Chapter Text
When a notification lit your phone screen, you ignored it at first.
Two days off, and you were due to go in for a short evening shift a little past closing time at the pizzlaplex. A little break was great and all, but you really needed to get back to it, as you did need that paycheck. You had to get ready to go in, so you were currently ignoring your phone.
Until it lit up again.
And again.
And then again, for good measure.
What could be so important for so manty notifications to pop up so close to one another?
You finally caved and checked your phone out of curiosity, only to see the multiple 'breaking news' headlines clogging the screen of your phone.
What could be-
Wait.
You reread the lines again, in disbelief.
Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex burns to the ground.
History repeats itself for the family entertainment giant?
Is this the last time we see Fazbear Entertainment bring back their brand?
What?
That was just a bad joke, right?
The phone slipped out of your hand and bounced off the floor as the implications of what had happened to the pizzaplex began to sink in.
Did you…not have a job any longer?
You stood stock still for some time.
Was this what shock felt like?
You stared at nothing in particular as the information processed, before you hastily retrieved your phone, struggling to unlock it as questions flooded your mind.
What in the world had happened?
Who could have caused the fire?
How did such a large building burn so quickly?
Why did it not have safety features to prevent a fire from spreading?
Grumbling when you continued to fail to hit the correct numbers to unlock your phone, you snagged the tv remote and turned the news on. Every channel you flipped through covered the same breaking news, confirming that you had not misread your phone notification. As the voices blended together and reports on the scene filtered in, you finally unlocked your phone and brought the article up.
It was the same information.
You furiously scrolled through the article.
Was anyone hurt?
The security guard for the past few nights, Vanessa?
The animatronics?
The article wasn’t saying anything, meaning that there wasn’t enough information learned, as the fire had just been contained and put out an hour or so ago.
Standing in front of the TV that continued to drone on about the burning of the mega pizzaplex, you hesitantly checked your work email, dreading what you might find as panic began to set in. Were you going to be laid off? Get an offer to work at one of Fazbear Entertainment’s smaller businesses scattered around the country? You sucked in a breath as you first saw the email reminding you of today’s shorter shift, dated from yesterday evening. There was now a new email that had been sent to you four hours ago. It wasn’t a ‘you’re laid off due to the building burning down’. It was formatted the same way most your work emails were, skipping over the general start and focusing on the new.
It was...short and to the point.
'Due to the recent misfortune for Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex's destruction by unknown means, your shift has been removed or changed as of this time.
Valued employee, below you will find your new schedule for today:
1. Travel to the pizzaplex and arrive before noon today.
2. Check the state of the Daycare Attendant. Superstar Daycare is relatively untouched by the fire.
3. Do not touch anything on your way to Superstar Daycare for investigative purposes. That is a separate matter that will be handled.
3. Report your findings by 2pm. Your report will determine whether the Daycare Attendant can be fixed or decommissioned and dismantled.
4. Leave the pizzaplex.
Alternately: If the Daycare Attendant cannot be found, report that, and proceed to leave the building. You will be sent a follow up email regarding your employment, due to unfortunate destruction of the Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizzaplex.
Thank you for your cooperation, valued employee.'
The email ended with a generic reminder for employees to not take any important or expensive items out of the pizzaplex upon leaving their shift.
You stood in the middle of your living room as the TV droned on.
That was...an oddly specific set of instructions, but they were clear enough. Honestly, you were surprised the fire was even mentioned, but with all the news clamoring about it, not that surprising as there was no denying what you'd seen on the TV and on the phone. But for your manager to have you go to the mega pizzaplex, today in-
You checked the time.
An hour?
You had to leave within the hour?
Sure, you hadn't checked your email until now, but that was because you didn't realize your place of employment was in ruins. And how was it even possible for you to be allowed into the pizzaplex, before any authorities had been allowed in, even if the fire had been contained?
Wow.
That was…
Wow.
You knew Fazbear Entertainment had power, but not so much power that they would be able to delay an investigation into the fire. It was incredibly baffling to be able to enter a mostly burned, likely falling apart building. Was that even legally allowed? Were you really going to go along with it?
Maybe.
Was it because you wanted to see if the damage was as bad as it appeared to be?
Probably.
If nothing else, you could drive over the ‘plex and if it was too damaged to even enter, you could always send an email back to let management know that you at least tried to follow instructions.
Sighing over the way you were stalling, you double-checked the time. Eleven in the morning. You better get ready to go so that you would at least arrive around the time management wanted you to arrive. Dropping the phone onto the couch, you went into the bedroom to get changed into clothes you hoped would help protect against anything was still burning or melting. Tank top, shirt, and a convenient heat-proof jacket that Fazbear Entertainment management provided you on your first day of work that had a little sun and moon logo on it (had they known, had they suspected?). Next, some jeans and then a pair of overalls, also from management, along with heavy duty boots. Both the bots and overalls had been used in the past when you had to go flip the breakers on in some sections of the ‘plex. This happened once every few months, when no one else was around to do it (the animatronics weren’t allowed near the breakers). For whatever reason, the floors would sometimes have thin areas of water on them. Not good when there was electricity around.
Inside the bedroom closet, you took out a mask that a friend of yours gave you. He liked to explore abandoned places, some with potential air hazards, and had given you a mask to filter the air on the off chance you wanted to join him, his wife and their friends sometime in the future. You were certain that the air quality wasn’t going to be all that great in a recently burnt building, so mask it was. Feeling a bit silly over your outfit but told yourself that it was necessary for safety reasons. After you collected your phone, ‘plex identification, security card and keys, your were finally ready to go. Locking your apartment up, it was only a short drive to the pizzaplex.
You had not been prepared for the sight.
At all.
Not were any of the people in the cars that you drove past, or the people milling about with their phones out and pointed toward what used to be the place to be. After gawking at the remains of what used to be Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex, you steered your car up to a blockade. In a daze, you absently provided your information and detailed your email's contents. YEs, you were supposed to be there. No, you understood that it was hazardous. Yes, you would leave if it got to be too dangerous. No, you couldn't have an escort, you had to go alone, company orders.
Only after answering a few more questions, you were allowed to pass by, and as you drove closer and closer to your workplace, the clearer the smoke swirling into the air became.
It was completely destroyed from what you could see, twisted metal everywhere and broken pieces of the wall jutting up all over, and in some cases, caved in and scattered all around the lot near the entrance of the whole plex. You wondered how anything in the structure was able to remain standing as you turned the corner around the building and parked in the employee lot at far end. As you put the car into park and shut the engine off, you eyed the building as if expecting it to reignite at any moment. You couldn’t afford a new car, so you had to be careful. Hence the reason you had parked halfway across the lot. You yourself needed to be cautious as well, so as you exited the car, you were now wearing a pair of safety glasses and a hard hat. The only reason you had them in car was due to the possibility of being asked to do simple maintenance, if someone else wasn’t readily available. Otherwise, you bounced around reception on the inside of different areas, to help close up and tidy the desk areas for next morning. Security desks included. Security and cleaning bots seemed to avoid the ‘human employee’ occupied areas. You were more part time than full time, and hardly interacted with the animatronics apart from odd run-ins with Moon.
Today was going to be so much different than any other day you’d gone in to work.
Already, you were questioning how you, a single low rung, part-time employee, was allowed to do something like this. To go do what appeared to be pretty damn important task? According to news articles you glanced through before leaving the car, the rockstar animatronics Roxy, Chica and Montry were destroyed. Freddy was either missing, or the pieces just hadn’t been found yet. Why would the company send you to check on the Daycare Attendant, instead of someone else who had already somehow confirmed the state of the other animatronics? An employee who actually interacted with Sun on a regular basis? A security guard, like Vanessa, who regularly crossed paths with Moon on her rounds? The email you'd been sent just didn’t make sense, but since you had nothing better to do, and it was a change in your shift, here you were.
If you were honest with yourself, like earlier, you were curious to know more about what had happened.
As you left your car to approach one of the employee entrances, the damage was stark in the daylight. Smoldering ruined pieces of the building had loosened and fallen outward. The continued heat, even with the fire put out, was obvious. It was a good call on your part to be cautious and overdress to protect your skin. Using your employee keycard (how did it work-was the power still working?) you were met with nothing but darkness.
Ah.
That...answered why you had been told to come here.
If the lights had gone out in the entire pizzaplex, then Moon would have free reign of the entire building. If the animatronic had survived the fire, that is.
Could it be possible that you were one of the people who had the least trouble with Moon? There had been no incidents for you to log against the Daycare Attendant when he was in security mode. You had heard rumors of him attacking others who weren’t where they were supposed to be and dragging them off to security. When it came to you, Moon just...seemed to like to follow you around and stare wordlessly at you. Did it help that you didn’t run when you caught sight of him? There was never any point to do so, since you knew Moon was fast and there wasn’t any way you would get very far. Or could it just be that you were an employee that was leaving after hours, and not an intruder? But even if Moon wasn’t aggressive toward you, there wasn’t any way that you were going to walk into pitch darkness.
You needed a light source before continuing on. There were no generators near this entrance, if you remembered correctly, so you backtracked to your car to retrieve a large flashlight with LED lights for maximum brightness to lead you along. And while you picked that up, you were quick to clip your name tag your jacket.
Good thing you didn't forget that.
Armed with your flashlight, you braced yourself for what you might find as you left your car behind, swiped the keypad again, and then stepped into the darkened pizzaplex.
The door automatically closed behind you.
For a time, you stood there in front of the mostly hidden employee entrance, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness around you. Your surroundings slowly began to take shape in the light of your flashlight as you panned it across in front of you.
The main entrance area of Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizzaplex in charred ruins, nearly unrecognizable.
A flick of the light to one side.
The gift shops, destroyed.
You took a breath behind the mask and let it out as you took a few steps forward to stare up at the golden Freddy statue.
It was mostly untouched.
Moving the flashlight slowly back and forth to look for potential tripping hazards, you made your way forward. Skirting around the pieces of the ceiling that had fallen to the floor, you carefully ascend the unmoving escalator stairs. Passing by the out of order elevator that would lead to the main sections of the pizzaplex, you head for the gate that led to the Superstar Daycare area. Tugging on some electrical gloves to hopefully protect your hands, you crawled under the security door that is half twisted from the fire. You kept low and well away from the parts still smoldering. Straightening up, you continued onward, flashlight illuminating the way, and revealing the amount of damage that had been dealt to this area. The floor beneath your feet was burned up in uneven patches, and while the overall structure of the building seemed to be intact in this area, all the decorations on the walls were burned away, debris littering the floor.
The next gate took a bit of work to figure out how to get through. It was bent and twisted, and other larger pieces of debris almost seemed to have been specifically placed in area where the gate was warped and twisted higher up. It was as if someone had made a desperate attempt to keep the flames from spreading closer to the daycare itself, and only partially succeeded.
…of course.
The Daycare Attendant.
You reminded yourself that the email you had been sent had stated that the Superstar Daycare was mostly untouched by the fire. But from the damage you had seen thus far, you would not believe that was possible until you saw the daycare for yourself. until you squeezed your way through a small opening you’d managed to create and looked around.
The email had to mean the Superstar Daycare itself was untouched, because the pickup area was in terrible shape, the metal statues of Sun and Moon melted here and there from extreme heat. So, the barricade you had come out through hadn’t done much to keep the fire out. Approaching the slide that one could take into the daycare itself, you discovered that the plastic was warped and deformed from the heat as well. However, when you lifted the flashlight to look closer, you could make out a sheet of metal from…somewhere, that split the slide. It looked like it had been done to prevent the slide on the other side of the glass inside the daycare itself to prevent it from melting.
Well, you wouldn't get into the daycare that way.
You peered uselessly through the glass to the darkened play areas. From what you could tell with what little the flashlight illuminated, not much of the fire had been able to make it through. But as you explored the rest of the upper floor, the party rooms were not as lucky. Each room was badly damaged. You kicked up some charred bits of what used to be a party hat. It disintegrated upon contact.
How long had the fire burned?
The articles you'd read and news you had seen on the tv hadn’t mentioned it.
You hadn't even heard anything about an investigation.
Fazbear Entertainment was...preventing that from happening until you had a chance to check on the Daycare Attendant?
The more you thought about it, the more unbelievable to situation became. It just didn't seem like normal protocol after a massive fire had just burned down a building. Then again, this was Fazbear Entertainment you were talking about. It was probably best not to question things too closely right now, and just do what you were supposed to do here. And speaking of that...it seemed odd that you had been alone this entire time as you made your way here.
Why hadn't Moon shown up yet?
Surely the animatronic would have noticed an 'intruder' by now?
And yet, everything around you was quiet.
It was unsettling.
Once you were finished with the party rooms, a short walk down mostly unbroken stairs brought you to the lower floor. Light revealed that the gift shop here was in even worse shape than the one you'd seen before. The doors that lined the walls of the lower floor were sealed shut. Whether through the earlier heat warping the doors and rendering them impassable, or the fact that you didn't have high enough security clearance, you couldn't be sure.
One last place to check.
Taking in a deep breath and letting it out nervously, you approached the double doors of the Superstar Daycare. It looked practically untouched, which meant that this is where the Daycare Attendant would be, right? Just as you reached out to push the doors open with a hand, you froze at the sound of faint jingling bells that rang out in the silence.
"Moon?" You whispered, swinging the flashlight around.
There was nothing there.
No telltale glow of red eyes.
But...there was the sound of jingling bells, accompanied by an unsettling laugh.
A near silent thud hit the floor behind you, the bells ringing clearly now, closer than before. Surprised, you darted forward out of reflex, accidentally dropping the flashlight in the process. Disoriented by the sudden darkness that greeted you, your flailing hands were seized without warning. Before the action could even be realized, you were yanked up off the floor as a low, staticky growl sounded behind you, near the right side of your head.
“Trespasser.”
Well...you could at least say that you found the Daycare Attendant.
Another jingle of bells, as those hands tightened around your wrists, and by extension, part of your forearms.
You'd forgotten how large this animatronic jester was.
“Trespasser.” Hissing static. Metal whirring, and a clank, as Moon presumably tilted his head. “Trespassers must be punished.”
Okay, why did Moon sound so happy about the prospect of dragging a ‘trespasser’ off to the security office?
The animatronic went from holding your wrists with both hands to only one.
That...didn't seem like a good thing.
"It's past your bedtime." Moon uttered, but next to the left side of your head this time. "Lights out."
Oh.
Moon's free hand inched around your neck. Crept along, really, toward your throat, as if he wanted you to know what he had planned.
Oh shit.
"Trespasser..." Those elongated fingers lightly rested against your throat, briefly twitching, before two soft padded fingertips dug into skin. "Nighty night."
Being choked out by the Daycare Attendant to be dragged off to a charred security office was not in your plans for the day. An unnerving conversation about being an employee became a downright terrifying yet important discussion to have.
Now.
Immediately.
Your panic rose over the low, rather muffled chuckle in response to your distress, and babbled out the first thing you could think of in the moment as you struggled for air.
“Olly olly oxin free!”
The hand around your throat loosened in an instant.
You sucked in a grateful breath but let it shudder out nervously, as you were slowly rotated around by the wrists and forearms.
“...wasn’t hiding anywhere, for that to be said.” Moon eventually murmured, as his head abruptly snapped to one side, those glowing eyes never leaving yours. The smile never changed as Moon's free hand came up to press gently to your forehead. “Do you have a fever?”
Moon thought you were sick b ecause you misused a phrase?
That was what he was worried about?
You were concerned about nearly being choked out by an animatronic, only for them to pretend that it hadn't just happened moments before.
"No fever." Moon eventually concluded, as he moved his hand away from your forehead. Even as his opposite hand kept tight hold of your wrists, it looked like his free hands' fingers wanted to go straight back around your throat. It seemed like it, anyway, from the way the finger joints twitched randomly and flexed. The large red glow within darkened eyes brightened as Moon continued to stare at you. The animatronic's head turned to the opposite side with an unsettling, jerky motion. “Are you hurt? The building is not safe right now.”
“No. I'm...okay.” You said aloud after a long, awkward silence. As much as you wanted to complain about your aching shoulders, you didn't. Especially seeing as you were still held aloft at least a foot or so in in the air by your captured arms. But you were otherwise fine, now that Moon's hand wasn’t threatening to choke you into unconscious. The Daycare Attendant wouldn’t pursue that option again now that he seemed to…recognize you, would he?
Wait.
Moon had said more than just a handful of words.
"I didn't know you could say more than you've said to me in the past." You should have known better, though, since Sun was perfectly capture of interacting and holding conversations with the children in the daycare, and the parents who came to pick them up. Answering questions, telling stories at the request of a child and whatnot.
"Did not feel like it most of the time." Moon offered as a response. "Being out on patrol makes it...difficult, for me to stop and converse."
Fair.
It wasn't like Moon would always get close enough anyway to talk when he tailed you through the building to the exit.
Dangling there in air, you frowned as a thought occurred to you. Moon's speech seemed much more glitchy than it usually was, at times a low, grating and sibilant sound before becoming low, pleasant, and almost friendly, other times. And while you didn't exactly speak to him much nor he to you, there was a noticeable difference. It was like Moon's voice box was broken, but then that would mean that Sun's would be as well, and yet...you don't recall the Daycare Attendant going in for maintenance lately. You made a none too subtle attempt to free yourself from Moon's grasp, but stopped when his fingers flexed against your trapped wrists. Since it looked like you weren't going anywhere, you took the opportunity to study the animatronic jester in the light your dropped flashlight provided.
Moon looked in decent condition, for someone who had been trapped within a burning building.
The clothing on his arms were burnt to the elbow joints, exposing the slim animatronic arms beneath, covered in material that covered the metal. The bell and ribbons around the wrist were undamaged. The ruffles around Moon's neck were torn in several places, and beneath it, there were scorch marks across the torso, where some of the fabric was missing. The night cap on Moon’s head seemed to be untouched. It was too dark to tell what the rest of the animatronic looked like, as Moon pointedly kept himself out of the area of light your flashlight made.
Moon's faceplate began to idly spin around in very slow circles as he stared at you unblinkingly.
Lovely.
Just what you needed.
Nightmare fuel for when you finally tried to go to bed later that night.
“Trespasser.” Moon eventually grit out, low and threatening.
Was the red glow...smaller?
More...fixated?
“Employee.” You responded when you felt those fingers tighten, one tapping your wrist impatiently. Quickly, you told the Daycare Attendant you name. Maybe Moon's recognition systems were down from the server, and that was why he had trouble connecting you to your employee profile?
The red eyes seemed to narrow, but the glow returned to its usual size. Moon slowly set you on your feet, before reluctantly letting go of you. The Daycare Attendant stooped in place, flexing the fingers of both his hands this time, almost absently, as he considered you. It was as if Moon was prepared to spring at you again.
Hopefully, he now recognized you as the employee that he liked to follow around when you left your shift? Or at the very least...knew that you were an employee, and not an intruder?"
“It's past your bedtime.” Moon repeated his earlier statement, entire frame shuddering. It was like he was suddenly having trouble moving his own body.
Was there damage you couldn't see?
Despite whatever was preventing ease of motion, Moon began to inch forward, one slow exaggerated step at a time.
“It’s past one in the afternoon.” You replied, quickly moving backward until your hands met the nearest daycare door.
It was open.
You flung yourself inside, intent on hitting the light switch.
“Rule breaker!” Moon hissed, his hand grasping for the back of your jacket and missing. "Ru-le...tres-trespasser." Moon's voice glitched out, going from one word to another. A hand suddenly slapped up to the side of his head. Moon caught the sun ray just as it threatened to pop out and held it in place. "No. It's fine. Don't worry. Rest. I can handle this."
Shit.
You went for the light again, but it didn't come on, because your hand missed the switch by inches.
"Come back, trespasser." Moon stumbled to the side. "Come back." Another stumble. "Don't run. Don't hide."
Wait.
How did an animatronic stumble?
"Don't interfere." The Daycare Attendant pressed the hand harder to the side of his faceplate, where a few more sun rays were now peeking out from under and between his fingers. "Punished. They must be punished. Trespasser."
Double shit.
You reoriented yourself in the very dim lighting of the room. The flashlight just barely illuminated just past the doors of the Superstar Daycare. But it was enough for you to change course and dart for the security desk before diving underneath it. The Daycare Attendant wasn't supposed to come back here, right?
A low, amused chuckle rang out.
Holding perfectly still, you heard as Moon casually hopped up onto the desk, where he patted the security desk over your head in a teasing manner, since he damn well knew where you were.
It was fine.
Moon slowly peered over the top of the desk at you, hands gripping the desk on either side of his face. Moon ever so slowly leaned down over the desk, and as he balanced himself on the desk with his hands, his torso lowered at an impossible angle, legs all but folded to either side of Moon's back to nearly touch the floor. T he faceplate slowly turned so that it was upright, face to face with you.
It looked unnatural and wrong.
“Now you’re trespassing.” You whispered, a little hysterically. Why didn't Moon recognize you as an employee?
"Hiding away?" The faceplate twitched, the grin just a little wider than you remember it being moments ago.
Your scrambled on hands and knees to the far end of the desk, toward the door. You missed your chance to slip out from beneath the desk as you misjudged how far out the desk went, bumping your hard hat against metal. You sat up with a groan, thanking the foresight to wear a hard hat, as your back automatically pressed to the metal as Moon contorted his body further. The animatronic slid smoothly beneath the desk, but to the far side, opposite of you. Part of your mind screamed at the wrongness of the display, as Moon righted his faceplate so that it was facing up instead of upside down. Keeping his limbs contorted, Moon suddenly skittered beneath the desk toward you at an alarmingly quick pace, glowing eyes zeroed in on you.
Oh hell no.
You were certain that you'd told Moon in the past that him contorting his body unnaturally to skitter toward you at lightning speed like a spider was way too freaky to experience more than once.
And yet here you were.
Moon loomed over you once he reached you, hunkering his frame right in front of you, knees up on either side of his head. The animatronic didn't come any closer, because you'd held your hands up to press to Moon just beneath his neck ruffles. You didn't think that this would do much good, since the animatronic was stronger than you and could easily brush your hands out of his way. His arms were wrapped loosely around his legs, just below your arms.
Nothing was said for the longest time, until Moon scooted backward a foot and a half, out from beneath the desk.
Why did he-
"Ollie ollie oxen free." Moon all but crooned. He didn't move or otherwise reach out for you, content to merely stare at you and grin that elongated grin.
Oh.
Oh, so it was like that, was it?
This behavior right now was reminiscent of when Moon would initiate a game with you in the past. Like the game where Moon shadowed your steps on your way out of the pizzaplex, to see how long it took you to notice him, before he'd 'chase' you to the exit. But even if that was the case, right now, it was terrifying to have Moon crouched and mostly blocking the way to your escape but with the more...expectant look Moon was giving you, there was a surefire way to end the game.
You feigned passing out.
Moon eventually spoke your name aloud.
You didn't respond.
There was the sound of a deceptively heavy jester animatronic moving, followed by a hesitant prod to your shoulder. And then another, to your opposite shoulder. A pause. Moon poked you on either side of your face, fingertip pads pressing into your cheeks curiously, before Moon ended with a flourish by pointedly booping your nose like one would on a plushie.
"Have you gone to sleep?"
You did your best to keep your breathing as even as possible, lest Moon guess what you were up to. There was the soft sound of clothing rustling and muted bells ringing, before you realized that the Daycare Attendant had just picked you up and was now carrying you...somewhere. Careful to keep limp, you squinted your eyes open.
Perfect.
Moon was approaching the doors to close them.
When the Daycare Attendant was preoccupied with figuring out how to presumably close the doors without 'waking' you, the opportunity was taken to squirm out of Moon's lax hold. Hitting the ground with a stumble, you made a run for it. You didn’t get paid enough to deal with Moon's oddly adamant decision to stalk you throughout the pizzaplex, presumably to make sure that you left at the end of your shift. Whether it was so Moon knew that you were safely out, or just out of the pizzaplex on time, you weren’t sure. No one paid you enough for the times when Moon randomly perched on the back of a chair you were seated on. To peer over your shoulder with his head tilting from one side to another, as Moon watched you go through closing procedures in different reception areas. Y ou most certainly didn't get paid enough to be here in a burnt building with an animatronic that appeared to be a little scrambled from being so close to the fire.
You took maybe three steps out the door before you were seized around the middle and easily hoisted over a shoulder, to be carried back into the daycare.
“Naughty.” Moon commented as he walked along. “Cheating like that.”
“Is it still past my bedtime?” You questioned sheepishly.
Moon said nothing.
"I guess a nap wouldn't hurt." You sighed, receiving an approving grumble from the animatronic. As Moon walked along, you figured that you could always set an alarm on your phone for...a half hour or so. Then, you could still leave on time, and send an email about your findings. Guess there was nothing to do but relax wherever naptime occurred in this place and-
Moon suddenly went rigid, frozen in place as his hands reflexively grasped you tightly.
Ow.
The Daycare Attendant's grip was deceptively strong.
"No. No no no, it's supposed to be gone."
You let out a startled gasp Moon suddenly set you on your feet, disoriented in the darkness, but not so much that you didn't feel the steadying hand on your back. Moon making certain that you were firmly on your own two feet. Turning around, you caught a flash of fabric as Moon retreated a short distance. You could only see his eyes and...his teeth from that glow, as Moon crouched. From the sound of metal, he clutched at his own faceplate hard.
A loud, distorted and tortured scream rang out.
You turned tail and fled for the light just outside the doors of the Superstar Daycare. Scooping the flashlight up, you considered continuing to run, all the way back to your car, when another, almost...pained screech rang out.
Could the animatronics...feel pain? Emotional pain?
Against your better judgement, you went back inside the daycare to see what was going on. You'd even insist on a rest, if that would placate Moon's need to have someone nap. What you found was Moon shakily moving around and scraping at his metal head, clutching the plate tight. It lasted for under a minute before, all at once, Moon dropped his hands to his sides. As Moon slowly turned to face you, changes were immediately evident, helped by the flashlight's glow. The red eyes in the dark pits of Moon's eyes were now small pinpricks, and brighter red than before. The animatronic's fixed smile wider, but instead of flat teeth, they were sharp and jagged fangs, as if they had dropped down over the other smile.
What the hell?
How did that even work-
Moon didn’t just walk toward you, or leap through the air to clear the distance with the help of that wire. No, he crouched down low and began to stalk you, tauntingly using earlier motions of tiny tiptoeing, even as the animatronic's hands were held up with intention to, what? Strangle you? Moon lunged at you before it even occurred to you to try to run again. But Moon appeared to miss you on purpose, even as a garbled static scream of fury issued out. Moon clutched either side of his head again, shaking it as you veered away from him and made for the door.
Whatever was happening, it wasn’t normal behavior for Moon.
You'd never seen him act like this before. Sure, he chased you or shadowed your movements, but he didn't attack you with intention to harm. Was this what had happened earlier, when Moon had attempted to choke you?
This...this wasn't right.
As far as you were aware, Sun never showed any outward aggression like this, and you certainly would have heard about Sun losing control. But you couldn't be sure. The most interaction you've ever had with Sun was when you walked by the reception desk. He'd wave enthusiastically at you before paying attention to the children who were around him.
"Stop. Stop it. It's dark. Don't come out." Moon was muttering, voice full of static and jumping around. "My time. Mine. Take Turns."
The fire couldn’t have caused the behavior, right?
The Daycare Attendant only appeared to have taken superficial, easily mended damage, like clothes and maybe some of the sensors and joints on the hands and forearm areas.
What was going on?
You made a mad dash for the light switch next to the doors, as the jingling bells came at you from behind at a fast pace. Just as you were about to press the switch, Moon hit you from behind. Letting out a startled, pained yelp, you hit the wall in front of you hard, scrabbling with your hands for purchase as you lost your flashlight for a second time. Two hands roughly shoved you, pinning your shoulders tightly against the wall, forcing you to turn your head so that you didn't smack your face painfully into the wall.
When had you lost the hard hat and safety goggles?
Under the desk?
"No. Stop interfering." Moon's hands twitched. "No, it isn't daytime. My internal clock says its 1:30 AM. Not PM."
"Moon!" You shouted, frantic, when the animatronic began to increase the pressure of his fingers digging into your shoulders. You were going to be bruised up come tomorrow. "Don’t injure the human! I’m not durable like you and Sun are!"
"New...new Fr-friend. Hold...ho-ld on-on." A different voice spoke, badly glitching out as it then addressed Moon. "Your-your friend-d, Moon. It's your-yo-ur friend. Sto-stop now. Gone. It's gone. Please-plea-se, Moon."
Moon's voice returned as he let out a string of static words, not understandable to you in the least bit. Then, Moon's hands flew away from your shoulders. The animatronic jester let out a glitchy scream, before he slammed his hands hard into the wall over your head.
You didn't dare move, even as you marveled over what just happened.
Sun had never spoken to you before when Moon was out.
Moon's fingers audibly dug into the wall as metal cracked.
You held perfectly still.
All at once, Moon jerked back from the wall, and away from you.
Nothing was said, as the bells rang out a few times before it stopped.
You warily turned around, keeping your back to the wall as you retrieved your flashlight. Turning it on, you shined it toward the Daycare Attendant.
The shrunken pinpricks of red within black were gone, replaced with the softer, larger red glow, the animatronic's teeth back to their flat appearance. The only oddity was a single sun ray half-poking out the side of his head. Moon didn't seem troubled by this, nor did he outwardly react to the flashlight that was trained on him. Moon's arms were wrapped tightly around himself as he stood rigidly in place, staring at the playmat beneath him.
Okay...what had that been all about?