Sister Location

Night Four

You sigh as the elevator doors-

Wait, where are you? This is not the elevator. It's dark, but you can see the things close to you.

Your arms and legs are trapped at your sides. You have a headache. There are closed metal face plates in front of you. You're so close, you can see every detail in the mask. You peek out of the eye holes in hope someone is there to help you, but you can't see within three feet of you.

"Shh! Be still and quiet," Baby says. "You've been sleeping for quite a while. I think they noticed that you never left the building last night. The cameras are searching for you. But they couldn't find you. I have you hidden too well. I kidnapped you."

She did what?! You wiggle to try and break free. "Don't be afraid," Baby comforts. You stop squirming. "I'm not going to hurt you. I am only going to keep you for a little while." You start moving again.

"Try not to wiggle, though." You obey and stop. "You're inside something that came from my old pizzeria. I don't think it was ever used - at least, not the way it was ever meant to be used. Too dangerous. It's just big enough for one person to fit inside. But just barely."

Your stomach drops. What was it used for? Is it really this dangerous? If it's so dangerous, why are you in it?

"You're in the scooping room. Do you know why they call it 'the scooping room'?" Baby asks. You don't respond, considering you're scared to move. "It's because, dummy, this is the room where they use the scooper. I thought that would be obvious." Baby explains. You roll your eyes.

"Isn't that a fun name for something? 'The scooper.' It sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard, or sprinkles. It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party, to ensure that you get a heaping portion of every good thing.

"I wonder, though, if you were a freshly-opened pint of ice cream, how you would feel about something with that name. Thankfully, I don't think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all."

Baby thinks about some weird things...

You hear distant shouting and footsteps. Baby apparently hears it, too. "Uh-oh. It sounds like someone else is in the building. Shh!" You obey and be silent, like you were the last two minutes during Baby's rambling daydreams.

A man speaks. "Okay, bring her over. More, mooore... okay, stop. Set her down. Waaatch the step."

You debate shouting for help. You remain silent.

"What happened to it this time?" another man asks. "Just seems like these things can't go a day without breaking down."

"Who knows, it's always the same," the first man replies. "Some kind of hardware malfunction."

'Well, I have to be somewhere in, like, 15 minutes. This place gives me the creeps," the second man confesses. "Can we just get this over with? It's all automated, we don't have to be here for it. Just get it on the rollers and we can go."

There's loud clanking and whirring as a machine works. Ballora slowly moves into sight. You tighten with fear. The whirring refrains as Ballora jerks to a stop.

Baby speaks again. "There's something very important that I've learned how to do over time. That is, how to pretend. Do you ever play make-believe? Pretend to be one way, when you are really the other? It's very important. Ballora never learns. But I do. They think there is something wrong on the inside. The only thing that matters is knowing how to pretend."

Loud clanking starts again. Ballora jumps from force. She slowly breaks apart. After a few tries, her outer layer comes off, her endoskeleton and glowing eyes looking like she's staring at you.

"I'll open the face plates for you," Baby offers. The face plates open and you breathe. You slowly take your arms out and stretch them as she babbles on and on. "That way, they can find you on the cameras. Now, all you have to do is wait. I'd recommend that you keep the springlocks wound up. Your breathing and your heartbeat are causing them to come loose. You don't want them to get too loose. Trust me."

What will happen if they get too loose? You don't want to know. You keep tightening the springlocks, Ballora still making you feel unsettled.

You turn to manage the other side when you see something crawling up the suit. Your eyes widen in fear. Its face is ghoul white, black empty eyes staring at you with a wide, sinister grin. Its tan wood hands and feet guide it up the suit.

Shake! Your body tells you. You shake the suit, seeing the thing fall off. You sigh in relief and continue winding up the springlocks. Some are blinking red from neglect. You quickly turn and see another creature of the same type crawl up the suit. You shake the suit, metal clanging.

You repeat the pattern of winding and shaking, almost like you're doing a dance on the main stage.

Six of the springlocks are blinking red. You see four of the creatures crawl up your suit, and there's no way they can be shaken off without all the springlocks going off. You brace yourself for impact.

"It's six A.M.," Baby whispers. The suit suddenly opens, flinging the tiny Satan servants across the room. You carefully guide yourself out of the suit, then bolt for the door. You turn around at the metal door frame and take a look at the suit.

You see the springlocks through the darkness. The suit's a bear. The purple hat and bow tie are split down the middle. The bear seems to be golden yellow.

You bolt out of the room and try to find your way to the exit.

You finally find your way to the Primary Control Module. The elevator opens for you.

It's 6:00 Am. The end of your shift.

You breathe a sigh of relief as the elevator glides up.