[chapter four] shelly's epilogue [virtual world dw au]

Instructions

[Chapter Four - Dyle] “Cocoa, was it?” I extend my hand out for a handshake; it’s only proper to act benevolent when there’s a giant beast behind you that eats toons like her and me for breakfast. She barely accepted the gesture, her jittery hand clasping mine in a weak handshake. “I- Um… D-Dyle…?” she muttered as she stood back up. I nodded. “Mhm, correct. Seems I’m not too unknown to you holiday toons.” “I mean… I think I saw you once, talking to… um…” she started, before trailing off. “Bassie?” I said, finishing the sentence for her. After a stilted moment of silence, she gave a nervous chuckle. “...So, um, i-is he… nice?” she stammered, changing the subject as she gestured toward Pebble. “As long as I tell him to be nice, then… yes.” I say reassuringly as I pat the twisted’s body. He gives an aggravated huff in response, which doesn’t help calm down Cocoa. “Anyhow,” I say as I straighten my tie, attempting to continue the conversation. “What business do you have on this floor? There’s nothing for you here.” “I thought this was the floor where Vee and her friends were.” Vee? Why did she need to see Vee? Hmmm… I need to see her myself too, though… “Ah. Misclick of an elevator button then, I suppose?” I ask, trying to bait information out of her. “I guess. Except I don’t really remember the floor…” Oh. “Hm. That’s a bit of predicament, now, isn’t it?” “Uhh… Sure, ‘predicament’...” she echoed, probably not knowing what the word even meant. “It means a problem you’ve encountered.” I say with a sigh, trying to stay patient. She was made to talk with and entertain children, so I highly doubt she would understand half the words I say. But if I dumb down my speech too much, she might think I’m being condescending. Ugh. Seems like I’m in a predicament of my own. “Ah. I- I mean, I knew that, I just…” she vaguely gestured toward Pebble, whose attention was caught by something in the distance. Were Arthur and the other humans coming back? All I need to do is just get what I need out of her and then get her to leave before any of the humans see her. Because then they’re going to start asking about the other toons, and “Oh, is my poor baby main character toon alright?” and “If you’re alive, they must all be alive!” and they’ll have hope again. I want to keep their hope levels as low as possible so they can stay in my leverage. Their praise and gratitude make me feel like I’m actually worth something. Worth more than any toon. Any human. “Cocoa, listen…” I hissed, dropping my voice to a menacing level. The time for benevolence is over, since she decided to dilly-dally. “This conversation has been fun and all, but I find it’s been rather redundant. Do you know where the virtual world toons are or not?” Her pupils dilated and she took a shaky step backwards. “I- I don’t know- I-” “Answer me. You must have a general idea of where they could be, right?” Cocoa stepped back further, crashing into a table. She seemed too scared right now for what I was doing. All I did was lower my voice a little. Pebble wasn’t even nearby anymore. He was sniffing something in the distance. She couldn’t possibly know what I was up to, could she? “Say, where are your other little Easter friends anyway?” I realize. She’s not one to be alone, especially with twisteds such as Pebble roaming about. “They- um-” her breath hitched before she tried to scoot further from me instead of getting up. “I’m not going to tell you! Y-You’re just... going to… do what Bobette did…” Her voice faltered on the last words. “Bobette?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Do tell.” “Is that it? You’re just acting nice to me because you want something out of me?!” she exclaimed with a sob. “Why is everyone like this now?! I lost Bassie because of someone like- like you!” “What? Did you think that everyone had good intentions?” “Well, I DID! I- I tried to think that, but-” She couldn’t speak anymore because her whole body was racked with sobs. ‘Gee, okay… All I did was ask what Bobette did…’ With a sigh, I walk over to her and offer my hand to help her up. She gives me a disgusted look but grabs on anyway. Not even a second after I helped her up, she backed away from me hastily. “Listen, I’ll let you off the hook if you tell me where you think they are.” She wiped away some tears, and, with a sniffle, she nodded. “S-Somewhere around…” She paused for a moment, like she was thinking hard about it. “Floor 14, I think.” I give her a pleasant smile. “See how easy that was? You didn’t need to break down over nothing. Off you go, now.” With one last distasteful look, she walked off to the elevator. I waited until I heard the door close to let out an exasperated sigh. That was a handful. I’m glad she didn’t alert the toon handlers at least… “Come along, Pebble,” I called out to the twisted. “It’s time to go to floor 14.”