The Illusion of Happiness: A We Happy Few FanFiction

Chapter Four

Bianca quickly placed her mask back on her face seconds before Victoria entered the office.
"There you two are. What have you been up to? No one has seen you for hours." She questioned, nearing them.
"Ugh, nose to the grindstone. You know?" Arthur replied.
Bianca nodded.
"Then why haven't I heard a single whoosh through the door since ten o'clock? Did you forget we're having Deirdre's birthday party?"
"Oh...." He muttered.
"We've got a piñata." She looked to her left, seeing the bottle of Joy on the floor.
"Right. Brilliant. Of course." Bianca replied almost unenthusiastically.
She picked it up, moving towards the desk. "Have either of you forgotten your Joy?"
Bianca gasped inwardly. "No...."
Arthur laughed, interrupting her. "Of course not! Snug as a bug on a drug."
"Well come on, then! Finish up!"
"Um, I just have a few more pages. I know you're very busy."
"Then don't take too long to finish." She placed the bottle on his desk and moved for the door.
"I'll be there in a moment." Bianca stated.
Arthur pretended to go back to work. A strange click came from the machine suddenly. "Uh oh, the power cells empty."
"Then what will you do?" Victoria questioned, stopping in the doorway and turning back to look at him.
"I'll get a new one?" He replied timidly, getting up from his chair.
"If there were an emergency, would you be able to find the door knob?" Victoria teased. "Or should I tie a bright yellow ribbon on it?"
Bianca sighed and rolled her eyes at the insult to her brother.
He replaced the power cell and went back to work, approving a story he should have covered up.
"The idea is to forget our nightmares, Arthur. Not enshrine them."
"How does she know?" He thought.
"Well, I expect you both in the conference room, presently. Don't dawdle. You don't want to miss the piñata."
"Wasn't Prudence supposed to be coming back today? I made her a welcome back card." He looked up but Victoria had already left. He rose out of his chair and made his way to the door.
"I don't want to go to this party." Bianca sighed, looking down at the carpet.
"You know how she feels about office parties. We cannot miss a single one."
She sighed again and followed close behind him as they left his office.
They stopped momentarily, looking into the inner-network room.
"Do you think the canister wonders what's outside the tube?" Bianca whispered.
Arthur looked over at her, remaining quiet.
"Of course, it'd have to break the tube to get out. I'll break it for everybody."
"That's gibberish." He grabbed her arm. "Come on."
He released her as she began to follow him once again, passing a few offices.
Upon nearing Hopkin Jones' office, they heard a bit of commotion.
"I did. I did take my...." Hopkin's voice was heard though the closed door.
They peered through the window, seeing a Doctor slowly nearing Hopkin.
"No! No! Leave me alone!" He was soon pinned against the wall by the Doctor. "I took my Joy! I took my Joy! No! Leave me alone! No! No!"
The Doctor stabbed Hopkin in the neck with a syringe full of Joy then proceeded to pat him on the back as it took effect.
Hopkin looked up towards the window. "Oh. Hi, Arthur! Hi, Bianca!" He waved at them.
The Doctor looked at them before moving to the window.
Hopkin waved again. "Lovely day for it!"
The blinds were closed suddenly.
"Those Doctors scare me." Bianca whispered.
"And the Constables don't?" Arthur looked at her. "If they figure you out, they will be after you too." He whispered.
"Let's not discuss it anymore and just get this party over with." She replied, walking away.
He followed her into the Central Processing Unit.
Papers were scattered and piled everywhere.
"We seem to be behind in our work." Arthur muttered.
Maneuvering through the messy room, they made their way to the conference room. Just outside the door, a tube had broken and was spitting canisters into an overfull bucket on the floor.
"Odd. I never noticed that." He scoffed. "We should fix that or empty the bucket."
They suddenly heard laughing coming from the conference room. They neared the door and Arthur pushed it open before walking in, Bianca following behind him.
"There you are!" Victoria gushed. "You nearly missed the piñata." She handed them both broom sticks before moving back to the table with the colorful paper animal on it. "It's the most adorable Spanish custom. Uncle Jack did a whole show about it. You smash it until all the candy comes out."
They moved toward the table and observed their coworkers, watching them enjoy themselves as they laughed, whacked, and poked at the piñata.
Bianca looked at the piñata oddly. She could have sworn every time it was hit, it sounded like a rat squeak. She shrugged it off. "Maybe it's made to sound like a rat." She though. "After all, it does look like one. I guess I'll find out once this Joy wears off."
"Come on, hit it. Hit it!" Victoria ordered, smacking it with her small whip. "Hit it!"
"Go ahead, Bianca." Arthur said, lowering the broom to the floor and resting his hand on the top of the stick. "You go first."
She gripped the handle and faced the piñata.
"Give it a whack." One of the coworkers gushed.
"Hit it!" Another said.
She raised the stick and swung hard downward, causing an eruption of candy.
She put her hand in front of her face, protecting her eyes from the flying sweets.
Everyone dove onto the piñata, eating away at its spilled candy. Everyone except Bianca and Arthur.
Bianca looked at her hand. "Blood?!" She gasped inwardly. "Piñata's don't bleed!" She lowered her hand to see the disturbing sight. It wasn't a piñata at all. It was an actual rat! And they were eating parts of it! She dropped the broom and slowly began to back away.
"Oh no!" Arthur thought, seeing her reaction.
Before he could block her from view of the others, Victoria looked over at her. She caught her in time to see her cover the mouth of her mask in an attempt to keep herself from vomiting. She walked up to her, licking her fingers. "You are off your Joy, aren't you?" She dug through her pocket and pulled out a pill. "Here, take one of mine."
Bianca looked at it before slowly backing away from her.
"Oh my word!" Victoria gasped. "She's a Downer!"
"No, wait!" Arthur cried. "It's just a miss understanding!"
The others began to panic and one fainted from the shock.
"Call security!" Victoria ordered. "We got a Downer!"
"Wait!" Arthur tried to stop his coworker but he was already out the door.
"I'm not a Downer!" Bianca cried as she backed into the opposite door, terrified.
Arthur looked at her. "Run." He mouthed.
She spun around and yanked the door open before darting into the small room, closing and locking the door behind her.
"Take your Joy!" Her coworkers chanted over and over again as they knocked on the door.
Arthur ran out of the room, hoping to catch her before the Constables do.