"Playcare is straight ahead," Ollie said, his voice losing some of its usual cheer.

"It's the home of CatNap... one of... The Smiling Critters. There used to be... eight of them? I think? Now it's just him."

Something about the way he said it made his stomach turn.

"Playcare is his church. His hunting ground. Whatever he wants it to be."

The child's voice dropped to a whisper.

"You better get moving. Fast."

A moment of silence. Then-

"Oh! By the way, my name is Ollie. Nice to meet you!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"You just watched me nearly die, sent me a battery like some Factory Uber Eats, and now you introduce yourself?"

"I mean... yeah?" Ollie sounded genuinely confused.

He sighed. "Sure, okay. Nice to meet you, mysterious disembodied child who may or may not be a demon."

Click. The line went dead.

His grip on the phone tightened. He didn't know who Ollie was, but one thing was clear-

He wasn't alone.

And now, he had no choice but to enter Playcare. As he approached, a towering statue loomed over the entrance.



It was Kissy Missy.

Or at least, it used to be.

Her face-once soft and friendly-was drenched in blood. Thick, dark streaks dripped down her chest, pooling onto the floor beneath her.

He stiffened.

This wasn't just rust or paint. This was fresh.

Swallowing hard, he tore his eyes away and focused on the control panel beside him.

With shaky hands, he powered up the cable car. A deep, mechanical hum filled the air as Elliot's Express whirred to life.

He took a slow breath.

Then-with no turning back-he stepped inside.

The cable car rumbled along the tracks, the metal beneath him groaning as it carried him towards Playcare.

Then-

A TV in the corner flickered to life.

He focused on the screen. A familiar voice. Smooth. Confident.

"Hello, my name is Elliot Ludwig. When you look around the world today, what one thing do you think it needs more of? I asked around once."

'Money, I never have enough.'

'Understanding, I could never get any.'

'Faith, the common man has lost it.'

Elliot sighed.

"Each answer was different, and I could perhaps see some little truth in each. But I think each was also missing something... something simple."

The cable car shuddered.

Outside, the massive facility came into view. A circular structure, its size nearly overwhelming.



He leaned over to peer down. Nothing but darkness. No end in sight.

"You see, not one of them could muster a smile. A smile is hope. A smile is love. A smile is understanding. And there is nothing more gratifying to my soul than being the reason for a child's smile."

He barely heard the rest.



Because now, he was staring at Playcare itself. A place he never thought existed. The entrance loomed ahead, wide and waiting.

"That is why it is with enormous pleasure that, as the founder of Playtime Co., I announce... PLAYCARE!"

Right at that moment-

The cable car crossed the threshold, entering a massive, circular entrance.

His breath caught.

The dark tunnel swallowed him whole for a few moments before the space opened up into something surreal.



Playcare.

It stretched before him-an entire orphanage buried beneath the surface.

Artificial clouds dangled from the ceiling, suspended by barely visible wires, swaying as if caught in an unfelt breeze.



At the heart of the facility, a massive monument stood-statues of the Smiling Critters.

But something was off.

Elliot's voice continued from the screen, but his words barely registered now.

"But it's not only that. It's a school, a playhouse, a place to belong. Our very own ecosystem beneath the surface, dedicated in every inch and detail to ensuring a child's smile."

The cable car slowed.

His stomach twisted.

"May Playcare bring joy, inspiration, and smiles to all who enter these doors."

Ding!

The car jerked to a stop then doors slid open.

He just stood there.

Staring.

Because this place wasn't bringing joy.

It was wrong.



The shrill ringing of his phone shuuttered the silence.

He barely registered it at first, too caught up in the sheer scale of the place.



Playcare was massive.

Even after everything he'd seen in the Factory, he hadn't expected this. An entire underground orphanage, now abandoned, its once-bright colors faded, its artificial clouds swaying eerily above.

He stepped forward, his boots echoing against the cold floor as he made his way down the stairs.

Finally, he answered the call.

"Psst. It's me again, Ollie."

"Oh, great. It's you."

"Cool place, right?" Ollie continued, ignoring his sarcasm. "The kids used to live here. Now look at it."

He was looking.

And the more he did, the more his stomach twisted.

This place had been designed for children. But now? It was too empty. Too quiet.

Ollie didn't seem to care.

"Anyway, do you see that statue in the middle of the room?"

His eyes landed on the monument-the Smiling Critters.

"Take the stairs that go under it. There's a really cool room in there that powers literally ALL of Playcare. I can give you a key down there."



He frowned but followed the direction, making his way beneath the towering figures.

True to Ollie's word, a small key slid through a tube on a small cage.



He took it with ease-but hesitated, turning it over in his hand.

"How do you even know all this?" He narrowed his eyes. "Better question-how did you just drop this key down a tube? What, do you have some kind of secret control room?"

Ollie chuckled.

"I have my ways. Now, you're probably asking yourself: Where does this key go?

"Geez, you think?"

"Well, head back out, and you should find a door just to the left of the cable car you took down here."

With a sigh, he pocketed the key. This just kept getting weirder.

While walking out he saw a board. The whole Map of the Playcare was pasted on it.



Then he moved to the door Ollie was talking about.



As he stepped inside, his breath hitched.

This place was huge.



Playcare had already been massive, but this?

It felt like an entirely different facility buried beneath an already hidden world.

Before he could process it, his phone rang again.

"Welcome to the Gas Production Zone," Ollie announced, far too cheerfully. "The beating heart of the whole evil Playcare system!"

His stomach dropped as he took in the machine in front of him. It's filled with red gas..



"All that gas you see coming from the machines? It's made right here in the factory! It's called Red Smoke."

His eyes followed the hazy crimson fog, trailing through the vents, seeping through cracks in the walls.

"Right now, it's all headed off to the right. We need to get it going left instead."

"And why the hell would I want to do that?" He muttered.

"Because that's how we get to him."

Him?

His grip on the phone tightened.

"The machine will probably have a few dumb safeguards for you to work around, but I think you can do it!" Ollie continued. "I'll call you once it's done. Good luck!"

The phone cut off.

Silence.

He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face.

"So now I have to find a way to reroute toxic gas? Who do you think I am, a damn fucking engineer?"

His words echoed, swallowed by the rumbling of the machines.

Fantastic.

Rolling his shoulders, he stepped forward, scanning the room. If he was going to do this, he needed a plan.

OBJECTIVE: Reroute the Red Smoke

1. Find the main control panel.

2. Figure out how the system works.

3. Try not to die from inhaling whatever this stuff is.

Easier said than done.

With a deep breath-filtered through his sleeve-he started looking for answers.