Bee looked around cautiously before teleporting out to escape their confines. The vacuum automatically dropped out of the agent's hand as they exited the container their client had once been in.
What is this? Bee wondered, their eyes scanning the scenery around them. The room was eerily dim, everything seemed to have a lime-ish tint to it. Looking around, there were five distinct white boxes marked on the floor, each with a dark gray dome in the center. Bee looked back to where they had come from, and surely enough, in the center of the agent's box was a dome of their own. Though unlike the others, their dome was missing chunks and was actively being consumed by a group of headsets. Bee noted that these headsets looked similar to ones they'd originally placed on.
Bee turned their attention towards the sky, where overhead, headsets of the same model were roaming around. The headsets moved in synchronized groups, as if there was some greater force controlling them and coercing them into a neat order. Above them, machines whirred and rotated, shooting off and out of Bee's sight. Two massive, animal-shaped balloons were being dragged by various headsets.
Bee used their controller to reach up and grab the rabbit balloon, the distinct crackle of headsets powering down filling their ears as they did so. Behind it loomed a shadowy figure of Chaz, though this Chaz wasn't like the one Bee knew. It had to be hundreds of feet tall, and even after Bee began to approach it, all it did was.. stare. Its gaze was locked onto the distance, almost as if it was observing and feeling everything all at once with only indifference, like a cruel overlord watching over its subjects.
Bee shook their head, deeply unsettled by this massive figure. Looking around once more, Bee noticed that dangling from the sky was a golden bird cage. Why do they need cages? Bee squinted, everything about this place felt weird. It felt as though everything in the scenery around them wanted to scream, "GET OUT! GO AWAY!"
They teleported back towards the structure they had just been held in to investigate it further. Maybe if they tried hard enough, they could find a way to return Butter and get back to work? In front of their now-busted dome, they noticed a sign and teleported closer to take a closer look. On top of it there was a 3D model of butter, with black text below. Bee read it to themselves,
Client: Butter
Agent: BEE
Time: ——
Current Rating: ——
Weird, Bee thought to themselves. Bee teleported to the dome next to theirs. The sign showed a model of a kite with text similar to theirs,
Client: Kite
Agent: Danny
Time: 1:37
Current Rating: 4 stars
Bee traced their finger along the agent's name. Other human labor agents... They moved between the different domes, investigating the names and information on each one.
Wet Cement, Jaqueline. Ralph, Mitch. Snail, Milan.. Bee's thinking was disturbed by a subtle change in the ambiance. The change was barely noticeable, but Bee could've sworn that in the whirr of machinery and the odd echoes they heard an off-note. Bee tensed a little bit, they had probably just imagined it but... Despite that, they still felt uneasy. They glanced over their shoulder briefly before slowly returning their gaze towards the sign they were inspecting.
As Bee continued to stare down at the sign, they could feel the skin on their neck beginning to prickle. An uneasy feeling spread throughout their body, their heartbeat increasing with each minute.
Bump. Bump. Bump-bump. Bump.
There's nothing there, they reassured themself internally. Unbeknownst to Bee, behind them, a collection of headsets had noticed their presence. As the group slowly began to move closer, Bee tried their best to ignore their feelings. Eventually, their paranoia grew to be too much. Bee swiftly turned towards their invisible attacker, but by the time they actually looked it was already too late. Around them, a swarm of headsets closed in, like merciless killers about to take their next victim. Elastic straps sprang out of the sides of the headset as Bee flung their arms out, squeezing their eyes shut as they braced for impact.
~~
A/N: I originally wrote this chapter a few months ago but have been thinking about it nonstop for around a week now. I went back, revised and reworded some things and am kinda considering making more parts? I don't know, if I have the motivation I may make a full version/more chapters for this in the future.
(Also totally trivial piece of info but the "bump. Bump. Bump-bump. bump." Was meant to represent Bee's heartbeat as well as phase 1 of the song(?) played when the headsets start to chase you in VVR1!!)
