Chapter Text
Spamton woke up to a ringing in his ears, his body aching against the cold ground. When had he passed out? Even as the weak feeling slipped away, and he slowly gained his composure, he came to realise that something felt… off. And it wasn't the dizziness that had been fogging his mind. It was more a sort of disconnection; a sense of longing. Something intangible.
Putting it out of his mind momentarily, he got to his feet, observing his surroundings. But he wasn't greeted with the shining lights of Cyber City. Not even the flashy neon cat signs were there to pull him back to reality. Instead, rafters like skyscrapers towered high into the unobservable sky, glittering with… no, those weren't stars. There was something too harsh about them, and as he squinted his eyes against the dazzle, it almost appeared as though they were strung to rafters. Like some sort of artificial mockery of a sky.
It surely had to be some kind of dream. Even if he had somehow made it out of the city, into some abandoned place past the fields, the scenery was all too wrong. He stood on boardwalks with a purple tinge, and looking over the edge, he gulped nervously at the void beneath him. Perhaps in his best interest not to fall down.
The little Addison dusted off his suit, uneasily setting off down the boardwalk. His shoes thudded against the wooden platforms, the only sound against the silence. It didn't even echo. Those imposing rafters were too far in the distance. But as he walked, further and further along the lonely platforms, Spamton could've sworn he was beginning to see something. An outline of a distant civilisation. But it didn't look like Cyber City. There was no ferris wheel, no giant palace with Queen’s face plastered on its front. It was… wrong.
Approaching the buildings only confirmed further that the salesman was anywhere but the city. There were more rafters now, surrounding one big cluster of buildings and boardwalks, separated by red curtains and screens. There was one singular door heading into the buildings, but as Spamton approached it, he heard muffled voices close by on the other side.
Suddenly fearful of being caught, Spamton jumped onto one of the nearby rafters, hanging just below the boardwalk. He squinted, staying absolutely still as he observed two people exit out of the door. Neither of them were Darkner species that he recognised. One was a small being, wearing a red coat, with a six sided head adorned with dots of various patterns. The other, a tall, slim Darkner with no discernible face and buttons adorning its body, bounced along on a singular leg. They seemed to be discussing something, though it was too hushed a tone for Spamton to eavesdrop. As they passed by his hiding place, he held his breath, watching them disappear down the boardwalk. Briefly considering his options, Spamton looked to the door. It seemed dangerous to wander in blind to what he could be facing. He blinked, looking up towards the faux sky.
These smaller rafters surrounding the buildings were perfectly climbable. With a deep inhale to steel his nerves, he began ascending.
It wasn't as impossibly tall as the ones reaching up to the sky on the horizon. Instead, it reached up to a network of rafters working their way horizontally, dotted with various lights and speaker systems. He grabbed onto the top of the rafters, hoisting himself up to crawl across them like a soldier in training. The aerial view allowed him to see that none of the conjoined rooms had ceilings, instead, they were more like sets. A glamorous kitchen, living room, a tiny city…
Though as he crawled further, he began to hear a voice. A loud, theatrical voice, maybe slightly distorted like a radio. Spamton couldn't make out the words spoken, but at certain beats he could begin to hear applause. Laughter. It made some amount of sense given the sets beneath him, but filled him with curiosity at what could be happening. He followed the sound of the voice, scaling the rafters with care, passing over several new Darkners he once again didn’t recognise. Two in particular caught his attention- a man, with a yellow face in the shape of a crescent moon, and a girl with blue skin and fluffy grey pigtails. They sat together on a sofa in a dazzling room shining with stars and lights, gazing romantically into each other’s eyes and giving soft words Spamton couldn’t hear. He held back a scoff, thinking of the Dating Shoes one of his fellow Addisons would surely try to sell to them. But romance wasn’t his thing. The voices of the host and audience were very loud now, and he pressed on, passing over the wall until he stopped in his tracks.
Spamton looked down, clinging to the rafters, noticing an array of cameras that he hoped wouldn’t detect him. Several metres beneath him, was a grand stage, with a lively host presenting a comedy show. The Darkner was large, very large, and while Spamton couldn't see much of him from his bird’s eye view, he could at least tell that the guy had some sort of rectangular head atop his body. Other than that, he wore a red tailcoat with very shiny leather trousers, and well polished yellow shoes. He faced away from Spamton, looking out towards his audience, as he gave various quips and jokes.
Spamton attempted to crawl backwards to evade the show, but to his dismay, his foot caught in a gap in the rafters and he scrambled to try and right himself. Dangling from his legs, he panted, using all of his strength to try to haul himself up to regain his grip. But all he managed to do in his panic was swing himself off of the rafter. He fell with a yelp, hitting a stage light on his descent, managing to tip it in such a way that as he face-planted onto the stage below, the spotlight perfectly lit him up.
“...Oh!” the host exclaimed in surprise, looking in the direction of the little Addison intruder who lay still on the stage. “Looks like a comedy-loving fan has dropped in. Live TV, am I right, folks?” He gave the audience a comical shrug, as they laughed at the sudden event. Though as nothing more happened, it fell to a concerned silence.
Spamton groaned, the pain spreading through his body like fire. He'd landed directly on his face, and as a result… He looked up, and brought a hand up to his nose, feeling warm blood wetting his fingertips. Somewhere in front of him, he heard a call of “Ah- Mike! Cut-!”... before everything went dark.