Chapter Text
Everybody in that warehouse was downright miserable. And Ricky could tell easily.
Even Jane Doe, who usually looked indifferent, was frowning slightly. Constance was comforting her, but she looked worse for wear herself. Though, Ricky couldn't say the same for himself. Unlike the others, Ricky actually enjoyed this realm. He could walk and talk freely, and it was like he was actually Ricky for once in his life. Or, not life, he was dead, after all.
But seeing the somber expressions taking place on everybody in the room? That would not slide. So, Ricky had to ponder what he could do about it.
His back hit the backroom door as he slid down, putting his face in his hands as he thought. What could he possibly do to help them? Ricky felt as useless as he was in the real world. He sighed, letting his hands hit the floor next to him. He felt angry. Really angry; he wasn't the only one, apparently. Ocean and Mischa were fighting, and Noel was staring at Mischa with a look that Ricky couldn't place. Jane and Constance were sitting next to each other, though Jane seemed out of it. It didn't look like Ricky was needed, after all.
Like always. Like he would be, no matter- ow.
Ricky let out a hiss of pain as his head hit the doorknob, and he pushed off the door. Why did I stand up? Ricky thought, breaking his earlier looping thoughts. That's when he realized he was facing Karnak, and a thought occurred to him. What if he tried repairing Karnak? He didn't really have anything better to do, so he approached the machine. His eyes followed the winding wires that emerged from the back of the machine, and after a moment, a piece of fur distracted Ricky from his focus. Virgil. He was lying on his side, and as Ricky prodded him with his shoe, it didn't take a genius to assume that the animal was dead.
Kicking away the rat, Ricky crouched down toward the wire. His hands reached out to grab the wires, when a pair of footsteps distracted him. A voice rang out quietly above Ricky, and he quivered slightly. "What are you doing?"
It took all of his strength to look up, and saw two voids staring back. Jane tilted her head curiously, leaning down. Ricky cleared his throat. "I'm... just trying something." He concluded, avoiding eye contact. Jane only looked more confused at this. Constance appeared behind Jane. Ocean followed Constance, her mouth opened to speak (as always) when another voice cut through. "You can't just be that vague, Ricky." Noel stepped next to Constance, crossing his arms. Mischa watched the group curiously from afar, before sitting up from the ground.
The sudden wave of people next to Ricky made him nervous, and Ricky stared back into the wires in his hands that were now shaking. He carefully weaved the different wires into one another, working with surgical precision. This only interested the others more, and everyone realized what Ricky was doing. Everyone besides Jane, who looked utterly lost at this point.
There was only one last wire left, and everyone was beaming with anticipation. Ricky could feel the weight of five stares, and silently prayed that he would get it right, that they could go back home. He took the tiny wires, and held his breath as he tied them between his fingers.
Lights, noises, anything. The group expected something to happen. Even a sign that Ricky's work had meant anything would be revolutionary. But, instead, they were met with silence. After a moment, Ricky dropped the wire in defeat, the sudden lack of weight in his hands feeling heavier than the wire. Mischa sighed angrily and rubbed a hand against his face, like he was holding back an outburst. Noel shifted slightly closer to Mischa. Ocean muttered 'of course' as she crossed her arms and strode back towards the crates in the corner. Ricky avoided the other's gaze as he awkwardly stood up and back toward the door.
The group had been met with defeat one too many times, and Ricky felt tired of it. He stared at the ceiling, and imagined being in Zolar. He really felt like he had before, and it made his mood worse. He wasn't sure how long he had been out for, because a voice broke through his thoughts.
"That's it. We need to talk about this." Ocean called out, walking toward the middle of the room. Noel just scoffed. "You just have to make yourself center of attention, huh?"
Ocean shot Noel a deadly glare, before clearing her throat and continuing. "We can't just pretend we're not in purgatory. If we want a chance at leaving, we need to figure it out. Together." Mischa opened his mouth, but Ocean spoke before him. "And don't pretend it's not a big deal. I saw how you guys looked when Ricky tried to fix Karnak."
That left everyone silent, before Constance stood up, next to Ocean. Ocean smiled gratefully at Constance. Jane staggered after Constance, only interested in her for the most part. Constance shivered slightly, but didn't seem to be as affected as any of the others would be. A half-circle was formed, and Ricky decided to stand next to Jane. She turned her head slowly toward Ricky, blinking. Ricky gave her a nervous smile.
Noel sighed before gingerly standing up and stopping next to Ricky, looking uncomfortable. Mischa kept his eyes trained on Noel, before standing up and next to Noel. He shifted away from Ocean, and she just gave him a look before speaking up. "Do any of you have ideas on what we should be doing?"
Silence enveloped the group for a moment, before Constance raised her hand. Ocean nodded her head toward Constance, and she sighed before speaking up. "Maybe we should try to get comfortable. We're probably going to be here for a while..." Everyone nodded in agreement, nobody had any concerns about that. Then, Noel piped up. "We should find a way to leave."
"Good idea, поет. But how do we do the escape?" Mischa asked, looking around the group for answers. Ricky took notice of Noel's slight relaxation when Mischa called him by the nickname.
"Maybe... there's a door somewhere? None of us really looked around the back room." Constance suggested, but Noel looked skeptical. "Wouldn't Karnak let us know if there was an escape back there?" Constance sighed as she nodded, looking deep in thought suddenly. "What if we try to repair Karnak better? There might be a repair kit." Jane spoke up, but Mischa retorted. "Ricky already tried to fix wires. It will not work."
Theories, and debates filled the air all at once. Some were plausible, but some were a desperate will. It was like screaming into the void. And Ricky could barely take it. While Ricky was the most imaginative boy in town and could easily share a white lie of a theory, he of all people knew that sometimes, you had to accept the hard truth. A memory suddenly flashed behind his eyelids.
A doctor walking into the room, and telling Ricky's mother to sit down. The news being shared. "Soon, your son will be unable to walk." The shock that appeared on his mother's face.
His mother's face.
A face he'll never see again. And that was really hard for Ricky to imagine. But still, he knew that he would never see her again. So why couldn't the others? Why couldn't they realize that they were going to be stuck here? Ricky's head tilted toward the crowd, and somehow, while being the quietest in the room, his voice caught everyone's attention. Words spilled out of Ricky like a water bottle that had overflowed.
"What if we just can't escape?"
The words echoed in the sudden silence that enveloped the warehouse. Everybody turned their heads to Ricky in unison, all looking equally shocked at Ricky's outburst. Though, nobody spoke up against him. A sharp inhale sounded out, and after a moment of silence, Ocean broke it. "Well. I suppose that's that." Then, she turned on her heel. Just like that. And the room fell into silence yet again.