They'd been lucky that they hadn't caught any attention so far. When Johnny suggested that they stay hidden within the Fear Co. factory, it was a somewhat surprising, but not unwelcomed proposal.

Granted, they wouldn't have the most comfortable stay. The two were put in a spare room on the bottom level of the already subterranean door warehouse. It was a dusty, forgotten space with wood splinters littering the floor. A single, dim lightbulb flickered when it was turned on. Everything from office decorations to old pieces of technology that had been phased out before Randall had ever started his career was stored nearly. Clearly, it had become a kind of dumping ground for whatever odds and ends the staff had no use for, but decided not to throw away yet. Some of the objects looked like they hadn't been moved since they were placed there.

Having spent years in an actual dump, Tani didn't seem to mind. She just sneezed from the excess of dust. Randall also didn't care, as his biggest concern was just keeping out of sight. Like Monsters Inc.'s warehouse, everything was automated. Aside from a bi-annual recall, when the doors of aged-out pre-teens were replaced with those for young children, not many people would have a reason to explore the place—especially this far within its depths.

"It's nothing fancy, but it'll have to do," Johnny shrugged in the doorway, "It's also the perfect spot to set up our little project; No eyeballs, lots of privacy, and access to all the tools and doors you could need. I'll see what I can send down to make it a bit more livable though."

After he left, Randall became evenmoreaware of how isolated they were. Despite the smaller staff working in other parts of the factory at that hour, the warehouse was very much active. Doors continued to run along a maze of tracks at high speeds. Pipes groaned and belts whirred. There were so many moving parts that it could drown out almost any noise from afar. Johnny was right: It was a perfect location to work in secret.

For the first time since he'd been hurled into the human world, he felt like things were finally going his way.

The shuffle of boxes snapped his attention back toward his companion. Tani was moving things around to create a better place to sit. Turning the cardboard cubes into an improvised chair, she cushioned her back with her bag and plopped down with a deep sigh

Randall joined her side not long after, making his own spot among the piles of junk. He tapped his fingers together absentmindedly. A few seconds passed on in silence before he asked her, "How are you feeling?"

She said nothing, instead giving him a tired, sidelong glance that seemed to answer him with, 'How do you think I'm doing?'

An awkward smirk tugged at his lips. She had been through far more than anyone should've when they needed to be recovering. She'd been dragged from one place to the next, forced to face an old enemy from their college days, and involved in a criminal scheme. Given that she still hadn't technically forgiven him for what he put her through all those years ago, he wouldn't have been shocked if she tried to tear his fronds off for getting her into a whole new mess.

He guessed he could count himself lucky that she needed his help. And that she never hated him as much as she did the rest of the RORs

"If everything goes as planned, we won't have to put up with him for long," he said, "Our names will be cleared and we can get on with our lives.

Tani didn't respond to him on that either, this time turning her gaze away. Again though, it wasn't hard to tell what she was thinking. She probably still had every kind of misgiving about the Scream Extractor.

"You've always been... different, when she's around. You know that?"

He could hear the ROR alumni's words echoing back to him. Maybe because he'd started having a few misgivings himself; not that the Scream Extractor wouldn't work or that he should quit while he could, but that maybe he'd gone about it wrong from the start. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to work with Waternoose behind the scenes, and maybe he'd gone too far by trying to get rid of Sullivan and Wazowski. It wasn't that he hated them any less—he probably would hate them until the day he died—but thinking how Tani might react if she found out just how far he was willing to go to make the machine a success made him pause.

"It doesn't matter who tries to stand by you, it doesn't matter who youhurt,because you're so obsessed with your own ego that you'll bullyanyoneto stay on top!"

He could still see her furious, screaming expression now... He didn't want to lose her again.

There was hope. Eventually, she'd have to come around, either because she'd see what the Scream Extractor was truly worth or because she'd realize there wasn't a better way for the scaring industry to move forward. He only needed to be careful until she got there.

A thought occurred to him: Maybe the surest and fastest way to get through to her was to get her back into scaring herself. It was her dream as much as his own when they were younger. Directly confronting all that she'd gone through might even help her readjust.

It didn't hurt to ask. "I know you probably don't want to work for Fear Co., but are you still thinking about becoming a scarer, even after everything?"

Tani made a bothered expression, as if she couldn't believe he would bring that up right now, but it faltered. She might really have thought about it—not necessarily when Johnny mentioned the possibility, but off and on over time. After all, it was the future that was robbed from her. With no one to talk to and nothing to do except for survive for so long, what else would she think about?

She shook her head, "I think I already missed the boat there, Randall."

Very briefly though, he saw a youthful flicker in her eyes: A spark from a fire long smothered.

"No, you haven't," he insisted, "You had plenty going for you ten years ago and you've still got it now. You're just out of practice."

"You mean I've had no practice," she countered, snorting, "No practice, no degree… I've probably already forgotten everything I did learn." The was a sudden, muffled bang in the distance and she flinched. It sounded like two doors striking each other as they passed along different tracks. Tani sighed, "You know I had to take extra classes back then. I might not be cut out for it at all now."

Amongst other things, she was talking about getting her Delirian traits under control. While he couldn't claim to be an expert, Randall had done some research on the monster subgroup. It had been his small way of trying to make things up to her before they were separated. From what he understood, the manipulation of pheromones was the largest and most difficult factor to deal with. It was believed to have been a kind of evolutionary quirk, a way of making up for their generally less-than-average abilities and typically non-threatening appearance. It helped them bluff their way out of danger. Because of this skill, Delirians also tended to get a better read for another person's emotional state.

By that summary alone, it would seem that they could frighten any kid without the need to know any special techniques or even anything about them. The pheromones would just exaggerate whatever fear the child already felt by causing slight hallucinations. From Randall's own experience, they had made Tani appear larger and more ferocious than she was.

However, such hallucinations couldn't be kept up for long. They were as quick to disperse as they were to take effect. Anything from physical health, a natural immunity, a lack of concentration, or the Delirian's own emotions could break whatever spell they'd cast over their targets.

He couldn't help Tani there. Few monsters could. What he could do though was coach her through what he'd learned from his own time as a scarer and try to help her get her confidence back.

"There's got to be a scare simulator somewhere in this factory. When I'm not working on the machine, let's try it out—for old time's sake, at least," Randall suggested.

Tani seemed to like the idea. She nodded and her grin grew a bit wider.

Not long after, Randall's stomach began to growl much like hers had during the meeting. Tani fished around for whatever snacks they had left in her bag. If they kept eating light, they'd have enough for another meal or two. While they could get water from the bathrooms and swipe coffee from the breakrooms, they would need a better plan for their food situation soon.

The pair squeezed between even more boxes to settle in for an uneasy night's sleep. If he was honest, Randall didn't entirely trust that Johnny wouldn't turn them in. It all depended on how much the other thought he could gain out of the situation. At least when he was working with Waternoose, the risk of exposure allowed them to keep one another in-check. Randall ended up laying wide-awake for a while, eying the storeroom door in case someone ended up storming through it.

"Did you end up meeting anyone else that'd been banished?" he found himself asking.

Having started to drift off, Tani jumped a bit before squirming into a more relaxed position. "No, although I think a few other monsters had to have been dumped in the same area. They called us cryptids, but there were locals who talked about it all the time," she then snickered to herself, "I might have gotten a swamp legend or two of my own."

He bristled a little. The concept of 'cryptids' was an unintended consequence of banishments. On one hand, they inspired even more fear through whatever insane stories humans told each other. On the other, the intrigue also inspired by those stories made humans far more likely to come after them.

How many times had she been chased down? How close had she ever gotten to stepping on a bear trap, or ending up in someone's crosshairs? Questioning it made all of the terrible things that had played through his head when he'd lost her come back.

Still, that small piece of information helped narrow down the list of monsters responsible for keeping her stuck in the human world. Massive companies like Monsters Inc and Fear Co. worked almost around the clock to supply power. They had a global reach, with doors connected to various human territories in all time zones. Smaller companies often covered more specific areas. Meanwhile, there were only a few places where doors were installed for banishments. All it would take for them to start coming up with names to pinpoint where they had been and what other monsters were banished in that vicinity.

There was a lot to do in only a short time, but Randall was starting to look forward to it.