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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/EclosionK2 on 2024-09-18 00:35:09+00:00.

Previously, my girlfriend Aiko and I had rescued a missing child. 

You might think I deserved to feel like a hero, that I might be filled with pride or honor. But instead my chest tightened with a damp, foreboding heaviness.

The kid did not look right. His eyes were permanently open, and his lips were frozen in a sinister smile. I know it might’ve been some crazy symptom of paralysis, but seeing the boy like that just felt so off.

Aiko was worried about him too, so she joined his late night ambulance ride to keep an eye on his breathing.

That night I walked back to my accommodations at Aiko’s aunt’s cottage, and I wished the story would just wrap up there. Just a nice: We were Heroes! End of Adventure!

But it only got much worse.

***

You see, my phone started getting random notifications from the theme park app. The application called Bakery Park Hunt™

I was walking home, in the middle of sending encouraging texts to Aiko, trying to help her feel brave for her emergency ride, when my phone bombarded me with:  “Cinnamon nearby! Would you like to pick some?” 

I clicked on it, and immediately my phone entered camera mode, showcasing the dirt road at my feet. A cartoon stick of cinnamon walked into frame. "Follow me please!"

I didn’t feel like playing the Pokemon Go knockoff, so I closed the application. But that didn’t stop my phone from opening back up and pinging me ceaselessly.

“Cinnamon nearby!”

“Vanilla nearby!”

"Saffron (RARE) nearby!”

It was enough to kill the battery and end my communication with Aiko completely.

So I did the only thing I could. I snuck back into my room at the cottage, and went to sleep.

***

I woke up to the smell of green tea drifting through my room. Out of habit, I peered over to my left to see if Aiko was awake, but her bed was as empty and unmade as she left it.

On my phone I could see several messages from her:

1:04am - Remember 2 tell Nana

1:06am - Cant txt more. Guard.

1:32am - We’re at helipad. 

1:45am - The paramedic says the boy is stable! He is alive! I can’t believe we actually saved someone, its like the movies. We did it. We saved his life!!

1:50am - I didn’t want to be around that guard. So I took the paramedics offer and I’m taking the last seat in the helicopter. I can act as a placeholder guardian.

2:07am - I feel so much better being away from those guards!  ε-(´・｀) ﾌｰ

2:08am - Tell Nana I will be at the general hospital in Shimado, I should be back in 1-2 days!

2:10am - I’m so sorry they put you in that holding cell. It’s unfair you’re in that jail. I hope they don’t keep you there long.  (｡•́︿•̀｡)

2:11am - But forget those stupid guards, they don’t know what they’re doing. Let me know when they let you go please! I hope they treat you okay (；_；)

I wish I had a chance to respond to these messages. Aiko still thought the other guard had taken me under arrest. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.

2:14am - WOW the view is beautiful from up here. I’m so sorry for dragging you through this. But it was worth it. We saved the boy. The medics say he’s going to live. He’s in some kind of shock, but he will live.

2:16am - I promise no more adventures like this again. I don’t want you to get in trouble. I don’t want the police to get involved.

2:20am - I didn’t even think about how this could affect your visa. I’m so stupid stupid stupid stupid. What a mess. I am so sorry. I feel terrible. Please text me as soon as you’re free. I know they probably took your phone away.

2:27am - It was my idea to save the boy. I’ll tell them I forced you to help me. I’ll make everything my fault.

3:06am - Made it to the hospital. They’re giving me a room. I hope to hear from you soon.

6:05am - The boy’s family is here! And yes we were right, it is Kaito! This is crazy. 

6:07am - Mom and son reunited (♡´･ᴗ･`♡)

Attached was a photo of Kaito in a hospital bed, hooked up to some kind of respirator. His mother was there, in tears, but clearly happy to be able to hold her boy’s hand again. I don’t normally gush over this kind of stuff, but it honestly warmed my heart. 

6:10am - Text me please. I’m so worried about everything.

I did text her. I explained my phone had died, and that I wasn’t in any jail. I told her that I was so happy she was OK, and that she could text me throughout the day. More than anything I wanted to hear her voice, so I said to call at any time.

That sunken feeling in my chest had lifted a little. Maybe things weren’t so bad.

In the kitchen, Aiko’s aunt was already working on her sudoku. There was an egg and rice meal waiting on two different placemats at the table.  

I remember it feeling very strange to have a morning alone with Nana-obasan, especially after such a weird night. I didn’t really know what I was allowed to share yet, so I did my best to keep my composure.

“Good morning, Nana,” I said. 

“Good morning.” Her focus was on solving one of the columns. 

I tried to word my 5th grade Japanese in a way that would explain what had happened without scaring or alarming Nana. Eventually, halfway through my breakfast I produced my declaration.

“Nana, you should know that last night, Aiko and I saved a child who had gone missing. We called for help and an ambulance took the child away. Aiko was a real hero and even accompanied the child on the helicopter ride. She is currently at Shimado hospital, and she says she will be back in 1-2 days.” 

I held up my phone to show her the texts, but quickly realized she couldn’t read our English exchanges. So I lowered the phone and said. “She texted me all this in English, but you can call her if you want.”

Nana lowered her tea and looked at me briefly above her reading glasses. I think she believed me, but she only really seemed to focus on the tail end of my speech.

“So, Aiko is coming back in a few days?”

“Yes.”

She went back to her sudoku. “Okay.”

***

Although Nana-obasan may not have appreciated what happened last night, I kept replaying events in my head in total disbelief. Focusing on the positive.

Aiko’s hunch proved true. We had saved a kid. We were heroes.

I avidly re-read all of Aiko’s texts, imagining her type them. There was a flutter in my chest from the anticipation of hearing more.

I took a shortcut rounding the forest edge to get to work. I still had a shift at Bakery Park today, and I felt it was critical not to show up late. I’m sure I would be asked a dozen questions about last night, and would have to explain Aiko’s absence.

As I walked along the gravel road I tried to get my story straight. I would focus on the good news: Aiko and I had rescued a kid for god’s sake. Surely, that would render our trespassing meaningless? Did anyone actually care that we had snuck into the park late?

Then my phone chirped. “Candy floss nearby! Would you like to pick some?”

For fuck’s sake. I clicked to close the app, but couldn’t. Suddenly I was staring at a polygonal version of Bakery Park’s premiere mascot.

It was Mashumaro, the marshmallow tanuki.

Just like in the Confection Showroom, half his face was missing. It’s like his pixelated skin couldn’t quite cover his skeleton wireframe. He was dancing in a field of cotton candy. His voice was garbled, yet loud enough to peak my phone’s speaker.

“Jēmusu Naka jūgyō-in# 604373, kon’nichiwa!”

( James Naka Employee #604373, Hello!)

I tried to turn down the volume on my phone, but the interface was frozen.

“Sakuya wa issho ni asonde kurete arigatō!”

(Thanks for playing with me last night!)

This virtual mascot found a way to hijack my phone. None of my buttons worked. I freaked out a little. I even yelled without meaning to. “Stop. Stop this!”

The virtual mascot’s smile lengthened. He switched to English. “Stop what? Aren’t you glad you saved little Kaito’s soul? Hehehehehehe.”

I was surrounded by nothing but trees and the gravel beneath my feet. It was just me and this digital nightmare. I was irrationally afraid, but I covered it up with anger. “Who the fuck are you?”

The tanuki waggled his rear toward the camera, grabbing cotton candy from the field. “That’s a little rude. I don’t talk to rude boys.”

“Are you a hacker? Are you kidnapping kids at Bakery Park?”

Using the cotton candy as pom-poms, Mashumaro danced to the left and right, performing a little Macarena. “You better not be so mean next time. Or else.”

The app closed immediately. My phone returned to my home screen.

I tried to open it again, but all that loaded up was a benign-looking inventory. It said I had collected candy floss.

Jesus Christ what was that?

It seemed to me like there might be some nefarious hacking happening. Like some terrorist had been able to exploit software at Bakery Park to capture a kid in the first place. And now he was trying to manipulate me.

The thought chilled my bones.

And it was possible that this was the same hacker who was responsible for kidnapping the other two missing children. And if that was true, who knows how many future kids could still be at risk…

I decided I would have to tell the park staff my whole story.  Everything. Children’s lives could be at stake.

I typed out last night’s events in English on my phone, converting it as coherent…

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