Circus Baby
Daddy, you let the other children go see her, why won't you let me go?
"Welcome back to another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes," Google said.
Dee had made lots of mistakes, but he didn't really want to reflect on that. He tried to block them all out of his memory. It was better than having them plague his mind.
"We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don't get tired of the voice that you're hearing right now. Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text only, press 3. For other options, press 4."
Dee looked at the keypad in confusion. There...there weren't any numbers. Well, maybe they were doing a type of thing with a equals one, b equals two, and so forth. He pressed 'd' for other options.
"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. Thank you for choosing Angsty Teen."
Great.
"The elevator's stopped," notes the angsty teen voice. "You know the routine. Get out now, or whatever. Stay here if you want."
Dee didn't want to get out of the elevator, but he kind of had to. He reluctantly climbed into the vent. Good thing he didn't have claustrophobia.
"So, funny story, a dead body was found in this vent once. M'kay, so, not that funny, but, it's a story."
Dee looked around the vent cautiously. That was...great.
"Alright, so, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Host, and make sure he's on his stage, but, whatever."
Dee pressed the button. This was boring. Well, at least it was better than being attacked by the robots.
"Huh. I guess Host has better things to do. Let's zap him! That should be fun."
Half of Dee agreed with the disembodied voice while the other was asking what was wrong, with both Dee and the voice.
But the shock button didn't work.
"Let's check on Marvin, make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow."
This time, the light button didn't work.
"Great... Great... Great..." repeated a deep distorted version of the angsty teen.
"There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer," Google explained. "Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby's Auditorium."
Dee entered the vent, now on edge from the whole "malfunction" thing.
"Circus Baby had a busy day today. Let's check the light and make sure she's in proper working order."
Again, the stage was empty.
"Oh, Circus Baby! We aren't here to play hide and seek. Let's encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock."
"This'll really come to get me later," Dee huffed.
Baby was still missing.
"Let's try another controlled shock."
It didn't work. Just like in the control module.
"There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart."
"Oxygen?" Dee repeated.
The lights turned off. A different voice announced all the vents opening.
"I don't recognize you," a voice, presumably Baby, spoke. "You are new. I remember this... scenario, however. It's a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this, willingly. Maybe curiosity? Maybe ignorance. There is a space under the desk; someone before you crafted it into a hiding place, and it worked for him. I recommend that you hurry, though. You will be safe there. Just try not to make eye contact. It will be over soon. They will lose interest."
Dee scrambled underneath the desk and closed a wall-thing with holes in it. So now Dee was cornered and had a small sheet of metal protecting him.
A small purple eye appeared. Dee quickly broke eye contact, like he was advised. Then, the thing tried to pull the metal sheet out to get to Dee. Dee grasped the sheet and pulled it closed again. Finally, it seemed like the situation was over.
"When your guide comes back online, he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful," said Baby. "That you must restart the system manually. He will then tell you to crawl through Host Gallery as fast as you can to reach the breaker room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Host will not return to his stage anymore. He will catch you. The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Host Gallery, go slowly. He cannot see you, and can only listen for your movement. When you hear his music become louder, he is growing near. Listening for you. Wait and be still."
Dee nodded, unsure wether to trust Baby or Google.
"Thank you for your patience." Google seemed like he was now back online. "It seems like the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the primary control module.
That's exactly what Baby said...maybe Dee would trust her after all.
Dee crawled through the vents, still watching out for those creatures or any dead bodies.
"You will now be required to crawl through the Host Gallery using the vent to your left to reach the breaker room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground, and reach the other side as fast as possible, as to not disturb Host. I will deactivate myself momentarily, as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating..."
Great, Dee thought. Now I'm back on my own.
Dee slowly made his way through Host Gallery. He heard a small music box, and halted. Right in front of him was Host. Just an arms-length away.
Dee was just reaching the door when a loud noise made him jump.
"It seems you are taking a long time," Google boomed. "Please proceed as quickly and as quietly as possible."
Dee scowled and entered the breaker room.
"You may now interface with the breaker control box," Google told him. "Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel that you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily, until it is safe to reconnect."
In small flashes of light, Dee spotted another robot in the corner wearing a superhero outfit looking thing.
Dee looked at the monitor and started restarting it all.
"Sam, say hi to our friends!" The robot squealed.
Dee jumped, and put the monitor down. The robot was closer than before. Dee pressed a button to calm him down.
"Calm down and go back to sleep," a high pitched voice called. "No one is here."
Dee started resetting again.
"Hey Sam, I think that's the birthday boy over there. We should go give him a surprise!" The superhero laughed.
Dee pressed the calm down button.
"Shh, go back to your stage, everything is okay."
This repeated several times.
"Heheheheh.Well HELLO AGAAAIN~ ♪"
"I see you over there in the dark, c'mon now."
"Everything is okay. Let's go back to sleep."
"Hehehehe. I know you're over there somewhere."
"I know you're over there SOMEWHEEERE~ ♪"
"Oh, calm down, I think it was just a mouse.
Finally, Dee finished up the job.
"Great job," praised Google. "This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Host gallery with care, and we'll see you back here tomorrow."
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top