It's Playtime: A Playtime With Percy Fanfiction

Chapter Seven: A History Lesson

      While I was using Pal, at around 1 am I discovered some leftover chips that are probably a couple days from expiring in my pantry. Barely a third of the bag was full, really. I managed to eat about half of the remaining chips, and saved the rest for later.
      That was the first and probably last time I'd eaten in weeks. I'm betting that I lost a good 10 pounds in the process. I guess that's what junk food does to you. Usually shortens your lifespan but gives you enough energy to survive the day. My thoughts are, less muddled up now. They aren't so all over the place like the last couple of days. My resentment for Pal is still the same though. Hate that thing with all my heart, but it's exhausting, hating something. Tires me down even more than staying awake has. A couple days after the call, Pal's started getting a bit more worn down from all of this, as if the high he's been feeling from being used all day is starting to wear off. One time, he shut off for a good 30 minutes, giving ME a good 30 of sleep, which was a lot more than the average 10 minutes of sleep I'd get everyday. Good thing it happened, because if I had to live with that headache for another day I was just gonna- I'm not finishing that sentence. Weirdest thing about Pal's random power naps is that his demon children are still awake. Are they not a hivemind or do they only get affected when Pal willingly powers himself off? Whatever. I got better things to deal with right now.
      The hallucinations aren't completely gone though, I can still here the sound of faint whispers circling around me now and again, only this time I actually have enough self awareness to know that it isn't real.
      Sometimes I think that I'm not real anymore, and that this is all just a show, and we're playing parts. I shudder. That thought's messing with my head a little. Right, back to dealing with Pal. I've been messing around with Pal's voicelines a little. First I would say something that triggers his longest voiceline to give me some time to think of an exit, and before he regained consciousness, I would say another, and another, this way, I could sneak in the extra couple of minutes to sleep. Pal's been changing though, like how he was back when I had the night shifts at Percy's, although not visually. He's started yelling and screaming more, getting all worked up over nothing. It seems like anything will set him off, to be honest. He puts on the false cheerfulness way more often now. At this point, I can't even tell when he's happy and when he's forcing it. I'm pretty sure that 90% of the time, he's forcing it. I yawn. It feels like a longer day than usual. Although at this point I've just grown accustomed to the dark, cluttered up atmosphere of what used to be called my house. It's almost like the outside world doesn't exist anymore. It's just this house, me, and Pal. The rest feels like a pitch black void, empty, desolate, isolated, just like me. I cringe a little at that last part. Been off my game today for analogies. As I mindlessly complete all of Pal's tasks, my mind starts wandering far, far back into the past.
      Back when I was 17, which is now over a decade ago, I took robotic engineering classes as my course in college. I wanted to make it somewhere big, like seriously get my hands on Jim Henson's Creature Shop. That's when I landed at Percy's Playhouse, about 3 years after I had graduated college. I remember the oversaturated colour of the walls and the dusty old ballpit. I even recall the days when Rowen Rat wasn't so broken, which honestly makes me feel pretty old now. Operating those animatronics was fun. I was sort of the new guy who rose to the top pretty quickly. Obviously I wasn't a manager, but I was still pretty high up there. I repaired animatronics for a living. My dream job was to be the one making the animatronics, but this was already pretty close. I liked a lot of people there, to be honest. I'm not sure if they liked me though. At the time I wasn't very talkative. I always just shyed away from the crowd and did my own thing, which was fixing up the animatronics. I guess the boss must've liked me. In his words, "I always got the money makers fixed up and ready to go." He reminds me of Mr. Krabs sometimes. Kind of a cliché to be honest, but still a relatively nice guy. Same thing for ------, H. Didn't know much about him, but he was the coworker I liked the most. There was a time when I was pretty broke, only surviving on cup noodles and boxed mac 'n cheese. I told him about what was going on and he gave me 20 dollars. It didn't really help me much, but it was nice of him to do so. Never talked after that. There are memories when my parents would actually drive all the way from the next town, just to see me. Never happened often, but when it did, it was nice. Kind of embarrassing, but sweet of them to do. I don't really know where my siblings are now. I can only assume that they're in college, or dropped out of college to get a job to support themselves. I'm not sure. My parents never really told me these things.
      I remember asking them during work when they were visiting, "How's ------ doing?" While they were by the ballpit. "Oh she's doing fine!" My mom answered. I waited for her to elaborate until I realized that she was finished. "Oh. What's she doing now?" I asked. "We're... Not sure. She doesn't really talk with us anymore, kind of like you." My dad replied. I look to the side, embarrassed. "What about ----?" I ask. "Sometimes he drops by to pay us a visit, but you know, he doesn't really tell us much about his life either." My mom answers again. 'Wow, how uncommunicative is my family?' I think, exasperated. My amusing memory ends here though, as I tune back into the present time to hear Pal's incessant beeping. I groan.

I hate this so much.

I wish things are the way they were back then.