Discontinue

In the Dark

*Thoughts*

"Speech"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Fukase pressed himself against the wall, listening as his Caretakers ran by, calling for him.

He stuffed the stolen keycard into his pocket and sprinted after a moment, heading down the halls and trying to find his way back to the door that would allow him to find Piko's hallway.

He let out a groan of frustration.

"Come on, it's been three days!! How'd I forget so fast?!"

He ducked around another corner, looking around.

*Okay, Fukase, think. What'd I pass by before...?*

A light bulb went off in his head and he snapped his fingers.

*That weird basement area!! O' course!!*

He paused.

"Wait, where's that--"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Piko slowly woke up, blinking away the tears stinging his eyes.

The silver-haired boy lifted an arm and rubbed his eyes, letting out a small whimper; his cord tail tightened in it's hold around his curled up body.

After a few minutes, he had calmed down; he glanced around his room, not seeing anything different.

He closed his eyes again and tried to figure out the time.

*Did I eat at all today...? Wait, right, I actually got some breakfast this morning. I think that was it...yes, it was. Then how long did I sleep for...? Okay, standard breakfast used to be around 6am, right? I actually slept all night, and then I went back to sleep after eating...*

Mismatched eyes still closed, he reached out, touching the wall.

He felt the electrical surge from the wiring within.

*It is moving up...it seems that all of the surges are. Probably for the developmental machines or something...which means it is sometime in the afternoon.*

His hand slowly slid down, then fell back on the bed as he sighed.

Not being able to fall back asleep, his mind began to wander; his thoughts ventured to what happened the other day.

*That boy...Fukase? I wonder what happened to him...I hope he is okay...I hope he did not get in trouble because of me...*

He sighed again.

*I knew he would not come back...honestly, he was far too nice. I must have dreamed it.*

His tail flicked out as he thought.

*That sounds about right. Just like my dreams about leaving here...performing live...having friends...*

He let out a small chuckle--which came out more as a sob.

The boy curled into a ball even more, tail wrapping around his body again.

*A dream. That is all he was...*

He opened his eyes again.

Pushing himself up, he weakly climbed out of his bed and headed for the door attached to his room.

Entering his bathroom, he approached the broken mirror; an incident years ago had left it with large cracks protruding from the center, and many pieces having fallen out already.