Chapter Text
Random Play
The bedroom door flew open.
“Belle, wake up!” Wise yelled.
Groaning, Belle rolled over on her bed. “Five more minutes!” she shouted back.
She stuffed her pillow closer to her face and snuggled into her bundle of blankets. Unfortunately, the blankets were immediately yanked off of her. She looked up to see her brother standing at the foot of her bed.
“Belle, this is serious. I found this unlabeled tape on the counter today. It’s one of the newer models, so it can’t be that kind of tape. The security cameras don’t show anyone entering the shop. I want to ask if you know anything about it.”
“...Are you sure you didn’t forget to place all of them on their shelves?” she yawned.
“I’m confident. Unlike you, I make sure I tidy up everything before I sleep” Wise shot back.
Sitting up, Belle spoke. “We can just play it and label it ourselves. You can do this alone. Let me get a few more minutes of sleep in.”
“I’ve let you sleep for an extra hour already. This is why I tell you not to stay up too late doing commissions.”
“Fine,” she sighed.
Pulling herself out of bed, Belle slid on her slippers and stood up. “Let’s watch it here.”
“You’re not making excuses because you’re too tired to leave your room are you?”
“…”
A pause.“Alright. Go grab Eous.” Wise slid the tape into the cassette, while Belle unplugged Eous from its charging station and hugged the little bangboo.
A bright flash emitted from the television screen, and both disappeared.
“Eh nu-nah?” slurred Eous.
In an unknown theater…
CRASH!
Both halves of Phaethon crashed into a set of chairs. Belle groggily stood up and dusted herself, while Wise did the same but warily looked around.
“I assume you don’t know why you’re here either?” A voice startled the two.
“Who are you? And where are we?” He stepped in front of Belle and stared down at the unknown stranger with dark green pigtails.
The stranger in question stared back, before replying, “More innocent civilians dragged into this mess. Perfect. I assume that just like us, you were unwillingly kidnapped out of your own homes and dragged into this place?”
A black haired woman with orange streaks in her hair in a uniform shouted “Qingyi! Don’t scare them. I’m Officer 148, Zhu Yuan, leader of Public Safety’s Criminal investigation team. Don’t worry, it’s an officer’s job to ensure a civilian’s safety.”
“You’re Pubsec?” Belle glanced at Wise for a second before continuing. “Thanks for your assistance! We were just about to watch a video tape. Where are we?”
“From the looks of it, we are in someone’s personal residence. Unfortunately, this place has no doors, and the walls are pretty much indestructible.” A wolf thiren dressed in a fancy suit spoke up.
“There are others here?” Wide questioned.
A shark thiren in a school uniform glanced at him. “We’ve been here for quite a while now. I was beginning to wonder if we were kidnapped to die of boredom, but I guess we were waiting for more people.”
Sheepishly, Belle replied “I overslept today. Do you know why we are here?”
“I have the answers to your questions, including why I brought you here. But first, you’ll have to introduce yourselves.” a loud voice interjected.
Everyone looked around. “W-where did that voice come from?” stuttered another pigtailed girl in a maid uniform.
If you’re playing any tricks on us, me and my bro will crush you!” This came from a man with brown hair in a spiky hairstyle.
“Don’t worry, I mean no harm. I’ve just brought you all here to watch your future. Time is paused in the outside world while you are viewing. I have also confiscated all bangboo and potential weapons, so you can’t injure each other.” the voice continued.
“Is such a thing even possible?” This came from a short girl with red hair.
“Don’t worry about it. You should first introduce yourselves to our newest additions. I’ll start the viewing once everyone has come to a consensus.”
Everyone looked at each other, as if waiting for somebody to start.
“I guess I should go first. I’m Qingyi,” the girl from earlier spoke and pointed at the woman next to her, “this is our team leader, Zhu Yuan. We’re officials of public security.”
“I’m Belle, and the guy next to me is my brother Wise. We own a video store! You should come check it out if you have the time. We’re currently offering 40% off on our memberships. I’m not exactly sure what we have to do with your futures, but it’s nice to meet you!”
“My name’s Koleda. This is Grace, Anton, and Ben.” while pointing at the mechanic, spiky hair, and bear thiren. “I’m the president of Belobog industries. I’ll have to agree with what you just said, because unless I’ve suddenly gained an obsession with video tapes, I don’t know why our paths would ever cross.”
“Belobog? Didn’t you guys lose to Vision Corporation for the old capital metro renovation project?” a pink haired girl asked.
Koleda shot her a glare.
“Geez, lighten up a bit. So much for a rising star. I’m Nicole of the Cunning Hares. If you need anything done, me and my crew can help out” gesturing to a white haired girl and android, “as long as you don’t skimp out on the commission fee.”
“I’m Anby.” said the white haired girl.
“You can call me Billy!” cheered the android.
“M-my name is Corin!”
“Ellen.” The shark thiren commented.
“Alexandrina Sebastiane, but you may call me Rina.” said a gray haired lady in a maid outfit.
“And I’m Lycaon.” The wolf thiren uttered. “We are Victoria Housekeeping. Should you need any assistance, please contact us.”
Everyone looked at the last person who had yet to introduce themselves.
The other white haired girl in the room stared at Anby for a moment before muttering “…Soldier 11.”
“Okay then. Is everybody ready to continue?” A small pause. “Let’s get on with it then!”