Factory

As the sun rose someplace it could be seen, Factory awoke to a very enticing group of smells. Misty was lovingly toiling away in the kitchen, preparing a breakfast that consisted of many delicious foods. The aroma of a warm meal was too much to b.a.r.e for two fatigued girls, forcing them to get up and make their way to the kitchen.

The wooden dining table was covered in a selection of foods ranging from meats and eggs to baked goods and hot aromatic coffee. It was quite the delicious sight to behold. Max had reached the table first, rubbing her eyes intensely with one hand and feeling around for a chair with the other. She hadn't bothered getting dressed, only wearing a tank top and her p.a.n.t.i.e.s. Max was too casual among friends to care about how she looked at home and proud of her generous proportions.

When Factory reached the table, her attire was equally casual, but she was much more embarrassed. She was unable to locate her clothing in her room, so coming to the table in a t-shirt and p.a.n.t.i.e.s was her only option.

"Where are my clothes?" Factory asked, awkwardly sitting down at the table.

"Oh, I washed them," Misty answered, not taking her eyes off the stove. "They were pretty dirty. I have them folded somewhere. I'll get them in a second."

"So, what's with the grand meal?" Max questioned. "I can't even remember the last time you cooked breakfast."

"Well, it's a special occasion isn't it?" Misty answered. "It's the first breakfast with the newest member of the household!"

"You didn't have to go to any trouble," Factory said.

"It's no trouble," Misty assured her.

"It's no trouble as long as Factory is the one eating," Max explained, giggling.

Misty gave a small glare towards Max before suddenly spinning around with her most important breakfast item. With a heartwarming smile and hop in her step she sat down a tall stack of fresh pancakes in the very center of her buffet.

"Man, if this is how you're going to cook from now on, we are gonna get faaaaaaat," Max said with a laugh.

"Thank you for the meal," Factory said, trying to hold herself back from starting. "Do we eat now?"

Misty giggled.

"Go ahead and dig in. Eat 'till you're nice and full," she said.

A few days after her first big breakfast, Factory found herself lost. Max and Misty were working in the bar and had left Factory to her own devices. Factory didn't know what she should do and was still afraid to touch anything. Max and Misty had quite the collection of trinkets randomly placed about the house around their furniture with no particular theme or flow. If not for the mass of little things, the home of red walls and dark floors might seem quite normal.

There were figures of television and movie characters, paintings, and even a strange suit of metal armor near the garage door. She thought about retreating to her room, but instead sat on the couch in the wide living room in front of a television that was already on. Factory sat quietly as a movie trailer about war played on the screen. She watched the trailer with great interest as she hadn't seen a movie before, but then a strange feeling came to her. She felt her body being restless and her hands began to shake.

Heading to her closet, she found her backpack hanging quietly. She had never noticed how worn and damaged it looked. In order to stop any loud error noises, Factory had taped the release button to the bag so it could release the drugs whenever they were ready. She stared blankly at the backpack when suddenly the notification sounded and another little bag fell into an open box on the floor; a small collection of her previous life.

Factory had always been afraid of the drug. She was frightened by the thought of being addicted and out of control. The thought of taking the drug now was still scary but not as before. A feeling of ease was there that wasn't previously. Factory felt that it was safer now that she had a place to live and friends who cared for her.

"Just once," she said to herself. "What harm could it do?"

In the bar, Max and Misty were serving drinks and talking with patrons. It was a typical night with nothing too interesting. That is, until a rowdy newcomer decided to join them.

Sitting at the bar with a sly look, a blond haired man started ordering drinks and flirting openly with Max and Misty. All of his attempts were vulgar and rude and he was turned down consistently.

"Man, you two bitches are so full of yourselves," the blond man said. "You two need to relax and just go with the flow, have some fun. I can show you a good time."

At this point Max and Misty simply ignored the man and didn't respond, which irritated him.

"Fine, maybe this young thing will want to have some fun with me," the man said said.

Max and Misty quickly looked out of fear of the statement's meaning to see Factory standing behind the bar in front of the man.

"Hey, cute thing," he began. "What's your name?"

Factory didn't respond, only staring blankly at the man as if she didn't know what she was looking at.

"Aw, come on, don't be shy."

Factory still said nothing.

"Hey, are you on something? Damn, you look pretty far gone."

The blond man reached for Factory's shoulder but was quickly thwarted by Misty who pushed his arm aside.

"Please, either clean up your act or we'll have you removed," she said. "I'm tired of hearing your pathetic advances and now you're trying to harass my friend."

Enraged by Misty's scolding, the man pulled out a knife and swung his arm out towards her. Misty could not react quickly enough but was not injured, as Factory had stopped the man's swing and held it in place with one hand.

"What the f.u.c.k," he blond man said. "Give me my arm back."

Suddenly looking very angry, Factory slammed the man's arm down against the edge of the bar counter, breaking it at the forearm and fixing it at a ninety degree angle. The man screamed out in pain, causing the attention of the bar to be completely focused on Factory. Gently letting go of his arm, Factory's expression returned to that of a blank slate and the man fell to the floor in loud agony.

Max and Misty didn't know what to do but stare in complete shock at what had happened. The injured man scrambled to his feet and ran for the door, pausing before a complete exit.

"You'll f.u.c.k.i.n.g pay for this!" he yelled.

"Um," Max began to gather her thoughts. "Everybody please just go back to your business, okay? We'll handle this."

Max and Misty guided Factory back into the house with ease, simply turning her in the right direction and nudging her slightly. With Factory sitting quietly on the couch, Max and Misty tried to understand what had happened.

"Look at her, she's as blank as a piece of paper," Misty said.

"I know," Max said with a sigh. "And I think I know why. Wait here."

Max disappeared into the hallway, leaving Misty to watch over her empty friend.

"Hello," Misty called softly to Factory. "Is anyone home?"

Misty waved her hands in front of Factory slowly but there was no response. Nothing but a blank stare forward with slow blinks on the eyes. Putting a hand to her mouth in thought, Misty attempted to come up with any ideas to snap her out of it, but was suddenly met with and unexpected look. Factory slowly moved her gaze to Misty and stared longingly. Her eyes softened and held a hint of sadness while her mouth dropped open slightly, revealing the tip of her tongue. Misty's face turned red with heavy blushing and let out a small squeak of nervousness.

"Hey, I think I found..." Max announced halfway, freezing in place as she witnessed the event. "Um, never mind. I'll leave you two alone."

"Wait, don't," Misty pleaded as Max disappeared into the hallway once more.

Factory reached up to Misty with both hands and grabbed a hold of her waist. Before she knew it, Misty had found herself lying down face to face with the object of her secret affection. Factory's hot breath slowly traveled outward and mingled with hers as she stared longingly.

"Hey, um, Factory?" Misty said, swallowing hard. "You, don't mean this. I mean you're obviously not yourself and-"

Before she could stumble through any more words, Factory put her lips against Misty's and dove her tongue inside. Misty couldn't help but m.o.a.n lightly as she enjoyed her little fantasy. Within a minute of kissing, Factory had Misty's jeans and u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r around her ankles without her even noticing.

Sleeping soundly, Max was suddenly awoken by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall and a slammed door. With fear in her mind, she quickly rushed to the living room to find a n.a.k.e.d, sniffling Misty.

"Hey, what happened?" Max asked.

"I guess, she snapped out of it," Misty explained through pauses of tears. "She probably thinks I r.a.p.ed her or something. She probably hates me now."

"She was under the influence of Power, her backpack drug. She probably blacked out and suddenly, I guess, saw you on top of her? I shouldn't have let you do that. That was f.u.c.k.i.n.g stupid of me."

"I wasn't on top of her. She was on top of me and fin-."

"Okay! I don't really need to know all that. I am actually straight you know."

Misty started silently crying harder.

"You knew something was wrong with her but you didn't stop it," she said.

"Yeah, but, I thought maybe this was a good chance for you or something?" Max tried to explain. "Man, I'm f.u.c.k.i.n.g retarded. I'm so sorry, Misty. Let me go talk to her okay?"

Working up her nerve, Max knocked on the door to Factory's room at the end of the hall with no response. She couldn't hear anything but Misty's soft crying from the living room.

"Hey, um," Max attempted to say, "are you, okay? Can I come in?"

There was a moment of silence as Max attempted to figure out what she should do. This was definitely a strange situation to be sure. Just before she tried knocking again, Factory opened the door, wearing only a t-shirt and soaked with tears.

"I didn't mean to hurt Misty's feelings," she said. "I'm sorry I screwed up. I'm stupid, I'm… I can make it up to her."

With Max following close behind, confused to no end, Factory made her way to a devastated Misty. Misty looked as if her world had been taken from her, just staring blankly into the side of the couch until Factory approached her.

"I…" Misty attempted to say something but nothing else would come.

"I'm sorry, Misty," Factory apologized. "I don't really know what's going on, or what any of this means. I know I screwed up by taking the drug but, I didn't want to hurt your feelings and make you cry. If you want, I'm willing to go ahead and continue. It's just, now I'm really nervous and I don't know what I'm doing."

Misty looked up at Factory in disbelief.

"What? Do you really mean that?" she questioned. "You don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with just for my sake."

"No, it's all right. I... want to try."

"Um, okay. I guess I'll take the lead then, if you're sure."

"Okay! I'm out of here! See you guys later!" Max exclaimed, panicking and retreating to her room.