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[wildsparrows]

Bonus: They arrive at Safe Haven and Doey carries him on a dough-baby carrier instead

[wildsparrows]

Okay @icanexplainwhythisnameisbad, here's my entries

I didn't end up making too many personality changes. Except for Simon being more like a mischievous gremlin and Burst being an eternally tired guy who probably has a whiteboard that says 'Days since petty bickering broke out - 0'

Also forgot to put it there, but the yellow thing on Burst's head is his cape. He just prefers to keep himself cozy like that. I also like to think that Marcy is this sort of mascot for a board game that Playtime Co. sells

Height changes, I'd say Simon's still a shorty, but Marcy's 7'0 and Burst is 5'0 (6'9 if he could stand)

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"Have I...been here before?"

Hooo boi, Kevin's not gonna take it well when he finds out his bestie doesn't remember him😔🥀🥀

Edit: version without red tint

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Experiment-2006 Joseph Dahl: Post-Escape

Joseph escaped the factory on the very day he was supposed to be tested...and the day the Hour of Joy commenced. Being the only orphan to escape the tragedy itself, he was hidden away by Stella Greyber in fear of the other executives wanting to dispose of him.

Because of everything he witnessed during then, Stella made the difficult decision to have him take medication to suppress these memories. She'd also refuse to let him attend public school, and instead have him be homeschooled in fear of him being spotted in public by her former coworkers.

However, Stella's desire to keep him under the radar clashed with Joseph's desire to be a songwriter. They also clashed in the sense that Joseph wanted more freedom for himself, instead of being constantly stuck within the same ochre wallpaper for years. Eventually, Stella slightly relented, letting him join the town choir under the careful watch of the local chapel.

And while he was under good hands with the chapel and his tutors, many of them began raising concerns to Stella about his independence. Stella assured them she wasn't planning on keeping him in her home forever, knowing it wasn't likely for her former coworkers to recognize him as an adult. But some of the chapel members and tutors still showed concern about how Joseph was going to adjust. So slowly, they began teaching him things like how to buy from the grocery on his own, how to clean a house, along with other things.

Stella herself tried to raise Joseph with all the knowledge she knew from being the head of Playcare, believing she knew best for him. Although with a lot of difficulty, and with limited information available about neurodivergence at the time, there were admittedly times where the two would clash. Stella would try to make up for it and promise to be better, but struggled to actually make progress. Of course, that didn't leave the best taste in Joseph's mouth.

But he knew that she was constantly on edge because of something she refused to reveal. So, wanting to give her relief, he wanted to prove to her that he can be trusted in keeping himself safe without her intervention. That day would be the schedule day for the yearly Winter Renn Faire, something Joseph really wanted to go to. For the first time in forever, he'd get a taste of true independence and find people who would love his songs, both in writing and voice, leaving him absolutely ecstatic.

He'd take the train ride home, absolutely excited to tell Stella of the events that took place, and his time there...

That train was never seen again...

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Experiment-1346 Venus Alyssa Lee: Post-Escape

(Lemme just say, Lyssa's VHS tape us outdated, and I'm updating it soon after this and Joseph's post-escape post)

Although there was already a couple that had Lyssa in mind for adoption, Playtime Co. made the adoption process purposely longer, in order to make sure they get enough ample time to decide whether or not to select a child for testing from any already proposed group of candidates, and to avoid any future instances like with the Hartmann's and Jeremy.

Lyssa was finally adopted by her new parents, except there were two problems. Playtime Co. still deemed her brother 'too sick' to be adopted, lying about him having a severe illness. And two, her parents don't want to go through the effort of adopting Sunny anyway, since adopting Lyssa herself already took long enough.

So without her brother to even watch her win pageants and participate in ballet and figure skating, she lost interest in all three, and instead became a loner who focused more on her studies (and unknowingly feeding her perfectionism further with her grades). Except that was a problem, because her parents adopted her because of her pageant achievements. They were not exactly the most caring, bordering closer to being exploitative for the sake of fame and prize money.

Then one day, she went missing. Kidnapped by a gang as a hostage, her parents began to wonder where she was. With their first assumption being that she ran to the factory to see her brother again, they decided to go there first...that eighth of August.

With neither of them being alive to respond to the hostage note, Lyssa truly began to think that there was no way out of her situation. With the impression that they truly didn't love her, a certain boy felt bad and offer to help her escape. She asked him to escape with her, but he denied, knowing that it would put a target behind her back. Insisting that she left him, she did...

Then she was found by one private investigator Gerad Lockhart. The man planned to put her in foster care, but kept her under his wing in the meanwhile. Being hired to expose the very gang that held her hostage, Lyssa agreed to help...in exchange of him helping her with finding and keeping the boy safe. This proved hard however, since she couldn't remember his face...and why he seemed so familiar.

She'd find herself figure skating alone on a frozen lake, something she did to take her mind off, when she was alerted of the gang's arrest. That train ride home, she'd find that same boy, on the run from the police.

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Experiment-1215 Prescott Choudhury: Post-Escape

With Joel Sinclair deeming him as the most likely to be selected next despite the former's authority as Playcare's head counselor, he made the quick decision to adopt him. With Scott's insistence, Joel's wife, Rachel Sinclair, allowed him to visit Theo in the hospital, where he would read him Word Wizard books to him in Matthew's place.

There, they would both talk about what they know. What Scott found while playing detective, and what Theo saw and heard from his 'friend'. Rachel would then secretly listen, telling Joel about the two's findings in order to better find out about what Playtime Co. was hiding.

When not visiting Theo, Scott would find himself either helping Rachel with her animal shelter or attending in public school. At first, he was an outcast, having problems making new friends, since he was scared of replacing his old friends at Playcare. Although eventually, he was able to find his own people, Joel hesitantly allowed him to visit Playcare during work.

Scott eventually found another interest in ice hockey, starting off as a newbie in his school's team, to being part of the representing team for his town. Since the town rink was located near the forest hiding the factory, he'd sometimes go cryptid hunting with his teammates. If not for actually finding a cryptid, then just for the fun of it (even making him join the boy scouts after consideration).

Then came one camping night. The coach scheduled one for the team in hopes of encouraging team-building. Scott and some of his friends were past curfew, with the coach already asleep. Walking through the forest, they expected to see the same pines that always greeted them during practice.

They didn't expect a runaway creature of blue fur to greet them instead.

Years past, and the Hour hit. With Joel dead, and Rachel suddenly falling extremely ill, Scott had to be the main financial source in order to pay the medical bills. He'd set up donations in the shelter, use his portion of the ice hockey prize money, and work until he dropped. During this entire time, he thought about Theo's hospitalization, the loose giant Huggy toy that once stood on the lobby's pedestal, the sudden death of everyone in the factory...

His best friend, Nathan's sudden disappearance...

He knew, deep down in his guts...

There was a connection

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Experiment-1198 Mayara De Costa: Post-Escape

After Yara was adopted by Mr. And Mrs. Hartmann, she lived a relatively comfortable life. After all, her new parents were incredibly well off, with her new father being one of Playtime Co.'s investors.

Yara was then enrolled in a Montessori school, before being homeschooled once she reached adolescence. She had this expressed desire to win in the Olympics, which her father encouraged. Her mother however, was worried that their company, a water-filtering company, would have no heirs.

Safe to say, because of being homeschooled by tutors approved by both parents, she's on par with Nathan when it comes to knowledge about business (Nathan being more knowledgeable on the macroeconomics side, while Yara's more knowledgeable regarding microeconomics).

Then tragedy struck. On Yara's birthday, her parents wanted to surprise her by adopting her old best friend from Playcare, Marie Payne. That day, the eighth of August, that very orphan they planned to adopt spilled their blood on her hands.

Since it was declared that Yara would be the next heir of the company, and that she was still not of age, different relatives from both sides of the family fought for custody over her, only to get the fortune that came with said company. Safe to say, Yara's relationship with them wasn't...the best.

Then came the day she lost it. Fresh from one of the multiple trials over custody, she fled to the cemetery if only to visit the gravestones of her parents, despite the absence of any sort of coffin underneath. That winter, she took a train ride back home...

Only to meet four other familiar faces that day.

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Experiment-1174 Nathaniel Hauksson: Post-Escape

Running away from the factory at the age of six, Nathan had absolutely nowhere to go. At first, he went to the police to present Stoll's computer. Unfortunately, neither he, nor the cops could hack through the late head of IT's files full of evidence of the BBI. Dismissing the case, the cops instead planned to return the boy to the orphanage. This made him to flee out of fear.

For the next few months, he resulted to squatting to survive. Eventually, he reached that age where people began entrusting him with looking after their house while they're gone, sometimes with the additional chore of babysitting. Nathan would do this multiple times a day, getting both the pay and a place to stay in the meanwhile.

But knowing that his fellow orphans were still being experimented on, when he could've warned them, it filled him with guilt. Especially when he's left to babysit, with many of the children reminding him of them. Unfortunately, despite being a prodigy in bioengineering and chemistry, he knew nothing about computers.

And what were the chances of anyone else in this small town being able to crack the files open, when even the police can't?

He needed connections.

He soon got those connections. There were many hackers who were willing to crack it open, though for a hefty price. One that Nathan can't just afford with house-sitting and babysitting pay alone. One thing he does know will get him that money?

Opium production.

Being the one to revive the very species of ppppy that was previously driven to extinction by the BBI, Nathan knew a thing or two about opium production. Soon enough, he found himself tangled into a mess of connections that only require him to trip once, to detonate on his face. Gangs would let him collaborate for a good price, and all he'd have to do is make that opium, and not piss off the wrong guy.

Though one day, he found himself in a dilemma, when he meets their most recent hostage.

A little girl that he'd never thought he'd see again.

[wildsparrows]

if you want Tommy in your series just let me know and i can tell you how he would react

Alr! (I've actually considered about it before with his ability to possess other toys, but yeah)

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Hoping this is the right thing-

anyway

here the 3 drawings

Here’s 3 of them (honestly there were a ton of ideas I think that could’ve worked but these 3 are something)

-Paranoia Marcy

a detective toy whose ironically PARANOID about everything to the point of hiding away at the sound of growling

(The other two drawings were ideas on how to make someone being paranoid more deep and less shallow the first a dark other half inspired by venom the second a full on analog horror/pibby (but without the static puke )corruption form similar to bendy in the dark revival )

-Simon (or Mr Says)

Is basically simon says the game as a toy with a sing that displays what to do (or not do ) the sign might have minor hypnotic properties

-Burst

a superhero toy connected to a stand with wheels at the base to look like he’s flying (the designer forgot to consider children like making the toy fly themselves )

Okay yeah, I'm getting ideas already-

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Lonnie and Zacker Side-Story: Part 3

Shadows Neath The Great Deep

(@icanexplainwhythisnameisbad helped me with this! AU belongs to @decadeofjoy-au and divider belongs to @sister-lucifer)

Character used:

Alon Habagat-deadzonedenizen

Zacker-icanexplainwhythisnameisbad

Maury Serge-TDOJ(mentioned)

Orion Asteria-TDOJ(mentioned)

Hixel Pixel-TDOJ(mentioned)

“Look, I don't know what else to tell you.” The toy robot remarked, gripping the keylogger in his fist. “They probably just scared him off like they usually do with the others.”

“Scared him off?” The young orphan questioned, gliding towards the door to lean on it. “What do you mean?”

“How the hell am I supposed to explain this can of worms…” Zacker sighed. Never did he think there’d come a time where he had to explain the truth to an orphan. “There's this thing we do where we scare a kid off when they turn eighteen. Because if they don't leave, then…”

Lonnie raised a brow, urging him to continue. “Then?”

“They'll-” Zacker hesitated, carefully choosing his words. “They'll get…demoted and- Hold on…”

He stopped mid-sentence, noticing a discrepancy.

“... Maury's eighteenth birthday is still two weeks away.” The robot murmured to himself, slowly walking as he tried to make sense of this realization. “They wouldn't demote him this early, right? Was that what the last meeting was about? All I know is something happened to Hixel and-”

“You're giving me a lot of fragmented intel here.” Lonnie snarked, pressing his ear against the door to make sure nobody was listening, before pushing himself off. “Maury was demoted, how exactly?”

“...What I can tell you for now is that he’s still here, in the factory. Somewhere…further down.” Warned the toy. “My advice, stay clear of that place. Unless you want to join him. Him and the rest of us, that is.”

Lonnie narrowed his eyes at the toy, not exactly liking the vagueness of his answers. It’s understandable, he figured. Glancing at the locked doorknob, Lonnie assumed Zacker was more worried of any unwanted eavesdroppers than even he was.

The orphan’s hand reached a button hidden in his headphones, triggering the jammer…and an unexpected sharp migraine attack at the unexpecting toy.

“AgH!!”

Zacker fell on his knees, gripping his head like his life depended on it. Lonnie stepped back in shock, turning the jammer function off. The migraine finally stopped, letting Zacker recover before prompting himself up.

“Stop- doing that.”

“Noted…” Lonnie replied, remaining confusion still evident in his voice as he tried to understand this apparent side-effect. “Sorry, I…thought you were being vague cuz you didn’t want anyone hearing.”

“How is that supposed to help?” The robot sharply whispered. “How does giving me all those speech interruptions and migraines help with eavesdroppers?”

“It's a jammer.” Lonnie clarified in a deadpanned tone. “How was I supposed to know it would do that to you?”

“You- That's supposed to-?! Ugh…” Zacker mentally cursed, but at least he knew the cause behind all his speech problems now. “The truth. You want the truth, right?”

“I think I've made that incredibly clear, yeah.” Lonnie confirmed with a straight face.

“...Fine.”

Zacker prompted himself on the bed and beckoned Lonnie to come closer. The latter leaned in as the former whispered everything he needed to know. The entire time, Lonnie furrowed his brows, not sure how to absorb everything being told to him. The robot eventually pulled away, leaving the boy completely baffled.

“Then, if you're with them, then why are you leaving keyloggers in their equipment?” He glared at Zacker suspiciously.

“... Let's just call it unfinished business.” Was all the toy told him.

“And you're okay with telling me all of this?” Lonnie asked. “Wouldn't your…superiors disapprove?”

“I may be working with them, but that doesn't mean I have to do everything they say. My business doesn't concern them.” Zacker simply stated. “All I'm asking from you is that you keep this to yourself.”

Zacker subtly threatened Lonnie, pressing a finger against where the robot’s lips would've been.

“You didn’t hear this from me.”

...

That was a day ago. Now, Lonnie stood in front of Orion's door, recalling what just happened back at the school. After everything he now knows, does he really want the others to involve themselves? Don't get him wrong, he was still having a hard time believing what Zacker told him.

Experiments, torture, and everything else that would've made any sane person go green in disgust. A can of worms isn't enough to describe what Zacker told him, this was a pit of vipers. Still, Lonnie had to be skeptical. That was...a very bold claim after all. For all he knew, it could all be this fabricated lie.

Still, one thing’s for certain.

He had to tread with caution.

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The Sequel

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Holding Back

Dr. Sukonoko: "You try dealing with 1322B's anger issues by night and constantly be bothered by his friend by day."

Dr. Carrizales: "Wow, you look rough."

Dr. Carrizales: "The Dahl boy? Still won't leave you alone, huh?"

Dr. Sukonoko: "You should've seen the commotion that boy started. You'd think a frail little thing like that shouldn't be able to fight against four grown adults, yet here we are. He snuck up to me literally a while ago, do the caretakers need to put a bell on that boy or something?"

Dr. Carrizales: -she sighs- "You know, you could try that thing they wanted to do with 1187, right?"

Dr. Sukonoko: "What does that have to do with anything? Their planned-to-be bargaining chip got adopted anyway."

Dr. Carrizales: "No, I mean- we both agree that Joseph's holding back with his game station results, right? I'm just saying, he could be eligible..."

Dr. Sukonoko: "And you're suggesting what, exactly?"

Dr. Carrizales: "Strike a deal with the kid. Make him promise to do better in the games, and he gets to 'visit Kevin while he's sick'. Once we do our thing on the boy, we can hold his safety over 1322's head to keep him in line."

Dr. Sukonoko: "...Won't hurt to try."

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Bargaining Chip

Eddie M. N. Ritterman: "So, how's the progress with 1187 so far?"

Dr. McKabe: "He refuses to respond to any questions, but that's expected for the second day of the adjustment period. Other than that, I'd say the operation was successful on the first try. A huge improvement from 1186's operation."

Eddie M. N. Ritterman: "Good, good. Which one is 1187 again? Dogday, right? Ah right, the one that tried to escape the moment he woke up."

Dr. McKabe: "He still refuses to cooperate, but has slightly calmed down since then. The escape attempt at least tells us that he had little to no problems with adjusting to his new body. Or well, when paired with the adrenaline anyway. We at least know that he retained his memories too, since he knew which hallways to go."

Eddie M. N. Ritterman: "I see. Hmm...don't you have other ways to get him to cooperate? I remember him having a sister. It wouldn't hurt to turn her into a smaller critter and use her as a bargaining chip."

Dr. McKabe: "I...don't think that would work. Lyssa's results in the games are very...poor. The likeliness of her even surviving the operation is low."

Eddie M. N. Ritterman: "So? A bigger body then. Less trouble with trying to cramp all that into a small toy, and it's not like we need the extra stuff we use for the other bigger bodies. We don't need a fully functioning living toy, we just need a bargaining chip."

Dr. McKabe: "Well...there's one thing we can try..."

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Playing Detective

Dr. Clarke: "So, crafts day went well?"

Joel Sinclair: "Huh? Uhh, yeah. Well, outside of the kids asking what happened to Theo."

Dr. Clarke: "Yeah, that's...expected."

Joel Sinclair: "...How did you describe Theo's imaginary friend again?"

Dr. Clarke: "Tarry in some areas, spindly in others, a mish-mash of stuff you'd find in a junk yard. Why?"

Joel Sinclair: "...And they found Scott passed out shortly after Theo was rushed out, right?"

Dr. Clarke: "Choudhury? Yeah. They found him with a gas mask with a broken filter. Must've been playing detective again and followed Theo in secret."

Joel Sinclair: "Right, Theo's immune to the thing somehow. It's just- what Scott said he saw, it...it matches your description."

Dr. Clarke: "So where are you going with this? You're saying my account wasn't enough but a kid's was?"

Joel Sinclair: "Harr Harr Tom. What I mean is...kid's at risk of being next. He's performing better at the games lately, and he knows something he shouldn't, I just-"

Dr. Clarke: "Just what? You're the head counselor, you can bullshit your way out of him- and frankly any orphan, from getting selected. You can only do so much until the higher-ups start getting suspicious, but y'know."

Joel Sinclair: "...We never had this conversation."

Dr. Clarke: "What conversation?"

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Adoption Complications

Dr. Sawyer: "...You mean to tell me, you allowed our next subject to get adopted, and I wasn't informed earlier?"

Leith Pierre: "It was Hartmann we were talking about, remember? We can't afford one of our major investors finding out about the initiative."

Dr. Sawyer: "And yet, of all the children you allowed him to adopt, it was our best candidate for the next experiment?"

Leith Pierre: "The Hartmanns wanted to adopt Yara, they get to adopt Yara. They're already suspicious because of Stella finding out about Jeremy's approval for testing when they were already discussing the adoption process. Which, by the way, she should've been informed earlier, Sawyer."

Dr. Sawyer: "Would it be so hard to just tell the Hartmanns that a different set of parents were already planning on adopting her? But instead, you allowed them to adopt the girl last minute."

Leith Pierre: "Hartmann isn't an easily fooled man, Sawyer. You've no idea how headache-inducing it is to keep up the act around him. But if you want less funding for the initiative, then be my guest."

Dr. Sawyer: "..."

Leith Pierre: "...Besides, this next experiment? The ability to detach its limbs? A bit too ambitious, don't you think?"

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Runaway Orphan

Dr. White: "What do you mean he's gone?!" Dr. Newman: "I mean, he's gone. None of the caretakers know where he is, and the security feeds showed nothing that could help us."

Dr. White: "..."

Dr. Newman: "...S-Sinclair thinks that he escaped when the power went out-"

Dr. White: "Then what use were the generators?! He shouldn't have escaped Playcare in the first place, it's literally a giant underground dome!"

Dr. Newman: "I'm just as confused as you are. But I'm sure Nathan shouldn't have gotten that far. He would've needed to board the train station to escape."

Dr. White: -he sighs- "See to it that he's found. With this next experiment, he's not exactly an easily replaceable candidate. We can't afford losing him."

Dr. Newman: "O-Of course."