Fear sat down on a chair in the corner, flipping open the Mind Manual titled "Long Term Memory Retrieval: Volume 5". It contained information regarding how to send memories from HQ to Long Term Memory by using the vacuum tube. The one thing that caught his eye, however, was a section at the bottom of page 6 highlighted in bright red:
"Caution: Make sure that there is absolutely nothing underneath the vacuum tube when it lowers. Failure to comply will result in the suction preemptively activating, interrupting the process."
Fear trembled as his eyes darted over the warning text several more times before he set the manual back onto the shelf. The knowledge he had gained so far was doing the exact opposite of lessening his fear.
—
Riley laid down in her sleeping bag on the floor, waiting for her mom to come kiss her goodnight while looking glumly at her surroundings.
"Dad seemed pretty upset back there," Sadness remarked.
"Some kind of move this has been," Anger grumbled.
"Ugh, you can say that again," Disgust groaned.
Joy, who had been reviewing the shelves that were still dominated by blue, green, and red memories, turned to face the unhappy emotions.
"Hey, don't say that!" she objected. "We've been through worse. If we just list off the things Riley should be happy about, it'll all be fine!"
"Happy, huh?" Disgust quipped, raising an eyebrow in doubt. "There's a rat in our home, the pizza makes us want to puke…"
"Our friends are back home…" Sadness sighed.
"We don't even have a mattress to sleep on…" Anger scowled.
"And the rest of our stuff is still in the van!" Fear exclaimed, sticking his head out from behind one of the memory shelves.
"Okay, I get it, we've had a rough start," Joy conceded. "But things can only pick up from here, right?"
Anger stood steadfast, unsatisfied with her attitude. "No, Joy. I can't think of a single reason for Riley to be happy right now, and I'm sure the rest of us feel the same, like it or not."
"There is no way we're letting anyone see us without any clean clothes," Disgust grimaced.
Sadness fell down on her face, overwhelmed. "I think we should stay here," she sniffled before continuing, "And just let it all out into our pillow."
"This is all way too much," Fear shivered, running towards them. "We could panic until we can't breathe…"
He clung onto Joy in fright, and she pushed him off of her as she stood in front of the console.
"Or scream that curse word we know!" Anger sported a wide grin. "Like–"
"Now hold on," Joy cut him off. "Just because today wasn't that good doesn't mean that–"
She too was cut off, this time by the sound of the door creaking open.
"The Mom bad news train is pulling in! Toot toot!" Anger pumped his fist.
"So, the moving van's fallen even further behind schedule and won't be here until Tuesday," Mom sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Toot toot toot!"
"Where's Dad?" Riley asked.
"On the phone. He's been extremely stressed over this new business venture," Mom answered, pulling her glasses up and rubbing her eyes.
"I rest my case!" Anger affirmed.
Joy walked off, letting Anger march up to the console to make Riley scowl in frustration. Maybe now wasn't the time to be happy after all.
"Hey, I know all of this must be hard to hear, but before I go…" Mom paused before smiling. "I just wanted to say, thank you for hanging in there."
The four emotions still standing near the console blinked, their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. Anger let go of the console, and Joy froze in her tracks, just as surprised as the others.
"It warms my heart that you've stayed optimistic all throughout today, and I'm sure your dad feels the same way. He's been under a lot of pressure, but as long as he knows we're happy, he's happy, too," Mom continued. "Tomorrow's going to be a big day for you as well, but as long as you stay positive, there's nothing for you to fear. Hold onto your happiness, okay?"
With renewed vigor, Joy walked towards the console and pressed on the buttons, a smile forming on Riley's face.
"Yeah, I will!" Riley nodded.
"What did we do to deserve you?" Mom smiled again, giving Riley a kiss on her forehead before turning the lamp beside her off and walking towards the door.
"Good night, Mom," Riley waved.
"Sweet dreams," she waved back, closing the door behind her.
Anger, Disgust, and even Sadness smiled at Joy upon hearing Mom's words of encouragement.
"Well, you can't argue with Mom," the former emotion shrugged. "Happy it is."
"It's Team H-A-P-P-Y!" Disgust cheered.
Sadness tilted her head towards her. "But Riley's not a cheerleader."
Disgust flipped her hair. "Just let me have this one. I haven't felt this happy in ages."
Fear kept his doubts to himself, wearing a smile on his face.
The overhead screen blacked out, signifying that Riley had fallen asleep. "And that's all, folks! Now that we're in REM, I'll take over Dream Duty from here," Joy announced. "Great job, everyone! Sleep well, Team Happy!"
—
The other four emotions walked off to bed as Joy stepped on the Memory Dump button, watching today's memories pour off the shelves, roll under the ground, and gather underneath the tube that had lowered in place. She watched the memories getting whisked up through the tube, and soon after, bright lines of blue, green, and red filled the night sky outside the window, with a few streaks of yellow here and there. It wasn't quite the same sight she enjoyed at night, but it would have to do.
Once the colors in the sky began to fade, she pulled up a chair and settled herself in front of the console, awaiting what Dream Productions had in store for her and Riley. The screen flickered on, showing Riley and her family in their car, floating in the sky. It landed on the street, driving forward until it arrived at her new home. Things seemed pleasant enough up to this point, as the bright, blue sky turned into a stormy night without warning. A rat popped up towards the center, beckoning for Riley to come live with it before choking itself and falling over. This was followed by a bear with a chef's hat arriving with a pizza box, opening it up to reveal that the slices were topped with broccoli that jumped up and down, begging to be eaten.
"Get outta here, you stupid broccoli!" a familiar voice shouted.
Meg suddenly appeared, pushing the bear aside, and held out a slushie towards the screen. Joy stood straight up, taken aback by this development.
"Let's drink this slushie as quickly as we can, bestie!" Meg challenged.
The slushie tilted itself towards the screen, and frost began to coat the borders, rapidly spreading across the screen. This was enough to make Joy shiver on the spot.
"Oh no," she gasped, watching Meg's face distort into an unrecognizable mess through the fog. "This is not how today ends."
She unplugged the wires underneath the console, causing the screen to black out again. Tapping several buttons, she recalled a yellow memory of Riley skating around on Spring Lake. Enthralled by the sight of this and the sound of Riley happily giggling, Joy followed her movements, gliding around HQ while never taking her eyes off of the screen.
"No need to worry, Riley. I'll make sure that tomorrow is another great day," she promised.
—
Riley excitedly shoveled cereal and milk into her mouth, eager for her first day of school. Inside HQ, Joy pranced around, playing the accordion haphazardly.
"Yoo-hoo!" she called out. "Rise and shine, y'all!"
"Do you have to play that thing so loudly?" Anger complained.
Joy chuckled in response, tossing the accordion aside. "I was up all night and had some brilliant ideas on how to make today the best first day EVER!"
Once the other four emotions walked down the stairs, she got down to business, all while not letting up with her enthusiasm. After assigning her tasks to Disgust, Anger and herself (the latter of which involved her complimenting her own sundress) and checking up on the Train of Thought, she tapped on Sadness's shoulder.
"Sadness! Don't count yourself out, you'll be on the lookout for Riley's soon to be new friends!"
"Oh…how do I do that?" Sadness wondered.
"Just make sure you're watching the screen at all times to see which classmates are trustworthy and friendly enough for her," Joy stated.
Sadness adjusted her glasses. "I'll do my best."
"And last but not least, Fear!" Joy called out to the purple emotion. "You've got a very special assignment, my dear! It's right over here! Hehe, that rhymed."
Joy gestured towards the same corner with the manuals, causing Fear to tap his head with his index finger. "Isn't this the same place I was at last night?"
"Sure is!" She nabbed a piece of chalk and drew a semicircle, starting from the bookshelf and ending at the other wall. "You can call this corner Fear No More! Because today, there is nothing to fear!"
"What?!" Fear objected. "There are at least 37 reasons for Riley to be afraid right now!"
"Which is why you'll be keeping all the fear right there!" Joy beamed. "You still have the manuals to keep you company, right?"
"Yeah, but–"
"See? Atta boy! You've got this!" She had already begun to dash back to the console before finishing that sentence. "All right! We are gonna have a good day, into a good week, into a good month, into a good year, into a good life!"
"So, today's the day!" Mom smiled while putting Riley's backpack on her back. "New school, new friends, huh?"
"I know! I'm a bit nervous, but mostly excited!" Riley grinned.
"Are you gonna be okay? You want us to walk with you?" Mom asked.
"Mom and Dad with us in public?" Disgust denied, preparing to touch the console.
"I got it!" Joy stopped the green emotion, pressing the main button herself.
"No thanks! I'll be fine!" Riley declined, opening the door. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!"
"Have a great day at school, monkey!" Dad smiled.
The family made monkey noises and silly faces and gestures towards each other before Riley headed out, closing the door behind her.
—
It didn't take long for Riley to settle into her seat for her first class of the day. Her eyes darted towards a student with half-blue, half brown hair and green eyeshadow. It reminded Joy of her own lavender streak in her blue hair.
Once the teacher arrived, she announced that there would be a new student joining their class today. She followed up by asking Riley to introduce herself.
"Are you kidding me? We're center stage already? This is not happening!" Fear wailed, peeking his head out from the memory shelves. "Guys! Pretend she can't speak English!"
Joy frowned upon seeing him out of his designated spot. "Don't be nervous! Just stay in your corner, and everything will be fine."
The purple emotion flinched before reluctantly returning to his seat. He was too on edge to read the other Mind Manuals, leaving him with nothing else to do while Joy returned to the console.
"Ok, um…hi, everyone!" Riley began to speak as she stood up with a smile on her face. "My name is Riley Andersen, I'm from Minnesota, and now I live here."
"And how about Minnesota?" The teacher prompted. "You certainly get a lot more snow than we do."
Joy let out a snort, doubling over at the teacher's remark. Shortly after, she steadied herself, turning a lever with her hand.
"Heh, it does get pretty cold there," Riley lightly chuckled before continuing her story. "When the lake freezes over, we play hockey on it. I'm on this great team called the Prairie Dogs, too. My friend Meg plays forward, my dad's the coach, and…"
She paused briefly, trying to think of what she was going to say next. Joy recalled the memory of her family skating together, letting it serve as a guide for her kid.
"…everyone in my family knows how to skate! It's a family tradition of ours, going out on the lake whenever we can."
Then the screen abruptly turned purple, and Riley went quiet, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. She huddled her arms together and tilted her head towards her desk.
"But now…" she trailed off, her voice having gone quiet.
Joy blinked in confusion before putting two and two together. "Fear! What did I say about not touching the memories?"
"...sorry," he squeaked out, his hair standing up straight.
"Get back in your corner!" She ordered before unsuccessfully attempting to return the memory back to Long Term.
"Why isn't it ejecting?" Anger demanded.
"Cool kids whispering at three o'clock," Disgust informed.
They could hear the other kids whispering among themselves upon seeing Riley now standing there in complete silence, and it made Sadness tear up. "They're judging us…"
Joy grabbed onto the memory, with Anger and Disgust backing her up, but it proved to be much stronger than she had anticipated.
Fear silently walked away from the memory holder, arriving at the console with Sadness currently in control. He began to tap some of the buttons, causing her to give him a puzzled look.
"Fear…what are you doing?" the blue emotion whispered.
"Everything's…different," Riley choked out. "Now that we've moved…it's too much. I can't–"
"This is madness! Why are we freaking out on our very first day?!" Anger yelled.
That's when Joy spotted Fear operating the console, right beside Sadness.
"What? No!" she exclaimed, finally yanking the skating memory free. "Get off the console!"
She shoved Fear off, causing him to yelp and retreat behind the memory shelves.
*ding*
The sound alerted everyone to a bright memory that had rolled into sight.
"What the–" Anger gasped.
"A core memory?" Disgust pointed out.
"It's blue!" Sadness realized. Then her eyes nearly popped open upon closer inspection. "And…lavender as well?!"
"No, wait! That's not supposed to happen!" Joy shouted, dashing towards the dual-colored memory. It rolled towards the core memory holder, and Joy forced it open to take the memory out before it could settle in place. Fear watched from the shelves, his entire body shaking in his shoes.
Upon seeing Joy about to step on the Memory Dump button, he rushed out towards her. "Joy! Don't push that!"
*click*
His terror intensified tenfold when he heard the vacuum tube lower from the ceiling. He was in full panic mode now, running straight into Joy. The impact knocked them away from the tube and into the still-open holder, and all five core memories tumbled out, along with the blue-lavender core memory from her hands. The Islands of Personality all ceased functioning, turning black.
"No! The core memories!" Sadness cried out, leaving the console behind to run as fast as she could towards them. She grabbed the dual-colored core memory, but when Joy saw this, she panicked and slapped it out of the blue emotion's hands, causing it to roll towards the tube and for her to fall to the ground. Fear could only watch the rolling sphere in horror, knowing exactly what was about to happen next.
Upon detecting the memory, the vacuum fired up, sucking it out of HQ. Anger and Disgust backed off, while Sadness tried to scramble away from the suction. Through all the rapidly ensuing chaos, Fear noticed one of the core memories behind the holder and snatched it up, putting it right back in its place in a flash.
The rest of the core memories started to roll towards the vacuum. Joy managed to save two of them, but when she ran forward to try to rescue the third one, the suction caught her, and she stuck her foot out, trying with all her might to fight the vacuum. The purple emotion saw Sadness helplessly flailing on the ground, getting pulled closer to the tube by the moment.
He didn't spare a moment to think. He leapt forward, shoving Sadness away from the suction with all the force he could muster in his arms, sending her rolling away just far enough. The inertia from this act caused him to collapse, now too weak to hold on the ground. The vacuum yanked him off the ground, and he smacked right into Joy, sending them far, far up with one last shriek from them.
Back in the classroom, Riley sat down in her seat, a sense of numbness overtaking her.
"Thank you, Riley. I know it can be tough moving to a new place, but we're happy to have you here," the teacher nodded at her.
The class remained quiet as the teacher started the history lesson, all while a heavy silence followed in HQ, almost as oppressive as the vacuum had been just moments prior.
"...Fear? Joy?"
"What just…"
"Can I say that curse word now?"
A/N: Here is where things truly begin to diverge. It was inevitable that Joy and Fear would get separated from HQ, but there's an additional twist to it. Stay tuned for how the story continues from here!