---
[𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲] [𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲]
POV:
There were sounds of screaming and yelling. I could feel someone kneeling beside me, shaking me, yelling at me. Their voices were muffled as everything was ringing in my ears, and everything blurred as the seconds went by. I could faintly see several figures crowding around me before my eyes closed completely and everything went silent.
Then, the next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by a hand—furry hand?... I opened my eyes only to see a familiar character in front of me. My eyesight was still slightly blurry. As I took in the familiar figure, they looked slightly weird to me, and their skin was orange(?) and they were tall... I blinked. For a second, my eyes cleared and what I saw stunned me. I blinked my eyes again to make sure.
And sure enough, I heard the familiar cheery cartoon voice of the 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 in front of me.
"𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲!... 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱."
---
First-person POV
"Hello? Miss?.."
The tall toy dog spoke, waving his paw in front of my face as I snapped out of my thoughts.
I rubbed my eyes as I looked around before craning my neck to look at him.
And the first thing I said to him was:
"Why are you so tall?..."
Dogday blinked, as he scratched his cheek not knowing what to say.
"I don't know, ask our creators why we are so tall? This is what we looked like when we woke up and were sent to do our job."
---
I blinked my eyes awake and stood up from the bench as Dogday spoke again.
"The tour ended an hour ago, but don't worry, I'm sure your parents are up there somewhere looking for you…"
Dogday, internally nervous, reassured me while thinking:
'It has been an hour since the tour ended, and the girl might've been asleep here the whole time. Her parents are probably looking around for her… but how come I didn't hear anyone announcing about a missing child? Did she come alone?'
Dogday shook his head as he gestured to me to follow him.
"Follow me, Miss…?..uhm..Hehe I forgot to ask your name! By the way! I'm Dogday! The leader of the Smiling Critters!"
I glanced up at him, following by his side.
"[𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲].... [Name] [𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲]... Where are you taking me?"
While walking up the stairs leading to some building, I looked around amazed.
'Wow, Playcare looked so much better before the Hour of Joy. Oh right…how far along am I in the story? What date is it today?'
Dogday answered my question.
"I'm bringing you to the Head of Playcare… she might be able to help your situation since I can't go up there and accompany you," Dogday explained.
I hummed, nodding…
'Oh shit, I'll be found. Those bastard higher-ups will find out about my existence… but it will be suspicious if I don't want to meet the manager of Playcare when I'm supposedly left behind from the tour. And if I say I'm not a tourist he'll think I broke in… I'm not from this world, my face has no record in this place… they'll find it strange if they search my background… because there's nothing about me here.'
"Hello~~~!!... You're spacing out again Miss [𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲]... A penny for your thoughts?"
Dogday said, poking my forehead, looking slightly concerned at me. I looked up at him before I glanced around, noticing that we stopped in front of a big building… one that's familiar.
"oh no, it's just… I'm thinking about my parents, I got bored during the tour..so I fell asleep on the bench…"
Dogday nodded as he smiled, gesturing to me to follow him inside the building. Along the way, we passed by children waving at Dogday. Some were looking at me curiously, and others were employees.
Soon, we stopped in front of a door with a name on the door as Dogday knocked on the door: 'Stella Greybers.'
A light, gentle voice of "Come in" was heard inside the room. Dogday was the first to go inside as I hesitantly followed in suit. Behind the oak wood desk, filled with documents and papers, was a blonde woman in her mid-20s, light-skinned and green-eyed. She was wearing the same white coat those scientists usually wear.
As Stella looked up from the papers, she greeted Dogday with a smile and nod before her gaze turned to me…
---
Third-person POV:
The older woman straightened up in her seat, mustering up a gentle smile and spoke.
"Yes? Dogday, is there something you need?"
The tall canine nodded as he soon began explaining the girl's 'getting left behind' situation to Stella, as she nodded in understanding. The woman stood up from her seat as she left her desk, approaching the teen and grabbing her hands.
"You poor thing, did you feel distressed when you found out you were lost? It's a good thing that Dogday found you and brought you here immediately…"
The girl in question sweatdropped slightly, feeling weird knowing that this faceless woman in the game looked very… beautiful (Mommy.)
The girl soon snapped out of her thoughts, noticing that the tall canine and Stella were looking at her in concern. They probably thought the teen was distraught knowing that she's away from the comfort of her parents.
The [Hair color]-nett shook her head, smiling nervously as she spoke.
"i…no i wasn't that worried.. uhm…"
---
[Name] POV:
The woman's concerned expression softened up as she introduced herself, letting go of my hand.
"Stella, Stella Greybers. And you are?"
I faked a convincing shy smile, lowering my head slightly.
"[Name], [Name] [Lastname]... Nice to meet you, Miss Greybers…"
The woman's eyes lightened up; I don't know the reason why.
"aww… don't worry, deary. So why don't you stay with Dogday for a little while, while I go and inform the staff who are in charge of the tourists to find your family.."
Stella then turned to the tall canine. "I hope you don't mind taking care of Miss [Lastname] here. It might take a long time."
Dogday nodded, smiling as his tail wagged. "Of course Miss Stella, I will take very good care of Miss [Lastname]!"
And with that, Stella left the office. And it was just me and Dogday.
And Dogday broke the awkward silence. "Well then!..Why don't I show you around and meet my friends?" Dogday smiled brightly as he said it.
As I perked up before I turned to him, nodding. Feeling excited, we soon left the whole building and walked to the place where the Smiling Critters were staying together.
---
Third-person POV:
We entered a large building that the girl had never seen in the game. It seemed maybe the world adjusted because of her presence. Albeit she never played the game and only read stories and watched some walkthroughs. The underground orphanage—Playcare—looked bigger than in the game, which put her off.
'What else changed? The floor on the surface? Some toys? Or, what if I accidentally do something that will change the game...' Slightly worried that because of her being in the game, she might change something.
Walking through the colorful hallways, the noise in the room they're approaching seemed to louden up.
As Dogday turned to the girl, grinning widely, his tail wagged.
"So, are you ready to meet my friends Miss [Name]!?"
The girl relaxed at his enthusiasm… Her past worries being shoved to the back of her mind for a moment. She nodded, still smiling shyly.
"Y- yeah…uhm…you can just call me [Name]... It feels weird being called Miss…"
Dogday tilted his head, smiling brightly as he nodded. Knocking on the door, and someone inside opened it.
---
Bobby POV:
It had been 30 minutes since Dogday went off somewhere in Playcare after taking care of the tourists. While waiting for him, me and the others went back to our house. Crafty was there on the side drawing on the table with Bubba beside her, reviewing some thick book. Kickin and Hoppy were playing cards while bickering, and they were very loud. Picky was munching on some fruits in the kitchen, and Catnap… well, napping on the couch. I was sitting beside Crafty drawing with her when there was a knock on the door.
"I'll do it!"
I stood up from my seat as I ran to the front door, swinging it open. My eyes lit up.
"Dogday!.. We were waiting for you! What took you so long!"
The toy in question grinned, and his tail wagged even more as he spoke excitedly.
"Guys! I have someone I want you to meet!"
Only now did I notice the small figure behind him, as Dogday entered the house dragging the figure, which turned out to be a girl. Everyone heard his loud voice clearly, so now they were looking at him.
My eyes lit up before I squealed. The girl was so cute and huggable.
"Oh my! A new face! What's your name?!"
I pushed Dogday aside as I went to the girl, grabbing her hands. Shaking in my spot in excitement.
---
[Name] POV:
I nervously smiled at Bobby as I glanced at the other critters who were looking at me curiously.
"uh…hi… I'm [Name] [Lastname]... Nice to meet you all, I already know your names…"
Bobby squealed even more as she shook me, making me slightly dizzy.
"KYAAAAAA your voice sounds so cute!!!"
A shy, timid voice broke Bobby out of her moment.
"Uh Bobby, I think you should let her go…" Crafty, the ever-shy critter, spoke softly.
"Alright Bobby, please let Miss–[Name] go, she's getting dizzy now…" Dogday went to my side, pulling Bobby away. As my eyes were just staring up ahead. My vision was going rollercoaster before it went back to normal in a few seconds.
"thanks…." I muttered as I shook my head. Dogday grinned. "No problem [Name]!..."
The elephant critter in the room spoke. "Hello there, are you a new kid?"
I turned to Bubba, shaking my head. "Ah no… I got lost earlier…"
"So a visitor? Tourist?"
"In a way…" I nodded.
Bubba, confused for a moment, muttered to himself. "In a way?..."
The green bunny toy stood up from the matted floor as she went to me star-eyed, grabbing my hands…
'What's with everyone holding my hands?'
"What's it like out there!..? What's it like up outside the factory!..."
And there, because of that question, the others started asking me questions. Minus the Dog and Cat—Catnap, who was sleeping on the couch, was woken up by the noises. Irritated, he watched beside Dogday, who was watching me get bombarded with questions about outside left and right. He didn't stop them since I seemed to not mind his friends and looked eager to interact with everyone.
---
Third POV:
Somewhere…
"Impossible… There's no record of any family with those last names, Miss Greyber. The attendees for today are just these lists of families and no [Lastname]'s…"
"But how can that be?.. The child was found by Dogday–"
"That is strange yes, then…if there's no family looking for the girl, why not let her be–"
"Absolutely not Sawyer!.. The girl has a family outside, maybe the staff just forgot to list her parents' names..."
"That is not possible, Miss Greyber, they are very competent with their tasks. They wouldn't just give the family a ticket and forget to ask them to write their attendance."
Silence ensued in the sterile room before it was broken by a man sitting at the head table.
"Have the girl's background checked… and the cameras in Playcare… Such a mysterious occurrence… the factory and Playcare are heavily guarded by armed personnel…"
"If there's no family to claim her back… The girl is ours to deal with…"
"But leit—"
"Do you understand…Miss Greyber"
"Y- yes…sir…"