AP TOTAL:
Unconfirmed for Amity
After 15 years in the lab, those by Amity’s side start to crack.
Characters: Amity, Hollyhock, Qing’e
Warnings: Self destructive behavior
Wordcount: 1,066
Vibe: [amity voice] haha, this sucks man
iforgot to upload this oops. been feeling funky (understatement) so i think that sort of. reflects here. idk ill get it together eventually
poor amity was just 16 when this all went down, and considering she’d lived her entire life knowing only these two… poor amity :{
also reading this in retrospect it makes hollyhock and qing’e sound incredibly divorced. love loses i guess
“Haven’t you ever been… curious, Amity?”
“About what?”
“You’ve spent your entire life here…” the doctor huffed.
“I thought about it for too long, and starting panicking again.”
“I mean… I’ve got you and Ms. Hollyhock, haven’t I? Please don’t panic, Ms. Huo… I’m alright!”
“…It’s hard to take your word for it.”
Sixteen years.
Sixteen fucking years.
With a whir, the monitor next to doctor Huo came alight in response to her frustrated slam on the desk.
“Doctor Huo? Doctor Huo, are you there?”
The soft voice from the computer belonged to Hollyhock – though the doctor had known her better in her android form prior to the expedition, it was just her voice and visage that was left inhabiting the computer systems of the bunker.
There was a pause from doctor Huo.
“Why should I give a thought out answer, when I know you can see me anyways?”
“You’ve been acting irritable all week. Amity is worried about you.”
“I’m worried about me!!” Huo shouted, lashing out suddenly.
“The ultimatum fucking passed Holly, they’re not coming back for us. We’re going to die in here.”
“Huo, calm down…! I’m sure there’s-”
Hollyhock was unable to finish her sentence, as Huo quickly moved to shut off the monitor that Hollyhock was facing her in.
“…Any luck?”
Amity’s voice was worried, lacking confidence from seeing the way Hollyhock looked upon hopping to the monitor that Amity kept by her bed.
“No… it’s strange, she’s always had a sort of… ‘edge’ to her, but nothing this severe before…” Hollyhock sighed in reply.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
“Mm…” Amity mumbled.
“Holly… is that… really the case?”
“Excuse me…?”
“Earlier… Ms. Huo was ranting on about ‘the outside’… but she just kept spiralling herself into more anger…” Amity explained.
“I… I don’t think she was angry at me. I think she was just angry at herself.”
“The outside… you mean…”
“Outside of this lab, yeah.” Amity nodded.
“Personally I… never really thought about it too hard. The only bits and pieces I’ve seen are from the movies we’ve watched together. I just sort of… accepted it was too out of reach for right now. But…”
“But what?”
“Ms. Huo… she mentioned an ‘ultimatum’… that ‘they’re not coming back’… Holly, what’s really going on?”
There was a pause from Hollyhock’s end, an uncomfortably long one.
She felt she had to word things carefully, but… wasn’t quite sure if Amity’s knowledge was already past the point of no return already.
Deep breath in.
“When… everyone arrived here, we were given a mission.”
“Yeah, I feel like I got that part down. The… important machine, right?”
“Mhm. But, uhm, doctor Huo and your parents made an ultimatum with their boss. That if they weren’t able to reach a successful research conclusion in 15 years… they’d be safely returned home.”
Amity stopped to count mentally for a second.
Until she realized.
“Ah…” Amity mumbled.
“They… should have come by now, shouldn’t they?”
“Correct…” Hollyhock nodded.
“That’s what doctor Huo is so upset about.”
“I mean… can’t we just go out and trek back ourselves?” Amity asked, cocking her head.
“I never really understood why we couldn’t leave, anyways. Saying it’s vaguely ‘dangerous’ doesn’t mean much.”
Hollyhock sighed and shook her head.
“There’s a number of factors, Amity. Even with proper equipment to survive the divine energy that poisons the very soul, it’d be hard to last long with the dangerous beasts out there.”
“I see…” Amity mumbled.
“I guess… it must mean a lot to Ms. Huo. This place is home for me… but for her, it must feel like some kind of prison.”
“You’re… correct. She hasn’t been handling the cut of communication very well. There’s only so much I can do to boost her morale.”
“I’m glad you’re at least trying, Holly.” Amity sighed, followed by a large yawn as she got comfier in her bed.
“Maybe… tomorrow I’ll… try and be helpful…”
“And I’ll try and assist as best as I can. Goodnight, Amity.”
Amity later awoke abruptly to the sound of shouting.
She tried to summon Hollyhock to ask her what was going on, but the monitor remained black. Though, as Amity picked up on more of the shouting, she could see why.
It was doctor Huo and Hollyhock fighting.
“There’s nothing you can do to fuckin’ stop me, so shut up before I smash that screen!!”
“Huo, you’re going to die out there!!”
“And? How is that better than losing my mind and rotting away in here? I’d rather die trying than live the rest of my life in this hell.”
“Please, please Huo… I’m sure there has to be a way, I just…”
“There IS no way, Hollyhock. I’m sure if you beg any more on Amity’s behalf, they’ll unplug you for good.”
“Qing’e, please…”
“It should have been evident from the moment the first of us dropped dead… that we were expendable to them. That this stupid bunker lab mission was more of US being labrats for THEM.”
At this point, Amity had crept over from her bed, to peek over through the doorframe leading to the main area of the lab – where doctor Huo was romping about and gathering various supplies in a messy, frustrated manner.
“I’m going back to Megalopolis, and I’m going to give everyone there a piece of my fuckin’ mind, Holly.” the doctor snarled.
“That includes you.”
“Doctor, you—”
Hollyhocks words were cut off, as Amity lost her balance from watching too intently – and stumbled into doctor Huo and Hollyhock’s view.
“For fuck’s sake…” the doctor groaned.
“Amity. How much of that did you hear.”
Amity was nervous, and kept silent.
“How much, Amity.”
Huo’s voice was much sharper this time.
“Why are you leaving, Ms. Huo?” Amity asked, her usually upbeat tone replaced by one of fear.
The doctor took a deep breath in and out, pausing.
“I can’t deal with this shit!” she exclaimed, slamming her bag of supplies to the ground and abruptly storming off.
Hollyhock tried to stop her, but was ultimately unable to do much without a physical presence.
Amity watched, wide-eyed as doctor Huo angrily entered the exit airlock of the lab – seeming to have forgotten her supplies and equipment in her upset haze.
“I’m sure we’ll meet again in hell, doctor Hollyhock.”
With that, that airlock closed,
and Amity was alone.
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