It All Started with an OSHA Violation

Mother Knows... Something, I guess

Skid's mother, Lila, sat in the grass outside her house, mourning over Skid & Pump. All she knew is that the elevator broke & the children's bodies are down there. But what else could she know? That the fall killed the kids? That the kids died later of various other circumstances? That the kids are still alive down there? Perhaps, at least, she could know if this is the first time it happened.

She picked up her phone & went to Google. She searched up the name of the company that did the experiment. She found articles stating that their practices are immoral & inhumane. Not much about the elevator so far. She found adverts for the company. No elevators directly mentioned, but she had noticed mention of the depths of vanity, which was the third floor down. Why would Pump's father sign his child up for an experiment where they get traumatized by a scary fish? She then found what she was looking for: an article about the elevators.

The article, which was written 3 years prior to when the Spookeez were entered, stated that the company has ignored warnings about their faulty elevators several times now, & that a young man from a local college had fallen down a broken elevator 5 years before the article. The company brushed it off as his "school mascot costume exceeding weight limit." A picture of the man showed him in a blue college sweater with a large lemon mask off to the side. It didn't look that heavy. Lila was already going to sue them for the wrongful death of her child, she might as well bring up these OSHA violations.

But what now? She isn't going to the courtroom until next week. So what is she going to do?

She thought about that day when those robbers were in her house. Skid came home with Pump by his side & claimed that they met a new friend, & that said friend showed them the stars. What was it about the stars that was so special? Were they taken to an area with less light pollution?

She sighs & lies down in the grass, staring up at what few stars she could see. It felt like the stars were staring back down at her. Maybe she shouldn't take the stars for granted. Perhaps the children are with them, frolicking in the flowers & eating as much candy as they want. She took a deep breath & decided to ask for a sign.

"Hey... I know this might be much to ask," she asked towards the skies, "but whoever's out there, can I have some hope that my son & his friend are still alive down there? Or perhaps some closure that they're not?" She felt her eyes water a little. "Please... I need to know..."

A shooting star was seen soaring across the sky in the direction of the lab building. What does this mean? Are they alive? Are they in trouble? She wasn't waiting to find out. She got in her car & started to drive there.

Once she was there, she snuck out of her car & tried to find a way into the building without being caught by security. The door was open for some reason. Strange. She grabbed a flashlight & crept in. The building was dark. She turned on the flashlight, looking around for where the elevator room was. She felt her face turn pale as she looked through each door, seeing what she thought were torture devices. Before she could get to the elevator room, however, she saw a dark figure go into the room adjacent to it. She held her breath & turned off her flashlight, hoping she wouldn't get arrested by them.

"Hey little man~" the figure's voice sang, "Whatcha doing here?~" A sharp chill went down Lila's spine hearing the voice. It was like an uncanny valley, but for voices. She peeked into the room to see who & what made the voice & found himself looking at the very same lemon mascot she saw in the article, albeit without the college sweater. They seemed to be crouched down, vivisecting a man with a dull scalpel. She quickly hid behind the wall, covering her mouth with a shaking hand to keep herself quiet. That man who was presumed dead from an elevator accident was still alive. But how?

"Come grab my hand & we will..." The strange man stood up straight & went to check outside the door. The mom panicked when she ended up making eye contact with him. The monster grabbed her wrist & turned on the flashlight, shining it on both of their faces & glaring Lila down. That wasn't a mask anymore!

"Keep this between us, else you'll end up like the orange one's father," the lemon threatened, "Understood?" Lila let out a fearful scream before running out of the building. However, she had no choice but to oblige to what the beast said if she had any hope of seeing Skid or Pump again.