Freedom Burns

night 2

poland's pov

it's been ten minutes, and no one has showed up. i sighed in relief, maybe i was hallucinating? "don't look so happy to s-sEe me." i jumped back and slammed my head and wings on the wall. "what the hell!? why'd your voice do that!? where-" stipes dropped down from the vents, and somehow managed to look uncomfortable. "some kiD-ds messed with my v-v-v- o ICE box." pity welled up in my stomach. "did it..hurt?" his eyes flashed for a moment, but he seemed to be resisting the urge to smile. "not too bad. it's all been done before, i've no need to well in temporary pain. besides, g-g-GERMany, the owner, is coming to get me fixed tomorrow. don't worry, i'll be back before your shift." i felt a strange tug of affection for the robot. "but that's besides the point- you have to get past duppa's room to get to the control room tonight. your side room lights are temporarily out, and the layout of this place isn't meant for MURDEROUS robots. i'll try my best to guide you and keep him distracted." i nodded, sighing. great. "i'm staying in the vents, you'll hAVE to go the long way." irritated, i questioned him. "why can you get the safe route?" he rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "they can't kn-kno W i'm in the vents. if they find out that you got away and no one even noticed you, they'll pu-pu-pUSh me enough so that i'll have to tell them. even if it's the right thing to do, i can only L I E to my only friends so much until i feel so guilty that i'll spill.." shit. he's uncomfortable. "hey, what're you saying? we're friends, aren't we?" i suddenly see why he was trying to stop himself from smiling genuinely. he had sharp, bloodstained teeth that cracked open the metal of his cheeks when he smiled. "i suppose, warsaw." he heaved himself up into the vents with his good hand, and i could do nothing but set out in hopes to survive my second night.

"it's this room." the ghostly voice muttered from above. i shivered, it's not the first time he's given me directions, but this one was by FAR the most panicked. i opened the door for me to get in, and i feel someone else walk in behind me. "..ti?" the warmth in his voice is so great i nearly wanted to hug him, but someone else did that for me. quickly moving through, i stopped at the door. maybe i have an eavesdropping problem.. oh well. "you ok?" i glanced behind me to watch. duppa was a few inches taller than stipes, and had a deeper voice. their outfits seem like they're meant to be a pair, though. i recall stipes' words. duppa is a stunt performer. he's incredibly fast and strong..he's quite protective of all of us, especially me. i smirked. a stunt performer and a clown, who would've thought. "i-i-im fine 'up. it's nothin i haven't experienced before." stipes is noticeably more relaxed. they must be pretty close to break through each other's hard shells. literally. "still, i have a right to worry about you. it's not like many of the times i see you we can really talk.." his voice trailed off, but came to a halt when stipes whispered something. i'm not close enough to tell what, but it must've lifted a tremendous weight off of duppa's shoulders. stipes got on his toes and leaned his forehead against duppa's. "just go to sleep, this is just any other night." he sighed. "ok. thanks, ti." i could practically hear the smile. "of course."

i was messing with wires and watching the cameras above me to see if they made any difference. "soooo, you weren't going to tell me that you could distract him that easily?" i asked, checking the time on my phone. just an hour left, c'mon.. "what? i've known him f-fOR 17 years, of course i can distract him easily." i rolled my eyes. "mmmhhhmm," i hummed "that's what i meant." he slapped the back of my head lightly, which scared the crap out of me. he snickered when i jumped. "dude! what the hell!?" he shrugged. "fair iS fair." i sighed in irritation and checked the cameras again. nothing. stipes rolled his eyes, and pushed me out of the way. "this is so simp-simpLE, c'mon you just.." yeah, i'm not gona to listen. "..and there." the lights were back on. huh. "you have ten minutes, and i'm pretty sure that everyone is going back to their stages by now. you can just change and head out." i nodded, taking off my cap and rubbing my temples. "hey, stipes?" he looked down at me. "hm?" i smiled brightly at him. "thanks, really." he relaxed. "yeah, no problem." he dragged himself up. "get some with duppa!" i yelled up at him, which was replied to with a distant 'f-f-fUCK off!' i smiled to myself.

"had fun doing work ya didn' sign up for?" con was leaning on the doorframe wearing a tank top, jeans, a cowboy hat, and a flannel tied around her waist. i let out a breath i didn't know i had been holding. "oh hell no. i thought i was supposed to sit in a room for a week, not do this." con snickered. "mhm, that's what they do here." she's really loosened up around me i thought happily, she doesn't try to hide her accent and seems a lot more comfortable. "well uh- i used to have the night shift, too. and uh.. ya don' have to worry about me thinkin' you're insane when ya talk about the robots. i..i've seen 'em move. i get it." i was weirdly touched that she had thought about my emotions and not just told me flat out she knew too. "thanks, con." she snorted. "yeah, whatever. don' get sentimental on me, warsaw." i grinned at her and bowed. "but of course not." maybe this isn't so bad after all.

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wowie 1032 words-
hshshhsh poland has friends, oh how surprising. i forgot to put it on their refs, but poland is 5'8" and stipes is 6'3"

i hope that this wasn't too bad,
-aut