Into the Shadows

~Chapter two - Killer Robots?~

Kyle and I Had just pressed the elevator down button when HandUnit started speaking to us again. "Welcome back for another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes." I give a massive eye-roll and Kyle just chuckles at my reaction. "We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don't get tired of the voice you're hearing right now." The little yellow keypad from yesterday pops up again. "Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male,  press one. For female, press two. For text only, press three. For other options press four." We both just stare at the glitching keyboard for a second. Kyle breaks the silence. "It doesn't even have any numbers!?" He flails his arms around in disbelief. I let out a sigh before speaking up. "Christ, alright. I guess just do what we did yesterday?" I go ahead and press a few buttons till it says error on the screen. HandUnit starts up again. "It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type and I will auto-correct it for you." Oh god, this oughta be good. "Thank you for choosing, Angsty Teen." Without another word, the keypad flips back down and it goes silent. "So...Where's the voice?" Kyle looks at me as he asks. "I have no fucking idea man. HandUnit has been really weird so, I'm assuming it's just another glitch." We both shrug it off as the elevator slows down. A happy little tune plays. Way too cheerful for this job, and the elevator clunks to a stop and It's quiet for a second. Kyle jumps as the silence is broken by a loud voice. It definitely sounds like an angsty teenager. Kinda sleep deprived and sick of life's bullshit. "The elevator stopped. You know the routine... Get out or... Whatever. You can stay here if you want." Again it's silent for a second before Kyle loses his shit laughing. He practically falls over. Only catching himself against the wall before clutching at his stomach. "Dude, what the fuck are you laughing that hard about?" I end my sentence with a chuckle. I can't help it. His laughter is contagious. "HA, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU." He almost falls over himself laughing again after answering me. I let out an exasperated sigh as I tiredly slide my hand down my face. "Jesus Christ, alright ha ha. You're so funny." I roll my eye as Kyle calms down and wipes a tear from his eye. I grab the flashlight from my belt loop and head toward the vent. "Hey! Hey wait Spence it was just a joke!" He says with a good-natured smile. "I was just messin' with you. Actually, your voice is dreamy-er than that one." He says it like that wasn't such a huge compliment. I can feel my face heat up but he definitely doesn't get to see because I'm already crawling into the vent. Right after the vent door closes behind us, HandUnit starts talking again, still with the angsty teen voice. "So, funny story. A dead body was found in this vent once." I'm in front of Kyle. So I can't see his face, but I can feel the way he gets tense just by his energy. I can feel my own heart rate pick up. Jesus christ I feel like this vent is closing in on me. My breathing picks up a little and I start crawling faster. Kyle follows. "M'kay, so, not that funny, but, it's a story." 

As I make it out of the other end of the vent, I sit on the floor clutching my chest as Kyle emerges from the vent. He's also panting. I must've been making some kinda face because when he looks at me he only gets more concerned. "Spence, buddy are you okay? You look as pale as a ghost and.." He looks me up and down. "You're literally shaking." He tries to hug me but I instinctively flinch. He frowns and sits next to me. I try my hardest to pretend I'm okay. "Yeah, yeah man I-I'm fine alright? Just...a little shaken up. Something about that story while we were in there really freaked me out." I force myself to stand up and Kyle follows. The tired-sounding voice comes back on. "Okay. Let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Ballora and make sure she's on her stage, but...whatever." Kyle chuckles to himself. "I still can't get over how much it sounds like you." I can't help but laugh along with him. He's so sweet for trying to distract me. "Alright let's just get this over with please. I'm already tired because I didn't get to nap before I got here." I go ahead and press the light button and we see Ballora's shadow on the window. Kyle flinches. "Christ man, because that's not freaky." He says sarcastically. The angsty teen voice comes back on again. "Huh, I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap her. That should be fun." Kyle responds like HandUnit can hear us. "Uhm..I really don't want to. I think I'll pass." He giggles nervously after saying that. "Dude this is literally our job. We have to." I just reach forward and quickly press the shock button. After that, it goes quiet for a second. However, that silence is broken by HandUnit glitching the fuck out. Warbled sounds come out of the speaker and Kyle latches on to my sleeve as we listen to it glitch for a solid 10 seconds. Kyle whispers in disbelief and fear. "What the fuck." He draws out the U in a sing-song way. Dead silence again. Angsty teen HandUnit breaks the silence. "Let's check on Funtime Foxy. Make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow." We both sit for a second. Kyle says something before I can. "Fuck, I'll do it this time. Let's fucking get this done and just get the hell outta here." He begrudgingly presses the light button for Funtime Foxy. Again, Funtime Foxy's shadow is on the glass. We wait for the tired teenage voice to tell us what to do. Though the voice comes back on warbled and way too deep. "GREAT. GREAT. GREAT." Kyle looks horrified but before I can even try to comfort him, the regular HandUnit comes back on. "There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby's auditorium. The vent door flips open. Kyle breaks the small moment of quiet. "What the hell man. Bro just glitched the fuck out and died." I sigh lightly. "I don't know dude. That was really creepy though. Listen, I know you don't wanna do this anymore. So If you really want you can clock out early for the night. I'll finish our shift." He looks at me like I insulted his mom or something. "BRO WHAT? I'm not leaving you here to deal with this bullshot alone?! I'd be a real shitty friend if I let you do that. I may be scared but we're in this together man." He finishes with a smile that I find way too cute. "Christ. You're too nice dude. I really appreciate it though. So..I'm ready to keep moving if you are?" He holds his fist out to me for a fist bump and grins. "Ready as I'll ever be." I give him a fist bump and we crawl through the small vent.