Chapter 63: Disturbing Discoveries
In the middle of that corridor, Mr. Pinky stopped in front of Diddy and Dixie, who had just calmed down when they saw him, before immediately running towards him.
"Mr. Pinky!" Diddy exclaimed, hugging his arm tightly and excitedly along with Dixie. "But w-what are you doing here?! How did you get here?"
"Weren't you at your school meeting?" Dixie asked. "And you have to leave here; this place is dangerous!" she added in a low voice, looking sideways in fear.
Suddenly, they both realized something very strange... Mr. Pinky didn't answer them; he just looked at them in a fixed and serious way, similar to when he got angry with intensity.
"Uhh... Are you okay, mister?" Dixie asked, looking at him strangely and beginning to have a bad feeling.
Suddenly, Mr. Pinky put his hand inside his cloak and, as if suddenly it wasn't him, pulled out a firearm. He immediately pointed to Diddy and Dixie, which left them both too confused.
"B-but what's wrong with him?!" Diddy whispered by grabbing and squeezing Dixie's arm.
Both gave a terrified scream and began to flee at speed when suddenly, Mr. Pinky began to press the trigger and let out a shot instantly. He then began to chase them as well.
Diddy and Dixie were running as fast as their four limbs gave them, while both were still in a state of panic at what they witnessed. They had no idea what was wrong with Mr. Pinky, but for the moment they just needed to run away and hide while feeling a huge continuous adrenaline.
Mr. Pinky was speeding after Diddy and Dixie, walking through several corridors of the building. From time to time, he dropped a shot with the gun, which made the two of them stand on end as they tried not to get caught.
"What's wrong with Mr. Pinky?!" Diddy exclaimed in horror as he ran along with Dixie. "Why does he want to shoot us?!"
Then, Diddy and Dixie were approaching an area where there were two corridors that led to different routes, which left them undecided and barely had time to choose where to go. Both thought differently at that moment and each ran to each of the two corridors.
"Dixie!" Diddy exclaimed, stopping in his tracks, and then running to where Dixie was going.
Suddenly, Mr. Pinky appeared in front of Diddy by surprise, so he stopped and continued running down that same corridor, while the teacher was chasing him and pointing the gun at him. Diddy just ran in terror and aimlessly while feeling an intense fear for Mr. Pinky like never before.
"Diddy!" Dixie exclaimed in the same way.
Dixie, not knowing what to do now, ran again to try to catch up with Diddy, whom she had already lost sight of as well as Mr. Pinky. Suddenly, she heard a gunshot... which only left her thinking the worst. But she continued to run and try to at least locate Diddy.
Later, Dixie no longer heard any noise or saw any trace of Diddy or Mr. Pinky, so she stopped while thinking about where to go. Suddenly, she heard someone whisper her name, to which she immediately turned to look at who it was. Luckily, it was Diddy, who was hiding in a short corridor leading to a door. Dixie felt enormous relief to see him safe, and headed towards him.
"Diddy!" Dixie exclaimed quietly, taking him by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I managed to lose sight of him," Diddy replied in the same volume of voice and breathing heavily. "I-I don't know what's wrong with Mr. Pinky, why does he want to kill us?"
"I have no idea; I think that's not Mr. Pinky... First of all, what would he do here? How did he get in here?!"
"Yes, it's him. We clearly saw his face!"
Suddenly, Mr. Pinky's voluptuous silhouette appeared in front of them by surprise and pointed the gun at them. Diddy and Dixie screamed as they felt the circulation at their feet drop and, with nowhere else to run, they opened the door next to them and entered. Both began to run aimlessly around the room, which they entered while Mr. Pinky was chasing them. The room was so dark that it made it difficult for them to see.
Suddenly, both stumbled and began to fall down what seemed to be steps, in which they were beating. A moment later, they managed to regain their balance and continued to descend at speed, all in order not to be seen by Mr. Pinky, who continued to chase them.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Diddy and Dixie rushed to find a shortcut that would divert them, but everything was even darker and they could not see almost anything. What they did see was a closet that was nearby and, having no other alternative, they rushed to hide behind it and try to make as little noise as possible.
Mr. Pinky also reached that area, but apparently, he just stopped to look everywhere. Then, he started walking around that room, gun in hand and as if trying to locate the pair of kongs. He even passed near the closet where the two of them were hiding behind.
Diddy and Dixie, as the teacher passed by, were clinging to each other tightly while feeling enormous tension and their hearts beating at a fairly fast rate, begging in their minds that Mr. Pinky wouldn't see them.
A minute later, Mr. Pinky seemed to stop and went back to the stairs, then climbed up it until his footsteps were heard farther and farther away. Later, the door was heard closing, before there was absolute silence.
"Has he already left?" Diddy whispered as he trembled and still clung to Dixie.
"It seems so," Dixie replied in kind, though later... she noticed the closeness she was having with Diddy at that moment and turned away from him immediately.
"Oh... I'm sorry," Diddy said with a forced smile.
Both walked stealthily while observing that no one would be inside that room. Then, they headed back to the edge of the stairs and stared up.
"What happened to Mr. Pinky?" Diddy wondered, fearfully and regaining his normal tone. "How did he get here? And why does he have a gun and is dressed like those apes?!"
"That doesn't have to be him," Dixie said with a serious look. "I'm sure he would never want to hurt us like that... Or maybe those blasted apes did something to him!"
"Or perhaps... Mr. Pinky is also one of them and never told us anything?" Diddy questioned, feeling more afraid. "Or he's complicit with those apes and that's why he wanted to have us in his house all this time?!"
"No, I don't think so," Dixie replied, calming him down. "When I was here, I had never seen Mr. Pinky."
"Or could it be that... Mr. Pinky is also a robot like Jenny, Melvyn, Ricky and Mandy?"
"No, Diddy, I don't believe that either. Mr. Pinky had none of the manias that those four had; we saw him eat and have contact with water... Only, it would be necessary to find out what is the explanation of his behavior that he had now…"
The two continued to look up while thinking if it would be safe to go up and if Mr. Pinky wouldn't be behind the door waiting for them. Suddenly, an enormous uncertainty seemed to be consuming them both when they found themselves in that situation.
"Oh, on what matter did we get into," Diddy lamented, before entering a moment of silence as they still had thousands of thoughts. "Oh, I'm really sorry, Dixie... for not having been with you when you were captured."
"Oh, they were going to capture us anyway, Diddy," Dixie replied. "And if we had been together at that time, we would have both been caught at the same time, and how were we going to get out in that situation?"
"I still don't understand what this all is," Diddy said, looking at the stairs for a while. "And first of all, what do they want to do with all those children?... And what do Jenny and the others have to do with those other four fools and those apes?"
"I don't have a clear idea... And I still want to know how that dumb idiot Jemky did all that, how did they know everything about us exactly?"
"Those stupids... They took us for fools somehow! And there's no way to make them pay right now, especially that burnt-hairs orangutan," Diddy said, before sighing and looking down. "Oh, Dixie... forgive me, I didn't want you and I to break up like this, I mean... I don't know how I could believe all that," he added, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Almost everything looked... so obvious."
Dixie looked at him not knowing what to answer at first. She didn't want to resume that topic for the time being, however, she also couldn't let it go without saying something about it.
"Diddy, you'll see…" she replied without looking at him at first, but then staying in front of him, "I was very upset that you couldn't believe in me, even though I begged you and even wanted to fix things with you."
"I know, but Jemky showed all that and said some things that only we were supposed to know, and that it was even impossible for them to know."
"But you could have believed only in my word, Diddy," Dixie replied, looking at him somewhat annoyed. "I don't know how you could have thought I would have done something like that."
"Dixie, I didn't want to think anything bad about you, I swear I wanted to think otherwise, but certain things didn't let me believe it... Ugh, that jerk Jemky, I don't know how he did all that," he said in frustration.
"Well... anyways, I can't blame you that much either, Diddy," she replied earnestly and with a shrug. "I was also like that when that matter about Jenny and the wrench happened... And I also want to know where that stupid orangutan got all those fake things from, how did he do it? Where did he get those photos, especially? I swear they have to be fake; they never happened."
"It must have an explanation, although... several things don't fit well. We'll have to find out later if we can. The main question is... how did they find us on that island?"
"Ugh, and I swear I want to give that burnt-hairs Jemky his due," Dixie grumbled, before calming down a bit. "Anyways, we cannot just stay here or continue to wonder about this issue. Something must be done!"
Dixie resumed the way, began to climb the stairs, and Diddy went to follow her seconds later, until they both reached the door where they entered that area.
"We have to see if Mr. Pinky has already left," Dixie whispered, looking sideways at the door.
Dixie turned the doorknob as carefully as possible so as not to make noise, opened the door, and peeked out a little.
"There's no one," she whispered to Diddy. "I think it's safe right now."
"So, come on, we have to get out here," Diddy added in the same way.
Both peeked out of the door stealthily. There was no one in sight, so they were able to leave with no problems.
The two of them, after crossing the door and walking with silent steps, looked everywhere and began again to look for the shortcut to leave the building. When they reached each corner of the corridors, they looked out to see if no one came, and continued walking.
"What will we do with Mr. Pinky?" Diddy whispered on the way.
"Oh... I don't know," Dixie replied as she wondered the same thing and felt deep frustration. "He can't stay here either... And I don't really know what's wrong with him."
Suddenly, they heard some low sounds that sounded very changeable... Until little by little they were resembling voices that both knew perfectly, so they began to accelerate the steps. As they were about to turn a corner, two known silhouettes were walking nearby and at a sped pace, but luckily, they weren't looking straight ahead, so Diddy and Dixie ran to hide from their sights.
"Those monkeys don't get out of here alive!" Mandrew said, taking firm and quick steps.
"They don't even have a way out," Rocky added in the same way.
Diddy and Dixie, while hiding under a table they found, watched Mandrew and Rocky make their way to a door in front of them. And not only the two of them, Melvyn was also accompanying them... although the latter only followed them and didn't say any word.
Before Mandrew and Rocky entered through the door, Jemky got out and joined them. Melvyn, meanwhile, entered the room without saying anything as the other three watched him pass.
"Where did those dwarf monkeys go?" Jemky asked Mandrew and Rocky hurriedly.
"We couldn't reach them," Rocky replied. "They had even turned off Melvyn too."
"Ugh, our dads are going to kill us if they find out they escaped!" Jemky exclaimed, stomping.
"The four of us better go and look for them! If we catch those two, they'll be double prizes for our dads," replied Mandrew. "By the way, did you bring Jenny?"
"Yes, she's already here," Jemky replied, pointing into the room. "Melenky, hurry up, let's go find that pair of monkeys!"
"Wait, I can't get this thing out of me!" Melenky shouted from inside the room. "Come and help me!"
"Ugh, Melenky!" Mandrew said before entering the room and apparently helping him. "You just had to spin this... And that's all."
A few seconds later, Mandrew returned along with Melenky, and they were reunited with the other two in the group.
"Now, let's go get those two dumb monkeys!" Jemky said before closing the door.
Then, the four began to walk at a sped pace, and left from the area until they were out of sight.
Diddy and Dixie, still hiding, were left thinking for a few more seconds, while an enormous curiosity invaded their minds after the dialogue they had just heard from the four of them.
"Do... they all know that I'm here too?" Diddy whispered in confusion.
"I guess so. Jenny and Melvyn have seen us; it's obvious that they ratted us out," Dixie replied before pausing when suddenly another assumption crossed her mind. "But... the real question is: if Jenny and that group are robots... and if they are here... I think those four fools are the ones who control those others! They're even four ones too!"
"What are you saying?" Diddy questioned with a look of strangeness. "I mean, at first glance they don't seem to be robots. I think operating something like that would be very complex."
"What if we went into that room to investigate? It seems that those other four are inside."
"Are you crazy? It's risky!" Diddy contradicted. "We have to get out of here!"
"It'll only be a while! And anyways, we can't leave here yet without Mr. Pinky... Maybe we can even find out what happened to him."
Diddy wasn't so convinced of the idea, but he agreed anyway. They both watched everywhere, and then ran towards the room where the quartet of bully kids had gotten out from. They turned the doorknob carefully and entered, closed it instantly, and secured it for more safety.
"Wait a minute... this is a bedroom," Diddy said, looking into the room. "It looks pretty spacious, by the way."
Indeed, the room looked like a bedroom: it had large barred windows, a couple of bunk beds in the bottom, in addition to several boxes with children's toys, and walls that had bright colors. Although to tell the truth, the objects didn't seem to have been there that long.
"It must be the room of those four fools," Diddy said, looking at the toy boxes, which were filled mostly with miniature soldiers, balls and toy guns. Diddy took one of those toy soldiers and watched it in detail. "I think I've seen this toy before... Ah, I remembered, those fools stole it from other kids... All these toys are stolen, in fact!"
"Diddy, that's your pyramid, look!" Dixie pointed to another of the toy boxes.
In another of the boxes, there was what was clearly the pyramid that Diddy was going to submit to Mr. Pinky on the last day of school... although it didn't have the emerald at the top. Diddy took it and watched it as he recalled that day.
"Stupid Jemky," Diddy said, rolling his eyes. "I don't regret throwing it at him."
"You would have thrown it ten times at that burnt-hairs," Dixie added in the same tone. Then, she continued to go around the room. "Oh, you can tell this is their room; it's all messy," she said with disgust.
"Dixie, look over there!" Diddy pointed suddenly to a corner of the room.
In one of the corners, formed in a row and still like statues... Jenny, Mandy, Ricky and Melvyn were. The four looked like living dolls in a state of rest and with stares fixed and expressionless. Diddy and Dixie immediately headed towards them.
"It can't be…" Dixie said, now seeing the entire group in that state.
Diddy had already seen the four of them like that, but Dixie hadn't yet, so she gasped watching them, finishing processing the true forms those four kong children apparently had.
Dixie went towards Mandy and, as they did before with Jenny and Melvyn, took her left ear and pressed an almost unobservable button that she had and, likewise... her head opened in two parts like puzzles: inside it were several of what appeared to be wires, a pair of spheres as if they were eyes, and a black box in the center, all just like Jenny had. Then, she turned to Ricky and did the same thing: she pressed him behind his left ear... and his head also opened and had the same elements inside. Then, she did the same thing again with Melvyn and Jenny to make sure she wasn't raving or dreaming... And, indeed, all four were the same way.
Dixie turned to look at Diddy, still surprised and not knowing what to think about that quartet whom she once, along with Diddy, called "friends".
"B-but..." Dixie stammered, remaining thoughtful. Then, she looked at the four of them again not knowing what to do, but suddenly, she got a huge expression of shock when... a sudden guess came to her mind.
"Yes, that's how they really are: they're machines," Diddy said, turning to Ricky and closing his head again and then observing him in detail. "Wow, but I still wonder... how could they be made so realistic? Just look, they look like they were real like-"
"Diddy…" Dixie interrupted, maintaining her shocked expression. She walked towards Melvyn and grabbed him from one of what appeared to be wires. "These are not wires; I t-think they are... It's like a real thing."
Diddy made a gesture of strangeness at what she said, and looked at her the same way she looked at him when he told her Jenny was a robot.
"Huh? What are you saying?" Diddy exclaimed, looking at her with extreme strangeness at what she had just said, and even caused him some funny. "How can they be...? What are you talking about, Dixie?"
"Yes! I mean…" Dixie said as she continued to look at the four of them in some panic. "Diddy... I t-think they're not robots exactly."
"What are you saying, Dixie? But it's clear that they are robots. Just look inside their heads; they have mechanical parts."
"Yes, but it's that… Oh, no, no, no, I don't think they are…" Dixie exclaimed before putting her hands to her temple and watching the four of them again with some trepidation.
"What are you trying to say, Dixie?" Diddy asked, still looking at her strangely.
Dixie wasn't sure about the idea that had just invaded her mind about that quartet, but at the same time, everything pointed to being true.
"Diddy, I don't know what you think, but..." she turned back to the four of them and took each of them by the fur. "Look at them, they look very real… Their movements also looked very real... I'm sure what looks like wires are not. And by the way... If they are here... with those evil apes, haven't you thought that they-"
"Wait, wait a minute," Diddy interrupted, also changing his expression. "Do you imply that the four of them are... No, I don't think so, Dixie."
"And I don't know if this has anything to do here, but... do you remember the first time we took them to the animal shelter and a gorilla mistook Ricky for his... missing son?... And when Mr. Pinky had said that Mandy also looked like... a missing girl?"
Diddy opened his eyes to the fullest and froze for a moment after the factors Dixie mentioned. Suddenly... he was also beginning to think about the same assumption she had.
"So... No, I don't think so. I mean, how is it possible... that?" Diddy questioned before remaining thoughtful for a while. "What if we turn them on and ask them or something? Of course, we would only have to hold them well in case they try to escape or attack us."
"Okay! Which one do we turn on first?"
"Let's try Melvyn, he's small and a little more docile; the others are wild."
Diddy and Dixie walked towards Melvyn and held his arms firmly.
"Don't let him slip away," Diddy said to Dixie. "Well, here we go."
Diddy reached for the power button behind Melvyn's ear and pressed it. After doing so, they both held him harder and waited for him to react... But it didn't.
"Why doesn't it turn on?" Diddy asked again, pressing the button again, but they received no answer from Melvyn. He pressed the button again repeatedly, but for some reason, nothing happened.
"Wait a minute," Dixie interrupted. "Weren't their eyes and ears supposed to shine? Because they're not shining now."
"So... are they totally off or what?"
They both let go of Melvyn and stared at him for a while; they were so curious to know what those four kong children who seemed to be mechanical robots really were.
Suddenly, they began to hear footsteps outside that room, which put them both on alert.
"Hide!" Dixie whispered, and then they went to hide under one of the beds. They waited a moment for nothing to be heard and got out again. "I'll go inspect the door. Keep trying to turn on those four."
Diddy headed back to the quartet, while Dixie headed for the door to make sure no one was around. She opened the door slowly and peeked out with barely half of her head. No one could be seen nearby and no noise was heard again, so she closed the door again and secured it.
Dixie walked towards Diddy again. She was walking near a sideboard, when suddenly, she felt that she stepped on an object lying on the ground. She turned to look at what it was and realized it was a cassette tape. She wasn't going to take it seriously, so she just picked it up to keep it in the drawers of the sideboard next to her. But then... she stopped in her tracks when she noticed that on the front, it had written in ink: "Day 55. Ship proposal to that pair of monkeys". Dixie made a surprised gesture at that, but anyway, she opened the drawer to put it away... In doing so, she got a surprise that reactivated her curiosity instantly: that drawer was full of several more cassettes, all neatly ordered and even numbered from one to eighty-one. She was extremely curious and took some of those cassettes at random... She opened her eyes more and more intensely upon seeing that those cassettes also had written titles that bore words that she could recognize instantly.
Meanwhile, Diddy was still trying unsuccessfully to turn on or manipulate the quartet to see if they would react and to receive an explanation from them.
"Diddy, you h-have to see this!" Dixie exclaimed from the chest of drawers where she was.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Diddy headed to where Dixie was, who maintained an expression of shock as she checked the cassettes.
"What are those?" Diddy asked, also taking one of the cassettes.
Diddy was shocked to read that one of them had a title written: "Day 71. Wrench trap to that stupid monkey".
"But…" exclaimed Diddy, looking strangely.
"Read them all!" Dixie said as she also continued to inspect.
Both began to register those cassettes, which had written in ink, days numbered... besides titles that increased curiosity in both. On those cassettes it said titles like: "Day 65. The monkeys didn't go to work and we had to go and apologize", "Day 56. Carnivorous plant", "Day 26. We found those dumb monkeys", "Day 31. We became friends with those two stupids", "Day 80. We managed to get those pathetic monkeys to break up!"
Both Diddy and Dixie gasped and confused at what they saw. What filled them most with intrigue was... why in cassettes like those they said data known to the two of them?
"B-but... And this...?" Diddy stuttered.
"Look at that!" Dixie pointed to an object on top of the sideboard.
A TV set with a rectangular device underneath, rested on the sideboard, which was apparently a video player that generated an uncontrollable curiosity to both.
"Let's try them!" Dixie said as she inserted one of the cassettes into the device and began to press the buttons. "Uhh... how was this used?"
"I think it's this way," Diddy replied before manipulating the device as well. "It's disconnected, wait. Just don't turn on the volume too much."
Diddy looked for some point of electricity nearby and plugged in the appliance to turn it on. Then, he finished placing the cassette well. They waited a few seconds, when suddenly, the TV screen lit up and began to emit some images... or rather, a video... Video which showed through four different sub-screens, an environment well known and previously seen by both.
"It can't be... Is that Hurricane Island?" Diddy whispered as he stared intently at the screen along with Dixie. A few seconds later, they both made a shocking gesture at what they saw. "Dixie! T-that's you?!"
In one of the sub-screens, several bushes could be observed around, and then... Dixie rushing over.
(Aha! Here you are, Melvyn! Now it's your turn to be the shark monkey), Dixie was seen and heard saying in the video... And as if she were saying to the camera.
"Say what?!" Dixie exclaimed, shocked and confused at what she had just seen.
Then, the screen that Dixie approached, began to move and, apparently, to chase her. What could be seen later, generated a huge shocking sensation for Diddy and Dixie: Diddy also appeared later in the video and, likewise... Jenny, Mandy and Ricky. They were all seen running and climbing around a mountainous area. They looked very happy as if they were playing, but the most curious thing of all, was that in the four sub-screens the same scene was seen, or rather... each sub-screen seemed to show the point of view of each of the four.
"W-w-what is this?!" Diddy exclaimed with an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
"But if those... it's us," Dixie added in the same way, "with those four."
"That's the day... where we went to play 'shark monkey' in those mountains," Diddy added without looking away from the screen.
(I'll catch you all, you'll see!), Melvyn was heard saying in the video... although this time, his voice sounded differently and as if it was intersected with a second voice.
"Wait a minute," Diddy said, holding the same expression. "Doesn't that voice sound like…"
"M-Melenky's?"
"That one!" Diddy exclaimed, still trying to process what he saw. "H-how is this…"
(You can't catch me!), Diddy told Melvyn in the video as everyone climbed the mountain.
"Run faster, Melvyn," Mandy told him. And, for some reason, the voice was also heard in a strange way and as if they were two intersecting voices. It was not only her girlish voice, but it was also heard on par with that of a boy.
"Was that the... Mandrew's voice?" Dixie stuttered.
Diddy pressed a button on the device to stop the video. Then, they both looked at each other maintaining their shocked expressions and tried to reason out what they had just seen and heard.
"Wait, w-wait a minute," Diddy said, trying to recover from the impact. "So…"
"Let's keep watching this recording!" Dixie added, pressing the buttons on the device again.
The video continued to play, where Diddy and Dixie were seen playing with their past group of friends on Hurricane Island. Diddy and Dixie recognized that day, which was one of the many they spent with that group... Everything seemed to point to the idea that Dixie had before entering that room.
(Hey, these monkeys are funny after all).
(Yes... but I don't like them anyways), was heard in the video.
Diddy and Dixie gasped again... Those two voices that they had just heard in the video, were heard identical to those of Melenky and Mandrew respectively... And this time, they were heard only from them.
"No, it can't be…" Diddy said.
Dixie, with all the curiosity alive, pressed one of the buttons of the device, which had a symbol with an arrow to the right, indicating that it served to advance the recording.
(It's Jenny's turn to be the shark monkey!Run!), Ricky was seen and heard saying... and also with an intersected second voice.
"That's... Rocky?" Diddy pointed out, looking at Dixie with the same expression.
"And so, does that mean Jenny is…"
Dixie pressed the buttons on the device again. She remembered that day well and tried to adjust to some scene where she would find the "last piece" of the matter.
(I caught you, Dixie! Now you're the shark monkey), Jenny was seen and heard saying, catching Dixie, before running away from her... The second intersecting voice that was heard, was so clear to whom it belonged.
"That's... the burnt-hairs?" said Dixie furiously, referring to the very Jemky.
Diddy pressed the button again to pause the video, and then removed the cassette from the device to verify it. It said on the front: "Day 49. Another day with those dumb monkeys."
"So... All this t-time…" Diddy pronounced, breathing hard and not looking away from the cassette.
"Were we... interacting with those fool bullies really?" Dixie continued in the same way and finished processing everything. "So, are they the ones who controlled them?!"
"Let's review another cassette!" Diddy exclaimed, taking another cassette at random. "This one!"
Diddy took a cassette that had a title written: "Day 31. We became friends with those two stupids"; with that, they could confirm the shocking discovery they made. He inserted the cassette into the device, and pressed the button to make it run... The images that were shown through four sub-screens were also of Hurricane Island and the quartet together.
"Let's fast-forward the recording," Diddy said, pressing another button. "With this we'll check it…"
Diddy advanced the video recording until he reached the scene they needed... The images that were shown in fast motion were of the quartet of their so-called friends, apparently taking some ropes and then setting up a net. Later, it was seen how they locked themselves in the latter and manipulated the ropes until they were hung in the air inside that net... Yes, just like the day Diddy and Dixie met them. Later, Diddy and Dixie could be seen "rescuing" them from that alleged kidnapping, and then all running around with the excuse that "a psychopathic gorilla had kidnapped them".
"I think it's here," Diddy said, squinting before releasing the button to stop at the scene they both needed.
The scenes shown were from when Diddy and Dixie introduced themselves to that quartet whom they once considered "friends".
(We didn't do anything to him, I think he's a psychopath... Oh, and by the way, what are your names?), Mandy was heard saying... along with Mandrew's voice.
(My name is Diddy).
(And I'm Dixie. Who are you?), they both were seen and heard talking.
(I'm Mandy. Nice to meet you, Diddy and Dixie), was heard along with Mandrew's voice.
(My name is Ricky), Rocky's voice was heard next.
(I'm Jenny, nice to meet you), was heard along with Jemky's voice.
(And I'm... Uhh... What was my name?)
(Ahh, his name is Melvyn. It's that he's a bit clueless), replied 'Mandy' with small laughs.
(Clueless? What's wrong with you?!), replied 'Melvyn'... along with Melenky's voice.
Diddy stopped the video immediately and then stared at Dixie, who was also completely shocked and now one hundred percent sure of what they discovered. They both turned to look for a while at the static figures of Jenny, Mandy, Melvyn and Ricky. They began to think about thousands of things, while remembering all the moments they spent with them: all the afternoons of play they spent, the adventures they invented, the nights of long talks and secrets they shared, the construction of that ship, and even the dramas and conflicts they caused to both of them... There were so many things that they didn't know where to start analyzing in depth based on what they discovered at that very moment.
"I... I swore that at least they were robots with autonomy of their own," Dixie said, still frozen and watching the four of them. "But... they really... were those…"
"When I discovered that they were robots... I also thought the same thing," Diddy added in the same way. "B-but... I still wonder: how do they operate them? How do they make them work? I mean, how do they get them to move and speak so realistically? Or unless... What if we check more cassettes?!"
"Let's check the first one!" Dixie exclaimed, recovering her senses.
Both quickly searched for the first cassette of all; they felt an enormous latent curiosity and wanted to continue finding out everything at that very moment.
"It's this," Diddy said as he held the cassette and read what it said on the front side.
Diddy inserted the cassette, which only said "Day 1". He turned on the device and, instantly, the video began to be projected through the four sub-screens... They hoped to decipher the suspicious origin of the quartet of their "so-called friends"...
A/N: And well...
I have to say that the next chapters: 64, 65 and 66 will be sooo extensive, in fact, 65 is the longest of all, BUT... are about the video recordings that Diddy and Dixie are about to see, so you could imagine what they'll see. To read that, I recommend remembering the scenes when they both were friends with those kids. I tried to do as "summarized" as I could those recordings, but... I didn't get them so summarized, so to speak:c Although anyway, Diddy and Dixie visualize them quickly and can also be read quickly; I would even recommend skipping some scenes, but still details are mentioned that solve certain doubts to Diddy and Dixie.
The format of the dialogues in the recordings is different, but I'll explain it in the final note of the next chapter, so you can go and see it before you continue reading.