"

"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚜?"

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 '𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚜'! 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢!"

"𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚈 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜? 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎!"

"𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝. 𝙰 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝."

Kaylee walks further into the recreation room, and the two that were bickering, plus three other people, notice them. Kaylee takes notice of the three other people, one with short messy brown hair, one next to her with golden brown-ish hair that kind of looked ginger, and someone with brunette hair.

"𝙷𝚞𝚑? 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?"

"𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝙼𝚎𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎...𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞?"

"𝙾𝚑. 𝙸'𝚖 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎...𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢'𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.."

The others look at each other, expecting one to speak up first. Soon enough,the dark brunette talks.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸'𝚖 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚘."

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 '𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐'?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝..𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚑 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝚄𝚑..𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

Kaylee awkwardly backs away from the group and heads back up the stairs. They reach the third floor and see that it is an arrangement of bedrooms, leading them to assume that the last few floors were also bedrooms. They walk further into the room and see that there are 6 bedrooms on this floor, each one having a name on the upper door indicating who the room belonged to. There were 5 people in the main area, two arguing, one trying to stop said argument, and two just talking. One of them notices Kaylee and skips up to them and kind of aggressively shakes their hand.

"𝙾𝚘𝚑! 𝙷𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙸𝚏 𝚜𝚘, 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝'𝚌𝚑𝚊! 𝙼𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊!"

"𝙷𝚊𝚑𝚊..𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎..." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢!" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌)

Tamia lets go of Kaylee's hand. Kaylee staggers back a bit, but slowly regains their balance.

"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚠...! 𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢..𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜...𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚅𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙺𝚒𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚒!" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗..𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑..?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏. 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝." (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

A ringing sound can be heard from downstairs.

"𝙾𝚘𝚑! 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛! 𝚆𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙! 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗!" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

Before Kaylee could say anything, Tamia grabs their arm and takes them down the stairs past some of the others and leads them to the first floor where Lassi and Melodie are waiting in the kitchen.

"𝙷𝚒 𝙼𝚎𝚕! 𝙷𝚒 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜! 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

"𝙷𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚑, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑!" (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚢?" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊, 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛.)

Melodie chuckles a bit.

"𝙶𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍! 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘." (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎!" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

Tamia grabs their food and quickly rushes to one of the tables to eat. Kaylee gets their food, and sits down at another one of the tables. Everyone else soon gets their food and sits down at the tables, some chatting with one another. As everyone was eating, Kaylee notices one person in general, she wasn't speaking to anyone. She had blonde hair and was wearing a coat. She just seemed to be slightly glaring at everyone as she ate her food. Kaylee wonders if they should try to talk to her after they finish their food since they haven't met her yet. Kaylee just decides to get lost in their thoughts for a bit since they were unsure of what to do while eating, unlike the others there. While Kaylee thinks, they feel someone tap on their shoulder. They look and see it was one of the people they met at the recreation room, Veronica.

"𝙾𝚑. 𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊, 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚝?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚈𝚎𝚙! 𝚈'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗?" (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐..𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚘𝚑, 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢!" (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘.. 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚙𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 '𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.'" (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊, 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍.)

"'𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎?' 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 '𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎' 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙽𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌. 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚒𝚜? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑. 𝙷𝚎𝚛? 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 '𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎' 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

Evelyn gives off a glare at Kaylee as if she suspects something before going back to eating her food.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 '𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝' 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜?" (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙷𝚘𝚠'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚍𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢. 𝙰𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚙𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒'𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎..𝚞𝚑, 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚎𝚑." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗!" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

Kaylee gives off a small smile and continues eating their food. A few minutes pass and Kaylee puts their empty plate in the sink and sits back at the table, unsure of what to do now. They wait for a bit and decide to try and talk to that Evelyn person. They walk up to her and wave.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚛-" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙽𝚘. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸'𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝." (𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢𝚗, 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢-𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎.)

Without even looking at Kaylee, Evelyn just leaves and heads upstairs. Kaylee mumbles to themselves, 'Not that social, I see..' before just sitting back down, not knowing what to do to pass the time. Melodie soon walks up to them.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎! 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙿𝚕𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗!" (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

Melodie starts heading up the stairs and Kaylee follows. The two soon reach the top floor where Melodie walks to the near end and gestures to the door.

"𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠! 𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖!" (𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎)

Melodie walks out of the hallway while Kaylee opens the door to their new room. The room was fairly nice, with a bed in the middle with one dresser on each side of the bed. There was also a closet and a table with a lamp on it. They step further into the room to take a good feeling of what to expect from their room. They then decide it's best to get to bed. They don't even bother with changing their clothes and fall onto the bed. They lay facing up and think about what to expect from their possibly new life. Will there be any events? Will there be conflict? They don't know for sure, but they do know that they better get some sleep.

-.-- --- ..- / -.- -. --- .-- / - .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- .----. .-. . / - .... . / -.-. .- ..- ... . / --- ..-. / - .... .. ... .-.-.- / -.. --- / -.-- --- ..- / ..-. --- .-. --. .. ...- . / -.-- --- ..- .-. ... . .-.. ..-. ..--.. / -- .- -.-- -... . / -. --- - --..-- / -... ..- - / -.-- --- ..- .----. .-.. .-.. / .-.. . .- .-. -. / -- --- .-. . / .- -... --- ..- - / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- .----. ...- . / -.-. .- ..- ... . -.. .-.-.-

Chapter Text

A new day has blossomed. Kaylee can feel the sun on their face, as there was a window right above their bed. They groggily got up and stretched a bit.They were clearly not a morning person. Kaylee soon walks out the door and spots a bathroom at the end of the hallway, as Morie comes out of it.

"𝙾𝚑. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎)

"𝙽𝚘. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍.)

Kaylee heads towards the stairs and starts quickly stumbling down them until they reach the first floor. Once they reach downstairs, they spot Lassi, Veronica, John, Kiryomi, and Indah in the main dining area.

"𝙾𝚘𝚑, 𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎! 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙?" (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒)

"𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢.)

"𝙷𝚎𝚑..𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙. 𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒)

"𝙱𝚕𝚎𝚑..𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

Kaylee sits down at one of the tables and rests their head on their hand, still a bit drowsy. Veronica walks over to Kaylee while taking John with her and sits down next to Kaylee. Veronica then jokingly slaps Kaylee on the back, making them jolt a bit.

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐?" (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎! 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙺𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚎)

"𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎." (𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊)

While Kaylee was talking with Veronica, Alab scurries down the stairs and quickly sits down and speaks to John.

"𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢! (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋, 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍,)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚜. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋..?" (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚗𝚎𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕-𝚒𝚜𝚑.)

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 '𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢' 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜.. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝! 𝚈'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎!" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎..?" (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝚈𝚎𝚜! 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎! 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍! 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙷𝚖. 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝!" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

As the two talked, Indah was eavesdropping on them, soon blurting out in an excited manner.

"𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢? 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍.)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚂𝚘...𝙰𝚖 𝙸 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝?! 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

Alab stares at Indah thoughtfully, trying to decide whether to bring her or not. After a while, they sigh and respond to Indah.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝! 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

Indah quickly dashes up the stairs to prepare. Alab shakes their head, already knowing that Indah is WAY to invested in these types of things.

"𝙳𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙼𝚎𝚑. 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 '𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢..𝚒'𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

As time passes, everyone else starts to stir awake while Melodie and Lassi make breakfast, and soon enough, almost everyone is downstairs either doing their own thing, talking, or just waiting for breakfast to finish. Lassi soon comes out holding two trays with plates of pancakes galore!

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚢'𝚊𝚕𝚕! 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜." (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒)

Lassi sets down the trays and nearly everyone at the table quickly grabs a plate and starts eating.

"𝚆𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚎?" (𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒)

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑!" (𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚊)

Indah suddenly comes down the stairs with a duffel bag packed with all sorts of items and quickly sits between Alab and John.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎??" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎! 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐?? 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗. 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚝 𝟾:𝟸𝟶." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚔.." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

Indah grabs a plate of pancakes and starts munching down on them, while John looks over at Alab skeptically.

"𝚂𝚘, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋?" (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗? 𝙰𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜!" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜?" (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙿𝚜𝚑𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

As the two talk about the predicament at hand, Morie peers over at the two in curiosity of what they were planning out. Qasim also takes notice of this and slides close to Morie to get in on the conversation.

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖, 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢.)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑..𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚛 𝚖𝚎? 𝙸'𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜!" (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖)

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘, 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎, 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍.)

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖)

Alab just glances at John in a stiff way, while John glances back and shrugs, keeping his usual stoic expression.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗..𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢." (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖)

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗.)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋, 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝?! 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜!" (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚃𝚘𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍, 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑. 𝙸 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝, 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎)

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚋 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗." (𝚀𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚖)

"𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

Qasim gives off a slight huff before going back to eating, soon followed by Morie. Alab puts their head down on the table. clearly not sure whether they made a good decision or not.

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋, 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙.)

Indah soon finishes her food, lightly slamming her hands on the table in excitement before speaking up again.

"𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍! 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎 𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝??" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

"𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚝, 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝚢'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎...𝙸'𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

"𝙰𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑..."(𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝, 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝟾:𝟸𝟶 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.)

Alab gets up from where they were sitting and streches a bit before responding.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝚆𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗. 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑.)

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

Alab then heads upstairs to their room to go and pack some essentials that they think that they'll need. A few items for self defense, some grub, a fer of their gadgets, basically whatever they considered useful. Once finished, Alab heads back downstairs, where they motion for Morie and John to come along, before meeting Indah at the front door of the hotel.

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏!" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

Alab, Indah, John, and Morie exit the hotel and start to head into the surrounding forest. The scenery is quite peaceful, the main sound being the chilly wind blowing across. There's trees and bushes for miles, with no sight of people or animals anywhere.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚢.)

"𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚍.)

"𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚞𝚙." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

The four continue walking through the forest, each looking around for anything unusual. As they observe, Alab notices something rustling in the bushes and decides to check it out. They look through the bush and see nothing but a few scattered leaves.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.)

"𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚢, 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚜. 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎.)

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗)

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚞𝚙." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

The four continue on their exploration, most of them slightly more wary of what could be hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. A couple minutes pass, and they decide to take a break near a group of rocks.

"𝙱𝚘𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

"𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜.)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚛.. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜,𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝.)

As Indah stands up to leave on her own, they don't notice the rustling of some of the trees. From those trees, a few black, squirming tentacles emerge from the leaves and suddenly grab Indah by the neck and arms, bringing her up into the trees. The others look up in surprise and confusion as they witness the scene.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘? (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.)

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.)

"𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚢'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎)

"𝚄𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜.)

"𝙾𝚘𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝!" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎.)

"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜.)

Morie gives a thumbs up back, and with that, she starts climbing up a tree onto the branches. She slowly starts to make her way across the branches, trying to spot Indah anywhere.

"𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑'𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎.)

When Morie doesn't receive a response, she decides to continue on the branches, looking around as if to spot any glimpse of Indah in the trees. As she does this, she spots a flicker of the black tentacles from earlier and starts to speed up her advance on the branches. Once she'd traveled far enough, she gets a better sight of Indah, trying to pry herself out of the tentacles' grip.

"𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚜, 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢.)

Morie heads over and grabs indah by a shoulder and raises the machete, poised to strike and cut a the tentacles.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑, 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚜.)

Without giving Indah time to respond, Morie swings the machete down, whacking at the tentacles until they finally get chopped off, allowing Indah freedom. She stumbles to get up and wriggle the tentacles' remains off of her, but after a while, she manages to remove the residue off before slowly inching towards Morie and grabbing her waist for support.

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛.. 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝙸'𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜.)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜.)

Without hesitation, Indah hops on top of Morie's shoulders, awaiting a way down. With that reaction, Morie starts to stabilize herself, slowly turning around to face the outside of the thick and lush leaves. Once she has a clear sighting, she jumps down from the branch and lands on the grass with a thud. The two bring themselves up off of the ground and dust themselves off.

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑.)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛.)

The tracker's antenna glows and beeps a faint red for a couple seconds before settling on a dull green as the screen beeps at a steady pace.

"𝙾𝚘𝚑! 𝙸𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚜.)

Morie and Indah start to follow the tracker through the forest, almost positive that it'll led them to John and Alab, wondering why the two even left in the first place. After a bunch of bush trips and trots, the two finally reach John and Alab, where Alab had their ear pressed against a latch, supposedly trying to listen to something in there.

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎! 𝚆𝚑𝚢'𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚢'𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.)

"𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜.)

"𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚎...𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑)

"𝙰𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜.)

Morie and Indah look at Alab, who seems to be focused on listening.

"𝚈𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜, 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋'𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕.)

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜.)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠!" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜.)

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜.)

Indah digs through her duffel bag to see if they have any lock picks or anything that could unlock the hatch. When she finished looking, she shakes her head in slight annoyance when she finds nothing.

"𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜.)

"𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜.)

"𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜.)

John walks up to the hatch and inspects the keyhole. He then takes out a small dagger and starts to pick at the keyhole to see if it'll unlock the hatch. After a few twists and turns, he grabs the handle of the hatch and lifts it up, allowing the four to enter down.

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘?!" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚜, 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍.)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚞𝚐.)

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜.)

The others nod in agreement, and Alab starts to head down the ladder from the topsoil, but at the same time, there was someone from inside the bunker coming up the ladder. This leads to the two of them bumping into each other and falling down the ladder.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚛." (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕.)

"𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜.)

The person Alab fell on pushes themselves up and dusts themselves off before looking at the 4 explorers that had come down into the bunker. It also appeared that they had 3 others along with them, some more curious than others.

"𝚂𝚘..𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛?"

"𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛. 𝙼𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝."

"𝙾𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑... 𝙸'𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋.."

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚘 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝟸 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?" (𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜.)

"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚝.. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗!" (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍.)

Indah quickly pushes through the others and nods while also looking at the other two whom she did not recognize.

"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚞𝚑, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚝𝚠𝚘?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.)

"𝙾𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘? 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐." (𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑.)

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗? 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝟻 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜?" (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜.)

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗-𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚔.)

"𝙾𝚘𝚑..𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊." (𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜.)

"𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚛. 𝙲𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜.)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚖 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢.)

"𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚢, 𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚐...𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎-𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.)

"𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚢'𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕?" (𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜.)

"𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛." (𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜.)

"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛! 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜." (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.)

"𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙." (𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑.)

"𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚙𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜..." (𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝.)

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎!" (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖.)

Fayola, Zahrah, Astro, and Sagen all head to their rooms to pack up their stuff so that they can get out of the bunker. Some pack their things in a rush, clearly more excited than others. After a few moments, they bring out all the boxes and place them all in some larger boxes. Once they finally finished packing, they were ready to go. Everyone helps each other get the boxes out of the bunker and they start walking back to the hotel.

"𝚂𝚘, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢?" (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘.." (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜.)

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 '𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘' 𝚐𝚞𝚢?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋)

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎." (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊)

"𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘?" (𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.)

Astro merely just glanced at the group before looking down and shaking its head apprehensively.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." (𝙵𝚊𝚢𝚘𝚕𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢.)

It nods before continuing to look forwards as everyone continued walking. Soon enough, they all reached the hotel, their legs feeling like giving out with how far they were. Indah bursts the door open, allowing everyone to enter.

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚎! 𝚆𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚝." (𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚕𝚢.)

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚠." (𝚉𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏.)

Fayola leads the others away while Indah and Morie go their separate ways. Alab looks back at John and questions him.

"𝚂𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝?" (𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚋) "𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜, 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎."

John just shrugs in response, his expression betraying nothing on what was going on in his head. Alab sighs and shakes their head. Oh well, at least they definitely had plans for the now empty bunker.

.. - / .-.. --- --- -.- ... / .-.. .. -.- . / . ...- . .-. -.-- --- -. . / ... . . -- ... / - --- / -... . / -- .- -.- .. -. --. / --. --- --- -.. / .--. .-. --- --. .-. . ... ... --..-- / .... ..- .... ..--.. / ... . . .. -. --. / - .... . / --- .--. .--. --- .-. - ..- -. .. - .. . ... --..-- / --. .- - .... . .-. .. -. --. / ... ..- .--. .--. .-.. .. . ... / .- -. -.. / ... .... .. - --..-- / .. ..-. / --- -. .-.. -.-- / -.-- --- ..- / .-- . .-. . / .-.. .. -.- . / - .... .- - .-.-.- / -- .- -.-- -... . / - .... . -. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / . ..-. ..-. --- .-. - ... / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. -. .----. - / .... .- ...- . / .-.. . -.. / - --- / - .... .. ... --..-- / .- -. -.. / . ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / -... . / ... --- -- . .-- .... .- - / -. --- .-. -- .- .-.. .-.-.-

Chapter Text

Static. Nothing seen through the swirling pile of lilac mist. Enlarge it. More static. Eventually, it clears, and a faint scene can be viewed through like clockwork.

Two people sitting in a tree. Not K-I-S-S-I-N-G, but more so discussing certain..matters.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 '𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖' 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜."

"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠..𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕."

"𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 ████'█ 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎?"

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 ████ 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢."

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝?"

"𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙼𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚎𝚡𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢."

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜, 𝚗𝚘?"

"𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚃𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚢𝚒, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝."

"𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢.. 𝚃𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 ████ 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝."

██████ takes a deep breath and musters up a response.

"𝚁𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝙾𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝."

The two cringe and shudder.

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕, ██████ ?"

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕? 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜! 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍! 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝."

████████ rubs the back of ██████'█ back in a comforting gesture. Even though it wasn't much, ██████ couldn't help but smile.

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚆𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕.."

████████ nods in agreement sheepishly and the two of them climb down from the tree and jog off to class.

Back to static. The memory fades back to the misty lilac, said mist slowly dissipating into the space beyond. Memory viewing was a pleasure, especially viewing others to get their character, but all pleasures are temporary. For keeping track of what was going on back on the island was a large duty, and entertainment; maybe for the morally ill.