Playtime with Percy; Before Playtime

Monday; Crumbling Crackers

June 3, 7:30, 2002

Ralph had a bag of animal crackers. Dory gave it to him without an explanation.

In fact, Dory has been handing out a bunch of 'gifts' to everyone she sees. It's like her personality switched.

When Percy and his friends entered the circus, Dory waited for them on the bleachers. She was barely visible since the lights were still out in the circus. She told them that she'd be right back, and next, she was sprinting towards the animatronics with handfuls of random objects. She handed out a random object to each animatronic, and then left without a word. And many of the things that she gave out were things you'd find at a junkyard.

Charlie got a jar of old toothbrushes, Marylin got a broken but clean glass painting, and Percy got a plastic box. It was see-through, and Percy could easily see that it was filled with rotting Lego pieces and a weird black ball in one of the corners. It reminded Percy of a spider egg sack, and nearly dropped it when he realized that. He decided not to open it, for safety.

Before Dory reached the curtains, Percy put down the box on the nearby bleacher and ran towards her.

" Hey!" He called out. His curiosity got the best of him and he nearly snatched Dory's arm to stop her, before freezing. Dory turned around, with annoyance all over her face. Turns out her personality didn't take a complete switch.

" Why are you giving all of these to us? Is something -"

" Is that any part of your business?" Dory snapped. Without waiting for Percy to say anything else, she marched off past the curtains.

Charlie trotted over to Percy first. The animatronic Poodle turned to face Charlie as fast as a bullet and whispered in his ear, " You sure that Dory's leaving on Wednesday night?"

Charlie pulled Percy's arm away and replied, " Yeah, I'm sure of it."

" Because when people leave and they're not coming back they usually give out gifts or goodbyes, and that's what Dory's doing," Percy remarked.

" She could just be giving out stuff for... some other reason."

" Maybe she changed the date she's leaving. Maybe she's leaving tonight! Maybe she heard about Pal and-"

" You two okay?" Marylin asked from a distance. Charlie and Percy faced her with fake smiles and assured her everything was fine. Marylin could see through the two like the broken glass painting she got. But she didn't question anything. She just raised an eyebrow.

"Did the Endos get anything?" Charlie switched the subject. He peeked through the curtains, followed by Percy and Marylin.

In the backstage, Percy caught Dory shoving a bag of animal crackers into Ralph's hands. His face was bewildered, but Dory didn't give a single glance to him and ran off to her room. Charlie darted over to Ralph.

" Fuck?" Percy heard Ralph mutter as he followed Charlie. Ralph looked at Charlie. " The hell's wrong with your ear?"

Charlie froze and his face became clouded with self-guilt. Percy spoke up while Charlie was lost in the guilt of hurting himself.

" Uh, Has Dory did this to Marie and Devon too?" Percy asked. Ralph looked at the door to their rooms and snapped, " How am I supposed to know? They're definitely malfunctioning right now, best leave them alone."

"... That's it? Nothing unnatural? Like they aren't hurting themselves or experiencing anything weird, Right?"

Ralph paused before saying," ...Nah, Nothing up with them. But Quinn said that he's having nightmares. I overheard him and the ringmaster talking about him in some cave and shit happening all over the place. Also, do you think Dory is malfunctioning too? Like, a personality malfunction? She's turning into Marie, except much more quieter."