Almost Home

I woke up earlier than usual. I had to be there early, per Foster's request. I had to be a little quieter, with Teressa sleeping in the guest room. She was overjoyed to meet the kids already here. They slept in her bed they were so excited.

Driving was difficult. I could feel myself lose focus from the horrible anxiousness clouding my thoughts.

Foster wasn't here. The small parking lot was empty, besides my car. Good. I rushed into the lab, a big fabric bag in hand.

"...Hello?" I called out into the empty lab. The lights were off. I was just making sure. I ran to the lab and inspected the area. They're all here. It was a sad sight. Most of them were near their friends. I began gently scoping them into the bag. With all of them in the bag, I noticed a note on the table.

I already have the effectives, don't be confused when you notice they're not in the rooms. I left the needles on this table, the solutions already in it. Once your down you can throw them out in the dumpster across the street, make sure you make them unrecognizable.-Foster

I scoffed to myself. What a causal letter about killing them. I'll need to find a way to get the effectives too. I stuffed the letter in my lab coat pocket. I must've put on the coat out of habit. Kids in bag, I walked out of the lab, needles in hand. I stuffed the three needles in the dirt outside and injected the liquid into it. Empty needles. I'll throw them away at home, something usually frowned upon. But I don't think this is the situation for the normal needle disposing protocol.

The drive home was dead silent, my brain filled with fear of Foster figuring me out. They wouldn't check dumpsters. No way. The bag was buckled up in the back seat. I heard a scream and jumped.

"How am I- did it not- ARE THEY DEAD?!" Snowball yelled out anxiously, I could recognize his voice.

"Morning Snowball! I'm sorry you thought you were dying, don't worry they're all asleep!" He breathed heavily.

"So we aren't going to- where are we?!" He, of course, was not used to a new environment. I stuck my hand behind my seat towards him.

"Here climb up." He warily climbed into my hand. I held him up to the window next to me, the environment outside fast-moving. He stared in awe.

"What is all this? It's all blurry."

"Well, we're moving fast, so it makes it look blurry. This is what's outside the lab. Where humans live. Once we get to my house you'll see it better." Snowball kept his eyes focused on the world outside the car.

"It's...nice." We both heard a muffled moving sound. It was hard to make out a voice.

"Okay, I'll put you back in the bag, can you help them out?" Snowball nodded and I twisted my arm around to put him in the bag. I listened to the small rummaging until I could finally hear a voice.

"What's going on?" 8-Ball asked in his calm voice. I guess I'd be explaining this a lot.

I was finally home, everyone up to Cake was awake, leaving 25 still asleep in the bag.

"Oh and quick warning before we go in there's another person. They're nice but I'm just warning." I told them before finally walking inside.

"Teressa I'm home!" I yelled out. They rushed out of the kitchen and jumped into my arms, hugging me.

"Welcome home! Where are they?!" She asked excitedly.

"I'm this bag now stop crushing me!" They laughed and broke the hug.

"Oh lemme see em!" She reached for the bag, which I pulled away.

"Careful! A lot of them are still sleeping and the ones that are awake will be nervous! We need to be careful." They nodded quietly. We both decided to sit on the floor in my living room. I opened the bag carefully and one by one let out the conscious object. They looked around in a mix of awe and confusion.

"It's very warm." Snowball said, looking directly into the yellow light of my ceiling.

"Oh, aren't you cute!" They all jumped at her presence.

"Whos that!?" Cake yelled.

"This is Teressa, my friend. She's staying with me to help you guys get used to the real world." They stared at her.

"She's red!" Basketball yelled happily.

"Like me!" Block added. Nice, they aren't too scared.

"...Red? You mean my hair and my shirt?" She asked them.

"Yeah! You're red." Snowball said. Teressa giggled.

"They're so cute Shawn!" They cooed, poking a finger at Snowball, who stepped away from her nervously. I laughed, facing the hall.

"KIDS! Can you come out here?!" I yelled, trying to listen for them. They all rushed out.

"What's wrong- oh wow! Who are these people!?" Red asked excitedly.

"They're small like us!" Pencil Sharpener added. The majority stared at them.

"Who are those people?" Block asked, pointing at them with suspicion.

"Oh! These are the other kids. I saved them earlier on when they were babies!" I could feel the instant betrayal and anger.

"Of course! It was a random opportunity! I didn't choose to only save them! Promise." I assured them.

"Okay. While I tend to the sleepy ones, can you show these guys around the house and show them how to do things?" I asked as I kneeled in front of the kids.

"Can do Papa!" Teal saluted and motioned the defectives to follow her. They all, with hesitation, followed behind her. I sighed.

"So who's next?" Teressa was setting out all the sleeping ones as she asked.

"Um... Clock if I recall correctly. That poor boy..lucky he's out of there."

"Did something happen to him specifically? I'm sure it's good everyone's out." I froze. Everyone. This wasn't everyone. I already knew that but the mention of it out loud made my chest tighten. Where were they? They were okay, right? They had to be, Foster thought they were good.

"He wasn't treated, he was isolated till he was fully grown. So he couldn't learn to walk or talk properly. I feel horrible." Teressa stopped to pat my arm.

"Well, he's safe now so-" just as they spoke he jolted awake.

"W-Where? Have I died?" He stood up shakily and looked around. I slowly lifted him up.

"It's okay! You're alive Clock!" I said calmly. His eyes darted around.

"W-What about Cake? And Egg? Are they-"

"They're okay." He sighed with relief and continued looking around. I guess I still have a lot to explain.

This day has been too long. I've had to explain to over a dozen little objects about what was going on. I would've explained it to them all at once, but everyone who woke up was very panicked. But everyone eventually got a tour of the house and now quite a few of them were playing with legos with the first kids. It was nice to see them more calmed down.

"See this is the big hiding room!" Teal said, showing off the big lego house I helped her build. The others are in awe by every little thing. Spoons, cups, windows, anything really. I, sitting on the couch behind them, felt Teressa lean towards me.

"Do they know what music is?" They asked quietly.

"Definitely not!" I whispered back. She giggled.

"Play some! Some quiet calm stuff." She asked eagerly. I stood and began looking for music on my phone. I found some calm jazz music and began playing it on my speaker. The second the music started everyone but the first kids shot up to find the source.

"What is that?" Grass asked, staring at the speaker.

"It's music, it's a type of sound people put together for entertainment. There are many types." It was the simplest explanation but I don't think they'd understand anything else. They all were trained on the speaker as I walked into the kitchen to make them all dinner. Surely they'd be confused by new food, but also I assume they'll like it. It is pizza of course.

-

Basketball thought it sounded amazing. Something about music made her happy.

"It's so weird," Block said sitting next to her, Grass on his head.

"I like it." She said quietly.

"Well I never said it was bad, it's just weird. We've never heard of any of this stuff. I feel like we never got to do anything." He was right. She felt that too. This stuff was all so amazing but she felt like it's so late to be learning all this. Like she had been cheated out of the normal life she wanted. But at least she had it at all. She could only hope of the wonders the effectives got. She hoped they were okay.

Omg ignore how long this took

I was struggling tbh 🙄✋

Anyways haha hope they're all okay haha heheh haha 😻

:•)