A/N: Back with another chapter! Well, start into a new day, with a new opportunity opening up for Riley... and a bit of conflict to defend her as well...
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Inside Out.
That night in the chamber was definitely different from all the time Riley had spent in complete blackness. For the most part the darkness was there, but to her surprise, as time went on, she saw occasional snippets of color in her vision. Breaks from the darkness that she had become accustomed to seeing.
For a few moments, she felt frightened. She had never seen color and shapes like this when she had slept before, including those brief moments of wakefulness when she had been sleeping for all that time in her containment chamber... however long that had been.
Memories. All the fun that she and Joy had had the day before.
She saw them, eventually appearing as clearly as they had happened though from an onlooker's perspective, but she was still asleep. It then hit Riley as to what, exactly, was going on. Her fear and unease changed into excitement.
I'm... I'm dreaming! Riley thought to herself, her mind filling with a childlike glee. So this is what a dream is!
The shock that there was actually something in her sleep besides the comatose darkness brought a further realization as the view changed a bit. She wasn't seeing these things from her eyes. She saw it in third-person. she could see herself.
Riley felt stunned. Was that how dreams were supposed to happen? Did other emotions dream like that? She was part-emotion and part... human, that's what Panic had said. What was a human, anyway? She had intrinsic knowledge that they creatures more limited than the emotions and other Terracordian citizens, unfortunately having herself take on a good number of their traits. LIke being duller in color, it seemed. Did she dream like a human too? Or did both humans and Terracordians have the same way of dreaming?
And then the dream changed. She saw herself and Joy, as she would have expected, and also, to her surprise, Joy's other friends. But what really surprised Riley wasn't just that they were there, but that they were all in Disgust's living room.
And the other emotions liked her. They were talking and laughing and interacting with her as if she was one of them as if she had been part of "Team Happy" their entire lives. Even Fear, the one who had run away terrified at the sight of her!
Was her mind saying this could actually happen? That one day she might be accepted as belonging with them?
She wasn't so sure. But dang, did she wish it. Tears began to prick at the edges of her eyes at the thought, and she wiped them away. At least she had Joy. As long as Joy was around, she'd be fine.
With that thought echoing in her mind, Riley's eyes slowly opened as she was roused from her slumber. She was still suspended in the confines of her container, the wires feeling heavy on her skin. She glanced down, noticing Joy curled up in her sleeping bag. The yellow emotion's body glowed in contentment.
Riley couldn't wait to spend another day with her. But first things first—she had to get out. And with her body both connected to wires and hovering in the suspension fluid, it would be difficult if not impossible on her own.
"Joy? Um, Joy?". Still slightly groggy, she tried to stretch one of her arms and tap on the glass a bit, hoping that would wake her friend.
Joy rubbed her eyes a little at hearing Riley's voice, blinking her vision into focus before she noticed her friend was awake. "Riley! Good morning!" She leapt up out of her sleeping bag, grinning. "How'd ya sleep?"
Riley couldn't help but feel excited, energy surging through her as if some of Joy's boundless enthusiasm had invigorated her. "I think that dreaming thing happened!"
Joy's jaw dropped before she brought her fists close to her face and dancing in place as she let out an excited squee. "You actually dreamed! Or dreamt, but, you had a dream!" She eagerly got up to Riley's level at the container. "So, what was it about?"
"Well, I saw us," Riley admitted. "And we were with your other friends and... they liked me."
"They did?" Hearing that had Joy's heart surge with hope.
Riley nodded, unable to help a hopeful smile creeping up on her face.
"It's gotta be a sign!" Joy said with an eager grin. "They'll grow to love you eventually, I know they will!"
Riley was about to respond before the lab door opened and Delight came into the room, waving brightly at the two.
"Oh great, you two are awake!" She beamed, skipping over with a speed that rivaled her daughter's. "I figured I'd come before the rest of the team to check up! How you doing, Riley? Sleep well?"
"I feel great!" Riley said, wishing that she could bounce and move as much as they could (though still being in the container prevented much of anything regardless of her created flexibility). "And I even had a dream!"
Hearing that warmed Delight's heart. "That's wonderful! So glad to hear that, sweetie!" Delight beamed, noticing Joy smile as she used the same indearment term for Riley as she did for her daughter. She hurried over to the controls and started unhooking all the wires in the containment chamber and turning off the suspension energy. As the containment chamber opened, she called over. "Oh, Joy? I picked up your books this morning so you'll have them when school starts in a couple weeks."
"Oh, thanks Mom!"
Stepping out of the container and stretching, grateful to be out in the world again, Riley paused. She looked at Delight in complete confusion. There it was, another new term.
"What's school?"
Joy and her mom should have expected this reaction. Although Riley was nearly at the same height with her, it was almost easy for them to forget thst she had been formed with a physical structure like that of a human child. 11 if she recalled what Panic had mentioned in terms of Riley's exact age. With that number of years mashed into the process with the know-how of someone who had just been born yesterday with a limited scope of intrinsic knowledge, even a toddler would already know way more than her.
But it wasn't Riley's fault. Aggravation wanted to make her at a specific age where she was still adolescent, but able to be more mature in comparison and interact on her own at a basic level. But he didn't count on Joy befriending her and opening her eyes to what Terracordis was like. Even if school did exist no matter what civilized world they were on.
Delight shifted a bit. "Oh, school...well, it's a place where people, young or old, go to get educated."
"To learn," Joy said simply.
Riley's eyes widened in amazement. Somewhere where one could learn about everything? Like practically the whole city itself? Or more than that?
"It depends on what age you are do you go to a specific school," Delight explained. "It's called a grade, where they place you with other people your age."
"Like me," Joy gestured to herself. "I'm an adult, and this year I'm going to be in college."
"What grade is that?"
"Well, it's not exactly a grade. It's an adults' school me and my friends attend. I guess you could say it's kind of a 13th grade."
Riley absorbed this newfound knowledge, nodding to both of them even though she was unsure what a "13th grade" was. She nearly forgot that Joy was much older than her, despite their close heights. The blonde was well aware she herself was a child despite being a little taller than Joy, but Joy managed to reach toward her level of understanding. Unlike most of the adults that had worked on her, Joy knew how to act like a kid and be able to connect with one like they were on the same level.
"Wow, this school sounds pretty interesting," Riley commented.
However, her expression deflated when she glanced at Joy. The yellow emotion noticed the worried expression on her face.
"Does that mean you'll be leaving me?" Riley asked quietly.
At that moment it hit Joy that as soon as the semester would begin, her morning classes would prevent her from spending more time with Riley. Meaning their meetings when she woke up would be cut short, Riley would probably be cooped up in the lab while Joy was roaming her campus, not the mention they would miss each other like crazy! Worse, Riley would feel so alone and depressed, probably seeing nothing more than the confines of the lab all day. Unless one of the Council members took her out to get something to eat or show her around, but with Aggravation in charge that didn't seem likely.
Joy suddenly saw the negative side of going to college, and she turned to her mom with a helpless expression. Delight bit her lip, her eyes glancing downward in thought, unsure of how to fix this. There was no way Joy could keep skipping days just to accompany Riley, and neither were sure that simply bringing her along was the best idea. And besides, she was only eleven, like someone from elementary school.
Delight's mind halted as realization dawned on her. A smile formed on her lips as she looked both at her daughter and at Riley.
"You know," she began cheerfully, "it's never too late for you to go to school."
While Joy's expression glowed even more than thought possible, Riley appeared uncertain as she gawked at her.
"Me?" she squeaked. "School?"
"That's not a bad idea!" Joy piped up, her eyes shining at the possibility of Riley getting to learn more about their world. "I mean, it'll be a great way for you to meet more people, and then they'll start to like you. Soon enough my friends will starting making dates just to hang out with you too once they realize how great you are!"
Despite the cheeriness, Riley was far from cheerful at the thought. She still remembered all the looks and whispers that had been made in her direction the past two days. And to find herself in a place where she would be surrounded by those her age sounded almost terrifying. If adult Terracordians thought she was strange, what would their kids think?
She nervously rubbed her arm, looking down at the floor with uncertainty. "Gee, I don't know..." she mumbled.
Joy could tell she still feared the possibility of rejection. After that call from her friends last night, the yellow emotion was beginning to feel afraid of that as well.
But with a little more positivity and self-esteem, and the recollection of last night to further their confidence, she just knew Riley would break through. Just like she was sure the elementary kids would become interested in Riley and hopefully become her friends. She still had high hopes that Anger, Disgust, Sadness, and Fear would do the same. They just all had to learn to see Riley the way she did, and not let their human prejudice get in the way.
"Oh, come on!" Joy said, nudging her friend. "What's there to be afraid of?"
"Um..." Riley swallowed. "Besides the people?"
"You know, not everyone is like that," the brightly-colored emotion promised. "School is the best place to make friends. And the best place to learn about stuff. Like how to do paper mâché"
"Paper mâché?" Riley repeated. "Is that a sport?"
Joy chuckled sheepishly. "You'll get it. I mean, you'll be able to learn a lot more there!" She turned to Delight. "Right, mom?"
The older emotion nodded vigorously, feeling more excited about the idea.
"Of course!" she gushed. "Think of this as, not an experiment—"
Riley winced a bit at the word "experiment".
"—but like an adventure," Delight went on. "Like what you and Joy did yesterday when you explored the city. You'll be exploring an entire elementary school, and meet great people that just might become your friends in a heartbeat!"
Riley thought about it. Last night's events did make a strong impression on her, and she didn't want the feeling to end. If what they said about the same effect coming from a school was accurate, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, presence of others aside.
"You really think I can go to a school?" she asked curiously.
"Well, of course!" Delight laughed. "All we have to do is speak with their office, hand them a file about you, get you registered, and you'll go to school! It's that easy!"
The happy atmosphere was immediately disrupted when a gruff cough echoed into the lab.
"And what is this I hear about school?"
Riley felt a chill go down her spine as she turned and noticed Aggravation's hulking form in the doorway. The scowl on his face showed that he wasnt at all happy about what he had heard. She flinched.
"We were considering enrolling Riley in the elementary school," Delight said, hoping that the taller emotion would be more willing to listen to a colleague.
Aggravation put a hand on his forehead. "Delight, she can't go. She needs to be kept here, where she'll be stable and not under the eyes of others."
"Please," Joy pleaded, staying close to Riley and wanting to defend her. "Riley could learn so much there—"
"Like how she's bound to be shunned and ridiculed out there?!" Aggravation barked, gesturing toward Riley. "Look at her! Someone created like her wasn't meant to go around and do as a normal Terracordian does!"
Riley thought she heard a roaring in her ears, her heart pounding in a mixture of anger and hurt. Aggravation wasn't just treating her like an animal in a cage, but like a freak who should be hidden from the world.
Maybe that's what I am... She looked a little like a deflating balloon.
Joy's fists clenched and she stood in front of Riley. "Why do you have to be such a bully to her?!"
"I'm simply ensuring that the plan to keep up Ri's stability needs to be kept in place."
Riley recognized the tone in Aggravation's voice as he said her old name. Just when she had been starting to think that there was a chance the name Joy had given her could fit her in some way, the courage she had was squashed. Maybe she was just meant to be "Ri" after all.
"Aggravation, be reasonable," Delight said gently, hoping she could aid in convincing him.
"Reasonable?!" That only set Aggravation off more as his head was set alight. "All of you have grown too attatched to her! You're throwning a wrech into our whole operation, and I will have no more of it!"
He toweed over Riley. "You are to be treated as you were meant to be! That means NO extensive contact with unauthorized outside sources, NO stupid little sleepovers, and NO GOING TO SCHOOL! You'll learn what I say you can learn about our world, and nothing more than that!"
Riley could only stand there as she was being lectured by the furious emotion himself. It was as if her entire world had shattered in a millisecond.
Just when she thought everything had gone smoothly, getting a friend and exploring what was out there, it all had suddenly been taken away from her. As if she never even deserved it to begin with. Her mind twisted between agony and hatred, feelings that were new to her and she was uncertain how to handle or even recognize them. She couldn't understand how this horrid character could just chain her to such a miserable life. Just because he had been in charge of her processing, it didn't give him any right to abuse it.
But he already put his foot down. And probably for the last time given he had basically taken life itself away from her. And what if she were forbidden from ever seeing Joy again, or Delight, or any of the others who cared for her? What if she was just supposed to stay isolated in here with little to no contact with those she had come to befriend?
She might as well black out and simply die. Or fade, or whatever happened to an emotion who no longer wanted to live. She didn't want to be alive if she couldn't feel that wonderful sense of living anymore.
Joy's heart broke the moment she noticed Riley's eyes become more glassy. As if deep down every word against her was like a punch to her already weakened body. Head of the operation or not, Aggravation had no right to do this to her. No one did.
The yellow emotion's bright aura flicked off, her expression almost as red as his own complexion as she rushed forward. She stood protectively in front of Riley, holding her back as if Aggravation's next words would shoot her like snake venom. She glared up at him, having a mind to just sock him right in the place that was the reason for Anger's existence. She never thought she would experience all forms of fury, let alone hatred.
But she was ticked off.
"You can't talk to her like that!" Joy shouted. "She deserves every right to live and breathe as much as any of us do. A lot more than the likes of you deserve!"
Stunned by her remark, Aggravation's cheeks flushed a darker shade of red as he glared down at the younger emotion. She always had the nerve to criticize his work. He and his team had been working a long time to prepare their project for the impossible. Now this girl was making it all crash down on them. Just why did she have to be a younger version of Delight? Just why?
"You got some lip there, missy," he growled. "Telling a scientist what's wrong when you don't even know half of the stuff we're doing."
"What does that matter?" Joy spat. "If being a scientist means having to keep an innocent soul locked up like some animal, then I'm glad I'm not you! At least I know I have a heart!"
"Joy, don't..." Riley whispered tearfully, fearing it would just make things worse.
"Riley, you're my friend!" Joy told her. "One of my best friends. I am never leaving you. And I will not give up on you either! I haven't over the past five years, and I'm not starting now!"
5 years? That was how long she had been in that container?
"Ri was not made to become someone's best friend!" Aggravation chided coldly. "She was made for something far more important!"
"Well, whatever it is, it's stupid!"
"How dare you say that about this company!"
"How dare you put harm on someone like Riley!"
Aggravation felt the flames flicker on his scalp. "You shouldn't have named RI, she's growing too attached to you!"
"Oh, bullspit! She deserves a name way better than something as terrible as that experiment term!" Joy rebuffed.
"OKAY, ENOUGH!"
Both silenced at the risen voice of Delight herself. She held Riley close to her, glaring daggers at Aggravation. She had been very patient with him for so many years, having worked like a loyal friend by his side among the others. When this project began, she had her doubts because of what it would result in. However, as time went on, it felt almost as if they were giving birth to a new life.
And here this new life was right now, trembling in Delight's arms and on the verge of tears. She almost reminded Delight of Grief.
Although shocked by his colleague's outburst, Aggravation's brows knitted in irritation. "Delight, do something about your kid!" he demanded, pointing at Joy. "She is ruining this operation!"
"And you're ruining a life as we know it!" Delight accused.
"What are you talking about?" he grunted. "Delight, remember why we did this in the first place."
"Well, I didn't know child abuse was going to be part of the deal!" she spat in retaliation, looking surprisingly fierce.
Aggravation's eyes widened for an instant at the accusation, only for his brow to furrow deeper. "I am simply trying to do what we should have been doing from the start. Abuse is not the intent—"
"Then explain why, Aggravation!" Delight demanded, hugging Riley protectively as the child was shaking and crying in her arms. "Explain why you're treating Riley like this!"
"You know as well as I do that we can't treat her like she's a normal Terracordian who wouldn't face ridicule from others!" Aggravation roared. "None of this would be happened if it weren't for her," he pointed at Joy, "trying to entice her into mingling with the others! Trying to treat Ri as normal will only delude yourselves, AND her!"
Aggravation's words pounded through Riley's mind like she was being tossed around in a storm. He was right that she wasn't normal. That she'd never be normal. She felt as if even the glow of Delight's embrace wasn't reaching her. She was just a scared, lost, newcomer to life who knew less of the world than a toddler, and was having it all taken away from her.
If yesterday had been like a dream, this was akin to what Joy had called a nightmare. And worse was that it was one she couldn't wake up from.
"Besides," the red-orange emotion went on, "what if her defense mechanism activates? We aren't exactly sure hwne it could be triggered, or how strong the reaction could be! She's unpredictable and needs to be watched!"
Defense mechanism? Riley found confusion pile up atop her conflicted misery. Aggravation was speaking of her as if she were more of a ticking time bomb rather than a living being!
"It's better than keeping her cooped up alone!" Delight insited firmly, looking at Aggravation with a passionately angry expression in her gaze. "I know that we agreed to follow the mission and making sure her human and emotion structures worked in harmony to keep her stable. And I agreed with and respected that."
She carefully stood and removed her arms from Riley, only to have Joy to instantly take over in comforting her anguished friend. "But helping her be out in the world seems to be what's improving her stability. What would you have done if we had just kept Riley in here, and no matter what we did, her stability kept wavering? We all know how long it took to get her particle structure in place!" She stepped closer. "You wouldn't have pulled the plug on the project, would you? You wouldn't have just let her die, right?"
Aggravation looked furious. "Of course I wouldn't! I—"
"Exactly!" Delight stared directly at him, hoping to do anything she could to defend the young part-emotion. "You would have tried to change the situation."
"More input and tests would have worked~"
"And what if it didn't?" Delight looked at him pleadingly.
Joy stroked Riley's hair, trying to meet her friend's eyes. But Riley refused to look as the adults quarreled. Her expression was glassy and in utter turmoil. All of this was going on because of her. It was her fault. Joy had to have picked the wrong name for her... someone who deserved the name Riley wasn't someone who felt as if she just might destroy Aggravation's little "project" out of desperation and a complete loss of anything else as life itself had been torn away from her.
This did not go unnoticed by Delight. Her heart pained to see the poor child like this. She had done everything she could to ensure Riley would have good experiences since her introduction. And Aggravation was challenging her last nerve right about this.
She glared, her eyes holding hostility that no emotion who knew her would ever believe. Aggravation himself almost shuddered, realizing that he had gone the limit on her own temper.
"Is this what you wanted out of the stupid project?" she accused, motioning to a tear-streaked Riley. "To not only deprive this child of a regular life but make her think she has none? Do you?"
Aggravation actually took a step back, holding his hands up. "Delight, come on, you know as well as I-"
"Oh, I know better than you do!" she spat, hands on her hips. "We all took an oath that we would protect what we had been working on. This isn't protecting, it's abuse!"
"Delight, your kid over there is trying get her into danger-" he started.
"You're more of a danger than Joy ever could be!" she threw back. "Panic said that her health has improved so much since being with my daughter. Because she helped Riley know how to get a life! And by taking that away from her, you are basically killing her!"
"I am doing no such thing!" Aggravation denied. "I am keeping her stable-"
"You are making her depressed!" she snarled. "So depressed she could die of it, and who's fault will that be?".
For a few tense moments, the two stared at one another as if sending sparks of fury from their eyes and seeing who got struck first.
Aggravation groaned, rubbing his head. "Delight, we've worked a long time on this. You really think I'd want her damaged?"
"You're doing it right now! She needs more than just a bunch of tests! She needs friends, comfort, something to live for!"
"The mission is what she was created for!" Aggravation argued.
"But her whole life isn't revolved around it! That's only part of it!"
Joy held Riley closer, the latter secretly wishing not to be held. Just receiving physical contact felt like a hot iron to her flesh, the tears tumbling down her cheeks as she wished she was dead.
5 years. 5 years she had been forming in that container. Why can't it have been 7, or 20, or whatever numbers were higher?
All this arguing, yelling, and speaking about her as if she was some wild animal set free by Joy made her wish she had never awoken to begin with. It felt like the special moments yesterday had been nothing more than a dream like the one she had last night. This was all simply a nightmare.
Joy was on the verge of tears as well, wishing that it could have been much easier to convince Aggravation about all this. Still, she wouldn't abandon Riley for anything. She vowed to protect her and give her everything she deserved.
And darn it all if she had to fight Aggravation for it! She never thought she would ever use her hands for violence, but she was willing to claw the real red under his skin just to prove how loyal she was to his "project". Her mom was doing a fine job tearing him verbally into pieces, making him feel like the trash he truly was being right now.
She felt pretty bad having to call Anger's dad out like this, but it was becoming unbearable. And, like her mom, her patience was waning. She continued stroking Riley, wondering if this quarrel was ever going to stop. It was only morning and it felt like all this chaos was happening for hours.
However, a soft yet nervous tone broke it up. One both Riley and Joy were relieved to hear.
"What..what's going on? What's all this yelling?"
Everyone turned to look up, the surprise of someone else coming into the room disrupting the argument. It was Panic, with his white lab coat trailing behind him and a wide look in his eyes that had him wonder if maybe he had picked a bad time to come in here.
But then he saw the dejected, depressed expression on Riley's tear-stained face, and knew that he absolutely had come at the right time. Riley was in turmoil from something.
"Riley!" He hurried over and knealt beside Joy and Riley, trying to get the latter to meet his gaze. "What's wrong?!"
Riley, still shuddering, looked at him but was unable to answer.
"Ask HIM!" Delight shouted, pointing at Anger as her own patience was wearing thin. Desperate to defend Riley and have Aggravation realize that the mission wasn't Riley's be-all-end-all focus of existence, she was relieved that Panic was there to further their case. After all, Panic was Riley's technician, her doctor, the one who had probably spent the most time in the chamber when she was first developing as Ri. Even if some of that time he didn't say much. If any one of them could conclude what was best for the young part-emotion, it was him.
Panic narrowed his eyes at Aggravation. "W-Why is Riley like this?! What happened?"
"She wanted to actually go to school," Aggravation grumped. "I was putting her in her place."
Panic's gaze flicked from Riley to Aggravation again. "By what, terrifying her?" he fought past his nervousness and stood to face his superior. "We were supposed to give her life, not take it away!"
"We gave her life, yes, but the more she gets integrated to the outside world like Delight's kid is insisting, the more she'll get used to it!"
"And that's a bad thing?" Panic challenged.
"Of course it is!" Aggravation nearly shouted. "She could get damaged, or this world could have an effect on her, or she'd want to see more!" He made sure not to indicate that Riley was eventually going to be sent away—that was strictly between the members of the team and their spouses, and not even their children were privy to that knowledge. Not even Joy.
Especially not Joy.
Panic cleared his throat, wanting to try to help smooth things over. "Well as long as Riley stays with Joy, her health seems to be holding out good. Not just in stability, but she's actually happy, and that's GOOD for her!" His heart ached as he glanced at Riley again, who had glanced up cautiously but was still clearly shaking up by the arguments going on that had her at the center of discussion. "Being around Joy is good for her development."
Aggravation glared.
Panic found himself intimidated by Aggravation's gaze (much more than usual), but he tried to at least show a little bravado for Riley's sake. "If Riley wants to go to school, she can. As long as she's careful and she keeps her stability bracelet on, and she reports to us if anything goes wrong—"
"We. Get. It," Aggravation muttered through gritted teeth. He looked like he wanted to knock Panic unconscious for having the audacity to say that Riley, of all emotions—or, rather, part-emotions—was permitted to go to school. But he knew that if he continued to debate with these stubborn individuals, he'd lose trust from them. And if that happened, they'd be less willing to work with him. Which could leave their whole plan in shambles.
Taking a deep breath, he turned his gaze slightly to Riley, who couldn't help but flinch in spite of herself, having long ago trained herself to associate Aggravation with something bad coming her way. "If you can... somehow... get enrolled... I'll permit you to go to school."
Joy looked a bit more hopeful, some of her color returning as she tried to comfort Riley, who still didn't seem up to speaking. "R-Really?"
"As long as there is a limit on... after-school activities," Aggravation scrunched his face as if the phrase left a foul taste in his mouth, "then yes. Just for a while."
As words of encouagement were then directed toward Riley on this permission grant, there was only one potential upside that Aggravation could see to such a decision. If the other kids shunned the girl, as he suspected they would, she wouldn't be too keen on being around others as much anymore, which meant that getting her to leave their world would be easier.
With Joy around, however, even that rail of keeping things on track seemed to be threatening to head off course.
Joy, however, forced herself to pay no more mind to Aggravation. All she focused on was helping her trembling friend to stand up, holding Riley close and searching for any sign that the defeated glassiness of her eyes was fading.
For an instant, a grateful moment, a flicker or something a bit brighter than that spiraling depression was alight in Riley's eyes.
"Just go," Aggravation barked. "And stay out of trouble."
A/N: I know that Joy's friends weren't in this chapter, but I intend to have them make an appearance in the next one, don't worry—and I'll get the next one up sooner too, don't worry—I already have a LOT planned out here. ;)