Stranded

A Certain Kind of Nightmare-Act 4 Finale

~Book POV~

My hands felt brittle as I rested them on the large computer; this was all I needed to do to help out the group who saved me. My hands jittered as I turned on the desktop, and it whirred to life. Unknowing of the malice that it caused.

It opened to a password insertion screen. 8 characters... that has to be... FAILURES. Right? I insert the code and it reads correct, perfect. The desktop wallpaper is geometric shapes and colors, all monotone. I quickly open up the file manager and scroll through.

Let's see... Okay. There's a digital notebook page open... Subjects... Right... The word makes me remember something buried away. Another... Experiment... Perhaps... There's 18 slots here, but only 8 are filled. I hesitantly scrolled to the first one. Subject 1: Arms. That's my experiment name. I look at the wretched extra arms in my sides, always something there to remind me.

I scroll through my file; there's pages upon pages describing my pages. As I reach the end I find a small interview log. It's short, but provides horrifying information about me.

"Can you say your name?" She asked me. I look... So innocent... Oddly... Excited. I wobbled in my chair for a moment before I responded.

"Book." I replied, looking around the room. There's several photos here of the room on this page, it almost looks like a solitary confinement chamber.

"Good, can you tell me where you lived?" She asked, voice trembling with excitement, but keeping a cool composure. My face shifted to one of confusion, and I looked around.

"Lived? I... I lived near Yoyleland's Library." I stumbled, "In the apartments." I looked around again, and grip the reddish brown chair I'm sitting in. Why... Why that chair? Even further... What's Yoyleland?

"Who were you close with?" She questioned further, almost pushing into my identity. I can see the discomfort on my face.

"I was close with... Uhhmm... Naily?" I put my left hand on the wall and press down, it bunches up like pillows. I hear a pencil scratch a few times onto paper.

"That's all I need, thank you... Book." She cuts the program.

I take a deep breath, and my stomach twists. My head hurts... I... I have to persist. I plug in the usb and place the notepad into the folder. Then I continue to read.

I checked over Radio's page... Turns out that was somebody named Remote. There were things talking about telepathy and telekinesis, it was vaguely unnerving. I needed to figure out who this was, that way me and the group that saved me can fight them! It says Remote is still around today, it's weird I didn't see her though...

One of these experiments says that she was moved to a different cell, which makes sense. If there's 18 slots and only 16 cells in the main room, then... Well the math just wouldn't add up otherwise.

If I can find out where this mystery cell is, I can ask her. It says here that her memory was never removed, and if so... That would mean that she knows who she really is.

The rest of the pages are unnerving, one about a Snowball listed as Subject 7, Fixed, Terminated. That's terrible... Going from a messy "Fixed" to... I don't want to know what Terminated means... But... I'll just have to read to figure this out.

It lists a few Experiments for him... And then... There's this haunting excerpt from an outdated paper on... Lobotomy? That's... That's... I... I don't think I know what that is... It lists a few sources for her claims... She used it for his persistent freakouts. I guess that's what Snowball acted like-

... Oh my god.

I shiver, my head heats up in horror. I... She... She drove an ice pick through his eye? And... And... It's listed that after the procedure Subject 6 didn't speak anymore. I can't bear to listen to the interview tape for him... I don't want to know who he used to be.

I scroll through, Subject 4, 7, 6, and 8 all were "Terminated" at some point. These poor people... I hear the door open ajar, and my head turns. It's Ruby. Her eyes shimmer in the bluish light. Her facial expression is one of contempt.

I stammer, and carefully remove the USB. She slowly walks up to me and rubs the cords sewing her mouth together, loosening them slightly. I make a small smile, and my mind rips back to the picture. Whoever Ruby was to me... She will probably never be the same again.

"You-" I start, before tears drip from my eyes. She looks at me, and blinks. She quickly pulls something from behind her, it's a journal. That might help the group! She opens it to the first page, and practically hums the first line.

"Should I-?" I begin, before she slams the book shut and pounds it onto the laptop several times. By the time she's finished, the Laptop is completely destroyed. If there was any evidence left on there, it's gone now. I sit in disbelief before Ruby continues, sludge pours from her hand and covers the journal's pages.

"No!" I smack it out of her hands and kick her to the ground, my sides wry with pain. I rush over and pick up the journal and run out the door, locking the room from the outside.

"Rrrrrmmrmrm!!!" She screeches with her muffled mouth towards me, and I back away in fear. I'm in partial disbelief, but I don't blame Ruby. Just like the girl inside the cell told me... 'You may still have your determination, but her soul is long gone.'

Whoever... No... Whatever did this to her... Is a monster.

~Taco's Perspective~

I tried to adjust myself to the idea that Book was just a completely different person, but every time that I tried to push that into my head I remembered all the things these Subjects had done... Back when they were still conscious. 4 missing... Or worse. I sat back, and Match returned to the room with a charcuterie board with a bunch of cheeses and crackers. I wonder where she got the determination to set that up, but she was followed shortly by Needle and Firey, which explained some things. Needle's expression was horrifically dark, and tear beads were running down her face.

"... Taco... We uhhh... Have bad news." Match placed down the board and sat next to Coiny and Pin. Match's face was pale, and my blood pressure spiked.

"Teardrop... Teardrop killed herself." Match held out a note, covered in water.

Dear Taco,
If you are reading this letter, you won't be dying this week. I have sacrificed myself for the greater good, as I wasn't benefiting the team. Along with my discovery that Gelatin was one of the Subjects in the facility, this will be a calming thing for me. Don't mourn me, just please... Find an exit.

That's exactly what I was going to do.

-1161 words, sorry about Ruby acting like a bozo, that's just in style these days.-