Bassie's World - Chapter One

Instructions

[ Sprout, 9:03 AM, Toons Rooms Floor 1 ] I was worried. Where had Cosmo gone? I had checked his room, the kitchen, even on my floor! My best friend was nowhere to be found. Disappointed, I pulled out my friendship bracelet. *Cosmo, where are you...?* "Sprout! Sprout!" I heard a high-pitched voice calling out behind me. I turned around, and Shelly was running towards me. Her flower crown nearly fell off of her head with how fast she was going. "Shelly? What's up?" I asked, smiling. I stuffed the bracelet away in my apron pocket. It was best if she didn't know I was upset. "I noticed Cosmo wasn't around." she said. I nodded. "I went to Vee and asked where he was, since y'know, she can locate any Toon when asked, and she just said 'Error. Toon not found in database'. Like, what?!" "That's odd..." I blinked. "I was coming here to ask if you knew where he was." Shelly explained. "Since you're best friends, it was most likely that you knew the reason, and well, I didn't want to be a bother even if he was here, but I needed to be—" "Alright, Shelly." I chuckled. "I understand. However, I don't know where Cosmo is either." "Oh." Shelly looked around awkwardly. "Uh, sorry to intrude then. I'll, uhm, I'll go now." She began walking away, but then I had an idea. "Hey! Shelly! Wait!" I called out. She turned around. "Do you need me for something?" "Well, I assumed we could go to talk to Vee together." I prompted. The way her eyes lightened up and she grinned at me was so wholesome that I couldn't help but grin back. "Of-of course!" she nodded eagerly. We went into the elevator and rode up to the lobby. That's where Vee was, according to Shelly. And there she was, sitting around, waiting for nothing. "Vee!" I called out, waving my hands around. Vee walked towards us until she was directly before me. "How can I help you?" she said, with the same empty smile on her face as always. "Vee. Where's Cosmo?" I asked. I could hear my heart beating, and my hope only thinned as her database access loaded. "Error. Toon not found in database." Vee blurted. Shelly and I exchanged a look, but I was much angrier than she was. "What. What do you mean, NOT FOUND?!" I yelled. "Cosmo is alive and I KNOW IT, VEE! STOP LYING! YOU STUPID ROBOT! JUST—" Shelly hugged me tightly. I don't know why I was so mad. What if this was all a big joke? No. It seems too real, too sudden. I stared at the floor, feeling like I couldn't quite function. "If my response has made you upset, please contact staff, berry boy." she replied. I paused. I felt an odd sense of nostalgia. "Berry... boy...? What?" "Since when could Vee give people nicknames?" Shelly murmured, letting go of me. "I— I don't know." "Well, she is just an old TV. It's not unlikely she malfunctions." Shelly shrugged. "Ugh. Could you be any ruder?" Vee hissed. Confused, I turned to face her again. Instead of her eyes being closed and her mouth pulled into an unnatural smile, her eyes were opened and she seemed fairly annoyed. "What." "What? Oh, wait. You're mind-erased, aren't you?" Vee lowered her head, seeming to be thinking very hard. I, on the other hand, had no idea what she was blabbering about. Mind-erased? "Vee, are you quite alright? I've never seen you act like this before." Shelly stepped forward, putting her hand on Vee's shoulder. Despite the fact that Vee was nobody's friend (I mean, she can't be, she's just an information kiosk basically), Shelly seemed to care about her. Vee slapped Shelly's hand off angrily. "Don't touch me." she said. Then, she stepped back. "Sorry. I'm just kind of mad. I went through all that struggle to change you all, and you don't even remember who I am." "Vee, I don't understand. You keep talking about all of this stuff that's never happened before, like mind-erasing." I said. I looked over at Shelly, who was staring at the floor. "Anyways, is Cosmo really gone from your database?" "Well, yeah, but he isn't actually gone." Vee said. "Bassie, she..." Suddenly, I cracked at the mention of Bassie. "She what?" I demanded. "Come on! Where's Cosmo?!" Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted before Vee could reply. It was Bassie in the flesh. "Sorry to intrude, but if Vee could come with me very quickly, thanks!" "Uh, right. Sure." I frowned. I looked back at Vee. Her face had returned to the usual vacant grin. Bassie grabbed Vee's hand and pulled her away from us, and I sighed. Was this just an inconvenient coincidence, or did Bassie know what we were up to? It didn't matter. I needed answers as quickly as possible. "Shelly, you're Bassie's best friend." Shelly seemed puzzled. "Well, yeah, I guess." "Then you must know her better than I do. Did she look like she knew what was up?" I asked. Shelly shook her head. "I think she just wanted to talk to Vee more than she wanted Vee talking to us. I don't even think she noticed that Vee was acting unusual." +