Gardenview is often seen as innocent and family friendly to the public eye.. Which, in part, is true- At least.. Before it shut down. You see, there was an.. "Incident" a while back. The company filed for bankruptcy and disappeared without a trace. However, that is not the full story.
Deep below the polished rooms in gardenview, and all the smiling faces of the toons.. Twisteds lurk in the darkness of the lower floors. The further down you go, the more of them there are. Watching, waiting for an unsuspecting visitor to enter their lair.. However, the toons have found a way of life despite being abandoned by the toon handlers and left to rot.
Instead of teaching children day in and day out, the toons that had the will to survive have formed a new society of sorts. You see, the lower floors of gardenview act a bit like a dungeon. Food, water, medical supplies, and other things can be found in the depths. But of course, that treasure does not come without its risks. Toons form groups to venture deep into the bowels of gardenview- though, not everyone makes it out alive.
Now then, I believe it's time to introduce the stars of the show..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dyle set up shop for the day, organizing his items neatly on racks. He removed a crate from the large, metal shelf behind him. Dyle had always been rather reserved, and had a need for order and organization. Even though it was a lot for work to do alone, it had been the same routine as long as he could remember. Well, at least after Soulvester had been.. Nevermind that, it's not the time to think about that. He finished organizing the smaller items on his desk: Canned foods, medical supplies, and ropes. All from explorations he'd done the week before. Finally, now satisifed, he opened the shutters and took up his position. Across from him, Dandy had set out his items as well.. Just not very organized at all. He merely huffed and lifted the clipboard from his drawer to start marking inventory for the new day. The rest for the toons weren't quite up yet, as shopkeepers Dandy and himself had to get up earlier to set up shop.
As his eyes absently skimmed over yesterday's numbers yet not quite processing them, his mind wandered. Six months ago, during that incident that cost him his most precious possession.. No, now's not the time, he thought. He focused back on the numbers, making a mental note of them before marking down today's inventory that he'd written down on a seperate page. Almost out, he mused. Low inventory meant that he'd have to make another trip into the lower floors. Another trip means going down there alone.. If anyone had even died a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ on his watch, he would never forgive himself. Thus, he preferred to travel alone these days.
That day wore on with dull interactions and greetings,
From Finn,
"Good morning, Dyle! Got anyfin good for me? "
From Sprout, "Hey Dyle! Could I get a new lantern? "
From Rodger, "Greetings, Mr Timesly."
And many, many others.. Since he was gone d̶e̶a̶d̶ things had been so much duller at his storefront. Connie had stopped visiting as well, nobody had spoken to or seen her out of her room in weeks... Rather peculiar, considering she always n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ got along with h̶i̶m̶ us toons.
At the end of the day, it was time to close down shop. He'd sold out of water bottles, canned food, and matches today. It was time to restock, even if it'd be difficult w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ h̶i̶m̶ alone. Though, he was rather experienced and had been doing it for 6 months now. He packed his bag and began the trudge to the elevators.
"This was much easier when he used to carry all this.. Reminds me how much I should begin working out.. Well, no matter. I'm Dyle Timesly after all, I always have it under control... " He thought, a bit absently as he pushed the button and stepped into the elevator to begin the descent.
