Experiment Failed Successfully: A Kaiju Paradise Fanfic

Track 6 (REMIX): Safe Space

LOCATION: Garden Cave Entrance (underground)

TIME: 5:46 PM

MATT'S ARM PROFICIENCY: 5% (until further notice)

FACILITY STATE: Blackout (until further notice)
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"Alright," Nico said, "as of now, you're gonna want to head to the cafeteria; That's usually where the more laid-back gootraxians spend their time. They won't mind you if you don't cause trouble, so just... As cliche as this sounds, just don't do anything stupid."

"My specialty," Matt replied. However, as he got ready to leave, he stopped. He casually spun back around to face Nico, saying, "alright. That's a solid plan and all, but... Two things: first of all, I dunno where th' cafe even is. Second of all, I'm willing to bet my hat that there's a damn good chance I'm gonna run into something that won't be too happy to see me before I can get there."

Nico shrugged, replying, "took you long enough to realize that. Just follow me, alright? We might not be taking the fastest route, but it's the safest one I know." She then walked over to the exit, motioning for Matthew to follow along, to which he quickly complied.
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LOCATION: Cafeteria Entrance Hallway (underground)

TIME: 6:17 PM
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Upon their arrival, Nico ushered Matthew down to the end of the hall, past the entrance to one of the main areas of the cafeteria, and up to a rack with a ladder leaning against it. On top of that rack, there was another ladder propped up against the wall itself, leading up to what can only be described as a sort of "open-air attic space." There were boxes stacked up along the edge, save for a significantly large gap where the top of the ladder met the ledge.

"You'll be fine up there," Nico said. "It might not be such a good idea for you to head into the main two areas of the cafeteria quite yet, seeing as you are still a new face down here. But, if anyone wants to drop by, they'll let you know before climbing up."

Matthew nodded, replying, "thanks Nico...I owe you one." He then began climbing up the first ladder as Nico responded with, "as if. You saved me back there, dummy." Matthew let out a small chuckle, replying, "eh, we'll call it even, then. Nice meeting you, Nico." He climbed up the second ladder as she nodded and walked away.
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NICO'S INTERNAL MONOLOGUE
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Nice guy... hope nothing bad happens to him too soon...
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LOCATION: Cafeteria Attic Space (underground)

TIME: 6:20 PM
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When Matthew climbed up to the top of the second ladder, he was met with a welcome sight. The space was nice and tidy, with a rug on the floor and a couch on the far end. There were even a few potted plants up there, too.

Matthew hauled himself up off of the ladder, staggered over to the couch, fell face-first on top of it, and was out in a blink.
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TIME: 6:41 PM
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Matthew awoke to a tapping on his shoulder, and a bright blue glow. He gave a suppressed groan as he accidentally rolled off the couch, unceremoniously landing on the floor with a thump and a clank as his right arm hit the ground soon after.

Whatever had woken Matthew up had jumped back slightly, and was definitely chuckling at him now. Matthew slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he said, "augh...if I wasn't awake before, I sure as hell am now. So you better start talking, buddy. Who're you, and whaddya...want...?"

His sentence trailed off as his eyes focused, and he got a good look at his visitor. It was, he assumed, another gootraxian. This one looked like a grey anthropomorphic wolf, with blue eyes, blue patterns on its shoulder and legs, and blue paw pads, all of which were glowing vibrantly.  If that wasn't strange enough, it was also wearing a pair of headphones around its neck...and yes, those were glowing too.

The gootrax in question gave Matthew a reassuring smile and replied, "my name's Chai. Sorry for dropping in unannounced, but you were kinda asleep when I tried to call you. So! Mind giving me your name? And...dude, what happened to your arm?"

Matthew stood up with a small grunt, dusting himself off and readjusting his hat before replying, "name's Matthew. You can call me Matt if ya want, I guess. As for my arm...I should ask you th' same question..."

Now that he was fully awake, Matthew finally noticed the biggest detail regarding Chai. He was missing his left arm.

Chai's smile faltered, as he glanced down at his left shoulder, replying, "ah...that... Tell ya what: I don't ask about your arm, you don't ask about my...lack of an arm. Deal?" He held out his paw for a handshake, to which Matthew simply nodded and accepted. It felt a bit weird to Matthew to actually use his right hand for a handshake, after all this time, but he just shrugged off the feeling and turned his attention back to Chai.

"Welp," Matthew said, "did you jus' come up here to say hello, or did you actually have a reason to wake me up?"

Chai's smile returned as he nodded, padding over to one of the cardboard boxes lined up along the edge, where a pair of headphones sat. "Figured these might belong to you," he said, as he picked the headphones up and padded back over to Matthew, holding them out.

"...Holy crap, where'd you even find these?!" Matthew quickly took his headphones back, looking them over to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

"They were dropped off by another human before you showed up. Told me to give them to some guy with a metal arm, if I ever saw them," Chai replied. "Never got the guy's name, though. The blackout happened, and he was outta here in a hurry. Dunno if he's still...himself."

"Damn..." Matthew muttered. "Sucks that I don't have my MP3 player on me...some music would've really been great right about now."

At this, Chai perked up. "Actually, I can help you with that," he said. "Just come with me down to the main area of the cafeteria, and I can have Aux fire up his boombox. It's about time we livened up the joint, yeah?"

"...Yeah, I can rock with that," Matthew replied. "Hope ya got somethin' I actually like." He followed Chai down the ladders and around the corner, and was met with a big group of gootraxians sitting around the main area.

The moment Matthew walked in, all eyes instantly went to him. Chai just casually walked into the crowd, motioning for Matthew to follow. "C'mon, they won't bite!" He said.
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MATT'S INTERNAL MONOLOGUE
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...He'd better be right.