Chapter Text
“Oh… and whatever you do, do not go into that arcade; last employee who did was never seen again.”
“Um…… What?”
Your tour-guide had said these ominous words when you had been gazing into the dark, cavernous room (which you nowknew, was in fact, the arcade). Their words tore you from your mesmerized stupor, and you now jerked your head away from the eerie room and back towards your co-worker, feeling both curious and a bit confused by their statement.
“Yeah,” they started, “management told me to tell you to never go into there. Apparently there was some mishap that happened in the arcade that endangered the company’s reputation and caused someone to go missing… or somethin’ along those lines…”
Tyler, for that was your tour-guide’s name, tapped his pen on his clip-board as he stared at the check-list he had been going through the entire night; his voice was just as monotone as ever.
Despite his calm tone, though, you still grew slightly nervous at his words and stared anxiously back at him while you waited for a further explanation about the arcade.
“Although, that’s just what my coworkers told me,” he continued. “They are always exaggerated the ‘spook factor’ of this place; they think it’s haunted.” Tyler sarcastically waved his fingers in the air, which looked as though he was giving a pathetic impersonation of a witch.
“If you ask for my opinion, though,” Tyler glanced at you and gave you a sarcastic smile, “I don't think this place is haunted; I think this place is just a cheap dump. I mean, Things are breaking left and right, safety hazards everywhere! Actually…” He paused and glanced into the very same room you had just been entranced by, scrutiny etched into his expression. “Now that I think of it, that’s more likely why someone was never seen again after going into that arcade, not some spooky ghost story.” He chuckled, “Some live-wires probably shocked the poor bastard, and most likely they ended up getting fired, or maybe they even quit on the spot…” Tyler looked back down at his clip-board, squinting his eyes in the process. “It’s a wonder why I don’t quit too…” He mumbled.
You looked at him skeptically for awhile, but eventually, you softly shook your head in agreement. You didn't believe in all that ‘spooky hocus pocus’ stuff either, although… It was always interesting (and disconcerting) to learn more about the odd things that happens at the broken business that you worked for.
You had taken the job as the Daycare Attendant’s Mechanic three months ago.
You had a boring life before the day your friend called you about the Plex; they had rambled on and on about this great job opportunity as a mechanic at the largest chain restaurant in the world. You didn’t think much of it, and planned to turn down the offer.
That was until your friend told you about what the job would entail; as soon as you had learned that you would actually be working with one of the infamous animatronics at the world famous Plex, you knew that you had to apply for the job. Two weeks later, your phone rang, and a cheeky employee had told you to come into work the next day.
Your whole life had changed since then.
You now stood in the grand Plex, gazing back into the dark arcade; a few neon lights shone back at you, as if they were trying to lure you in, just as an angler fish lures in its prey. Eventually, you even noticed that some of the games were actually on; one in particular quietly shouted out repeatedly “Want to Play a Game?”
This whole place is a mystery, you mused to yourself as you turned your attention back to your tour, waiting for further instruction or information.
It had take weeks, weeks, to finally convince the company to let you help re-establish the Superstar Daycare; apparently it only took hundreds of memos to convince a CEO that your animatronic was back in working order.
What you were doing now with Tyler was a result of your success: a tour was apparently required, along with extensive training on how to be a Handler. The company apparently thought it best for you to be the Daycare Attendant’s Handler if the Daycare, was in fact, going to reopen.
“Hmm,” Tyler sighed, his monotone voice echoeing throughout the halls, “I think we’ve covered everything we need for the Plex tour.” You sighed in relief; it had taken hours of tedious “exploring” throughout the Plex to get to this point. In fact, you bet at this point you knew Plex so well that you could walk through it blind-folded.
“Now,” Tyler continued, “I think all that’s left to do is the debrief.” He flipped the page on his clipboard to the back and glanced back up at you.
“From what I’ve learned, you’re going to be the Daycare Attendant’s new Handler, as well as it’s Mechanic, is that right?” Tyler said these words slowly, and you noticed the slight tinge of venom that accompanied these questions. Tyer wasn’t a bad guy, not as bad as some of the other jerks that worked in this building. He didn't have any personal hatred for the Daycare Attnedants more so than what every other employee had; it was mostly a shared opinion that somehow had radiated to every employee (besides yourself) in the Plex.
Despite this, though, it still made your blood boil everytime you heard someone spit out your animtronic’s name as if it was a bitter fruit that they couldn’t bear to swallow,
“Yes,” you spit out through slightly gritted teeth, “That’s what this is all about; the company would only let me help rebuild the Daycare if I also agreed to be their Handler.”
“Hmm,” Tyler cooed, “Poor sap, bad luck getting stuck with that job.” You only managed to bite back your scathing response when you remebered what the company had said; this tour was your chance to actually become a Handler, you couldn’t screw it up. You bit your tongue and waited for Tyler to finally find the page he was (ineffectually) searching for.
Finally finding it, Tyler began to read through the information he had been given.
“Details regarding the work-duties of new Handler: Y/N. The following information is only applicable to the new Handler of the Daycare Animatronic, if you are not it’s Handler, please… yada yada yada,” Tyler groaned as he skimmed over the page, apparently deeming the introducing as too tedious to read. His eyes finally stopped moving and he began to speak again.
“Finally, here we go… Okay… As the new Handler and Mechanic of the Daycare Animatronic, your responsibilities are as what follows:
1. You must take full responsibility for the management and upgrades of the Superstar Daycare. Due to lack of use and problems regarding the Daycare Attendant, it has come to our attention that the Daycare had fallen into disrepair throughout the period of the glitch.”
You flinched as you heard that word… the word that every manager, co-worker, and employee had said over the course of three months: glitch. It was why they all hated the Daycare Attendant, why everyone scorned the Daycare, and in turn, yourself, as you were their mechanic. The glitch… It wasn’t even a glitch… It was a computer virus; one that had impacted your beloved animatronics for weeks. Sun and Moon had said it had been three lonely weeks of isolation before the company sent you to help. Three weeks too long, in your opinion.
That was actually specifically why the Plex had been hiring a mechanic for the Daycare Attendant; apparently they thought better of letting an animatronic go to “waste”, so they hired you in hopes that you could fix the “glitch.” You did, although it had taken weeks of coding along with weeks of interesting interactions with Sun and Moon before you had finally been able to get rid of the glitch.
Despite this, though, apparently getting rid of the glitch didn’t automitically mean that Sun and Moon were allowed to work again. Weeks were spent in efforts to convince the company that Sun and Moon, were in fact, actually fine and ready for their Daycare duties.
And, throughout your months of working for the Plex, you finally came to a realization - you learned why the company was so hesitant to allow the Daycare Attendant to work again… They didn’t think the problem was the virus… they thought it was Moon. That’s why they called them a glitch - everyone thought Moon was broken beyond repair.
You drew your attention back to Tyler as he continued to drone off instructions.
“Because of the inadequate state of the Daycare, it will be your responsibility to restore the Daycare along with updating it to match the level at which the rest of the Plex is at.” Tyler glanced up at you; a hint of sympathy tugged at his eyes. He quickly pinned his eyes back on the clipboard.
“2. It will also be your responsibility to update the Daycare Attendant itself. It has come to Faz-Ent’s attention that the animatronic known as Sunnydrop and Moondrop have fallen into a state of disrepair comparable to the Daycare they reside in. As their mechanic, it is within your rhelm of duties to make sure your animatronic is in tip-top condition before the company even considers opening up the Daycare again.”
The first day you saw Sun and Moon, it seemed as though you could feel your heart shatter. They were, in a word, in broken… But it wasn’t their fault. Scratches covered their entire body; scuffs, stains, and cracks all made it apparent to you that they hadn’t been taken care of in the slightest throughout the “glitch” process. Their lenses were shattered, so they were essentially blind; their chest-cavity was filled with oils and acids that were slowly corroding their system. It was actually a wonder that they were still functioning when you had arrived at the Plex.
It had taken weeks to repair even the smallest percentage of the damage; you had focused on the most urgent issues first, such as the glitch and broken internal systems, and only recently had you finally been able to move to other issues.
Most of the problems you faced now involved trying to convince the company to give you the funding for the necessary replacements for the animatronic; it had taken twenty emails before the company finally agreed that maybe new lenses were necessary… you know, since they couldn’t see.
You felt yourself becoming heart-broken all over again, thinking of the horrible condition Sun and Moon were in and the repairs that you still needed to do to help them. Luckily, being the new Handler came with benefits, the most important including a budget for upgrades. You planned in your mind about what systems should be ordered first; the list was quite long.
Tyler continued on reading tedious details before finally getting to the last point.
“3. And finally, due to problems regarding Moondrop.” Tyler paused and glanced up at you. “It’s your responsibility to separate the two AI’s into separate body’s before the Daycare can ever be re-”
“What!?” You exclaimed, interrupting Tyler. You searched his eyes for a sign of humor; hoping dreadfully that he was joking. You saw nothing like that, he was dead serious. “What do you mean I have to separate them?? Is… is that even possible??” You stared back at Tyler with a bewildered and upset expression; he glanced back down at his clipboard to give you further information.
“Due to past issues including the “glitch” period, the company deems it safest to separate the AI’s of Sunnydrop and Moondrop into separate animatronic systems - if any problems were to reoccur with the AI known as Moondrop, it is in the best interest of the company to be able to deactivate Moondrop while isolating the AI of Sunnydrop and keeping it in functioning order.”
Your draw dropped to the floor as you heard these words, you could only stutter a few syllables as you tried to process what Tyler had just said.
Deactivate… Moondrop?
“WHAT!?” Tyler’s eyes opened slightly in surprise. You quickly played off your little outburst as an accident and cleared your throat to cover how upset you were. You had to be civil… As much as it pained you… Although, you found it harder and harder to keep your opinions to yourself as you worked for this company; the treatment Sun and Moon received was almost unbearable to witness at this point.
“Heh, heh…” You cleared your throat again. “Sorry, I meant, what?… What do you mean deactivate Moondrop?” You looked in faux curiosity, as though you were only wondering what he meant, when in reality your blood was boiling hot.
Tyler looked at you with scrutiny; you could only hope he bought the cover-up performance you gave to hide your little outburst. “Psssh, as if I know; they don’t tell me anything around here. I’m only told stuff that has to do with Foxy, me being their handler and all.” Tyler looked off to the side, looking bored once again; you quietly celebrated as it was apparent Tyler was too indifferent to report your little outburst - you’d be keeping your Handler job today at least.
“My best guess?” Tyler continued, “Prolly has to do with that Glitch: ‘Company’s probably trying to protect their butt from lawsuits and all. I mean…” Tyler glanced back at you. “That Moon-Freak, from what I’ve heard, is a real problem. I mean, he’ the glitch in the system, right?”
This time, you don’t let Tyler’s words visibly upset you; instead you nodded your head politely as if you agreed with his opinion. But, as soon as he turned his head away from you, you muttered a few profanities under your breath that would have likely gotten you fired if they had been spoken any louder.
“Anyways!” Tyler clapped his hands together and looked back at you, suddenly looking more eager than you had ever seen him look before. “I think I’ve done what I’ve been told to do! I’mmmm gonna go home now, if that’s alright with you… Need anything else from me?” Tyler’s was already backing away - his offer obviously fake - but you shake your head nonetheless. You’re most likely just as excited as Tyler to be done with this whole “training” process.
“Welp then…” Tyler turned around and waved unenthusiasticly at you, “Guess I’ll be going.” You watched as he walked away quickly towards the nearest employee’s door. He only stops for a second right before he has passed through the door. He turns his head, and slowly gives you a sarcastic smile.
“Oh, and welcome to the Plex’s Handler Team… We’re glad to have another.” He finally turns and slams the door.
***************
You stalked through the halls of the Plex, muttering profanities to yourself the entire way. Your quiet murmuring echoed softly throughout the cavernous rooms. You weren’t upset at Tyler, per say, he was just the messenger. You were upset at the entire Plex as a whole. How dare they even suggest deactivating Moondrop, despite the fact that they have been fine since you removed that bloody computer virus!??? There was absolutely no problem with their systems anymore so why even suggest… You shook your head, trying to put the bad thoughts out of your mind. All that mattered now was the fact that Sun and Moon could finally be returned to their Daycare duties…
Ever since you first met them both, you could tell they missed the Daycare. They missed having responsibilities, they missed caring for children, but most of all, they missed just being around other people. In fact, just about the second after you removed the virus, Sun instantly began asking about the Daycare and requesting it to be opened again.
And if that company thinks they can stop Sun and Moon, then they have another fuc-
“GASP! STARSHINE, LANGUAGE!!!” You glanced up in shock to find that you had, in fact, unknowingly already reached the Daycare. Also, you had been apparently talking outloud; you hoped Sun hadn’t heard too much.
Sunshine’s face smiled back at you, their face just as unmoving as ever. Despite their facial expressions never moving, though, you had grown to be able to determine their emotional state just by the tone of their voice and by their body language. Right now, they slightly jumped from foot to foot and wrung their hands together. They were obviously excited to see you, although you assumed that they were also anxious to hear about your tour of the Plex.
You sadly glanced over Sun’s body: it still showed the signs of weeks of neglect before you arrived. Their wrist ribbons were torn and tattered, their clothes in a similar state. Although you had managed to replace their internal eye-lenses, the external coverings were still cracked and stained. Their chest plate had small dents and scratches, and even their rays bent down as though they were just as sad to see Sun’s appearance as you were.
Despite this, though, Sun still hopped back and forth excitedly. You quickly shook your sad expression away and focused your attention back onto your anxious animatronic.
“Sorry Sunshine, didn’t mean to swear. You doing okay? Sorry I was gone for so long.” Sun stopped moving for a second and smiled (although his face didn’t actually move, you could just tell from their body language).
“Uhhh, yep! Doing great! Just excited to hear about your tour… As… my new Handler??” Sun said these words hopefully, waiting for your confirmation. As soon as you nodded, they began to vibrate in excitement. Usually, Sun wasn’t like this; more often than not they were a ball of anxiety, rather than a ball of excitement (although, sometimes it was hard to tell the diffetence).
“Well then…. HAPPY NEW HANDLER PROMOTION DAY!” A kazoo sound played over Sun’s voice box as they pulled a ribbon that had been hanging next to them; a banner, previously hidden, suddenly unfurled on the edge of the balcony in the Daycare. In large, neat letters it said “HAPPY PROMOTION DAY!”
You suddenly burst into laughter; you quickly tried to stifle your giggles, looking earnestly back up at the towering animtronic. “Awww! Sun, that’s so sweet! Thank you buddy!” You felt your heart slightly break at Sun and Moon’s heartfelt gesture; this wasn’t meant to be about you, this day was meant to be about them and how their Daycare was going to be re-opened.
“What? Did I write something wrong? Why did you laugh?” You smiled back at Sun, touched by how much they cared about your opinion.
“No silly, I was surprised. You didn’t have to do this for me!!” You playfully pushed Sun’s arm.
“Oh good, good! And, yes, Starshine!! We did have to do this for you! You’re the reason we’re getting the Daycare opened anyways!!” Ever since day one, it broke your heart to see how shocked Sun and Moon were whenever you showed them a kind act; it made you wonder what treatment they recieved before the “glitch.” On numerous occasions you asked about their life three-weeks prior to the glitch; Sun and Moon always convientiently found something else to do as they avoided questions like that fervently.
“See Mooney, I told you that Y/N would like the banner!” Sun said to themself, although you knew it was directed at Moon. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that Sun and Moon could communicate with eachother internally; it made telling them stuff much easier. (Although, you did also learn that both of them were able to hide stuff from the other if they tried).
“What, was Moon involved with this too?” You gestured towards the banner; Sun nodded excitedly.
“Actually, Starshine, it was Moon’s idea!” You could sense the teasing tone in Sun’s voice. “Oooh, Starshine I can tell they’re blushing!” Sun began laughing loudly as the internal conversation continued on between Sun and Moon. “Aw come on Mooney, I’m just playing around! No need to get all flustered!” You rolled you eyes and glanced around the Daycare, already beginning to make plans for the required updates needed,
“Hey Sunny?” You said softly, suddenly remembering the important thing you had to tell them. “You think I could talk to Moon for awhile? They haven’t been on all day, right?” You thought it was more important to tell Moon the news personally about the AI splitting requirements; Moon would most likely be the one most impacted.
Sun'a body language suddenly switched from excited to disappointed and nervous; both Sunshine and Mooney always dreaded the transformation that occurred with the light switch. Not only did they hate not being the one “behind the steering wheel,” they also hated the entire process of changing from one to the other. You could tell that it was uncomfortable for them, and you always hated having to ask them to switch. Well, at least there was one benefit to the splitting of them: no more incomfortable transformations.
“Okay Starshine. I’ll change the lights.” They walked towards the light switch, only glancing back at you as they reached up to the breakers. As they did, you blew them a kiss to take their mind off of the transformation; it had the desired affect as you saw them suddenly become flustered from your gesture. You slightly chuckled to yourself as you waited to see the red-lights that always followed the darkness.
“Hey Mooney.” You slowly walked towards the dim-red lights that had taken the Sun’s spot. You smiled sadly as you cracks cast across the daycare as Moon’s red lights shined through the shattered eye lenses. As you approached Moon, you gently took their hand, wondering how you were going to tell them what Tyler had told you.
“How are you doing?”
“Good. Excited about the Daycare.” You saw them look down and begin to wring their hands; you could tell they were anxious. You could tell Moon was much less excited than Sun about this whole 'reopen the Daycare’ thing. Anytime it was brought up, their demeanor suddenly became anxious all over again.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay, okay?” You tilted their head up so that they were looking at you; it didn't take a lot as they were already so much taller than you. Seven feet tall, to be exact, (although over the past few months you noticed that Moon never reached seven feet as they always hunched over in an attempt to look smaller).
“What’s going to be okay?” They asked, their raspy voice echoeing throughout the Daycare. You squinted your eyes and tapped the bell on their hat; they watched your hand seemingly mesmerized by your movements (or perhaps, trying to ignore the oncoming conversation).
“Moon, I know that you’re not excited about the Daycare…” Moon continued looking at your hands as you passed your fingers over the star pattern in their torn hat. “But Mooney, you’re fine… It wasn’t your fault. It was the virus.”
“Hmm…” They hummed… “Then why does everyone seem to disagree?” As they said these words, Moon finally glanced up and looked into your eyes; their face just as unmoving as ever, although you could sense they anxiety and sadness that radiated off them.
“Because…. Everyone that works at this fucking idiotic company is a jerk that doesn’t take the time to even ask about the truth.”
“Language.” Moon murmured, although you could tell that they were comforted by your words. A soft laugh radiated through their body.
“Whoops, not sorry.” You looked up mischievously at Moon; if they could roll their eyes, you could tell that they would at this moment as they stared at your defiant face. You looked up at them for awhile before stepping back and taking a deep breath.
“Hmm, but other than the Daycare reopening… I do have something else to tell you about.” You uneasily glanced at Moon’s face, dreading the news you were going to have to tell them.
Moon softly sighed. “Knowing this company, it can’t be good… Alright, go ahead and tell me.”
You began to wring your hands. “Well, Mooney, they told me that…” you paused at your words, internally debating whether or not to say everything Tyler had told you… You couldn’t bear to tell Moon anything that involved the word “deactivate.” In the end, you decided against it. It wasn’t a problem, after all, since Moon was in fact fine (despite what the company thought).
You sighed, “Well, they told me that in order for the Daycare to be re-opened… that you and Sunny have to be seperated.” You waited anxiously, hesitant to hear Moon’s response. Sharing a body was all that Moon and Sun had ever known; learning that they were soon to be seperated must have felt similar to learning that you’d soon lose half of heart.
“Hmm…” Moon murmured. They stared at their hands, seemingly set on analyzing every mark and scuff as if this was the last time they’d be in their own body. After a few moments, they finally glanced up at you and looked into your eyes.
“Will you be the one seperating us?” A slight look of surprise passed over your face; this wasn’t the response you were expecting.
“Uhh, Ye- Yes. Of course, yes. I am your Handler after all. And despite that, I wouldn’t let anyone else do it even if the company wanted otherwise; knowing the caliber at this place, I wouldn’t trust anybody else…” You trailed off, suddenly slightly embarrassed; you realized your words might come off as bragging, as if you saw yourself as the best Mechanic, when in reality you just knew all the other mechanics couldn’t be trusted with Moon and Sun.
“Okay then…” You looked up in shock, surprised by Moon’s acceptance. “I guess I have always wanted my own body.” Moon suddenly sidled closer to you and took your hand. “Actually, this might be good: It'll make it easier to get some alone time with you, I suppose.” Moon’s demeanor suddenly transforms from thoughtful to teasing; if they coud look at you with a mischievous smile, you’d assume they’d be doing so right now. You slightly blushed, and playfully pushed Moon’s arm. They gently pushed you back, and you heard a soft, raspy laugh rumble from their voice-box. The two of you sat in silence for awhile after that, just enjoying eachother’s compang and thinking about the dreadful tasks that lay ahead.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, you planned your departure. “Alright Moon, it’s about closing time right now, and I got to get up early tomorrow.” You said these words quietly, and at the same time try to inconspicuously slide away from Moon’s arm reach. “So I guess I better be goi- AH!” You yelped as Moon suddenly grabs hold of you; mission failed, you weren’t able to get away easily tonight.
Ever since you removed the virus, Sun and Moon had made it harder and harder for you to leave every night. It wasn’t like you wanted to leave. Quite the opposite, actually: you really did love being at the Daycare. Unfortunately though, the company didn't look too kindly on 24/7 over time.
“Mooney, I have to go. I'm sorry!” You grunted as you wiggled from within Moon’s hug; they just snuggled you tighter and nuzzled their head into your shoulder.
“Hmmm, I do recall that there is a lovely bed for you to use just in that room.” They lifted their head and gestured towards the hidden door that led to “your room.” It was actually adorable, in fact, about how much effort Sun and Moon put into trying to make you a comfortable space for you to relax in while you were at the Daycare (which was nice, as you were nearly always at the Daycare).
“Mooooon, I got to take care of my pets. You know this, especially since it's just about the only reason I ever leave the Daycare now.”
“Bring them here?” You looked up in surprise at Moon: their face was quite serious.
“Moon, you know that Sun hates my pets.”
“They don’t have to know about them.” You gave Moon a skeptical look, and Moon responds by tapping their chest. This was both Sun and Moon’s way of telling you that the other one was either “sleeping,” or was blocked out; at this moment, Sun wasn’t listening to the two of your’s conversation.
“Hmmm… I’ll think about it… But for that to ever happen, you have to at least let me go this one time so that I can actually bring my pets here.” You were still unsure of the idea of bringing in your animals, although you had to admit, the thought was tempting. You could keep them in your room, and finally wouldn’t have to think about them all the time while you were here. Regardless of that, though, you’d still have to think about it: it’d be an adjustment for Sun, to say the least.
Luckily for you, Moon seemed to accept your arguments and find let you go from their hug. You stepped back and gave them a faux glare, although you couldn’t maintain your composure for long, and eventually delved back into a smile as Moon continued making silly poses at you.
“Go quickly, so that you’ll return quickly.” Moon pointed at the door, suddenly very eager for your departure. You put on a fake face of indignation, as if you were greatly offended by their actions. “Oh, so now you want me to leave!? Well I never!” You mischievously grinned at Moon, they put their hands on their hips.
“Alright, I’ll be back soon Mooney!” You started to walk towards the door; Moon followed right next to you. Finally, as the both of you reached the door, you turned and gave Moon a wink along with blowing them a kiss. This had the same effect as with Sun; Moon’s demeanor suddenly became very flustered, and you could even hear their systems heat up just a little.
“Ha! Two can play at the flirting game Mooney!” You “tipped your hat,” opened the door, and quickly slammed it behind you before Moon could respond.
****************
You stopped by the employee’s office before you left… Well, you called it the employee’s office, when in fact it was mostly just a vacant room where you stored plans for Sun and Moon'a systems. No one else ever came inside; apparently they all wanted to distance themselves as far away from the Daycare Attendant as possible. That was fine by you, though: more space and more room for you to spread out blueprints.
Although, this trip the the employee’s room left you feeling more discouraged than usual. More often than not, you loved being in this room as it had all the materials you needed to plan out new mechanics and upgrades for Sun and Moon; it made you excited to know that they would soon get the TLC they deserved. You wished that you could do all of this in the Daycare, but alas, company’s protocol stated that all confidential matierals regarding animatronic parts stay in designated employee rooms.
So far, within this room you’d planned out and put together parts for both Sun and Moon’s lenses, along with their internal systems; both upgrades had gone successfully.
This trip to the employee’s room, though, was going anything but successfully. You spent no less than an hour skimming over past blueprints and filing through pages and pages of manuals, all in attempts to try to figure out any way to begin the process of separating Sun and Moon. If you knew how to build an animatronic from scratch, then this would be easy. That was the problem though, you had no idea how to, and any papers that might have given you any idea on how to even start we’re always blacked out and labeled confidential.
“Nooooo, why???” You groaned, as once again you saw another paper that was nearly blacked out with ink. You tried to hold it up towards the light; no luck, it did nothing.
“If I could take some of this stuff home with me, than maybe I’d have more time to analyze it.” You leaned back in you chair, feeling quite defeated. The old chair squeaked beneath you as you rocked back and forth, trying to think of some solution. You examined the room thoroughly: it was mostly composed of a large, elevated desk, a few chairs, and rows and rows of filing cabinets. Out of the corner of you eye, though, you also noticed a large satchel bag that was leaning against one of the filing cabinets.
“Hmmm.” You leaned up in your chair and tapped your chin nervously as you concocted a plan. A quick glance over at the cameras confirmed your suspicions; they were off. They were usually off at this time: the Plex wasn’t well staffed enough to have full 24/7 surveillance. It didn’t matter though: usually the threat of mysterious animatronics was enough to ward of any theifs.
“Fine.” After debating with yourself for quite awhile, you finally jumped up and grabbed the satchel. After a quick peruse of the room, you grabbed ten of the most important blue-prints that you could find, and stuffed them into the bag. At the last moment, you grabbed a nearly fully blacked-out page and stuffed it into your pocket; if the company wasn’t going to make it easy for you to seperate Sun and Moon, then you would just have to figure it out at home where you had more time.
****************
You walked towards the side of the Plex where the exit was, mumbling to yourself all along the way. After a quick glance about the hallways, you grabbed the paper out of your pocket and held it up to the bright, neon lights. The black ink looked like simple sharpie; maybe you’d be able to remove some of it at home.
Your steps echoed throughout the hallways as you continued to try to decipher the paper: the only thing that wasn’t blacked-out was the header which read “Animatronic Systems and Endoskeleton.”It was exactly what you needed to know if you were going to start building an animatronic body from scratch, and lucky you, it seemed to be the most confidential paper in the building if the massive amounts of sharpie was any indicator.
“Come on, let me see something, anything!” As you walked, you held the paper up to a specifically bright light in the hallway. “Yes! I can almost make some of this out!” You eagerly walked closer to the bright light; the words on the page were almost readable at this point.
CLANG! You suddenly walked directly into a large pole at the edge of the room; it was part of the balcony. You hadn’t noticed, but apparently you had reached the main cavernous room in the Plex, and you had just walked into the balcony’s rail. As you tried to regain your balance, along with attempting not to faint from the hit to the head, you accidentally dropped the paper off the balcony. You watched desparidly as you saw the paper float down, down, down into the inky abyss which was the Plex.
“No, no, no, no!” After a quick glance and seeing that the stairs were barred off, you ran towards the elevator. You pushed the button for what must have been a thousand times, but you eventually eventually accepted the fact that there was no way for you to reach the ground floor. After working here for months, you had also learned that any doors on the main floor that led into the Plex’s main room would also be locked, so even if you went down a different way, you’d have no way in.
“Noooo.” You groaned as you slammed your face into your hands, feeling completely dejected at this moment. This had already been one heck of a week, and it was only Tuesday. You had no idea how you’d make it to Friday at this rate; everything was going wrong.
Finally accepting defeat, you dejectedly walked away from the balcony and continued your trek through the Plex.
****************
Neon lights lit your path as you neared the halfway mark for your trip to the front doors. You glared at the ground, upset about how the day had gone. Distant electronic noises echoed throughout the hallways, although they didn’t bother you as the Plex always had recordings playing about rules and protocols and all that.
As you walked through the hallway, you noticed that the sounds were actually coming from the arcade on your left. Disregarding the noises, you continued trying to think of some way to start the animatronic project. “If only I had that damned paper, maybe I would have had a starting point.” You shoved your hands into your pockets, feeling defeated at your lack of ideas. “How am I going to help them out? I have no idea how to build an animtronic.” As you passed by the arcade’s door, neon lights shone through that cast eerie shadows across your face.
“Maybe I could help?” You stopped in your tracks, frozen in fear. Nearly nobody was here this late after hours other than you… Well, you and the staff-bots, but that voice sounded nothing like a staff-bot. It sounded… staticky? And almost… curious? Charming? Humorous? You couldn’t determine the tone of the voice; all you knew, though, was that it was nothing like the monotone voice of a regular staff-bot.
After what seemed like minutes of frozen silence, you slowly lifted your head up and scanned the hallway. You saw no one; no person or robot stood in your way in the hallway: all that seemed out of place were the bright neon lights that shone through the door to the arcade and cast ghostly shadows on the wall across from the door.
Did I imagine that? You glanced at your watch: 4 am. You were sleep deprived; usually, you got plenty of sleep (mostly due to help and encouragement from Moon) but this week was different; learning how to be a Handler had sucked up most of the hours you would have aloted for sleep. You wouldn’t be surprised if your mind was playing games with you at this point, hallucinating voices that weren’t there.
You slowly took a step forward, then another one as you waited for some kind of indication of movement; nothing. You then walked towards the door of the arcade; you doubted anyone was in there, why would there be?
“Uh… Hello? If anyone’s in there, uhhh you're not supposed to be?” You silently scolded yourself as you heard your own pathetic words echo throughout the cavernous arcade. After moments of waiting, though, you had nearly come to the conclusion that no one was there and that you had hallucinated the voice.
That was, until you heard a single sentence that rang clear as a bell throughout through the door.
“Darling, don’t you think I’d leave if I could?”