"Ha Ha! You thought you could keep me!" I say, running from the center. After 6 long years, I have escaped! That awful place is in my past. I don't have to deal with those scientists anymore. I am free! No more idiots chasing me or anything! At last, freedom from that monstrous place!
I run deeper into the forest and hear the last scientist's voice, "14! 14 is on the loose!" I run faster, Who cares if I get caught? I can just kill them! There Is no way I can stop now! My eyes flash gold as a side effect of the 24th scientist trying to persuade me into his control, but I don't mind! It only looks like I'm but who knows? Come to think of it… I am the only living person who knows… Oh well! No one will get hurt as long as they don't touch me!
"Sirens of police cars…" I murmur as I run deeper into the forest I am in as they get louder and louder. That wretched scientist must have called the police on me, but I can make it! I run faster and faster as the sirens seem to come closer, if anything I am glad they fed me before I escaped, even if it was barely anything. I run faster as they close in, I will be fine, I am sure of it! If I just run, I will stay alive, stay strong, and maybe start a normal life!
The sirens seem to fade away as I run more, but as I run, there are police in front of me. I smile as my eyes turn slightly gold, saying "Excuse me, officers, may I help you?" They seem to look through my act, but It is no big deal, they are all just objects like myself, I can probably beat them.
The officer looks at me confused, taking in my features, seeming to look for something, but seems to give up. "Ma'am, you need to come with me," the lead officer says, holding his gun at me. trying to look at me and show no fear, but I can already feel it through his glasses. I feel that his eyes filled with the shock of seeing a murderer of 23 people in front of his eyes, it must be terrifying to him. No, it is horrifying to him.
"Alright officer!" I put my hands up and laugh. As they cuff me a smirk appears across my face, their cuffs are quite easy to break, but I won't let them know that. "Take me away from society!"
The lead officer scoffs as I speak, "Come along, Sir. You need to calm down." I laugh out loud. I can't just "calm down." It's impossible! Of course, they don't know that because they are stupid.
"I'll try, sir, but there are no promises!" I say. I'm not going to try; I can't control the need to run off that has taken over me, but it is a good idea to let them think they have me stuck. To think that I didn't tell myself that I will never be in captivity again. At least, if they do, they don't have to lose their heads just yet.
The officers are silent, the one on the lead's left keeps me at the same place and observes me, eventually saying, "What's your name Ma-...sir?"
I smirk at the question, I could tell them my name, but why should I? I am a rogue Stopwatch, and I plan to keep it that way. "Exp. 14," I say as I snap my fingers, pausing all matters of time in place. Slipping away from the grip of the officers, I sigh. "You guys are hopeless, there is no way you are going to make it out alive after this," I say as a knife stabs their backs. I trot off, if I stay longer I might just go completely under the 24th's control.
I finally snap my fingers and resume the existence of time, far away from those officers now, but there is little hope that I will be hidden for long. "14! Come back here right now!" I hear the last living scientist say. I rip off the stupid handcuffs on me, rip the collar that the scientists gave me to be tracked, and throw it to the side. I run as fast as possible, I know I have to face the last scientist, but I want a real life. Not to be a simple toy to others, but an actual living being!
That is my goal, to be a normal living being, and to hide my past as much as I can, to hide that I have a tail, that my buttons move like ears, that I have gold eyes when that stupid scientist tries to take me over. If I can hide those things, I can be a normal object! I run faster, and I don't look back. If I do, I might stop, so I run more and more. I was made to run, I was made to time, but I never did, because if I time something… time goes heptic, and with one snap of my fingers, it stops. I hate the fact that I am that powerful, so I never show it.
As I run my eyes go back to their normal light yellow color, I still hear faint footsteps nearby, so I keep on running, I keep on going, if I stop it may be my doom! The footsteps stay behind me, not increasing or decreasing, there is only one there, and I can tell who it is, that scientist who is still alive. I keep on running, knowing if I stop he will catch up to me right then and there, I can't slow down, he will catch me if I do as well, I just have to keep on going.
I stay at a good pace, not too fast to tire me, but not too slow that he catches me. "Right left, left right" I whisper so only I can hear, running so he doesn't catch me. I am resisting the urge to go on all fours, if I do I will go faster, yet it is not a normal sight to see. I keep on running, the part of the forest I am in is about to end, so I jolt to a different path, running, and making sure I lose him.
I pass a few cabins, bushes, and more and more trees. I run farther and farther away from everything. But the scientist is right behind me. I keep on running, more and more. If I stop I can't say I will be safe. I want to be free, I want to be more than just a little stopwatch that everyone thinks I am, I am not that, not at all. I am Lotti Der, and I am not stopping anytime soon. I need to be free from all of them, no matter what. I keep on running, no matter what, Just keep on running!
It is hours before I stop hearing the footsteps, I know I haven't lost him yet, he's still there, waiting for me to stop. I run farther, not stopping, he is trying to trick me, staying in the same place, acting like he is out of breath, there is no way he is, he has forced me to run for longer, and behind me a knife near my neck if I stop, he was running with me too, there is no way he is tired.
"14, you'll have to face me eventually, you can run, you can hide, you can try to escape from me, but there is no way. Absolutely no way you can't see me again. I will find you. When I do, you will be in my control, and I won't care if you have a family, or if you find a other SPW. When I find you, you will never be able to breathe again." His words rang in my head as I kept on running. I am not Exp. 14 anymore, I won't be Exp. 14 anymore. I will be Lotti Der, who I wanted to be 6 years ago, and who I am now.
I run farther and farther, there is no need for food, water, or sleep right now, just keep on pushing forward. There is no one behind me anymore, the scientist knows I am long gone from where he is, but I keep on running, those awful 6 years are the past, and I need to be away from it. As far as I can be from my past. I want absolutely nothing about it anymore! I just killed 22 stupid scientists who captured 2,763 people, including me, and there is still two… two more left. If I do not murder this one who is following me… I don't think I will be fully sane again.
Guilt fills my mind thinking about the stuff that has happened, I didn't just escape, but I couldn't save her… I only can wish her luck, and hold the fragment of amethyst close, keeping it in my hand. She deserved to have made it out. Alas, now like all the rest of them, she has perished to the demonic bomb.
I keep on running, days and nights pass, and I don't care, as long as I am out of this place, or anywhere near it, I will survive. I finally reach the end of the forest, still at full sprint as I see a Dropet! I try to stop myself but I fall face-first onto them before I can look completely at them. "I am so sorry!" I get off them and pant for air. I was fine, but I didn't want it to look like I wasn't exhausted, I was running at least 20 miles an hour, and couldn't make them scared of me. They look at me, their blue eyes shining as they look at me, then they look away, a bit flustered. "Can I help you to make up for it?" I ask them.
They nod, quietly looking away from me, they sign "My name is Teardrop," they look back, "What's yours?" I look at them, it isn't every day that you meet a mute object. It is really rare to see one. I look at them for a second, trying to remember sign language again. It had been years since the binoculars taught me it, but I knew enough to understand what she was saying.
I hesitate, it hasn't only been years, but I barely remember my name honestly, I never completely had one. I look at Teardrop and sign to her "Lotti." I sigh and look away for a moment. I know that is not the best idea when you're talking to someone who can't talk, but I didn't want to look her in the eyes.
I look back to Teardrop, who is smiling at the name, signing "That's a pretty name!" she doesn't seem to recognize the name from anywhere, but seems to be glad I know sign language.
"Thank you." I sign back, "I don't know that much so if I mess up by saying 'How are you?' or something like that you can tease me until I get it." I knew some manners of sign language, but I was still pretty sloppy at it. I look back at Teardrop, who seems surprised that I knew that.
"Don't worry, it's fine! Lots of my acquaintances in a competition I was in still say it to me, but I never correct them," she signs back, seeming happy to communicate in her language.
"Still, if you want, feel free to mess with me and call me anything!" I say, jokingly, sticking out my tongue.
Teardrop smiles at my response, eventually signing, "It's a Blep!" referring to me sticking out my tongue. She seems happy that she can talk to me with sign language and I understand her. I blush slightly, Is it normal to feel this way to another person? Let alone someone who is your preferred gender.
I shake it off and sign, "You were in a competition?"
Teardrop nods, then signs "It's the series called Battle for Dream Island, or Bfdi for short. I am one of the contestants, but I was recently eliminated from The Power of Two." She seems happy about it, but there is something that bothers her about it. I don't know if it is just instinct, or if I am just being stupid.
"Don't like talking about it?" I sign to her, making sure she feels comfortable about talking with me. "If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to tell me about it."
Teardrop smiles in response, and shakes her head as she signs, "Don't worry, it's all good! It just takes a bit to remember everything that happened there." I smile in reassurance, and let her take her time. It doesn't bother me that she is taking a while, it is quite normal.
"Take your time, I have a while." I sign to her. She smiles in response and sits down on a log that has fallen. I sit by her, but not too close to her. I hum a simple tune as she thinks, eventually, she taps my shoulder, ready to sign what had happened.
"You see Blep. A long time ago, I was in this competition. It was quite a fun one. I played as a contestant and did challenges, and viewers would watch and decide who would be eliminated. There were rejoins as well, and much more, but I seemed to never get back in. I just lived my life like that, doing competitions, and not talking to others. Halfly because I was mute. But I did explain in my body language, though no one understood." she signs, seeming calm.
I smile at the ncname she gave me, I suppose I ae a sin name now. I try to show a poise attitude, "Sounds fun!" I Sign. I am just glad she wasn't like me, tortured for 6 years straight, no stopping until you escape yourself. I hope no one will have to deal with that again. "Where are we?
"Goiky, I suppose you're an earthling, am I correct?" she signs, intrigued. I nod my head, technical I a no, but I'e been there for over 10 years, I assume I classify as one. Yet, I have never seen a place with such green grass and vibrant trees, but I say nothing, just enjoying the peaceful area. "I've never actually seen an earthling up here."
"I have never been here, not once in my life, and I know no one that has." I sign back, kinda embarrassed that I don't know how to get back home. "Now I am here, in this place that honestly, is pretty, but I suppose that is best if I go back to earth eventually."
Teardrop tries to sign, confused, "Do you know how you got here? Star doesn't let people pass without reason. I can't even get her to let me pass to earth."
"Who is Star? But no, I don't remember how, but I do remember it was around 6 years ago." I sign back to her, I know how in reality, but I don't want to explain.
Teardrop looks at me dumbfounded, "How? How in the universe did Star let you pass?" She signs to me. "Come with me, Star might have an explanation for this," she drags me towards a figure, stomping her foot to get its attention.
"What?" the figure says then looks at me, the concept starting to make sense to her "Who brought an earthling through the door?" The figure, obviously a flag of some sort, looks at Teardrop.
I have a small flashback of a memory of that idiot who had help bring me to this earth-like place, everyone looked wiped out and the bean had said, "Man, that flag was scary." Now great! This must be a gateway guardian, most of the time they are cosmic creatures, and probably the most intimidating immortal out there at times.
"How long have they been in Goiky?" Teardrop before she can sign gets interrupted, the flag gasps, "SIX YEARS!? The only one who came through the door that year was the whole Scientist mayhem… but I have objects saying that all of them dead… like no recovery center will work dead, but I am pretty sure that's because they are not from Goiky."
I start shaking… that lead scientist comes to mind, that evil pill bottle's ally, Mr. Pestivol was the one to take me, with his crew of scientists, and the engineer. Now I am in front of a very high being, who happens to know who he is, as soon as she knows I was in the crate, I am doomed. The flag looks down at me and chuckles a bit. "You must have something to do with this, I believe that Z? Zenophile? I don't know, he said that he had a SPW called 14
I tremble, as the flag says this, I hated being called 14. It was always 14 come here, 14 do this, work harder 14! "I am not just a number, am I?" I ask.
"Of course not, what's your name? I am sorry, I had just assumed, No one should just be called a number unless, of course, they are a number." the flag chuckles playfully, before looking down at me "Want to go home little one?"
"I'm Lotti Der, and I am 291, not little" I say with a glare, I have been told that I still look fourteen, and I hate it, I never got to age that much, but only 9 more years until I reach full maturity.
"Lotti? Never heard that name befor- wait, you're a stopwatch! A Stopwatch, they can control time with a snap?" The flag asks, I am surprised she didn't connect the dots about the whole SPW thing, Teardrop, who was just watching this go down, looks at me in slight awe. "Well Lotti, I assume you do have a pass to be up here. Sorry for thinking you were younger then you truly are, I don't se a lot of other immortals." The flag exclaims.
"If you are a stopwatch, aren't you immortal?" Teardrop signs to me. She looks completely in awe that someone she just met can control time with just a snap of their fingers.
"It doesn't work exactly like that. I mean, I die when time stops for good, or when someone resets me. Whatever comes first. Then the next Stopwatch to be born will have this power. It's a great thing, but we have very, very chaotic lives, having to change galaxies every 20 years or so, not being able to love. It is kind of annoying, but I can deal with it." I explain to the two.
Teardrop looks at me and hugs me with pity-filled eyes. After a moment she pulls back she signs, "I'm sorry you have to be that way. Also sorry if I startled you!" I am still a bit flustered that she hugged me, people don't hug me out of pity, or at all. Not unless they are planning to hurt me.
"Don't worry, it's okay!" I sign.
The flag seems amused that I know sign language, and that I can talk to Teardrop fluently. I smile at Teardrop and the flag. I see a few stars on the flag itself, a nice silver on top of a navy-royal blue, "So you go along with the SPW law, being an immortal myself, I understand what it's like, but I suppose that they literally take away your ability to love."
I nod, "sad truth, but it's okay, I have managed. It's not too bad." I look up to the Starred flag, trying to hide the fact that I hae broken that law ma times, "what's your name?" I ask, knowing that at least a few cosmic creatures have names.
"That's not important, you need to get back to Earth," the flag says as she pushes me through a portal-door combo. Landing me on a sidewalk. The sidewalk I was on 6 years ago, right before I had been taken. I look around, it is not familiar anymore, many more homes are nearby, and it seems like there is a school right next to where I landed. I look at my wrist to see if the mark is gone, but it is still there, yelling at me that I am not a normal object anymore, but Exp.14. That can't stop me, can it?
I realize I don't have the amethyst sha anmore in my hands, I must have dropped it when I ran into teardrop! "Dang it." I mutter, and sig. That was the last thing I had of 13, now like all the other expeiments, she is dead. That stupid pill bottle did this… his words are true, I will see him again, but this time, he will pa fo what he did. It wasn' me who should of been pained. I didn't get to choose what object I am!
I look off into the distance, to see a small little cross, saying "In memory of SPW 74." I am not dead! I am alive, and right here, but I see this cross saying "In memory of SPW 74?" I rip it out of the ground and break it. I am alive and well, and no one should think I am dead.
I grab a small pen I have in my bag and write "I'm alive, come find me!" then toss it aside. The chances of people seeing it? Very slim, but it's better than nothing. I keep on walking, maybe I will find some way to get a house. I walk forward, never looking back, just one foot in front of the other. I come to a forest. It isn't anything like the one in Goiky, but it is quite beautiful. I look around for any signs of this being property, but I see none, and I go a bit deeper into the forest.
As soon as I am deep enough so I am not seen by the public eye, I put the small amount of stuff I have down, grab one of many phones I took from the dead scientists, and turn one of them on. I quickly get onto it and look at their bank account, to realize that there is over 1 billion dollars in this bank account. I drop the phone on the ground. Over 1 billion dollars are in this bank account, and I have ownership rights now. I knew the scientists had a lot, but this much? That's way too much for anyone.
I look at the other phones to see if they have as much. Sure enough, there is at least 1 billion in each account. "No, no way I can accept the fact I have over 20 billion dollars now," I say, but no one is near enough to hear me. I panic and look for the wallets I stole from them. Sure enough, their debit cards are right there. I put all of them in one wallet, rip up the credit cards, and then pay the credit cards off, which isn't much. Put the spare change they have in another wallet, Take out all of their IDs, and rip them up as well. I walk out of the forest with the spare change wallet. As soon as I can throw it, I leave it on the street. Hopefully, someone will take it and use the money in there for good. Yet most will use it on drugs nowadays. I walk off and don't care what people do with it, there are only around 1,000 bucks in there, that is nothing to me now sadly.
I walk farther away from wherever I am now, and I walk to a shop. As I walk in a few people stare at me, then look away, like they don't care what I am doing. I sigh in relief and walk towards the counter, the cashier smiles at me in response "Hi! What can I get for ya?"
"Anything. Surprise me, just anything editable." I say, a bit desperate. The cashier looks at me confused, not understanding why I'd want anything.
"Are you sure?" The cashier asks me, quite confused.
"Anything," I answer.
"Okay? I'll get you some fries, is that okay?" the cashier asks.
I nod, pay for the fries with one of the many debit cards I own now, and sit down, and wait for my fries. The cashier comes to me with a large fries. "Here you go!" they say, then walk off. I eat the fries, they taste heavenly. I haven't eaten in over a week. This is amazing food compared to what I ate the last 6 years of my life. I finish quickly and walk off, my tail swishing slightly as I walk out the door, I don't notice it, but it is the first time I am happy enough for it to wag since I got it.
As I walk, I look for a department store. If I am going to live somewhere, I'd like it to be in the woods. I find one, walk in, and look for an Ax and a hatchet. As I find the two weapons, I notice nails, I grab them as well and check out. After I pay for the hardware, I run back to the forest, the giant pine trees welcoming me as I do so. I find my spot and start chopping down a few of the pine trees around me to make a small cabin. "I've done this as a strength test, I can do it again!" I encourage myself, as I chop down a huge pine tree that is in front of me, "But this time I have a weapon to do so!"
I chop down more trees, making a small clearing. As I finish the 20th tree, I sigh and start clearing up the stumps. Each tree has deep roots as I pull their stumps out, but it is possible to get rid of the stumps. In about three days of work, I get it done. All the stumps are out and the logs are scraped of bark. The only thing left is to get 50 more logs and make the cabin, Then I will be done.
I sit down on the dirt, the light green color of the grass seems comforting. The contrast to the dirt from the grass is quite something to see, the grass, a vibrant green, sways in the breeze, as the dirt has a mud-like feeling to it, being dark and moist. "It is about time I feed myself," I say in my mind, then walk out to a small crystal clear river. The fish; small bluegills, swim in the small stream, trying to catch flies near the river. I catch a few with my hands, then let them slip away from my grip. "I can't feed on these poor things."
I look around for some berries, or some type of plant I can eat. There is a bush of wild blackberries and some mushrooms, but the mushrooms look a little sketchy, so I just take a few berries and then wash them in the river. After cleaning them, I eat some of them, tasting the wild, pure taste in my mouth.
After eating some, I work on getting more logs to make the cabin. A few of the forest's pine trees slowly go down one after another, and a few fall every hour. While chopping I hum a small tune to keep my mind occupied. After a few hours, I go back to the blackberry bushes, following the small trail I made before to get there, my steps showing on the mud. I sprint across the muddy dirt, this time with my bag, I empty it beforehand, and I fill it with blackberries. With handful after handful, I slowly fill the bag. After I fill it at least halfway, then I walk back to the logs I have harvested. There are at least 30 of them, 10 of them still have bark, and the other 20 have been scraped off. So I sit down and use my hatchet to scrape off the bark. A few hours pass and I get 9 and a half of the trees scraped. I remember I can pause time! I facepalm and snap my fingers, the sound of the small stream stops, and everything is still. I sigh and keep on working on the cabin's logs, chopping them, getting rid of the stump, then skinning off the bark, repeating the process until I get all of them done.
"Chop, stump, skin. Chop, stump, skin" I repeat in my head every time I cut one down. I have a huge stack of stumps now, about 60 as I snap my fingers back to resume time. I grab a handful of the blackberries and eat them. The wild taste hit my taste buds once again. The handful is good enough to keep me working for a while, I snap my fingers, and the surroundings go back to the still quiet place.
I go back to the routine, "Chop, stump, skin. Chop, stump skin." In what would be actual days, I keep on doing this routine, and now, there are more than 100 stumps on the ground by the time I snap my fingers, my supply of berries is already out. If it were in real time it would have disappeared out of nowhere, but I paused time itself to do this, so it is like this.
I lay on the dirt, and I fell asleep in seconds. The soft grass acts like a pillow, and it is easy for me to fall asleep. I wake up around noon, and the fish in the small stream nearby swim across the crystal-clear water. I stand up and walk over to the stream, all the fish don't notice me, and continue swimming. Seeing them swim, I smile, it is quite amazing to see so many fish so close. It seems like they are swimming in glass. I smile at the sight, the fish look so easy to catch, just one scoop of your hand and you have at least three of them in your grasp.
I tried to catch them, and as I thought, I had three in my grasp. Feeling them swim in my hands, eventually slipping out of my hands onto the crystal-clear water again. The simple stream flows through my fingers, softly passing by. The water is comforting, quietly pushing through my fingers. I sit there watching some fish nip at my fingers. The simple gesture tickles, It doesn't hurt, but it is fun watching them nip at me.
I lay at the bay of the stream watching the fish go by. All of them are going their own way in the schools. I sigh and watch them swim past, falling asleep to the sounds of the small stream. I wake up an hour or so later, I get up and snap my fingers, pausing time and I work on the cabin for another week if time wasn't paused. The sun is burning me a lot, but I don't care, and keep on working.
After at least two weeks of paused time, I collapse as I snap my fingers, the cabin is done, and I need sleep. Not sleeping for 2 weeks really can tire you. I am asleep on the wood floor of this cabin, basically wasted for at least two days straight. I wake up, looking at the fruit of my labor, then fall asleep again. I can't get up right now, I feel awful. I can't pause time for that long, if I do that again I am pretty sure all time will stop forever. And I don't want that.
I wake up yet again and go and get berries. Then I changed my mind. I need actual food, not just berries. I stand up, the sharp pain of hunger coming to my mind as I do so. I need to get out and eat something before I actively starve more. I run out of the forest, searching for some type of grocery store. When I find one I go straight to the food aisles. I couldn't care less what people thought of seeing a stopwatch going for food.
I fill at least a cart full of food, it should last me at least a week, and check out in self-checkout. I pay for it all and run out of the store with a huge smile on my face. As soon as I find a comfortable position to hold all the groceries, I skip along back to the forest. I get such weird looks. It's fair, I am using my tail to hold some bags as well. As soon as I got to my newly made cabin, I put everything down. And lay on the floor with a smile. After a moment, the sharp pain of hunger returns, and I sigh, grab a pre-made sandwich, and eat it. The whole thing is gone in a few seconds, but oh well! Food is food.
I go outside and enjoy the peaceful air, the simple cabin I made standing out from the rest of the forest. I wag my tail to see how much work can get you something as good as this. I smile, and start cleaning all the stumps I took out of the ground. After I place them in a pile I go into the cabin and drink some water, a lot of it.
I sigh, the time seems to go by slowly, but it is reasonable. I look at the small stream again, most of the fish swim completely away, but there are different schools of them nearby. I think to myself, I need to get to a school and get a job sooner or later. Not for profit, I just need something to do. I look up to the sky to see Goiky. Where I was for over 6 years before I came back to Earth. I stand up, only to fall back down. It hits me that not sleeping for over a week is a bad idea…
"How am I even alive if I made it two weeks without sleeping?" I ask myself, lying on the dirt of the forest floor. "At least I slept afterward," I remember something, if I was in the state of paused time for two weeks in normal time, I might be corrupting. I look at my hands for any signs of corruption. There is nothing. I sigh in relief, but if I was in that state for longer. I am pretty sure time would be stopped until another stopwatch fixes it, and that won't happen for a while.
I look at the crystal clear stream, making sure my eyes are not freaked out. Despite the fact I don't want them to be, they are dark gold. "Dang it!" I say to myself, knowing if I see someone while in this state can lead to their death. I bury my head into the grass "This is going to be a while." I get up. Noticing the effects starting to take over. From what I can tell, this is going to take weeks to fix.