Against Her Programming [SHELLVISION]

Rinse And Repeat [2]

 The elevator creaked open, revealing yet another floor. 

 Crowded toons gathered at the entrance, cautious of their next step. Vee paused for a moment, watching the group slowly spread out of the elevator before following out too. Shortly after, the elevator door slammed behind her, blocking anyone's entrance. 

 Vee glanced about, noting how the toons had already found machines. "They learn quickly," She commented to herself, thinking of how to use this time on the floor. She was unsure if there were any nearby threats, other than the crumbling, abandoned facility's liabilities. Taking a moment to think about her next move, she decided that she'd explore and familiarize herself with the floor at hand. 

 Throughout the large room, her metal footsteps softly clanged as she cautiously peered around the corners, taking mental notes of the layout of the rooms. She rounded around the wall, wary of any potential dangers. The most she saw was a spill, the same black substance within the machines. Odd, what even was this stuff? 

 Vee avoided it for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because she didn't know what it was and what it would do. It could have short circuited her for all she knew, and she wouldn't take any chances. Maybe it had something to do with this predicament they've been forced into. Besides, her theories were just theories, she should probably leave this up to a detective.. like Rodger. 

 As she continued about, she noticed the machines she'd pass by were already complete. The others were likely looking for the last one now, which was probably farthest away from the elevator. 

 Vee took this into consideration, retracing her steps as she slowly made her way back, still unsure of what was to happen next. She started to think about how this all came to be, after all, this was so sudden. One moment everything seems fine, normal, according to schedule; it wasn't like Gardenview to suddenly change plans and switch up so quickly. 

 Vee thought for a moment, she knew her toon handler was always nervous and jittery, but the last time she saw them, she noted how much more quiet and uptight they had been. They had to have known something, it's so unlikely that they'd let anything go unplanned or rushed; especially when it came to her game shows. With all these suspicions, Vee felt skeptical of her handler's involvement in this situation. 

 She knew something, but what? 

 Before she could continue her train of thought, that same damned alarm blared through the hallways. Tense of the possibility of being left, she bolted back down the path she took, shortly making it to the elevator. 

 She shook herself out of the state of anxiety, immediately counting the toons present. 

 The alarm started to click, instilling a sense of panic within the crowd as they peered into the open elevator. 

 "..9, 10, 11" Vee counted, pointing her finger as she continued to count down. 

 TEN

 "14.. 15," She mentally noted, peering past the other toons as she glanced at who was in the elevator with them. 

 NINE

 "16.." Everyone crowded amongst each other. 

EIGHT

 "..." She stood upwards on her toes as she looked for any new toons in the elevator. 

 SEVEN

 "17, 18," She noted as a bubble and toy capsule rushed into the room. 

SIX

 "19, Astro," She muttered as the sleepy toon step foot into the lift.

FIVE

 "20.." Pointing at the cartoony fishbowl that just entered the elevator. 

FOUR

 She was looking for the last toon. 

THREE

 The last toon slowly arrived, a shrimp. 

TWO

 "SHRIMPO!!" One toon screamed, ejecting his arms to grab him.

ONE

 The shrimp winced as the claws wrapped around him, quickly fishing him into the elevator by the skim of his tail. It shut right after he went inside, sealing everyone inside once more. Scolds quickly filled the room, reprimanding the toon's slow pace and careless behavior. 

 Vee watched from a distance, faintly focused on Shrimpo's near death experience. She figured his defiant attitude and slowness would have consequences, which will come back to bite him later. 

 She wasn't worried about that, however, as she felt the elevator shift downwards once again. Likely another floor, but so far they haven't been life threatening. If it was anything like the previous two floors, she'd just have to turn some machines and run to the elevator, not too hard. 

The room slightly calmed down, giving small leisure time for the toons to converse with one another. It was mostly hushed murmured, conversations, discussing their theories or thoughts on the current predicament.

 Noticing Dandy's absence, she questioned what he was up to underneath that heavy, metal trapdoor. None of it made sense to her, to anyone, really. Vee couldn't wrap her head around anything that was happening, being shoved into an elevator, the machines, Dandy, the handler's odd behavior, the- 

 "Hey Vee!" Her focus whipped to the same shell from earlier, Vee could only assume she had been there for quite a bit now. "Hello," Vee dryly replied, almost as if she was following a scripted response. 

 It set Shelly back a little, awkwardly pausing before she spoke again, "..Having a good day?" It was obviously small talk, but regardless Vee would respond to her questions. "Yeah, but I hope whatever we got going down here wraps up soon," she paused, "I have a gameshow scheduled for later." 

 Shelly tilted her head a little, "Gameshow? Cool!" She thought for a moment, "..Do you think this will be over soon?" Vee thought for a moment, this wasn't one of her small talk questions but more of a genuine one, "..Frankly, I don't have an answer, but I think it will soon." 

 Her mouth curved into a smile, "Glad to know you think so, I'd hate to be down here for long!" Vee looked at her blankly, unsure of how to respond; she could ask a question to keep the conversation going, or comment on something, or share her experiences, anything! 

 Oh, Shelly already ran off while Vee was computing a response. It didn't bother Vee much, instead returning her attention to the elevator. 

 Seemed like they'd only be going deeper into Gardenview.