The girls' multi-colored friends joined the confused fray, some holding their heads,wracking the order of events which led them here.“What have you done to us!? Are you with the scientists?!” She asked, jumping out of her pod. Still taken aback by her pale complexion Avery was at a loss for words, he stammered. “N-no! I’m not! I’m just like the rest of you guys!” He affirmed, though still clearly flustered by the contrast between himself, and the polarizing look of each kid. A green boy around Rey’s age, who was incredibly tall and slender, let out a drawn out sigh as his feet met the floor. “I can’t even say where we are.There's like… zero nature energy stuff here, plus we’re high up somewhere so like… That’s a thing.” He said nonchalantly while rubbing his eyes and yawning. The red girl with the buzz cut awkwardly climbed out of her pod, although her lack of balance caused her to immediately fall to the floor, she moaned. “Even standing is too much! What is this warm feeling under my skin!?” Her attention, in contrast to her green counterpart, totally hinged on Avery, as if pleading for help. She grunted, hissing at the unfamiliar environment. “You guys okay!? I know I’m not the only one feeling naked, right? Right?! And I swear we weren’t like this before the mission-The last thing I heard was that we were landing- Somebody started screaming, oh praise the Phoenix we made it out of there-Then some jerkwad shot us down from your big towers!” Her chest bounced rapidly from all of her word vomit. “We’re all standing here just fine. Please, calm down…” Her breathing slowed, the tiny hairs rising on her head fell. “Someone must have skewed my perception of self… Everything is going to be fine, I promise, this isn’t permanent.”The pale girl answered a little less strictly, her tone easing to comfort her friend, though her gaze stayed fixed on Avery’s body, anticipating any sudden movements.
“Wheres the weird one with the short attention span…? I could have sworn she’d be yelling or something.”
As the green boy's curiosity continued to be tested he searched around the room, his wandering gaze pausing by the ceiling. “There she is. Little gremlin.” A short orange girl with large eyes, a small nose and mouth, with her long rubbery limbs laid upon the ceiling, seemingly glued. In between her teeth sat a shiny orange ball. He walked to her, using his even longer arms to catch her from the high ceiling. She chuckled as the green boy grabbed her, fighting against him, playfully kicking and screaming as if the whole thing were one game.“Not the stinky one! Why couldn’t you find me boss!?” She said, her tone yielding to a more somber tone at the pale girl's indifference.“Enough games. Don’t you all see we have a bigger problem?” She pointed to Avery, her already black eyes somehow darkening to an even more empty color. “That one. We must deal with him before he tells the others we’ve arrived…”Each of them stood guard. The air flexed as an aura consumed their body, Avery gulped, still finding the right words so he didn’t sound crazy. But it’s not like they sound any more sane… He thought, recalling the mention of a mission. The snow white girl's eyes still unsettled him, tempting him to speak regardless of doubts. “What was that?” the girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
“W-what? Did I say that out loud? Nothing, it’s nothing!” He quickly reassured, desperate to make a decent impression. “ It’s like I said! I’m just as lost as you guys. Some scientists just left the room- They’re preparin’ us for some experiment! Hey! Speakin’ were you guys kidnapped too!? We could prolly sue ‘em if one of your parents didn’t consent!” Each of them exchanged a confused look, specifically towards their stoic leader, still staring Avery down. “...He’s telling the truth.” “How the tables turned…” The green boy said, already laying on the floor, yawning.“If that’s the truth then we’re in some trouble… They already got us, but we’re super duper strong! Should I start chipping away at them, Boss?”She shook her head. “No… no… Let’s all just…. Explain ourselves.”Her expression softened greatly into a misplaced smile, though it was enough for Avery to ease from the wall, glad someone could act even a little friendly.“We’re all siblings who were…… on a mission to get some food from the store. But someone abducted us from off the street…” She said, confusion in her own words coming through in her voice, stirring Avery’s suspicions, yet still appealing to his concern. “Yeah! Yeah! It was terrible, real terrible!” The orange girl said with a big smile on her face, she rocked back and forth, the spurses of energy within her being enough to make Avery dizzy. “It was some lady- Yeah! Now I remember! That lady!”The orange girl responded chiperly.“Sorry to hear that…. I-is that why your skin is all wei- I mean…Colorul?! From livin’ off the street bein’ experimented on?” They each looked at each other then begrudgingly shook their heads.“Dang, that sucks, I’m sorry…” He said, his voice turning tender as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“But hey! If that really did happen and your parents didn’t consent, maybe you-we could get-!” Before the hope could pervade his tired expression, she cut him off. “We…” She thought, her body stiff.“Have no parents… They abducted us because we are… orphans…”“O-oh…” He held his arm, holding back his disappointment poorly.“...What is your name?” She asked, clearly sensing his fading patience. At the mention of a name, each of her siblings' mixed demeanors all turned into one of ease at the prospect of a name, as if they could regain some sense of authority from the simple question. Avery held his arm confused at why anyone even cared about his name at this point. What was he other than someone to use for experimentation? Though deep down, he felt relieved. He stared into the pal girls now gray eyes with a resigned look, grateful someone still cared, even for something so trivial.
“Avery… Avery Jones… And you guys?”
She paused, her white eyes reflecting his chestnut eyes. All of her comrades watched in baited breath over her delayed reaction, mostly confused. “Avery…? That’s…weird.” A bit flustered, he snapped,”It’s a totally normal name, call me by it… It’s the only sorta I ask for… What are your names?” He asked, genuinely curious. But something about that curiosity made the girl's snow white hair sway slightly, her hands to her side clenched. “My name is…” She paused for a few moments, her mind “Listen, "Avery "!” The red girl spoke up, her tone defensive. “We’re not like you- we don’t-“
“My name's Avery too… It just so happens. I was shocked we had the same name… He’s Harris, the orange girl is Felix and the red Connie.” Slack jawed and her entire face contorting into a mess of confusion and a loss of words, the “Felix” cackled maniacally, as if at her own name whereas “Harris” rolled his eyes at his. “Your name is really Avery too? Not a lot of people have my name… That’ll be confusin’. But uh, it’s nice to meet you guys… We need to escape though. I’ve been trapped here for too long.” Briefly Connie shot a confused look at “Avery”, to which she tapped on the temple of her head, then subtly pointed to the other Avery. A mix of emotions brewing within her from an outright confusion mixed with doubt, she exclaimed,
”Yeah? Well how do you think we feel!? If we could leave we’d be out of here by now!” “Unfortunatly our abilities…. Er… “strength” has been sapped totally and completely.” He pointed to the yellow light as if it offered proof of their powerlessness, though Ave simply refused to believe it. “You don’t get it! They kept me wrapped up in some- cacoon for weeks, feedin’ me some juice! Then they started clappin’ like maniacs when I finally got out! So if you can help us outta here, please, help!” Felix rubbed her tummy with her tongue sticking out.“Oh. So they did that to you too??? Mmm, good times… Or time. Stingy scientists only gave it to me once!” “Yeah me too…W-wait, that was real!? I thought it was a dream!” “Yeah me too…,” Avery said, agreeing with Connie. Each of them, excluding Felix and Avery, frowned recalling their own experiences.
“It felt like years. The suffocating closed in space- that noise- the heat. But… That part about the orange juice I don’t- wait… Y-you don’t think…?” Connie held her chest in an attempt to hold back the memories, gasping for air as she realized her circumstance wasn’t too different currently.“Connie, calm down. It’s just some silly ploy to push us into a reaction for their silly Energy Experiment.. We’re fine here, nothing like that will happen.” She came closer, hugging her trembling small figure. Avery latched onto the other Avery’s words, jumping on them immediately. “Energy Experiment!? This is about wings?! D-do you know what they’re tryin’ to get us to do??” Avery ignored him, holding onto Connie who was just beginning to calm down. Although everyone else around him had heard the desperation for some understanding, he was ignored. This only exacerbated Avery’s worry, as if everyone else had suddenly decided to play coy. “Please- listen! I gotta know…!” “Come on dude! Read the room! Not now!” Felix hissed at him, gritting her teeth. “What?! Is it so wrong of me to wanna know! You all seem to know! What are you- are you guys with them, huh?!” Avery lifted herself from the precarious Connie, before turning her hesitant eyes to him.
“We know, because where we come from this sort of thing is common… All of this- it’s… like… a forced growth spurt.” Felix laughed, her attention switching to the monitors. “That’s one way of putting it! You’re so sly! It’s wayyyy worse than that!” She began pressing each individual button of the keyboard, only for each of the five computers which stood on desks beside every pod to suddenly erupt a hail of static from each monitor. “Great. What did you do now?” Harris asked, lifting himself from the tiled floor, the dust and dirt sticking to his clothes though not at all bothering him. “Nothing! I’m responsible for nothing that goes wrong! Which it won’t.” Each of the five gathered around the monitor Felix was by, a few moments had passed with silence, until emerging from the static, a disembodied voice erupted from the speaker, pulling Avery closer to the monitor, his curiosity and sense of foreboding piqued.
“ A l l o f y o u s h o u l d e a t. T h e. n o u r i s h m e n t s h a l l c o m p e l y o u “
The voice itself was quiet and soft, not intimidating in a conventional sense, though the robotic cadence of its voice and the seemingly laborious effort put into each word's annunciation. It at first struck a mix of pity and fear for the person on the other line. Though after processing its words, Avery merely tilted his head with confusion. “The nourishment shall compel me…?”
Goosebumps flared on his forearms quickly as the bitter taste of oranges from the handful of weeks filled his mind. He cringed, looking to the others for the same reaction, deep down hoping he wasn’t alone in that regard. “Nourishment?” They each muttered to themselves, some scratching their heads. Without leaving any room for discussion, one of the ceiling walls let out an abrupt scraping noise, the walls slowly closing in around them.
As their backs pressed against one another, at first unable to comprehend what was happening, the voice spoke once more, its tone swaying eccentrically between a soft spoken urgent tone.
“ T o e s c a p e s u b m i t y o u r s e l f a n d e a t.
T o p r o g r e s s, t a k e y o u r
f i r s t l e a p t o w a r d s f l i g h t.”
“So Vague! I love it!” Felix shouted while laughing at the uncertain situation. “This isn’t the time for games! What does it mean to eat? Our first step towards flight?!” Connie bit her nails, every wrinkle in her brain pulsating at the seemingly unsolvable situation. Pale Avery kept quiet, observing the room, whereas Avery himself was internally panicking. Impulsively, he leapt from the backs of everyone else, searching through each of their pods. “What are you up to now…?” Harris asked laxly, as if his life held no stake. “Lookin’ around, what do you think!?” His panic seeped through, as he discovered nothing in each of them. “There’s gotta be food somewhere! If it wants us to eat there’s just gotta be!” Connie, Ave and Harris looked at each other, while individually dawning their particular level of anxieties towards the situation, a look of hesitance and worry fell on each of their faces upon looking at Avery. “W-what?” Avery asked, backing away slightly, the wall close to pushing him. Felix then interrupted cheerfully.
“Hey! Hey! I just had a big brain moment!” She stood proudly, her finger pointed up in defiance of the enclosing walls nearly hugging them. “What if it’s figurative! Like they want us to feed our brains or something?” Not considering that they each reeled back, halting their lingering worries. What could help feed their brains? Had Kirby said anything which stood out to him? He asked himself, slicking back his hair in angst. Though the person encroaching his mind with her now venomous venire and piercing gaze forced themself into his mind. “D-do you guys know about Ms Skyler!?” “Who?” Harris asked, scratching hair, though Snow white Avery shook her head, the image in her mind. “Blonde hair. Green eyes, those face scopes.” She said, making circles out of her fingers, though still, they hadn’t understood.
“She’s this woman with blonde hair and green eyes! She pushed me off of a cliff and tried to get me to fly- But I didn’t… Maybe the nourishment is our backstories!” “Heh. That’s lame.” Harris chuckled, while stooping to the ground, playing with a crumbling floor tile. Although Avery himself thought it was lame too, he believed her to be important, he looked at each of their faces for affirmation, to surprisingly be met with the same upset, rage ridden recollection he would imagine was drawn on his face during his confinement. “... Blonde hair and green eyes you said? That’s what she looked like? You’re sure?” Connie Avery eased against the wall, something coming back to her. “And… Glasses?” “That’s it! That’s the one!”Avery shouted with eagerness, slicking back his hair. “...Huh… Now that you mention it- That lady- That was what her stupid face looked like.” Felix nodded along, her smile ceasing. “I- I remember her too! She shot us down!” Connie said exasperated, using the last of her strength against the wall, her plucky tone waning.
“I don’t remember any woman like that. All I remember is a two legged freak who looked human- But I knew she wasn’t with that soulless grin on her face. That was a totalllll monster. Scary…” Harris’s finger dug into the floor out of contempt, their minds unraveling with the thought of each of their fickle figures being plunged onto the pavement of Murrows Brow by her. In contrast, the walls slowed, though not completely stopping. At this point, a quarter of the room had been taken over by the walls, the only constellation being they would have more time to seethe in their rage. “Now you guys remember! Finally! She’s the reason why I’m so mad! She’s the reason we’re in this mess! Do you get it now!?” They all stayed quiet. Their rage festered alongside Avery, though he could tell a clear discrepancy in his anger versus theirs.
“The walls haven’t stopped…” Connie bit her fingernail in angst, as if knowing what that meant. “Eat. It said "eat.” Pale Avery continued to chant to herself, staring at Avery with sullen eyes.
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“If it didn’t stop then we must be coming at this allll wrong… Dang it… I’m gonna have nightmares for centuries. Sigh…” Harris held his chin, still laying despite his words of alarm.
Whereas Avery loathed the face Ms Skyler made even then, their anger was less so fixed on her, but more so on Avery himself. “W-what?!” Pale Avery reached out her hand before holding herself back. She called out to him. “The juices… they gave you a lot, right?!”
Avery shook his head hesitantly, not even sure of himself of why he answered honestly. A rage erupted in her throat, though directed at who was not completely clear. “Avery! You shouldn’t have said a word about the juices! We’d have been better off crushed!” Confused by her train of thought he at first thought he was joking.“Yeah right! Why would we when we can finally do something about her! You all remember her, so if we find her we can-” “That’s not what I meant.”Her voice was sharp and resentful of every word pushed from Avery’s mouth.
“I mean they’ll win! We know everything about this game! And now phase one is about to be complete! And our mission. It’s… It’s…”
She clutched her chest falling onto the ground as the others watched, some clawing at themselves as a way of quelling their frustrations. The confusion in Avery ceased, his concern and desire to help rising. Offering a hand to help her shrinking figure kneeling over in pain, despite the space they’d inhabited slowly becoming smaller and smaller, a warm feeling enveloping his figure, halting his movement. Looking down, he saw his legs were hers. Avery looked around him, the lashes around his eyes shorter than usual. His folded arms with sleeves he didn’t recognize and a taste in his mouth he hadn’t recognized scared him. He wanted to scream for help, though his mouth refused to open, clenched, mirroring the girl's rigid and content filled heart.
“You have no idea how much I wanted to avoid this! If you mentioned her before I might’ve figured she was the one— Just, Why?! Why did you have to mention the juices!?” Her, alongside everyone else writhed in their frustration, although she were the least discrete from the visible red invading her pale cheeks. She outstretched her arm, turning her hand over. The simple act in turn shifted something in Avery, although not in any pain, his torso began turning at the subtle movement, though the further it went, the more his own inflexibility caught up to him. He tried to scream, though his vocal cords were sealed tight by the sudden force looming over him.
“You guys. He’s obviously one of them! So if we get the juices outta him it’s no biggie! Cmon!” Felix sneered, holding two orange balls in her hands. “M-maybe… Yeah- That’s right, why else would they place a human in here with us?!” Connie ceased her attention from the slowly treading wall as well, she spoke her town a stark difference from her previous anxieties. Harris stood up, joining the fray. “I’m not sure what’s right or wrong, but we have to live so… No hard feelings “Avery Jones.” Avery’s flushed face hadn’t ceased though her slow turning forearm had. She gave an exasperated groan, her attention shifting to the walls. Avery looked at her eyes for some reassurance this hadn’t been his end. And although not completely certain, he could tell from her attention to Avery’s expression rather than being completely blinded by rage, that there was surely some empathy left in her.
“No.” “No?! C'mon boss! Blood, guts! I want a first row seat for the human anatomy display!” Felix retorted, obviously peeved. “I hate to say it but I don’t have enough strength, as much energy as I have…” She said, pointing towards the yellow light. “This is the only way. If this really is a nurturing ritual we have to…!” Still defiant, she shook her head, Harris laying back onto the floor, relieved to passively let the wall push him around as they continued to chat. “This is what we’ll do. Avery gave us his knowledge, so it’s only right we give him some of ours right? Did you guys forget? I can see him.” Quickly Connie retorted,”Y-yeah, but I mean you can’t have seen all of him, you…” Quickly she covered her mouth as Avery’s already tensed face scrunched up further upon being questioned. “I see everything. I’ll check if there’s even a hint of guilt in him, and if there is, then I will decide.. Is that understood?” Each of them shook their heads, Connie held her head in shame. Avery’s petrified eyes twitched confusedly at the vagueness of their words. As he felt the grasp upon his body easing, he was beginning to will himself to fight for his life, for once to not to feel empathy- Even if it hadn’t come so easily for him…
After imposing her will, She turned to Avery, her arms still extended. She spoke calmly. “We’re not from Murrows Brow. We live outside of it.” With the control placed over him starting to ease his previously clenched jaw eased as well, he uttered.“H-how…? There’s nothin’...!” “We were born there. You’ve been taught that there’s nothing outside of this pit, and that’s true, but there are a lot of things in the sky outside of it, right? You see us everyday even. You know, the colors?” She said her eyes trailing from Avery’s shocked face, his mind remembering the colorful miasma hanging over the sky last he saw it. She continued, her mind wandering onto their origin. “Whenever the kids of this place leave the planet, sometimes they drop feathers. Those feathers scatter, far, and instead of landing on the ground, they circulate the planet. The feather leaves a trail of the energy used to produce your wings, eventually merging with the atmosphere,” She paused, looking at the walls, their speed almost ceasing entirely..
“Some of us stay on the planet, living amongst the clouds, some hide in Murrows Brow, though others like us-” Her comrades braced themselves upon the revelation. Though Felix in contrast to her chipper disposition, frowned. “Choose to stay in space. We’re able to survive since most of us are born in the exosphere…. There we’ve traveled planets far and wide ... .It's the best place to be without the humans- without the flying… we’ve made homes for ourselves… Too” For a moment she paused. Her eyes caught something in Avery. Guilt. “Our…. Homes…”Her voice shook with a mix of rage and sorrow. “I know this, because it is our mission to halt and destroy the cultivation of star gazers… It’s my mission, as leader, to stop children like you from wrecking everything we’ve built, Avery… You have taken many of us for our energy, you know? Mix it to make that disgusting orange juice.. But that’s not all you took.” Avery looked around only to meet a mix of downcast yet still enraged expressions, their eyes all drawn to the girls now stringy, flowing hair, each of their own showed rippled, as if currents of their own, though each attempted to slick it down, their eyes wrecked with shame, and although he weren’t apart of such an act he still felt the guilt of those people like him. He fought himself to not feel it, to suppress the needless guilt, but it continued to beat him.
“The homes that you. You and those… Those monsters took from us!” She shouted, her voice wavering between frustration and sadness. “Do you know how many worlds have been hurt by your people? Our families? How many worlds have been destroyed because you monsters want to fly?” She clenched her fists, the others drew closer to Avery unable to hold themselves back much longer. “When you don’t even need to!? There's more than enough resources in MurrowsBrow- You’re just greedy- And for what?!” At this point Avery’s body was freed of her control though not of her wrath, he still stood upright, his body rigid, his fists clenched still mirroring her sorrow. Whether out of fear of genuine empathy, he wanted anything but to be seen as disrespectful.
“And now we're really stuck here for good! What do you have to say for yourself!?” “I-i’m… I don’t… I never…” Her expression softened, noticing the genuine pain drawn on his face. She frowned at the projection of her thoughts. Avery looked at their ruffled expressions, their hair stood on ends, upset by his hesitation. Why was he hesitating, he asked himself? He looked down for a moment, wanting to apologize even if he never did anything directly to them- wanting to extend some form of comfort. His eyes shifted upwards, steeling himself to find the right words. “... I could say I’m sorry… That’s what I would like to say, anyway.” His shoulders sank as he took a shallow breath in then out, forcing himself to continue looking at her eyes. Her shoulder sank as the white light in them continued to survey Avery’s heart.
“But I know that won’t do anythin’…. I don’t know what it feels like for my home to be taken away, but I do know it hurts to be used.” He held his arm, clutching himself. He realized the soft tentative tone he was using was similar when comforting Ms Skyler of her wings, making it difficult for him to even believe in his own words. If then reasoning and empathy didn’t work, what would be the difference here? He thought, too scared to glance upon what he was sure would be their vexed hostile figures. The only one encouraging him to press on being the still upset, yet patient girl in front of him, he had a chance to at least make himself clear to her, and so he pressed on. “I don’t wanna fly either, I never have. Not cuz It’s scary but… It’s just not my thing.” “Not your thing?” She tilted her head, perplexed as to where he was going.
“Y-yeah. Flyin‘ is something they say we’d do until we’re old, but it’s not about controllin’ where you’d go like when you glide close to the ground. It’s like… goin’ where the atmosphere tells you to go… Says my parents at least. And it just so happens to go up. But I don’t wanna go so high up… It’s too far...” He recounted the times in which he deep down did admire the plucky kids swinging through the air up towards their next mission, deep down a bit jealous. Was he lying? He thought, scratching his head. But then, upon having the courage to glance at each of their now wary faces, he felt even he misunderstood himself.
“Flyin’ is somethin’ other kids like because they get to go into space with their friends. They probably wrecked your worlds because they’re stupid and don’t know any better. Most times adults try to take control of ‘em to help MurrowsBrow and they do it just so they can feed their families, then have fun… It’s stupid isn’t it?” He said, shaking his head as soon as the words left his mouth. “Nah… It’s not totally stupid. Cuz they’re just… Kids like us, tryin’ to have fun. If anythin’ be mad at the guys who put us in here.” “Oh please.” Connie snorted, her presence lingering over Avery's now shaking figure. “You’re just saying that to save yourself. The kids and adults here are guilty.” Although his fear pushed him not to utter a word, he rebelled against his better judgement. “Well- who’s got us trapped here!? The kids who are running errands for the adults, or the adults who have us trapped here!?” The room got quiet. “Who captured you? The children always in the sky havin’ fun or the scientists who are always tryin’ to learn stuff and grow!?”
Harris shook his head at the logic. “Makes sense…” Connie more subdued upon hearing that logic as well caused Felix to fester in more anger. Thoughtlessly, she yelped terrified, readying to throw her orange ball, that is until the same white aura coated around his body was now transferred to Felix.“Enough….” She said with a slight growl in her voice, from her still torn expression, it was clear she hadn’t seemed quite doubting on who to trust. Especially now as the walls around them were starting to crush the monitors around them. Avery pressed on, not sure of even the next words to come out of his mouth. “If you don’t like me, fine! If you don’t like those kids for carryin’ orders, fine! They’re my people, so for them I’ll say I’m sorry, we were wrong either way…But let’s get out of this place and escape!”
With her petrification easing up, Avery quickly broke through, walking up to her. Although still processing what had happened, he felt too caught up in his own feelings to care about anything else. “Then we can find Ms skyler- And maybe you can leave our world. But we can’t do anything if we don’t get out of this, it’s just like you said, Avery!”He extended his hand out to her. “I’ll give you all the knowledge you want about everything in Murrows Brow! Just please… Help me get back Ms Skyler, for us. Cuz right now this is our struggle…” None had reached out. Avery felt a bit awkward as the other Avery across from him looked at his hand as if it were something precious she didn’t quite understand. Ashamed of the callouses formed from falling onto the ground repeatedly while flying, his fingers folded to cover them, though as soon as that shame showed, quickly, Avery’s long slender white fingers unlatched his, she said quietly. “Your hands are just fine….” She said, taking his hand, holding him for much longer than he’d anticipated.
Suddenly a loud buzz pierced through the tension, Avery’s chestnut eyes darted to the walls, which at this point the walls had finally slowed, giving them more time. Everything that needed to be said, had already been said. But if that were true- He wondered, slowly retreating his hand out of shame- Why did it feel as if stomach was bubbling with acids. “Urgh!” He held his stomach, the tangy fruity taste erupting from his stomach causing him to vomit onto the floor. All opposing eyes looked at him with a mix of disgust yet worry. Connie had been the first to approach his knelt over figure.
“W-wait, what…?” Connie stepped back to look at the vomit thrown onto the floor, although it appeared to be orange liquid on its way out, the texture once properly evacuated from Avery’s insides had resulted in a gummy texture, sharing the same length and shape of a loaf of bread. All eyes lingered, mostly panged with trepidation, though Felix, petrified and upset as she may’ve been, jumped at the opportunity she said smiling, “I’m orange so I’ll eat anything orange!” “EAT!?” Avery shouted, grimaced, slicking back his hair.
Harris shook his head disappointedly, he stood up, a monitor from beside him jolted, the audio reverberating-
“N o u r i s h m e n t.”
Each of them, particularly Avery stared in the vicinity of the weary disembodied voice at a loss.
“Nourishment? Do… Do they expect us to actually eat it!?” Avery said backed away, feeling himself starting to throw up. “Did they plan for me to throw up jello from the start?!”
“That’s why we were looking at you like that. This wholeeee… “Nurturing” project is where somebody in the group plays mama brid-”“And all the others feed off of them!” Felix said vying for the strange gelatin as Connie held her back.
“It’s weird… Normally its juices… And I’m not sure why a human is here playing “Mama bird”, but it’s used to psychologically or physically “fix” people who don’t want to fly. The orange… jello? is for making you more goal oriented- Making you forget about everything around you. ”
The walls were getting closer, each of them crowded closer and closer to it. Pale Avery approached Avery, helping him up. “Is that why I felt like that back then…? But if it’s spose to be like that, why’re you guys so okay with takin’ it now!? ”They all looked at him dumbfounded.
“A-are you serious?! We weren’t! We thought you were a scientist, that’s why we were freaking out about being stuck here with you!” Connie retorted, her grip on Felix loosening slightly.
“But I see you now… You’re just…” Playfully she pinched her cheeks, the others beside her gasped, “A sensitive sofy.” Shyly he brushed her away, “H-hands off! I don’t want my acne to act up!” She laughed, unsure of the concept of “acne”, “Regardless, let's work together and learn from each other, both for the sake of our mission, and finding Ms Skyler.” Pale Avery chuckled, along with everyone else who was laughing at Avery’s reaction. He cleared his throat, grounding himself. “You saw me huh…? Your powers are scary… Tell me more about them later, will ya?”
Shortly after those words, the ceiling and wall began closing in on them each of them begrudgingly grabbed a piece of the fragile substance holding a piece each in their palm, Felix of course, holding the biggest piece. “Hey! Hey! Just had another big brain moment!”“Two in one day… ground breaking…” Harris said, genuinely impressed, not at all feigning being impressed.
“If you think about it, we’re technically eating human, right!?” “Sooo funny I almost forgot to laugh.” The rest of them groaned at the thought, their faces cringing. “HA! Oh well! We just have too!” Felix frothed at the mouth, her tongue sticking out, panting like a dog. “As much as I don't wanna, we just do!” Although each shared their own dismay at the situation, Avery and pale Avery had each already made up their mind almost simultaneously, as they approached the moist gummy.“You’re really okay with eatin’ this?” Avery asked, not even fully sure of himself whether his life was worth this.
“... It’s yours.” She replied, smiling. “I don’t mind at all.” Avery stared at her a few moments, baffled, though as the ceiling slowly came down, and the walls were narrowing in on them, he quickly knelt down along with the others who were eating. Quietly he said to himself,”Weirdo…”
