ELT 1.2: She Said Goodbye

> Working at the Heiau is an average affair.
> You're assigned a thing to do, and you do it.
> The main guy in charge is Experiment 008^2.
> Many experiments choose their own names, but you haven't bothered to learn his.
> He's a nice guy, actually.
> You enter the door with an exhaustion on your face.
"Hey, 549b!...Oh my goodness, are you alright?"
> He rushed over to you from the booth. He was a tall, lanky experiment.
> His fur was a good maroon shade with slight accents of dark orange and black on his hands, finger-tips, feet, and slightly triangular head. He's wearing a chef's apron.
> It always had some corny slogan on it. Today's was "My cooking is so awesome, even the smoke alarms cheer me on."
> Your previous approval of him had nothing to do with his sense of humor.
"I don't know man, I...The experiments there were just acting crazy, I had to leave. I got out of there as quick, and the only way I could get here was to walk, and that isn't exactly how I want to get my daily exercise."
> You slightly coughed out. 008^2 was good at reading other people.
"Hmm...I'm really sorry, man. I'm glad you were able to get here on time. Are you OK with cleaning the bathroom? If you're too grossed out by that, it's fine."
> Oh, CLEANING YOU SAY?
> Rage bubbles up inside of you. If anything makes you mad, it's situational irony.
"Cleaning? I almost got my toes CLEANED OFF by some goddamn acidulous SUDS!"
> You holler out, a light growl in your voice.
"...So that's a no?"
> 008^2 gave you a sort of pouty face.
> Ugh...
" I'm sorry for yelling at you, but JEEZ, if you were there you would've probably set someone on FIRE, either in self-defense or under the influence of those damn sandwiches."

> You get the mop and bucket that's resting against the wall.
> You see 008^2 come up to you.
> "No, I understand. I don't even go on the public transport anymore. You've had problems with them before and I doubt that you'd be able to get here on time if you walked."
> He says, about to pat you on the back. You reflexively jump from him.
"WHOA WHOA WHOA! 8, please tell me you don't got the heater on."
> He laughs slightly as you express concern.
"No, of course not. I have to turn it on first."
> He holds out his hand, and then he takes his nose with the other hand and TWISTS IT.
> Like, he twists it, like an air conditioning knob.
> It's the freakiest shit you've ever seen.
> As soon as he does, A very potent, but relatively small fire flame pops up.
> You're still freaked out when you see it, although it's an ability that makes sense for the head chef of a cafe.
"Ok, ok...jeez, you really scared me with that one."
> You hear 008^2's hearty laugh once again.
"It's all good. I only care that you do your job."
> Oh, yeah. Your job.
> Crap, you forgot about that part.

---

> Much time passes, and you have a mostly clean bathroom.
> The bathroom is covered in what resembles shimmery light blue travertine tiles.
> There's a toilet, urinal, bidet, mirror, and a weird vending machine.
> You don't wanna pay attention to the last one.
> As you look around and have all the mystery liquids and oddities cleaned up, you look in the mirror.
> You look pretty much the same, despite some light sweat.
> You take some of the paper towels and use them to clean your brow.
> Bucket and mop in hand, you exit the bathroom.
> It's dark out. You were in there for a while.
> You see some of your co-workers having a couple drinks, including 008^2, who notices you.
"Oh hey, 549b! We were just gonna have some drinks before closing up shop, do you wanna join in?"
> You think about it.
> To be honest, you try to avoid learning much about your coworkers.
> Not to be one of those cringe inducing lone wolf types or anything, but you always had a tinge of worry when learning about others.
> Although...now that you mention it, if you drinking, you might forget whatever they tell you in the first place.
"...Yeah sure."
> You mutter out approval as you walk, sitting on one of the stools, next to a co-worker.
"Hi, 549b! I'm glad to see you, you were in the bathroom so much we thought you left early!"
>You vaguely remember her designation being 402XL.
> She's a chubby green experiment with very shaggy fur on the hop of her head in a ponytail. Her legs are stumpy and her jaw is large.
> You think on what to say.
"I mean, yeah, I almost got my toes melted off by some neat freak experiment who got too much laced food."
> 008^2 gasps.
"Oh my god, I almost forgot about that story! You have to tell them!"
> You grumble slightly, but tell the story anyway.
> You mention the encounter with the guards, meeting the orange experiment for the first time, being greeted with the insidious food, hiding the food in your legs, and seeing the orange experiment shamble towards you on their back, and your escape from the 4-wheeled horror.
> All of them laugh and pay heavy attention, 008^2 especially.
"Oh my god- 549, You didn't tell me about the stairs! That was cool of you, I just thought you got your toes nipped by some left-field experiment!"
> You look at them, and do lighten your demeanor.
> It is definitely a funny story...
> ...
> ...
> ...But why aren't you laughing?
> Suddenly, The door slams open.
> There's an experiment at the door.
> She has a grit to her face, covered in black fur.
> The farther you get to her legs, you notice her fur devolves into shades of purple and pink.
> She's wearing a slightly over-sized leather jacket, covered with pins.
> It sometimes makes her look like a 5 year old trying on coats that are five times their size from the menswear section of a store.
> You can't tell if the jacket makes her look intimidating or like a total bozo.
> She walks past you with an intimidating look, one she gives to many of the other experiments at the cafe.
> 008^2 doesn't seem to find her a threat, however, greeting her with a glowing expression.
"Hello! We were just closing up, but we don't mind serving one more patron! We serve several types of coffee, with varying levels of caffeine, and some human alcohols-"
> 008^2 is cut off by the finger of the leather-clad experiment.
"Before I order ANYTHING from this place...can you PROMISE me that any of your food or beverages doesn't have whatever muck the government puts in the food?"
> The entire staff that was at the bar nodded their head and confirmed the girl's question.
"Hmmm...Give me some of that human alcohol you claim to have, I'm not picky."
> You look at her with an odd face. What's this chick's deal?
"So, stranger...where did you come from?
> Welp, 008^2 beat you too it.
"I was just snooping around this part of the planet when I heard you guys were selling actual food."
> Huh. A little bit aloof, isn't she?
> As she talks, you sniff out something suspicious about her terminology.
"What does "snooping" entail exactly?"
>You speak almost through instinct, despite your coda of ignoring people a good chunk of the time.
> The leather-clad experiment looks at you with a slight shock, as if she can't tell if your questions are genuine or not.
"...Let's just call it, "Independent Journalism."
> 402XL's ears peak up.
"Are you talking about the food situation? Like, a big cool expose?"
> The new experiment looks at 402XL with a thoughtful expression, not knowing what to say.
> The chubby experiment fidgets with her ponytail waiting for a response.
> "...Yes, we want too, but we can't get a pure, or atleast mostly pure, sample of the stuff they put into the food. The restaurants and stores seem to only give them in smaller doses, it's the GOVERNMENT RUN places that give the most food. You know, like local transit or any government office. We know it messes with programming, but we don't know how. We haven't been able to get a sample."
> Your eyes perk up.
"Why can't you get a sample?"
> Your question leads the experiment to give you that slightly shocked face again.
> You're leaning into the bar rest waiting for her response.
> You're excitement was almost off the wall- that whole shitty ass day would actually have a point if you were able to give your shitty horrorfood to her.
> You're not sure if you really care about what she does with it, but that one mild positive thing would make that entire traumatizing experience worth it.
> You decide to push her further.
"Well? Cmon, spill the beans!"
>She starts to have a clear expression of sadness on her face.
"Well, the food they serve on there, and I assume you'd know this, it's...It's very addictive. And they're very keen on getting you to start taking it. We're either losing people because they don't want to risk going back there or losing people to their addictions. I've lost a lot of friendships to it."
>...Damn.
> You start to lose yourself in thought, but not after being able to see the leather-wearing experiment's face, starring down at the wood-grained surface of the bar.
> It's pure anger. You can't tell if she's angry at you, or angry at the people in charge for allowing that to happen.
> You have to guess it's both.
> You stare down at your drink.
> You push it away from you and grab some napkins from a near-by dispenser and put your legs on top of the bar rest.
"...549?"
> You ignore 008^2 as you open a compartment in your cybernetic leg.
> The food you were supposed to eat earlier comes plopping out onto the napkin.
> Her face turns from anger to disbelief.
"How the..."
> 008^2 starts to chuckle.
"You little rat. I was wondering how you able to do all of that escaping under the influence, but my assumptions were faulty."
> He commended you, which did feel a little nice, but you weren't focused on that right now.
"Look, I don't know your name, but you need to take this."
>You demanded she accept your little gift, sliding it to her, budging into the drink just given to her by 008^2. She grabbed it with a disbelief.
"Wait, really? Just like that? No pay or compensation? No deal?"
> She can't believe you're doing this essentially for free.
"I don't care about that, you just need it more than I do."
> You gave what felt like an in-circumstantial reason for giving up your food.
> Not that it wasn't true, mind. It just felt like it wasn't specific to you.
> She held the napkins in her hand, tied them up into a bundle, and stuffed them into her jacket pocket, and began to leave.
> "...Hey."
> You, oddly enough, decide to call out to her as she leaves.
> She turns around with a somewhat blank expression.
"...Are you going to be here tomorrow? Or atleast, when you finish your report?"
> She looks at you with an odd expression, and then nods.
> You can hear audible approval.
"...What's your real name?"
> You ask the question with no immediate realization you had done so, but when you did you realize you might've screwed up.
> She initially stares at you and the staff of the bar with a odd air to it, but it then gets weighed down to a frown.
"...My designation is 273-4."
> Your expression lowers.
> She didn't really answer your question.
> You turn around to your fellow staff members, who seem to have tuned out of your conversation and are instead talking about the sample you gave to her.
> They seem happy to find a new patron.
> You turn your view back to the door.
> 273-4 already left.
> You decide to take her initiave, finish your drink, and leave.
> You know that the girl isn't a long-lasting friend, and one act of kindness can't change that, but you're glad you were able to do something for someone. It's just that you know it won't lead into anything.
> Atleast, that's what you think, anyways.