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crystalninjaphoenix · 5 months

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A JSE Fanfic

More of the guys in IRIS, yay! :D Yay for us, I mean, obviously not them haha. Last time we mainly saw what IRIS had planned for JJ and Schneep, but what about the others? After all, they don't have any special powers, right? Why are they here? While those two recover from their own tests, Marvin takes an assessment. Then, when some guards appear to drag him off somewhere, he makes an escape attempt and finds something strange. Heheheh. Enjoy!

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Marvin spent most of the afternoon—or, what he assumed was the afternoon—trying to think of different ways to contact Jackie and Anti. After hearing those shouts outside his door, they must be nearby. He wasn’t sure where JJ or Schneep were, though. He was sure IRIS would have taken them too, but he didn’t know anything about this place outside the room he was stuck in. They could be on the other side of this compound, through thick metal walls or high up in the air. He needed to focus on Jackie and Anti first, and then the three of them could figure something else out.

But as time passed, he found he couldn’t focus on planning. His stomach was rumbling too loud, and his thoughts devolved into repeated cycles of how hungry he was.

After what must have been a few hours, that woman from before walked in. The one in the white coat, with the curly blonde hair. She must be some sort of doctor, right? “Hello again, Mr. Moore,” she said, sitting down at the table.

Marvin, previously lying on the bed, sat up straight. “You again,” he muttered, glaring. “What do you want?”

“We are doing an assessment,” the doctor said calmly. “And I’ve also brought something for you.” She sets down a small box on the table. A fabric box... a lunch box? “Please come over to the table. So you can be in view of the interview camera.”

“...you’re lurin’ me with food?” Marvin asked, eyes narrowing.

The doctor just smiled. “Please come into view of the camera.”

Marvin sighed. He stood up, testing his legs. Luckily, after resting for so long, the fatigue had faded and he was easily able to walk over to the table and chair. “Don’ expect it t’be t’is easy all the time,” he said. “My body comes and goes. I’ll only be able to walk wit’out aid sometimes. Not all the time.”

“The date is March 1st, 2020, and we are interviewing Mr. Marvin Moore,” the doctor said, not acknowledging what Marvin just said. He threw his hands up in frustration. “Use of the Dr. Hopkins Assessment has been permitted. Mr. Moore, please eat before we proceed.”

Marvin sighed. He was annoyed, but he was also hungry. His stomach was twisting just at the thought of eating. So he grabbed the lunch box and opened it up. Inside was a sandwich made of ham and brown bread, a peeled orange, some crackers, and a small water bottle. He ate quickly, not looking directly at the doctor while she sat across from him... watching him. As soon as he was done he slid the lunch box over to her. Going through some sort of test would be preferable to this silence.

“Thank you!” the doctor said in a chipper tone, pushing the lunch box to the side. She then took out a clipboard and began writing things down. “Now we will start the Assessment. We’re going to ask you a series of questions to determine your state of mind. Keep in mind we can detect if you’re lying, so please try to answer truthfully. Are you okay with this, Mr. Moore?”

“Well I s’pose I have to be, don’ I?” Marvin muttered. “You’re not goin’ to listen t’me. Or give me my fuckin’ cards back.”

“Great!” The doctor smiled. “Now. Is your name Marvin Moore?”

“Yes.”

“Are you 29 years old?”

“How d’you know about t’at?!” Marvin gasped.

“We have done some research since we last spoke,” the doctor explained. “So please answer the question.”

“Y-yes... t’at’s my age,” Marvin said shakily. Maybe he shouldn’t answer these questions... but clearly these guys won’t listen to him. They would probably just continuously ask the questions until he caved.

“Are you taking the Dr. Hopkins Assessment right now?” the doctor asked.

“If t’at’s what t’is is.”

“On a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest, how would you describe your current mental state?”

“Ah... low?” Marvin guessed.

“If you had to put a number to it?” she persisted.

“I don’ know. A... a t’ree? A three,” he repeated, making an effort to emphasize the TH sound, just so there wasn’t any confusion.

“Have you ever felt an attack of fear or anxiety?”

“A-ah, um—” Marvin really didn’t want to tell these IRIS guys about his mental problems.

The doctor stared at him more intensely. “Have you ever felt an attack of fear or anxiety?”

“C-can I choose not to answer?”

“Have you ever felt an attack of fear or anxiety?”

“I... w-well, hasn’ ev’ryone?” Marvin said.

The doctor nodded slowly and wrote something down. Was she agreeing with him? Or just acknowledging what he said? “Do you feel safe?”

“After bein’ kidnapped and torn away from my friends? Not t’mention bein’ kidnapped by people wh-who I know do terrible t’ings to others?” Marvin leaned close. “I don’ know what you want wit’ me and I don’ know what you’ve done wit’ my friends. I know you want to hurt us, though.”

“We do not want to hurt you, Mr. Moore,” the doctor insisted.

“No, but you’ll do stuff to hurt us anyway.” Marvin glared. “D’you really t’ink you deserve a ‘yes’ answer to that question?��

The doctor blinked. Then she looked down at the clipboard and continued. “Do you regret your decisions?”

“Uh...” Marvin leaned back again, confused. “I don’ understan’ the question. T’ere are a lot of decisions out t’ere. T’at I’ve made. I would regret some and not regret others, righ’?”

“Hmm.” The doctor wrote something down. “Do you know where you are?”

“In IRIS?” Marvin guessed.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“F-for... experiments?” Marvin whispered, scanning the doctor’s expression for a reaction. Maybe he could learn something? But, unfortunately, he was never that good with emotions. If the doctor felt any way about his guess, she didn't show it.

“Have you ever heard of ALTR 53815?” the doctor asked.

“No, I haven’,” Marvin insisted.

“What was the first time you came in contact with ALTR 53815?”

“Don’ fuckin’ ignore me!” Marvin shouted, his temper suddenly bursting. “I can’ tell you any’ting if you don’ tell me stuff first! What the fuck is an alter?! Is t’at what you call the people you do tests on?! Huh?!”

“How many pictures have been shown to you so far?” The doctor asked calmly.

“I jus’ said—” Marvin growled. But then he gave up, the anger suddenly draining out of him. They weren’t going to tell him anything. He had to stop trying. Any energy he put into resisting these guys would be diverted away from his efforts to escape. And it might be good for them to think he was cooperating. “I haven’ seen anyt’ing,” he sighed.

“How many sounds have been played for you?” the doctor asked.

“Haven’ heard anyt’ing, either.”

“Are you easily startled?”

“Ah... well... it depends?” Marvin said slowly, suddenly on guard. His eyes darted around the room. Were they going to throw something at his face?

“What’s the worst pain you’ve ever felt?”

Marvin couldn’t help but laugh. “You t’ink I’m jus’ gonna tell you t’at?” He shivered. “I-I don’ even know it off the top of my head.” Probably something Distorter did to him... something that he might not even remember.

That seemed to be a sufficient answer for the doctor. “Do you believe in God?” she asked.

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “Feel like t’at’s a bit of a departure from the rest of t’ese questions.”

“Please just answer it promptly,” the doctor said.

“Ah... I... guess?” Marvin said slowly. “But not... as in t’ere’s someone up t’ere who t’inks like a human... It might be closer to a force of nature. It’d probably be... very diff’rent. But t’ere has to be somet’ing.” He was speaking more to himself than to the doctor, sorting out his own feelings on the way. Yes, there had to be something, didn’t there? There had to be something... maybe...

“Do you believe in life after death?” the doctor asked, not noticing his introspection.

Marvin jumped slightly, snapping back to reality. “Um... sure?”

“Have you ever experienced a terrible occurrence that has impacted you significantly?”

“If you truly did research on me, wouldn’ you know?” Marvin asked.

“We may know facts, but we don’t know how you feel about all this,” the doctor explained. “I’ll ask again. Have you ever experienced a terrible occurrence that has impacted you significantly?”

Marvin nodded slowly.

“Please answer audibly for the record.”

“Y-yes,” Marvin whispered.

The doctor wrote something down, taking a long time. “Have you ever lost someone close to you?”

Marvin flinched. He didn’t want to answer. He didn’t want to answer at all. But he knew she would keep asking. She—IRIS—wouldn’t let him have the smallest bit of privacy while he was in here. “...yes,” he whispered.

More writing. Then the doctor looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Moore, that concludes our assessment.”

“Great... now what?” Marvin asked. “No wait, let me guess. You’re not goin’ t’tell me.”

“We will see you again, Mr. Moore,” the doctor said, tucking the clipboard under her arm and grabbing the lunch box.

“Oh I wasn’ worried abou’ t’at,” Marvin grumbled, slumping in the chair.

“Get some rest!” the doctor said cheerfully, and walked over towards the door.

Marvin started to get up from the chair, wanting to run for the door as she started to open it. But he hesitated for too long. The door was already closing. “Damn it,” he muttered. Sighing, he continued to stand up, and walked over to the bed, sitting down again.

... what if that was the only opportunity he had? What if they weren’t going to open the door again? What if he was going to be stuck in here?

No, no, that was going too far. They had to open the door to feed him. There wasn’t any other way into the room. He could wait until then. He had to.

Sighing, Marvin lied down and tried to think of a plan.

———————

Every muscle in Schneep’s body ached. After the tests—hours and hours of fighting robots with different abilities—he was too tired to even think about resisting as they dragged him back to the cell. He fell asleep for a brief moment, but he could tell that it wasn’t that long. Maybe only a few minutes. All he really knew was that they dropped him on the floor and the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes, the guards were gone, and the manacle was around his ankle again.

He was able to drag himself onto the bed, but wasn’t able to move much after that. He laid there for a while, then lifted his head and glared at the camera. “I hope you are not going to wear me out all the time,” he said. “I cannot be a good...” His throat closed up. He couldn’t say the word that was on his mind. Weapon. “I-I cannot be good at tests if I am pushed to exhaustion.”

There was no answer, of course.

Schneep put his head down again, groaning. With all the advanced technology they’d stuck into his body, you would think IRIS would be able to keep him from feeling exhaustion. Though, to be honest, it felt like he’d been able to keep fighting for longer than usual... so maybe the technology could delay it, but not get rid of it. That made sense.

He could only hope that it also reduced his recovery time. He didn’t want to lay in bed whenever he wasn’t being forced to go through one of IRIS’s tests. Not when he could be using that time to try and escape.

There had to be a way out of here... sure, they’d learned from his last escape and added the manacle to tie him down, but there had to be a way. He refused to just give up and let them use him.

But for now... he had to rest.

———————

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

JJ pressed up against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. His eyes kept flicking to the cameras in the corners. They were always watching him. There was never going to be anywhere to hide, never, never, never—

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Everything was fine right now. They weren’t going to do anything to him.

But they were still watching.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

He rubbed his eyes, brushing away the tears in the corners. The moment his vision was clear again, his eyes glanced at the cameras again. He shuddered. Twisting around, he reached over to the bed and grabbed the pillow, throwing it at the nearest camera. It hit the wall nearby and fell to the ground. With that having failed, he grabbed the blanket of the bed and pulled it off.

The bedframe was fairly low; there wasn’t room enough for a person to squeeze underneath. But by draping the blanket off the side, he made a small tent to hide behind. JJ curled up beneath it. He felt ridiculous, like a child hiding from a monster in the closet. But it was the only way to block out the camera.

Deep breaths.

Everything is okay right now.

It won’t be okay in the future. But it’s okay right now.

Deep breaths.

———————

The moment the door to the cell opened, Anti lunged at the gap, pushing his way out. He made it out into the hallway but was immediately grabbed from behind by one of these guards in black uniforms. “Fucking let me go!” he growled. He tried kicking at their legs, tried wriggling against their grasp, but the two guards held tight to each of his arms. There were two more as well, pointing some sort of gun towards him. Not the type that fired bullets—dart guns, maybe?

They started dragging him down the hallway. “Fuck you! Fuck off!” Anti shouted, voice trembling slightly. His eyes darted around wildly, taking in the plaster walls and linoleum tiles, looking for anything that could help. But there was nothing.

What was happening? The other times he’d been taken out of the room, that scientist-looking guy had been there to supervise him. This time, it was just the guards. Why? Did the scientist not want to risk getting hurt in some freaky fucking experiment? Were they going to fuck with his body as well as his head this time?! The thought sent panic shooting through his heart, and he didn’t stop struggling even as the guards took him down the hallways. Keep track of the turns! Right, left, right—the walls shifted to a pale blue, bordering on white, instead of the beige they were right outside the cells.

The guards reached a set of double-doors on the left side of the hallway. One of them took a keycard off their belt and pressed it to a reader at the side of the door. There was a slight click and the doors slid open. As the guards started pulling Anti inside, he tried to hook his foot around the doorframe, but they yanked him hard and easily broke his grip.

The room beyond was a nearly empty space, with the same linoleum tiles and plaster walls that are now painted pure white. The high ceiling was made of tiles, too, but not linoleum. Instead, the office vibes continued, with the ceiling looking like ones that would be found in office buildings, or maybe schools. There was a simple card table set up in the middle—the type that folds—with some sort of sheet-covered shape on it. Some more sturdy-looking tables were set up around it in a U shape, full of strange metal boxes with lights, buttons, and dials, some with attached antenna, all with wires leading from them over to the edge of the room. Anti glanced around at all this, taking it in, but his focus was turned to the last thing in the room. A chair with leather straps attached, looking like it was pulled out of a horror game taking place in some creepy hospital

“You are not putting me in that fucking thing!” Anti shouted, voice cracking slightly. He intensified his struggles—

Smak! One of the guards hit him in the side of the head. He slumped, instantly dazed. The guards didn’t waste any time, dragging him across the ground to the chair and shoving him in. He squirmed weakly, but was still dazed. The guards easily pulled the straps over his wrists, ankles, and chest. One even went over his forehead, pulling his head into place against a headrest. Then the guards backed up, continuing to point their dart guns at him, just in case.

“Wh-what is this?” Anti demanded. “The fuck are you going to do?!” He twisted his hands back and forth, trying to worm his way beneath the leather straps, but they were extremely tight.

The guards didn’t say anything. Nothing was moving in the room beside him. He couldn’t help but think that they were all... waiting for something.

He swallowed a lump in his throat. If he could escape from this room, he could find the others and they could get out of here. He couldn’t let this opportunity get away from him! He took a deep breath, then kept struggling.

———————

Marvin looked up as the door opened again. Huh, it hadn’t been that long since the doctor came in to do the assessment thing. But that was fine, he could try to implement his plan.

Two people in all-black gear walked into the room, their features partially hidden with cloth masks that covered the lower half of their faces. They stared at him expectantly. But he didn’t get up from the bed. The two guards glanced at each other. “Stand up,” one said.

“I can’ do t’at,” Marvin said. “Not t’at I don’ want to, I can’t.” He made sure to emphasize it.

“Try,” the second guard said.

Marvin glared at them, but did as asked, and tried to stand up. He pushed himself up, then fell down again. “T’is shoul’ be in your files abou’ me,” he said. “T’at doctor lady said it the first time she was here. ‘Muscle weakness.’ Don’ be surprised when I’m weak.”

The two guards looked at each other, unsure. They stepped away, murmuring to each other, pressing their hands to small devices in their ears. Marvin watched them, straining to hear what was going on. He couldn’t quite make it out, but it didn’t make a difference, as the guards soon stopped talking and walked over to the bed. “Try standing up again,” the first one said.

Marvin nodded. He pushed against the bed, managing to sit up, but couldn’t get any higher.

“This isn’t some sort of trick, is it?” the second guard said, narrowing their eyes. “We can tell if you’re lying.”

“I wouldn’ lie abou’ my condition,” Marvin said. “You all shoul’ know abou’ it and how it works. I just told t’at doctor lady t’at you can’ make a schedule for t’is fatigue.”

The guards glanced at the cameras in the room. They stared at them for a while, and Marvin stared too. He wasn’t nervous. Why would he be nervous? He had nothing to be afraid of. Other than the possibility of horrible experiments happening to him.

After what felt like forever, but which was actually less than a minute, the guards turned back to Marvin. “We’ll be taking you regardless of if you can stand or not,” the first guard said.

“Fine,” Marvin snapped, folding his arms. “Do t’at.”

And they did, reaching out and grabbing him by his arms. Marvin tried to stand up straight as they pulled him upright, but the moment they lessened the pressure, he started to collapse again. The two guards gave up on keeping him up and just started dragging him across the floor and out into the hallway.

Marvin looked around. This place appeared surprisingly normal. The strangest things were the cell doors, which looked like thick metal. The hallway continued on to the left, eventually ending in a set of double doors. The guards were dragging him to the right, which eventually turned a corner. Hmm... he definitely didn’t want to go where they were taking him, but that set of double-doors looked ominous. But they didn’t seem to be locked.

As the guards approached the corner, Marvin lifted his legs into the air and slammed them down onto the ground, planting his feet firmly. The guards jolted suddenly, looking at him in surprise, and he managed to wrench an arm free, lunging and grabbing something from the first guard’s belt. Some sort of gun? But he didn’t fire it, instead slamming the end of it into the second guard’s head, causing them to let go. Then Marvin dropped it and bolted.

“Hey!” The first guard shouted. The second one shook their head in surprise and they both ran after Marvin.

He couldn’t believe he’d gotten away with that! Surely people like this would realize when he was faking being more tired than he actually was! Didn’t these WTCHR cameras have the ability to detect emotions and lies? Maybe he just got lucky and these two guards were a bit less competent than the other IRIS staff members. But even if that was true, they were almost definitely faster than him. He glanced over his shoulder—yep, they were gaining on him!

He turned back around and pushed himself to run faster, slamming through the double doors. As soon as he was through he spun around and examined them from this side. They were equipped with a deadbolt. Perfect! He slid it closed just in time for the two guards to slam into it. That should buy him some time.

This area was pretty different from the cell block he was just in. The walls and floor were made out of some sort of smooth white material. The doors were still metal, but they looked slightly different, with plaques on the front that had seemingly random numbers and letters engraved on them. The hallway continued for a short distance before ending in a pair of elevator doors.

Marvin’s eyes darted around. What could he do in here?! He needed to find where his friends were. Anti and Jackie were probably in that same cell block he was just in. He couldn’t go back now that he’d locked the door; there would probably be more guards coming from that direction. No, he had to find where JJ and Schneep were. He’d been thinking about it, and they had to be somewhere else. Schneep was one of IRIS’s experiments and JJ could be considered an anomaly, they would want both of them under tighter security than the normal humans. Maybe they were on a different floor?

He hurried down the hallway towards the elevator, trying to press the call button. But there was no sign that it was activated. It didn’t light up or ding or anything. He pressed it a couple more times, just in case, but nothing. Maybe it needed some sort of key?

Bang bang bang! Marvin spun around and saw the double doors shaking as something heavy hit it from the other side. His eyes widened. He couldn’t wait for the elevator! He had to—

What was that?

One of the doors lining the hallway opened up, and someone walked out. But... it was hard to describe it. He couldn’t quite make out the features of who opened the door. It was almost like... they were made of glass, the faintest warp in the air in the vaguest shape of a person. Marvin stared at it for a few seconds, but the strange almost-person vanished as soon as they went into the hallway. So Marvin instead rushed towards it, peering into the room beyond.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of the same smooth white material. But unlike the hallway outside, which was brightly lit by fluorescent lights, the room was dim. There was a circular ring light embedded in the center of the ceiling, giving off a faint blue glow, but that still left the corners in shadow. Beneath the ring light was a circular platform, and on top of that circular platform... was something strange indeed. Two small objects hovered in midair, about a foot above the surface of the platform, blue and orange light swirling around them, creating a spiral that... hurt Marvin’s head to look at. He knew it was familiar... but he didn’t know where he’d seen it before.

He closed the door of the room behind him and walked towards the platform. The running was starting to catch up to him, and he could feel the fatigue pulling at him, but it wasn’t enough to slow him down quite yet. The two hovering objects were floating at chest-height for him, rotating around each other in a lazy orbit. The strange, spiraling light was coming from both of them at the same time, strands that tie together into a larger pattern. It’s mesmerizing to look at. And maddening. Where has he seen this?!

It only took him a few seconds to walk right up to the platform. He squinted through the light, looking at the two hovering objects. They’re awfully... flat? Wait a second...

“What the fuck?!” Marvin’s eyes widened. These were his cards!

Or, not all of them. Only two. The two jokers in the deck, the cards with the strange rune on the back that he hadn’t been able to identify yet. They were floating in midair, going around and around in an endless circle, emitting this strange, spiraling light. Huh. The rune on their backs... They were an angled spiral, with an X on top. Could that be... related?

Had IRIS used these to cast some sort of spell?

No, there was no way. Marvin didn’t even know all the possible combinations for his cards. IRIS couldn’t know them when he didn’t. Maybe they... stumbled across one? While messing around with them? But what could this spell be doing? The cards had never started hovering or emitting light before! And these two were the only cards in the room, where were the rest of them? What possible spell could be cast with just these two runes?

After a moment’s hesitation, Marvin reached out to the cards, stopping just before he put his hands into the light. It wasn’t emitting any heat. Nor any cold. He couldn’t feel any strange vibrations or anything. He pulled his hand back and patted himself down. There wasn’t anything on him that he could toss into the spiral of light to test if it was safe. IRIS had apparently left his jacket and hat in the hospital after they’d abducted him. But he still had his vest.

He glanced back at the door, listening. Nobody was coming. Or at least, nobody that he could hear. He quickly unbuttoned his vest and pulled it off. He held it by the collar and dangled it over the spiraling light. Slowly, he lowered it into the swirling glow caused by the cards. Lower... lower... lower... The cloth of the vest hit one of the cards, but the card’s orbit was unaffected. It just pushed past the vest. And when the other one followed, it pushed past too, knocking the vest to the side. Marvin pulled the vest out again, looking it over. Seemed no worse for wear.

That probably meant he could touch the cards himself, right? He still wasn’t sure, but he was running out of time. The guards would be coming at any moment. And these were his cards! He had to get them back!

He hesitated for one moment more, then reached out, intending to grab one—

The spiral of light flared, and he stumbled back. Suddenly, it was all he could see, taking up the entirety of his vision no matter where he turned his head. It was even there when he closed his eyes! “H-hey!” he shouted, reaching forward again to try and disrupt the card formation—maybe if he did that, this would stop—

And then the spiral was gone.

Marvin gasped, suddenly breathing heavily, eyes darting around the room. Nothing had changed in here. The room was empty except for the platform, and the cards continued to orbit around each other, that same pattern of light coming from them, completely undisturbed by Marvin’s interference.

...but that didn’t mean that everything was the same. He patted himself down, checking for any differences, but he felt alright. He listened for noise coming from elsewhere in the facility, but couldn’t hear anything. Well... even so, he probably shouldn’t risk touching the cards again. He would need to come back with something that could knock them out of their orbit. Why did he drop that gun he grabbed from the guard?! That could have come in handy! If not for this, then for eventually fending off the guards!

Well it was too late now. There wasn’t anything helpful in this room besides the cards. He had to leave and figure out something else before the guards cornered him in here. He turned and headed back to the door, starting to push it open—

It was locked.

Frowning, Marvin looked down at the door. There was a little switch under the handle. Next to it was a tiny LED screen with “Lock” displayed on it in red letters. He flipped the switch and the screen switched to reading “Open” in green. Then he tested the door again. It opened easily this time, and he poked his head out into the hallway—

Someone was there.

Marvin ducked his head back, but—the person wasn’t a guard. And they weren’t wearing a white coat. He quickly leaned back out to get a better look at them...

...

...what?

This is... impossible.

That figure... that’s him.

Marvin walked out into a hallway, but after only a few steps, the other version of him faded away, the color draining from his body as he became a mere warping in the air and then disappeared. That same warping effect that he’d seen from the person who stepped out of the room in the first place—

Then, suddenly, a handful of black-wearing guards appeared around him. They didn’t teleport over here in a flash or puff of smoke, he didn’t blink and hear a snap or other sound, they were just there. Not even looking at him! They were heading for the elevator. He gasped, and immediately all the guards swiveled towards him, unmistakable surprise on their faces. And then there was a yell from behind him. Marvin spun around, just in time to get tackled by another one of the guards—from inside the room! He cried out in surprise, which quickly turned to a cry of pain as the back of his head hit the floor.

“Clever, getting into there while it was locked,” one of the guards said. “But not as clever coming out while we were here. Did you think you could sneak past?”

“Sir, he wasn’t in the room at all!” said the guard pinning him.

“He wasn’t? Then where did he come from?”

“I don’t know sir! He just appeared!”

Marvin blinked away the pain and started to struggle, but two other guards rushed over and stopped him, holding his arms securely as they lifted him up, sandwiching him between their tight grips. The one who the other called ‘sir’ rushed over to stand directly in front of him. “How did you appear?” They demanded. “And how did you get into the room in the first place? You don’t have the card for the lock!”

“I-I don’—I don’ know, someone—someone walked out—” Marvin stammered.

“Who?!”

“I don’ know! It—It wasn’ really a person, it was—I don’ know.”

The guard’s eyes narrowed. “And how did you suddenly appear?”

“I don’ know!” Marvin repeated insistently. “T’me it looked like you all appeared out of thin air!”

The guards all exchanged glances. “Should we report this?” one of them asked.

“We’ll take him to the test room first,” the guard in charge said. “Tell the coats who come there.”

Test room?! Oh no. Oh no no no. He knew that nothing good would come of them showing up so soon after the assessment. Marvin tried to push the guards away, but they weren’t phased at all. They quickly began walking, and he soon lost his footing, ending up being dragged along the halls.

They went through the double-doors back into the cell block area, and from there continued down a twisting pattern. Right, left, right, right—until they reached a section with pale blue walls. They then opened up another set of double doors, these ones on the side of the hall instead of at the end, and pulled him inside—

“Marvin!”

“Anti?!” Marvin’s eyes widened as he took in the room. The tables full of strange equipment—the mysterious item beneath a sheet—and Anti, strapped down to a chair. “Wh-what did they do to you?!”

“Nothing—yet. I think they were waiting for you.” Anti struggled against the leather straps. As the guards dragged Marvin closer, he could see red marks on Anti’s wrists where he’d been pulling at the restraints. He must have been doing that for a while.

“Are you okay?” Marvin asked.

“Yeah. As much as I fucking can be. You?”

“The same. But I t’ink somet’ing very strange jus’ happened to me...”

“What?!” Anti’s eyes narrowed. “What did they do to you?!”

“I don’ t’ink it was them, actually... or, uh... not... intentionally? It might’ve been a side effect of somet’ing else they were doin’.”

While they talked, one of the guards walked over to the corner of the room, and a section of the wall slid open. They reached inside and grabbed another chair with restraints, carrying it across the ground and putting it next to the one Anti was tied to. Marvin immediately knew that was meant for him. He tried to fight against the guards, but they were much stronger than him now that he didn’t have the element of surprise on his side. They easily forced him into the chair and strapped him down.

Anti paused in his struggles, breathing heavily. Marvin couldn’t look at him directly, with his head restrained, but he could see him out of the corner of his eyes, slumping in the restraints. “Okay, we might not have much time,” Anti said. “Look, Jackie is here. He said that we’re probably on the surface level of one of their compounds, maybe a higher floor, but he’s not sure which compound.”

“I t’ink I heard you guys shoutin’ near my cell not too long ago,” Marvin said.

“Yes! W-we were moved there!” Anti tried to nod, but couldn’t quite manage it. “So we’re all in the same area. JJ and Schneep are somewhere else. H-have these guys done anything to you? Besides whatever just happened to you?”

“Um—one of them asked me some questions,” Marvin said. Another bit of the wall had slid open, and some people in white coats were coming out, starting to use the equipment on the tables. “Some sort of assessment t’ing.”

“The Dr. Hopkins Assessment?” Anti asked.

“Yes. They did t’at to you, too?”

“The last time I was here, yes. They did it twice, th-the second one fucked with my head s-somehow—” Anti took a deep, shuddering breath. “And what was the strange shit that just happened to you?”

“W-well, I tried to get away—”

“How far did you get?!” Anti asked urgently.

“Not too far. I went t’rough some doors at the end of the hall and found a white area with a lift and a bunch of metal doors. Then—I-I don’ know what happened, but one of the doors linin’ the hall opened up, and I went inside, and t’ere were two of my cards t’ere, floatin’ and glowing wit’ t’is strange spiral light t’at—I know I’ve seen before—a-and then I touched them and the spiral was in my eyes for a few seconds, a-and t’en I left the room and—and t’ere was myself out in the hall, but the other me disappeared and... and t’ese guards... appeared...” Marvin trailed off as he noticed something. Most of the people in white coats had stopped messing with the equipment and were now staring at him. Listening.

“That’s fucking weird,” Anti muttered. “I... I-I don’t know what that could’ve been. Sorry.”

“It’s alrigh’,” Marvin said softly. “I wouldn’ expect you to know.”

The people in white coats—scientists, or whatever—slowly returned their attention to their equipment.

“You think it could help us get out of here?” Anti whispered. “If you had your cards?”

“Def’nitely,” Marvin agreed.

Anti pulled at the restraints some more, wincing slightly. “I’m guessing that whatever you just saw isn’t a normal thing they do?”

“I don’ know. I’ve forgotten so much abou’ them. But... I know I’ve seen t’at spiral. And not jus’ in Jems’ crystal ball. I saw it before then. And I know it’s important.” Marvin sighed. “I jus’ don’ remember why.”

The machines on the tables began to hum. The scientists had tablets and clipboards with them, a variety of note-taking utensils. One of them gestured at a guard, who then walked over to the strange item on the central table and quickly pulled the sheet off before retreating. The scientists and other guards quickly backed away as well, all of them staying on the other side of the U made of tables.

The item on the table was a stone tablet, like something early civilizations used to keep records. It was propped up on some sort of plastic display thing, keeping it at a diagonal. There were some sort of carvings on its surface, but even when Marvin squinted at it, he couldn’t make out what they were. They weren’t sitting that far away... why couldn’t he understand what the carvings were?

“In five,” one of the scientists said. “Four...”

“Don’t worry, Marvin,” Anti whispered.

“Three...”

“I’m right next to you.”

“Two...”

Marvin swallowed a lump in his throat. “T’ank you.”

“One... and go.”

The humming increased. Marvin tensed up, waiting for something to happen. He noticed Anti similarly tensing next to him. But... there was nothing. Nothing visible, at least. Marvin’s eyes darted around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t like all the scientists looking at them. But he was more worried about whatever the fuck was going to happen to him.

When his head started to swim, he didn’t immediately think it was because of all this. He thought it was from the stress. But as the dizzy feeling increased, quickly growing, he realized that it wasn’t normal. “A-Anti...?” he whispered. “Are you... feelin’ strange?”

“Hmm? A bit, I guess.” Anti instinctively tried to shake his head before the motion was stopped by the restraint.

“A bit?” Marvin was feeling more than ‘a bit’ strange. The heavy, blurry feeling in his head was so intense that it was hard for his eyes to focus on anything. And it was beginning to spread. There was weakness in his limbs already, but the strange feeling was making it worse. He wanted to struggle against the bonds, but all he could do was sit there limply. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw movement in Anti’s direction. So this wasn’t hitting him as bad as it was his.

“Wh-what do you fucks want to get out of this?” Anti demanded, the tremble in his voice giving away his nervousness. “Is this fun for you? You sick fucking bastards?!”

The scientists didn’t respond, and Marvin couldn’t read their faces with his vision going all wonky. He didn’t know if they were phased by Anti’s shouting.

The dizziness was starting to bring tears to his eyes. It felt like there was a heavy metal ball rolling around his head, putting pressure on the inside. His throat was clogging up with something. Some sort of... mucus, maybe? It was affecting his breathing, making it sound wet.

“M-Marvin, talk to me, h-how are you doing?” Anti asked.

Marvin didn’t answer. He tried, but all that came out were disconnected, slurred sounds. He couldn’t concentrate enough to form something coherent.

“Marvin?! Marvin!” Anti tried to turn to look at him, fighting against the leather strap. He could see tears falling down Marvin’s face, but it was hard to concentrate on that sight. That is... until the tears turned red. “M-Marvin! You’re bleeding!”

“Blndnwhhh?” Marvin mumbled, eyelids half-closed.

Anti tugged at the restraints some more. He didn’t even care that he’d already rubbed his wrists raw trying to get away before Marvin showed up. If he could just get free—If he could just get Marvin free—If he could just cause enough of a scene to maybe knock that stupid tablet away from them—Because that tablet had to be what was doing this. It and its weird fucking carvings that kept slipping out of his mind. It had to be what was messing with his head, making everything dizzy.

And that feeling, combined with the blood coming from Marvin’s eyes... It’s not identical to what Distorter did, but it was similar enough to be worrying.

“What the fuck are you guys doing to us?!” Anti blinked, fighting the dizziness that was slowly filling his mind. He had to keep concentrating! He wouldn’t be dragged down ever again!

The scientists might as well have been statues for all the response they gave.

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, tied down, feeling the effects of whatever this stone was. It was hard to keep track of time. His awareness kept fading in and out, but even when he wasn’t fully there he fought against the water drowning his thoughts. Marvin stopped responding after a while. Even though Anti kept calling to him. He wasn’t sure if Marvin was still awake... But he had to be okay. He had to be okay. If he wasn’t... if he wasn’t...

After what felt like forever, the humming of the instruments stopped, and the guards approached, unstrapping them from the chairs. Anti turned to look at Marvin fully. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was completely limp, eyes mostly-closed. One guard lifted him up and carried him out of the room. Two more grabbed Anti, pulling him along. He tried to struggle the whole time they dragged him down the hallway, but whatever that thing was really did a number on him.

But at least he noticed which cell they carried Marvin into. It was two doors down from his own. And Jackie was across from him. This was good to know.

They dumped him on the floor and locked the door behind him. He curled up, breathing slowly. Now that he was alone again, and probably would be alone for a while, he gave up on the fight and decided to just lie there for a while. Rest. Recover a bit.

They had to get out of here soon. If this was the sort of shit IRIS had planned for them, they had to escape before it wore them down.

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