I'm going to be totally surprised if I still have readers. I can't believe it took this long to get chapter three up. I don't know what it was (besides college _) that made this so hard to write. If you guys are still out there (which I really hope you are) please enjoy this next chapter!
Also, I made a very minor edit to chapter two. The doll will be referred to as H003348 instead of 000, based on something I found in the game that I didn't see my first time around. That's all I changed, for the sake of staying as true to the game as possible. :D
~Chapter 3~
"What a mess," the Professor choked out as he walked into the room.
"That's an understatement," whispered Norman behind the older man. He stepped cautiously over the fallen monitor, glancing around at the rest of the room. Most of the supplies on the counter had been knocked over and were now rolling around on the tile floor. Norman looked up at the ceiling and saw cords snaking out of the panels where the security camera should have been. He found it sitting in the sink, lens shattered and smashed to pieces.
Meanwhile, the Professor was searching for the doll who was conspicuously absent from his bed. He thought the black-haired boy had simply rolled off of it. The professor tiptoed around the room to avoid the glass fragments decorating the floor and leaned over the bed to look on the other side. Panic struck him when the doll was nowhere to be found.
"Norman! Shut and lock the door," he ordered.
"Lock it? But-"
"Quickly, Norman, quickly!" the Professor waved at the door as if the motion would cause the door to close. The red-headed assistant rushed to the metal door, no longer caring about the shattered glass beneath him, slammed it shut, and entered his code. The locking mechanism could be heard sliding into place with a resounding thud. Norman and the Professor stood stock still in the eerily quiet room, silently hoping that the unpredictable doll wouldn't extend them the same courtesy as he did the other equipment.
The pair hardly breathed while their gazes shifted uneasily around the room. A soft rustle caught their attention. It came from behind a gossamer curtain that closed off part of the room. They began to make their way over to their curtain to investigate when another noise made them stop in their tracks. It was the soft scritch-scratching of metal against the wall. The Professor glanced up at Norman who had the same confused look plastered to his face. If the doll was behind the curtain, what was he doing?
"What is going on?" Norman murmured. "Why is he out of bed?"
"Shush, Norman. Not a word of this gets out." The man glared at his assistant, then hesitantly wrapped his fingers around the curtain and gently pulled it open. The dictionary he had given the doll lay at his feet, opened with pages creasing under the weight of the cover. A few feet in front of him sat the doll, scratching away at the wall with what appeared to be a piece of the camera. At the sound of the Professor's footsteps, his head jerked around.
"Professor, his eyes," the assistant pointed a finger at the doll. Beneath his black tresses were not silver-grey eyes, but brilliant green ones, staring back at the pair boldly. His pupils were cat-like and no longer the simple round shape they had been. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know. Get back to the observation room and check the tape."
"And leave you here all alone?"
"Now, Norman," the Professor growled. Norman hesitantly left the room, double-checking before he walked out the door.
The Professor kneeled next to the doll who eyed him closely. When the Professor dropped his gaze to the pointy leftovers of the security camera the doll pulled it away defensively.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to be in that bed."
"I didn't like it," He said in a snobby tone. The Professor was taken aback. Didn't like it? When did the doll get such an attitude?
"Let's get you back in bed, H0053348, you're not ready to be up and moving yet." He made a move to grab the doll's arm, but he jerked it away.
"That's not my name." The doll looked away from the man and continued scratching at the wall.
"I'm sorry?" The Professor stared incredulously at the doll. "Your name is H0053348-your serial number."
"That's a dumb name," he spat back, never taking his eyes away from the wall.
"What are you doing?" The Professor leaned over the doll's shoulder to get a closer look at what was so important to him. When he saw what it was, he stood up and grabbed the dictionary lying haphazardly against the floor and flipped through its bended pages. He tried a couple entries before he came to the C's. His finger brushed against the pages as it sought out the entry. It landed on a depiction of a black bird. The picture in the dictionary and the one the doll had carved into the wall were almost identical. "Is this what you're drawing?" The Professor kneeled next to the doll again and pointed at the bird. "What's so special about it?"
"I like it," the doll stated matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious. He stood up and rested his hands on his hips, then bent over the Professor arrogantly. "Call me Crow. Like the bird."