Chapter Text
ROBLOX, the world powering imagination. It was a curious thing. A virtual world created and held together by Admins. Nestled in it were even smaller worlds, referred to with many names, but “places” and “games” were the most common. A world powered by smaller ones, not just imagination. The Admins protected the robloxians, mostly through keeping it all together.
Until one by one they began to vanish.
Telamon was first. The combat enthusiast vanished without a trace, leaving no struggle, clues, or even bothered dust. Other robloxians had been going missing for months, but an Admin’s disappearance? It was a panic, followed by riots. A year and a half has passed since Telamon’s disappearance. Builderman’s disappearance, and by far the most significant, just hit a year yesterday.
There was only one Admin left.
Roblox World Headquarters was still. The wind whistled as it brushed the glass windows. They shook ever so slightly with each brush. The Sun was low, with the Moon already taking its place in the sky. It was dark, with the beautiful colors of the sunsets already gone, all that remained was a gray that darkened by the minute.
The building held thick layers of dust on every interior surface. The only floor free of it was the very fifth. The Admin sat in an office on the very floor.
ReeseMcBlox sat in her office, or as she personally see’s it: a nest of papers. Paperwork, documents, applications, whatever— it all blended together. The paper shredder broke a few months back and so everything she deemed unimportant got thrown to the coffee stained carpet.
She had been working tirelessly for a year now to keep ROBLOX going. It was easy at first, she had Admins to help her, but now that she was by herself? She now knew why Builderman began picking out robloxians to promote to Admin. Rubbing at her eye, she scrolled through the reports and electronic mail on the screen tirelessly.
A few months ago she cut off the forums and groups entirely. It was too much to moderate alongside everything else, even if it took a month for the protestors to leave Roblox HQ. Glitches were getting worse, alongside exploiters. It was never her department to take care of these things, and when attempts to mend game breaking glitches got worse, she had to shut down entire games and call a robloxian for help.
It was. Exhausting. Embarrassing. She’s an Admin, and yet she can’t keep this place together. It’s too much. She sighed as she stared at the screen, scrolling through message after message without actually reading any. She can’t keep this up, but she can’t abandon an entire world—
Tap, tap, tap.
There was a knock on the door. Reese flinched. Her messy blonde hair laid lazily between her eyes as she looked over. Her brain lagged as she stared, the constant caffeine and lack of seeing a robloxian in person for months having effectively destroyed whatever social skills she had.
She kept staring, for how long she had no idea, but eventually blinked a few times and brought her hands to her head. She exhaled shakily, fingers rubbing circles into her temples. “You’re finally losing it, Becky…” she murmured to herself.
Another string of knocks. This time rough enough that the door shook on its hinges. She yelled and flinched back in her seat, causing the chair to roll back a few inches, crushing the paperwork beneath her.
“…hello?” A deep voice rang from behind the door. It held a hauntingly familiar and thick southern accent.
Her eyes widened as she sat up straight. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Words failed to come out.
“…I know y’er in there, Reese. This is the only room in this entire building with a light on.” There was a brief pause. “…also it reeks of coffee. I can smell it out he—“
She swung the door open, the knob striking the wall and slightly indenting it.
Her breath hitched as she saw her boss in the doorway. She didn’t even realize she brought her hands to her mouth until she felt her own fingertips grazing her lips.
At first glance, Builderman looked exactly the same from the last time she saw him. The longer her eyes settled on his features, the more she realized how wrong that was.
His eyes looked dead. Heavy eye bags were clinging to the bottoms, looking more like bruises than bags. His skin, normally a gray that glimmered like metal in the right light, was duller and stained with mud-like browns and reds. There were scars cut into his face. Across his nose, on his cheek, on his lip, near his eye— even what looked like burn scars on his hands.
Both of them were staring at each other. Reese didn’t know what to say, this was her boss, it looked like he got beat to Hell and back— he wasn’t even saying anything, he was just… staring with an emotion Reese couldn’t identify.
“What happened to you?” Reese asked, taking a step forward. Her eyes frantically searched him for more scars. He wore a jacket and safety glasses and a construction hat. He didn’t expose much skin, and yet there were too many scars on what she could see that nobody should have.
Builderman blinked, suddenly looking more awake. His eyes flicked around, surprise etched on his features, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Reese couldn’t stop. Her eyes felt damp. “Where even were you— where did you go— and. Oh— the other Admins —“ her voice shook. “Tel, Luke, Doom, Duse— are they alright— they- they had to have been with you, right?” Desperation not only laced her voice but her face. Tears were running down her face.
Her heart raced in its chest. Builderman continued to only stare, expression devoid of any emotion other than surprise, and when she realized everything she had said, her face began to flush. Embarrassment flooded her as she realized she just lost it in front of Builderman, but she tried to push past it. She sniffled as she wiped her eyes, trying to contain herself, before a voice interrupted her racing thoughts.
“…we all got out,” Builderman stated. It was so unsettlingly empty. “I ain’t sure ‘bout—“ there was a slight half as Builderman’s eyes drifted away. “—Doombringer… the others I can say are fine. Speakin’ of,” he took a step forward.
She took a step back. Even if he was gone for almost a year and the site was threatening to fall apart without him, he was almost scary. The new way he carried himself, it was so vastly different to the Builderman she knew. It was unnerving seeing the friendly face of ROBLOX be driven to a husk. She still held faith in him, but she failed to contain a shudder at the thought of what happened to him to turn him into this.
She watched as Builderman moved to her computer, eyes thankfully glazing over the awful mess as if it wasn’t there. “I need to use y’er computer. I’m sure they’ll show regardless, but I ain’t taking any damn chances.”
She stepped to the wall and gestured to her chair. “Of course—“ Builderman slowly moved closer to the desk, every movement cautious and deliberate. That uncanniness still lingered. Her heart rate picked up a bit as he sat down at the computer. Her mouth felt painfully dry at the thought of him even seeing any of the reports or emails that revealed the state of Builderman’s beloved creation.
Reese wasn’t sure she should feel relieved or concerned when he didn’t even check. He simply logged out of her account and logged into his own. Strangely enough, she felt neither, instead feeling that anxiety sink ever so slightly heavier.
He sat there on the computer typing for what felt like ages. It felt like an internal war as she fought the temptation to peer over his shoulder and see what he was writing. She tried to keep her mind on anything but the screen and her old boss. She looked at the coffee maker, the old ruined papers, the ceiling tile, even the clock. Ten minutes passed. Then half an hour. Then the entire hour.
“I’m done,” Builderman stated. He stood from the chair as if he never went missing, as if this was entirely normal.
Reese wanted to scream— to shake him down and demand what happened. She swallowed down those temptations as Builderman turned towards the door, and gestured for her to follow. Wordlessly she did, following Builderman through the dark building. She couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t turn on any lights on the way up.
“I reached out to the other Admins. I appreciate ya’ for holdin’ down the fort for me,” he spoke as they walked. It didn’t sound like him. “They should be ‘ere shortly. Until then, I really need a damn coffee and you can fill me in on everythin’ that’s happened.”
Reese wanted to ask for a deal. He explains what happened to him, and she goes into detail on her own screw ups. She held her tongue. Her hands tightly gripped the end of her shirt. “…okay.”
URGENT NOTICE:
Dear ROBLOX user old acquaintances,
I’m not gonna bother with being professional. I got a lot to talk about. Y’all already know the real me, so I’m gonna jump in. I won’t be able to talk in person, the Admins and I have a lot of work to do. If there’s any concerns, please take it up with Admin @ReeseMcBlox .
First of all: I’m sorry. I made some pretty damn stupid mistakes before I got taken, and y’all are reaping the consequences for my actions. I’ve checked y’all’s records, and I’ve confirmed the sad truth: the Demolitionists have already demolished your homes.
I’m working to fix this. I’ve disbanded the Demolitionists, due to the controversies, and the first step is rebuilding homes. Unfortunately, that takes time. Until construction is finished, I’ve set up temporary housing for each and every one of you.
In the place Welcome to the Town of Robloxia, there is an apartment complex at ███ ████ ███ ███████, WTTOR 11510. While this served as a home for our Demolitionists, it’s had extra rooms which will now serve as homes for y’all. On top of this, I will also be giving each of y’all a fixed amount of TIX so y’all have some income.
I wish I could say more. I am still unaware how much time has passed. I doubt everyone’s situation will be the same, so if there’s complications or a mistake, please reach out to me.
Please note I will not be able to talk in person. I have a lot of work to do.
Good luck,
Builderman