Chapter Text
When Foolish saw the chest placed directly in the center of his tower, he couldn’t say that the first thing he felt was surprise. Dread, maybe. Or perhaps something closer to resignation.
It hadn't been there ten minutes ago, when he'd come to put Leo to bed.
He knew where it came from. Who put it there.
Foolish sighed tiredly. He took a moment to collect himself before finally walking towards the lone chest. Slowly, Foolish pushed up the latch and watched as the chest almost noiselessly fell open.
Inside was one, singular book.
Foolish picked it up by it's leather bindings and flipped to the first page, the motion deft and more familiar than he’d like.
The ink was smooth and writing was neat, almost unnaturally so. The message was simple, somewhat mundane. It sent a spike of anxiety through his heart.
'I have a task for you :)'
Not a request. An order. Foolish worried his lip as he started his walk (he wouldn't warp, he was in no rush to arrive to his destination).
It was funny. Not too long ago, he would have been excited to receive a message like that. Recently though…
Foolish shook his head. He should try to keep his thoughts positive. Foolish knew that this was for the greater good. He knew that these small sacrifices would give him the power he needed to protect them. It would all work out in the end. It had to.
Even if no one trusted him. Even if they all hated him.
They would understand, once it was all over. Or maybe they wouldn't. Foolish was willing to take that risk.
All he needed was the cards to get him the winning hand. And there was only one thing he could think of that could grant him that.
Foolish hesitated for a second as he looked at the building before him. He took a breath, his eye closing for a moment before he trudged on forward. His shoes echoed in the empty night against the stone steps of the train station.
The room was relatively bare, with high ceilings and tall windows. Rows of seats were scattered about, and a few vendors’ stalls lined the wall opposite to the train tracks, though they looked long abandoned. Foolish made his way over to one of the further ones and climbed over the counter to reach the elevator he knew was hidden behind it.
He stopped a second, steeling himself. Then, with an easy, practiced smile stretching across his face, Foolish took a step forward and let the elevator take him to the base of the Federation.
When the elevator reached its destination, a pair of beady black eyes caused Foolish to flinch.
Cucurucho.
"I've been expecting you," a robotic voice came from the speaker on its chest. Without another word, the bear turned around and began to walk the other way. Foolish rushed to keep up as he was led to an office at the end of the hall. The door shut behind him with a quiet click.
The office was white, like most things made by the Federation, with a metal desk and a chair on either side. Foolish took his usual seat with his back to the door. Cucurucho took the black one in the other side.
"The Federation requires your services," Cucurucho said after a moment, it's eyes staring intensely at his own.
Foolish shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The tasks- the demands, really- had gotten more… he didn’t know. Traitorous, maybe?
Yeah, the job had never exactly been sunshine and rainbows - an arrest here and there was part of the job, and he was usually happy enough to do it. But, lately, the jobs seemed less and less like the police work he’d gotten used to, and more like the work of a straight-up informant.
They constantly asked him strange questions about his friends, what they were up to. They wanted more and more information that he was less and less apt to give. Each question was more intrusive than the last, and their punishments (or corrections, as they liked to call it) more severe.
Just the other day, Tubbo had been left with a black eye and a bullet graze across his shoulder just for an illegal machine.
Foolish could see how some had begun to hate him. To resent for what he'd been doing. At this point, he couldn't even blame them.
"What... what do you need me to do?" What more do you want from me?
If at all possible, Cucurucho's smile seemed to widen. "We need information on project N.I.N.H.O."
Foolish froze, his mouth open in shock. "What?" He choked out.
Cucurucho continued as if he hadn’t spoken. "To allow every resident to enjoy the island to the fullest extent possible, the Federation must have access to all locations on the island. This includes the N.I.N.H.O. hotel and it's rooms. You will need to hand over access to the ones you have, and get the other residents to allow you into the remaining ones."
Foolish gaped at the bear.
"Is that clear?" Cucurucho looked at him expectantly, but honestly, Foolish had no idea what to say.
He'd done some fucked up things, he knew, but it had always been with one idea in mind; to protect.
Join the Federation, gain power, and use that power to keep those he cared about safe, maybe even get them freedom one day. It was what Foolish chanted in his head, what he whispered into the night when his growing guilt kept him awake.
There could be no line he wouldn't cross as long as it got him closer to achieving his goal, not when he'd already sacrificed so much. Not when he'd forced his friends to sacrifice so much.
He couldn’t.
He shouldn’t.
Except…
The eggs. Leo. Giving up access to their rooms would mean putting them in danger.
And, as much as Foolish hated to admit attachment, that did change things, didn’t it?
“I…”
He could never betray her.
“I’m sorry.”
The nerves that had clouded Foolish’ brain just moments ago vanished, his resolve suddenly strengthened.
“I can’t give you that.”
Always juntos. Always together. He would move the earth for her, and he cared about all of the other eggs too. Even Dapper, the motherfucker.
Silence permeated the room, but Foolish sat steadfast. Cucurucho’s face kept its cheerful appearance, but Foolish had spent enough time with the bear to know that it was surprised. That surprise quickly turned to something darker
It stared at him, directly in the eyes, before the speaker on it’s chest played a short, clear sound.
“No.”
Foolish scoffed. “The fuck do you mean, ‘no’?”
“No. No. No. No-” The word played over and over in such rapid succession that the next overlapped with the last.
Foolish stood up from his seat and took a step back. What the fuck was going on?
Cucurucho leaned toward him, its voice suddenly quiet. “You do not betray the Federation.”
Something pricked Foolish’s arm.
Time seemed to slow and warp for a second. The ground dissolved beneath his feet. The white walls blended together. Foolish was weightless.
Then, he blinked.
The fabric of his comforter pressed softly against Foolish’s skin as he lay perfectly on top of the covers of a bed.
Foolish jerked up with a gasp. His heart hammered in his chest and he tried desperately to grasp reality.
The room around him was that of his own bedroom.
“What the fuck?”