Chapter 25 – Familiar Faces
As the Mudokons reached the front of the limousine and asked us to step out, I leaned to Abe and told him that one of the Mudokons was none other than Dave. The same Mudokon that had been by my side for most of my first journey across Oddworld. The same Mudokon that I had shot dead not two weeks ago. Abe said that I was being ridiculous, and that it couldn't possibly be him. He had a point. What were the odds of us meeting here, after all? Then again…
"Excuse me," I said to the familiar-looking Mudokon. "Can I trouble you to ask what your name is?"
"Well, we're not supposed to talk to the customers actually, sir." He replied. "Mr. Landley forbids it." He then hushed his voice to a whisper. "But if you really want to know, it's 276-442-B:Dave."
I stared at the Mudokon blankly for a moment. Could it be? Was it really Dave?
"Dave?" I said. "Don't you recognise me? Alan?" He squinted at me for a couple of seconds, then took a step back.
"A-Alan?" He asked. "Oh... my-Really?"
"It's me Dave." I smiled. "It's really me." Dave's face went pale, and he started grasping at his forehead. Suddenly, he collapsed to the ground.
Jangum and Abe came over quickly to help the confused Mudokon to his feet. They were both incredibly confused.
"Alan, is this really Dave?" Abe asked. "The guy who's head I spent three weeks inside?"
"This is the Mudokon that was present at Abe's death, isn't it?" Jangum asked. "Resurrected by the re-writing of the timeline."
"That's him." I chuckled. "I can't believe it, that's him!" The other Mudokons seemingly ignored the commotion. Instead, they worked silently on the limousine behind us. But the blind one was 'looking' in our direction, as if he knew that Dave was unwell.
Once they had gotten Dave to his feet, I ushered Abe and Jangum to give us some privacy. They agreed, and walked over to the other side of the car. I sat down on the ground, and signaled Dave to do the same. He looked around to make sure nobody would catch him slacking off work, but then he joined me.
"Alan," He said as he sat down. "I don't understand. How are you still here? Didn't you save Abe and go home?"
"I did." I replied. "But then he brought me back. That's him, right there." Dave gasped.
"Seriously?" He asked. "That is Abe? The saviour of the Mudokons?"
"Sure is." I assured him. "But let's talk about you, Dave. What can you remember?"
The Mudokon sighed, and then began to explain. It seemed he could remember everything about me. Right from the moment he first saw me at Rupture Farms, he recounted our entire journey. How he met me, where we'd traveled.
"…And then the Sligs saw what happened." He said eventually. "They took the two of us away. We were in court the next day, I remember. Then we were sentenced, and you…"
"What's the matter, Dave?" I asked, as the Mudokon began to tremble.
"You killed me!" He shouted suddenly. "You shot me, Alan."
"Oh, don't worry, Dave." Abe shouted over. "He did the same to me!"
The other Mudokons still worked silently, although the blind one was now drawing his finger across his neck, and pointing to the building.
"Dave, you might want to quite down a bit." I said. "He'll here you, you know."
"Sorry." Dave said, calming down. "I just can't believe you shot me, Alan."
"I had to." I told him. "I was forced, remember?"
"I guess." He admitted. "But it was so strange. Dying, I mean. It felt like I'd just blinked, and there I was, back at Rupture Farms, three weeks earlier. Everything had just… not happened. But I could still remember it."
I sighed, and stared off into the distance. I still couldn't believe I had found Dave. But how had he ended up here? I decided to ask him.
"Well," He began, ready to tell me all about it. "After being brought back to life, I went to speak to somebody about what had happened. A psychiatrist of sorts. A Slig of course, he listens for about a minute and then calls for me to be taken away. Says I was a 'lunatic'. Later on, they decided to sell me off. It's what they do to most Mudokons that are unfit for work. They auction us away. Mr. Landley here bought all five of us. Those three there are T:David, S:Matt and C:Peter. The blind one's called A:Nelson. 'No Eyes' Nelson, we call him. But he's a great guy, really."
I looked over at Nelson, who fiddled around with the car's engine. It kept wobbling around as he calibrated the hovering mechanisms. This made it quite difficult for the others, who were trying to measure the vehicle for a new roof.
"Why don't you just leave?" I asked Dave. He chuckled, and looked down at the ground.
"Oh, if only it were that simple, Alan." He sighed. "Where would we go? How far do you reckon we'd get?"
"But surely it's better than being here?" I said. "You're not even getting fed unless you do a good job."
"Well, it's quite motivational, actually." Dave assured me. "More likely to do a good job if you know it's your only chance of food."
"I think it's disgusting," came a voice from the other side of the car. Jangum walked over to where Dave and I sat. Abe was not far behind her.
"Well, there's nothing you can do." Dave sighed.
"That's not true, Dave." Abe said. "Look at me. I escaped from Rupture Farms, and I took ninety-nine Mudokons with me."
"Some accounts say two hundred and ninety-nine." I pointed out.
"Perhaps the details are a little hazy," Abe nodded. "But the point is, I can get the five of you away from here."
"But how?" Dave asked. "Your car isn't going to be ready for hours yet."
"Dave." Jangum said confidently. "You have done a great service to the Rebellion, you know. You helped Alan to cross Mudos, and thus ensured the failure of Operation: TASM."
"Operation what now?" Dave asked, puzzled.
"I'll explain all that another time." She answered. "But you, Dave, have helped us out immensely. We will repay you by getting you and your friends out of here. There may even be a place in the Rebellion for you…" Dave smiled, and nodded.
"Ok." He said. "I don't know what this Rebellion is, but I'll be glad to back by your side, Alan. And Abe, sir, I'd be honoured to fight alongside the saviour of the Mudokons. And you, Jangum… well, any friend of these two is a friend of mine."
"So are you saying you'll come?" I asked. Dave simply grinned. I knew what that meant. After all this time, I'd finally found him. The Mudokon that had saved my life on more than one occasion. We were back, and now we had Abe and Jangum, and a whole Rebellion by our side.
Getting to our feet, Dave and I led Abe and Jangum over to the other four Mudokons, who were still working hard on repairing the car. We went around and whispered to them the news. As soon as the car was ready, we were off. We were making an escape.