Friday, April 15th

Anna and the crew wait patiently in cushioned chairs. The waiting room of the lab is plain white, like almost every other room in the building. A plaque with Alphys's name sits on the desk, and a nice looking bear monster sits in a spinning chair. People come in and out, some monsters and some humans.

The group of friends fidget nervously, anxious for the results of the test. They are waiting on the results of the fabric to come through. Is it a part of a hat? A tie? A suit? They definitely think it is from some sort of clothing.

Alphys shuffles out of the doorway, but continues past into another part of the lab. The group of friends hold their breath, and then release it in a sigh of dissapointment. How long are these things supposed to take?

Carson pulls out a phone, and begins typing. Sans fidgits with something in his pocket, and Papyrus is working on a book of puzzles. Undyne is off wherever Alphys is, and Anna simply stares off into space, deep in thought.

She is mostly thinking about her missing friend. Where could she be? Is she ok, or hurt? Anna is bending under the wieght of all of her worry. She needs somewhere to be alone, and to think.

Anna breathes out, and stands slowly. She tugs on her shirt, and slips her phone out of her pocket.
5:30.

"I'll be right back. I just need some fresh air." Anna says.

She receives nods from her company, and swiftly exits the lab. A bench sits in the back, in a little garden. The bench is appealing, it being private and quiet.

The brush and flowers of the little garden surround her, and she takes a seat on the bench. Like promised, she pulls in a long breath of air. She lays back on the wood surface, collecting her thoughts.

They have a piece of fabric. They know it is either from a suit, a tie, or a hat. In Anna's point of view, the hat is unlikely. So that would leave the tie or the suit.

She doesn't know many people with red suits. It is still possible, but the tie seems more likely. The stiffness of the fabric suggests that it was not meant to be comfortable.

Happy with her deductive reasoning, Anna pulls out her phone and ear buds. She plugs them in, and opens her favourite song.

The upbeat tune plays, and Anna stands up. She starts to move her hips, swaying to the beat. Then she moves on to her arms, followed by the rest of her body.

Her movements match the flow of the beat, and she hops around the garden. Kicking her legs up, falling to the ground in a spin, and pumping her arms. She would very much like to be dancing with Undyne right now. They can rock eachother's styles.

The music drowns out the sounds around her, pulling her focus to it.

So, just like you, she doesn't hear the footsteps approaching her.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.

The beat ends, and the music dies away.

Crunch.

Anna stiffens, her instincts having not yet kicked in.

Too late.

A hand flies around her mouth, quickly silencing her cry for help. With almost professional one-handed movements, a damp cloth is placed on her face.

Just like you, she recognizes the danger in its toxins. But, just like you, human beings cannot struggle and hold their breath for too long.

She loses conciousness.

<¤{🍬}¤>

Carson taps his foot impatiently. The test results are still going. Anna left about fifteen minutes ago, and honestly, Carson doesn't blame her. He could use some time alone too.

But, he is too transfixed on the situation to risk missing the results.

People flood the lobby, making Carson a little nervous. He isn't a fan of big crowds. That's a lot of eyes to look at you, judging you. He shrinks back a little, staring down at his phone screen. A message pops up, one that makes him... suspicious? Confused? He cant really identify the feeling.

Anna> I'm going to head home.

Why? You might miss the lab results <Carson

Carson waits patiently, for a message that will never come. The phone was abandoned in a bush in the garden. Out of sight, it would take nothing short of a bloodhound to discover it.

Carson sighs, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He would go to her house to check on her after the results come in. Maybe she wasn't feeling well?

Or maybe she was taken, too.

Carson quickly shoves this thought aside. In a public lab, on a public street, the chances of being grabbed are pretty low. He resumes his cold staring at the door. He is growing impatient, and that usually never happens. He is rumored to have infinite amounts of patience.

He is aware that Anna doesn't really have any patience, so it isn't a surprise that she got bored. However, she has a level of integrity that just screams "I'm a good person!".

Placing his face in his hands, he is abruptly startled when he sees feet in his range of vision. Two pairs of bright yellow feet shuffle into view, with claws on the ends.

Feet he can recognize.

He jolts up, taking in the sight of an excited looking Alphys. Undyne stands behind her, a fire in her eyes that tells him something has been discovered. Something important, like, Lab tests! Carson's eyes fill with hope. Hope for his friend, and the others that have been taken but this mystery man.

"W-We have the r-r-results now!" Alphys reports enthusiastically.

"Ya Punks! Follow us!"

And with that, the whole group is up in a millisecond. All of them make their way through the lab, winding through the narrow hallways. Some doors lead into offices, some of them even classrooms. One of them appears to be a doctor's office of some sort. One of them simply held a metal table.

Finally, they pause. Alphys pulls the handle of a random door on the right side of the hall. It looks exactly like the others, only distinguishable by the contents inside. The one they enter is significantly different then the others.

Inside is some sort of machine. Carson is who you would consider a "smart Guy". But he has no idea what this machine is supposed to do. On one end is a tray, and in it a stack of papers. The papers have strings of numbers and letters. A code of some kind?

On another end is what appears to be a copy machine. Of course, it isn't a copy machine, but that's what it looks like. The piece of fabric sits in a tray over there. Several machanical arms and do-hickies surround it, all stooped and powered off.

Alphys strides over to one end, and presses a few buttons. Then she picks up the stack of papers, and scrolls through it carefully. Thankfully, instead of explaining, she summarizes it for the group.

"T-This says i-it's a t-tie!" Alphys squeaks with enthusiasm. Carson hasn't seen her this excited since she started shipping him and Kat.

Well. Now they have an answer!

Time to get their friends back.

---
Fyi, updates will be slower now that school has started. As a new freshman, I have some hard classes 😂

1st~AP World History

2nd~French 2

3rd~English Honors

4th~Biology Honors

5th~Geometry

6th~Orchastra (cello)

7th~Study Hall
(earned through summer school if you haven't seen my summer school author's notes)

But, ya. I will update as often as possible, because I just love writing. And I don't want to let you guys down.

1) Are you enjoying the story?

2) What are your theories?

3) Who is your favourite character?

4) Do you want me to publish my chapter planner at the end of the story? Just a fun idea 😂.

I will be including Kat a lot more after this, what I am calling, "The Mystery Arc". All of the arcs are named, I just can't tell you, so I don't spoil it 😂

But... I will give you this. It is in the next Arc:

"Daisy, will you please come out for dinner?"

"...no."

"Look, I know you're sad, and you feel betrayed, but you need to move on."

"..."

"Alright, just don't starve in there, ok? Three days straight isn't healthy."

"..."

I want to see what you come up with, so have at it!

And remember! Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, Buy gold,
BYE!