Software Error

Paper Trail

As I part from Freddy after having entered a recharge station because of the recharge timer I find myself asking a big question. Where do I even start? I mean seriously where am I supposed to find any of this stuff. I facepalm myself, guess I'll just have to wander around. Kind of embarrassing, to be honest. I explore the pizza plex defeatedly.

I can tell you that there is a whole lot of nothing around the place. Which is to be expected, if not disheartening. I find the occasional note that I don't really care about, maybe some out-of-place things here and there. But nothing that calls to me. Maybe Gregory would care, but I'm not here to find out about how the random misgivings of worker number 32. I'm here to find out about my misgivings.

And then I stumble across an out-of-the-way locked room in parts and service. Luckily my claws are pretty good so I easily pick the lock or I forced it at least. One of the two, it doesn't matter really since I'm in. And inside the room... is strange. It's modeled like an old diner or something similar. Black and white tiled floors, long tables with built-in stools. A stage and side stage with curtains. This place feels smaller than it should. It... actually looks very similar to that... thing I saw earlier when I was powered down. I find myself wandering over to the side stage. A curtain looming around it with a sign nearby saying "Out of order".

I look up at it. My stomach would be churning if I had one, not that I don't feel that feeling. Something about it. It calls to me in all the wrong ways. I remember hearing about this somewhere. A blurry face popped up into my memory. The Call of the Void. It's a term used to describe the phenomenon in which you feel the urge to do something you know will kill you or put you at grave risk. The urge that makes you wonder 'What would it be like to jump off this cliff?' Well, this place is the proverbial void.

I open up the curtains. There's nothing there. Of course, there wouldn't be anything here the door was locked. It doesn't settle my feelings of unease, however. I slowly back away from the stage and turn toward a door that's off to the back of the room. And that door elicits genuine fear from me.

Not fear because of monsters or anything like that. But that instinctual feeling, that primal terror that your body sends coursing through you. The irrational notion that you are staring death itself in the face, and it is ready to take you. I have the illusion of chills from looking at that entry point. But, I can't find myself turning away. I-I want to go into that room. The curiosity and mysteriousness of it were irresistible to me.

One step, two-step. I suddenly notice the quietness in the air. The only noises are the clacks my body makes when touching the floor. And then I came face to face with the handle of the unremarkable door. Something is telling me, that there may not be any coming back from this. What I'm not coming back from is the question. I place my hand on the handle and slowly, methodically open the door. The door creaks open.

I enter cautiously, getting a feel for the place. It's a sort of storage room of sorts I believe. The lack of items on the shelves disturbs me. And then I see it. A Lyle suit without an endo-skeleton, sitting on the floor. The head is within a foot of it. I begin to feel nauseous. I find myself mimicking the act of breathing.

"Aw, ~ Wittle Lyle must be scared~." I hear a playful voice from behind me. "Wha-!?" Then I hear a bzzt as my body starts reacting adversely to a shock. "Nighty night~." My eyes shut down. I am still conscious but, sound, sight, and any way of discerning where I am is non-existent. Just a black void. I kind of... float there for a while, or at least I think it's a while. It feels kind of nice actually, peaceful even.  Then I wake up.

I instinctually move the second I can move again. Only to notice that I'm bound by wires in some unknown location. A person in a bunny outfit standing within my vision. "Lyle~. Did you find out the truth you were looking for? It was so hard to give you hints but it was so worth it! You're body still thinks you're human!" She laughs playfully. Still thinks. I'm stunned at the revelation, but... was it even really a revelation? The clues were there. I just ignored them, because how... how can I just accept that?! I'm... I'm... I'm... Lyle.

"Hahahaha! You should see the look on your face! It's so beautiful I could stare at it for hours!" The costumed individual says skipping around in their deranged joy. "H-how..." I start, "How what~?" She says teasingly, she must know what question I want to ask. "How am I... here?" She stops skipping around. "That's a good way to put it actually~. I was expecting you to say alive but you're not! Haha. Well, Lyle, it's simple. You got shoved into a suit and died. But there's something special about dying like that. Remnant. Your spirit stayed in that suit. I'm surprised you didn't go mad like the rest of them, but... it's probably because of your talent to remain or lack thereof~. It's kind of ironic really, your soul took so long to piece itself back together that it had enough time to "accept" that it died! The perfect tragedy! And so now you got left behind, 4 decades out of date." And with that, she leaves me in the desolate place. With my left to my thoughts, struggling with the information I've been forced to learn. It doesn't make sense, I tell myself. But it's the only "reasonable" answer.