Despite Theodore's injury, he recovered in the hospital and returned to Playcare a few days later. However, his rebellious activity continued, pushing the boundaries of what he could get away with.

He had always been different from the others. Even before Playcare, he had never been one to follow rules blindly.

There was something in him-a fire, a defiance-that made him stand apart.

He never liked the way things were run here, the way the adults looked at them like experiments rather than children.

After his injury, that resentment only deepened. Lying in that hospital bed, he had time to think, to reflect.

Theo became bolder, sneaking into restricted areas, stealing scraps of information whenever he could.

He had overheard snippets of conversations, noticed strange symbols on some of the lab equipment, and even managed to snatch a keycard from one of the distracted Playcare workers.

He was getting closer to something-something big. He didn't know exactly what, but he felt it in his bones. The closer he got, the more he realized just how twisted everything was.

There was one person he wished he could talk to about all of this-Doctor Yaz. Out of everyone, she was the only one who seemed different, like she didn't belong here any more than he did.

He had caught glimpses of her in the labs, always surrounded by scientists, always focused on something just out of reach.

Had she figured things out already? Did she know what was really happening here? Or was she just another cog in the machine, playing her part without realizing the full scope of it all?

If he could just get to her-talk to her-maybe they could find a way out of this nightmare together. Maybe she had seen something he hadn't. Maybe she could help him.

Then came the night he got caught.

He had been creeping through one of the lower hallways, heart pounding, keycard gripped tightly in his hand.

The door he had chosen to unlock wasn't just any door-it was a storage room filled with half-finished toy bodies, scattered blueprints, and something that looked like a containment chamber.

The air was thick with the scent of metal and something else-something rotten. His stomach twisted, but he forced himself forward, rummaging through the mess, desperate for answers.

But he wasn't alone.

A sharp metallic sound echoed behind him. He barely had time to react before a blinding light flooded the room, and a distorted voice crackled through the intercom.

"Unauthorized presence detected. Security measures engaged."

Panic surged through Theo as the floor beneath him vibrated, shifting slightly as if something was coming.

He turned, only to see figures emerging from the shadows-Playcare enforcers, their cold, unfeeling eyes locking onto him. He tried to run, but a heavy, mechanical grip seized his wrist, yanking him back with impossible strength.

Struggling, Theo gritted his teeth. He had gotten so close. But he had made a mistake. And now, he would face the consequences.

"Doctor Ya-" he was knocked out before he could finish what he said.

---

Yazmina, meanwhile, spent an entire week in the laboratory, oblivious to the rapid transformation process the children underwent to become toys.

She didn't know if it was connected to her crossing over, but a nagging feeling in her gut told her it was.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on her as she finally returned to her quarters. The moment she stepped inside, she let out a deep sigh, grateful for a moment of solitude. The sterile, artificial glow of the overhead light did little to soothe her nerves.

She quickly undressed, stepped into the shower, and let the warm water cascade over her. The heat melted some of the tension in her muscles, but her mind remained restless.

After drying off, she slipped into a soft nightdress and sat before the mirror, running a comb through her damp hair.

The rhythmic strokes were soothing, a rare moment of peace amidst the chaos of the facility.

Then, a sensation-light, almost imperceptible-brushed against her scalp. A shiver raced down her spine, but she remained still, gripping the comb tightly.

Her reflection in the mirror revealed something unnatural: long, spindly mechanical fingers gently threading through her hair.

The Prototype.

If there's one thing that holds too much mystery in the game, it's this experiment.

Experiment 1006, the Prototype.

She just watched, unfazed. The eerie appendage moved with an unsettling grace, as though studying her, intrigued by the texture of her hair. Then, a voice-cold, mechanical, and distorted-filled the room.

"Curious... so very... human."

Yazmina's expression remained neutral. There was no fear in her eyes, no trembling in her hands. She continued combing her hair, as if the Prototype was nothing more than a passing curiosity.

"And you're... so very nosy," she said plainly, tilting her head slightly.

The Prototype hesitated. Humans screamed. They recoiled. They begged. But she? She was acting as if this encounter was nothing more than an inconvenience.

The fingers lingered for a moment longer before retracting slightly, uncertain.

"You do not fear me?"

Yazmina remained silent.

The silence that followed was different this time-not suffocating, but puzzled. Yazmina could almost feel the machine analyzing her response, running calculations it hadn't needed before.

"Fascinating," it murmured, more to itself than to her.

She put down her comb and finally turned to face it. "Glad to be an anomaly. Now, are you done?"

Another pause. Then, slowly, the Prototype withdrew completely, its presence fading into the shadows.

Yazmina exhaled, but not out of relief-more out of intrigue. Her fingers lightly brushed over her scalp where the metallic appendages had been, almost as if confirming to herself that it had really happened.

She looked back at the mirror, half-expecting to see something different in her reflection, but it was just her, unchanged.

Something about the way the Prototype reacted unsettled her-not in fear, but in the realization that it had not anticipated her response.

It was studying her, but she had been studying it as well.

The way it hesitated, the way it withdrew, almost as if confused. Yazmina smirked faintly.

Had she just unnerved a machine?

She stood up and walked towards the door, pressing her hand against the cold metal frame. Somewhere, beyond these walls, Theo was out there.

Kissy Missy was already done and I'm sure he's next. The last time she had seen him, he had been full of defiance, determined to uncover something he wasn't supposed to.

She wondered if he had found what he was looking for-or if Playcare had found him first.

The thought left a strange weight in her chest. She wasn't sentimental, but Theo had been different from the other children.

Smarter.

More perceptive.

More like her despite his young age.

She turned off the lights and lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling as the shadows twisted in the dark.

The Prototype was watching, of that she was certain.

But for now, it had left her alone.

The Prototype wasn't sure what to make of her. And that, she thought, was a good thing.