As Michelle's car moved across the night-draped city, a light snow began to fall, giving the world around her a milky veneer. After her experience at Dino Dan's, meeting the machines that had reached beyond their programming and grasped onto something close to life, reality seemed a fair bit more fantastic. What kind of programming anomaly does it take to create such sentience in a band of animatronics? Was it intentional? And despite the happiness they could inspire in kids, why did Tracy and Dan seem so inherently somber? What were the other two bots like? So many questions raced through Michelle's mind; far more than she would have ever expected to encounter from a low-paying security gig.
Within seconds, the facility began to take shape over the horizon, the massive sign with cartoon versions of the characters greeting passers-by and patrons alike. As she eased her car into the parking lot, Michelle became aware of just how lonely this place must get at night. The lot felt almost too grand for the business and Michelle's aging hatchback did very little to fill that space. Her thoughts turned to Dan and the other characters; if they'd had their intelligence for so long, she could only imagine how they'd been weathering the nights. She realized how much time she had been spending just staring at the place in rumination, and decided to hurry towards the doors before she made herself late.
The building had already been cleared out, the last of the regular employees gone far before Michelle had arrived. The business did close early on weekdays but it still felt off that no one was there to at least make sure she showed up. It was something she didn't notice while in the office, but at night the facility took on an almost ominous air, shadows and ambient sounds made to occupy the empty space. Even the show stage took on an oddly cavernous feeling with its usual members departed. Oddly enough, the animatronics were nowhere to be seen during her walk to the security office. Michelle gathered that they must spend a portion of the nights in "sleep" mode. As she settled into the somewhat stifled office, she activated the computer, the hums and whirs of the case echoing throughout. As bootup finished, the time read out to just before midnight. She gave a relieved sigh, glad to see her musing hadn't cost her points with this new job. Switching over to the DanCams, she took a quick survey of the facility. Dan seemed to be mired in something out in the arcade but Michelle was just a bit more content to know she didn't have his attention. Tracy was still asleep behind the stage. Despite going through two full sweeps of the feeds, the remaining two members, Randy and Sarah, were nowhere to be seen. Randy was gone the night before, and Sarah seemed like the type to prefer being out of sight, but Michelle didn't like being unable to keep track of two of the robots she was supposed to be keeping safe. Considering the hospitality that Tracy showed her and Dan… attempted to show her, Michelle decided that it might be for the best to go looking for them. After all, if anything happened to them, it was on her head. She was just about to hit the door button when she heard a rapid knocking on the other side. Figuring it might be Tracy again, she proceeded to open the door.
Having expected Tracy, Michelle had to turn her head down to see her diminutive new visitor. Standing in front of the door was the restaurant's guitar-playing animatronic raptor, Randy. He stood at a mere 4', looking up at Michelle from behind his sunglasses, one eyebrow raised. He was the same color as Tracy, though the underside of his tail was a lighter shade of yellow than hers. To accompany his short stature, he also sported a very scrawny build, devoid of the simulated muscle and fat that Dan had. Aside from his sunglasses, his attire consisted of an old, black cotton jacket, its hood down and its zipper undone to show a worn-out blue T-shirt featuring an older version of the Dino Dan's Discovery Zone logo and a drawing of the animatronic band performing. These two articles were his only clothing, though they were clearly a size too large for him, the shirt hanging just slightly and the jacket resting on the base of his tail, which he was swaying up and down as he surveyed Michelle. How many times was she going to be looked over by a robot like that?
A smile formed on Randy's muzzle. "Well, what do we have here?" he said slyly.
Randy walked into the office past Michelle, looking the dingy place over before settling his gaze back on her.
"Um… Hi," Michelle greeted him, curious about his presence.
Randy placed one hand on the wall to his right and the other on his hip. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing working at a place like this?"
Alright, Michelle thought, a robot is hitting on you. She had already gone into work with a great deal of confusion in her mind, and things had just become much stranger. She couldn't help but find it amusing that he had called her a pretty "little" thing, and had to stifle a chuckle.
"Excuse me?" she responded.
"Say, do you have a stopwatch?"
"...Wha-"
"Because you're making my heart race."
Michelle stared at him, dumbfounded. She was used to hearing bad pickup lines on a fairly regular basis, but never from a tiny robot dinosaur at a children's restaurant. She was at a complete loss for words. Randy tilted his head upward to meet her confused gaze, light from the fluorescent above gleaming dimly against his plastic shades, before cracking a wry smile.
"Oh, I gotcha," the raptor started, making no attempt to hide the smugness in his voice. "You weren't expecting that kind of charisma from a guy like me. No worries, I have that effect on the ladies from time to time. So, let me introduce myself. I'm Randy the Raptor, absolutely sick guitarist, certified babe magnet, and the most radical dinosaur that ever was or will be. Nice to meetcha. So what say you and me get to know each other a little better? Maybe over a pizza? Got plenty of back stock in the fridge."
Perhaps it was the sheer absurdity of an animatronic Velociraptor trying to ask her out, but Michelle found herself more amused than anything with the situation. In the back of her mind, however, it made her wonder why Tracy had such a negative, almost spiteful reaction to the thought of him last night. Randy seemed completely harmless to Michelle, a dork trying to act like he was cool. If anything, his lack of charm was charming.
"Uh, maybe later," Michelle replied, trying not to audibly giggle. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you, where were you last night? I looked at all the cameras and I never managed to find you."
"Oh," Randy responded, his smile faltering slightly. "I was visiting a friend."
Instantly Michelle's mind raced with the implications of such a statement. She had a lot of questions to ask.
"So you can just leave whenever you want?"
"As long as I'm back before morning, yeah," Randy replied. "We haven't had a night guard for a long time. I've been going out a night a week for a couple months now. Besides, it's all good, I can take care of myself. I'm like a ninja."
He put his hands up in a pseudo combat stance. Once again, Michelle had to restrain laughter at such a corny gesture. She had to concede, however, that he was probably right; if he could keep going out on a regular basis for several months, there probably wasn't much to worry about.
"So, I was wondering, what's the deal with… all this? Like, you guys being able to talk and move around on your own and all that?"
"Eh, I can't really say I know for sure. Dan says it might be because of some 'revolutionary' computer program we were built with but to be honest, whenever the old man starts talking, I just kinda tune him out. All I know for sure is that about half a year ago I started… dreaming, I guess? I don't know, it was weird. Like, I was seeing replays of the day shift but I could change things around if I thought about it enough. Eventually, I saw myself as one of the kids out in the audience during one of our shows and it was just the most metal thing ever. It was the first time I ever saw my bodacious bod; I was aware of myself, but I didn't know… who I was, I guess. A few days later, I woke up during sleep mode for the first time and found out it had happened to everyone else too."
With a quick motion, the raptor had removed his sunglasses, revealing the ruby eyes beneath, and stared into his reflection in an uncharacteristically wistful way. Michelle couldn't place why, but something in his eyes conveyed a sense of tiredness, as if a robot could somehow be sleep-deprived.
He continued: "I talked to everyone. I saw the bathrooms, the kitchen, and this office. I looked out the windows and saw the city. And it was so awesome! For the first time, I felt free, like nothing could stop me. There's a massive world outside of this building, things I was never built to know, and I just want to see all of it."
Michelle was a bit surprised at the raptor's spiel, given his meat-headed tactics at the start of his visit. He seemed genuine, just looking to get the most out of his newfound life. She really couldn't imagine a life where things were known but nothing was really experienced; the concept was too alien to her. Was all of that cheese he was spouting earlier all he really knows about? The myriad questions in Michelle's mind seemed to multiply rather than find answers. Michelle realized she was staring into space, and Randy took notice.
"Sorry, got a bit deep there with ya," he said, putting his sunglasses back on. "You know, I never got your name."
"Oh. Michelle." What was with these robots and forgetting to ask her name first? Perhaps they were still learning how to interact with people.
Randy smiled again. "Pretty name for a pretty girl," he mused.
Michelle heard footsteps coming from behind the office, quickly approaching the entrance. She turned around to see Tracy standing in the doorframe, arms crossed and an angry expression on her face.
"Oi!" she yelled, eyes on Randy. "Dan told you to sweep the bloody stage! Get on it!"
In spite of Tracy's anger, Randy lit up at the sight of her. "Woah, two bodacious babes at once? Don't you two go fighting over me."
Tracy growled in response, her rageful expression intensifying. She stomped over to Randy and grabbed him by the collar.
"Hey, dinner and a movie first!" he said in a futile attempt to sound confident.
Tracy walked over toward the doorway, stopped for a moment, and shoved Randy out, almost tossing him onto the ground.
"Do your damned work!" she yelled.
Michelle couldn't see, but Randy presumably ran off, as she didn't hear any more cheesy one-liners after that altercation. Tracy turned around to face Michelle, dusting her hands.
"Sorry 'bout him," she said. "Obnoxious little wanker."
Michelle was dubious about her attitude. "That was a bit much," she said. "He seemed pretty harmless to me."
"Wait, what? How'd you go five minutes with that drongo without bashing his head in?"
"I don't know, it was kind of cute in a weird way. Like he was trying too hard to look cool."
"Chelle, trust me here. Trying too hard is all that little creep does. He just can't get anything to register in that dense skull of his. It might seem innocent now, but you'll realize what an absolute dill he is. You try listening to that disgusting way he creeps on you for months on end and see if you don't go mad."
"Alright, I got it." Michelle was taken aback by Tracy's anger. She decided it was best to drop the subject. "You been okay?" she asked.
Tracy's expression calmed somewhat. "Fine," she sighed. As she had the night before, she made her way to Michelle's desk and sat down on its surface. "Got another customer complaint during the day shift."
"'Bout what?" Michelle asked.
"The thighs."
"Oh," Michelle muttered. So she wasn't the only one who noticed. "Yeah, I can relate. Not complaints, really, but some… unwanted attention."
Tracy smirked. "So all of the Randys but none of the soccer moms?"
"For the most part, yeah," Michelle said with a laugh. "You know, I've really gotta wonder how you and the rest of them put up with people during day shift. I mean, screaming kids, pervy dads, and all that chaos must wear on you."
"Eh, the pre-recorded stuff really takes care of it for us. We can hear and see it but it's more like us watching a show, you know? The kids, I can forgive. Nippers don't know much better and seeing 'em smile and climb onto ya they way they do's kinda endearing. The blokes, well, that's a whole nother can of worms. I catch 'em, you know. Staring at my lucky country, if you catch my drift. Then the Sheilas catch wind and complain to the management. I just can't win."
"Know that feeling way too well, trust me," Michelle replied, a bit of nostalgic comfort in her voice. "You wouldn't believe how many dirty looks I got from girls in high school because their boyfriends had roaming eyes. You just keep on keeping on, I say."
The two of them shared a laugh at this, Michelle's carrying a humor she hadn't found in a long while and Tracy's an underlying pang of relief and muted static. "You know Chelle," the Tyrannosaur began, "you're pretty all right. Makes me wonder what a girl like you's doing in a place like this."
"Eh," she uttered as she shrugged her shoulders, "road of life takes you places you'd never really expect."
"Sounds dinkum to me," Tracy said as she rose from her seat. "Well, Chelle, thanks for the chat. Needed something to break up the monotony around here. All the old man ever does is have us fix up the place. It's like we don't have janitors or something and he can't be arsed to do it himself."
"That… is a little weird, yeah." Michelle had never stopped to ask why the bots had chores to do in the first place. It did seem like something the day staff would be on top of.
"Eh, whatcha gonna do? Alright, I'm off. Just remember, if the little piker comes in here again just holler and I'll sort him out for ya. You have a nice one, eh?"
With a grace that seemed uncanny for a machine, Tracy made her way out of the office, tail slightly scraping against the doorframe. As it would seem, her disposition towards Randy was one that wasn't going to change anytime soon. With a scoot of her hips, the night guard shifted her chair back towards the antique computer and made another round through the security program. Dan was off doing something she couldn't care less about in the arcade, Randy was faking a guitar solo with his broom on stage, and Tracy had set up in the kitchen, putting away the unorganized utensils and plates. As Michelle finished her lap of the complex, something caught her eye on the camera just behind her office door. It was hard to make out but she could see the image of a horn and a small bit of metal peeking out from behind a wall. Michelle had been curious as to where the last member of Dan's band had been and ironically enough, it was nearly under her nose. She rose from her chair, making the small trek to the entrance and peered her head towards the back of the building, finding the robot still in her hiding place.
"Uhm, what are you doing back there?"
A small shocked vocalization, something akin to a squeak met with a gasp, answered her. "Oh nothing, just ah… enjoying the scenery!"
"You're in front of the bathrooms."
Michelle was met with silence.
"Look," Michelle began, adding a disarming tone to her voice."You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm here to help you guys."
"...It's not that I'm afraid of you really…"
"Then why not come out from there so we don't have to talk through walls?"
"Okay, okay, I'll come out."
An animatronic Triceratops emerged from behind the wall, her gaze averting Michelle's and her hands behind her back. She was just a few inches taller than Michelle at 5'8'', including the two inch-long plastic horns which protruded from her head. She was a slightly lighter, more dull green than her colleagues, and lacked a yellow underbelly similar to theirs. On the whole she had a more simplistic design, lacking any accessories or color changes. She had a youthful aesthetic, an innocent look in her big, shiny magenta eyes, soft features, and a more modest figure than Tracy's, bearing curves without exaggeration; she even looked to be slightly plump. Perhaps it was her soft, high-pitched voice or something in the way she moved, but Michelle could feel a sense of innocence and naivete about her.
"Hey," Michelle said, "now I remember you. You're Sarah Tops, right?"
She looked at Michelle and quickly nodded before looking back down at her feet.
"Yeah, I saw you perform the other day. You were good." She smiled and stuck her hand out. Sarah looked at her a moment before sheepishly reaching out and shaking it. "My name is Michelle."
"You… you really liked it?" Michelle could hear a bit of excitement creep its way into Sarah's voice.
"Of course. I've never seen anyone calm down a group of kids like that."
"Well, to be honest, that was me on day shift, but thank you for the compliment anyway." There was a very reserved, almost unnecessarily polite candor to her speech. "I mostly work with the younger children so it's nice to hear praise from an adult."
"Is that why you've been avoiding me?" Michelle asked. "Because you didn't think I'd like you?"
"Well, I didn't really know how you'd react to… well, how I am? I mean, people wouldn't really be used to the idea of a walking, talking animatronic. That and I just didn't really want to bother you. Your job is really important after all."
A light chuckle escaped Michelle at the thought of that sentiment. "Trust me Sarah, without you guys my job would be six hours of staring at a computer. I appreciate the company even if some of it's a little grating."
"Grating?"
"Eh, me and Dan didn't exactly hit it off well last night. He came off a little colder than he needed to be."
"Oh. I know Dan can be a bit on the nose about things, but he does mean well. He's just looking out for us and the business, after all."
"Yeah, so I've heard," Michelle grumbled. "You know, I've never actually seen you with the others, why is that exactly? You seem pretty friendly from where I'm standing."
Almost immediately, her eyes darted from Michelle down to her stubby feet, an air of unease swirling about her. "I just… don't want to get in their way, is all. I mean, who really wants someone like me poking around in their business? I don't really bring much to the table, as the saying goes."
A look of confusion mixed with worry arose on Michelle's visage. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, Dan's the face of the business, Tracy has the science exhibits, and Randy plays with the kids. I'm just off in a wing keeping the toddlers busy, if anything. I really can't imagine we'd have anything in common."
"Have you tried?"
"Uhm...well, I know about them at least! Tracy can be really nice if someone hasn't gotten her angry, Randy's really cool and has good jokes from time to time and even has his friend over once in a while, and Dan's very caring but just a little distant at times."
"Yeah, that's all well and good but have you, you know, sat down and had a conversation with them?"
"...No…" Sarah's tail swished from side to side slowly, her discomfort making itself known.
"Well, what's stopping you?"
"It...it's complicated, okay? You see, this is what I meant when I said I didn't want to inconvenience people. This always ends up happening. I always end up…" Sarah's hands had balled into fists and a look of distraught made its way onto her mechanical face. "I'm sorry. I always end up doing this. I think it might be best for me to go; it's almost time for the day shift and I've taken up too much of your time. Please forgive me."
With a hurried gait, Sarah quickly made her way down the hall, bypassing Michelle, and headed towards the main stage. The night guard considered giving chase but seeing the genuine sadness in that machine made Michelle stay her hand and leave Sarah alone for the time being.
Michelle rubbed her forehead. She didn't think it was possible for her to come out of her second night of work even more befuddled than before, but lo and behold, the social anxieties of the singing robot dinosaurs she guarded kept piling on. There was something simultaneously mystifying and vexing about the whole experience, to be front and center for a group of sentient machines trying to figure out themselves and each other with no one else even having a clue that this was going on but her. As Michelle stood in the haze of her own processing, the rhythmic beeping of the DanCams program alerted her that it was 6:00; an entire night had gone in what felt like minutes. As she made her way out of the building, her eyes turned towards the ensemble on stage, the four mascots already set back up for a new day, toothy grins on each of their faces. Upon opening the door and making her way out to her car, Michelle couldn't help but realize just how hollow some of those smiles were.
