……

m45 Flour, sugar, butter, fruits…
…This should be good. I wonder if this will surprise Miss Springfield?

…m45 claps her hands together and spreads the ingredients out on a table.

m45 Since I'm preparing treats for Halloween, should I use an unusual recipe?
…
Perhaps Miss Springfield will have a better idea… I shouldn't be too hasty with this…

…Someone is knocking at the door.

WA2000 Hey, anyone in?

m45 Miss WA2000, what's the matter?

WA2000 So someone's here…
What are you doing here by yourself?

m45 I thought that Miss Springfield might need a helper if she's preparing treats for so many people…
But she isn't here yet, so…

WA2000 Is the treats thing urgent?

m45 Probably…not.
There's still a bit of time until the event starts.

WA2000 Then good, I need people over at the haunted house for help with the animatronics. You'll come with me.

m45 Huh…?
Wait! But…this is the kitchen…

WA2000 Springfield can handle all the food even by herself. Or are you saying there's a reason that you must stay in the kitchen?

m45 Well…no…

WA2000 Then? You'll be working with your hands anyway. There's not much difference between cooking and fiddling with machines.

m45 Is that so…
But I normally only hang around the kitchen… I'm not sure if…

WA2000 So are you coming to help or not?
I'll get Springfield to come instead if you're not. She wouldn't be so fussy.

m45 …
I-I'll do it!
Just tell me what to do!

WA2000 Then bring your gear. The event will be starting soon.
We'll meet at the warehouse entrance.

…WA2000 hastily leaves the kitchen.

m45 …I don't think…cooking and working with machines…are that similar…right?
Will I really be of help to her?
No, I shouldn't be overthinking this…

WA2000 m45? Where'd you go?
If you can hear me, bring the nail gun and screws over. Please don't get it wrong again.

m45 Okay, I'll bring… Huh? Where are you, Miss WA2000?

WA2000 What are you doing inside the machine?
Go around the cage!

m45 Sorry! It's a bit dark in here…
Ah!

…m45 accidentally kicks over a toolbox.

WA2000 Hey…
What's the matter with you…
And I've been meaning to ask, did you even prepare at all?

m45 Prepare…?
Yes…since I'll be making treats for everyone…

WA2000 I'm not talking about food. I'm talking about your clothes.
Considering you're a participant of the event, shouldn't you have a Halloween costume?

m45 No… I originally thought that I'd be staying in the kitchen the whole time…

WA2000 (Quietly) Huh? That's weird. She didn't help you prepare one…?

…WA2000 finishes maintenance on the animatronics.

WA2000 I'm done. Now we just need to make sure they'll function properly.
I'll stay here. You go turn on the switch in the monitoring room.

m45 But there are so many panels in the monitoring room… I'm not sure which one to turn on…

WA2000 Is this your first day at Griffin? You should clearly be able to tell from a glance which switch is which, right?
…
(Sighs) The switch...is on the wall beside the door. It's a red box.

m45 I found it, Miss WA2000. Do I turn it on now?

WA2000 Go ahead.
There shouldn't be a problem for someone even as clumsy as you are, right?

m45 (Whimpers…)

…m45 pulls the switch.
…Click.

...The entire warehouse seems to have lost power the moment she turned on the switch.

WA2000 Wah! W-Why'd it suddenly go dark?

m45 M-Miss WA2000!

WA2000 …
What did you do?

m45 I-I didn't do anything!
I only turned it on like you told me to!

WA2000 Ja ja… I underestimated how bad things can get.
…You should've told me earlier if you couldn't handle it, then I wouldn't have brought you along with me.
I would've been better off by myself if I knew things would end up like this.

m45 I'm sorry…!
I'll look for the correct switch right now…

WA2000 Don't, I'll do it myself. I really don't understand how you could even screw this up.

m45 Miss WA2000… I…
I shouldn't have left the kitchen…

WA2000 Yes, it seems like you're right.
…
m45, you turned on this one, right?

m45 Yes, that's right.

WA2000 …
(Quietly) Huh? If it isn't the wrong switch, then why…?

m45 Miss WA2000… What should we do? Is it hard to fix?

WA2000 This… I…
…Hmph! It obviously is no big deal! Don't get so worked up over it!
Y-You should've taken a closer look at the gauges before you turned it on!

m45 I'm sorry…

WA2000 …Don't apologize…
Let's just think of a solution to this situation.

m45 I'll go with you…

WA2000 No need. Stay here and wait for me.

m45 Stay here in the monitoring room…alone?

WA2000 We're in the middle of our base. What are you afraid of?
You're not scared, are you?

m45 I'm…probably…not…

WA2000 So are you scared or not? Give me a proper answer.

m45 Um…I'll be fine alone…
…probably.

WA2000 Then hold down the fort here. I'll be back in a bit.

…WA2000 leaves the monitoring room, and the sounds of her footsteps soon disappear into the darkness.
…

m45 I'm not scared… I'm not scared…
There's nothing to be scared of… Miss WA2000 can fix the circuits all by herself.
This is just an ordinarily unoccupied warehouse, why would anything scary be hiding here!

…

m45 I shouldn't have come along at all…
…Why did I agree to Miss WA2000…
I should've told her…that I AM scared…

m45 What should I do… When will the lights come back on…

…

??? Is anyone here?

m45 Eek-

??? Is anyone…in here?

…An unfamiliar voice suddenly calls out from the other side of the closed door.
Trembling in the dark, m45 clasps her mouth with her hands, trying to stay as still as she could.

m45 (Why would someone come to the monitoring room at a time like this…)
(And I don't recognize the voice at all… This person must be using a voice changer!)

??? Miss WA2000…?

m45 (This stranger knows Miss WA2000 is in this warehouse!)
(N-Not good! It'll be dangerous if this person knows I'm in here! I need to alert the others---)

??? I don't know if you'll hear me out…
But I am here…to apologize…

m45 ...
(What…?)

??? The power outage… It's all my fault…
It's because I didn't do a proper check that things ended up like this…

m45 (…But I was the one that turned on the switch…)

??? Everyone's efforts went to waste because of me…
I…do not have the courage to face everybody, but even so, I still must apologize to you.

m45 (Although I don't know who this person is… But… But…)

??? Or perhaps…you've already left.
There's a big issue to be taken care of, after all…

…The person on the other side of the door sighs as if she is preparing to leave.

m45 …
Please… Please wait…!

??? This voice is…?

m45 Although I don't know who you are, and this request may be impertinent…
But can you…not leave yet…

??? …Hm? Is something the matter?

m45 …
Today…I betrayed my forte.
I wanted to know if I am able to do anything else besides baking, which is why I came along with Miss WA2000 to help her set up the animatronics.
I came to the realization that besides baking…I really am useless…

??? Please don't think like that. There's no way for Miss WA2000 to set up those machines outside all by herself.
There are times when she gets anxious and may be rash with her words, but she truly is not trying to belittle your efforts.

m45 But I did in fact cause her and everybody a lot of trouble.
The power outage happened because…I didn't notice the condition of the panel before I turned it on…

??? …And the reason for that is because the person responsible for the event did not realize that the wiring is in disrepair.
It would've happened regardless if you or anyone else turned the power on.

m45 But if I had only stayed in the kitchen and helped out Miss Springfield like usual instead, I wouldn't have caused this much trouble for Miss WA2000…

??? Do you regret…coming here to help Miss WA2000?

m45 Looking at the situation we are in right now… Yes, I made the wrong choice.
But I originally came with her because...I wanted to step out of my comfort zone.

??? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and it doesn't necessarily mean that stepping out of one's comfort zone is a good thing.
Aren't you constantly discovering new surprises when you're baking bread?

m45 But that's only bread…
Moreover, it oftens feel like…I'm trapped in the kitchen.

??? I think…
Rather than forcing yourself to do things that you don't like, it's better to progress down a path that you do enjoy.

m45 But even when it comes to progress, I feel so insignificant compared to Miss Springfield…

??? …
Reality is not what you think. Everyone speaks very highly of your bread.
Even Springfield is envious of your technique and philosophy when it comes to baking bread.

m45 Miss Springfield says that to everybody.

??? Do you not believe her?

m45 She's only being considerate…
Baking is only one of many of her skillsets. I can never be as good as she is at everything that she's able to do…

??? But have you considered that she may be faking her confidence?

m45 No, Miss Springfield never makes mistakes.

??? How could that be?
Everyone has moments when they buckle under pressure. The same goes for Springfield.

m45 Miss Springfield isn't like that! That sort of thing doesn't faze her at all!

??? There are times when even Springfield makes mistakes, when she gets yelled at by Miss WA2000, and when she wants to run away from her problems.

m45 Even Miss Springfield…has been scolded by Miss WA2000 before?

??? Hehe, if you make a mistake, she doesn't care who you are, because she'll scold even the Commander.
That's why Springfield isn't as perfect as you think she is. There are times when even she wants to run away.

m45 I can't imagine Miss Springfield being that sort of person…

??? Me neither.
But I imagine she has accepted the reality that she runs away from things, because she needs to in order to deal with the stress.

m45 …
How great…
I don't even know what a method of dealing with stress is suitable for me…

??? ……

m45 ……
…A-Are you still there?
Don't leave me here…

??? m45…
Will you…open the door?

m45 Huh…?

??? If you'll trust me…
I can…provide you with a method…

...Everyone has gathered in the cafe to continue with the Halloween celebration after the resolution of the blackout issue.
The entire room is filled with chatter and laughter as if they've already forgotten what had happened, and the melancholic mood in the room slowly dissipated.

Commander (Although a power outage in and of itself isn't that big of a deal, this one sure raised a big ruckus…)
(Perhaps things might've been more tranquil if we had followed the original plan instead.)

??? Commander, you don't look very happy.
I saved this slice of cake for you. It's made with a special new recipe!

Commander Ah… Yes…thank you.
…
Um…you're…?

??? Huh?

…I blink my eyes in confusion. I've never seen this T-Doll before, yet she somehow seems familiar.

Commander Y-You look quite nice in the witch costume. It really matches your style…uhm…

??? I'm m45. You didn't recognize me at all, Commander!

Commander Ah… Ahh!
But where's your glasses?
(And this costume is way too eye-catching… Darn it, what I said earlier was a total mistake!)

m45 Miss Springfield suggested that I change to contact lenses, but I think I look too striking this way.
I think I'm more suited to be a bakery girl after all…

Commander No no, a bakery girl can be striking as well! They're not mutually exclusive.

m45 But these clothes aren't suitable for working with bread…
I won't be able to face Miss Springfield if I dirtied this outfit…

Commander So she made the costume?

m45 Mhm… Miss Springfield said I must've only wanted to stay in the kitchen, so she especially prepared this outfit for me.
It's just that she expected to hand me this gift under more normal circumstances…

Commander I think Springfield must've really wanted you to join the party seeing as how she went out of her way to prepare such a beautiful outfit for you.

m45 Miss Springfield told me that…I shouldn't lock myself up in the kitchen and that I should step out once in a while.
So she gave me this costume…as a sort of encouragement…

Commander You do so much for everyone every time we have an event. I think you do deserve to come out once in a while and be the center of attention.

m45 But now nobody even recognizes me.

Commander Well…this tends to happen when you change your image. Give it some time and everyone will get used to it.

m45 …On second thought, I think it's best to not look like this after all.

Commander Huh? But you look very pretty…

m45 My bad personality will swell up like a loaf of bread if I flaunt around too much.
It's for the best if everyone thinks of bread when they see me.

Commander Is that so…

m45 But, to make an appearance like this once or twice a year so the Commander doesn't forget what I look like shouldn't be a problem.
So, um…Commander…
What do you think of this special recipe Halloween bread?

…
The expression on m45's face changed when she mentioned that she received the outfit from Springfield.
She looked a little bit sentimental, with a hint of wistfulness, but also indescribable perplexity… Perhaps she did not even realize it herself.
Whenever the topic of m45 is brought up, everyone would think of the rich, freshly-baked aroma of her bread.
But tonight, that aroma is nowhere to be found.

Perhaps she had also experienced something in the haunted house like the others did while the power was out…
But I think that's probably a secret between her and Springfield.