Chapter Text
The subway was cold, as usual.
Pest stood on the platform, waiting for either the train or the elevator to stop by. At this point, he didn’t care anymore as long as it would take him to where he needed to go and that he didn’t need to see a certain party-goer.
Music continued to play from the scratchy jukebox and the advertisement lights flickered and sparked.
He began to tap his foot in boredom, already feeling irritated and impatient.
DING!
The elevator walls seemed to appear out of nowhere, forming on the wall of concrete and parting for the Regretevator.
He stood in front of it, waiting for the doors to fully open before stepping in. He internally groaned at the sight of the two passengers inside the elevator. A FleshCousin and NULL.
“Lonely goes the ways without the bird.” the being inside the elevator ‘greeted’.
“We welcome you, bug.” said the other passenger.
“ああ。楽しい。( Oh. How fun. )” Pest said in obvious sarcasm, walking in and taking the spot in the corner closest to the buttons away from the FleshCousin.
“Tano… Tanoshii…”
It was odd. The FleshCousin was completely undisguised, its grey flesh glistening under the light of the elevator. It was probably the first one on the elevator, not that Pest had any interest asking about it.
And then there was NULL.
According to a few conversations he’s had with Melanie and the Doctor, that chicken boy works directly for that rock (MR), thus making him coworkers with Folly and has some ‘weird capabilities’ that Dr RETRO described as ‘psychic powers’.
That parasite. Folly. He was already feeling riled up just thinking about her.
Because of that, Pest dislikes NULL. Although not to the extent of which he hates PartyNoob or Unpleasant, but NULL was definitely up on that list.
“We can understand what you’re saying, bug.” NULL shattered his thoughts.
“...Tch. あなたは私をイライラさせる。( You’re annoying me. )”
Pest’s day was not going great at all. He was already pressed about going on the Regretevator in the first place, but now he was stuck with the creepy ahh flesh copier and some helperbot that thinks itself to become flesh and independent someday.
He was already ticked off since he had woken up. Safe to say he was definitely NOT in a good mood. In fact, NULL aggravated him. Whether it was intentional or not, Pest didn’t know and didn't care. He felt too tired to care.
And as a result, they were arguing.
“Aren’t you just a helperbot? Why don't you fetch me some gears, since that's all you're good for.” Pest snarled, turning to face the helperbot fully.
"Demands get you nowhere, boy.” NULL similarly stared back. “Take a good hard look at our being. Do you take joy in taking what's not yours?"
"Maybe I should just scrap you to bits. Better than whatever cult you’re in with that stupid rock."
"Perhaps we should learn of your ways, since you see it as a way of life."
And of course, FleshCousin was in the corner of the elevator, not saying a word. The argument was probably giving it too many words to process as well as there being no opening for the flesh being to talk anyways. It was just trembling and swaying as it always did, not knowing what to do with itself. Always disturbed Pest with its appearance. Or lack of.
He hasn’t thought of FleshCousins the same after DrRETRO told him that the ‘paper’ mask it’s got on its face is actually just a flap of skin. Even worse when she said that there was also a void underneath said flap.
Unfortunately, it didn’t have anything useful on it, such as mechanical parts. Otherwise, he probably would’ve torn into it a while ago for those parts and gears. However, the one that DID have parts and gears on it was none other than the bot he was arguing with right now. But he knew better than to pick unnecessary fights with the followers of the rock, lest a worse fate befall the Regretevator.
“Yet another detergent in the Icarus path. One day we'll touch the stars." NULL continued.
"ああ、本当にイライラするよ。( God, you're REALLY annoying me .)”
"Recognize that your abdomen can be rearranged by my hand."
“Shut it-”
BANG!
The elevator shook and crashed to a stop.
He was immediately alert.
“What the hell… It better not be that parasite’s domain.” Pest muttered to himself.
NULL wisely chose to be silent, instead looking around the elevator to assess the current situation. FleshCousin was just… FleshCousin.
“Elevator stops scraps and bits better the domain.” it gurgled out.
Pest and NULL didn’t have the energy to ‘talk’ or answer the FleshCousin, more focused on whatever situation was happening now. The elevator doors remained closed for an abnormal amount of time.
Both Pest and NULL were getting more tense and more on guard, glancing at the timer above the button controls in the elevator. The screen simply displayed the number ‘0’, not going up or down. It was like it was frozen.
…
This was taking too long.
“ Now stopping at: ████████ ”
DING!
The doors opened, revealing a forest. At first, Pest thought it was Two Stud Camp, but after looking for more than 2 seconds, it was evident that this was NOT the same forest as that camp. Also, the Regretevator didn’t announce that this was Two Stud Camp either, so this was definitely a new floor.
No, it was very different. It was greyer than the camp, and there was a lake too, the water so dark that he couldn’t even tell what colour it was. It was night time too. The layout was totally different too, with rocks scattered everywhere, a mini billboard, and a slightly cleaner dirt path than the camp.
Neither of them dared to get out of the elevator onto this new, strange floor that could prove to be potentially dangerous.
Then he suddenly felt a pulling sensation.
They were getting forced out of the elevator. Pest jolted at the realisation, and he saw NULL getting stiff at that too. Next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the doors closing, the elevator embedded in some sort of cabin?
“くそ!”
Pest rushed to the doors to get back into the elevator, but the doors had already closed, the wood morphing around what used to be the elevator.
It was like the Regretevator never stopped here.
He cursed under his breath again before feeling the wood. Maybe there was an elevator caller accepting floor tickets somewhere in the walls, but there was none. The problem wasn’t that he was missing any floor tickets. Not at all, he had several in his hoodie pocket. It was the fact that there was no way to call the Regretevator from this strange floor.
He stepped back to see just where exactly the elevator stopped at, memorising the particular position in the wall and the pattern of the wood.
“…Stop staring at me.” Pest growled. He could feel the robot’s eyes lingering on the back of his head.
He turned around to face NULL, along with FleshCousin who was already wandering off around the place. NULL continued to stare, unblinking. His white glowing eyes provide an eerie feeling to the already unsettling floor.
“Perhaps we should test if any of our items work here.” NULL suggested calmly. “Maybe your phone?”
“Why not your own phone?” Pest asked, annoyed that he was the one being nominated to do it.
“We don’t have a phone.”
“本当に? ( Really? )”
“Phones the guy who phonies out a fly…”
“…”
“…Fine.”
Pest tsked at that before reluctantly taking out his phone. There was a signal, although it was weak and seemed very restrictive. He then opened up messages and tapped on the contact ‘DrRETRO’ , glancing at the previous messages while attempting to send a text to her.
-———-
Yesterday
2:56 PM– DrRETRO : Remember, we’re meeting with Melanie in Mozelle’s castle on the 7th.
3:17 PM– Pest : got it.
3:20 PM– DrRETRO : Stay safe, sugar. SHE is on the move again.
Today
1:45 AM– Pest : hey. i wont be able to make it. stuck on a new weird floor with the chicken and fleshy. get back to me as soon as you can.
!!!
! This message has failed to send !
!!!
-———-
Pest groaned in annoyance at this, irritated that he couldn’t reach the doctor while being trapped here with this rock worshipper. He shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“Well, communication through technology doesn’t seem to work. How annoying.” Pest commented, “Aren’t you going to do anything? Don’t you have psychic powers or whatever?”
“…It is not ‘psychic’ or ‘whatever’.” NULL muttered, “We believe it would prove useless in this place as we sense a powerful presence. It has a strong hold over this area and has weakened us and yet the Regretevator was able to pierce through this place.”
Pest was slightly intrigued by that. “... 迷惑を。 (...Troublesome. )”
“We suggest that if we want to safely return to the Regretevator and regain access to our ‘home’ floors, then we should collaborate.”
Pest really didn’t want to do that. Not at all.
“…We’ll see, chicken boy.”
“Very well.”
The two of them just awkwardly stood there, glancing occasionally at the lost FleshCousin that had decided to just roam around. Pest observed NULL eyeing the flesh being, watching with curiosity and caution. His thoughts turned back to the elevator and its strange properties.
The Regretevator. A strange thing.
If you weren’t chosen by this Regretevator, then you couldn’t see the elevator or get on it. For example, in Poob’s apartment, they and other elevator passengers can get into their apartment via the elevator, but those that are not the elevator’s passengers will not be able to see the elevator’s presence or who is inside the elevator.
Pest would either wait for the subway or the elevator to stop by, as it would just appear in the walls, only letting itself be seen to him or the other passengers. That was already demonstrated at the start of the chapter.
It was very strange. Sometimes the Regretevator would open itself up to some new strange people. Hell, the Princess of Hell, a character from the 2D plane, an alien, and even a gradient could randomly emerge into the elevator on their ‘home’ floors. Of course, there were many other strange passengers that Pest honestly did NOT want to think about in this current situation.
One may argue that all of them were strange (Pest’s personal thoughts), and yet they were all somewhat ‘related’ to each other, having some kind of connection with the Regretevator, its passengers, and the system itself.
That damn rock definitely has something to do with it. As well as those aspen trees and red eyes that always appear in their dreams, and had tormented Pest way too many times.
Hopefully, any knowledge on the Regretevator can help with getting the hell out of this strange place, but without an elevator caller, he just had to hope that someone else (an ally hopefully), and that they would find this new floor and figure out how to not get forced out. Or maybe, by chance, the Regretevator would stop by again and the two would be allowed in.
“What a great day.” Pest muttered sarcastically, clearly annoyed at the current circumstance.
“Studying between the wrongs will grow the barn.”
The two glanced at FleshCousin, coming to the conclusion that its assistance wasn’t needed. It wasn’t as intelligent as a typical Robloxain. In fact, it wasn’t Robloxian at all, despite its build.
Pest watched as it wandered near the front of the cabin and then burst into flames.
The combustion was probably thanks to the being that resided here in this realm. It couldn’t see FleshCousin’s worth, not like it really had any to begin with. Both Pest and NULL have seen its species engulfed in flames and burned many times, so this was a norm for them, unfortunately.
Not like it could contribute to getting out of here anyways.
“Excessive pondering is useless. Let’s be practical, bug.” NULL stated, “It would be best if we assess our current situation and whereabouts.”
“I hate that you’re right.” Pest scoffed, “Since it’s your idea, why don’t you go on ahead?”
“Fine.”
“Oh, and while you’re at it, try that weird power stuff of yours and see if it works.”
Pest watched as NULL reluctantly agreed, holding his arm up and summoning his weird panel thing. He tapped on a few buttons, presumably doing that weird summoning thing Pest had seen in the elevator sometimes where random balloons would just pop out of nowhere with that freaky blue framework around it.
It was strange though.
NULL never seemed to need to use a panel to do anything as it always seemed to just happen out of thin air. It was quite a big discovery to see the bot use a holographic panel to perform his ‘psychic powers’. Guess he got a partial answer to how he uses such powers, the Doctor would be pleased.
A balloon appeared, surrounded by a blue framework before NULL swiftly popped it. The effect within the balloon caused the nearby grass to catch on fire.
“...おもしろい。( Interesting. ) You’re definitely holding back. And that’s considering this ‘panel’ of yours that looks like it could do so much more than just summon balloons. But at least it works in this domain. For now.”
“Let’s just get going.”
The survivors had this evening to rest before the next round would begin, allowing for some sleep, food, and preparation for survival. Elliot and Guest 1337 were done preparing ‘dinner’ and distributed the warm food to the rest of the survivors that were present. As for Two Time and 007n7, they just left the dish at their cabins.
Builderman hesitated, turning to Noob after taking a bite from the toasted bread, “…You sure you’re good?”
“Oh- yeah, I am.” Noob was surprised he started speaking, but he was technically the group leader aside from Guest 1337.
“Alrighty! Soon, we’ll get everyone and go over strategies for the next round. Hopefully, we’ll do better.”
Noob simply nodded in response, taking another bite of their toast while glancing around.
“After this round, we’ll have- the long break, right?”
“Yup. Happens every three days, limbo time of course. Not including our daily rest after the ‘day’ is over.” Builderman stood up and walked towards the ‘front’ of the main cabins, standing in front of the blackboard.
“Oh, thank Telamon… It’s been very intense lately.”
“Mhm… Go get the others would ya Noob? We gotta start planning soon for this next round, y’know?”
“Yeah, of course!”
Noob got Chance first, as he was the closest to the main area. Then they got Elliot and Guest 1337 from the kitchen, and then it was Shedletsky, Taph, and Dusekkar. Guest 1337 offered Elliot to sit as the poor pizza guy had quite the stressful role, and also because Guest 1337 is just gentlemanly like that. Taph leaned against the back of the couch, peering over it while Shedlestsky stood behind him, somewhat analysing the so-called ‘pigeon’. Dusekkar just stood next to the couch near Guest 1337.
Noob brought up the concern of getting Two Time and 007n7, since they weren’t really in the main lodge and was not 100% sure where either of the two were.
“I can go retrieve Two Time, so do not worry as we will be just fine.” Dusekkar commented before heading out the doors to the lake where Two Time was most likely at.
Despite holding disdain for the falsely led cultist, Dusekkar still felt interested in how the Spectre twisted Two Time’s mind and thoughts into believing in such a false religion.
“…What about 7n7?” Noob asked.
“Do we really need him here?” Elliot sighed, still hesitant at the idea of 007n7 around him, “He’s a survivalist, and he does just fine without us anyways.”
“Still…”
“It’s fine everyone. I’ll go get him.” Guest 1337 spoke up, stretching his back a bit after standing for so long, “Although if he isn’t in his cabin, then we’ll just have to start without him.”
The rest of the survivors nodded in agreement, watching as Guest 1337 left the lodge towards the cabins.
Noob, being the ever anxious person they are, cracked open a bloxy cola, downing almost half in one go.
“Damn Noob, chill out.” Chance looked over with a small smirk, although a hint of concern could be seen if looked closely enough. “Wait where did you even get that from-“
“I’m fine. Well, I’ll be alright once I’ve had this, I swear.” Noob looked down, holding the can while trembling slightly.
“Hope it does, but you should really cut down on the drinks man.” Chance sighed, flipping his coin again and landing on tails. “####…”
“Language!” Builderman shouted.
At this point, all the survivors knew of each other’s more ‘obvious’ problems thanks to the amount of time they’ve spent together in this purgatory. In this instance, it was Noob’s drinking problem/addiction. Luckily, it wasn’t necessarily alcohol, but these high energy sugary drinks still pose a problem in itself. And then of course Chance’s gambling addiction, but a few of them sensed something more. It wasn’t their place to intrude or ask. It’s better if everyone is comfortable with each other at their own pace to increase their survival.
Not like these worries had any real significance in a place like this.
Elliot shuffled on the couch to get closer to Noob, allowing them to lean on him while Builderman went in front of the blackboard, analysing and likely racking through any and every possibility within the range of this hell, this limbo.
Taph was leaning behind the couch, looking onwards with his feathers ruffled while Shedledsky began to preen them to pass the time. He felt slightly embarrassed, but knew better than to protest and also felt quite loved. Then he felt Shedletsky lift up one of his back wings, feathers that used to be golden but darkened over time due to his previous work as a demolitionist. In fact, the wings were solely there for the purpose of protecting the demolitionist from getting hurt by his own bombs.
“Jeez man, your wings are looking worse and worse.” Shedletsky briefly brushed the feathers, taking out a few loose ones and freeing some new ones from their casing.
He stopped after that.
“🙇♂️🙏 (Thank you.)” Taph signed/spoke.
Taph ruffled his wings, feeling quite giddy at the attention before preening them himself, or at least attempting to. He accidentally pulled out a few good feathers, causing the flesh beneath the feathers to become dampened with warm blood. Taph decided to just stop after that, and just ask someone else to help him later.
After that, the lobby remained in a tense silence, waiting for Guest 1337 to come back along with Two Time and Dusekkar, and maybe 007n7. The only noise was Chance’s coin being flicked up and landing on either heads or tails, the slight fizz of Noob’s bloxy cola, and the occasional scraping of chalk on the board.
It was tense but not entirely uncomfortable. After all, they have been through this many times by now.
The door creaked open again, revealing Dusekkar and Two Time, whose smile was always a little too forced. Dusekkar looked slightly annoyed as he partially levitated towards where Taph was behind the couch, evidently eager to get away from the cultist. Two Time settled on the spot next to the couch near Elliot. Soon after, Guest 1337 and 007n7 entered as well, the burger man looking sheepish.
“Okay, now that we’re all here,” Builderman halted in front of the group, right in front of the blackboard, “Let’s get started-”
BANG!
Everyone jolted in their seats/resting positions.
“What the hell was that-??” Chance sat up abruptly, looking around the lodge in alarm causing his coin to fall out of his hand and onto the floor.
“It seemed like it was outside the building but also within the building-? Somehow…” Elliot muttered.
“Dusekkar, Guest, tsk- any of you four! Did you see anything outside before you came in here?” Builderman quickly turned to the four of them.
They all shook their heads, “I didn’t see anything of the sort out there.” Guest 1337 commented.
Everyone glanced at each other uneasily, wondering what to do now. Now it was deciding who was going to investigate.
“...Okay. Guest, Shedletsky, why don’t you two go out just to see. Me and Dusekkar will come after, and then hopefully the rest of us will come too.” Builderman stated.
Everyone nodded, satisfied by the plan. Both Guest 1337 and Shedletsky began preparing themselves. Shedletsky got out his sword and readied it, while Guest 1337 just had his fists. They then began to walk out of the lodge, taking careful and quiet steps through the door.
A fleshy being, one that attempted to resemble itself as Robloxian, was just roaming near the billboard area at the front of the lodge, swaying and trembling oddly. It was unsettling.
“Studying between the wrongs will grow the barn.” a flesh-like groaning came faintly from outside.
Shedletsky and Guest 1337 slowly approached the strange figure with caution, as it was an unknown creature that was somehow in this realm, its flesh glistening that wet slimy texture as if it was directly from meat. It aimlessly wandered around the area, slightly hunched over as if not used to its own form.
“Hey uh… Are you good?” Shedletsky cautiously asked, continuing to approach the creature slowly.
“Gears and bits demand the fetching goods of nests…” the flesh being mumbled out.
“Are you even intelligent?” Guest 1337 asked, feeling genuinely confused at this creature’s strange behaviour.
“Applesauce…”
Shedletsky let out a huff of laughter, “Guess it’s not.”
The two of them further approached the creature, still remaining careful in case it suddenly attacked, wanting to get a better understanding of this strange creature that had suddenly appeared. They wondered if it was connected to the crash they heard earlier.
The creature continued to tremble and sway in its odd manner, sometimes looking around at the trees or attempting to read at the billboard, unable to comprehend some of the missing posters.
Somewhere outside of the skybox, a certain being was getting quite bored at this ‘performance’.
Another, just sitting outside the former’s reach and comprehension, whispered its warnings with indecipherable voices.
The skybox darkens.
FWOOSH
“URRGGHRHG-!”
The creature suddenly erupted into flames. The two jumped back shocked, surprised, and alarmed.
A gurgle of a cry came out of its ‘mouth’ before it practically melted onto the ground, a faint light-skinned coloured dust surrounding its remains. The fire cackled around it, slowly dying out even as it seared the ends of the grass beneath it.
In an instant, Builderman and Dusekkar rushed out of the lodge hearing its cry, the other survivors huddled at the door and windows trying to take a peek.
“What happened??” Builderman asked urgently.
Guest 1337 began to speak, “There was just this- weird flesh being wandering here near the billboard. We tried asking it a few questions before-”
“Before it burst into flames!!” Shedletsky cut him off.
“What!?”
“Yeah- and now it basically dissolved into whatever this is…”
Guest 1337 and Shedlestky pointed down at the melted remains of the once flesh-being, the dust settling around it. Until it fully dissolved. As if it never existed here in the first place.
It was very strange.
“...Maybe we should go now.”
“Shh wait-!”
Voices.
They heard voices from near them around the backside of the building itself.
“Excessive pondering is useless. Let’s be practical, bug. It would be best if we assess our current situation and whereabouts.” A monotonous, robotic voice rang out, like it was something out of a 2000s computer.
The other scoffed, his voice laced with beetle chittering, “I hate that you’re right. Since it’s your idea, why don’t you go on ahead?”
“Fine.”
“Oh, and while you’re at it, try that weird power stuff of yours and see if it works.”
Shedletsky practically flinched back at the sight of the helperbot. He hadn’t seen one of that model since like- his Telamon days and early Shedletsky days in those old roblox games before they were destroyed and had been replaced! And was that a classic guest??
No, the ‘guest’ had a slightly modified appearance, the ‘R’ on his cap being a ‘P’ as well as the beetle attributes and the text on the jumper being in Japanese. The other admins, Builderman and Dusekkar were also quite confused and slightly pissed.
The admins (+ Guest 1337) cautiously watched as the robot chicken guy reluctantly agreed to the beetle guest guy’s request, holding his arm up and summoning- was that an admin panel!? After looking at it for more than three seconds, it was clear that it was not an admin panel. It looked more like it came from Roblox Studio, which was still kinda bad. They watched as it tapped on a few buttons, presumably showing off whatever ‘powers’ the helperbot had with the beetle guest guy’s implication.
A balloon appeared, surrounded by a blue framework before NULL swiftly popped it. Whatever effect that came out of the balloon had caused the nearby grass to catch on fire.
“...おもしろい。(... Interesting. ) You’re definitely holding back. And that’s considering this ‘panel’ of yours that looks like it could do so much more than just summon balloons. But at least it works in this domain. For now.”
“Let’s just get going.”
The two strangers turned around to probably explore before catching a glimpse of the four survivors staring at them. The six of them made eye contact.
“...It appears we have found a few people.” the chicken helperbot stated.
“黙れ。( Shut up. )”
Shedletsky had a LOT of questions.
He, of course, was wondering HOW and WHY the hell a helperbot was here? Especially since it was the old model that he had overseen its production himself, as well as the fact that he was the one that just left them trapped in his old games. Specifically, he had them trapped in code so that they wouldn’t interfere with the Robloxians that came to check out his older games sometimes. Of course, he had to give credit to their actual creator, Gleco , but unfortunately the user had gone missing. He had hoped that the helperbots would’ve corroded over time and eventually be destroyed but…
Here is one now. Standing in front of the admins with that stupid chicken hat design and grey hoodie. Although, he didn’t remember them having glowing white eyes.
“Hey so uh- who are you guys?” Guest 1337 asked, “You’re not like that- flesh creature, are you?”
Shedletsky was jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of Guest’s voice. He had honestly forgotten the guy was even here with them in the first place. They watched as the two strangers glanced at each other briefly.
“I am not like that mindless being.” The classic guest bug look-a-like spoke up, “Except for maybe this chicken.”
“Your assumption is incorrect. Our kind has been granted knowledge of existence, unlike how you describe us, bug. Our name is NULL.” The chicken- no, NULL, added. His mouth didn’t move as he talked. How disturbing. Actually, did he even have a mouth-? “The being you just saw being engulfed in flames are called FleshCousins.”
He watched as Guest nodded, glancing back down at its ‘remains’. He seemed uneasy that the two strangers weren’t bothered by its 'death' at all. Even Shedletsky himself was unnerved by it.
“I’m Pest. Yes, that is my name. No, it is not an insult. I chose it myself.” the beetle guest guy- Pest, said.
Shedletsky could feel NULL’s gaze linger on him, constantly observing him and watching him as well as the other admins. Like he was staring directly at him through his metal shell. He felt unsettled by this.
“We humbly ask for knowledge and information of our whereabouts regarding this fl- place.” NULL politely turned towards the admins (+ Guest 1337), “Are you all perhaps residents of this realm?”
Residents? Shedletsky had never really thought of it that way for all the months (?) they were trapped here, but since they technically live here now, he guessed that they technically are residents.
“Yes, I suppose we are.” Shedletsky awkwardly replied, still feeling NULL’s eyes intensely trained on him. “So uh, welcome?”
“How did you get here?” Builderman asked, stepping up to communicate with them, “Or- what do you remember before getting here?”
The two of them paused, Shedletsky watched as NULL and Pest glanced at each other again, both seeming hesitant to answer.
“We were… exploring before appearing here." Pest muttered. "これ以上言うことはありません。( There's nothing more to say. )”
They were definitely hiding something.
“Well, whatever the case, you two should come inside and get settled. We’ll explain everything about this realm since you’ll be joining us anyways.” Guest 1337 held out his hand in an inviting manner.
“We thank you for your kindness, stranger.” NULL said, starting to walk towards Guest with Pest trailing behind.
Shedletsky shivered as NULL continued to stare at him until he passed him, following Guest and Dusekkar as they led the two inside. He began to zone out of whatever conversation they were in, instead getting lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t like how this was reminding him of his Telemon days.
“Hey Shed, are you good?” Builderman asked, the concern in his voice apparent, gently putting his hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah just-” Shedletsky sighed, “Reminds me of some things. As well as the added stress of having new survivors to protect and all that.”
“I get you. Best we can do right now is inform both of them of this situation and hope that neither of them hold any grievances with us…”
“Hah. We better have a talk with Dusekkar later about this… it's been a while since we’ve gotten new survivors. Especially-“ Shedletsky paused, looking away, “It makes me wonder what in Robloxia the Spectre is up to now.”
It has indeed been a while since they’ve gotten new survivors. The last one that had been taken here was Taph, and that was from at least a month and a half ago, limbo time of course.
This was definitely not a good sign for what was coming next, especially if it kept bringing things- people- anything really that reminded the admins of their helplessness, once admins reduced to mortals who could only run for their lives, unable to get anyone out of here.
Shedletsky hated it. Well, he couldn’t actually hate, especially after creating that outlet, but he surely did dislike everything about this ‘game’ and how powerless he felt. All he and the admins could do now is look through their very restricted admin panels for the slightest bit of information for getting out of this place. So far, it was not going well. But they kept trying.
They had to, they were ADMINS for Robloxia’s sake!!
He certainly felt disconnected from his god self, even though he had left that form long ago, way back in the past. He had done so after leaving his creation in the Banlands. 1x1x1x1.
“So, this is the main lodge where all of us survivors are…” Guest 1337 led the two new ‘survivors’ into the lodge area, the rest of them flocking around them like curious birds.
“We are grateful for your hospitality.” NULL stated, walking in with Pest as to not overcrowd the doorway, “However, we do have a few questions.”
“Y-yeah of course! It’s understandable that you would be confused.” Noob muttered out, being one of the survivors closer to the front.
Meanwhile, in the corner of Shedletsky’s eye, he saw Pest silently sneak off, approaching the more secluded area of the lodge. His eyes narrowed distrustfully, sending a quick glance to Builderman. He also noticed, and nodded back discreetly.
“You refer to yourselves as ‘survivors’. Is there a reason for that?” NULL asked, seemingly not noticing his friend disappearing.
“Ah- right, we should probably explain how this whole thing works.”
“All of us are trapped in this realm by some being’s whims. That grandfather clock over there tells us when the next ‘round’ is, where either all of us or some of us are thrown in to participate with the aim to survive against the killers.” Guest 1337 explained.
“We’re all currently here for a little strategising!” Chance exclaimed, “To- well, actually survive the next round. But it's all part of the gamble.”
“To you it may be.” Elliot mumbled, “But it feels just as real to the rest of us.”
Chance huffed, but didn’t protest. They all knew of such dangers anyways.
“...Even when we do die, we just respawn back here in the cabin. But we still feel our deaths and how we are killed.” Elliot added.
“...Interesting.”
“Also, we have to do generators during rounds too as objectives. We also try to protect each other with what abilities the Spectre allowed us to have…”
The bot hummed, “The Spectre? Please elaborate.”
“The Spectre is the being that is keeping us here.” Builderman spoke up angrily. It was clear that he has quite strong hatred for the thing keeping everyone here.
NULL went silent for a while, presumably processing the information. Pest was also alert at the mention of that, freezing in place before turning around to face the other survivors. His face scrunched up in irritation.
“So, we’re at the whims of a higher being.” Pest snarled, “とても楽しいです。これは今までに起こったことがありません。( This is so fun. This has totally not happened before. )”
“If we are correct in our assessment, then you all, as survivors, have to survive a round against a killer at specific time intervals provided by the grandfather clock?” NULL repeated, processing the information.
“Yes, that’s basically what happens…”
NULL hummed again, probably contemplating the implications of this. The new survivors members seemed to be taking this quite well. Maybe too well… It really did seem odd that neither of the two were inherently freaking out or something- well, Shedletsky supposed that it made sense for NULL as he was an artificial system… And then there was the guest- Pest or whatever.
Shedlestky just couldn’t get a good read on the guy, he seemed like he was heavily annoyed and inconvenienced to be here. Which was true- but it was an odd first reaction to the knowledge of being trapped in a purgatory.
He could only hope they’d get the hang of it soon, and that they could maybe help them get all the survivors out of here.