It was early morning and the sun was shining grandly above the Inanimate Insanity campsite. Competitors lined up to receive breakfast from MePad - a strikingly-made one at that - and sat dotted around the several picnic tables and on the floor.
Night had passed and still nobody had noticed Tissues' weird absence. Fan thought maybe it'd be a good idea to mention it, but nobody else did, so he kept quiet.
After breakfast, Lightbulb, Test Tube and Marshmallow sat huddled in a sunny corner of the dorm.
"This one?" Marsh asked, holding up a white-laced bra.
Lightbulb replied, "Too big."
"Oh."
"This one?" Test Tube pulled up a small, plain white bra. It was underwhelming at best.
A groan escaped Lightbulb's lips as she rose to her feet, picking up a bundle of tissues and stuffing them down her shirt.
Fan had chosen the wrong moment to walk in with a bowl of cereal. He was originally going to question the tissues, but decided against it. The redhead blushed and turned to his bed, whipping out his phone to do god-knows.
"Hey... What's up..." Test Tube asked stiffly to Marshmallow, realising the two hadn't talked much at all since they arrived.
Marsh replied, "Oh, I'm alright. I was wondering where Tissues is though."
Test Tube scratched her head and shrugged. "Eheh...yeheh....I was wonder- um, wondering too."
At that moment, as if to save Test Tube from spilling the secret, two girls from the other team rolled into the dorm. "Rise and shine party people! We have a camp meeting RIGHT NOW!" Microphone yelled at the top of her lungs as if the dorm was a giant stadium.
Fan walked to the doorway, swiftly updating his blog with all the recent days' grim events. The other girl, Soap, sprayed him with disinfectant. "Gross!"
"What?" He was gobsmacked. "What'd I do?!"
She plucked his phone out of his hand with a gloved finger and batted her long eyelashes innocently. "Phones have more germs than your butt!"
Fan snatched the phone back with greater panic than he anticipated. "Don't!" He snapped.
'How could she do that?' Fan thought. 'Soap was so close to finding out the secret.'
Microphone leaned towards him suavely, her silvery hair reflecting the sunlight into his eyes. He squinted. "Got a little something something you don't want to share?" She teased, making a point to look at both Test Tube and Lightbulb.
Fan flushed and teetered uncomfortably. "Go away please?"
Mic flicked him between the eyes and ruffled his hair almost aggressively. "Chill out man! I'm joking. Grab your ladies and get to the elimination stage."
With a wink, Microphone was gone as fast and as loud as she had come in. Soap lingered, eyebrows raised at the bras strewn on the floor from earlier, before following suit.
"Why would she think we hacked into your phone?" Lightbulb asked, walking past Fan to leave. He blinked.
'Best not to question it.'
The whole camp huddled at the elimination stage. The last time they had been there was a few days ago - the morning after the Cherries' death.
Fan couldn't conceal a shudder. The stage was grand, with lush purple curtains and polished woodwork that reflected the sunlight in a rainbow of hues, but the general atmosphere was bittersweet. Lightbulb pressed to his side. She didn't say anything, but he knew she felt it too.
She suddenly spoke, " I hate to start a conspeepaci, but,"
'Conspiracy?'
"I think MePad is a robot."
"Really? Why?" At first Fan brushed this off as just being her overactive oddball way of thinking.
"He's tall...and hot...and he speaks like one. Dunno. Maybe he wears that mask to hide his-" Lightbulb hushed her voice. "-circuits."
Speaking of the devil, MePad himself strolled onto the stage. His posture was perfect, his eyes intensely bright and not a single hair out of place from his complicated hairdo. The camp councillor's movements were smooth, yet oddly calculated and somewhat inhuman.
Fan noticed this, earning an 'ooo' from both him and Lightbulb.
"Hush, please!" The crowd fell silent from his silky voice. "Thank you. Mr MePhone has paperwork to handle right now, so he's asked me and Toilet to inform you of the challenge! I assure you that it will be a fun one."
Knife, from Grand Slams, pumped a fist in the air and hooted.
Toilet tumbled onto the stage from behind the curtain holding a box of building bricks. "For 'da first challenge ya' gonna be building!"
Nickel had to stop himself from scoffing. "With baby blocks?"
MePad motioned to a clearing through the pine trees, where the sun's rays directly hit. It was going to be a hot challenge.
"As you can see," he explained. "That there's a crane. Somewhere in the forest are five giant building blocks, each requiring your entire team to lift. One member of your team will maneuver the crane whilst the others carry the blocks to them. Then, they will stack them with the others' directions."
Test Tube inwardly groaned, unexcited for the physical aspect. "Can't we just start with the blocks next to the crane? All that effort seems unprecedented."
MePad shrugged. "I'm sorry, Miss Test Tube. That's just how Mr MePhone would like it done."
Toilet hopped from the stage and ran off to the clearing, signalling for the contestants to follow him.
Fan found Test Tube amongst the crowd. They shaded the same look - this was going to be dangerous business.
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Woo slightly longer chapter! Hope y'all don't mind me throwing in my headcanons here and there.