"Hey Itzel," Janus said softly. A motionless BRUTE stared him down, keeping the barrel of its sleek black rifle pointed directly at him. His entire body trembled as his eyes slowly jumped from the robot to the woman in the seat next to him. In front of Itzel was another BRUTE with finger on the trigger, ready to blast her at a moment's notice.

"What is it Janus?" she said aggressively. She stuck her head out just far enough to look towards Janus while keeping tabs on the robot in front of her. "Do you have a..." Itzel watched the BRUTE slowly squeeze onto the trigger of its weapon. She then leaned back in her seat in silence.

"How was the food?" Janus replied with a shaky voice. His remained on the BRUTE.

"What? Why do you keep focusing on the food? You're starting to sound like Gurk! We're in a life-or-death situation and you want to talk about... sandwiches?"

"Well... considering the company that our hosts have so graciously left us with, maybe it'd be in our best interest to keep our discussions to more relevant topics."

"Oh, I get you.” Itzel relaxed in her chair, making sure that her eyes didn’t leave the trigger-happy guard in front of her. “Yeah... the sandwiches were incredible."

"It was generous of Evelyn to do all of that for us."

"I know, right?" Itzel said in a phony manner while forcing a wide smile. "I hope Gurk got a slice. He'd love the peanut butter and jelly one." Both robots lowered their weapons a bit, pointing them at the floor rather than the ground.

Looks like they're listening to everything we say, Janus thought. Can't say I'm surprised. Maybe I could come up with a code. What's something only her and I would know? He looked back in Itzel's direction, only to see her hands jutting out of the edge of the seat. What if I—

The door to the entertainment room swung wide open. Janus angled his head as far forward as he could, trying to get a view of whatever had entered. The sound of the footsteps across the floor were soft, as if each step was delicate. Evelyn appeared from the corner of his vision, soon standing in between the two BRUTES. She kept her large smile and waved at the two captives.

"How has your stay been treating you?" she asked.

"It's been..." Itzel said with a tone of anger. "Pleasant."

"I am so glad to hear that!" Evelyn clapped her hands and bounced up and down on her toes. "I heard what you said about the sandwiches. I worked hard on them, so it does my heart wonders to know that you enjoyed what I put together!"

"What do you have planned next, Miss Grani?" Janus asked, unable to mask his nervousness.

"Tomorrow is Sheila's big day! We have a lot planned so we'll be heading to bed early."

“What?” Itzel exclaimed. “I thought her birthday already passed.”

“It did. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish preparations in time, so we had to reschedule. But hopefully everything will go as planned tomorrow! That’s why we’ll checking in for the night in a short while.”

"Does that include us?" Janus asked.

Evelyn nodded. "Yes. We'll be ending today at an early hour unfortunately. I feel so rude for not being able to properly entertain our guests, but tomorrow is so important. Not only for Sheila, but for everyone else that has been invited to the celebration!" She then clapped her hands twice. One of the BRUTEs moved towards a dresser in the corner of the room and returned with a fistful of blankets in one hand. It tossed one of the sheets onto Janus first. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable. And try to get a good night of sleep. We don't want you feeling drowsy for the viewing party."

"Viewing party?" Itzel asked. The BRUTE moved towards her tossed the blanket so that it covered her face.

"Yes! We can all watch Sheila's big celebration together. From the safety of the entertainment room!"

"Joy," Itzel said lowly, her entire head still obscured by the baby blue blanket.

"But for now, you two can spend the night here. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable! And I'll go ahead and leave these BRUTEs here to keep you company." Evelyn tugged the blanket off Itzel's face, exposing her angered look. "I'll be back here first thing in the morning to set up the Broadcast. Then we can all watch together. I'll even prepare a breakfast for you two!"

"Anything else we should know?" Itzel said with a grunt as she continued to stare at the woman with pure anger in her eyes.

"No. Just wanted to stop by for a bit and inform you of what the plans are for now. It's part of being gracious host!"

"Color me flattered."

"Well, I still have many preparations to attend to. I'll be taking my leave now, but if you need anything, just let the BRUTEs know!"

"They'll help us out?" Janus asked.

Evelyn shook her head. "Probably not. But sometimes it can just be nice to vent and know that someone... or something... is listening to you!" The woman then headed out of the room's door, letting it shut behind her. Once the sound of the doors' locking mechanism rang out, the BRUTEs got back into their defensive positions, keeping their fingers pressed tight onto their weapons.

"Dammit!" Itzel shouted. She shook her entire body, making the seat rattle in the process. The BRUTE in front of her inched closer, lifting its weapon and keeping it pointed at her.

"Calm down, Itzel!" Janus said clearly yet calmly. "I understand your frustration. But causing a ruckus is only going to lead to the worst possible outcome.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Janus? Huh?" Itzel leaned forward as much as her restraints would let her so she could peer at Janus. "You're always throwing out ideas! How do you suggest we get out of this one?"

"G-get out?" Janus stammered, watching the guard robot from the corner of his eye. "I say we just remain calm for now. Maybe try to... enjoy our stay while we can. After that we might be able to... decide what do once the event is over."

Itzel huffed. "Yeah. Maybe when there are fewer guests around," she said while scanning the guard robot from the bottom up.

"I know it's hard Itzel. But I think our only choice is to wait right now. There's nothing we can do in this situation."

"That's the worst part. We can't even do a thing! I'd rather die trying to escape than... being forced to watch whatever they're going to do with Gurk!"

"I hate it too, Itzel. I really do. But all we can do is be patient."