".....Now, you understand your assignment, correct? Ask any questions you have now."
Paintbrush nodded at the first statement. "And.. I don't have any questions."
The object in front of them raised his eyebrows, staring at them through narrowed eyes.
"Oh, uh..... sir," Paintbrush corrected themself after being prodded by Lightbulb who stood beside them, unusually quiet.
"Great." The object, most of his features obscured by shadow, clapped his hands. Two different models of sentient phones stepped forward a few moments later. "They'll escort you to your ride. You can never be too safe, am I right?"
"Right..." Paintbrush felt themself being nudged forward by one of the phones, this one with a golden rim. Lightbulb was pushed forward as well, and as Paintbrush watched, they had half the mind to tear that phone apart for touching their friend. But they remained silent, making their way toward the front entrance of the building. They still remembered what had happened the last time they'd set a Meeple product on fire. As they were reminded of the previous event, they instinctively touched a blackened part of their handle, grimacing.
Before they knew it, they were standing at the front of the tall silver building, Lightbulb immediately lighting up and illuminating the surrounding asphalt and concrete. Dark clouds crowded the sky, only providing a glimpse of the otherwise beautiful sunset.
Both phones paused, then turned robotically back around and headed back into the building without a second glance.
After checking that the devices had entered the building, Lightbulb spoke with a sigh. "Ugh.. I hate it in there."
"Me too." Paintbrush laid a hand on Lightbulb's shoulder, and Lightbulb smiled up at them. They felt their face grow warm for a second as she took their hand in response. A few moments passed, and Lightbulb took a step forward.
"Test Tube?" She called.
A figure immediately popped up out of the darkness at her words and hurried forward. "Are you two ready?"
They both nodded. Test Tube smiled, showing them a thumbs-up, and led them over to a van, which was parked a few blocks away.
Paintbrush thought gratefully of how the Boss had offered to move his company's headquarters to the ground. Prior to the change, it had been somehow suspended in the sky with technology that only the Boss himself would know of. Being in the endless blue expanse above had unnerved them, and they were now glad to have solid ground beneath their feet.
The van's door slid open as they neared it, and Fan waved at them from inside. Lightbulb waved back at him with a smile.
All three of them climbed into the van, Paintbrush taking their seat behind the wheel. Test Tube immediately sat at the desk she'd placed in the back, taking a small gadget from inside one of the drawers and starting to work on it. The van started up with a low, mumbling hum, and they were off.
Fan, who sat in the front passenger seat, provided directions to Paintbrush as they drove. Test Tube hadn't seen a point in fixing the built-in GPS of the van, so Fan was just using his phone.
"Wow, this place is really far away," Fan remarked. "Are you sure this is the right address?"
"This is the address he gave us," Paintbrush shrugged. "If it isn't the right place, it isn't our fault. We can always go back and get a new assignment."
Lightbulb was in the back, absentmindedly watching as Test Tube picked a screwdriver up off of the desk. Paintbrush glanced into the rearview mirror to get a small glimpse of her, looking back at the road soon after.
"How long will it take to get there?" Lightbulb asked Fan.
He glanced at her, then looked back down at his phone. "About...... Oh. Wow." He blinked.
"What? What is it?" Paintbrush asked, sounding worried.
"..It says it'll take six hours."
"Six hours?!" Paintbrush turned to him, gawking.
Fan shrugged apologetically, staring at his phone. "That's what it says!"
Both Lightbulb and Paintbrush groaned in unison.
"Don't worry! We can, uh.. Play a game or something?" Fan tried.
Paintbrush rolled their eyes, but Lightbulb immediately perked up at that. "What about 'I Spy?'"
Paintbrush sighed. Not again...
"Sure!" Fan's gaze shifted to Test Tube, who was now examining her gadget closely with a magnifying glass. "Test Tube? Want to join?"
"Hm? Oh, sure." She set her things down and turned towards the other two.
"Okay, okay! Let me start." Lightbulb spoke up excitedly. "I spy with my little eye........"
.
.
.
.
.
"Are we there yet?" Lightbulb glanced towards the driver's seat, where Test Tube now sat.
"No, but we're really close. We only have about.." Test Tube glanced at her watch, "Ten minutes left until we get there."
"Finally!" Lightbulb sighed with relief.
They'd given up playing "I Spy" after only a couple of rounds, and they'd instead spent their time planning what they would do when they arrived at their destination.
After a few hours of driving non-stop, Paintbrush had given the driver's seat up to Test Tube. Fan still sat in the front, charging his phone with a portable charger that Test Tube had somehow managed to build, and Paintbrush now sat in the back with Lightbulb, their eyes closed.
Lightbulb looked back at the crossword puzzle she was working on, tapping the paper with her pencil as she thought about what the answer for row eighteen could be. "Painty, can you-"
She was interrupted by Fan, who shushed her and pointed at Paintbrush. They were asleep.
"Oh." Lightbulb frowned, then looked up at Fan. "Fan, can you-"
"I can help." This time Test Tube interrupted her. "What's the question?"
Lightbulb met the other's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Well, you're too smart! If I ask you, you'll just give me the answer," she huffed.
Test Tube looked slightly taken aback for a moment, but nodded defeatedly after a short while. "You're right."
Fan laughed, then turned to Lightbulb. "Okay, I can help you." He unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the back of the van.
"Here. It's this one." She pointed to the question.
"Okay... Hmm....."
Fan stared at the question, looking as puzzled as Lightbulb felt.
He ended up searching it up on his phone.
.
.
.
.
.
"Painty..... Painty...?"
"PAINTY!"
Paintbrush was shaken awake, and they gazed ruefully towards Lightbulb. "You didn't have to-"
"We're here!!!"
"Oh." They glanced out the tinted window, and sure enough, the van had stopped near a patch of moorland. A small shed was seen in the distance. "What time is it?"
"Midnight," Test Tube replied.
Paintbrush stood up, walking over to the desk and picking Test Tube's gadget up. "Did you fix it?"
"Yep. It should be as good as new."
They nodded. "Thanks."
"..So, we're still going with the plan?" Fan asked.
Test Tube nodded, and she opened the driver's seat door. Paintbrush slid the van's large door open and climbed out.
Lightbulb was about to follow them, but they turned and blocked the doorway.
"Oh, come on, Painty! Please let me go this time!!"
"Nope. We let you come with us one time. One time. And you shattered."
"That was the only time! I promise!"
Paintbrush paused, then shook their head. "Sorry, Lightbulb."
"Ughhhh, fiiiine." Paintbrush watched as she sat back down, wearing a pouty face. They sighed, then turned to catch up to Fan and Test Tube, who were already halfway up the slope that led to the shed they'd seen earlier.
The lights of the shed were on, and as Paintbrush walked, the frosty grass crunched beneath their feet. They still held the gadget that Test Tube had fixed earlier, and their grip around it tightened as they neared the shed.
The three of them stopped outside of the small hut, and Fan sighed, his breath forming a cloud in the icy air.
Silence from inside.
"On the count of three," Test Tube whispered. "One.. two..."
"Three." She straightened and swiftly flung the door open. It hit the wall with a bang, and they filed in quickly.
Their target's eyes widened, and he spoke out of instinct. "MePad, ge-"
Paintbrush angled the device in their hand towards the other object on the couch and pressed down on the button on the device's center. A loud crackling noise resounded in the tense air of the shed, and MePad collapsed.
"MePad!" The phone shrieked. Another object, a toilet, watched nervously as Fan and Test Tube stepped closer to the phone.
"Paintbrush," Test Tube spoke.
Paintbrush stared at her for a moment, then handed the taser to her.
"Please, please don't-"
The otherwise silent night was filled with a soft crepitation.