The Freaky Digital Lab: A TADC AU (15+)

Chapter II: Hide and He Shall Seek

Ragatha and Pomni continued to talk to each other. Intrigued by what he heard, Bubble decided he wanted to see what happened. Since he could not knock on the door himself, Bubble grinned and chimed in loudly.

...

"Oh, Ragatha-a-a-a!" He called out in a sing-song voice. Ragatha and Pomni turned towards each other and gasped. Pomni looked like she was about to scream, and Ragatha placed her hand over Pomni's mouth.

"Shh... Do not make a sound, Pomni," Ragatha whispered, keeping her tone calm yet vigilant.

"Oh God, it's over for me!" Pomni exclaimed faintly, breaking down in tears. "I'm next... I'm getting experimented on next!" Ragatha quickly shushed Pomni as she pulled out some of her crochet yarns and sewing fabrics.

"Pomni, hide under my bed," she whispers. Pomni scooted herself under the bed while Ragatha tried covering her in various balled heaps of yarn and sheets of fabric.

"Ragatha? Are you there?" Bubble asked, sounding impatient, even though he's fully aware of what's happening on the other side.

"Shh... Keep quiet and stay hidden," Ragatha whispered. She placed a few more of her things over Pomni under her bed before she answered the door.

"Sorry about that, Bubble... I was just doing some tidying around in my room." Ragatha lied. She tried not to show her agitation. Meanwhile, Pomni kept her mouth shut. She made an effort to blend in with Ragatha's belongings without making any noise.

"Oh really?" Bubble posed a mocking question. "I could have sworn I heard another voice in here."

Ragatha forced a smile, hoping to distract Bubble from probing further. "You must be hearing things, Bubble. It must be all those late nights at the lab getting to you," she chuckled nervously.

Bubble raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "Alright then, I must have imagined it. Well, if you ever need any help with... organization in here, just give me a holler," he offered, his eyes scanning the room suspiciously.

"Thanks, Bubble. I'll keep that in mind." Ragatha breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind him. She turned to Pomni under the bed, who was visibly shaking in fear.

...

"Pomni, it's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you," Ragatha reassured her, kneeling down to comfort her friend and scooping her out from under the bed. "Sorry, I had to hide you in my cluttered stash."

Fear filled Pomni's gaze as she shivered. "I'm scared Bubble knows I'm here... I think he might've heard me!" A spiral of anxiety shot through her consciousness.

"Hey, hey–" Ragatha soothed Pomni, even though she felt on edge too. "It's okay... If he does know, we'll prepare from there."

"Promise you'll protect me, Ragatha?" Pomni queried.

"I'll do everything that I can handle," Ragatha comforted her. Then an idea came to her: "Let's hide in someone else's room. I'll introduce you to another one of our fellow subjects."

...

Bubble floated off to Caine's lab, unconvinced by Ragatha's lies. He may not have been the brightest, but he couldn't be fooled that easily. Meanwhile, back in the lab, Professor Caine was reviewing reports from his experiments; his workspace was jumbled up with writings and glassware as always. Bubble entered the lab to inform Caine of his findings.

"Boss, boss!" Bubble called out.

Caine turned to Bubble and rolled his eyes. "What is it now, you parasite?" Caine nagged. Bubble was taken aback by Caine's disparaging remark. He attempted to phrase his findings in a way that didn't aggravate him further.

"A brand-new subject has entered the laboratory, boss," Bubble replied. Caine's eyes grew big as he closed his folder of written files.

"A new subject, you say?" He asked, clearly intrigued by the news. Bubble nodded in confirmation. "Oh, goody! Now I can initiate one of my prepared experiments! Are there any other details I need to know, Bubble?"

"Her name is Pomni, I believe, and she is hiding in Subject R173's room."

Caine got out a pen and paper from one of his cabinets. "Pomni? P-O-M-N-I, right?"

"Mmhm!" Bubble nodded.

Caine wrote it down. He then skimmed through his drawers of experiment files, determining which one he might perform on Pomni. He leafed through page by page, almost like he was in a hurry. After a few minutes, he stopped on the page and bookmarked the desired experiment with a paperclip.

"Splendid, Bubble! Now let's find Pomni, or, as I should say, Subject P151323," he cackled.