It had been a few days since Doctor Walters transferred to his new workplace: A highly-classified research outpost that linked weapons otherwise too dangerous to handle with armor countering it. He had mixed feelings on leaving the CAPT Project. Yet he was excited to work on a project with tangible results.
His new coworkers seemed far more responsible and, frankly, more cordial than the ones he left behind. But getting to know them would have to wait. He wanted to maximize his time with Freddy before they went from seeing each other daily to only having a few chances to visit him a year. (If that.) And Glorn knew how good he was at socializing without him around.
When Freddy suggested taking a walk to explore the planet Teddy happily accepted. Even if Cathy wasn’t coming along because she wasn’t interested in “a bunch of boring rocks.” Even if they didn’t know how far the security cameras reached.
Once they were out of earshot Freddy rubbed the back of his head as he said, “Y’know, you and Cathy care about each other more than either of you would like to admit.”
Teddy stared at Freddy in stunned shock. After a moment he scoffed and said, “Where’d this come from?”
Freddy chose to ignore his brother's tone. “She kept asking about you.”
Teddy rolled his eye. “Why? Because she wanted to make sure she didn’t have to see me again?”
“Teddy..,” Freddy growled as he clenched his fists before throwing his hands up in frustration. “Grop! No! Because your life is a-!” He stopped himself by pressing his hand against his face.
Teddy’s eye fully widened when Freddy yelled. Then his shoulders sunk and he averted his eye as he meekly waited for Freddy to continue.
Freddy took a long, deep breath to settle himself. “Because you just keep…” His hands flailed as he struggled to find the words. There was no polite way to convey how worrisome Teddy’s life had become.
After a bit he asked, “...Hey, remember when you said she was like the sister you never had?”
Teddy awkwardly rubbed his arm. “...You know I didn’t mean it in a nice way…”
“Still… do you think she would’ve offered to guard you if she didn’t care about you?”
“I mean… she wants to be with you so..?”
“Okay, so, I was trying to ease you into it but…” Freddy stopped and rubbed his head. “I gotta go back to vent maintenance. Nobody else will go in.”
Teddy nodded. He knew that. Was he implying what he thought he was?
“Cathy’s working on getting a security job here.”
“Wait, really!? Even if-”
Freddy warmly smiled. “Even if we’ll be apart.”
Teddy had trouble wrapping his head around it. They had become just as inseparable as Teddy was to Freddy. She was willing to stay behind? For him? And how did Freddy feel about parting with both of them at once?
Somehow, the prospect of being stuck with her wasn’t as bad as he thought. It actually made him feel safer. He averted his eye as he hesitantly said, “I suppose it won’t be too bad.”
Freddy leaned over to get a better look at his brother’s expression and smirked. It was funny how they were honest about their feelings with anyone but each other. (When it wasn't aggravating.)
“Just try to get along, huh?” Freddy started to walk again.
Teddy trailed behind Freddy. “I’ll try…”
“Good!” So…” He pointed at a rock located near the edge of what they could see over the heavily-curved horizon. “Wanna race to that rock?”
“You’re on!”
They counted down together before dashing towards it. Neither of them realized that they had gone beyond the furthest security camera's range.
(Previous)
When Cathy asked about Larry, Norman turned on his phone to check if Larry responded.
"No response," He sighed. "I'll still check to see if he at least read my mess--"
Right before Norman could finish sentence, the door slid open from behind to reveal a badly shaken up Larry.
Norman, taken aback by his sudden appearance, turned over to Cathy and quietly remarked:
"Huh. Now would ya look at that.." Before he began walking towards him.
"Hey Larry! Great timing." Norman warmly smiled as he pulled him into a big hug. Larry, however, just stood there... Not returning his partners embrace until he noticed Cathy standing right in front of him.
In that moment, the reality of the situation he was now dealing with hit him like a truck and he couldn't help but burst into tears almost immediately as he clutched onto Norman without saying a single word.
Norman half-expected this to happen, but since he already knew how close Larry and Freddy were, it still ultimately made his heart ache for the guy as he soaked his uniform with his tears.
"Shhh..It's okay," Norman murmured. "I'm right here."
Cathy nervously smiled when she saw Larry enter. Then she awkwardly shifted at the sound of his crying. She wasn’t good at comforting.
Fortunately Norman was there for him. She gave the pair a relieved smile before rushing to her own partner, slowing herself only to avoid spilling his soup.
Meanwhile Freddy was struggling to keep his mind off of both the pain and leftover fear from the ordeal. There wasn’t a better way to pass the time than getting to know his cotmates, even if his social energy was somewhat drained. So when Cathy dashed in he was in the middle of hearing about how the girl to his left broke her leg in a “totally kickass” explosion.
“I’m back!” Cathy cheerfully said as she shimmied her way between the cots. Then she handed his soup and spoon over while asking, “Still hungry?”
“Sorry, my wife’s here.” Freddy gave his temporary neighbor an apologetic wave. “I’ll hear the rest later!”
Cathy cut in with, “I wanna hear it too!” Then she looked back at the door. “Oh yeah, Norman and Larry came too.”
When Freddy spotted them he gave them an exaggerated smile and energetic wave to show that he was okay, despite not feeling the best. “Hey guys!”
(prev)
Freddy took a step back and let go as he recoiled in pain. Then he one-upped Sam by pulling a better weapon out of his own pocket.
In one fluid motion Freddy shot Sam point blank with his blaster. He smiled at the sight of a successful direct hit. That should be enough to kill anyone!
Yet in the heat of the moment he had forgotten that he put his blaster on stun when he heard Captain Tim skittering in a neighboring vent. And he was in too much of a rush to get that deep stab in his back treated to properly confirm the kill. All he did was give them a good kick in the head to check for a reaction.
With that Freddy called Teddy to tell him to meet him at the most convenient exit (preferably with a wheelchair, if he had the time.) This route stayed on the same level with a minimum amount of sheer drops and a low exit.
He would have liked to call a friend because Teddy was already skittish enough without seeing his brother bathed in blood. Who knows how he’d react.
But, well, Teddy was the only one he knew who got first aid training despite all the times they really, really needed a makeshift medic after he was dishonorably discharged. Freddy knew that his wounds were severe enough to need every advantage he could get to survive.
And so Freddy pushed through the pain to make it to their meeting point. The last thing he thought as he gave his brother a relieved smile was how, in hindsight, a rolling cart was a better substitute for a stretcher than a wheelchair.
Sam’s eye widened like a deer in headlights at the sight of the blaster. The only thing going through their mind was a plea to Glorn, begging for them to survive the hit. Once shot, he fell to the metal floor with a resounding thud.
But sure enough, roughly an hour after Freddy escaped, consciousness gradually returned to Sam. And with it came an aching pain all throughout his body, the worst of it in his head. She groaned as she slowly sat up and rubbed her head, wincing when his hand ran over a particularly sore area where Freddy kicked him.
“That stupid fucking asshole..,” they weakly snickered, “...forgot to turn his blaster off of stun…”
Sam then bowed forward and clasped their hands together. “Glorn, you’ve done it again. I’m eternally in your debt.” Afterwards, he carefully rose to his feet and looked around the small room. “Seems he escaped, but with any luck maybe he still bled out and died somewhere… Anyway I’m taking his stuff,” she discussed with herself.
Sam promptly tore the case off of Freddy's pillow so they could use it as a looting bag. But as the case slipped off, something spilled out from it. Sam kneeled down to find it was the cheesiest set of family photos he ever laid eyes on, featuring what looked like a young Theodore, Freddy, and possibly another sibling. In them they were either fighting, wearing goofy outfits, or both. Sam had to show Amy these, so they stuffed them back in the case.
Another treasure Sam swiped was a collection of small bottles containing various, worthless currencies. Maybe she could gain more favor with Reverend Mike if she turned them over to him. He liked lame shit like that, right?
Sam also took some sketchbooks, other art supplies, and even a laptop, though it looked pretty junky. They admittedly admired Freddy's taste in corny, oversized T-shirts, so she stuffed them in the bag and put on the ones that wouldn't fit in there. There were more photographs fastened to the wall, but they weren’t funny enough to steal, so Sam took a marker and defaced them with crass doodles and writing.
Finally, they checked the time and realized they ought to skedaddle if he wanted to rest up a bit before work. She took one last satisfied look around the ransacked room, hefted the pillowcase over her shoulder, and creeped back out into the vents. Whether Freddy survived or not, Sam considered the operation a success.
Why do glorn and grop basically have the same name? Are they siblings? Or did they split from some other god like glop or something?
Where do gods come from? Do gods have parents? If glorn is all powerful then why does grop still exist? Or does glorn need to consume grop to become all powerful?
Would that be god cannibalism? Or like some symbolic thing? Do gods get strong in the first place by eating other gods like that one game where you're a little dot and become a mega dot by devouring everything in sight?
Why, if you're so eager to learn, you should join us for Slornday mass!~
(freddythewatchdog) So what's your job like? You deal with rocks or something, right?
@freddythewatchdog
I deal with mapping the mineral resources for the hater empire and keeping the planetary matrix up to date with the fine instruments in the room with me
(prev)
Freddy awoke with a loud scream to sharp pain in his back. He instinctively reacted by attempting to roll out of the way before reeling back and headbutting his attacker. Then he shoved his blankets aside and grabbed at Sam’s hands to wrestle the knife away.
“WHAT THE HELL!?”
Unlike Teddy, Freddy readily showed his terror, his hatred, his rage, all with a hint of confusion mixed in. This was the bastard that beat his brother down until he was a shell of the man he used to be, wasn’t he!?
He didn’t know why she went for him instead. But he knew, with every fiber of his being, that they needed to die. Right here. Right now.
Damn, Sam severely underestimated Freddy’s reaction time. They got another little stab in as he tried to roll away, but that put them perfectly in line to receive the full brunt of the headbutt. Sam stumbled back, which consequently allowed Freddy to grab a hold of her switchblade-wielding hand. He tossed it to the ground in favor of not letting Freddy take possession of it.
Not to worry. In one quick swoop, Sam dove his free hand into his pocket and whipped out a trusty, secret, smaller pocket knife. They slashed at Freddy’s arms to get him to release them.
