"We'll need to scavenge again soon for food--"Another broken crackle from Sammy. "…yeah, yeah, I know you two will need to scavenge for food." Preston sighs"
Soooooooo, how does this dynamic work? I'm a little curious… Preston doesn't usually go out to look for food with them. Is it because he's smaller and more vulnerable to other toys? Is he Kia's permanent babysitter while the others go out for food? Or do they keep him from going for other reasons, like a dangerous incident with the Prototype?
Also, What is their (all the scavengers)relationship like with the doctor? Considering he was also an employee, I can't imagine the work environment…
I admit I'm a little obsessed with your fic; I read it recently on ao3. Your art is amazing, im absolutely in love with Sammy design
Oh, thank you so much!! ;w; That means a lot to hear!
Preston doesn't usually hunt because the Prototype is likely to try and steal him back, thus why Preston asks if it's possible for him to come along 'because the prototype is distracted'. Preston doesn't just babysit Kia, though, he also helps with navigating when they do have to be in or near the factory making crude maps like he and Jessica did in the ARG, and he basically acts as a medic if anyone gets hurt, since he's familiar with the biology of the toys and Sleepy can't do much with her big plastic paws.
Sammy greatly dislikes the Doctor, as does Sleepy. He's a major obstacle to their scavenging. Sammy didn't know the Doctor before Sleepy was going to blow the whistle, because he was a warehouse employee(relationship with Rich pending). Sleepy, though, actively worked with him and he considered her a 'promising partner' until she was found out after Quinn was taken. He was... exceptionally cruel to her after she was changed and he had Yarnaby conditioned to him and only him.
As for Preston, in my universe(since we don't know their canon relationship) the Doctor pre-Hour thought of Preston as weak, but didn't think much of him as long as he did his job. He was just another employee, at least up until he discovered Preston was the one who kicked off the Hour of Joy. And then when the Prototype changed him into what he is now. The Doctor pities him and his situation, definitely in a derogatory way. He had... 'assisted' the Prototype in the change, but also knew it was crude and unlikely to go well.
Reading about your OCs and all, I have a question. How quickly did Sammy and Sleepy Mane reunite with Preston after the Hour of Joy? I saw in a post that Sammy was upset with the prototype for what it did to Preston, so I guess he must have seen it to find out about his transformation. And then I suppose they spent some time separated from Preston when they took refuge in Safe Haven, or was it after leaving the shelter that they found Preston?
Also, nice drawings,very nice( this Is with translator,sorry if its weird)
Thank you!!! It's not weird at all, I appreciate it!
I'm thinking about drawing/writing some of this but the gist is;
Sammy and Sleepy Mane thought Preston had died in the Hour of Joy, until Chum captured Preston and later told them about taking him to the Prototype. Sammy approached the Prototype to ask about what happened to Preston and the Prototype was delighted to tell him about how he was going to keep Preston by his side... forever... and showed Sammy what he'd made Preston into. To which Sammy lashed out.
Because of this, the Prototype makes a show of 'showing mercy' and exiles them instead of killing them. They leave and join Safe Haven, while Sammy makes more and more risky trips out to try and save Preston, which leads to more and more tension between Safe Haven and the two former employees.
When Sammy is successful, finally, he and Sleepy get into an argument with Doey, because this is only going to make the Prototype MORE aggressive against the 'rebel toys', and they ultimately decide to leave.
The ground under their feet and over their head rumbles. The rapid patter of little rabbit feet bolting away from the fire. Sammy hisses a wordless protest, but the little mismatched toy peers into the darkness of the cavern, towards the sound.
"...That was Safe Haven... wasn't it?" Little shoulders slump.
It was too close to be anything else. If Doey and the others were lucky, it was further away... but it didn't sound like it.
"..." Preston dropped his little robot arm away from the rock wall. "...Fuck."
A little broken noise came from Sammy Snake's voice box.
"Sammy wants you to come back." Sleepy Mane translates.
Preston sighs. He wavers in place, then turns and walks back over. The small little Red Panda plush in between Sleepy Mane's front legs hasn't stirred, snoozing safe and sound. Unaware, for now, of what's happened.
"...We shoulda done something."
"Like what?" Sleepy Mane asks, her eyes slowly blinking. It's a genuine question, her mind slow and heavy from her conditioning.
And yet Preston struggles to give an answer, "I-I don't know. Sammy coulda helped Doey. We coulda attacked the Prototype when we saw it, maybe held him off..."
The giant green cat-snake-clown-thing lets out a sharp huff.
"Sammy's still weak..." Sleepy Mane's ears fold back, "...and Doey doesn't like us any more."
"Kevin doesn't like us. The other two... parts... of Doey don't mind us." Preston points out as he drops his plush butt back down by the fire, "...but you're right. I just wish there was something we could do to help that guy out."
Another loud thud. Distant rumbling. Fainter, though. Preston's antennae perk up. Sleepy Mane's head slowly tilts to the side, "Do you think... they'll go down?"
"To the labs? Probably... Maybe you can go talk to Giblet, give him a heads up? We'll need to scavenge again soon for food--"
Another broken crackle from Sammy.
"...yeah, yeah, I know you two will need to scavenge for food." Preston sighs, "Though... with the Prototype distracted and Sawyer gone, maybe it wouldn't be so dangerous for me to help out again?"
"...I don't knooow..." Sleepy Mane slurs out, head listing to one side, "Kia does get... scared, going into small spaces alone..."
Preston's eyes fall to the little toy cradled in her paws. She had been a child... but she chose to stay with them, after everything Sleepy Mane had done for her in the prison.
"Well, then... yeah! I can help. Go with her into vents. I shouldn't need to lay so low any more."
Sammy huffs, but shifts to get up, holding one massive paw out to Preston. Sammy crackles something out.
"...scout... first..." Are the words Preston catches and the little Franken-toy scrambles up and climbs onto his paw.
Sleepy Mane smiles at them, her large tail swishing, "Be safe... you two."
Sammy Snake was a rejected member of the Nightmare Critters, he was replaced by Simon Smoke. Sleepy Mane was an attempt at making a sleepytime plushie again completely separate from CatNap after the recalls, and she has a music box in her instead of a mister. Sleepy Mane ended up becoming semi-popular, but the damage was done after the Catnap debacle.
The bigger bodies are both from employees who attempted to blow the whistle.
Sleepy Mane was a scientist woman named [REDACTED] who had been intending to adopt Quinn Navidson when he was abruptly taken to become Yarnaby. While she had initially been numb to what she was doing, Quinn being taken was her last straw. But unfortunately, she was found out. She was greatly resistant to the conditioning until Harley got the bright idea for her to 'meet' Yarnaby. Who proceeded to nearly maul her to death. This broke her down and she finally fell under the conditioning, now she just kind of wanders around the caves, swaying sleepily. Her paws, nose, and 'teeth' are made of soft plastic and she struggles to eat without Sammy's help.
Sammy Snake was a warehouse worker under Rich who'd gotten sweet on Sleepy when she was still human. In a tearful fit after Quinn was taken away, she told him what was happening and he agreed to help her. He was discovered last minute, and was forced to keep working under the threat of her death. He was put to work in the Shelf and there ended up part of the group that was supposed to help with the Hour of Joy, becoming friends with Preston, though he was put under the knife when he lashed out way ahead of schedule. He refused to snitch and the Hour of Joy happened halfway through his conditioning. He's actively against the Prototype after Preston is changed and they came to blows after the Hour of Joy. He managed to escape with Sleepy Mane.
They stayed in Safe Haven for a time, Sammy a big help in keeping the Prototype at bay, but the tension between most of the child toys and the two former employees was too much, and they left to wander the cave systems alone.
CW: selfharm, canon character death, mourning, gore
Metal heaves and groans. The ground quakes under the stomp of sharp, pointed feet. Ragged sounding breathing comes through a broken speaker.
"...Theodore..."
His voice is small, his many arms cradling the body to his bulk. Using his old voice, the one he spoke to that small scared child on his bed all those years ago. Not the many, varied voices he danced between.
"I'm so sorry, Theodore..."
An Outimal scrambled out of his way as he slammed his bulk into the double doors. Delicately, he lays the large purple body on the table. Almost... reverently.
A god mourning his devout.
He turns. His bulk clips a table and he flinches violently at the sound of the metal clattering to the floor. Unbidden, he snarls and lashes out at it, claws gouging deep trenches into the floor and the table flying across the room. His bulk hits the operating table as he does and--
He scrambles. A crash. Theodore's body barely kept from touching the unworthy ground. Metal limbs sprawled, slammed into every available surface to catch himself. He stays there for a moment. Trembling. Metal heaves and groans.
Slowly, carefully, he steps back, uses a hand to right the operating table. Slowly setting the body down again, backing away and being hyper aware of his body.
The limp form of pugapillar on his back end bumps the door and...
something within him explodes.
He screeches and twists, lashing out. Ripping body after body off of himself. Screaming in broken, unholy fragments of the voices of the dead and unforgivable as his own gore makes the floor slick.
Mommy's head is crushed under a claw, pugapillar's pelt falls shredded into a pile on a countertop.
Somewhere an Outimal cowers deeper into its hiding place, whimpering, at the screaming and tearing sounds.
And then... silence.
Deafening.
Endless.
Not even heavy false breathing from a glitching voicebox.
Gel drips in slow, thick drops to the ground. A single gold eye stares at itself in the reflection made by the gore.
Slowly. Hesitantly. Finally.
He speaks to the only thing not covered in gore. His voicebox is shot from screeching. The syllables come through in grinding static and feedback squeals.
"I... told you... to let them... through."
He's hardly anything but metal and poppy flavored gore now. A thinner body, nothing like the shrine, now. Smaller, more fragile, rid of all that made him More than his...
He doesn't dare think the word 'friend'.
"That I would... deal with them..."
Much lighter steps, now, almost hesitantly approach the table.
Approach Theodore.
"Why... you... you were supposed to be... Once I figured it out..."
He's gone now.
He's alone now.
No, he's been alone far longer than this. How long has it been since he and Theodore still acted the way they did when he was still his 'imaginary' friend?
Metal digits click. Delicately, more delicate than he's been in years, he snips the seams of CatNap's fur. Peels it away from poppy gel that no longer has a mind to obey. It rebels. Tries to hold on to the fur, pull it back into place.
He slowly cuts into the coagulated gel. Slowly peels out the... the parts of Th--... CatNap... that he can use. The smoke canisters, the nozzles from his mouth.
He can feel the stale, stagnant air of the labs across his back. He pauses for a moment. Then takes the pelt and drapes it across his back. Lets it fall across his back half.
In a few hours, he will affix it properly. Add the smoke canisters to himself. He will replace the jester clothing that he'd shredded in his fit of rage. But he will not return to the bulk and the size.
The lighter body suits him better, anyways, to follow the employee around, it had gotten troublesome to be so bulky. At least, he tells himself that.
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