[Chapter Seven - Dandy] Dandy watched Shelly pace around the hallway, back and forth. She seemed to be trying to clear her mind, but Dandy assumed she was failing to based on how long she had been pacing. He knew that Shelly was still trying to process what had happened that day, so she wasn’t ready to see Vee, let alone Sprout, again. However, Vee kept pressing. It kind of annoyed Dandy, but luckily Vee couldn't take action on… well, anything anymore, seeing that she was just a face on a normal computer screen. All she could do was keep nagging Shelly about that toon making machine. Dandy knew what she meant, as he’d seen it many times before. Vee kept explaining that if they plugged her USB into the machine’s computer, she could control it. But it had stopped working long ago, and he wasn’t sure if it was safe for Vee to hijack. ‘I don’t trust Vee anymore.’ Dandy decided. ‘The last time she tried to ‘fix everything’, she became a twisted.’ He knew it was kind of wrong to judge her like that, seeing that Vee thought what she was doing was right, but Dandy wasn’t in a very forgiving mood. “Hey. Shelly.” He said on Shelly’s 35th lap around the hallway. He didn’t even know why he was counting. “Eh?!” She basically cried out, probably startled out of thought. She turned around to face Dandy. “Oh- Hi.” “You okay?” “Um…” she hesitated for a moment. “Yeah. Just… thinking.” “What do you think about the ‘toon making machine’ Vee keeps raving about?” “...I don’t know.” She walked over to sit next to Dandy on the floor. “I don’t feel like I’m ready to see Sprout again.” she mumbled. “But then I feel like I’m selfish for thinking that because Vee does want him back.” “I understand why you feel like that. I mean, the whole… um…” he paused, not sure how to word it without triggering her. “...thing… happened only two weeks ago.” “I should be on board with Vee’s plan, though!” Guilt crept into her voice. “I miss him so badly, so why don’t I want to bring him back?!” Dandy placed a large hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to bring him back automatically if you don’t want to.” “I know, but…” she trailed off. “You’re not selfish, Shelly. You’ve never been.” “...” It was around eight in the morning when Dandy had woken up. He was going to go on a supply run to one of the kitchen floors today since they were running low on food. Shelly wasn’t anywhere to be found, though. ‘Again…? Where did she go???’ He knew that Shelly was her own toon and that she could go wherever and do whatever she wanted, but he still didn’t like knowing where she was. It was dangerous to be separated now since the virtual world had shut down, so all the asleep twisteds were roaming around now. He’d already seen a few of them, and he didn’t want Shelly to get hurt… The first place he thought to check was the computer room. Maybe she had just gone to talk to Vee? However, when he peeked inside the computer room, Shelly wasn’t in there. ‘Where else could she be, then…?’ His eyes unconsciously drifted to the computer and noticed something else wasn’t there: the USB. Oh no. “Shelly- why did you…?!” He knew exactly where she went. Dandy rushed over to the elevator and hastily pressed the button to Delilah’s workshop. He had pressed that button so many times in the past that he didn’t even have to look to know he pressed the right button. He didn’t even know why he was so panicked about this. Shelly did say she wanted Sprout back but also was too scared to see him again. She wouldn’t just switch up that fast. ‘Did Vee guilt trip her or something???’ he thought. ‘What if I’m wrong? What if Shelly didn’t take the USB and I’m just assuming?'
[continued] Before he could let that second thought sink in, the elevator stopped with a *ding!* and Dandy stepped out of it. Abandoned machines were everywhere, coated in a thick layer of dust. Every step or two, he would step on an old document or drawing from Arthur. It seemed like something knocked over a file cabinet here and all the papers inside spilled out. “Shelly?” He called out as he made his way through the clutter. He heard what sounded like someone dropping something from being startled, but there was no response to his call. “I know you’re in here.” “...What do you want?” Shelly finally responded. Dandy found the end of the room, which had the toon creation machine at the end. Shelly was there, fiddling with the USB in her hands. Sprout’s ichor-stained scarf was on a table nearby. “Why are you doing this? Didn’t you say yesterday that you weren’t going to bring him back?” Dandy asked. “I- I don’t know…” Shelly mumbled. “Why are you so upset about this? You don’t want Sprout back???” “No, I didn’t say that!” Dandy said. “Did Vee make you do this?” “...No.” From how long it took her to say that, he could tell she was lying. He gave her a skeptical look and she sighed. “Okay, maybe a little…” she admitted. “But- Vee wants it, so I feel bad not letting her revive him…” “Aren’t you worried about this not working?” Dandy pointed out. “Vee’s being reckless. What if she gets trapped in there? What if the machine breaks before we can revive him?” “You’re just being pessimistic…” She grabbed Sprout’s scarf and stuffed it into a slot in the machine before plugging the USB into a computer connected to it. The machine was simple; it was a clear tube with an ichor tank connected to the side. You just had to put in the genetic code of the toon you wanted to make (or revive, in their case) and it would create said toon. However, this device was around 30-something years old and Dandy was very skeptical of it working. But, since Shelly was adamant on reviving him, he just let her. He didn’t want to make her more upset. Vee’s face popped up on the computer screen and she smirked a bit when she saw Dandy. However, she didn’t comment on his presence. “Ready?” She said instead, to which Shelly returned with an apprehensive nod. “Alright, here goes.” Vee said before her face disappeared from the screen. For a second, nothing happened, making Dandy’s doubt spike. Then, the machine powered up. The ichor inside of the tank beside the contraption began to fill up and the slot that held Sprout’s scarf closed. “That is his ichor on the scarf, right?” Dandy asked, just double checking. He was being so paranoid about this… “Yeah. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be…” Shelly answered, not looking away from the machine. After about a minute of what seemed to be the machine starting up, Vee’s voice cut through the whirring and droning noises from the machine. “Alright, I’ve got this thing working. Just press the red button right there and it should start creating Sprout.” “Vee?” Shelly said. “I- uh- have a question.” “Yeah?” “Is he going to… remember everything? About us?” “He should. Toons are made to retain their memories, even if they got replaced. Delilah didn’t want amnesiac toons in Gardenview if she had to replace them. That wouldn’t be popular with the kids.” She responded confidently. “But he may have a little brain fog at first, who knows?” “Okay…” Shelly’s hand hovered over the button for a moment before she pressed it firmly. The ichor tank began to drain and smoke filled the tube as the machine created what Dandy hoped would be Sprout. At that moment, Dandy started to think this could actually work. The machine was working like normal. Why was he so worried? After five long minutes, the machine went silent. “Is it done?” Shelly instantly sat up from the ground. Vee’s face reappeared on the computer. “Should be…” The doors to the tube slid open and the smoke started to trickle out. A vague shape was inside of the machine. A living, breathing toon. Once the smoke subsided, the toon opened his eyes. It was Sprout. ---------------------------------------------------- Art by: @Yao-yao Song: Devils by STOMACH BOOK Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1329035225/ Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1362745140/ SORRY THIS LITERALLY TOOK A MONTH TO COME OUT IM LAZY❤ the song is devils because I listened to it too much while writing this chapter ok- the first paragraph of this was written a month ago and the rest was written by me today in the span of one hour because I forced myself to get this done T0T I already have the thumbnail for chap8 drawn yay
