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Monty returned to his green room after the big show that night, chest puffed out and a smug grin coloring his face. He absolutely killed it tonight. Sure, he may have killed it while going off script and stealing the spotlight from Freddy, but the audience loved it! It was mostly teens so it makes sense, they always love drama.
He was sure that any moment, management would come and chew him out about not 'following protocol' or whatever. Freddy most certainly did, telling him how everything could have fucked up completely. Bah! Who cares what that bear thinks?! Of course he'd be pissed about his spotlight being gone for a whole 30 seconds.
But now, Monty was the star of the night! The teens all flocked around him and started asking for autographs and pictures! He had never felt so loved before! It was great!
Looking up, he saw a couple of people walk by his window and point at him, like he was a celebrity. Which he was.
He grinned and gave them a finger gun and a tilt of his glasses. They all cheered before continuing on their way. This was the best day ever.
"Hey! Tough guy!" A tech said, entering his room through the backdoor. He turned and looked at her, shit eating grin still intact.
"Yo Nelly! Sick night, ain't it?"
"Yeah! You really fucked that performance up! W-wait. Not like that. You killed it!"
"Hell yeah I did! Finally Fazbear got to stand there and stare while I got the attention! And Roxy's face was priceless!!! "
"Sure was! It was about time that stale performance got scrapped. Now, management wanted me to bring you down for a check-up, since you did go off protocol."
"Called it."
"C'mon Monty. Let's get it over with so you can go back to swooning the fans!"
He always liked Nelly. She was his favorite tech. Always so chill and not a douche. He was so glad she came, otherwise his buzz would have totally been killed.
He followed her to the service elevator and down to one of the tables for check-up. It went by in silence, as he just leaned back and let her do the routine.
That's when he heard muffled talking from one of the private rooms nearby. He glanced over and raised a curious brow. Nelly took notice and looked up at him.
"You gonna eavesdrop?"
"Hell yeah I am."
Nelly raised her index and thumb to her mouth, doing a zipping motion before continuing the check up. Monty chuckled before turning up his hearing so he could hear them better.
"-noying, I couldn't take it! All the screaming kids! That clown music! And that creepyass clown robot!"
"Hey! At least try to tolerate your job. You volunteered to take up the daycare shift."
Now Monty was even more interested. As well as pissed from that insult to his precious-
To his best friend Sun!
He acted like he didn't just think that and continued listening.
"I know, I know! But no one told me it'd be that annoying! Like, they made it so wimpy and clingy! Why would they develop a robot like that?!"
"They didn't. You seriously don't know crap about AI, do you?"
"I'm not the tech, you are!"
"Well whatever. You clearly don't have any respect for Sunny. He's a very complex animatronic. How he and Moon operate is absolutely fascinating! I wish they'd assign him to me so I can get a look at that code!"
"Dude. It's just a fucking machine. It's not like I kicked it or anything. Why do I need to show respect?"
"Because he's a learning AI, Tama! He developed that 'Wimpiness' because he learnt it the same way you learnt your assholery."
"Ugh! Whatever! It can't even take criticism!"
"... … … What do you mean?"
"The stupid daycare attendant was talking about 'if you're mean, you'll make others sad' nonsense or whatever! Then it started talking about being nice and showing love. I just said that it wouldn't know anything about that, considering it's just a robot and can't even feel emotions."
Monty tensed up, staring at the floor as he listened intently. He was positively seething . Who does this person think they are, saying something like that to Sunny?!
" YOU DID WHAT?!? "
That outburst had both him and Nelly jumping from the scare, looking over in the direction of the yell. Now even she could hear what was going on.
"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE DONE?!? THIS IS REALLY SENSITIVE CODE!!! THEY LEARN FROM EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AROUND THEM!!! YOU MIGHT HAVE TRUAMATIZED HIM, FOR FUCKS SAKE!"
"Why are you yelling?! It's just a robot! Just delete it or some shit!"
"You are so fucking dumb! You can't just delete part of the code like that without affecting other parts of the system! It would take some serious time and knowledge to fix a mistake like that!"
"THEN RESET IT!"
"AND LOSE ALL OF THE DATA HE'S LEARNT SO FAR!?! ARE YOU BRAIN-DEAD??? A FACTORY RESET LIKE THAT WOULD DELETE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE!!!"
"Oh my fucking god! Why do robots have to be so fragile?"
"You're a moron and I'm reporting you to corporate! Better pray they don't sue you for this!"
With that, the door slammed open and they saw a furious tech round the corner as they stormed over to the exit. They spotted Monty and seemed to startle at him.
"Ah! Monty!" Was all they could say before the other employee rushed after them, coming to a stop as he, too, saw the animatronic and human.
"... Soooo… it was a nice run?" Nelly said and shrugged awkwardly.
"Wait! No! Hold Up! You're not going to get me fired for that, are you?!"
"Better hope I don't! You-"
"What the fuck did you say to Sunny?"
They both stopped arguing and looked over at Monty, who looked like he was literally fuming, gripping the repair table so hard he was giving it scratch indents.
Tama sputtered for a second before looking between everyone nervously.
"Bu- I- I-It… I-I didn't mean it! It was a misunderstanding!"
"MISUNDERSTANDING MY ASS!!! YOU TOLD HIM HE DIDN'T HAVE EMOTIONS, YOU USELESS MEAT SACK!"
"H-Hey Monty. Calm down. He'll be fired soon enough. No need to get upset" Nelly tried to defuse the situation.
"Y-yeah! You don't have to worry about me an-"
"OH?! I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY?! WHAT HAPPENED TO 'IT'S JUST A ROBOT'?! OR WAS THAT JUST BECAUSE SUN CAN'T TALK BACK TO A SHIT STAIN LIKE YOU?!?"
"Monty. I understand that you're angry. But you can't kill him on company time. Corporate would have you scrapped."
Monty was huffing and growling angrily, wanting nothing more than to rip this idiot in half. But he couldn't. He knew he couldn't. And that only infuriated him more. He roared loudly from frustration before getting up and storming off towards his elevator.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
"TO SUN!!!"
He didn't wait for any of them to respond. He just smashed the button and headed off to his green room.
*~*~*
Bass in hand, he stomped out of the room and into rockstar row. He looked around briefly before heading towards the direction of the daycare.
But he didn't make it very far, as he heard someone shout his name. He flinched and tensed his shoulders, knowing that his day was about to turn dramatically.
"Monty! Monty, dude! You're so cool! Your performance today was sick!" Some punk looking teen boy told him, a couple of his friends trailing behind.
"Yeah! Love the way you pushed Freddy out of the spotlight. Super metal!"
"Fuck that bear! You're way cooler!"
He felt how his nerves were getting worse as his anger now got mixed together with stress. He had to get to Sun! Immediately!
"No time, kids! I've got shit to do!" He growled and walked around them, earning some shocked looks.
"Duuuude! Did he just swear?!"
"Epic!"
The gator ignored them as he continued forward, no longer caring that he was breaking the PG language rule.
But someone else did.
Freddy had started running after him to catch up, running in front of him so he'd block his path. This made Monty absolutely FURIOUS.
"Monty! What do you think you're doing?! You can't ignore guests like that! And you shouldn't swear in front o-"
Before Freddy had a chance to finish, the bassist swiped at him and shoved him out of the way, quite forcefully too.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY, FAZBEAR!!! SUN NEEDS ME! DON'T YOU DARE STOP ME, YOU… YOU… GHA!!!" He couldn't find the words to call him, he just roared loudly and stomped away.
Everyone around just stood there and stared at him, then turned to look at Freddy confused. But he looked confused too. Confused and very concerned.
*~*~*
He ignored everyone who came up to him. Anyone trying to talk to him did not even faze him. He had one destination he needed to reach. And he wouldn't let anyone stop him.
Finally, he got there. It felt like it took hours but he made it. The Glamrock stormed down the corridor and shoved the doors open, scaring some employees and staff bots as he did. Again, he completely ignored them as he walked down the stairs and into the recently vacated daycare.
The music was still playing. The entire place was a complete mess. Sun was nowhere to be found. He growled softly before raising his voice, saying "SUNNY?! ARE YE IN HERE?!"
…
He got no response. Monty sighed and kept walking further in, looking around and listening carefully for him everywhere he could think of. He searched the nap corner, the ball pit, the play structure, the security desk, the broom closet and even the tiny play houses.
But he wasn't in any of them.
"Sun! Come on! Where are you?! It's ok! It's just me! Mont! Yer pal! Montgomery Gator!" He kept shouting as he looked around, still getting no response whatsoever.
"U-um… e-e-excuse me M-Monty…" a nervous manager stuttered and peeked in through the double doors.
He whipped around and glared at her. "YOU! Where is Sunny?! Where did he go?!"
She yelped in surprise before trying to collect herself. "H-He… he went up to his… his room."
"He has a room?"
"Y-yeah! Through Fazbear theater! Behind the poster! H-He doesn't usually use that door s-so we-"
She didn't get to explain as Monty shoved past her and sprinted towards that door. When he got there, he looked up at the pirate themed poster with murder in his eyes. He tore it down and ripped the door open.
Oh…
Oh god…
He walked in and was met with… a complete mess. There were an indescribable amount of things filling the room. Some of it was toys, some mechanical parts, others straight up garbage. It was filthy and dusty with cobwebs on the walls and ceiling.
"... Th… this is… Sun and Moon's room? But… that doesn't… make any sense!"
He continued further in, carefully moving aside things to make way. He didn't like this. Not one bit. Sun lived in a trash dump! Why?? He was always so neat and clean. He hated messes. It didn't make any sense at all!
Monty suddenly stopped in his tracks, head snapping to the side as he could have sworn he heard something. It sounded like it came from behind this… pile. He slowly walked around it and finally found the one he'd been looking for.
Sun was… he could only say terrified. He was shaking and sat curled up into the tiniest ball the gator's ever seen. His head was buried in his knees and his hands gripped the back of it, as if he was trying to hide himself away from the world.
Monty's heart ached at the sight, feeling so bad for him. He just wanted to run up to him and scoop him up into a big hug.
Setting his bass down, he walked over to Sun and got down on his knees beside him.
"Sunshine? It's me, Monty. What's wrong?"
Sun launched himself back into the pile of things, scrambling away into the nearest corner.
"N-No… no no no no no no… no. No. I-I-I-I-I…"
"H-h-hey… it's alright. It's just me. Your friend. I just want to help you."
"No! No! P-p-p-please! Y-you can't!"
"Please, it's fine. I just want you to feel better. I promise-" Monty gently reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. That was the trick. The one way he knew was sure to calm Sun down when he was upset. It always worked.
He couldn't take it. He couldn't take all this. The constant reminders that his not-life was always hanging by a thin thread that he had to learn how to tightrope walk on. The reminder that he, in fact, wasn't a person, but a machine that existed for only one purpose. To serve. He wasn't supposed to feel. He didn't have feelings. Then how were these nonexistent feelings putting his job and his existence at risk?
How was Sun able to feel absolute panic when something grabbed him by the shoulder. He couldn't recognize touch. After all, he wasn't supposed to feel, so all these sensations were so overwhelming to him.
The only reason he'd be grabbed would be if he did something wrong. If he did something wrong, that meant he was in danger of being disposed of .
His screen flashed with warning messages all over, making him quiver even more from fear.
"G-g-geh-ge-get a-a-aw-aw-aw-way!" He thrashed against the hand before desperately clawing at the wall, trying to somehow make a hole for himself to escape through and go to hide again.
Monty pulled back fully, starting to get scared himself from how frantic Sun was acting. He could barely speak, he was so terrified. This couldn't have come out of just one comment. Either that useless stain on the earth said a lot more or this was something that had accumulated over a very long time.
"Sunshine… sunny boy. Don't you recognize me? Can you hear me?"
Sun winced and put his hands over his face, burrowing into the deepest nook of the corner he possibly could. "I-I-I-I-I d-d-d-don-n-n't wa-w-wanna… w-wanna be disposed… I-I'm… I… pl-please… please don't…"
Holy shit… Sun was… was he having a breakdown? Like a real shit, deadly serious one? He'd never had to deal with that before. What was he supposed to do?! Could he do anything?! Was this finally where Monty's bullshit comforting ran out?!
No! Fuck that! Sun needs me! I'm the only fucking person in this place who actually tried to be nice to him! I need to help him! Because no one else understands the type of shit he has to go through!
"Hey. Sunshine. It's alright. You did nothing wrong! No one's going to hurt you! You're ok! You're safe. You're good."
He tried to speak with the softest voice he could manage, moving only slightly closer so he wouldn't scare him.
Sunny looked over at him while still shaking violently. He didn't seem to give any sort of reaction otherwise. He might not have heard him. Or… maybe he just couldn't understand him. If that was the problem, then Monty knew exactly what he should try.
He reached over and picked up his bass, sitting down comfortably and plucking a few notes. Sun turned his head a little bit and stared blankly in his direction. That proved he at least could hear him. Good. Then he could try playing something. He knows Sun loves it when he plays a song.
He played a little melody, watching the attendant for a reaction. Not much, but he was staring at him intently. Ok. Good. Got his attention.
"Short steps, deep breath
Everything is alright~
Chin up, I can't
Step into the spotlight~"
Sun had been spiraling during the entire day, his system being bombarded with these intrusive thoughts of his self image. His head had been a tornado of doubt and fear. Fear of not being a person. Fear of dying. Fear of not knowing what true happiness, sadness, anger, injustice, pain or love feels like. Could he even feel love? Did he not truly love Monty? Did he even care about him?
Those thoughts had finally quieted down as he heard the sound of music from somewhere. Music and someone singing. He couldn't exactly hear the lyrics, but he could somewhat comprehend them now that his head was silent.
"She said 'I'm sad,'
Somehow without any words~
I just Stood there
Searching for an answer~"
That sounded… lovely. It was gentle with a beautiful melody. He liked it. But… could he even like it? Could this song move him?
"When this world is no more~
The moon is all we'll see~
I'll ask you to fly away with me~"
Moon? He… liked Moon. He knew that for a fact. He's always liked Moon. That was one thing he was completely certain about. It wasn't even in question.
'Sunny! Can you hear me now?!'
Yes! Yes, he heard Moon! Had he been trying to talk to him? He was probably too far gone to understand him.
"Until the stars all fall down~
They empty from the sky~
But I don't mind~
If you're with me, then everything's alright~"
'Sunny… you can't speak, can you? It's ok, I can feel you're upset. It's going to be fine.'
Sunny felt that familiar warmth of a Moon hug, making his body shake less. It was helping… a little bit.
"Why do my words
Always lose their meaning~?
What I feel, what I say
There's such a rift between them~"
It sounded so nice. The hug felt so nice. He could finally open his eyes, no longer overwhelmed by panic.
He saw Monty. He was playing his bass and singing. It was rare to hear Monty sing, he just wasn't the type. But when he did, it was gorgeous.
"He said, 'I can't
Really seem to read you.'~
I just stood there
Never know what I should do~"
What a pretty song. It really stirred up so many feelings in his chest. Feelings aside from fear. Sadness, calm, melancholy, amazement. So many things he could feel. So many… feelings.
"... W-when this world is no m-more…"
Monty stuttered with his fingers, the music going out of sync as he looked up surprised at Sunny, who just spoke.
"The moon… is all we'll see…"
The gator caught himself getting distracted and tried to get back on tune. He did with little effort, looking back over as he continued to the next line.
"I'll ask you to fly away with me~"
"Unt-til the stars all fall down…"
"They empty from the sky
But I don't mind~"
"... … … If you're with me, then everything's alright~"
Monty smiled as Sun managed to even out his voice, making it sound as beautiful as Monty knew it to be. He played a few more slow notes, hoping he'd helped by the time the song ended.
"If you're with me…"
"…then everything's alright"
What nice harmonization. Even when feeling down, he could sing as perfectly as… the bassist really had no one to compare it to.
But he was just happy to see Sun looking more composed. He seemed to at least be able to understand him.
"... … Hey. If you're cool with being touched again…" he mumbled softly and extended his arm towards him, offering him a hug rather than just giving one.
Sun stared at him, looking a little uncertain. Then, he let out a quiet whine that grew louder, finally throwing himself at Monty and clutching onto him desperately. Monty sighed and put his bass away, rubbing his back as he leaned against the wall and hugged him close. He just listen to the other robot sobbing
"There's my snuggle bug!" He joked and carefully ran his claws down his back, making sure he didn't hurt him in any way.
"Wh-why?! Why am I like this?! If I'm a robot, why do I mess everything up so badly?! I'm not supposed to feel! Then why do my feelings get in the way of everything?!"
"Shhhhhh… it's ok. You don't mess everything up. And you can't control your feelings. No one can."
"THEY CAN! I CAN BE REPROGRAMMED AND SUDDENLY I DON'T EXIST ANYMORE!"
Monty held him tighter and gave his sides a comforting rub, trying his best to sooth the hysterical bot.
"That won't happen. I won't let it."
"I-I… I'm just a bunch of code… my feelings are just codes!"
"Well… yeah. True."
Sun pulled back and looked up, letting out the meekest, saddest 'Huh?' he's ever heard.
"I mean, that's just what they are! Feelings, that is. Not just yours. Humans are the same! Their feelings are just electricity traveling through meat to tickle the blobby, gooey head chip."
"... Gross."
"Super gross! We're better that way! No nastiness in us! But what I mean is that we're just systems made out of different stuff. Just because we're A, doesn't mean we don't have I."
Sun looked at him confused, not sure what that last part meant. But he soon thereafter realized it and started sniffling in a slight giggle.
"M-Monty… no one says that. That's so dumb!"
"Or! Or… is it the deepest shit you've ever heard before?"
"No!"
"Darn!"
Sun chuckled at that and nuzzled in closer against his shoulder, letting out a soft sigh while the laugh dissipated.
"I'm scared… I want to know that I'm actually caring about you as much as you deserve. I don't want to be a bunch of programming, made to just react and not actually feel."
"The fact that you're able to question your own sentience proves that you're pretty freaking sentient. But it's cool. You don't have to be scared. If anyone treats you like just a piece of metal, I'll be there to defend you. And so would Moon, I'm sure.
And besides! That guy who said that shit to you doesn't even believe it himself. Talkin' to me like a regular person when I get all angry! He was just saying stuff to stir up crap! You shouldn't even listen to all that."
Sun hummed sadly and curled up on Monty's lap, having to really tuck himself together to fit properly. All his height seemed to have gone to the legs.
He whined and let out another sob, getting a big, safe hug from the gator to help sooth him more.
"I-I-I-I-I… Wh-what am I? Can I care? Do I love my sun rays? Am I able to do that?"
"Bruh. You care more about them than their own parents, and I've seen some real helicopter parents! There is no doubt that even if you were programmed to hate kids, you'd still end up fond of them sooner or later!"
"You really think so?"
"Positively."
The daycare robot hummed thoughtfully and closed his eyes, just thinking of the feeling surrounding him. It was safe. It was warm. It was caring and so very comfortable. He didn't want it to leave. He wanted to stay in that embrace for as long as he could.
But… he still felt awful. The messy room around him just reminded him of the lack of attention they got from FazEnt. It made him feel less valuable, less needed. More objectified.
He shivered and clung onto Monty desperately. "M-m-mont! I-I don't wanna stay here! It makes me… anxious. Can I… could… I…" he was so scared to finish that sentence.
"Hm? You wanna head down to the daycare? We c-"
"NO!!! Anything but that! That music is making me go insane! C-can… we go… go to… t-t-to…"
Monty tilted his head and gave a very confused expression.
"... … … Mmmmng! C-can I stay in y-your room?!"
Monty immediately felt his system shut down from the request. He wasn't expecting that at all. This was… completely new to him. It made him feel really flustered, but also a little concerned.
He had visited Sun a lot. He came to the daycare all the time, even during working hours sometimes if he managed to sneak off for a quick visit. They would meet up or run into one another around the rest of the 'plex too. Usually in Gator Golf for obvious reasons, along with Sun getting really interested in learning to golf recently.
But, they had never been in Monty's room together. In fact, Sun had probably never even seen his room before. At first, it was due to Sun's reluctance to leave the daycare. But then afterwards, Monty just tried to side-step the topic. He didn't like the idea of Sunny seeing what he did when he was alone. Of him knowing… of his tendencies.
What would he think if he saw the way I treat my stuff? How far I can go when I'm angry. How violent I can be. He knows I have issues, but to this extent… he's already scared of being decommissioned. He doesn't need to have me as another worry on his mind.
But… looking at the way he began to shiver and whimper the longer his green friend stayed quiet, it only sunk that dagger of sympathy deeper into his heart.
Sun was shaking like a leaf. He was scared and small, pressing himself so desperately to his chest, begging with his eyes to not leave. He looked so helpless and sad.
Monty didn't think he'd have the ability to say no, even if Sun wasn't his best friend and crush. He just didn't deserve such heartlessness.
"F-F-FORGET I SAID ANYTH-"
"Of course you can."
"H-huh?" Sun was so ready to give up that that response caught him off guard. He didn't get the chance to question him about it though, as he was swiftly picked up and held in Monty's arms, like the multiple times before. He heated up and covered his face to avoid showing said rise in temperature.
"Heh. You sure felt that shock, didn't ya?"
Sun only hummed hesitantly and nodded as Monty carried him out of his room, once again ignoring everyone and everything to focus on getting to his destination. But this time, he chose to take the service tunnels.
*~*~*
Sun was gawking at his room like it was a real life fairy tale castle. He just turned his head around to take it all in with sparkling eyes.
The bassist almost forgot that he was having a good day earlier, meaning that only one chair was completely broken against the wall. That was after hearing of Sun's issue.
He walked over to the couch and gently sat him down on it, watching as he seemed to get really comfortable. He looked around the room, disappointed that he never thought to ask for a blanket or something. They didn't need things like that, so pillows were already a little overboard. But right then, Monty wanted nothing more than to wrap him up and make him as snug as he could get.
"This is… this is so amazing. I wish I could have a room like this one."
Monty resisted the urge to toss another chair into the wall.
"Yeah well… till then, treat this as yer own place. I already visit the daycare enough to live there, so you should feel welcome in my space too."
Sun looked up at Monty with such a… ok, he couldn't tell what Sun was expressing this time. He was so sluggish that it was really hard to gauge his emotions.
"Promise? That… that I'm safe here?"
He knew what that meant, even if Sun didn't realize it himself. He probably meant if it was alright. But he could tell it was more of a plea, for help from his mistreatment and for support.
"Sun… I promise you that no matter what, you are always welcome here. And also… that no one else is when you're in here. No one can touch you when you're here! I promise, ok?"
Sunny followed Monty with his gaze as he walked over and sat down beside him. He smiled a kind, genuine smile of reassurance before he reached out and pulled him in for another hug, letting him bury his face plate into his hair.
He muttered a weak, relaxed "Thank you… I don't know what I'd do without you" before his arms slumped down onto the Gator's lap.
Monty looked concerned for a moment, until he heard that telltale sign of Sun entering into sleep mode. It was a gentle 'bjjjwwwwww' before he was leaning all his weight onto the other robot.
"... … Heh. Good night, Sunny boy. I've got you. I promise."
He let out a sigh and leaned back a bit, allowing himself to enter a real quick sleep mode too. He had dealt with a lot. He felt like he had earned it.