Chapter Text
Wally n’ Friends Play Center was hiring, and you scored the job by asking around and browsing the web for information on the place. Fortunately your efforts were rewarded with a video call interview that lasted about maybe ten minutes before they asked your size in uniform, requesting for you to come in on Saturday in plain clothes for a tour then Monday as your official starting date.
Today was Saturday, and you're standing at the front doors, starting to wonder if you might run the risk of hating it here.
It's not the pay and you doubt it’d be the coworkers, given that most of the staff was replaced by animatronics and what was said about the small amount of human staff was that they mostly kept to themselves. Most of the human employees did things that robots couldn't do; customer service, building maintenance and repairs, troubleshooting sound systems, and other fine-tuned or messy work that is either impossible for an animatronic to do, or very dangerous. Besides, even though the robots are based on characters loved by many, some folks can get a little creeped out being surrounded by robots with no living worker in sight, so it wasn't unusual to have the one working the entrance desk of the play center be a kid around your age working a summer job.
Your job is..something like that. The pay is around $30 an hour with some benefits. That’s not an opportunity to pass up on and you thought that you could deal with hyper, loud kids and overbearing parents if it meant finally having some money of your own to put aside for the future.
There is a small catch that follows this though. You’d be tasked to do a little bit of everything in working at the play center. From clean up to robot repairs; if there was something you were able to do, you were expected to do it. Does this mean that you qualified for a lot of the more advanced work? No, absolutely not. But the company couldn't afford having really advanced mechanics busy plugging something back up that fell out of a wall outlet, so all the smaller, meager repairs are going to be left to you along with some occasional manual labor. Besides, robots can’t pass the human verification captchas on most of the equipment’s computers anyways.
So starting today you’re just staff. The background employee that handles nearly everything as best as possible with mediocre skills and no exact specialty. Well, technically starting Monday.
You were thinking about how this opportunity seemed too good to be true until you walked inside. Instantly you notice how busy the place was, with children’s screams easily being heard above the buzz of voices, some of joy and others from a fit, while their parents try to console them. Some teenagers are goofing off in the distance, talking to a tall bot whose features you couldn’t really make out but you were sure you’d see them around the center sometime while working there. The whole place is neon lit, bright colors against a darkened atmosphere, and you understand why management kept the inside of the play center dim even when it was the middle of the afternoon.
Strangely, no one greets you, considering that you were requested to arrive at this specific time and place. You stand awkwardly in your spot in the entrance, finding the space at the front desk to be empty, you assumed someone was supposed to be there but maybe they were on break. So instead of going to look for someone to get directions from, your attention is instead taken to another entrance to the right of you, this one having a small sign above the door reading ”Eddie’s Post Office”. You look around to check no one is actually around and decide to let your curiosity take over while you make your way over to the side room, settling on the idea that you’d just take a peek inside before asking around for help.
Silently you open the door to the room and are quickly greeted with the sight of a small group of children, some running about with small envelopes in their hands and some seemingly content just sitting where they are and simply crafting their letters in the far side of the post office. You decide to close the door back before any of them notice you but a voice from behind startles you.
“Howdy there neighbor! What’re you doin’ out here? Peeking through the door no less” they said with a chuckle, and you recognised that southern accent anywhere.
Slowly you turn to face the owner of the post office you were looking in and shift out of the way awkwardly, “Oh uh..hey! Sorry i was just looking around a bit while I wait”
Eddie chuckled once more before tilting his head curiously, looking as though he were examining you for a moment as the two of you stood in short silence. With the obvious scanning from the tall bot, you decide to do the same (without the robot stuff obviously). You notice his attire is a bit different from how you remembered it as a kid, maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you and you didn't really remember anything about how he looked back then, but you couldn't help but notice some things that were different about him.
He still had his same hat but instead of an envelope on it there was a star replacing it. Actually, now that you looked closer, the main pattern on his get up was stars. His rainbow tie was now a bow tie with stars decorating it all over, it seemed like he also sported a multicolored vest on top of a white shirt. His pants-well legs- were colored a deep blue, much like his pants from before but much darker. Lastly were his shoes and his bag. His shoes had the same color and pattern as his bow tie and his bag as well, though his bag had the star pattern on the strap and top flap and just a flat color on the rest of the bag. Another thing was his face, it seemed like he had a faceplate so his expression was limited to a grin, leaving his eyes and eyebrows to express more of how he feels.
“Ahem- Neighbor? Were ya listening to me?”
Quickly you shake your head and let out a short embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of your neck sheepishly, wanting to go back home right then.
“Sorry Eddie, I was just noticing how different you looked from how I remembered you back then” you respond quickly, once again looking for any employees that could save you from this train wreck of a first meeting, with a robot no less.
“Ah well, our creators wanted us to have a bit of a more fancy look than from years back” he said, nodding to himself before quickly jolting with widened eyes, looking as though he remembered something, “Oh stars.. I forgot about the youngins! They weren’t too wild there were they?”
Worry shone in his digital eyes and you frowned a bit at it but marked it up to be the advanced programming that was said for them to have on the site you found the information on the place at.
Thinking for a moment you shook your head and looked back at the entrance to the room you were just looking through a moment earlier with a shrug, “Nope they seemed pretty behaved to me, no one was burning the place down so I’d count that as a win”
A look of relief washed over him and he let out a long sigh (as much of a sigh a robot can get out through their voice box) and shuffled past you, pausing for a moment before he walked back to his room.
“Oh and neighbor! If you’re lookin’ for someone to help you out with somethin’ I’ll call em’ up for ya!” He said enthusiastically, tapping his chest to show you.
With a polite smile and a shake of your head you gently turned down his kind offer, stepping back as you laughed quietly, “No it’s alright, I think I can find someone, plus, don't you have kids to look after?”
With a gasp and a short farewell, Eddie quickly returned to his room, the happy squeals of the children who were awaiting his return ringing out as the door shut.
Once again you were alone. And you already regretted not taking the offer for help.
No..you could get through this. You’ve been through more stressful situations before so this is just a walk in the park! If a walk in the park meant having to enter the busy and loud play center in search of someone to show you around the place.
On second thought, that just trumps any other stressful situations you've ever been through in your mere sixteen years of life on this earth and you begin to turn for the exit. Before you can reach for the door handle, you hear heavy and fast approaching footsteps heading in your direction. Instantly you feel yourself being roughly pulled back and turned to face the menace interrupting your free shot at an escape.
“Hey! Leaving so soon, new kid?” The menace huffed out, breathing heavily from what you realized was them sprinting after you, unfortunately, “I’m sorry I was late to get you ya, I got a bit..caught up with some of the bots but now I can help you out!”
Taken aback by the sudden friendly menace in front of you, you hesitate for a moment to respond. Lucky for you though, you didn’t need to, since you were already being dragged away from the exit and past the entrance gate to enter the play center. Things were already moving so fast and you were barely able to keep up with who you guessed was your new coworker when they suddenly stopped after you both had entered the play center fully, turning to you with a wide grin.
“By the way, the name’s Kaiya! I already know your name since we all got the notif of you coming here” Kaiya said, patting your shoulder lightheartedly with a sharp toothed grin.
Kaiya seemed..interesting to say the least. She wore a bright multicolored shirt with a denim overall dress over it (you guessed that must be the play center’s uniform), her arms were decorated with brightly colored bracelets and on her hands she wore bright orange gloves. Her hair was put up in two fluffy pigtails, which bounced and shifted with her sudden movements. Her knee high socks matched her earrings as well, the pattern on them having clouds. Surprisingly she was pretty quiet.
At that moment you realized that she’d stopped talking and was just staring at you, watching intently as though she were watching for you to say or do something.
“Um..hello?” You said after a moment of racking your brain for some kind of better response to this strange situation and failing.
It seemed that this might’ve been the right response (or maybe they were just waiting for any response from you) as Kaiya’s face lit up and an excited smile spread onto her face, “Hi! Good to see you back, space cadet!”
You can’t help but snort at the nickname, relaxing slightly at the lightheartedness of your coworker and raised an eyebrow at her, smiling softly as you did, “Space cadet? What’s that for?”
Kaiya didn’t answer, instead turning back around with a snicker and skipping ahead of you. For a moment you consider once again attempting to leave but you give up the idea, knowing what you knew from the first incident it didn't seem too far of a thought to say she’d probably tackle you in order to keep you there.
So for the time being you just..follow her. As Kaiya leads you around the play center, you notice a few different bots that you didn't recognise. There was a bird-like bot that you saw in most spaces in the center, they seemed to like dancing with anyone that locked eyes with them so you made sure to keep your eyes on the ground or just tear them away from the bot whenever their attention briefly happened to be on you.
Then there was a lion based bot that had waved to you for a moment as he read to a bunch of smaller children, it seemed pretty calm in the space he was in and you also noticed in the very brief moments you passed by the daycare there was a sign above the entrance much like Eddie’s that read “Truly & Poppy’s Daycare”. So you guessed that the lion bot’s name was Truly and you wondered if you’d ever get to see Poppy at all as you worked in the play center.
The last strange addition to the cast of robots (that you could see at the moment) was a tall pastel colored bot that was crouched near a child who seemed very interested in their finger pads. This one looked different from the bots you’d last seen around the play center, they had light blondish, curly hair with horns on the top of their head that seemed to glow slightly as she talked soothingly to the child. She seemed to have many toys and decorations all over them (some you assumed they put on themselves from the looks of it) but before you could get a better look, Kaiya was already stealing your attention back to her and the room she’s brought you to.
“Alright space cadet! This is the last stop of the tour, the employee room!” She declared triumphantly, gesturing to the door widely before stepping away from you, “All the stuff you need is in there, your uniform, a map of this maze, your name pin, and some info on the place! I personally love the info part, ok bye new kid have fun!!”
With that she left, literally running off and disappearing around the corner to a play place you didn't know.
And now you were alone. Again.
You didn’t want to waste another second out in the open with all the adults who were definitely watching you with pity in their eyes so you quickly entered the employee room and found it to be (with no surprise) empty.
Much to your relief you don't have to look too far for your locker, spotting it easily near the entrance with your name messily scribbled onto a piece of paper that had been slid into the slot in the door of your locker. You didn't have to guess who did it with the array of colors used to make your name look like rainbows were in every letter. Thankfully you noticed you weren't the only victim to Kaiya’s creative expression; two other names, including hers, could be found on lockers beside yours.
But you didn't have time to check those out, you wanted to just get the stuff you needed for Monday and leave, today had enough mishaps and unneeded stress that you were itching to just head home and forget about it.
As you opened your locker (first thing you needed to do when you leave here is get a lock, don't need your things stolen on your first day at work) you found a paper baggie, neatly rolled with a bright red swirl on it, seeming to be drawn in crayon.
“Probably Kaiya again..” you sighed, opening the bag gently and peering inside at its contents.
Surely enough there was the multicolored shirt that Kaiya had on before but you noticed there weren't any overall dress or just overalls. You spotted a note peeking from under one of the folds in the shirt and sighed once more.
So you’d have to shop for a lock and some overalls to complete the uniform. Though it was pretty thoughtful of them to keep the comfort of the employees in mind you’d give them that. Placing the shirt and note to the side you pulled out the map, key, hat, and a tiny rectangular pin with your name printed on it next. You’re not going to question how they already had your information in the database so quickly and the strange implications of it.
You gather up your things after inspecting them a bit further and are about to put them back in the bag when you notice another note at the bottom. Pulling it out reveals a little smiley face on it, the mouth part being blue and the dots for eyes being red and you peer at it curiously for a few moments before flipping it to find a short and surprisingly neat message on the other side.
"Welcome home neighbor. See you soon!"
You pause after reading it. It couldn't have been Kaiya, with using your name card in the slot of your locker, it was safe to say that she doesn't seem like she'd spend much time writing so neatly. It couldn't have been printed, you could clearly see it was written in red crayon.
A sharp knock at the door tears your attention away from the strange note and you nearly topple off of the bench from the sudden noise after staying silent for so long. Quickly you gather your things and stuff them into the bag, pocketing the note and key as you rise to make your way to the door.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to stay in there for so long but I'm leaving now if that's why you-" your words are cut off quickly as you open the door, your face being met with fluffiness and stars.
For a moment you and whoever was in front of the door just pause, neither moving for a few seconds before the person speaks.
"Sorry neighbor I was just checking up on ya, I noticed you were in here for quite a bit! What were ya doing in there, sleeping?" They said and you sighed in slight relief.
Turns out it was another one of the bots so most of the embarrassment fell away from you as you looked up, and shock replaced it.
It was Barnaby, but he was..tall. Way taller than you thought he'd be, even when you were a kid you thought he'd at least be as tall as a regular adult. But this? This is almost horrifying,with you almost being below his elbow.
"How..are you that tall?" Is all you're able to get out through your shock, not even registering the words as they left your mouth while you stared up at the bot.
That didn't seem to be the response that he expected from you but he chuckled and patted your shoulder lightly (it didn't feel light at all, you were fighting to stay standing with every friendly pat). After a moment the tall bot took a step away from the doorway, giving you space to exit the employee room fully as he shut the door behind you.
The same pause like with Eddie and you remembered reading somewhere that all the bots had some sort of facial scanner programmed into them which helped with recognising guests or unwanted visitors. You blink at the eerily blank expression he has but soon after he’d finished scanning you, he tilted his head at you with a curious glint in his robotic eye, “You’re an employee here? Well of course you are, you did come out of the employee only room! Nice to meet you new guy! Name’s Barnaby B. Beagle, welcome to Wally n’ Friends play center new neighbor, I'm sure you’ll fit in here just right!”
You smile at the friendly welcome (although it kinda feels like an automated greeting, you decide on not thinking about that) and chuckle lightly, “Thanks Barnaby, I sure hope so at least. It would be tragic if i didn't”
With a short laugh from him he pats your back once more, opening his mouth to say something about your response but you both hear his name being called from somewhere behind you. You don’t have enough time to look before he’s off, turning around once to give you a light farewell and some words of encouragement for working in the play center before walking away with someone in the play center uniform. For a second, you wonder if you’d meet them eventually but you decide to leave that thought for Monday, for now you just want to get home and calm down from the whirlwind of chaos that was today.
As you're struggling to retrace the steps that you and Kaiya took earlier, you come across an unfamiliar part of the playcenter, this part having a different theme surrounding it and you can’t help but check it out. This area is a bit different from the ones you’ve seen, with bright streaks of color along the wall beside you, seemingly leading you deeper into the play center.
For a second you wonder just how big this place is for them to have so many characters to fit in here with what you guessed was their own play places as well. It must’ve been difficult to not only create and design but also run something as grand of a place as this.
There was something else you remembered reading about this place..what was it again? You couldn’t exactly remember the details of it all but you did remember something that went wrong with some of the bots in the first years of creating this place, when it was still a fan project instead of being an official Playfellow attraction. Well, official to a degree.
In your time of researching about your job at the play center, you found some bits and pieces about its past and the mysteries surrounding the play center as well as the show.
But you decide to think on that at a later date, for now though, you’re set on finding out where this strange rainbow of familiar colors will lead you to and maybe heading home after your curiosity has been satisfied.
This place, for certain, was a kid’s dream wonderland you noticed as you walked along, full of neon lights, plushies of certain characters and giant play areas a kid could get lost in (not really but in a kid's mind it surely would feel that way). There wasn’t anything like this when you were younger. Well, there was, but it couldn’t live up to the grandness of this place. It seemed huge with most of what you’ve seen from the brief tour with Kaiya and with your walking around right now.
Speaking of that, you come back to your senses to realize that you had stopped walking and you sighed.
“Maybe I am a space cadet..” you breathe out, taking your hand from the colored wall (you hadn’t realized you had placed your hand on the colors as you walked but you paid it no mind) and looking around yourself.
You noticed the streak ended where you stood and you decided to question about that when you saw Kaiya again, instead you noticed you were standing in front of a much smaller play area than the ones you’d seen so far around the play center.
This one seemed a bit simpler than the others. It had painted walls that reached up to your shoulders, they were painted red with painted bushes and a big flower pot with white painted flowers in it. As you walked closer you noticed a bright yellow gate with an equally bright red door handle and you frown. This sight seems so strangely familiar but with slight irritation, you find that you can’t figure out what it is about it that is ringing bells in your mind.
You notice that there isn’t anyone at the entrance for the play place but you decide on not going in, you don't hear or see any lights on in the place so you assume that this one’s closed for the moment.
Just as though you’ve jinxed it, a familiar voice over the intercom solidifies your guess. “Hey all you cool kids out there! The Wally n’ Friends play center will be closing in 5 minutes. Please collect all your belongings, and for you parents out there, your children. Don’t forget to stop at Howdy’s Bugdega for gifts and treats and make sure you pay a visit to Eddie’s post office for any letters you’d like to send to your favorite neighbors! We hope you had a great time, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!”
The announcement cuts and you let it sink in. That’s probably your cue. With a small disappointed sigh, you double check yourself to make sure you have everything you need and begin to head back the way you came. For a moment, you feel the strange feeling of someone looking at you and turn back to look at the quiet play area expecting to find someone there but it's completely dark in the room and you chalk it up to you being a bit tired, with a short check of your phone you realized just how long you stayed there and you pick up the pace, forgetting the strange feeling for now.
On your way out you spot Barnaby again and give him a short wave, choosing not to stop and talk with the time crunch you’re on to get to the exit before you’re picked up by a friend’s parents. As you exit the play center, Kaiya stops you with a small letter, seemingly from Eddie’s Post Office and bids you farewell with a bone-cracking hug before heading back inside to help close.
Looking at the letter you notice the red crayon writing on the front reading, “To my lovely neighbor”, but before you check it out, your ride arrives and you decide to leave it for later, now more focused on getting home and being prepared to sleep for many years than a mysterious colorful letter with no sender’s name on it.