Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 11: The Liberator

Zack (1st person)

When I'd fallen asleep, I could barely breathe. I felt pretty okay when I woke up. I really needed to use the bathroom, but there'd be no privacy, so I didn't. I looked around and found that I was the only one awake, besides Smiley, who was staring at the wall. Pico, Phil, and Phred were sleeping pretty normally. I looked to Smiley. "Are you awake, Smiley?" I asked. She blinked. Pico woke up and yawned. "Is Smiley okay?" He asked. "I don't know," I said. She still looked half awake. Phil and Phred woke up a few minutes later. Our door opened, and more food was delivered. The humanoid seemed to forget to close the door. If they're trying to contain us, they're doing a terrible job.

Phil (3rd person)

A large group of humanoids passed by the cell. They looked nothing like the ones in suits. One of them, about Smiley's height, stopped and glanced into the cell. They glanced back at the rest of the group, then carefully stepped inside. Phil stared in astonishment.

It's skin was completely clear. Phil looked at it's boneless limbs. It had fingers, but seemingly nothing keeping them in shape. It's feet were just ovals on the end of its legs. Suspended in the gelatinous substance was a pure white heart along with one long pink tube that coiled through her lower abdomen. That must be its intestines... or, intestine. Phil thought. The tube ended without an opening. How would anything come out? A black mist shrouded it's crotch. It also had a pink sack in its abdomen, which appeared to be a stomach. This humanoid didn't have a throat. Instead, it had a large funnel in place of the esophagus. Phil looked up to it's head. It didn't seem to have a brain. It had longish hair that was the same color as it's skin. It's eyes, fixed into its head, were black and shiny. It didn't have and other organs besides it albino heart, stomach, and intestine. It was staring at Phil with the same astonishment that Phil had.

"You look weird," she said, breaking the silence, but not necessarily making it any less awkward than it already was. Between its voice and hair, Phil assumed it was a girl. Phil blinked. "Is that what they all look like, under the suits?" Zack asked. "Hm?" Smiley said, waking up. "Weren't you awake this whole time?" Phred asked. "I... What's that?!" Smiley asked, staring at the humanoid. "You're prisoners here, aren't you? Don't you see people like me all the time?" She asked. "No, they're always wearing black suits with large white eyes. How are you even talking? I don't see any vocal cords," Pico said. She shrugged. "Who are you anyway?" Phred asked. "I'm AAA," she said. "AAA? I thought you guys where named with numbers," Phil said. "When I'm older, I'll get my new label," she said. "Oh, so you're a kid?" Pico asked. "Isn't it obvious?" She said. "...Do your friends call you triple a?" Phil asked. He had to know. "...Triple a? That's a stupid nickname," she said. "Whatever you say, triple A," Zack said. "Where did you come from?" She asked. "This has felt like a dream, but now I don't know," Phil said. "...Why aren't you dead? I thought you were extinct," she said.

Phil (1st person)

"Extinct?" Smiley asked. "Yeah... Um... You probably want to get out of here, right?" She asked. "Of course," Zack said. "I know where the closest exit is," she said. "...Weren't you with a group?" Phred asked. "Yeah, that's my class," she said. "I'm guessing you're talking about school," Pico said. "Yeah, what else would I mean?" She asked. None of us replied. "Well, are you coming or not?" She asked, starting to leave. Everyone looked at me. "...Okay, let's go..." I said. Everyone hesitantly followed me. Upon getting closer to her, I realized she had a slight rubbery smell. "...Okay... Um..." she said, going towards the exit of our building. "You don't know where you're going, do you?" Zack asked. "Um... Here," she said. It was the exit of our building. "I've been here before. Is there a way out?" I asked. "Yeah," she said.

She took us outside and to a handle in the large wall. I hadn't noticed it before. She pushed the handle, and it slid open and revealed a door. The space inside of the doorway was a blueish color. She went through it, and nothing happened. "That won't hurt us, will it?" Phred asked. "I dunno," she said. Smiley stepped forward. I grabbed her arm and restricted her. "Smiley, please, please don't," I said. She looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. I gently released her arm. "Please," I said. She backed away from the door. "Well, there's no way I'm going first," Zack said. Pico and Phred didn't say anything, but they didn't look like they wanted to. "I'll go..." I said. I stuck my hand through. At first, I felt a tingling in my hand, but nothing bad. "...I think it okay," I said. "Really? It doesn't do anything?" Pico asked. "My hand's tingling a bit, but it doesn't hurt," I said. Phred shrugged. "Alright then," he said. I went through, and my friends followed. We all got that tingling sensation, but nothing painful.

"Well, were are we going now? I have to pee," Zack said. "What?" AAA asked. "I have to use the bathroom," he said. She stared at him in confusion. Well, I couldn't really tell, but I'm guessing her expression was confusion. "...You know, like, a toilet. There was one in our cell," Zack said. "...Right..." she said. I looked around at our surroundings. We were in a pretty big field with a dense forest in the distance. "...You do have somewhere for us to go, right?" Smiley asked. "Y-Yeah, of course!" She said. She started walking us to the forest. Zack started acting uncomfortable about halfway there. "You okay, Zack?" Pico asked. "Yeah, I just... Is there a bathroom around here or no?" Zack asked. "...I don't know what you mean," AAA said. "...There's a bush over there," Phred said, pointing to a bush in the distance. Zack didn't say anything, but he staggered to the bush with his legs pressed together. He crouched behind it and out of our sight. A few minutes later, he emerged again. He came back to us. "Well, I hope I never have to do that again," he said. "We're almost there," she said.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "To my house," she said. We soon arrived in a clearing with perfectly straight lines where the trees cut off. The clearing was huge, and it held what looked like a town. The buildings all looked the same, a grayish color with a black roof. Half of the large town appeared to be houses, while the other half looked like other things like stores and hospitals and whatever. "So, triple A, is your house here?" Zack asked. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She asked. "...You know, like, the battery," Phred said. "...My house is by North avenue," she said. We all followed her through the town. The town was busy with people who looked similar to AAA. Eventually, we got to a house that looked exactly like the rest of them. "Alright, here we are," she said. Her house looked normal. A medium sized, two story, well kept, furnished building. "Do you have parents?" Pico asked. "Well, yeah, of course I have parents, but they're at work. They go to work while I'm at school," she said. Right after she said that, the door flung open.