We set off to explore the former living quarters of the orphans, traveling through the main hall, multiple bedrooms, and kitchens. In the center of the bedrooms were statues of Smiling Critters designed to watch the kids' behavior. No doubt there were cameras in the eyes and a speaker in the mouth if they had to say something to the rowdy – or misbehaving – children. There was one that still seemed to be working. The large statue of Bobby Bearhug still had glowing eyes and swiveled around to watch our movements. My friend's dim light bounced off the statue, showing off its faded red color. We even came upon a room that held a couple of hospital-like beds. This had to be where the kids went to quarantine when they were not feeling good. There was even a room that held some baby cribs.
"Experiments on the kids was bad enough. I hope they weren't doing it on the babies, too." My friend commented.
During our exploration, we re-routed wiring and found batteries to power the doors and ultimately the backup power generator. We were deep into our investigation when I heard a set of soft footsteps. It was possible that it could be Catnap. So I told the human to stay put while I went to check it out. I crept forward as the footsteps stopped. There was a creaking noise followed by soft sobbing sounds. My blue head peaked around a corner into someone's sleeping chambers. There sat Kissy Missy on the bed. She was cradling a picture of a little girl. Could this be who she was before her transformation into a living toy? If only I remembered things like that….
It was clear that she was deep in thought as she stared at the picture of the human girl. I considered saying hello, but didn't want to startle or interrupt her. Instead, I found myself staring at her fluffy, immaculate – and don't forget shiny! – pink fur. I don't know how she was able to keep it so nice in this old, stuffy place.
"Who is it, Huggy? Is it Catnap?" The human whispered up to me. But I barely heard as I kept taking in Kissy's wonderful figure. "Hey! Earth to Huggy! Who is it?" I still had not answered. So the person crept up next to me and looked for himself. "Oh, it's just her again." He breathed a sigh of relief. "We should go say hi." My friend insisted and began to step forward. I finally woke up from my trance when I realized he was gonna go disturb her.
"Er, no!" I exclaimed and picked up the person.
"Hey!" He squealed as I plucked him away from Kissy's room. The floor board seemed to squeak a bit as I dashed in the opposite direction. I had a feeling she looked up from the photo at that time. But since I ran away too fast, she wouldn't have seen us.
"What was that for?" He spat at me.
"We shouldn't bother Kissy Missy. She seems….busy." I made up an excuse for what I just did. My yellow hand kept ushering the person forward, so we could finish our task.
"Is that her name? Kissy helped me open a door earlier when I got stuck. She seems really nice. Not like a lot of the other…Bigger Bodies things."
"Oh, yeah! She's the best." I agreed with him.
"Wait a minute, do you have the hots for her or something?" He caught on to my emotions.
"No, why would you say something like that?" I nervously replied. My face starting to get hot with embarrassment. The human chuckled a bit before saying: "Yeah, you totally do!"
"Okay, fine. Maybe I do like her…. a lot." I crossed my arms over my chest and confessed.
"So, have you told her yet?"
"Er, no not really." My fingers nervously scratched at my arms. I flinched to a stop when my fingers hit a bandage.
"What are you waiting for, man? I think she would totally dig you." My friend urged. But all this talk only made my face flush even warmer.
"Can't we talk about a different subject?" I interjected.
"Well, I guess there is something I wanted to tell you…" The person started.
"What's that?"
"I…wanted to apologize for running into the red smoke without you. I just…thought I could do it by myself." He then cleared his throat. "But I promise from now on if you say something is a bad idea, I won't do it. From now on, we stick together no matter what."
"Sounds like a plan!" I enthusiastically agree. The mention of the red smoke made me wonder what my friend saw or heard from it. I really wanted to ask. But his track record of answering personal questions was not great so far. Perhaps I could try prodding one more time?
"Speaking of the red smoke, did it pull some old faces and voices from your past?"
The human stayed quiet. Just as I thought. He did not want to share something that personal.
"You don't have to give me any details. I'm just trying to confirm whether or not it pulls from some of your most traumatizing moments. Cuz that's what it did to me." I confessed.
"….Yes, it did me too." He said flatly.
I was about to ask another question when another set of footsteps interrupted our conversation. It had a different sound and was clearly not Kissy this time. We both stopped on the spot and listened for a moment. It sounded like the steps were around the corner and in the next hall over. We got down low and peered around the corner. There was some junk blocking the view in the hall. Almost looked like someone had stacked bedroom objects in an attempt to make a barricade. We had to raise ourselves up a bit from the crouch position to look over the pile. Down the hall was Catnap. His gangly purple body had his back to us. The long tail swept along the floor and then perked up as if inspecting the environment. It did seem as if he were taking his time and looking around.
My friend gave a small gasp, finally getting a look at the oversized cat. I acted quick, grabbing the human and putting my hand over his mouth. My body ducked down behind the poorly made barricade. A hissing noise came from Catnap. He had heard us for sure. The sound of his claws on the wooden floor slowly came toward us. My fur stood on end as I tensed up. How would Catnap react to our presence still here? Would he give mercy and usher us out? Or would he resort to knocking us out first?
We cringed and closed our eyes as the footsteps stopped. It sounded like he had just been on the other side of the barricade with those last claw taps. The hall was silent for a few seconds as we held our breaths, preparing for the worst. And then we heard the sound of Catnap running. When I realized it was traveling away, I poked my head over the junk. The feline had disappeared into the dark building.
"Phew, that was a close one." The person said, removing my hand from his mouth.
"Too close." I agreed. "I was so sure that he had heard us…."
"Maybe he saw a mouse….or something?" The human offered with a shrug. "Well, I guess we can finish up our work now." We got up and kept going. To my surprise, the man continued our conversation rather than travel in silence.
"Catnap's the tallest, most skinniest cat I've ever seen." He stated. "Does he eat okay?" It was true that you could see Catnap's ribs bulging against his skin if you were standing close enough. But if you were close enough to see it, that likely meant it was one of the last things you would ever see. Especially if you were on Catnap's bad side.
"Oh, he eats all right. We all eat. In fact, we pretty much always feel hungry. No matter how much we eat – even after a big meal – we're never full. Which makes me start to wonder: do we really need to eat?" I began to trail off with my thoughts.
"An organic creature that doesn't need to eat? That's weird. When was the last time you ate, Huggy?"
"Uh….I don't know." I scratched my head trying to remember. "Maybe last week….or last month? I really don't remember."
"I think you've just answered your own question, Huggy. If you're able to survive for a month with no food or negative effects, I don't think you need to eat." My friend concluded.
"I guess that makes sense….and would explain a few things." I realized.
We made it to the basement where we finished up with the last of the batteries and wiring. After which, we made the climb back up towards the entrance. Hopefully the door was unlocked by now. When we made it back to the foyer, we found that the door was left wide open. Perhaps Catnap left it open if he had run out?
I let the human go first out the door. He started to walk down the steps as I ducked down to make it through the doorway. I heard him cry out surprise. A tall, lanky figure had pushed him down the steps and held him down. I rushed out only to realize it was just Kissy. It seemed as if she had been resting on the porch and did not expect us to come out of there. A small gurgle of suspicion rose in her throat as she inspected the human.
"NO, NO! LET GO!" Cried Poppy's voice. "They didn't do anything wrong!" The little doll nudged at the beautiful pink creature, trying to calm her down. "We're actually here to help." Poppy said to my friend.
"Sorry about tackling you like that. You just startled me. I didn't know anyone else was in there." Kissy apologized.
"That's all right, Kissy. No harm done." The man said as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Huggy and I were just finishing up with the backup power in Home Sweet Home."
"H-hi ladies." I came up and made my presence known.
"We appreciate all your help." Poppy addressed both of us. "This place makes Kissy tense."
"She's not the only one." My friend replied. The doll nodded.
"I'm glad that Ollie could help you get this far. He's the reason we found you at all." Kissy gently put Poppy on her shoulder as the doll continued to explain the situation. "Looks like the train crash hurt us both. You've been through so much…" She sighed.
"You two were in a train crash?" I asked, thoroughly surprised that these two had already met. "When did that happen?"
"I believe you were resting at the time, Huggy." She addressed me and then turned back to my friend. "You deserve an explanation. Come on."
So we followed Kissy and Poppy to an elevator. Poor Kissy still seemed pretty tense. So the doll gently said: "Hey, you'll be okay. We'll be okay." Trying to comfort her. Poppy opened a small door on the wall. It was decorated with a red poppy flower. She worked away at the controls to get the elevator going, guided only by a small flashlight that she had. A small slide-gate opened and we boarded the elevator. Kissy and I sat in the corners with our legs tucked up near our body. We could have easily filled up the entire lift ourselves if we wanted to. The human squeezed next to me and Poppy still hitched a ride on Kissy's shoulder.
"Listen…I'm not your enemy." The doll said to the human who looked at her a bit suspiciously. As if he were unsure if he could trust this living toy. "But I can't just let you leave. What's happening down here is bigger than all of us. And I need you… so we can get revenge on those monsters who've tortured you…who've tortured us. They didn't act alone. They're disciples of the original: The Prototype." Both Kissy and I shuddered at the name. The elevator then came to a stop. "Do the honors?" Poppy motioned to the man. My friend got up and left the elevator. He went over and pushed a big red button on a console. A bunch of clicks and clunks sounded throughout the building. Next thing we knew, some of the lights came back on. From this deck we could overlook the town of PlayCare. The fake sunlight came back on and illuminated the statue and the pathways surrounding it.
"Great! We finally got some power back! Now we won't have to wander in the dark anymore." The person rejoiced and then came back to the elevator. He sat next to me again. The door slid closed and the elevator started back down.
"The Prototype knows we're coming by now." Poppy explained. "You try to escape, he'll kill you before you ever reach that front door."
"Believe me, I don't think I could find the front door to this place even if I wanted to now." He admitted.
"He was the reason I was trapped in that god-awful case for so long!" The doll elaborated. I guess the human had freed her from there. She had told me to stay put in my spot near the front…but I didn't realize she had gotten captured. It must have been not too long after she gave me that order.
"You have… no idea the things he's done! Let me help you kill him. Let me help you save everyone. We've ALL seen you, how capable you are."
"Me? But I was just doing what I needed to stay alive." My friend confessed.
"But you also saved me and made me your friend. You didn't need to do that, you know…but I sure am glad you did! I know you were trying to talk to Mommy Long Legs, too. But she was just too stubborn to listen." I added to the conversation. It seemed as though Poppy and Kissy agreed with this.
"You are perfect for this…" The doll cooed as the elevator clicked to a stop at the bottom again. "Catnap is coming. He's the final obstacle the Prototype has placed against us. We can't stay here. Keep yourself safe… Ollie will call you." Poppy explained as me and the human got off the lift. "We'll keep in touch, I promise. You two can always go to the infirmary to rest for a bit if you need."
"Thanks for all the information, Poppy. We'll do our best." The person waved to them as the elevator began to rise again.
"Goodbye for now." Kissy told us as the doll nodded. I gently waved back, a bit sad that our time together had been so short.
"Well, Huggy, I guess it's time to keep going forward." He said. I followed him down the steps and back toward the statue. We had not even gotten halfway there when the phone in his pocket rang. He quickly answered it to be greeted by the child-like voice.
"Hey, hey… It's me again." I could hear the voice plain as day even as I walked beside my friend. "It seems like Poppy explained everything now. And she turned on the Dome's backup power! Now the plan from here is pretty simple-we need to restore power to the Gas Production Zone. First, go back to the Home Sweet Home building you were just in." I could tell that the human was about to argue that he didn't want to go back in there. But Ollie kept talking and explained that we didn't need to go inside. "You should be able to find a big power cord somewhere around the porch. Grab it and plug it in underneath the statue."
Off to the right of the doors was a control panel that had been left open. There was a red frame around it that said "DANGER". Probably because it was a high-voltage item. The person reached into the box and pulled out the large plug. It beeped as it was removed from the socket. We ran it back to the statue and into the control room where there was a spot for it to go. As soon as it was plugged in, Ollie called again.
"Awesome, look at that! Remember that generator you turned on inside of Home Sweet Home? Well, that was a backup generator for just that building. And every building should have one! Now you've just taken Home Sweet Home's backup power and routed it here. We're already halfway done! Hmmm, but where to go next…everywhere is pretty dangerous around here. That playhouse especially. Yuck! So… your best bet is probably the school. Catnap usually leaves that place alone. Sending you the key now!"