Flashback

Many months before The Hour of Joy happened, three people were having a meeting. There was Eddie Ritterman, Stella Greyber and Leith Pierre. They were talking about Harley Sawyer. "This recklessness has to stop. The Doctor has no regard for the safety of this facility, or its staff," says Eddie. "Or the children in Playcare. I've tried to set boundaries with him. He doesn't listen to me," says Stella.

"He doesn't listen to any of us. Not really. Not anymore. And he's behind schedule. Playtime may have turned a corner financially, but that doesn't change the fact that his "Bigger Bodies Initiative" is still a money hole," says Leith. "The guy's gotta go, Leith." "And how do you suggest we do that?" "This wouldn't be the first time we've made someone disappear." "We can't kill him, Eddie." "Why not?" "Because like it or not, we need him."

"Eddie's right though, Sawyer can't keep leading this project," says Stella. "So we just ask him to step down? Take a demotion?" "No, but..." "I'm not disagreeing. Huggy loose in the woods, that business with Cat Nap, the whole Stoll thing..." "And half a dozen other incidents..." says Eddie. "Right, and all of that pales in comparison to The Theatre incident."

Stella shudders before saying: "I don't even want to talk about that..." "So...we can't kill the son of a bitch, but we need to knock him out of the equation. What do we do?" says Eddie. Leith scratches his chin before saying: "There is one thing I can think of..."

A couple of months later, some scientists created the machines that held The Doctor's organs. The one that was in charge pressed a button and the main machine with the brain turned on. "It looks like he's waking up." "Where am I? What... What is this? Oh no... They didn't. Those backstabbing traitors," says The Doctor.

"Dr. Sawyer? Can you hear me?" "White?! White is that you?! Who else is in there with you? You enjoy watching me writhe like one of them? My head, feels like it's splitting in two. This is wrong, you must have done something wrong." "Some disorientation is to be expected, it'll..." "Who gave you the order? You spineless cowards, after all I've done for this project, for this company..."

The door then opens and Leith walked into the room. "I gave the order, Sawyer." "Leith Pierre, of course it'd be you. You have no idea what kind of mistake you've just made." "Really? From where I'm sitting, you're the one who keeps making mistakes that need fixing. We gave you so many opportunities to clean up your own messes, but you just couldn't do it, could you?"

"What? You think you can do better? Nobody else can do what I do! You need my knowledge, my intellect!" "Why do you think you're sitting in there right now, and not in Boxy's stomach? Let me tell you how this is gonna go, Sawyer. From now on, you're here to give the lab boys answers when they need them, and carry out procedures when and how we tell you to. That's it. You'll be like an open book to us whenever we want. So fight, or give in, or whatever, because either way we own the infrastructure you're wired into." "You'll die for this, Leith! When I get my hands on you, you're a dead man!" "This temper is a bad look for you, Harley."

Date: 8.8.1995

It was the day that the infamous Hour of Joy happened. Alarms were going off, people were screaming in fear, blood was splattered across the walls. A man ran into The Doctor's lair, he was the Warden of the underground prison. "Warden?" "Doctor! Doctor, what's going on?! What's happening, it's..." "Yes, yes I can hear it. They've staged quite the rebellion. Remarkable, 1006."

"How could this happen? There's failsafes. Security measures. They... It's impossible." "Personal agendas have long been the downfall of this company. Is it unreasonable to believe there were conspirators? Playtime is filled with vipers and backstabbers." "But...but without executive access...how could anyone even get through? Leith. Stella. Eddie. Only the four of us have that kind of clearance."

"Does any of that matter now? It's your life you have to protect. You have executive access." "For all the good it does me! Opening a door at a time won't get me to the exit, not with those things everywhere. You didn't see what I saw. You didn't see the trail of limbs down the hall, didn't hear the things eating. The... The wet crunches of bones... God, I..."

"There is something you can do, Warden. I can help you." "How? You're stuck in there. You can't..." "My body's here, sure. But my mind..." "What?" "The Omni Hand. If you give it to me, I can get you anywhere. I'll have control over everything. I can shut some doors, open others. I can make you a pathway that leads right to the exit."

"I don't... I don't know..." "If you want to wait to get torn to pieces, that's your prerogative, but look at your immediate options, Warden. What choice other than this gets you out of here alive?" "I'm giving you the tool. Just get me out of here. Please." "Of course. You've made a smart decision, Warden. I promise I'll get you out of here safe and sound."

A few years later, The Prototype wandered into The Doctor's lair and says: "Your suggestions have failed to produce the results I'm after. Have I made an error in allowing your survival?" "Of course not. We just need more time to perfect the..." says The Doctor. "Time? Time is precisely what we do not have." "Then I suggest you find some more. That, or give me lab access. At least with the two of us..."

"That is out of the question. You will stay put." "Fine, but you have no staff, virtually no test subjects; it's hardly ideal conditions. Even when this place was fully operational, we were beating our heads against this. You can't expect to do it on your own so quickly." "The situation necessitates it be done quickly."

"I'm just giving you the facts, and the fact is we need more time or this isn't going to work. I can only be reactive up here." "Then of what use are you?" "You know I'm still your best shot at cracking that secret. If I weren't, you would have already killed me." "A sound observation. Yes, you have made yourself useful. Provide me more options, I will try again." "Of course."

"But...if you are stalling, or worse... Remember, your usefulness is the only reason you were not stripped for meat and spare parts."