Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hello, you in the chair.”

A voice jerked her awake, and she found herself nested comfortably in a leather armchair. She glanced around the room quickly, trying to take in where she was and what was happening. It was a rather bare room, with a grid of overhead lights and brown, wood walls. The floor was carpeted, too. Wasn’t a particularly shabby place to wake up randomly with zero memories.
A small round table sat in front of her, with a little speaker placed atop of it. She stared closely at it, before reaching forward to gently pick it up and inspect it.

“You in the chair. Hello.”

The voice startled her and she almost flung the speaker across the room. She firmly placed it back on the table and positioned herself to the edge of her seat.
“Uh..hi.”

“I hope you wouldn’t mind taking a little survey for me?”

She sat silently staring at the talking speaker. What in the world was happening?
“Survey. Yeah, cool.” She said, staring down at her shoes dangling off of the chair. She wore knee high white socks and black, shiny mary jane shoes. She clicked her toes together a few times before looking back up when the speaker spoke again.

“Just five questions.”

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back on the chair. She noticed she felt noticeably tired, like she had just woken up from a thousand-year rest. She yawned.

“Now, I know you’re sleepy, but I bet it’ll make you feel right as rain.”

“‘Kay.”

There was a pause, about three seconds long. The room felt terribly silent, even though it was before.

“Who are you?”

“Is that question one?”

“Yes.”

She shifted in her seat. Who was she? She scratched her cheek. She looked at the fluorescent lights. She watched the speaker on the table.
She acted as if doing any of that would give her a hint.
“hmm..uh..”

“If you cant answer, just say “Unknown.”.”

“Oh, uh. Unknown.”

She fidgeted with her hands as she waited patiently for the speaker to continue. She tilted her head down and a lock of long dark brown hair lulled over her face. She pushed it back behind her ear with a sigh.

“In which US state or territory were you born?”

She was getting kind of tired of how slow this was going. She wanted to make it at least fun for herself.

“This one.” She said, crossing her arms.

“And which one is this one exactly?” The voice asked.
She frowned. She is not one for thinking ahead, she had just learned. She stuttered, rocking back and forth.
“Oh, haha. You got me- unknown.” She said, her voice tinged with sarcasm and boredom.

“Please name any US state or territory.”

“Alaska.”

The answer came to her almost mechanically. She blurted it out before she could even think of it.

“Alaska.” The voice repeated.

“What is Mr. Eagan’s favourite breakfast?”

“What the fuck? How should I know?” She said a little bit too confidently. The voice snapped quickly at her.
“No swear words.”
She reluctantly abided that rule. It Sounded stupid to her, but she didn’t care. As long as she got through this quicker.

“What is or was the colour of your mother’s eyes?”

The question made her weirdly sad. Even though she had only been conscious for what, five-six minutes? She had no idea why it got to her like that. She pushed the feeling down and carried on.
“Don’t know.”

Another pause.

“That’s unknown, unknown, Alaska, unknown, unknown.”

She couldn’t help but scoff at that lame rundown.
“Did I fail?”
A door on the other side of the room opened wide, and her attention immediately shot over to it, her joking demeanour switching quickly to caution.
A man stepped out from behind the door. He was adorned in a formal suit, and had his hair brushed neatly to the side. He clutched a clipboard at his side.

“Perfect score, actually.” He grinned.

Chapter Text

She saw the man across the room, and she tensed up when he begun approaching her. He sat down in a chair across from the table, and pulled out a binder, which he carefully placed on the table.
“Who am I? Who are you?” She asked quietly. He looked up from the binder and adjusted himself in his seat.
“Your name is Emmy A. My name, is Mark S. Now we are properly acquainted.”
Emmy stared at him wide eyed. Her suspicion was growing by the moment.
“What the fuck is this?” Emmy hissed.
“No swearing! ..you’ve been accepted for a position on the severed floor of Lumon Industries.” Mark said.
“Like a job? A job position?” Emmy asked. She knew she was just a child. How could she have a job?
“Yeah. So anyway-“
Emmy stood up and attempted to flip the table, but Mark patiently saved it. He sighed and pushed the table back.
“You’ll be fine, we won’t go hard on you. I know all of this is disorienting, it usually is. I went through something similar.”
Emmy sat back down and let out a hmph. It was of no use to fight it. She would have to tough whatever this was out.
“How about we leave this place and I show you around? Get you to meet everyone else?”
Emmy just nodded, and followed him out of the room. Outside was just a labyrinth of white hallways, and Emmy wondered how she could ever memorize where to go. After a while of walking, they approached an entryway that led to a rather large room, with four desks placed in the middle.
“Welcome to macrodata refinement!” Mark said, gesturing for her to walk farther into the room. As she did, she noticed two other people sat at the desks, who instantly whirled their heads around to see her. One man and one woman, who both stared at her like she was a unicorn.
Emmy struggled to maintain eye contact with any of them, and she ended up just staring at the floor.
“Hey everyone. This is Emmy A. She’s the new recruit for the Youth Program!” Mark patted Emmy’s back and it startled her. She looked back up to see everyone standing up in front of her. They began to speak with each other almost as if she couldn’t hear them.

“Why the fuck did they hire a five year old to replace Irving?”

“Dylan!”

“Well, how old is she?”

“I believe twelve?”

“Guys, stop. Can we let her speak?”

Emmy stood awkwardly as they all waited for her to say something. She didn’t quite know how to start. They all looked pretty kind, she noted. All waiting patiently for her. When Emmy didn’t talk, Mark spoke up instead.
“Emmy, this is Dylan and Helly. They’re going to be working alongside you as well.”
The two waved to Emmy and she did back, returning their smiles.
“How about we show you how to work your computer? Helly?”
Helly nodded and the two men retreated to their respectable desks. She smiled at Emmy, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. She led Emmy to her new desk, and ran down the basics of working the computer and how to refine. It interested Emmy greatly, and she eagerly did as she was told.
“Good morning, MDR! Is Emmy A. With us now?”
Milchick entered the room, and everyone turned to look at him except for Emmy, as she was too engrossed in her newly found work.
“Right here.” Mark pulled down the separator revealing a hard at work Emmy. It distracted her, and she looked up.
“Good to see you already dedicated,” Milchick grinned. “Now, how about we take that group photo?” He had a camera around his neck which he lifted. Everyone stood up, and Emmy followed. The three stood in front of the blank wall, and Emmy moved in to stand between them.
“Smile!”
Emmy gave an uncomfortable smile. When it was over, she saw Mark go over to chat with Mr. Milchick. She decided to listen in on it.
“Is there a video for Emmy A.?”

“Emmy A.’s outie chose not to record one. The reason, I cannot disclose with you.”

Chapter Text

Only a week had passed before Emmy started to get bored of this. She disliked how whenever she would leave, she would just blink and be in the same spot the next day. This daily routine made Emmy feel sick after each time she came back, and she spent around five minutes each day hunched over the toilet trying to puke. She never told anyone of this, as she knew they wouldn’t be of any help. Even if medicine was available, she felt it would do nothing to make her feel better.
As she stepped out of the washroom again for the first time this week, Emmy accidentally collided head first with Helly, and she spilled her hot coffee on Emmy’s hand.
“Oh- shit! Agh, I’m so sorry Emmy! Is your hand okay?” She leaned down lifted Emmy’s hand, inspecting it closely.
“Um..uh, I don’t know.” Emmy said, choking back tears. She knew it was definitely not okay based on how red and stinging it was. “Probably not.”
“There’s a first aid kit in the kitchenette,” Helly said reassuringly. Emmy had never been in the kitchenette before. She had always turned down her lunch breaks. But she would always steal glances of everyone else sat at that table together, or Mark and Helly having a private conversation by the counter. Even though it was a very anticlimactic room, Emmy anticipated entering it.

Emmy sat on the counter holding her wrist of the burnt hand as Helly went through the cabinets.
“Here we go,” she said, placing a Lumon branded box beside Emmy. She pressed her thumbs to two latches on either side which clicked open. She searched the first aid kit for some gauze and anti- infection gel.
“Will I ever get to go home?” Emmy asked quietly. Helly, who had begun to apply gel to her hand, spoke without looking up.
“You do go home. Every day at 5:00,” she said sternly.
“No, I mean like—actually going home. Seeing the outside, and my family.” Emmy said this like she was on the verge of tears. Helly stopped aplying the gel and looked up at Emmy, a hint of sadness and concern in her eyes.
“Not really. You just have to accept that this is your home. It took me a while to get used to when I first got here, but I know I belong here.. even if it was a bumpy road.”
She began to wrap the bandages around Emmy’s hand, and Emmy watched silently. When she decided it was getting a bit too quiet, she spoke up again.

“Have you ever been outside?”

Helly exhaled and continued wrapping Emmy’s hand. She seemed to pretend to not hear the question.

“Helly?”

“Yes, Emmy. Yes I have.”

“What was it like?”

Silence.

“What was it li-“

“All done. How about we head back to work now?”

-

It was around noon, and everyone was sat at the table, enjoying their lunch break. It was the first time Emmy actually joined them, and she sat with her fingers interlocked and resting on her lap. She could feel her hand itching, and she tried her best to ignore it.
“How’s the hand doing, Emmy?” Asked Helly.
“Fine.” Emmy sighed.
“What happened?” Mark questioned.
“Yeah, what happened?” Dylan chimed in.

“I just got burned with some coffee this morning. I’m okay, though.” Emmy lifted her bandaged hand and awkwardly grinned, then placed it back down in her lap. Everyone nodded, and started conversing. Emmy gazed at the corner, and she disassociated. The talking in the background faded to fuzz, and everything was blurry. She felt like she was getting sucked into a void.

“Emmy.”

What does grass smell like?

“Emmy.”

Is candy any good?

“Emmy?”

How comfortable is a bed?

“Eeemmyyyy..”

Do I have parents?

“Emmy!”

She was sucked out of her thoughts by the repetitive calling of her name. She jumped in her seat and clutched her chest.
“Oh, sorry!” Mark apologized. “You were spacing out a little back there.”
“Yeah, totally. You good?” Dylan asked.
Emmy took a deep breath and stood up from the table.
“I’m fine. I’m going back to my desk.” She blankly said. As she walked out of the kitchenette, the three all shared the same look of concern.
“You know, i’m really not fond of this weird youth program thing. It’s child exploitation.” Dylan exclaimed. “Her outie must have had a real fucking good reason to do this.”
“I know, it’s not really ethical, is it? I feel bad.” Mark sighed.
They all sat in silence for about a minute, all staring down at the table. Emmy’s faint computer clicks echoed into the room, filling a little bit of the quiet.
“I want to make her life here..liveable. In a place like this, it’s almost abuse to keep a child here.” Helly stated. Mark nodded, and Dylan excused himself to go to the washroom.
“Hey, why don’t we take Emmy to go see those goats? I’m sure she’d really enjoy that.” Mark suggested. Helly smiled softly.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Text

“Remember, this test will be 25% of your grade, so I hope you studied!” Mr. Allen yelled. Every student in the brightly lit classroom practically shook with fear as they picked up their pencils and put it to the paper.
The room was mostly quiet, except for the sounds of lead scratching the tests, or the shaking of a desk from someone using an eraser too hard.

“Psst! Em!” A girl with short black hair whispered to the other girl in the desk beside her. She took glances up at Mr. Allen, who was distracted by whatever he was doing on his laptop.
“Emmerson! What’s the answer to the first question?” She asked. The girl—Emmerson, lookdd up at her, her eyebrows tightly knit together.
“Think for yourself for once, Ella.” Emmerson growled under her breath. Ella sighed and threw her body over her desk, groaning.
“But Em! How am I supposed to know what an ecological interaction is?” Ella’s thrashing and hissing caught the attention of other students, who began whispering among eachother. This made Mr. Allen look up from his laptop with a furious face.
“Can’t you listen? You guys are what—eleven? Twelve years old? You should know better.” He gave every talking student a harsh glare before he met Ella’s eyes. Ella cowered under his gaze, and Emmerson could have sworn she saw his eyes bulging out of his head.
“ELLA! You’re going to take this test in the office!” Mr. Allen exclaimed, and Ella looked guiltier than a dog that had just destroyed a brand new couch. She stood up slowly and slid her paper off her desk, before leaving in a sulky manner. Emmerson felt bad, but she was glad Mr. Allen noticed. She didn’t even know the answers herself, but she couldn’t reveal that to Ella. She didn’t study a
word.

-

Emmerson waited at the bus stop trying to keep herself from freezing into an ice statue. Every day is seemingly colder than the last, and the almost inescapable small town did not make up for it.
As much as she hated it, it was home. As she waited for the bus to come, she liked to read the graffiti scribbled on the bench.

“FUCK KIER!” one says. That one always made Emmerson a little confused.

A drawing of a dog. Cute. She used to have a dog when she was little.

“hi how are you?” says another. Fine, she supposes.

Another drawing of a dog. It’s getting old now.

Emmerson looked up as the public bus whirred to the stop. She sat up and hauled her backpack over her shoulders, and stepped inside.
As she walked down the bus trying to find an open seat, she got shot a few dirty looks from complete strangers. People had never been particularly welcoming here, but never in this way. She just shrugged it off though because it’s a cold day and people must be angry at that. As she found her seat, she stared blankly out the window. Endless white. Occasional house. Neighbourhood. More white. It’s all just routine.
When Emmerson got off her bus, she began walking down the street towards her house. The area was so quiet it felt abandoned, although that was not the case. She could have sworn she saw someone staring at her from the end of the street. As she entered her home, a faint warm light trickled in from the dining room. She set her backpack down and walked toward it.
“Em? that you?” asked Emmerson’s mom. She wat sat alone at the table eating a single slice of cheese pizza. The dining room light was the only light on in the house, and it added an eerie vibe to the scene.
“Yeah, mom. It’s me.” She sighed. “Pizza again I assume?” She sat down across from her mom and took a slice from the box. Before she could begin eating, her mom slid her a piece of paper.
“I got this ad in the mail this morning.”

“Hm?” Emmerson picked it up. Before she even started, she could see the huge LUMON branding in the top corner. She adjusted it in her hands and began to read.

“HELLO FAMILIES OF KIER AND SURROUNDING AREA.”

“Don’t yell.”

“It’s in all caps!”

“IS YOUR CHILD BETWEEN THE AGES OF TWELVE AND SEVENTEEN? SEND US AN APPLICATION FORM TO GET THE SPOT IN OUR ALL NEW YOUTH SEVERANCE PROGRAM! WE COULD ALWAYS USE THE EXTRA HELP DOWN ON OUR SEVERED FLOOR, AND WITH YOUR CHILD’S, THEY CAN RECEIVE SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF ON THEIR RESUME. APPLY NOW!”

“You’re hurting my ears, Em.”

“What the hell?”

Emmerson had heard of this “severed floor” and what it was all about, but she never thought she might have a chance to be there. The idea sounded crazy, and she was very unsure of whatever would come if she took the offer.
“If I did this, what about school?”

“You don’t really need to go if you do this full time.”

Ohh..she’s so in.

“It sounds..fun! I could use the experience for if I need to get like. A job.” She just didn’t want to go to school, or see anyone there. She couldn’t believe her mom wanted her to do this. But that company was off putting. What did they do there? what did they make or manufacture? Probably everything.
“You can apply for me.” She said, sliding the paper back to her mom and starting on her pizza slice.
“It says when you apply you get results if you were accepted as “the lucky one” or not in a week. So we’ll see.”

-

CONGRATULATIONS!

Chapter Text

Ding!

“Good-morning Emmy A!” Mark stood outside the elevator and gave Emmy his kindest smile. She couldn’t stand the fact how she had to be chaperoned every time she was outside of MDR. Emmy replied with an eye-roll. She stepped out of the elevator and crossed her arms, and Mark gave her a discerning look.
“Don’t be like that. We have something special we’re doing today, and I want you to be well behaved.” The mention of something special caught her attention. What could it be? Were they rewarding her? Unlikely, but it couldn’t hurt to hope.
As she trailed behind Mark down the sharp cornered halls, she kept checking behind herself to see if they were being followed. She had an uncanny feeling wash over her. Emmy started walking faster so she could be beside him, because it made her feel ever so slightly safer.
“So uh..what’s this “special” thing you mentioned?” Emmy asked. She fidgeted with her hands behind her back. “You’ll see.” Mark shot her a quick grin before looking straight back ahead again.

-

Emmy put her feet up on her desk while she played with a pencil. She spun it around her fingers trying to do cool tricks with it. She flicked it back onto the desk and she sighed.
“Emmy, get your feet down or Mr. Milchick’s gonna beat you with a stick.” Dylan sneered. Emmy yelped and quickly brought her feet under the table and scooted in her chair. She frowned as she began working faster.
“He’s lying. Don’t listen to his evil lies.” Helly laughed. Emmy felt a little bit better to know she wasn’t actually going be be abused for putting her feet up. Mark stood up from his chair and checked his watch.

“Alright- Emmy, come on.” He motioned for her to stand up and she shut off her computer. Helly also stood up, but Dylan was still hard at work.

“Dylan, you coming?”

“Nah. That place freaks me out.”

The three began to walk to wherever they were going, and Emmy started to get a little uneasy. they started nearing halls Emmy had never even seen before, and her legs started to become tired.

”Do you like drawing, Emmy?”

Mark asked her. She looked up at him, then down to see he was holding out a small notepad and pen. Her eyes lit up in gratitude, and she swiftly accepted them.
“What’s this for?” She questioned, already scribbling.
“It’s your two-week anniversary since you got here. Thought i’d give you a present.” He smiled.
Helly gave him a puzzled expression.
“I don’t think two-week anniversaries are a thing.”
“They are now.”

As they continued walking, Emmy found herself a few steps ahead of them. They had just told her where they were going was at the end of the hall, so she didn’t have to worry. She could hear Mark and Helly talking behind her, but she was far away enough to not make out any words. She would have continued sketching if it weren’t for the light emitting from a nearby room that caught her attention. She stopped in her tracks and walked to the doorway.
There was a mess of hay and animal poop all over the floor, and Emmy stepped back in disgust. She saw something in the corner of her eye, and she noticed a small white goat standing in the corner of the room. She stood in wonder and shock at the creature, and slowly approached it, holding her hand out to attempt to pet it. The goat let Emmy touch it, and she ran her hand down it’s silky back. The experience was enthralling, and she enjoyed this even more than the notebook.
Oh, the notebook! She fumbled it out of her pocket and immediately began to sketch it, trying to encapsulate it in time so she could think back to this moment. When she was done, she held up her replica to compare it, and cringed at her inaccuracy.
“Emmy A.”
She practically jumped out of her skin at this sudden call of her name. She whirled around to see Mr. Milchick. She then realized how long she had been alone, and even though she were only a few feet ahead, Helly and Mark never caught up to her.
“Please step out.” He demanded. The goat bounded away and disappeared into a hole in the wall, which Emmy had never noticed until now.
“..Where’s Mark and Helly?” She asked.
“I sent them back. They told me you were here. Now, will you come with me back to MDR?” Mr. Milchick sounded a little bit more infuriated this time, which scared Emmy. She eyed the hole in the wall. Could she escape him that way? But where did it lead?
“Emmy A. Now-“
Emmy sprinted to the other side of the room and dove for the opening in the wall. She slid partly down a small tunnel, and she accidentally got poop smudged in her skirt and shirt. She could hear him yelling at her and asking her to come back, but she hurriedly crawled through the tunnel. Once she reached the end, she felt a new sensation on her fingers. She looked down to see..grass? She stood up and found herself in a huge room with grassy hills decorated with livestock.
“Emmy A! Get back here now!”
She could hear Mr. Milchick approaching through the tunnel, and she had to think fast. She ran as far and as quickly as she could up a hill, but her dress shoes weren’t made for running on grass. She slipped and fell, mucking up her nice clothes even more, and got green stains on her white socks. She flipped over and saw Mr. Milchick running after her. She quickly got to her feet and pushed her way through the cows and goats and sheep, before meeting another white wall.

When she turned, Mr. Milchick was right in front of her, breathing heavily and giving her a death stare. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her after him, and he was basically running her through the dirt.
Emmy screamed and fought, but she couldn’t loosen her wrist from his grasp. Before they entered the tunnel, Emmy noticed a group of people emerge from the hills, and they silently watched the screaming child get dragged away.

Chapter Text

All month Emmy had thought about her interaction with that goat.
She repeatedly scribbled it from memory in almost every page of her notebook, marking each piece of paper with it like a motif. She would always try to draw something else in it, to take her mind off things.
She attempted portraits of everyone. She never showed them off because she was too afraid of offending anyone.
She tried writing instead of drawing. She wrote a haiku:

Nothing makes me cry
Except for shitty haikus
I want to kill life

..yeah maybe not. maybe not.
She knew she wasn’t allowed anywhere without being chaperoned, so she decided to never leave, except only when she had to go “home.” She daydreamed, drew, wrote, but never typed. She neglected her work, and got more quiet than she used to be. Everyone became worried about her, and they all assumed it came from the incident earlier.
One day, Emmy had noticed a pair of scissors in the drawer. They seemed to call to her, for some reason. A brief idea swept across her mind, and she snatched them out of the drawer and tucked them in her skirt. She sat up and examined everyone to make sure nobody was suspicious, and she crept to the washroom.
Once she was in there, she yanked the scissors out of her skirt and held them firmly in her hand, staring at herself in the mirror. Then, slowly, she brought the scissors up to her head.

Snip.

A brown lock of hair drifted to the floor.

Snip.
Snip.
Snipsnipsnipsnip-

“What the hell are you doing?!”
Emmy whirled her head to the door to see Helly staring at her, mouth gaping in shock. Emmy was frozen in the middle of trying to take a big chunk of hair off, and she stared as she slowly let the scissors do it. She looked at herself in the mirror, and it looked like a raccoon had mauled her head.
Half of her hair was still long, but the other half only went to her neck.

“Jeez, Emmy, what’s going on with you?” Helly quickly approached Emmy and took the scissors from her, placing them on the counter. She took Emmy’s face into her hands and tilted her head, inspecting the cut side.
“I don’t think your outie will appreciate this very much.” She said it lightly and jokingly, but it was very much laced with concern.
“Maybe she always wanted short hair,” Emmy shrugged. “..i’m doing this out of spite, though.”
Helly sighed. She let go of Emmy and patted her on the shoulder.
“I’m not going to help you with the other half.” she
sighed. Helly turned and left the washroom, and Emmy stared back at herself in the mirror. She felt like she was watching herself from outside of her own body. Her hand trembled as she reached for the scissors again. Instead of to her head, she brought it to her stomach. She held the blade tip there for a long time, hands shaking.
she glanced back up at herself in the mirror. It was an excruciating sight. She wasnt trying to die. She just wanted to feel pain. She wanted to know how real she was. How much free will she had.
She took a deep breath.
“Are you done in there?”
Her eyes snapped to the door. She couldn’t seem the move the scissors away. She couldn’t.
The scissor’s blade swiped across her belly, and she immediately folded over and fell to her knees.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Owwww…wiee..

She curled up under the sink and clutched her stomach, writhing in pain. She couldn’t seem to make any noise or call for help for her mistake.
“How’s the hair coming along-“ Helly entered the washroom and saw Emmy sobbing under the sink. She ran over to her and crouched beside her before noticing the blood pooling on her shirt and the floor. She instinctively cradled Emmy and screamed for help.
“I’m sorry..I’m sorry..” Emmy whimpered, clutching her bleeding stomach.
Dylan and Mark barged into the washroom wide-eyed, and Helly screamed at them to alert Milchick.

-

Emmerson had stayed in the hospital for two weeks since the incident. Her hair stayed the same, with half of it cut off. She hated it. She hated that version of herself who did these things to her. Cut her hair. Sliced her stomach open. It was stupid. What did she do to deserve this? Why did she do that to herself?
“You’ll be out of the hospital in a couple days. Those stitches seem to be doing the trick and you’re in good spirits.” A nurse had told her. Emmerson didn’t want to go back there. She swore that if anything happened to her at work again, she would quit and end her disgrace of an innie’s existence. She was doing bad enough in school to accept the job, however if she knew this could happen, she would never even imagine.
As Emmerson looked up at the white ceiling, she prayed nothing would happen again.

-

The week Emmy had returned to her work, she was very closely monitored and checked up on. She noticed she had been getting frequent headaches and stomachaches again, and they gave Emmy a small bottle of medicine. But one day when Emmy forgot to take the medicine, she found herself hunched over the toilet once more.
She gripped the sides of the seat, her heaving stomach didn’t help with her healing scar. She wondered if she was only here to soothe her outie of all the pain she endured each day. That was plausible. She let herself droop to the tiled floor of the stall.
“Time’s up, Emmy. Five minutes in the washroom maximum.” Mark walked into the room checking his watch, and he paused as he looked up. He glanced around the room searching for Emmy before his eyes landed on her legs sticking out from under the farthest stall. He opened the stall door and stared down at the sulking girl, and crouched beside her.
“You can’t just live in here, y’know. You’ve hit the time limit every day this week.”
Emmy replied with a groan, curling up into a ball. Her sniffles faded into crying, and she ripped some toilet paper off and blew her nose with it.
“Everything hurts. Every day. All the time.” She cried. Mark reached down and patted her shoulder in an attempt of comfort, and Emmy grabbed his hand and shoved it off of her. He sat looking at Emmy for a while in silence before sighing and standing up.
“It would be nice for you to cheer up. Once in a while. We miss you. We miss how you were.”
He left the stall and walked out of the washroom, and Emmy could her the door shut.

We miss how you were.

Chapter Text

hey guys if there even is a guys because idefk if anyone reads this fic lol

I started writing this when i had spring break but now i dont so now i have no time to write this and no friggin ideas how to write the next chapter. I only have ideas for the future but not the present

Also secondly the fandom is dying and fast so i feel obligated to keep posting and it kills me
If any of yall would like to see any specific things happen in the next chapter i will gladly do ANYTHING as long as its not smut. Ive truly ran out of ideas and the plot of the show is slowly slipping away

anywho byee and i hope to see even just 1 comment
(No judgement zone. Im desperate)

Chapter Text

12:14pm.

Emmy had decided to skip another lunch break. She had stopped for a short amount of time, but she slowly began to sink back into her habit of getting consumed by her work. But on this specific day, she had planned it. She was going to try and escape.
It was a treacherous feat, for sure, as she could risk getting caught, or hurt, or disciplined. She knew she couldn’t actually leave the floor, but she was going to run as far as she could, which counts as escaping in her eyes.

She watched the others from the corner of her eye as she pretended to be busy. When she knew they weren’t paying attention, she rose from her seat and took broad steps toward the door. She looked down at the slit for a keycard, and she frowned. She needed a keycard! She was never granted one because she wasn’t allowed to leave on her own. Damn it! Nobody would just lend theirs over to her just like that, she would have to find a way to steal one. She walked over to the desk group and searched their drawers.
She knew sometimes they would put the lanyards in their drawers or on their desks when they weren’t using them, And after a while of rustling though supplies, she found Dylan’s keycard.
She looked behind her to see if anyone was watching, and then she ran to the door and inserted the card. When it slid open, Emmy sprinted out and ran aimlessly down a hall. She didn’t care where she would end up, just as long as she got far. If someone spotted her, her plan was just to keep running.

-

“And 5678..”

A young boy stood in the centre of the room, jumping and spinning and flailing. A woman leaned against the wall with her arms crossed watching him. The boy danced wholeheartedly to some jazz music playing quietly in the background.
When the music cut to a stop, he froze in a confident pose with his arms reached up to the ceiling.

“You’re getting there, Earnest W. do you think you’ll perfect it by Cold Harbour?” The woman said, pushing herself off the wall and walking toward the boy, her heels clicking against the wood panelled floor.
The boy looked up at her, heavily breathing.
“Well I don’t know.. it could happen sooner or later. If sooner’s the case, I doubt I can.”
The woman exhaled, then turned to leave. Earnest stood alone in the room, staring at the plain white wall. Being alone meant break time. He would always leave to the main department area, but this time he wanted to see where the door on the opposite side of the room went.
He slowly clicked it open and peered through. It was just a hallway, but a new one at that. He checked behind himself before entering, and shutting the door behind himself.

-

As emmy descended the halls, everything seemed to be repeating. They just got blanker and blanker. As she was running, she looked down at her feet at they sped, and she was a little bit intrigued by how fast she was. However, she didn’t notice the person around the corner, and she slammed into them, knocking her and them backward.
She looked up and saw someone unfamiliar. She would have got up and ran away if it weren’t for a key component about them.
He was another kid.

He seemed surprised about the exact same thing, and the two sat and glared at each other.
“You’re..” Emmy started.
“..A kid!” The boy replied.
She noticed he wasn’t wearing office attire. He wore a plain white tank top and dark green shorts, with plain white running shoes and socks.
“I didn’t know there were others! I thought I was the only one.” He grinned. Emmy offered her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Emmy. Emmy A. What’s your name?” She asked. He shook her hand happily, and replied.

“I’m Earnest. Earnest W.”

Chapter Text

“Earnest? That’s a nice name.”
“Heh, thanks. Yours is nice too.”

Both of the children had never actually seen another child before, so they were very drawn to each other. They sat side by side with their backs against the wall, engaging in conversation.

“What department are you from?” Asked Earnest, his dark brown eyes wide and expecting. Emmy shifted her weight and hugged her knees to her chest.
“MDR.” Emmy sighed, looking away from him.
Earnest seemed intrigued—almost ecstatic about her answer.
“I’m very familiar with that one. Though, I don’t remember you being a part of the macrodat uprising.” Ernest elbowed her playfully, and Emmy stared blankly at him.
“The what now?”
Ernest laughed, but then returned her expression.
“You don’t know about that? I thought they must have told you.”
Emmy shrugged and looked at her feet. Everyone was pretty secretive around her, as if anything that happened before she arrived was too inappropriate for her innocent ears. She was twelve! She could handle whatever it was.
“I guess not. They don’t tell me stories as much as you probably get told them.”

Ernest was quiet for a moment, staring sadly into Emmy’s eyes. He exhaled, leaning farther back into the wall and sliding down onto the floor.
“You’re pretty far from your department. Are you lost?”
Emmy kept her eyes on him as he kept his trained on the ceiling. She fidgeted with her short, choppy hair before speaking.
“I’m not lost. I’m trying to escape.” She said this with full confidence, even though she knew it was far from possible.
“Pssh. Good luck with that.” Ernest giggled, but his voice had a serious undertone that gave away that he must have tried to leave before.
“What about you? Where’s your department?” Emmy asked. Ernest sat up back beside her and pointed to the right.
“I’m just down that hall. I’m from choreography and merriment.”
Emmy leaned forward at this.
“Oh? What do you do there?”
Ernest laid back again and crossed his legs.
“I get to dance, and play instruments. It’s..fun.”

“What instruments?”

“I started guitar, but I doubt I can play it among everyone else. They’re going for a more..orchestra vibe there.”

“You should play for me some time!”

Ernest swallowed. Her comment made his face flush, and he scratched his head, trying to look nonchalant.
“Oh, yeah. If I see you again then totally.”
Emmy was about to start speaking again when the faint sound of her name being called echoed from the hall. She tensed up and almost leaned into Earnest as if trying to seek cover.
“Who’s calling for you?” Earnest questioned, slinging his arm around her shoulders. They both stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.
As the voice came closer, it was more intelligible who it was.
“Emmy! Where are you?”

uuuugh. Mark.

Ernest looked at her with a quizzical face, and she struck him with a sarcastic one.
“You should probably go to them..” Earnest frowned. He definitely hated the thought of Emmy leaving, but she had to. She couldn’t just hide forever.
She gave him one last look before she turned to leave, but Earnest grabbed her wrist. She spun around to face him. He took her hand and opened it, before placing a piece of tied blue string in it. He closed her palm into a fist and patted it.
“Wear it like a bracelet. So you can remember me.”

Emmy nodded, and hesitated for a moment. She pulled Earnest in for a tight hug, and he gleefully returned it.
The hug lasted longer than they both expected, and it was hard for them to pull away. And when they did, they held hands, smiling at each other.
“Emmy.”
She looked back to see Mark looming over them both, and she felt like a deflating balloon.
“Oh..hi.”
He held out his hand for her to take, and Emmy stepped away from Earnest to do so. She looked back at him with a torn expression, but Earnest returned it with a reassuring one, as if telling her all will be okay. They turned and walked down the hall, and she could feel his gaze in the back of her head. The second they turned the corner, all the feelings had depleted.

“What were you doing so far away? And who was that..boy?” Mark asked her though his teeth. She could only look down at the floor. She felt really bad for leaving. Everyone was kind to her, she got fed, it was comfortable. It was something she shouldn’t even had considered ditching.
“I..don’t know. I just felt like going somewhere. Not here. And that boy is Earnest. He’s my new friend.”
A layer of silence washed over them. Emmy waited nervously for his reply.
“Friend, huh?” He chirped. It didn’t sound stern or commanding, but more so..playful. But the tension rose again when she realized what he was implying with his tone.
“Eww..Mark..” Emmy grimaced. He patted her on the back and laughed.

“I’m just messing with you. I’m sure everyone will be glad to hear you found a friend.”

Chapter Text

Every day since Emmy met Earnest the hours seemed slower. Not a moment passed without him crossing his mind as she would always look down at the keepsake piece of string around her wrist, which she was surprised her outie kept on.
She was now forced to eat lunch, and more security measures were placed so she could never get far again.
All was boring until one Thursday at 10:05am, when Ms. Huang (who Emmy had attempted befriending in the past) had told her to follow her. As she paced closely behind her, Emmy couldn’t help but feel sick. Maybe she was getting some sort of punishment.

Although the room she was led to was peculiar. It was soothing to say the least. She walked into the room and looked around, then tuned to Ms. Huang.
“What is this place?”

“They decided the best thing for you would be a session of Family Visitation.”

Emmy froze. What? Family visi..okay. She really couldn’t give a damn about whatever family she had out there. But who knows? Maybe she’ll like whoever this is.
“Oh..who’s visiting?” She asked, scratching her side. Ms. Huang nodded to something behind her, and she gave a look of confusion. When she decided to turn around, she was met with the sight of a woman with brown hair tucked into a messy ponytail, wearing a causal grey dress and red heels.

“Emmy A, this is your mother Jenna.”

As Ms. Huang left the room, Jenna stepped forward and Emmy stepped back.
“..shall we sit, Emmy?” Jenna gestured to two seats in the middle of the room, and Emmy walked over and slumped into it just as her “mother” did.
They were quiet for a while before Jenna faded from a pleased expression to a fuming one.
“Listen here. I don’t like what you’ve been doing to my daughter. Cutting her hair? Getting her hospitalized? Can you even fathom how much pain you’ve made my little Emmerson endure?!”
She couldn’t be serious right now. First of all, what kind of stupid name is Emmerson? Sounds like a boy’s name. And secondly, she had full freedom over whatever she could do here. If she didn’t want little Emmerson to get hurt, she should have never signed her up for this shit show.

“Hah. I can fathom it. I can fathom it to the maximum.” Emmy practically laughed in Jenna’s face, which made her stand up and grab Emmy by the wrist.
“My Em was never this…cruel. She was never so uninterested. So apathetic.”
Emmy’s eyes widened and she felt a tinge of fear. But she wouldn’t let that overtake her.
“I’m not your “Em.” I’m not your daughter. I’m cruel, uninterested, and especially apathetic.” She yanked her wrist free and smirked at Jenna, who seemed to just get angrier by the second. She sat down in the chair and put her hands patiently on her knees.
“You’re a disgrace. I should pull her out of this so you can never come back. To eliminate that part of her mind.” Jenna snapped. This made Emmy feel nauseous. She was practically threatening to kill her. It made her body wash over with hatred, something she had never experienced seriously before. Before she even knew it, she had lunged at Jenna, and sent her toppling to the floor.
She planted punches into her face, screaming and hisisng. But the freeing feeling of violence flickered away as a security guard burst into the room and pulled her off of Jenna. She was still screaming and thrashing, cursing her out.
Jenna sat on her knees in the middle of the room, blood dripping from her nose and her hair messy and wild. She had a look in her eyes that was almost psychotic.

She was really in for it now.

Chapter Text

Emmy sat at the table in the kitchenette, rubbing the spot where her hand had been previously burnt a month earlier. It felt like the pain was still there, a remnant of a past experience.
She let her eyes blur as she rubbed it, her hand starting to sting. Her fingers drifted to the blue string tied around her wrist, and she picked at it before staring down. It was a dark blue, not navy, but dark enough. It matched her shirt.

She wondered if Earnest thought about her as much as she thought about him. Soft fingers placed themselves overtop of Emmy’s and she paused to look up at Helly, who was sitting across from her. She didn’t even notice she had sat down. “What are you thinking about?” Helly cooed, and Emmy could feel her eyebrows furrow. She was thinking about Earnest, but she couldn’t tell her. She knew Helly didn’t know who he was, and who knows how she’ll react if Emmy tells her.

But she couldn’t keep too many secrets. Emmy burst into tears and flopped over the table.

Helly pulled her hand back and rested her elbows on the table before sighing. She knew whatever Emmy was thinking of was probably a tough subject, so she stayed patient and didn’t ask any more. She placed a hand on Emmy’s head and stroked her hair until she calmed down.
“Walk…” Emmy whispered.

“Hm?”

“I want to go for a walk.”

Helly nodded before standing from the table. She helped Emmy stand up too.
“I hear you, kid. Let’s go.”

-

Helly had to practically run after Emmy down the halls as they went. It seemed she had a clear idea of where she wanted to walk to, as she turned every corner like she was following a GPS. This went on for longer than Helly would have liked. But it all stopped when Emmy suddenly froze. Emmy spun around, trying to look from all angles she was standing. Helly stepped closer and tried to do the same, attempting to see what all the fuss was about. But then she heard it.

Music?

It didn’t sound like it was being played from a speaker, or record player— just straight from the instrument.
Emmy seemed ecstatic about hearing this, and she sped down the hall in the direction of the sound.
“Emmy! Slow down now, young lady!”

Helly yelled after her, but Emmy had disappeared as she turned the corner. Great. She was supposed to be keeping a close eye on her, and now Emmy’s running free-range around.
She could hear the music getting louder, the soft plucks of guitar strings. It wasn’t an apparent song, just random chords. She could hear Emmy’s voice, and she turned to corner to see that familiar blue outfit. But she wasn’t alone. She was hugging a boy who looked the same age as her.
“Emmy! I’m glad I could see you again!” The boy exclaimed, resting his chin on her shoulder. Emmy seemed to do the same. The boy opened his eyes and pulled away as he made eye contact with Helly.
“Earnest? What is it?” Emmy asked. She spun around and yipped in surprise when she spotted her. “Oh..Earnest this is-“

“Hello-hello!” Earnest stepped forward and enthusiastically shook Helly’s hand. She was taken aback slightly by this, still processing that there was another kid other than Emmy.
“Oh, I was just working on a song on the guitar! Wanna listen?” Earnest gestured to an acoustic guitar laid on the floor, and he sat against the white wall and heaved it onto his lap.
Emmy eagerly sat beside him, and Helly stayed standing. Earnest adjusted his fingers, then inhaled as he was about to sing.

“…Kierrrr chosen one Kier-“

“Okay, that’s enough. Emmy, let’s go back.” Helly interrupted Earnest’s song, and he glared up at her, very hurt. Emmy whined as she was grabbed and tugged down the hall.
“I’ll see you again Earnest! I promise! I also really liked the song!”

Earnest sat with the idle guitar, staring where the two people had just left. He bit his cheek and looked down at the instrument in his lap, then continued to pluck random notes, trying to busy himself to prevent crying. He heard a door open and glanced over to his right, where a young woman with curly blonde hair stepped out.
“Earnest, what did I say about practicing in the halls? It echoes, y’know. Next thing you know someone follows the noise and-“
Earnest stood up and walked through the door past the woman, which made her stop talking. She let out a sigh before closing the door, leaving the hall silent.

-

“What took you both so long? ‘Get lost?” Mark asked them, fixated on his computer. Emmy groaned and stomped into the washroom, which made him look up and watch her. His eyes snapped to Helly, which was standing sheepishly. She sat down at her desk and leaned back in the seat, spinning a pen around her fingers.
“Did you know that there was another kid here? Cause Emmy sure did.” She stated, and Mark let out a half-exhale-half-sigh.
“I knew. She was with him when she ran away on Thursday. Some kid named Earnest.”

“I don’t want to break the news that there’s installed precautions so they can’t meet. I don’t know how she’s getting away with all this!” Helly exclaimed, leaning forward. She glanced at the washroom and huffed.
“I don’t think we should break any news,” Mark suggested. “She’s pretty smitten. I Wouldn’t want to…go against that.”

“I suppose,” Helly replied. “I just want her to be safe. I don’t want her to.. to go. Like Irving did.”

Chapter Text

“Ah, good morning Em! Happy birthday!” Jenna smiled at her daughter as she turned the corner of the hallway into the living room. Jenna frowned as she took in her outfit.
“Em, what’s this outfit? Why so much black?”
Emmerson groaned and sat down on the couch, crossing her arms.
“You barely see me in my normal clothes anymore, mom. Have you forgotten that I don’t wear skirts and dress shoes every day?”
Jenna smiled and picked up her phone. She scrolled through some stuff before looking up at Emmerson again.
“Oh, Em. I set you up with some kids near here for a hangout. I figured some new friends would be a great birthday present!” Jenna exclaimed. Emmerson felt her stomach drop. She wasn’t one for socializing. Especially with other kids.
“What! Mom I-“
Jenna shushed her daughter and Emmerson slumped over. Jenna perked up as the doorbell rang, and she rushed to open it.
“Those must be the kids! They’re here to see you!”
She opened the door and three smiley children stood there, all pleasantly awaiting Emmerson. Two boys, and one girl. The girl had tan skin and brown hair, with a blonde streak running through it and one blonde eyebrow. She had a bit of dirt on her face and she wiped it away with a dirtier hand.
One of the boys was taller, also had tan skin, but black hair. He clutched a brown box with both of his hands nervously.
And the other boy, which was around the same height as Emmerson, had dark brown skin and onyx hair that was curled closely to his head.
“You must be Emmerson! I’m Earnest. Earnest Wells. I heard we work with you!”

He stuck out his hand for Emmerson to shake, and she reluctantly did.

“Oh, and this is Cole,” He said, pointing to the taller boy.

“..hi.”

“And this is Lilliana! We just call her Lilli though.”

“Hey.”

Jenna shoved Emmerson out the door with the three kids, patted her on the shoulder and shut the door. Emmerson took a deep breath and gave them a fake smile.
As they begun walking down the sidewalk, Earnest turned to Emmerson.
“We started a band in Cole’s garage a week ago, but we don’t have a singer yet. Can you sing?”
Emmerson pondered the question for a while. She had never really sung, but it sounded like fun to join a band.
“I mean..Sure. I can sing for you guys.”
Earnest patted her on the back and grinned at his friends, which held thumbs up.
When they approached Cole’s garage, they had a set up with a drum set, two guitars, and a microphone. The three kids made their way over to respective instruments.
Earnest on the bass guitar, Lilli on the electric guitar, and Cole on the drums.
Lilli nodded at Emmerson to go up to the mic.
“What are we playin’ today?” Lilli asked. Earnest pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket and inspected it closely.
“Let’s do something classic today. How about Creep?”

“Creep? Again?” Cole bit his lip and nervously plucked the strings on his bass. Earnest rolled his eyes.
“Practice makes perfect, Cole-slaw. You know the lyrics, Em?”

Emmy clutched the microphone and stared back at him.
“Uhm. Yeah. Everyone knows Creep.”

Earnest grinned and clapped his hands. He began to play the guitar, the sound clear and almost soothing by the way he played it. As Emmerson’s turn to sing became closer, she exhaled.

“Uhm..when you were here before..couldn’t look you in the eye..”

As she kept singing, Earnest nodded toward her, trying to coax her out of her shell. She looked back at him and gave him a scared look. Lilli scowled at her which made her turn back towards the mic.

“What the hell am I doing heeere..I don’t belong he- why the fuck am I doing this.” Emmerson groaned. Cole looked up from his guitar and stopped playing, and the others did the same.
“Emmerson! What the heck!” Lilli hissed. Earnest stepped forward and calmed everyone.
“Guys, how about we skip to the bridge. Less lyrics. ‘Kay?”
Everyone nodded and began playing their instruments again. Emmerson decided to just embrace this. Why the heck not? Creep was a great song.
“Shee’s..running out the door…”

“She’s running..”

-

“I don’t understand why Emmy’s been so distant lately. From the work..from us.” Helly breathed. Dylan shrugged.
“It’s because she’s running away all the time. If we actually made an effort to keep her from getting out, maybe she would appreciate her life here more.”
Mark glanced over at the washroom door.
“There’s not really a life to appreciate. I don’t blame her.”

Chapter Text

Okay so this isnt a chapter again because I wanted to do a bit of a vote for whatever the next chapter will focus on because I wanna know what the people want! Here are the choices:

A chapter from Earnest’s POV
A chapter from a new character’s POV
Creepy ortbo chapter
A chapter with more canon characters (ex. More dialogue and povs etc)
New character(s) introduction
fluff to ease the pain
sharp stinging angst
goats

Those are kind of specific but I have stuff in mind I just dk what to do next
And if yall are yearning for someone to appear that hasn’t yet please run that by me I will be very glad to add them into the next chapter (depending on context of course)

Hope to see some comments!!

luv ya byee x

Chapter Text

The five minutes were up for Emmy’s daily washroom sulking time. Helly leaned on the doorframe with her arms crossed watching Emmy lay on the floor in a starfish position, staring up at the ceiling without any emotion.
“God, Emmy. Every day you lean more and more into the angsty teen stereotype.” She teased. Emmy’s head snapped to look at her, and her face changed from no emotion to all emotion. She bared her teeth and scowled, clearly angered by her presence.
“Leave me be. I hate the stupid timer.” Emmy hissed, flipping over so her back was facing the door. Helly sighed and walked over to her, then put her hands on her hips.
“If you stay here forever you’ll have to listen to the sound of peeing. forever. because you’re in here. Forever. Listening to pee.”
Emmy sat up panicked and fixed her hair, which was growing out now and reached her shoulders. She stood up and took a polite pose, with her hands tucked behind her back.
“I don’t want that. I really don’t.”

“Then shall we?” Helly gestured toward the door. Emmy reluctantly passed her and made her way into the main space. She froze when she locked eyes with Mr Milchick, who was wheeling something out near her desk.

“Emmy A! To celebrate your accomplishment of reaching 75%, I’ve rewarded you with a Music Dance Experience.”
Emmy walked over and inspected the music card he then handed her, and she inspected it with great care, trying to pick whatever sounded the least maddening of genres.

“Uh..Defiant Jazz?”
It sounded calm enough. Hopefully.

“Shit!” Dylan whispered, and Emmy glanced at him. Her stomach started to turn, thinking she made a bad decision. She shrugged her shoulders to let him know she had no idea what kind of consequence this could bring.
She was allowed to choose an instrument to play while the experience happened, and she decided to choose a tambourine. She didn’t really want to play it, but her mind wandered to Earnest, who she thought would probably be impressed if she could play it.

“Let the Music Dance Experience commence!”

jazz filled the room, and the overhead lights started to flash new colours. everyone just stood in place while Milchick circled the room trying to get them to dance.
“I don’t hear enough tambourine!” He yelled. Emmy just stared down at it despite her earlier thoughts. It would be easy enough to improvise. She just lifted it and smacked it once, and the sudden sound made her flinch. Everything happening in this moment was so much to process, and Emmy didn’t notice Milchick approaching her. Her eyes refocused to reveal him dancing weirdly and creepily in her face. The sight spooked her so much she swung the tambourine at his face without thought.
He luckily dodged while dancing to the side, and Emmy stumbled backward, accidentally falling into Mark. He caught her and helped her up.

“Why aren’t you dancing?” Emmy asked, referring to everyone else as well. Mark shrugged and looked around, a hint of unease in his eyes. She could see the same look on everyone’s faces.
“Well..why aren’t YOU?”
Mark started shuffling toward her which made Emmy grimace. He then started poking her all around, trying to purposely annoy her. “Yeah, Emmy! Dance.” Helly cheered. It felt like her head was going to explode with the loud music and flashing lights, and they weren’t making this more pleasant at all. “Earnest would be disappointed if you didn’t dance.” And without persuasion, she quickly threw herself into thrashing dance moves. She needed to know how to dance for him, too, above music. The dancing actually helped release her stress. Everyone stopped and stared at her as she moved like she was being shaken by an earthquake. Even Dylan turned around from his desk to watch, after he was allowed not to participate after the last incident. “Emmy..Em..” Helly whispered to her. The music stopped and the lights flickered back to the original fluorescent white. Emmy still remained dancing, throwing herself around and convulsing on the floor like she was having a terrible tantrum. It wasn’t even dancing at this point, just meaningless squirming. “Emmy, it’s over. You can stop..” “Haaah..hah..dance! Daaance!” Emmy breathed. DAAANCE!!!!!!

Chapter Text

It took Emmy just one month until she wanted to leave.
It took Earnest five months.

Gilda, 9 years.

-

“Are you afraid of what’s outside?” Gilda had asked, just a day after her 9th birthday. If she had even known what a birthday was. The man sitting across from her with soiled clothes and a brow seemingly forever knitted together stared her down for what felt like a millennium.
“..Of course.” The response was delayed and sounded like it was made up on the spot. However Gilda had no previous knowledge of whatever was outside, so she wasn’t to judge his view.
“What is there to be scared of?” She replied, leaning in closer to the man. He looked away from her for a moment before looking back at her.
“Alright, story time.” He let out a low laugh, pushing her playfully, making Gilda fall sideways onto the grass they sat on. Gilda sat back up and fixed her eyes on him, patiently listening for his next words.

“Hm..there was once a young little goat..”

-

This little goat was very curious, more curious than all the other little goats. She would always run off from the others because she always wanted to go on her own and discover new things. But the little goat would always return home, because she had friends that would convince her to stay.
But one day, the little goat wandered too far. Too far to return home to her friends. She came across another herd of goats very similar to hers. However the goat in the other herd that was as small as her was not as curious as her. Not as kind or caring. But she looked just like her, as most little goats do.
The little goat explained to the herd how she was far from her friends, and wished to return home. But they would not let her. Instead, they..

“GOBBLED HER UP!”
Gilda gasped and her eyes widened. An unexpected turn in the story.
“But why would they do that?”

“I’m not done with the story, Gilda.”

-
Once she had been eaten, the meaner little goat wandered over to the herd where the nice little goat came from, and since they looked so similar, the little goat’s friends were all overjoyed to have their friend back. However, she had sinister plans to gobble them up too.
After days of pretending to be kind and caring and curious (which she hated) the time had come to eat them. But when she was about to strike, one of the goats, a black one, had noticed it was not her.
“Spit out my friend!” Cried the black goat. “You are a phony!”
The other goats did not believe the black goat when he said she was not their friend.
“Our friend is right here,” said a grey goat. “She has not been gobbled up.”
But the black goat persisted. The black goat took his horns and stabbed the phony goat, and she spat out the little goat.
They could not believe they didn’t know it wasn’t their friend. They hated the black goat for stabbing the other goat, as they had taken a liking to her. They banished the black goat away from the herd, so he was never seen again. The little goat felt bad for venturing so far, and because of this, her dear friend was gone forever.

-
“That’s..a sad story, Liem.” Gilda pouted. “Is it true?”

“True?” Liem asked.

“Yes, did the mean goat eat the kind goat?”

Liem shrugged.
“In the story, yes. But if this is based on a true story, I doubt a goat could eat another.”

“But a goat could impersonate another?”

“If they looked the same. Lots of goats look the same.”

Gilda exhaled and flopped onto her back, staring uo at the bright white lights that lit up the large grassy room.
“What’s the moral?”

“Of the story?”

“Mhm.”

Liam scratched his head and laughed.
“I think it’s telling you how if you decide to leave where you are welcomed, you may never get to be welcomed again. At least that’s my interpretation.”

Gilda grimaced, puzzled. She didn’t really get it.

“See you tomorrow, Gilda. It’s 5:00 o’clock.”