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Being stuck in that case for such a long time… it didn’t do anything to change her opinions. She could reflect on her choices and it still didn’t make her see his point or make her want to join his side. Why would he even think that this would make her change?
Did he think she’d be afraid of the case so much that she’d want to join him? Or was it that he wanted to keep her in check? Was it to keep her in place since he probably saw her as a nuisance? A means to an end? She had so many questions, and yet there was little information to answer them.
If only she could leave this case and just… be free.
If only she could… But what if it was possible? What if it was possible to break the case open. It hadn’t been the first time she’s escaped, but that she was only able to last time because the wood framing had grown old and weak. This time now she was in a much better case and it seemed impossible to break out.
Did she really try to break out this time? Not really. She had the impression that the case was very durable but… it might be able to be broken. It was a gamble but she could do it. So, she tried: kicking, hitting, banging on the glass with her hands, and ramming into it with what little space there was. The Glass might eventually break, and while she was made out of porcelain, she was careful enough with the ways she hit the glass.
The glass started breaking. Then the cracks on the glass spread, and eventually it broke in pieces. The sound of the glass pane shattering made her inwardly cringe, but it mainly brought relief.
She was finally free.
Poppy skittered to the edge of the case, then lowered herself down from the case’s edge and dropped herself down onto the wooden floor.
It had been so long since she was free. So long since… since everything. Were Dogday and the others okay? What happened to them? She knows she abandoned them, but to hear that they’re safe would be a lot to her. She should call Ollie for answers, like she always did.
Poppy remembered where she last hid the Playtime Co. phone. It was behind the bookshelf and under a small pillow. It probably wasn’t there since the Prototype would’ve taken it away. It wouldn’t hurt to check just in case he didn’t find it, though.
She walked quietly to the other side of the room where bookshelves were. There were an assorted amount of pillows by it. It would be a surprise if the Prototype never checked them, at least to her recollection.
She pulled them away from their spot and… Wow… It was still there. It took her a second to realize that the phone was actually there.
This was great! Not only had she been able to break out of her case, but to be able to get into contact with Ollie? She couldn’t be happier. She snatched the phone and walked to a nearby vent on the wall by the bookshelves.
It was too far but getting it to open… she’d need something sharp, and something that could unscrew the bolts holding down the vents hatch. So, being on a roll of ideas, she gently placed down the phone and went to where some of the glass from her case shattered. She picked a piece up that looked good enough to act as a screwdriver.
As she went back and attempted to unscrew that vent, the glass kept chipping. It wasn’t the best solution but it was the only one. It was either this or getting put back in the case again.
Poppy was able to unscrew the hatch and enter the vent. Carrying the phone into the vent was the hardest part compared to all the crawling that she had to do.
When she got into Elliot’s office through the vents, she’d probably call Ollie. It would be much safer over there than here, where the Prototype often checked.
The vents had so much dust- they weren’t clean at all. Her dress might've gotten the dust on it, but that was okay. It was a small price to pay for her freedom.
She continued through the vents while dragging the phone behind her.
With no problems, nothing to hold her down- things were really looking up! The feeling of hope was bloomed, but quickly disapeared when the bottom part of the vent broke out.
She fell flat onto the floor with the phone landing on the ground first. She was scared that something might’ve broken but when she got up to check everything- her arms, legs, face- everything seemed fine.
She didn’t want a repeat of that incident a while ago.
When she looked up to see the room she was in, it was quite small. The paint on the walls were cracked and worn out, with there being some mold on the side. There were also three file cabinets on each side of the room except for the side with a door. One of the only exits out of here- the door- looked extremely worn. The room really was old and dusty. No one had been here for a very very long time.
At least she was away from her room. Maybe safe enough to call Ollie?
She walked over to where the phone fell, picking it up with both hands and putting in Ollie’s number. He had changed his numbers over the years because of the Prototype, but hopefully he hadn’t changed this one.
Ring…..
Ring….
Ring….
Maybe he wouldn’t pick up. Maybe it was too late-
A bunch of static came through all of the sudden from the phone. She almost dropped the phone from her shock.
“…Hello? Whose this?” A familiar voice rang around.
The relief she felt was so much. Ollie was alive. Thank goodness. This was great. Everything was great. She’d never felt better than in the last three years.
She was feeling so good that she forgot to reply to his question.
“O-oh! Uhm, it’s me Ollie. I’m back…!” Her reply was sheepish, but there was evident joy in her words.
“Poppy! I… it’s so good to hear from you again. I thought you… Nevermind. What happened? Are you okay?”
“I was put in that case again… You know how I feel about that. But enough about me, how are Dogday and the others doing?”
“Not great, Poppy. There’s so much that’s happened. The doctor’s been tearing everyone apart lately… A lot of the little smiling critters are gone and Craftycorn and Kickin Chicken are dead. I heard that the Doctor recently snatched Hoppy and Dogday a few weeks ago too. Doey’s been really sad because of it and so am I… we all are.” Ollie’s sad sigh could be heard after he explained everything.
“…” She hated the Doctor. He’d taken so much from her, from Ollie, from everyone! He made everyone’s lives miserable when he could. He hurt them when he wanted to.
“I’m sorry Ollie… I’m really sorry…”
“It’s okay Poppy. I’m just glad you’re here now.”
“…Yeah…”
There was a brief pause in their conversation. She took a few breaths to cool herself down since her joy was dimmed and turned into anger. If she could, she would’ve locked the Doctor in a cell for the rest of his life so he couldn’t hurt anyone. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done about the Doctor.
“And what about the Prototype?” She asked suddenly.
“Him? Well… his attempts at getting in the Safe Haven suck, there’s not much to it. It’s the Doctor who’s been a problem so far. I don’t know why the doctor wants to break into the Safe Haven so much. It’s really bad and the generator down in the safe haven isn’t doing too well because of his attacks. I’ve been supplying any batteries I can find to Doey and the others to help.”
That was a little odd. His answer to her question was vague, but… the Doctor was horrible no doubt. She wouldn’t ever doubt him. The Doctor was the main antagonizer to the Safe Haven.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. I don’t think you should go down there either. It’ll attract attention and the others aren’t too happy with your disappearance. They think you abandoned them. I tried to convince them awhile back but it didn’t work… they thought I was doing it just because I’m your friend.”
“…Thank you for trying to convince them, even if it didn’t work out…” It wasn’t their fault they thought she abandoned them. It wasn’t their fault at all. “Uhm, I’m probably going to see if I can find a way out of the room I’m in. Is it okay if I call later?”
“Yep. It’s a-okay, don’t worry! Just call me when you’re in a safe spot.”
“Alright. Well… I’ll see you later.”
“See you later.”
The call ended.
Despite how brief it was, she was happy Ollie was alive, but saddened by the news of her friends dying. Things never worked out in this factory, did they? Always hurt and sadness and pain. So much pain.
↧ ⚘ ↧
There was a way out of the room, but it required an actual screwdriver. How would she even find one? And what if there wasn’t one inside this room? She’d be stuck until he found her. Or maybe she could call Ollie again to send someone up from the Safe Haven but… that would be time consuming and dangerous.
Luckily, saved from her spiraling thoughts, the file cabinets moved when she opened them. Inside were files, lots of them. They were organized alphabetically.
They were also written in her dad’s handwriting.
She pulled one out that she’d taken a glimpse from. It was talking about plans for an on-site orphanage- the Playcare! That was a while ago. How old were these files? Was it possible to get the factories building blueprints? If she could, it would be a big benefit to her friends. These files were old though so it probably wouldn’t include the prison, or maybe even newer editions to Playcare.
Instead of looking for a screwdriver, she dived into these file cabinets. It was difficult to pull the file cabinet drawers from their place but she did it with determination.
The cabinets besides the wall with the door were mostly about construction billing, marketing, and sales related stuff. The files talking about construction were interesting but it didn’t contain any blue prints unlike the one she just found. It’s possible the file was misplaced. She wouldn’t blame her father for misplacing them because, after all, files were a nuisance to organize.
Poppy eventually moved onto the other side. It was full of layouts, blue prints, vent and air conditioning maps. There weren’t any more plans about Playcare though…
…
She’d be able to find something to help them, right?
Then came the cabinets on the very far end. She dug through the first one and there wasn’t anything important other than billing footnotes about employee checks. The Second Cabinet was full of paper documents and written speeches by her dad… she’d go through that later.
Then she checked the third cabinet. It was locked, but because it had been old and rusted, she could jiggle the file cabinet’s bottom drawer. It was full of files. Like she’d done with the other cabinets, she used the bottom drawer as a stepping stone to open the last drawer on the top. She pulled out a file from the top drawer and looked it over. Experimentations. She knew her dad had done things like these in the past, otherwise she wouldn’t be here, but still, seeing the words made her shiver. And even if the word ‘experimentation’ was ruined for her, it was still interesting to see her dad figure stuff out.
She put down that file then grabbed more on the top level and threw them to the ground. It would be a lot easier to read down there than to have to balance herself here.
By the time she had gotten all the files from the top row a pile had formed at the bottom.
Hmm…
There wasn’t much she could do with these. Unless… Right- the Prototype. He definitely has a weakness, even if it’s been decades since his creation. Maybe it might be listed in these here?
She looked through the file cabinet’s bottom drawer for documents named ‘the Prototype’ and looked through the pile of documents for ‘Experiment 1006’ in case it was listed as an experiment type. Ergh, it was too complicated…
And there wasn’t anything in these…
She then started shifting through the experimentation files to see if there was anything of use. Nothing seemed to catch her eye until she glanced at one of the file’s names: ‘Oliver Ludwig’
The name was already drawing attention because of the last name ‘Ludwig’. She knew there were others who had her dad’s surname but… maybe it was her cousin? Did she even have a cousin? Who was this?
She didn’t expect to find mentions of the Prototype or that this ‘Oliver Ludwig’ was the Prototype. She’s glad that it caught her eye.
The document was lengthy. The first few pages talked about the experimentation, which she skipped over the gross details of how the Prototype was made. The other portions had documented conversations. It had notes that Elliot, her dad, had written. It’d been a long time since she’d seen anything her dad made. It was one of the reasons why she wanted to go to her dads office. She missed his old talks, his care, his love… Where did it all go wrong?
She kept looking through the document. It lined up from her memory at least. There were mentions of her and him getting along.
Then there was a crinkled page, looking to be in worse condition than the others. Her eyes looked over this page that was mentioning Prototype’s home life. It’d been years ago since she and the Prototype had been friends, but he’d never mention anything like this. It made sense- she understood the need for privacy but… Why did his story sound almost identical to Ollie’s past life?
That’s when the realization hit her. The name Ollie is pretty close to Oliver, and both of their stories are the same… But they couldn’t be the same person! Ollie had been there for her, for everyone. Why would the Prototype even lie to her like this? Actually… Why wouldn’t he lie? It was the perfect advantage. Someone who could keep tabs on her, on the others.
Gosh, how stupid was she?
Tears dripped down her cheek as she dropped the experiment file.
It was all a lie.
Was any of the sweet assurances, the talks, and the advice from Ollie even real? Did he mean any of that? No, he probably didn’t. He never did.
This changed everything.
She wanted to yell at him- to tell him how awful he was for lying all those years but… what good would it do? He’d put her back in that case over and over until she saw reason.
Did… did he put her in that case because he knew what the bad men did when she didn’t follow their rules to a T? Did he think she’d change because of her fear of the case?
…
She needed to get into contact with the others before the Prototype knew she had found out who ‘Ollie’ really was. It was the last thing she’d do before she’d expose him for who he was… Two can play the same game, can’t they? She’d get the number for Safe Haven’s phone from ‘Ollie’.
↧ ⚘ ↧
Ring…..
Ring….
“-Hey again! Did you find a way out of that room?”
“No. I didn’t. I’ll find a way out though.” It was hard to keep her voice from breaking.
“You okay? You sound sad.”
“I’m just… It’s a lot to take in with what happened to the others. I knew it was bad but not this bad. I… Is there some way I can contact the others? I know they hate me, probably, but I want to talk to them.” It wasn’t a lie, it was a lot to take in that the others weren’t faring so well, but what she was really feeling was that Ollie lied about who he was.
“I get it. Really, you don’t have to explain. I understand how you feel, even if they hate you. Please remember that what they say about you on the phone isn’t true though, okay?” ‘Ollie’ then gave her a number that was supposed to be for Safe Haven.
“Thanks… Ollie.”
“No problem-o. Anyways after you call them, you should see if there are any hidden vents in the room you’re in just in case.”
“Okay.”
↧ ⚘ ↧
“What do you mean Ollie’s the Prototype? Do you hear yourself? How could any of us believe you after what you did?” Doey’s voice carried over the tone of indifference.
“I know I left you guys. I know it wasn't right of me to leave you all in the dust… but I was scared, okay? I didn’t expect all of that responsibility to be on my shoulders. And then he put me in a case because he knew it’d make me feel vulnerable. I’ve tried to escape, but it’s never really worked out. I know why it doesn’t because I always called ‘Ollie’ first when I escaped.” Poppy sighed sadly.
“I broke out of the case again, then fell into this old room… There’s tons of blueprints for the factory here, and I’ll definitely try to get them to you if I can but… there were experiment documents too. Ones that my dad wrote. I found one on the Prototype and… the name’s not a coincidence. His name was Oliver, and his story- the story listed on the document is the same one Ollie told me years ago. It’s him, okay? It’s him…”
“How do I know you’re not the one working with the Prototype? What if you're lying? Ollie’s done so much to help us. Why would he be him?” Doey wasn’t outright saying she was wrong, only asking for more clarity. He sounded tired of this conversation.
“He probably did it so he could keep tabs on you, and on me. Why wouldn’t he? And he’s never shown his face… not to me or you.”
“…” Doey didn’t comment.
“…I’m telling you in advance just incase he does something bad when I confront him. I just want you guys to be safe.”
“I’m sorry for what you’re going through…” He sighed. “This is a lot to take in. Uhm, well- I’ll keep the Prototype away from Safe Haven if he comes around. Be safe, Poppy…” That was all Doey said before the call ended.
↧ ⚘ ↧
Ring…..
Ring….
Ring….
Ring….
Ring…
Ring..
“Hey! Did you talk with them? How was the call? Did you find a way to escape? Is everything okay?” Ollie’s voice rang out from the phone.
“It was okay.” She put the phone down, deciding to sit by it instead of carrying it.
“…Are you okay?”
The words, despite being so short, made her angry. She’d been lied to for so long. He’d given her false words of comfort for so long. He’d lied about everything for so so long!
“I’m not.” She said bluntly.
“Hey, don’t worry. What they think of you doesn’t matter-“
“That’s not what I’m upset about.”
“Then… What are you upset about?”
“Ollie.” Her voice lacked the normal warmth or anything really other than a monotonous sound.
“Huh- yes? What’s up?”
“…Do you ever think that all of this is pointless? Being in the factory, I mean. We’re forced to play this game of chess that never ends.”
“You know why, I think? He’s not letting us out any time soon.”
“It’s all his fault.” She says suddenly. “Why isn’t the Doctor dead? After everything? Why’s he still here?” The questions were short, but she wanted to hear what he’d say about himself.
“I don’t know… I guess he doesn’t have an apple to keep the Doctor away?” The joke was made by ‘Ollie’ to probably ease her worries a bit, but it only unsettled her more.
“Do you feel anything?”
“Uh, Poppy? What’s going on? You’re being weird… is everything okay?”
“You know what? No, I’m not fine. Not after what you did, ‘Ollie’. You lied to me!”
“W-what? What did I lie about?” ‘Ollie’s’ voice was in a panic.
“You know what you lied about. After all this time… did you ever mean what you said? Was all of our talks fake? Were you just doing all of that so you could trick me?? Why, Ollie… why…”
“I- I’m not sure what you mean, Poppy.” He tried to keep up the ruse. The hesitancy in his voice meant that he wasn’t sure why she was upset with him.
“You know what I mean, Prototype.” She cleared any misunderstandings he might’ve thought she had.
“You...”
“All those lies you told me for years, did it make you feel better? And- and you used the case against me after I told you how much it made me feel. Do you realize how awful that is? That you did it intentionally to hurt me? To… to make me join your side or else I’ll suffer? Do you know how much that hurts?!”
“I only did it because [you] kept ₘᵢₛₛᵢₙ₉ the ᵖᵒᶦⁿᵗ. I’d hoped that maybe you’d see my ʳᵉᵃˢᵒⁿᶦⁿᵍ, but clearly you still haven’t.”
“You never see how much it hurts, you’ve only pretended you did. All our talks, everything… it meant nothing to you.” Poppy curled up by the phone.
“It meant everything to me, Poppy. I just wanted you to understand that we could be so much more. Why don’t you ₛₑᵉ my point? I was there for you every ₛₜₑₚ of the way, and I still am. I was only trying to get you to ᶜʰᵃⁿᵍᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ mind.”
Poppy couldn’t take it anymore. Everything was a lie. Her friendship with ‘Ollie’, the idea that everything would be okay, that her friends would be fine, that all of them could escape the factory and live happily ever after. It wasn’t possible anymore.
Tears slid down her cheeks and onto her blue dress as she sobbed quietly.
“…Poppy, please… try to understand me.” Ollie’s regular voice came through the phone, not mismatched voices strung together.
Was he still trying to manipulate her? After all of that?
“In the case, I sometimes thought that you put me in there because it would keep me in check… I thought you did it to make me reflect, instead you did it to hurt me. Guess what? I won’t forgive you for this. I’m not ever going to forgive you for it.” She sighed, wiping her tears from her cheek. “I will never understand you, and I’ll never ever be your sister again.”
“Poppy- I-”
“Goodbye… Ollie.” She reached over to the phone and ended the call.
When the air seemed to settle and everything grew quiet, that’s when the dam broke and she bawled her eyes out. She only cried like this when her dad died. Now it felt like she was dying and like everything she’d known wasn’t true anymore. She had no one to turn to anymore. Not her dad, not her friends, and not Ollie.
Her crying increased when the phone kept ringing on and on. It never stopped because she was too tired to turn it off or throw it somewhere else.
Maybe in another universe Ollie never was the Prototype. Maybe he was her friend until the very end. Maybe… maybe things might be better in another place but here they would never be after today.