Both of you sit in silence for a few minutes as you mull things over. It’s comfortable, even with the big empty room and the giant pit in the center. After a bit of quiet, you can’t help but make your doll walk over and peek around Monty’s backpack, getting a shaky giggle from the larger TCP as you make it wave at them. Monty makes Mint wave back, and it doesn’t take much for the two of you to make the dolls wiggle around and play together. You don’t really know what you’re doing, but it’s...fun. It’s genuinely fun, and you think you get Monty’s deal now.

Monty nods before you can finish, and scoots their backpack to their feet to give you room. You clamber up into their lap, settling into a hug. Their body is cold and clammy even with a jumpsuit on, and shakes slightly...it’s frankly not the most pleasant feeling, but you can’t say you mind. They hold you carefully, and it’s hard to believe you were ever scared of them.

You shift into a comfortable position, and almost drop the skill note wadded up into your hand. 

You cling on as they reach over to rifle through their bag, and papers are swapped and read.

You now know about COMBAT BASICS, COOKING, and REPAIR. Knowing about cooking in particular reveals some interesting details...you are made of chocolate, a food commonly seen as a snack or dessert. Huh. Kind of like ice cream. Not sure how to feel about that.

They trail off, something clearly still bothering them.

They pat your back carefully, their cold hand humongous yet gentle. 

The intercom comes to life, startling the hell out of both of you.

Two doors on opposite sides of the ring open up. 

Monty is frozen stiff, and you swear you can feel their fear.

 

You aren’t really sure what to say to that. Monty’s your friend now, right? You...don’t want to forget about a friend.

But...right now their comfort is important. You’re here to help other people, after all.

You reach over and squeeze their hand, the larger TCP squeezing yours back.

They brighten up immediately.

 

They lower their head slightly, clearly touched by your words.

They give you one last hug, and you hop off of their lap, carrying your new little friend with you. 

They’re visibly reluctant as they get up to leave, hauling their backpack over their shoulder and giving you a sad wave.

You walk back to your room, feeling both heavier and lighter than when you left. 

 

You sit down on your bed and reach for your journal, not wanting to forget your doodle idea. Drawing Sky and Mint comes easily, though you aren’t exactly good at it yet. Looks like that’s a completely different skill.

Finishing it makes you happy, though. You can’t wait to show it to Monty when you meet again.

Time to figure out your next reward. You bust open that shopping catalogue and start flipping through pages. 

The first section is labelled “Electronics”, and seems to have all kinds of weird things your mind calls “devices”. 

Listed on these pages are:

-a mobile phone. It boasts a complimentary phone plan, which you don’t know anything about. It also says it comes with 12 ringtones, a camera, and something called a MessiRoom app. None of this makes any sense to you, but okay.
-a laptop computer. This one has a ton of features listed, and you can barely keep track of all the new jargon. It says it has a battery life of 24 hours- a whole day, apparently! You’re pretty sure that’s supposed to be impressive. It also says that it comes with a bunch of programs included, including something called “pinball”. 
-a videogame console. This one lists having motion controls and comes with some kind of sports game. Sports is a fun word...no idea what it means, though. Something something “pressure sensitivity,” whatever that is. Comes with one controller. It keeps talking about how fun it is, so that’s promising?
-an internet router. It says it’s easy to set up and has a wide signal range. There’s something noting that it should work with all devices with something called “wifi” enabled- looking at the previous three listings confirms that they all have it. Maybe you should consider this if you’re picking up any of them?

This section makes your head hurt. 



You flip around a bit more, stopping when you see a section labelled “Comfort”. There’s dolls and other toys in here!

Listed on these pages are: 

-a jar of slime, marketed as something called a “stim toy”. 
-a weighted blanket- this one you can actually understand, considering your bed has one of those. Still, weird that it has...weights, in it? You hope it’s not too heavy.
-a squishy plush, shaped like a dab type plush. What’s a dab? Either way, this toy sure has long arms, kind of like Monty. Could be a companion for Sky? You know Monty would probably like to see it.
-a tangle toy- this one has really fun colors! You have no idea what it does, but it’s apparently calming to play with.

At least this part’s easier to understand than the electronics. 

These are all pretty neat, between the electronics and the comfort stuff...you don’t have to stick to what’s here, considering these sections have a lot of pages each, but this feels like a good starting point. 

You can’t seem to get your eyes off that laptop. It has so many features...and that weird squishy thing on the bottom looks really fun to touch. 

You press the intercom button.

There’s less of a thunk this time and more of a loud sliding noise, as if they were more careful sending your prize tumbling down.

Inside the chute is a big box, which you can just barely squeeze out of the opening. Weirdly enough, you swear the chute got bigger on the inside to accommodate. You shake off thinking about it too hard, dust the confetti off, and open your prize up.

Inside is a laptop and charger. You have no idea what a charger is, but it seems important…

Opening the manual for the laptop sheds some more light on the subject, and you tap the wall next to your bed three times. Part of the wall slides away and reveals a power outlet, just like that. Plugging in the charger takes a bit of force, but you manage to get it in and charging.

You get busy reading the manual for your device as you wait, your head hurting a bit with all of the new knowledge...but it’s pretty cool, too. All of these words are fresh and mysterious to you, but there’s kind of a rush from getting something so...complex. It makes you curious and eager for more.

 

You can’t help but feel a bit excited as your laptop finally boots up, making a little jingle. The bottom half of the computer is covered in what your manual calls a doughboard, a universal input device for the laptop. You flick a latch on the side and it puffs out, ready to be kneaded and squished around.

Immediately, you’re in love with the thing. It feels amazing to use, and you spend a good minute or two shoving the doughboard around to make things pop up.

There’s a couple programs already installed, looks like...you check your manual.

It’s kind of overwhelming, but in a fun way. There’s so much to do on this thing!

Before you can click on anything though, the intercom makes its usual noise.

As if that weren’t enough to process, the door to your room opens up.

Oh god, so much to do.

 

You press the button.

After a few moments, the sound of something falling down the chute comes through, and you open it to another box. Inside is the router.

 
Oh god, the manual for this one is way worse. 

  

You don’t know how long it takes you to set this damn thing up, but it practically drives you nuts by the end of it. Finally, you get it going, with all the lights on the way they should be. Everything checks out…

 

You scoot to your laptop, flip through the manual for that to get an idea of where the whole...wifi menu is, and find it. Your network is visible, as well as...some other locked one named…”gamers paradise”? Huh. Guess someone else had the same idea as you.

You go to set up MessiRoom, and are prompted with a pretty barren looking chat window. Your manual says that this interface can be customized, but you’re not going to mess around with that right now.

It’s prompting you for a username input, though. Gotta think of something for that so that you have something to give people- but you should probably head out after.

You settle on the username [SEA_AND_SKY]- it seems to feel...resonant, in your head, and it involves your cute new plush friend. 

...You hope Monty will like it.

You close the laptop after setting the program up, making sure everything is stashed on your bed- especially Sky. You even tuck the doll in for good measure, giving it a little pat.

Time to go.

You step out into the next trial chamber, and are immediately overwhelmed. You’re on a pillar, but there’s others all around you, and by the look of it, water surrounding them...after a steep, scary drop.

The door closes behind you before you can back out.

A familiar voice calls out to you, an equally familiar face peeking over the edge of a far pillar, way above your head. 

Atop another pillar, between See and Suzanne, a less familiar TCP stands up. They seem to be wearing a heavy duty belt covered in...pouches?

From the sound of it, they'd been sitting there a while.

Suzanne startles, seemingly not having noticed the other TCP come in- too focused on Max, you figure. 

They look almost like they're posing a bit.

TeeVee steps closer to the edge of the pillar they're on, they sound very confident. Suzanne looks a bit on edge, glancing over at you nervously.

Looks like she wants you to answer first.