The Heretics from Up Above [🄿🄾🄿🄿🅈 🄿🄻🄰🅈🅃🄸🄼🄴]

Chapter 15: Ollie

Exiting the break room or whatever that was, we saw two power sockets. They could fit two big batteries. Who knew this would be a weird little game of "find the power source". I found one in some kind of janitor closet while Charlotte found the other on a cart by the blue hand pad thing. We put the batteries in, and Charlotte pressed her blue GrabPack hand on the pad. When the bar was full, the door opened. "Let's go!" I breathed, clenching my fists with a smile.

The two of us walked down the hall, and color me surprised; there was a Bubba Bubbaphant cardboard cutout. "Oh my God! Pookie Pookiephant!" Charlotte exclaimed, going to hug the cutout.

She had unknowingly pressed a button. "I'm Bubba Bubbaphant– Hey! I remember you!"

Charlotte screamed and jumped back as I stepped forward, pressing the red button again. "An elephant always remembers!"

Again. "Want to know what I remember about you?"

One more time. But when I pressed the button, there was no cute pickup line. There was screaming. Charlotte and I stood in disbelief as we swallowed our fear and walked away from the cutout, going down another dark hallway. All of a sudden, we could hear the sound of a phone ringing. I ran up some stairs with my green hand glowing with electricity as I restored power to a door, seeing a Playtime phone ringing. I quickly took it and held it to my ear. "Hey... Hey, can you hear me?"

"Yep. We're alive. Wassup? Want me to get you some Pizza Hut?" Charlotte asked, taking the phone from my hand.

The boy exhaled on the other end. "No thank you. But you two girls look kinda lost. I don't want you to die– so I'm gonna help you! Check this out. Look at the tube thing on the back of the wall. Ready? BUH-BOOM! You can use that battery to open the door!"

We turned to see a battery sitting on a tray as if it magically appeared. I took said battery and threw it into the tube in the wall, and with an Open Sesame, the door opened. Charlotte and I walked out to find ourselves right where we had passed out; the train crash. "Woah... Did you do that? I guess that's where Catnap found you... I know you're probably mad at Poppy for not letting you escape," the boy said over the phone.

I had it on speaker as it hung from my fanny pack. "Whoever you are, you're right! We're mad and pissed at her for leaving us to rot like this!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"But hey. Our shit's still intact," I said, showing her our canteens of Electrolyte.

The voice on the other end of the phone chuckled. "But she needs you two. We need you. You are our mission," they said.

"What does that even mean?!" I asked.

"Look. I don't have time to explain. But together, we can save a lot of people. Including you. Playcare is straight ahead. It's the home of Catnap... one of the Smiling Critters. There used to be... eight of them, I think?"

We started walking on the railroad to where there was a bloody statue of Huggy Wuggy. "Yep. There's Bubba Bubbaphant, PickyPiggy, KickinChicken, Hoppy Hopscotch, Dogday, Bobby Bearhug, Craftycorn, and Catnap," I replied.

"Yep. But now it's just him. Playcare is his church, his hunting ground. Whatever he wants it to be. You better get moving quickly. We'll keep in touch. Oh, and by the way, my name is Ollie. Nice to meet you two."

The other critters could've been killed or turned into monsters, then killed. And then Ollie hung up. We used a small bar on the ceiling to lift ourselves to the Playcare entrance, now facing the Huggy statue. "Man... I wanna know what happened to the poor statue," Charlotte muttered.

"Me too. But I have a strong feeling it happened during the Hour of Joy; whatever that could be," I replied.

"Was it when all the toys went rampant?" Charlotte questioned.

"Could be."

The two of us tried to go through the metal bar things from Bass Pro Shops but they wouldn't budge. And of course, it was because the power was out. There were dead toys on the floor. And that's when it hit me; puzzle-solving, here we go again. Charlotte and I went into a security office, then a door adjacent to the entrance. Down a hallway we walked, and into a different area. Static filled our ears as one of the Huggies spoke. "Alright, girls. Here's what you gotta do. Grab the handle and rotate the beam. Then you need to aim the beam at the power input while touching the power source. Then fire," he explained.

"Not bad for someone who hasn't been down to Playcare," Bunzo mentioned from not too far away.

"Hey!!"

It took us some time to get used to, but once we completed it, Charlotte and I walked out of the room, passing through the metal bars and walking upstairs. In front of us was "See the World Through the Eyes of a Child on Elliot's Express." And below that was a cardboard cutout of KickinChicken. We didn't bother playing it, though we loved his character. I walked to pull a lever that had the words "Let's Go" on it, and the machinery started whirring to life. The tram (if that's what we're gonna call it) was back in business. The door opened, and Charlotte eagerly pulled me onto the tram as the door closed behind us. "Can we sit down now?" Charlotte asked.

"Bro, my feet hurt," I grumbled.

"Yeah, go ahead. It seems pretty safe," PJ replied through our earpiece.

So we took a seat, finally letting our legs rest. That's when the lights went out. A TV in the corner lit up, casting a black-and-white light inside the tram. And that's when the tram began to move. "Hello. My name is Elliot Ludwig. When you look around at the world today, what one thing do you think it needs more of?"

It was Ludwig speaking. "I say food," Bunzo commented.

"Toys!!" the four Huggies cheered.

"Pets!" PJ said.

"Sleep," I added.

"Chicken."

I turned to look at Charlotte through the dark, who was giggling. From the voices in our earpieces, I could tell Bunzo was snickering, the Huggies were munching on snacks (don't ask how) and PJ was gnawing on a bone; probably the one we got him. "I asked around, once. 'Money, I never have enough.' 'Understanding, I can never get any.' 'Faith, the common man has lost it.' Each answer was different... and I can perhaps see some little truth in each. But I think each was also missing something. Something simple," Ludwig continued.

Reasonable when you think about the person who said "understanding." I can't understand the jack my math teacher says. As the tram regained its straight composure, I could see we were in a cave system. And all I have to say is... woah. "You see, not one of them could muster a smile. A smile is hope. A smile is love. A smile is understanding. And there is nothing more gratifying to my soul than being the reason for a child's smile. To be the spark that ignites all their hopes and dreams. For it is only through hopes and dreams that we may create a better world," Ludwig said.

I looked out the window and saw that we were getting close to a dome-like structure. A red light shone through, basically signaling that this was where we'd be going. By the time we were going through it, I began to feel butterflies in my stomach. Not in an anxious way, but in an excited way. "One where our children need not be afraid. One where they are protected. After all, this company and its toys are nothing without them. These children deserve to smile, they deserve to love, and they deserve a safe home. That is why it is with enormous pleasure that as the founder of Playtime Co., I announce..."

And here we were. "PLAYCARE! Our very own onsite orphanage. But it's not only that. It's a school, a playhouse, a place to belong. Our very own ecosystem beneath the surface, dedicated in every inch and detail to ensuring a child's smile. It's teachers and counselors, mothers and fathers, until such a time they have all of that in you. May Playcare bring joy, inspiration, and smiles to all who enter these doors. For what gives life its meaning, if not a smile?"

And with that, the TV went back to static before turning off. "Well, there it is, you two" PJ breathed, amazed by what he was seeing on the screen.

"Playcare."