Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

God, he was going to die here. Again.

The taste of blood lingered in the back of 007n7’s mouth as he swerved around a corner in hopes of losing the killer. He just needs a few more seconds, a few more seconds and then he can use his clone to trick them into thinking he ran the other way. He just needs some more time. But with how fast Jason was able to keep up with him no matter how much he ran- his hope was dwindling.

No matter how many times he’s played in these games, he’s still struggling to survive. He’s still forced to stand by and watch as everybody else around him dies as he uses the few hacks that the Spectre allowed him to keep. Noob died right off the bat, Two Time is on their second life and Chance, he didn’t know what happened to him after his gun blew up. At that moment, he couldn’t help but bitterly laugh at how pathetic his situation was.

He could hear the heavy footsteps of the man approaching, growing rapidly louder as he waited for his c00lgui to cool down. 007n7 took in a shaky breath as he prepared for the indescribable pain that was being slashed to death. Dying, another thing that he’s failed to get used to.

Despite his impending doom, a ding appeared on his c00lgui. A text box appeared on the panel, a warning?

He wasn’t given another second to process this information before warnings began to appear in window screens, similar to 1x4’s popups. The number of popups grew so fast, 007n7 was struggling to keep up with the amount. “No, no, no–!” he pleaded, trying to close them all as he caught sight of Jason in between the popups. Shit, he can’t even make his clone because these pop ups were all in the way!

His finger accidentally pressed ‘Accept’.

__

Paige admittedly, just really wanted to sleep in. Today was his day off and he really wanted to laze around in bed as they drew in their newest sketchbook. Maybe go play some video games if he had the strength to crawl out of bed. It’s not often that he gets such an opportunity in between his school work and then his actual training. But alas, their older brother needed help with reviewing some code that he wrote out. Something about a bug? Coding error? He doesn’t really recall, he just woke up from a nap.

He may be 14 going on 15, but he genuinely feels like an adult. Or, at least what he thinks an adult feels like. One day he’ll learn what an adult feels like, he’s making an educated guess.

As his older brother, Blaise, led him through the doors of the workshop, he noticed that there were a lot of computer screens and monitors all attached to each other with wires. “Yeah, was hoping that you could hop in there, or take a look at the program, to see what was wrong. I don’t understand why it keeps glitching as hard as it does everytime I try to run it. The worst part is that it just happens randomly.” Blaise said, lifting him up on his shoulder to let Paige get a closer look at one of the screens that were on.

“Uh… I… I’ll try my best? No promises though, since I wasn’t the one who wrote out the code!” Paige said cheerily, forcing the sleep to leave his body. The sooner he gets this over with, the better! Plus, he can think of this as practice for debugging code. Yeah, that isn't too bad.

He felt as Blaise chuckled whilst putting him back down on the ground and guiding him to a keyboard. “Thanks man, sorry for bothering you on your day off school. I’ll take you out for ice cream afterwards?”

Ice cream? Ice cream. Ice cream was good. Hell yeah he wants ice cream.

The first 5 minutes, Paige skimmed through the code. It seemed simple enough, something about trying to log information about the materials and trades automatically. The next 10 minutes involved him slightly altering the code to make it more efficient as Blaise went off somewhere to work on building a new motorcycle for Mirium’s birthday.

The next half an hour consisted of more groans and face palms as Paige struggled to find out what exactly was wrong with it. It looked fine and the code itself, as complex as it was, didn’t seem to have any issues. Blaise mentioned that there would be errors that occur randomly, he should ask if there was a specific pattern to it.

Right as Paige was about to call out to Blaise, something flickered on the screen. He furrowed his eyebrow as he watched as whatever was on the screen morph into some sort of… contract? Oh shit, that means it must’ve been hacked. No wonder nothing was working how it should’ve, someone was messing with it all along! He scrolled on the contract, he was about to read all of the details before he chose his next action.

It mentioned something about… The roblox game Forsaken? Paige had played the game before, although he much preferred playing Blocktales or Combat Initiation more. It wasn’t a terrible game in his opinion but not something he’d play by himself. But there’s no way that any of the developers of the game could pull a trick like this. Sounds like a conversation he needs to have with them.

He misclicked. Paige didn’t even get a chance to call out to Blaise for help before he was dragged into the computer.

__

The machete dug into 007n7’s body repeatedly the moment all of the pop ups disappeared, blood was spilled all over the walls and ground as he wheezed and wailed in pain. But he didn’t die. No, he didn’t die. He should’ve been dead. Why isn’t he dead?

Whatever the hell he did with the pop ups, he found that his HP was filled to the max (minus the amount of damage that Jason had done when he landed Gashing Wound). Even Jason seemed confused by the fact he survived as he paused his actions for a moment. But that means he has a chance to run! Maybe he will be able to survive–

He found himself falling down to the ground as pain overtook his entire system. There was a loud rhythmic pounding, a drum, and noises that he can’t explain. But it wasn’t loud enough to obscure the noises of his body beginning to morph. Forget about being stabbed to death, it felt as if his body was being crushed and morphed into a smaller space. There were loud pops and squeamish sounds of flesh morphing itself into something else.

The pain completely disappeared all of a sudden. At that moment, he felt like he was floating. No wait, he *was* floating. He looked down to see a younger version of… himself?

“Augh, ow…” He heard himself speak, as whoever was in his body rolled over on his back and blinked rapidly. “Hurts… Hurts a lot…” The clothes he was wearing hung on his younger body much looser now. It was weird, seeing a younger version of himself on the ground like this. Oh god, what the hell happened?

Jason, who was standing by the entire time, decided now would be a good time to strike. He dug his machete into his younger self, causing the other to let out a screech of pain. 007n7 watched as his body rolled away from the killer and began to bolt as fast as he could away from them.

__

What is even HAPPENING right now?!

The moment that Paige found himself transported into a new foreign world, Jason from Friday the 13th was killing him! What! Is! Happening!

He bolted past through hallways, finding himself in an outside area with an odd arrangement of brick walls. There’s nowhere to hide, and the guys are just so fast! Well actually, that’s to be expected because it’s Jason from Friday the 13th. Haha, that’s a load Paige is going to unpack later when he’s all by himself!

… If he’s even going to survive in the first place! Focus on breaking the guy’s ankles first! After what seemed like an hour of dodging a very big machete (it was realistically a minute), he paused behind a brick wall and forced himself to take a deep breath in and out to calm down. There were far too many close calls. Usually he’s better at this kind of thing, he’s the fastest and most agile person out of their entire time after all!

He can find a weapon around here, right? Paige could try to snatch the machete out of Jason’s hand but once again, that’s Jason from Friday the 13th. That’s not an easy task, and this body sure doesn’t seem strong enough to handle all of that.

Paige yelped when the machete barely missed his head. No more dilly dallying, he needs to get out of here!

He runs past all of the green hands sticking out of the ground (Paige resisted the urge to gag) and down the hallway while repeatedly screaming for mercy. What else was he going to do anyways? But considering it’s Jason from Friday the 13th, something he’s never going to get over by the way, his juking comes to an end when he finds the machete finally hits him. Forcing him to stumble over his feet and almost fall face first on the wooden ground.

Oh haha, he’s going to die here. This is it. His only regret was not being able to get ice cream with Blaise.

Suddenly, he finds that a guy stepped in blocking the hit before punching Jason square in the mask. “C’mon, we have to get out of here!” The guy shouted, grabbing a hold of him and carrying him to an arcade-esque area. Paige gets a good look out of the guy who just saved him and, is that Guest 1337?!

It’s at this moment, he realised that he’s been Forsaken. (Haha, get it? Please laugh, Paige is coping.)

Chapter Text

Despite the urgency and the unreasonable amount of strength that Guest 1337 had, Paige found that he was placed down in what seemed to be a ball pit, there were no actual balls, it was just a picture of a ball pit, rather gently before being handed a medkit. “What on earth happened to you 007n7? Your body changed and you look younger.” Guest worried, kneeling down to check on his state. He opens his mouth to speak before closing it. This team isn’t very fond of hackers to begin with if Paige recalls, considering how 007n7 gets treated. If he admits that he’s not 007n7 and someone else entirely in 007n7’s body, isn’t that the equivalent of hacking into another person’s roblox account?

… Don’t they have Roblox admins in here too? That’s practically a death sentence! Unfortunately, his mind is a little fuzzy from the blood loss and he’s struggling to form a sentence that isn’t the truth. He just noticed that he’s taking too long to respond because Guest 1337’s words cut through his muddle train of thought. “It’s fine, you can explain back at the cabin later. I need to see where Jason is and make sure he doesn’t get Elliot. Just stay here and wait until either Builderman or I come back, alright?” Paige receives a comforting pat on the shoulder before Guest takes off, not even allowing the boy a moment to respond.

He resists the urge to start crying right now. The only reason he doesn’t let the tears fall is because of the fact he needs to get out of here alive. Crying is for when he’s safe.

It’s a bit of a struggle to open the medkit but he does manage, beginning to wrap the bandages around the places he’s been hit. Whatever is in those bandages must be magic, because why on earth does he feel as if he just woke up from bed the moment he finishes patching himself up? This game is so weird and Paige is lacking the brain cells, or err, the blood, to figure it out.

First things first, Paige is in 007n7’s body (isn’t that a roblox hacker that exists in real life?) which is confirmed by Guest 1337. However, said body has been altered to a younger version of 007n7. They’re currently in that one hotel map that Paige is struggling to recall the name of and the killer is Jason. Who also happens to be from the movie Friday the 13th… Actually, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say he originated from Area 51 in Roblox lore? Uh, maybe he should’ve learned some more about the game.

Eeyikes, he’s in a roblox game. A Roblox game.

Secondly, Paige has no idea what 007n7’s abilities are. Sure he’s played the game before, but only as Builderman! From the few rounds that he has played, he knows that 007n7 can do 2 things: Teleport and create clones. When he teleports, he uses some black panel that holds various hacks. The question is, how does 007n7 make it appear?

Yes he knows how to code and how to fix it. But he was in the normal world and not in Roblox. It’s obvious straight off the bat that there is a clear difference between this game and what he’s used to. But if he can figure out how to pull that black panel out, maybe he could try and use it to get back home?

… Paige doesn’t want to admit what he’s done to try and figure out how to make it appear. Mostly because of the fact he spent an entire minute trying to pull it out only for it to bear no results. But he will admit he did the kamehameha pose.

Alright, he’s giving up. He knows that nobody’s watching him but it’s still embarrassing to do. Even if he’s now in the body of, what he thinks, an adult man, he’s still a 14 year old boy with a fragile ego. Instead, he decides to peek outside of the ball pit to see if anything else is happening. Although Guest 1337 said he should stay in here until Builderman arrives, or something, he’s kind of scared just being by himself. Paige doesn’t have any of his dolls, his machinery, his weapons, not even his strings. He feels so terribly naked and vulnerable.

Carefully, he walks down the ramp. How much longer does he need to stay here until the round is over? Paige feels a lot like Two Time at the moment, just without the second life guarantee. But as time passes, he begins to allow himself to just relax. Surely the round has to end sooner or later, right?

Paige feels the familiar tug on their stomach as he’s forced to teleport.

__

The sudden shift in light intensity temporarily disorientates Paige as he tries to stabilize himself. Whatever the hell that forced him to teleport to the cabin clearly did not take into account the sudden weight change because he almost fell backwards into someone. Keyword, almost.

It’s also glaringly obvious that the people in the cabin are all looking at him.

Paige wants to speak, wants to say something. He just finds the courage to do so before someone interrupts him. “What the hell happened to you man?” The guy in a fedora speaks, what was his name again? Paige knows he gambles, YinYue really liked that one.

The moment the gambler spoke, many voices began to speak up. Some of them concerned, some of them suspicious, some curious. He struggles to keep up with all of them and it must’ve shown on his face because Builderman (something he will also not get over) cuts through all of the voices with a booming ‘Silence!’.

Not surprising that he could just command a room like that, that is the Builderman. But now that the room has fallen silent once more, there are eyes looking at him again. This time, expecting something from him.

“Uh, I’m not… Sure what to do now?”

“We’re waiting for you to explain yourself.” Someone says, aggression present in their tone. It’s coming from some guy who looks like he came from that one pizza game. What on earth did he do anyways?! “Clearly you were messing with your c00lgui, what were you planning to do with it, huh?”

“Huh- What? Ok hold up, what did I even do to begin with?!” Paige raised his hands up in defense. “Listen, all I know is that I woke up in so much pain and then Jason from Area 51 slashed me with a machete, a machete! Which is like, haha, isn’t he supposed to be stuck in there? And- And then I get chased through these wacky hallways, which I think I could’ve designed even better than whoever made that and I’m no architect, and then I get saved by this Guest over here. Which, by the way, very grateful for that. Bless your heart. What even is this place? I was–”

Paige shuts himself up. Maybe he shouldn’t reveal too much information now in case he accidentally says something he shouldn’t. It’s abrupt and he notices that his hands are shaking. Okay, time to bring it back. “I have not the slightest clue who any of you are, except for the admins over there. Big fan by the way. I was– I was… Uh, I was working on my c00lgui okay?” That is a terrible backstory. “In the comfort of my own home! I was in the process of designing it and like, I have no skills in that kind of thing.”

“... A younger version of 007n7, huh.” Shedletsky says. The Shedletsky. The actual Shedletsky in real life sucks (say no to AI ‘art’ kids) but this? He’s kind of… bird-like. “And before you got onto the path of hacking too. Seems like someone had altered the data on your account. Say, how old are you?

Paige is NOT going to say he’s 14 because he is obviously not in the body of a 14 year old kid. He doesn’t even know what he looks like right now. So instead– “Uh, not comfortable sharing that information. You all clearly don’t like me and I admittedly would like to NOT get jumped. Thanks!” Something he’s practiced. Thanks Mirium for teaching him basic stranger danger rules.

But the answer clearly doesn’t make them happy. Paige can’t quite tell what the general consensus is but he doesn’t think further on it when The Builderman steps up. “We won’t hurt’cha. No reason to, something happened t’cha.” If only he mentioned how much younger he looks so he could at least give an age that isn’t weird. Okay, it’s fine! Alright then, what can Paige do…

“... Uh, I’m uh…” Think, think, c’mon Paige, come up with some random age! “I’m… 17…? Turning 18 in a month!” Haha, wow! Now, he just has to hope that they don’t ask for his birthday because that would be REAL awkward!

Silence falls onto the survivors, again, before The Dusekkar speaks up. “Whilst we were out in the wild, 007n7 has turned into a child.” Wow. Uh. Paige likes his funny words. “Tragedy has befallen, caring for him is a task we must take on.” Haha, whoever wrote this guy must have a tab open to figure out what rhymes with befallen.

“You look… A lot older than that though.” The gambling guy says, getting up close along with the pizza guy to get a good look at him.

“I get that a lot, actually.” Paige says easily. Oh god, how old does he look? “I don’t see it personally, but what can I say!”

“Transforming did seem to put a lot of strain on the body though, I did hear 007n7 screaming very loudly before I stepped in to save him from Jason. It’s likely that it couldn’t have gone further than that due to the pain.” Guest 1337 stepped in, something that Paige is VERY grateful for. “Even if it’s the same body, it’s clear that this is 007n7’s first day in purgatory again. Take it easy on him.”

Oh right, he forgot it’s purgatory for these people. To him it’s a funny roblox game. “... Alright, but I don’t trust him. This may be 007n7 before he started hacking but it’s clear he was on that path. He did say he was designing the c00lgui.” The pizza guy says. Oh yeah right. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. He can’t even use his abilities because surprise, he can’t pull out that panel the c00lgui is on!

“Uh, I’m sorry. Whatever it is I did.” Paige jumps a little when all he gets is a bit of glare from the pizza guy. Jeez, he doesn’t even know his name!

The pizza guy grabs the gambling guy by the back of his blazer. “Chance and I are going to get started on dinner. I’ll see you guys later.” The rest of the survivors watch as gambling guy, Chance is what he said, stumbles on his feet a bit at being pulled backwards suddenly. He still doesn’t know what he did.

“... Listen, I know I’m not that pleasant to be around but can I get an idea on why the pizza worker over there hates me?” He asks, looking around at the rest of the survivors.

“ 👉💻 🍕🏪🔥 (Using the c00lgui, you destroyed his workplace.)”

Paige looks at Taph with a shocked expression. Partly because, 007n7 is a real bad person, but mostly because of the fact The Taph just spoke entirely in emojis. And he somehow understood it. What? How? Why?

Wait, 007n7 did what? “So he– I mean, I basically put the guy out of a job?!”

“Yeah, you were a pretty terrible person. But now you’re a kid so you have time to just NOT do the terrible things you did later on in life!” Shedletsky says, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Paige gently pushes it off himself, that was just really uncomfortable. Even though Paige isn’t 007n7, he feels very weird about the thing Shedletsky said. Can you imagine hearing that in the future you become a terrible person when you’re about to turn 18? Talk about being insensitive. Right after hearing that the reason why someone hates you is because you destroyed a guy’s career by blowing up the building he worked at too!

“I’ll keep that in mind!” He responds cheerily. Paige isn’t about to fuck around and find out with this crowd of people. Builderman could literally ban him and he’s not sure what the equivalent of that is in real life. Nor does he ever want to find out. “It’s just uh… I can’t really access my c00lgui to begin with. So not like I could to begin with…”

“Sorry, what?” Shedletsky asks.

“Yeah, I can't hack at all. So no need to worry about that!”

“... So you can’t teleport?”

“... No? I told you, I was still designing the c00lgui. The things I could do on there are already very limited to begin with anyways. So not like it matters.”

Shedletsky turned to face the other admins. Perfect, just the reaction that Paige wanted. Now they won’t suspect it’s because of the fact that he isn’t 007n7. He is so smart.

__

(On the other side…)

“You mean to tell me, you lost the only CHILD in the family?!” Mirium screamed, shaking Blaise back and forth.

“You’re saying that as if he wandered off or something because I wasn’t looking, dude the computer sucked him in!”

“Great Blaise! That’s wonderful! So tell me how on earth we’re going to tell Dad THAT?! Oh my god, what about Auntie Erica!?”

“Dude calm down! If you don’t calm down, I will start crying. Like, right now!”

“YOU DESERVE IT FOR BEING A TERRIBLE ADULT FIGURE!”

“I’M SORRY! PLEASE!”

__

Dinner is awkward. There were only 9 chairs and there were 10 of them. Trying to accommodate other people was not a fun affair to deal with. Even though it was kind of funny watching Chance offer his lap as a seat to the pizza guy, who he now knows goes by the name of Elliot. But Paige is beginning to have a feeling that 007n7 was treated as an outcast from this group. With what knowledge he knows of 007n7’s past and what 007n7 did to Elliot… Yeah. Out of all of the characters of this game, he just HAD to have been transported into the only loser. Great.

With a pathetic excuse of not being hungry due to the fact he just did NOT want to deal with that whole awkward dilemma, he left before anybody could insist on him eating with them. All Paige wants to do is just go back to his room and figure out how to get back before they find out he isn’t in fact a younger 007n7.

The cabin that 007n7 apparently lives in is not only super dusty, but also super creepy. It’s the furthest from the rest of the group and the lights barely work. There’s also a bit of a smell, which is most likely mold. Yeah, there is no way in hell these people don’t hate 007n7.

Navigating the house was terrible, Paige resisted the urge to jump at every creak and groan the cabin made before making it to the bed. Surprisingly, the bed is clean which means that the guy cared enough to keep that part of the cabin clean. Man, he sure does have a lot of work to do here. Does the main area have any cleaning supplies? He can check later after he washes himself up a bit.

The bathroom, as terrible as the lighting is, is also not that bad as the entrance. Huh, maybe 007n7 only bothered to clean up the places that he would frequent. When he takes a look at the mirror, Paige does notice that he looks older than 18 but not old enough to be in late 20’s. Somewhere in that range. Man, Guest 1337 really did save him back there! No wonder Mirium likes him.

One thing is for sure, Paige needs to figure out how to pull out the c00lgui. The question is, how does he get access to such a thing in the first place?

Paige doesn’t even get a moment to try and think more on it before the lights fade off into nothing, completely engulfing him in darkness. Out of instinct, he raises his hands up, prepared to punch whatever the hell is out there.

“BE NOT AFRAID.”

“Uh actually sir, this is the most confusing moment of my life.” Paige said, looking around in the darkness.

“Oh thank god, you had a somewhat normal response! The others were rather… Vulgar.” The voice, wherever it’s coming from, groans at the memory. Now what on earth does that mean?! “But I digress, it’s clear to me that you aren’t aware of what you signed up for.”

Yeah, no kidding! He chuckled nervously as a response, spinning around in a circle to find out where the voice was coming from.

“No need to be so tense, there are many beings out there that would not be pleased if I harmed you.”

“Uh, I think being chased by a killer is plenty of harm!”

“That was part of the contract, little mortal.” Awe crap, he should’ve been more careful! “Like I said, you aren’t aware of what you signed up for. But since I am so kind, I am here to tell you your purpose here: provide entertainment for the ‘audience’ and the Spectre. In exchange, we give you money.”

… As tempting as money sounds, Paige just wants to make sure he can get home. “How long is this gig for then? I mean, as fun as the game is, I do NOT want to stick around for long. Do you know how scary the rest of them are?”

“You’ll be here for a week. You’ll return back home eventually, lest I bring myself more trouble than for what it’s worth. But, you know they can’t actually do anything to you right? We nerfed the hell out of them. Especially that pumpkin head guy. Should’ve seen their faces.”

“Oh wow. That is really sad.” Comforting to know, but still. It's really sad.

“For them. But for you? You haven’t experienced much change besides the fact you’re now in a new altered body, a generous gift from the Spectre. On top of that, you should be able to access the c00lgui. The Spectre was against the idea of allowing you to have access to it but in the end, it agreed to the idea.”

“Yeah, about that… How do I even pull it out?”

“That’s for you to figure out, goodbye now!”

“Wait- What the freak man?! Don’t leave me here, dang it!”

A knock on the door. “Burger man, are you in there?” Oh god, whoever is at his door must’ve heard him. “I wish to talk to you!”

“Uh, coming?!” The journey to the front door was a bit of a difficult one, the amount of times that he almost fell over and ate the dusty ground was…

Opening the door revealed Two Time. From what Paige knows, Two Time is… Weird. The dialogue that the guy has for the support characters were all about some spawn thing. Which, isn’t that a normal roblox mechanic? Whatever. “Ah yes, Good Evening 007n7. How are you feeling after receiving such a gift from the blessed Spawn?”

He just opened the door. “I’m… Sorry?”

“The Spawn has noticed your sins of hacking and has graciously given you another chance at a second life! Do you not feel its kind presence in you now?” If Paige had it in him to swear, he would’ve. “It is so wonderful that even now in this hellish landscape, the Spawn still looks down on us and provides aid in its own ways!”

“... Yeah! Yes! Wow, oh yes!” What is he even saying right now? “The Spawn is so awesome sauce for its uh, gifts! Mmm, yes. Bless Spawn for uh, giving me a second chance. Call me Double Double Burger Seven with the way I’m spawning all over the place. Spawn.” Can the voice from earlier come back and help him out here?!

“So you are a follower of the Spawn now? I knew you would see the light eventually!”

What does he even say to that now?! “What the freak. Listen, I’m tired. Like, suuuper tired. Yeah? We can talk about how glorious the Spawn is when I wake up, capiche?”

“Wait-”

“Bye now!” Paige says, closing the door and locking it. The lock is almost about to fall off. So, it seems tonight in this god forsaken place. Haha, get it? He’s going to cry now.

Chapter Text

007N7 POV

Watching a younger version of yourself in the same situation as you previously were in is jarring for sure. There’s an odd feeling in his chest that 007n7 is afraid to name at the moment as his younger self trips and stumbles a bit in the dark of his home. He knows for a fact that his younger self wouldn’t imagine that he would ever end up like this, alone in a cabin that’s maintained just enough to meet his needs. 

… Yet, there’s hope in his younger self’s eyes. An energy that 007n7 wasn’t aware that he lost. He is however, saddened that he’s become so pathetic and useless. Seeing what he used to be now that he’s lived for many years… 

007n7 had it all. Friends. A lover. A son. Power. Knowledge. But here? He has nothing. 

Perhaps it’s a good thing that he’s not in his body currently, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself at that moment. But, there is something that is a bit odd with his younger self. Was he always so… Cheery? He doesn’t remember him being this polite to others and being careful with his words when he was that age. Admittedly, he was a rather edgy teenager and quite rude growing up. It got him into a lot of trouble and he found that the things he said would dig his grave even further. 

Not only that, didn’t he finish the c00lgui much earlier? 

Or perhaps this was after he moved on from that phase? When did he finish the c00lgui? It’s been so long ago that he’s struggling to recall. 007n7 wouldn’t put it past him to assume that the Spectre had likely altered his memory and is the reason why he’s failing to remember the order of events properly. But he knows there is something wrong. Something’s not quite right with his younger version of himself. 

Is this person really him?

__ 

As of the moment, young 007n7 is currently exploring the area. Considering that he, 007n7, seems to be tied to his body, was also forced to wander around the place alongside the boy. Usually, he would be asleep after a round, or trying to anyway, and prevent showing his face to the other survivors. The less he interacted with them, the easier it was for both parties. After all, they weren’t fond of him and made it very apparent. 

 Although his young self seems to have an idea on what he’s done, he doesn’t show fear in the slightest. It’s a bit weird to think that this was who he used to be. 

They don’t approach any of the survivors, only waving hello before shifting their focus back into exploring. Even if some of them don’t exactly wave back with the same energy as he does, it’s interesting to see that his younger self really just doesn’t care. 007n7 wonders if the boy doesn’t care or he has yet to notice the subtle hostility the rest hold against him. 

Eventually, his younger self spots Builderman and Dusekkar talking. The way that he immediately perks up and makes his way over to the two throws 007n7 off guard. That’s the equivalent of a known criminal walking up to the police station with no disguise! Nothing! He does attempt to stop his younger self from approaching but it seems that he is currently invisible. 

“Hi there!” Younger 007n7 greets the two with friendly smiles and a frankly very exaggerated wave. “Sorry to interrupt your conversation like that but I need to ask you guys a favour. If you have the time, of course!” 

Builderman and Dusekkar both look at each other with a look, one that 007n7 is all too familiar with. His chest is hit with the feeling of rejection, even though technically he’s not the one being given that look. But the younger version of himself doesn’t seem to care in the slightest and continues without waiting for a response. “I know that this place as a whole is, like, already trashy to begin with. But do you happen to know if we have spare lanterns? And a broom, I need a broom. Desperately. The cabin I’m staying in is so dusty! I can feel it as I walk through the cabin. Or, just any cleaning supplies. It’s gross and dark in the cabin is what I’m trying to say right now. Anything would be great.” 

There’s still that hesitance that comes with helping him , evident as the two look at each other for a moment. But against all odds, Builderman smiles at him. He smiled at him. Or well, the younger version of himself. “Sure kid, there should be some in the main cabin. We’ll even help look ‘round here if my pal Dusekkar ain’t busy?” Builderman reaches up to pat on Dusekkar’s shoulder, who only nods. “I shall do my best to provide the light that you are trying to find.” 

The way the younger version of himself lights up and gives a small bow. Odd, he’s never done something like that before. “Thank you so much! Lead the way?” 

The two nod at the boy before turning around, giving each other another look. Oh dear god, they’re definitely planning something. 

__

PAIGE POV

Sleep was not easy. Paige has never found it difficult to sleep in the dark, struggling to sleep without it in fact. But considering that the cabin was so far away from the rest of the group and the whole place was just creepy… He couldn’t do it. Even caves that he’s slept in while out in the wild felt safer than whatever THAT had going on! 

First things first, he was going to fix up the cabin. Paige is going to sweep the floor, hang some lanterns and get paper to draw so he could stick it on the walls. Even if there was furniture, the whole place felt bare. Sad even. He can’t even imagine living like that. Reminds him a bit of Mirium in a way. 

Maybe 007n7 was like Mirium. It kind of hurt to think about, so he’ll worry about that another day.

He follows behind Builderman and Dusekkar, remembering the layout of the entire area that everybody seemed to share. It was rather spacious but it was mostly filled with trees and foliage that felt like it would snatch you up if you weren’t careful. Or like, he doesn’t know, Jason from Friday the 13th will pop out and hit him with that big slash combo. Haha. Haha… Maybe in the future he’ll find the bravery to tread those waters but for now, the idea of stepping one foot in there is enough to make him pee his pants. 

It’s nice that the two admins had put aside their hate for 007n7 to help him out for a moment, Paige will admit. As Builderman opens the closet to the cabin and fishes out all sorts of cleaning supplies. “Ya want more than just the broom or nah?” He asks. Now, they would be happy with just the broom. But considering that there was more… Well. “I’d like disinfectant sprays and the squeegee too! The windows are uh, not that great.” 

Builderman hums as he grabs one of the buckets and begins to place the items he’s asked for inside. Even tossing in a paper towel roll. “Dusekkar, be a lad ‘n find the lanterns while I help the kid carry this stuff back.”

Oh, what? Wait, that’s far too nice! “Oh no, there’s no need-”

“I insist. You didn’t join us for dinner so let me make it up to ya.” 

Oh yeah, he didn’t eat dinner. In all honesty, he is kind of hungry right now but he was planning on just sneaking in the main cabin when everyone was asleep to grab food. Elliot kind of scares him. Key word kind of, he’s still a pizza guy at the end of the day. “Oh uh. Okay! If you really want to, don't force yourself!” 

Builderman raised an eyebrow before chuckling. Kind of like their dad, he didn’t get to say bye to his dad now that he thinks about it. “Alright then, we’ll meet you at 007’s cabin, Matt?” 

Dusekkar nodded, before heading off to… Paige doesn’t really know, but since it’s for the lanterns that he’s asked for he doesn’t ask where he went. Wow, despite being in a hacker's body, they sure are acting really nice. In all honesty, he was half expecting to be told to go away!

(A faint memory of Mirium pops up in their head, mentioning how the only people they will never kill are children. He remembers that Mirium is always kind to them, even when they sling insults and draw blood. He doesn’t really understand why Mirium does it but he does like seeing Mirium so soft and gentle in comparison to the stone cold exterior they take on.  Even though he lied and said he’s older than he actually is, maybe him being a child is why they’re so nice.)

The walk back to 007n7’s, or well… his cabin is going to be a bit of a long one and Paige isn’t the greatest at keeping quiet so— “So, what do you guys usually do in between rounds? I can’t imagine waiting for the next round to come, it must be so nerve wracking.” They think back on their first round and how that clearly did NOT go well. Paige still needs to go thank Guest 1337 properly for saving him. 

Builderman’s hum is what brings Paige out of his little train of thought. “The rest do game nights and occasionally try to do a group activity together. I’m usually off entertainin’ Shedletsky or tinkerin’ with a few personal projects I picked up on but I join the game nights every once in a while,” He said. Game nights? Sounds kind of fun~ Paige is always a fan of those, but that’s usually because their siblings make a night so much more entertaining. 

… He didn’t get to say goodbye to them. 

He doesn’t have time to worry about something like that. “Like board games or card games?”

“Card games. One o’ them broke the only board game left in a fit o’ rage.”

Oh. Well, Paige doesn’t really know how to respond to that so he sputters out an awkward ‘that’s sad’ before silence settles between them in an uncomfortable manner. He’s not sure if Builderman feels it but Paige sure does. 

After a few minutes of walking in pure silence, it’s Builderman that breaks the silence. “You have any clue on how you got in here in the first place?”

Haha okay what the freakity frack. Paige wasn’t expected to be asked anything related to his situation but what the freak, sure. Why not? If there’s one thing Paige is good at, it’s Theatre. And Improv just so happened to be that! “An error popped up on my screen when I was using the c00lgui so I started investigating it. I don’t know, having problems with my code and fixing it is just an average Tuesday for me. Then some… wall of text popped up on my screen and I err, misclicked. Which led to me being here!” 

That is such a gross simplification, Paige is going to barf. He’s usually so much better at this, YinYue would be so ashamed of him right now. But Builderman seems to take the answer well, nodding along as he spoke the entire time. “What were you planning on using the c00lgui on, aye?” 

“Oh er, uh–” Think Paige, think! “Uhm, it was my family that encouraged me.” That’s the whole reason why he got into coding in general. Bl- I mean my brother noticed I had an interest in Video Games and pushed him to learn how to code. Which didn’t take long for the rest of the family to catch wind of it. Auntie Erica even said it was one of his better hobbies too! It’s honestly really useful because now he can program his dolls to do certain things for him.

Builderman raised an eyebrow, clearly having never heard of this before. In a bit of a panic, 007n7 continued to speak. “Didn’t really have much for me going on as a kid, I guess? Also didn’t have the greatest life experience, had my fair share of suffering. But my family, they’re everything to me. I see the sacrifices they make to ensure I can make it out there. They said that with my personality and my knowledge on coding, I could make it anywhere. I uh, guess they were right. I mean, I’m here now! Haha! Haha!” 

This was mostly him pulling out his own personal life experience, he doesn’t know if Builderman believes it or not. He’s not Paige right now, he’s 007n7! Right as Paige is about to continue, Builderman interrupts him. “... Are you really 007n7?” He asks. There’s genuine curiosity in his voice mixed with a bit of skepticism in it. Likely because there are things in his story that don't exactly add up because Paige isn’t entirely sure if 007n7 even has a family to begin with.

But Paige is nothing but loyal to a script. “Always have been. I don’t see why that changes now?” 

Builderman took a bit of a good look at Paige, taking in all of his features. Paige feels like a bug being analyzed underneath a microscope. “Now that I think about it, you don’t look the same as our 007n7. Yer a bit more youthful and much nicer in comparison to him from what I remember of him back then.” 

Does he know? Oh god, if he knows then it’s over. “Uh, thank you? I suppose?” Paige says, hoping that the situation will play out in his favour. 

“You mentioned havin’ woken up in pain and your body transformed?” 

“Uh, yes…?”

“Hm. Then it’s likely yer a crossover gone wrong.” 

“... I’m sorry?” 

They had already reached his cabin at this point but Builderman simply placed the cleaning supplies down near the front door before explaining. “Sometimes we get other people come in here during rounds as well, but they’re never able to return with us back to the cabin after a round ends. Few of them come from other games, from another world entirely outside of Roblox or some alternate universe. I wish I could explain it but since you haven’t seen one yet, it’s really hard to explain. I’ll point them out to you during the next round if we both happen to be in it.” 

… Is he describing the skins right now? To them it’s probably not skins, but real people. That’s so weird. Roblox is so weird, he’s going to swim and pretend to be a pufferfish. “We tend to have some common ones, such as Shedletsky as a member of a rock band or me as an engineer fer some company called RED, I dunno. But it seems in yer case, you were supposed to be here temporarily. But instead…” 

“... I’ve become permanent?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Wow.” Paige isn’t sure how panicked he should act right now because he knows he can return back home in a week but Builderman doesn’t know that. He sure as hell isn’t going to tell Builderman that. “Wow I… I’m stuck here.” 

It’s then that Builderman’s eyes soften a bit, likely out of pity. “I’m sorry kid.” 

“...” Paige pauses, trying to think of the next thing he should say. Now he could start crying but he’s not really comfortable with the idea of crying in some strangers arms. I mean, Paige knows who Builderman is but, you get the idea. So instead, he goes for the next thing in mind. “... Thank you for your time but I think I’m going to get started on cleaning.”

“007n7–” 

“Alone. Preferably. Please?” 

Builderman hesitates, his arms crossed. He looks like he wants to say something but in the end, he chooses not to. “Welp, if you ever need help, ya know who to call.” 

With that, Builderman leaves. Signalling Dusekkar who just arrived to leave the lanterns near the door of his cabin. Once the two have gone far enough, Paige goes inside the house and sits down on the dusty ground. He is SO good at acting, he never wants to hear Blaise talk about how bad he is at acting ever again in his life! 

… Now to clean up this mess that 007n7 used to call his cabin. He sneezes the moment he thinks about cleaning. Oh boy. 

__

YINYUE POV

YinYue doesn’t often use technology. In fact, she hates using it. Sure it has it’s uses such as texting everybody if they’re free or sending Tiktoks to Mirium at 3 in the morning. But she realises that she is very gullible and susceptible to accepting things without noticing it’s a scam. 

The amount of times she’s almost been scammed is almost in the triple digits. Almost. 

It’s mostly due to the fact that staring at a screen for hours on end hurts her eyes and head. The bright screens dry out her eyes and lowering the brightness makes it impossible to see. How Blaise and Mirium do it is beyond her, she still has yet to learn how they do it. 

So when she’s scrolling on her phone in the comfort of the garden that she didn’t grow and a popup appears, she does the next best thing. Completely miss the x button because her fingers are too big and get taken to an unknown website! Good job YinYue! 

But this website wasn’t exactly like your usual website. It had a somewhat nice layout and it seemed like a genuine ad compared to the terrible scams that she sees. Hm. Maybe she will read what this has to offer…

__

anyways follow me on tiktok @pan_phuong heart eyes