Ask or Dare for a BFDI

Ep. 22 - The Four Files

Voting ends the 23rd of January! Enjoy the episode :)

Golf Ball and Tennis Ball sat in front of each other on the cold, metal floor of the not-so-secret factory, passing the time as they waited for their elimination ceremony.

Tennis Ball held one of Golf Ball's inventions: The Mutual Mind Reader, MMR for short. He aimed the communications dish towards his partner and pressed the button, effectively exchanging their thoughts.

"...Wow" Tennis Ball smiled widely, "Y- You really think that?"

Golf Ball giggled, a bit embarrassed, "You know the answer, don't you?"

The couple had found a past-time a few days ago; they would take turns on using the MMR to compliment and be overall sweet to each other, they found themselves weirdly more comfortable expressing their deepest feelings this way. They both enjoyed it a lot.

"My turn!" Golf Ball turned the dish backwards to aim at Tennis Ball instead and pressed the button. The two, once again, exchanged thoughts.

Golf Ball blushed, "O- Oh my-"

Her partner cringed, "Sorry! Intrusive thought!"

"I- I mean... at least take me out to dinner first!" she replied, they both laughed.

Their laughter, however, would be soon interrupted by some knocking coming from upstairs.

"Ugh! Who's at the darn door!?" Golf Ball shouted, mad that someone dared to interrupt valuable bonding time.

"Don't worry, I'll answer" Tennis Ball volunteered, he sat up and ran upstairs. Once he was there, he pressed the red button and opened the door to see Bottle waiting in the other side.

"Hello!" Bottle smiled and waved at him, she was holding something behind her back, a completely useless practice since she was see-through anyways, "Um, Is Golf Ball here by any chance?"

Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow before turning around, "It's for you!" he shouted downstairs.

Golf Ball got up and walked towards the entrance door, "...Bottle? What are you doing here?"

"Me? Yes, I'm Bottle!"

"...What? That's not what I asked! Why are you here? We were in the middle of something!"

"Ooooh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you two were doing in a dark subterranean complex-"

"JUST TELL ME WHY YOU'RE HERE ALREADY!" Golf Ball lost her cool.

"Okay! Okay! I'll stop beating around the bush" Bottle said before showing her the item she was holding. Golf Ball stepped outside to take a look, her partner now observing from behind.

"...The Four Files?" Golf Ball read the label, "Huh? What is this supposed to be?" she asked, looking at the small pile of folders Bottle was holding.

"Well, you see..." Bottle spoke up, "I am a, erm, acquaintance of the hosts... more so of Four"

"Go on..."

"But I've noticed something about Four seems quite... I dunno, odd? off? They haven't felt the same for a while now and I can't quite pinpoint why...

...And I bet you're aware of the fact a certain someone has been missing for so long that barely anyone notices their absence anymore"

"...You mean..."

"Yes, you know who I'm talking about...

...So, over the past few years I've been gathering notes and quote-on-quote 'evidence' and have drawn many behavioral comparisons between the Four I and you knew and the Four we see right now, there's not much, but there are inconsistencies"