The remaining power of The Upside Down in the town completely dissipated after the Mind Flayer's severed limb, which had been parasitizing Billy's body, was destroyed; however, the troublesome events were far from over.
After Eleven returned from her mother's house, she found information her mother had collected before her dementia about an Indian girl who had shared a room with her. After a period of extrasensory perception, she realized that this person was the "sister" Richard had mentioned to her—codename "8," a criminal girl now known as Carly.
However, Eleven sensed through her superpowers that Carly was currently in danger.
"Has she been caught by the Federal Government?" Richard guessed, feeling it had been a while since he'd seen news of Carly. This was the predicament he thought Carly was most likely to face.
Eleven, however, was full of worry and said with a complex expression, "No, it's worse than that. She's fallen into another quagmire. She's trapped in a place where she and her companions are facing unimaginable danger."
Richard frowned; it seemed Carly had entered a plotline he was unaware of.
"Can you establish mental communication with her?" Richard asked.
Eleven shook her head. "The prerequisite for establishing mental communication is that she must be in a relaxed, non-resistant state. She's in danger right now, and her mind is constantly tense. If she were like you were at Harrington Manor, briefly unconscious, it would be fine, but right now I can't contact her."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"Inside a factory. It seems to be a toy factory. There's something strange about that factory."
"Do you want to save her?"
"I do," Eleven nodded affirmatively.
Richard and Eleven looked at Hopper. Facing their gazes, Hopper nodded somewhat helplessly and said, "I understand. We'll go save her together. I'm coming with you."
They set off immediately. The town was now essentially free of dangerous Anomaly factors and very safe, so there was no need to worry about the safety of their friends there.
Before leaving, Richard stopped by the shop to tell Robin where he was going and give her some instructions for while he was away. Since his house was currently being renovated, he had to ask Robin to keep an eye on things, especially that nest of Vengeful Spirits in the basement.
Robin: "I understand. Be careful. I'll wait for you to come back."
"OK." Richard smiled and gave her a hug before heading out to get into Hopper's car and driving off... After a half-day drive from dawn to dusk, during which Richard, Hopper, and Eleven handled their lunch and dinner on the road, they finally arrived in front of the toy factory Eleven had sensed.
To be honest, getting here wasn't easy. Before reaching the toy factory, Richard and the others had to rely on Eleven's extrasensory perception to find a small path not marked on any map. After driving over a stretch of rugged dirt road, they finally arrived at the toy factory named "Orfan."
[The Hidden exists when observed.]
Hearing this notification, Richard started feeling uneasy again.
"Be careful. I think there are unknowable Anomaly factors in this factory." Richard exhaled. Winter nights were always uncomfortably cold.
Hopper pulled a shotgun from the car's trunk and grabbed a roll of ammunition. "I knew it would come to this, so I prepared some gear in advance."
Richard also walked over to look into the trunk, which contained some gasoline cans, firearms, and other supplies.
Hopper looked at Richard. "Take whatever you need."
"I'll just take some pistol ammo." Richard took a few magazines compatible with his pistol and put them in his pocket. After using many types of firearms, he still felt a pistol was more convenient.
"Eleven." Hopper called Eleven over, who was standing outside the iron fence looking at the factory. He then pulled a black vest from a hidden compartment in the trunk and helped her put it on. "You need to wear this bulletproof vest."
"You actually hid one of these away," Richard said with a smile, crossing his arms.
Hopper chuckled. "Consider it an abuse of power. I snuck it out from the station. It fits Eleven perfectly, and I'll feel safer with her wearing it."
Eleven blinked and looked at the two of them. "Don't you guys need one?"
"You're the most important one. If you're not safe, things could get very difficult for us in there," Hopper said with a smile, cupping Eleven's face. "There's only one, so of course you should wear it."
"I will protect you," Eleven said seriously, clenching her fists.
The three finished gearing up and pushed open the rusted gates, arriving at the dark green, rust-stained main entrance of the factory. The door was slightly ajar, and through the gap, a dim corridor was visible.
Richard turned on his flashlight, illuminating the corridor. He found it was actually quite wide, enough for four or five people to walk side-by-side.
The three glanced at each other and pushed open the main door to enter. Before going in, Richard used his "extraordinary handiwork" to remove the lock and toss it outside the factory. This was to ensure the door wouldn't suddenly lock behind them on its own once they were inside.
Hopper and Eleven could only praise Richard's performance as "thorough." Guided by the flashlight, the three quickly found the light switch on the corridor wall. Upon trying it, they discovered the factory still had power and the electrical equipment seemed functional. In an instant, the corridor was brightly lit.
Hee hee hee... Richard's ears twitched. He pressed his ear against the wall and heard the lingering sound of strange laughter inside the pipes. Confirming he hadn't misheard, he shared his discovery with Hopper and Eleven.
"So, there's likely some sinister monster hiding inside the factory's pipes," Hopper mused. "In that case, we should avoid the pipes as much as possible to keep from running into it."
"I can crush it," Eleven said, clenching her small fists. Someone with psychokinetic powers was just that confident.
"Let's avoid fighting if we can," Hopper said, patting his daughter's head. "Your stamina has limits. No one knows how strong that thing is. If killing just one takes too much out of you, we'll be in trouble if we encounter other strange things later."
"Yeah, let's investigate and confirm the Anomaly's abilities and traits before deciding whether to fight," Richard agreed. If it were something like the Dimo Creatures from The Upside Down, it would be easy: Eleven would suppress the monster while he and Hopper handled the fire and oil to finish it off.
What they feared were incorporeal types or ones that were extremely hard to kill.
"There are relatively fresh footprints on the floor." With the lights illuminating the corridor, Hopper could see the floor clearly. He noticed some recent shoe prints, including women's boots. He guessed, "These should be Carly's and her group's prints. If we follow them, we should be able to find them."
Richard and Eleven nodded, following the footprints forward.
Passing through the corridor, the three arrived at the toy factory's lobby.
The lobby was vast. The "Orfan Toy Factory" sign was carved into a giant blue doll relief on the wall. Below the relief was the lobby counter. This factory, which looked long-abandoned from the outside, was surprisingly pristine inside. The counter glass was crystal clear, and several lifelike dolls stood behind it, greeting Richard and the others with smiles like real receptionists.
The factory's interior featured distinct red and blue colors with a sharp contrast that easily caught the eye. If children were present, they would likely have been conquered by the cartoon characters and giant toy models, completely losing themselves in this toy castle.
"It looks so interesting," Eleven's eyes sparkled. As a child who essentially had no childhood, she was inevitably drawn to these clearly juvenile, brightly colored things.
"When we get back, I'll take you to a real amusement park," Richard said with a smile, patting Eleven's head.
Eleven looked delighted. She had long anticipated those "legendary" amusement rides. Hearing that Richard was willing to take her, she was overjoyed.
While the two were observing their surroundings, Hopper had already hopped over the counter. After rummaging through some drawers, he pulled out a stack of ID badges.
"These should be access cards. They might be needed for those sensor doors on the left and right," Hopper said, placing the badges on the table for Richard and Eleven to choose from.
The badges had no names or numbers; the only thing on them were avatars—ridiculous cartoon doll faces.
Richard chose a square tiger avatar; after all, his birth year before transmigrating was the Year of the Tiger. Eleven chose a rabbit with a scar and a butterfly hairpin, while Hopper took a black bear smoking a cigar.
Having obtained the badges, the three deliberated between the left and right paths. They decided to head right first, where there was light. It looked like an office and didn't seem large, so they figured they could finish exploring it quickly before returning to take the left path.