Paige was aggressively shoved out of the building, forcing them to face plant directly onto the hot pavement. They peeled their face off the road and woozily stood up. Another day, another failure for Paige the poor little object. They just couldn't seem to find a job! The second anyone heard their name during an interview, they were almost immediately turned away! They just didn't understand, had they done something wrong? Did they somehow get on a government watch list without realizing? It couldn't be just because they were an object right? Plenty of objects worked at the companies they were trying to join!

What was wrong with them?

Nothing answered them except a growling stomach and a pounding headache. Ugh, things were bad enough as it was... if it kept up like this...

Paige didn't want to think about that. There's no way they'd let themself starve to death. That's too dumb. Too lame. And there was so much more they wanted to do in life; they couldn't just sputter out now like a dying flame! It wasn't fair! It wasn't...

The ground swung beneath Paige's feet, and for the smallest of seconds, they could've sworn they saw someone watching them from behind a corner.

Then they blacked out.

It didn't last long though. Not this time at least.

Paige jolted out of their stupor, finding themself on the ground at the feet of a very tall and very upsetting looking man. A human, by the looks of it, although not like any human Paige had ever seen. He was skeletal and his skin was rancid looking and his hair was stringy and a much more dulled shade of blue than normal. They didn't like it, not one little bit.

The man offered them a hand to stand up with. Paige hesitated a moment before accepting.

"Th... thank you... sir?"

"You're welcome, Paige the Sketchbook."

Their heart skipped a beat. "How did you almost know my name?"

The man's face faltered for a moment, in a way like he realized that he'd answered incorrectly on a test he'd just turned in. The moment passed and he continued in his thin, broken voice, "I've been watching you for quite a while Paige. I've seen your plight," he gestured to the objects generally disheveled appearance. "And I would like to help."

Watching..? Oh gods... "O- oh... er, thank you mister, but I don't know if there's much you can do... and I don't want to just steal money from random strangers, I-"

"You misunderstand."

The man rested a hand on their shoulder and leaned in. "I have a job for you."

Paige almost passed out again, but was saved by the sudden spike of pain shooting through their stomach. A job? Like, a real job? Money? Food? Oh, maybe even a house one day! The thoughts raced through their head and they started giggling like a child without realizing it. They soon tipped forward however, being narrowly caught by their new employer.

"Agh- I'm sorry. I'm not in the best of shape right now," they slurred drowsily.

"You're coming to my house."

"H- Huh...?"

"You'll be working there anyways. And I can't have an employee of this condition."

Paige couldn't really focus after that. The last thing they remembered was crawling into the back of a car and curling up to sleep. Maybe they were just being foolish or desperate, but regardless, they would have been disturbed at how easy it was for them to be lured away, if they weren't too miserable to think.

...

Paige read over the script as they shoveled sugary sweet cereal into their gaping maw. They had to admit, this wasn't exactly what they'd imagined, even after they were told they'd be teaching the man's children. Oh right, ROY'S children. They'd kinda just pictured some sorta live in tutor or something, not... singing? Oh well.

There were some weird pauses in the script, but Roy HAD promised that the kids would know how to fill in the gaps. They also noticed how the last page seemed to be torn off? Which was suspicious, but not enough for them to leave. Not yet.

Besides, they weren't even sure if they knew HOW to leave. The machine this world took place in seemed to really only be controlled by Roy, at least in terms of who could come in or out. Sure, Paige had figured out how to warp things a bit, like Roy said they could. Heck, it was even how they got this wonderful cereal. But they were still perturbed by the lack of apparent exits.

And the lack of apparent children.

Where were those kids anyway? Surely they'd do better to teach them once they got to know them better? Paige didn't understand why Roy felt the need to hide them away. Still, they had a feeling that if they went snooping where they weren't supposed to, they'd be in big trouble. They might describe the aura coming off of Roy as evil, if they were a meaner person. Paige didn't consider themself a coward, but they did put high value on their well-being.

Paige took note of some strange oddities in the script as they scanned it again.

"Green is not a creative color? Huh. Y'know, they've actually done various studies and concluded that it is in fact one of the more creative- who am I talking to?"

The object suddenly felt a bizarre oppressive atmosphere weigh down on them, as if the room was shrinking and also filling the air with a deadly gas. Their lungs felt weak and empty, like they weren't filling up enough. Their heart raced and pounded and their eyes watered and-

And as soon as it had started, it was over.

Roy opened up the door behind Paige, giving them a minor heart attack.

"You'll be performing soon," he smiled emptily.