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“And what would you like to be?” You asked, sitting cross legged next to him. Your legs lightly touch just underneath the kiddy table as the two of you continue folding a piece of paper. Origami—had been your idea and something you used to do in school. An old friend of yours showed you how to make a ninja star and… well… you wanted to carry it on to your animatronic friend.
He hums in response, creasing the paper as the rays dotting around his head flutter. Deep in thought (or deep in getting the fold perfect, you weren’t completely sure). “My dream job?” Sun asks.
His fold mimics yours perfectly, even better, as you continue making the next crease. Sun follows in kind.
You smile at him though your eyes don’t leave the colorful blue paper, “yeah. Once you leave this place of course. What do you want to be?”
His laughter suddenly fills the daycare. Though his usually bubbly laugh is contagious, this time it doesn’t feel as joyous nor sincere. It felt… like he was laughing at you rather than with you. Your smile falters as you finish the fold.
“What’s so funny?”
“You!” He hollers, “you think we’re going to leave this place?” His fingertips glide across the paper effortlessly to get another clean crease.
Okay.
That was a bit… rude.
You fold the ends of the long sheet of paper so that a triangle is formed on each end. There’s a crease in your brow, “I wasn’t kidding Sunny.” Your voice is firm, annoyed even.
Sun makes two triangles as well, “well we certainly thought you were!”
“Why would I joke about that?”
“Because,” he beats you to the next fold and that sends a sudden crack of rage down your spine. “You seem to keep forgetting that we’re not people. Not even a person for that matter! You’ll have to excuse me for laughing but we don’t understand how you keep forgetting.”
You go rigid next to him. This argument… again.
It wasn’t that you forgot that both Sun and Moon, and the other animatronics within the walls of the Pizzaplex weren’t people. They made it quite obvious that they were more than that. But they acted more human and reacted with emotion like any other person walking across the street. Sure, you and the Daycare Attendant had your similarities just as you had your differences.
What you were currently reminded was that Sun was treating you like a child rather than the grown adult you were.
And suddenly folding origami didn’t seem so fun.
“I haven’t forgotten you both aren’t people. But I think you’ve forgotten that I’m not a child.”
You can see the white pin pricks in his eyes glance at you, his usual smile suddenly turning strained. Must’ve struck a nerve with that one as you copy his fold—nearly perfect again.
“Trust me,” he turns to you and does another fold, “we haven’t forgotten starlight.”
You watch as his rays continue to shift sporadically in and out, up and down, clearly becoming agitated that this conversation is coming up again. When his rays did that, he was usually talking to Moon. Lovely, this conversation was about to be two against one…
You continue to the next fold and the one after that. “Then why do you treat me like one? Is it so awful for you both to imagine a life outside of these walls?”
“Starlight…” It’s a warning.
“No!” You slam the folded piece of paper on the kiddy table. “You don’t get to act like this when I’ve asked a harmless question.”
His rays shrink into his head as his smile turns upside down. The piece of paper in his hands is crumpled within a fist—that… that was not a good sign.
“Harmless question,” he repeats. Sun’s voice becomes dangerously low, a stark contrast to his usual tone. It reminds you of Moon. “You think that was a harmless question?”
Your jaw remains tight as you fight the urge to let your sharp tongue fly. To you, it really was a harmless question—a question among friends. Surely both Sun and Moon thought of a life beyond the Daycare. They weren’t planning on spending their entire robotic lives underneath a fake sky were they?
Sun’s body moves rigidly, almost stiff, as he suddenly moves within your space. One arm slams the folded pieces of paper on the table while the other is right next to you. You lean back on instinct as his head falls to one side and the faceplate rotates at a strange angle.
Sun’s smile is just a tad too sharp, “it wasn’t a harmless question.”
Your heart thunders beneath your ribcage, something they can detect, but you won’t back off so easily. With a huff and an even deeper scowl, you bite back.
“Explain to me then.”
Sun’s rays become stiff for a single moment until he suddenly backs off. No longer in your space nor interested in folding a lousy piece of paper. He looks back at the crumbled paper and almost deflates. You gently slide the star to him and give him a gentle nudge with your leg. His fingertips lightly pick up the two pieces of paper and continue to overlap them.
“We… aren’t people.” He states flatly. “We’re simply a machine.”
“But you can still have a dream! You can still want more than what you have.”
“Can we?”
He pulls the yellow sheet of paper through the blue one, completing the ninja star and having something that was almost perfect. Sun turns the star one way and then another, looking at its folds and its perfectly imperfect corners.
Those white specks look to you again, “can we dream of a life outside of here when we’re property?”
Your stomach twists into a knot at his question. It never dawned on you that Sun and Moon were, in fact, property.
Property of Fazbear Entertainment.
They weren’t just an intelligent animatronic that could entertain batches of kids like their programming instructed them to do. They could also show emotion, make decisions for themselves, and even be considered as a genuine friend. For them to have a dream beyond Fazbear Entertainment seemed, well, childish. Or maybe foolish.
It dawned on you that they weren’t angry by your question but by your lack of understanding. And of course you, a human, couldn’t understand what it felt like to be an animatronic. You didn’t just wake up one day with a sudden purpose and a job that needed to be fulfilled. You had to learn, had to grow, had developed a sense of self. Your cheeks suddenly burn from embarrassment and shame from your “harmless” question. But you could remain hopeful, even if it felt silly to do so.
“I… I think it’s possible.” You remain as stubborn as ever yet hopeful, for both of them. “I think you can still have a dream even though, right now, you’re seen as property.”
Sun’s eyes soften at your words and a faint smile returns. You weren’t sure if he was smiling at your foolishness or if he was merely entertaining your idea for your sake and not their own.
He looks back down at the star in his hands again, his rays spinning and shifting—though not as rapid. You remain seated by his side as you lean into him, enjoying the silence between you. But your eyes are fixed on the star you both folded as it holds itself perfectly together. There’s a whirl of his fans as he moves an arm to pull you closer, enjoying the silence and even your presence.
“I’m sorry,” you speak softly.
“For what?”
You take the star from his hands and examine it yourself. It’s quite clear which folds were yours and which were his—theirs. “For being a little naive about my question…”
He rolls his eyes, “you aren’t naive.”
That earns a scoff, “well I’m not exactly wise.”
He plucks the star from you. “No, you aren’t wise either.” You give him an incredulous look, ready to fight for your intelligence but Sun beats you to it. “But you are a dreamer.”
“I’m shocked you didn’t call me stubborn.”
“Moon did, if you must know.”
You let out a gasp and elbow him in his ribs. Or where his ribs would be if he were made of flesh and bone. You’d make Moon pay for that later, that you were certain.
You lean off of him and turn to face him, “I am sorry though.”
Sun smiles down at you, “we know starlight.” Yet you can’t seem to resist the burning question that sits in the back of your throat. Sun seems to notice and his smile only grows. “Would you like to know our answer?”
“If you’ll tell me…”
He contemplates your question this time, for real. Giving it a genuine thought and ponder as you watch silently next to him. You’re afraid to speak or even move, like this moment will be snatched from you in an instant. It’s clear that him and Moon are having a heated discussion given they share a body which means their dream job would have to align somehow.
You pondered if it was possible to align two different jobs into one and what that would mean for payment. Theoretically of course. Would they be paid double the amount given there were two of them sharing one body? Or would they be paid the usual amount because they were only one body with two minds? You’d hope for the latter, for their sake.
“I think,” He begins as he pulls you from your thoughts, “I think we’d like to work with kids somehow…”
Their answer doesn’t shock you. They were good with the kids that came through the daycare, fantastic even. But you can’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment that they hadn’t said something else. Something that didn’t keep them tied to this place or what they were built for. Yet you keep those thoughts to yourself.
“How come?”
Rays shift as he thinks again. “Well, we enjoy being with the children of course!” His volume becomes loud again and it makes your heart warm. Sun was falling back into his loud and boisterous personality you’re familiar with as he begins to ramble on about the children he’d like to meet one day.
He was dreaming.
He was dreaming and you can only hope that you can get him there. No matter the cost.