Omg please make a part 3 on factory defaulttt
This has been in my inbox for a while (obviously) but I feel bad discarding it just because I already posted part 3. Multiple of you had been asking for more parts to Factory Default and while I could have deleted them after updating, finally, I just feel bad doing that.
So, I'm going to attach the fifth part to this ask, whoever you are, my good friend.
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Ox had expected a smooth walk to the pipe, at least. Realistically, the whole endeavor, prior to entering the creator's office, should have been a cake walk. Unfortunately, he neglected to consider who he was traveling with.
For starters, despite actively complaining just about every step of the way, Wage was determined to tag along on this adventure. Whether it was for their sake or for her own sake of being able to complain his ears off, Ox didn't know. Nor did he have the brain power to try and figure it out because Tuesday and Mandy were building up a tension between each other.
Lou, obviously, knew absolutely nothing about basic interactions. Whether it be hugging, common phrases or slang, or a simple wave. So, upon finding this out, Tuesday decided she would be the one to teach him the ropes whilst they walked.
Her idea of teaching him, however, involved interactions that were entirely platonic in Lou's eyes and...not so much in hers. She was currently holding his hand, fingers laced together and showing him that dolls sometimes walked hand-in-hand.
No, they didn't.
Not even Moxy, the most extroverted doll in the present group, held hands with another doll unless she was dragging them off on an escapade. And, surprisingly enough, Ox felt like he was doing most of the dragging this time.
Moxy was more entertained - and perhaps slightly worried - about the death glares Mandy and Tuesday exchanged with each other. It was clear that Mandy didn't appreciate Tuesday's teaching techniques and knew for a fact there was more to it than just "being a good person."
And whilst Ox couldn't exactly say he was fond of her methods either, it didn't quite bother him to the same extent. Lou was still...well, oblivious, and it would take much more patience than Tuesday had if she were to keep up this tactic of hers for the sake of a one-sided relationship.
Tuesday had always been all over the blond because he had been suave, charming, and seemingly a ladies man...
Which, in his current state, he lacked all of the qualities.
And the blue-haired doll was slowly beginning to realize that.
"Doesn't this feel nice?" Tuesday asked him with a bright smile, swinging their joined hands slightly as they walked. She ignored the under-her-breath groan from Mandy, who was walking a bit behind them.
Lou glanced down at their hands and then back up to Tuesday, his usual, innocent expression not wavering in the slightest. "Your hand feel normal." Ox didn't bother correcting the blond's grammar. He'd save it for another time.
Tuesday tried to keep that same smile on her face. "Yeah, but it feels nice, doesn't it? Like a good thing?" She tried to clarify what she meant to the best of her abilities.
Unfortunately, her abilities at understanding things was also limited. They were basically two idiots holding hands, at this point.
"Is holding hands a good thing?" Lou inquired with a tilt of his head.
Ox actually nearly choked on a laugh as Tuesday's smile tensed in agitation slightly. Having her own obliviousness thrown back at her was satisfying, at any rate, but she seemed more peeved over the fact that Lou wasn't getting it.
"Yeah, holding hands is a good thing," Tuesday spoke with a slightly impatient tone.
A flash of green light beneath Lou's felt gave her hope that he was finally getting it...
And then it crashed twice as fast when Lou looked over his shoulder to Mandy and offered his other hand to her. This would be his way of proving that he was a good doll! "Hold hands?" He asked with bright eyes.
Mandy was a bit taken aback at first, but her expression softened and she accepted the offer, her fingers entwining with his and sending a not-so-subtle grin over at Tuesday.
Lou was none the wiser and had a proud smile on his face for "being a good doll."
Ox rolled his eye, smiling a bit as he watched it play out. Even with his memory erased and the lack of his charm and charisma, Lou was still having women fight over him - whether said women realized it or not. Tuesday was, in any case, he wasn't so sure about Mandy.
They approached the opening of the pipe. Nothing but darkness ahead and absolute silence that accompanied it. Ox ushered Lou towards the front to stand beside him. Relinquishing both hands he held onto, Lou complied and was a bit caught off guard when Ox gestured for him to go ahead. "You'll be leadin' the way, bud. Show us where to go."
"Lead?" Lou inquired, his hands drawing up towards his chest a bit in nervous habit, fingers tapping together.
Ox squinted an eye, not quite knowing if Lou didn't know the definition or if he was didn't want to lead. "Yeah, lead. Y'know, like to...take charge or...uh-"
"To be the boss of, basically," Wage supplied with a somewhat bitter tone.
There was no green flash beneath Lou's felt, which told Ox that the former theory had been false. Lou shook his head and took a shy step back, putting Ox ahead of him. "I do not lead. I am teacher," he put a hand to his chest in gesture to himself.
Well...that was new.
Michael couldn't stop the sound that escaped him, something mixed between a laugh and a scoff. "You- Okay," he shook his head to remind himself that this Lou was all kinds of different from the one they were used to. "Look, teachers can lead, too. We don't know how to get to your creator, but you do. So, you have to show us the way."
"Guide?" Lou asked, his eyes widening a smidge as he recognized the similar definition of a word he was familiar with.
Michael snapped his fingers in approval at the word. "Yes! Guide. You're not leading, you're guiding. Okay?"
That was something he could do, yes. Part of his job was to guide dolls through the training and to the Big World. He could guide. "Yes. Okay." Lou nodded his head once and began walking into the pipe. The others gave various looks of relief and followed behind him.
They remained quiet, so Lou could focus on his counting as they walked. Ox was watching the blond the whole time, taking note of how Lou's eyes remained fixed ahead and every step was taken in confidence. It was a stark contrast to how he had acted when he was told to "lead" versus him "guiding" now.
Almost like that's what he was made to do.
The bunny felt a pang go through his chest as he realized that they had stripped him of that. Sure, at some point during Lou's life, he had in fact gone from simply guiding to leading - bossing, more like - but they had still taken away his one purpose.
His one purpose in a world he was stuck in.
Ox forced the thought to the back of his mind when they approached an opening at the end of the pipe they were currently walking through. There was a dim, orange-ish glow up ahead and the sound of machinery began to grow louder. He worried briefly that Lou had just accidentally led them to the recycle-
No, not led, guided.
Lou stopped at the edge of the pipe and that's when Ox realized that it wasn't the recycle, but the exact opposite. Below was the actual factory itself. The place where the dolls were manufactured in mass amounts and sent off to their respective institutions.
Both Mandy and Moxy shivered as they watched the lifeless dolls on the conveyer belts. It was...eye-opening, to say the least. Like a child watching another child being born and coming to terms with the fact that it had came into the world in the same manner. Except the dolls had been lifeless during the beginning process.
There were cutouts of each form. Each doll. Printed, molded, steamed together and tossed onto a conveyer belt.
And the ones that didn't make it past the quality control were sent onto an adjacent belt that would have normally led to the recycle/Uglyville.
At what point the future dolls gained consciousness was a mystery, and one they felt too unnerved to dig into.
Ox blinked and suddenly came back to the present when he noticed Lou clambering off the edge of the pipe. "Woah, hey-" his words were cut short, however, when Lou fluidly let go of the edge, landed on the balls of his feet, and rolled sideways before standing upright again.
The others gaped.
"Wha-" Michael watched as Lou regained his original posture, arms behind his back and innocent eyes looking up towards the group.
"Follow?" Lou asked, wondering why they were just staring at him.
Luckybat and Ox exchanged a look before slowly making their way to the edge of the pipe and proceeded to try and climb down to where Lou was. Michael simply stared with wide eyes still. "Are we not gonna talk about that? How does he know how to do that?"
"Instinct?" Moxy supplied awkwardly, not quite sure herself.
Michael squinted down at her. "That's...somehow worse. Why does he just instinctively know how to land from a fall that high?"
"If there's anything I learned about Lou since knowin' him," Ox grunted out as he landed roughly onto the platform below, "it's that the kid is full of surprises. I think that's a can o' worms best opened another day."
Michael pursed his lips, sending another confused and slightly worried look in Lou's direction before finally following suit with the others and climbing down from the pipe.
