Chapter Twelve

Where Are We?

Briana came back the next day. Sun hid behind his knees again. Briana again ordered him to look up at her. Dennis again hovered nearby and gave Sun the thumbs up the first time Sun looked his way. This day was, as Dennis told him, practice. Or was it testing? Briana spoke quickly, and her tone became terse whenever Sun stuttered. Did she not see how well they did yesterday? Her tone only soured further when the light went out. Moon made no mistakes.

Briana did not stay long.

Dennis was correct. Felix, Sam, and Mary did not come back the next day. Rather, Elizabeth, Raven, and Tom were introduced. While Elizabeth and Raven were friends, Tom didn't know either of the girls. While Elizabeth and Raven were excited and extroverted, Tom was shier and tended to stay to himself, mostly. He did as Sun said and would creep into the games they played together. While Elizabeth and Raven played, Sun tried to get Tom to do so as well. Tom barely responded at first, but eventually warmed up enough to play a game of catch with Sun.

When nap time came around, any progress Sun had with Tom was reset with Moon, for the most part. After realizing that Sun and Moon were brothers, at least as they said, Tom allowed Moon near him. After naptime was over, he even approached Moon. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was a little harder. It wasn't as if she disliked Moon, but she disliked the notion of going to sleep when she could be doing something much more fun. Moon put a little more effort into helping put her to sleep than he had with either of the other kids or even Sam.

Two days later, one day after reviewing with Briana one last time, the children did not visit them.

John and Dennis met him. But the door did not close behind them.

"Sun," John said. "You two have been doing very well. We believe that you're almost ready. One of the last things we have to do is introduce you to your new room."

"Our new room?" Sun echoed as he got to his feet. "I thought we were staying here."

"You wouldn't be staying here forever! This room is much too small for you. Now, come with us." John gestured to the hall and left the room with Dennis.

Sun followed, but then stopped at the edge of their room just before the door.

Do not be scared. John would never lead us astray.

"But we've never…"

I understand. Perhaps this new room will be better.

Sun, bolstered by Moon's barely suppressed excitement, forced himself out of the room and into the cement hallway. Colorful paint swiped over the walls in scenes of hills and sky. Shelves and a conveyor belt to the left of them turning into a corner had all sorts of giant stuffed shapes of varying colors. He spotted a plush toy that resembled Moon. A few laundry baskets settled between the door to their room and the open poster door to another.

As Sun crept behind them, he wrung his hands and looked around at their dingy surroundings with machines and scraps. A small TV like their own settled in an adjacent hallway. A picture of what looked like a cartoon version of Moon with his eyes closed next to a wrapped piece of candy with a crescent moon glowed on the TV screen. "MOONDROP" scrawled on the bottom with "SLEEPY-TIME CANDY" in smaller letters squished into the corner under it.

Sun asked, "What's that?"

John looked back at Sun and then at the ad. "Oh, yeah. Fazbear Corporation is trying to get their hands into as many pots as possible. So, they just rebranded some melatonin gummies and charge twice the price. They actually have ones with caffeine in them. Sunnydrop. Those ones are hard candies. I don't think they'll actually give you any of them because of their price, but if they do, don't feed them to the kids. They taste awful. I tried giving one to Sam because he really wanted one and he hated me for the rest of the day." He chuckled to himself and kept walking.

Dennis said, "Not to mention the melatonin ones don't even do anything."

The animatronic slunk after them and through a fence that John opened. They passed forklifts and crates and boxes and tables and what looked like giant spools. The Weirdest–or worst–of all was a machine standing near a vent. This machine wasn't like the TV or camera or any of the little toys in their room. This one was humanoid. It was dark and shaped like a skeleton and dripping with wires. Its hollow eyes stared at its feet. The red light that signaled activity was dark.

Endoskeleton.

Neither Sun nor Moon really remembered seeing the endoskeletons. However, something deep inside them knew about the endoskeletons.

A broad room with machines like straggly arms… a big table that gave them the view of the ceiling with wicked arms topped by varying devices pointed at them… people flitting about like hungry birds around a feeder… a desk with papers and diagrams whose word spread across the wall. They, too, had once been one of those machines dripping with wires with dark red lights for eyes. But they had been different than the endoskeleton settled in a corner, hanging above the ground, limp and lifeless.

Sun shook off the non-memory. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't really access the memory as much as know something like that must have existed. They were created, after all. They had to have been a simple drawing at one point.

They passed through a mostly empty room peppered with cement pillars. John and Dennis chatted, both sending looks back at Sun to be sure he was following at a close enough distance.

They came across a brighter cement brick hall painted white with a gray stripe at the bottom and a pale lime stripe separating the white from dark gray. Said colors didn't last long before they made another turn into another grim hallway up to a few red double doors. A red cylindrical machine with a glowing baby blue lightning bolt under a round window sat at the right corner.

Sun couldn't help but ask, "Wh-what's that?"

John glanced at him and then in the direction he pointed. "Oh, a charging station for the other animatronics. Yours will be different as you run on a different system than they do. It's not a good idea for either of you to enter those ones, alright?"

"Okay."

They passed through a small room made of giant windows and immediately through a new set of red double doors.

Sun stopped.

The massive room stretched left and right but did not go too terribly far forward. Huge machines–generators, maybe?–lined the left wall. Cages with more hanging endoskeletons made a barrier between the machines and them with gaps in the middle. An endoskeleton outside of a cage hung near the opposite wall. To the right was a wall of glass interrupted by doors peeking into different small rooms. The centerpiece, though, was a gargantuan cylinder near the back–or front, perhaps–of the room with a computer terminal in front of it. The upper half of the walls were windows with a giant sliding door like their poster door in the front. A huge red recliner bed big enough for the animatronics sat cozy in the middle. Mechanical arms with various tools attached hung from the ceiling of the cylinder. Tubes and wires attached the cylinder to the ceiling.

John said, "This is Parts and Service. If something happens to any of the animatronics, including you two, they are brought here to be repaired. The machine does most of the work to limit human error. We'll be going through Freddy's door. There's an elevator that leads to his green room. We'll take that and go through the atrium to the front of the complex where the Superstar Daycare is located."

John and Dennis walked up the left flight of stairs that wrapped around the cylinder. Sun hurried after them, sending nervous glances at the weird machine. Indeed, four sliding metal doors lined the back wall. The first had a red Freddy silhouette symbol on it. The next was a lavender Roxy symbol. The third was a purple Bonnie symbol. The fourth was a pink Chica symbol. They entered Freddy's elevator tunnel–a pale painted cement brick tunnel with an elevator at the end.

Unfortunately, the elevator was much too small for all of them. John said, "I'll take the elevator first. Then, Sun goes, and you'll follow. These elevators were made for just the animatronics to go through, which is a little ridiculous."

"Okay." Sun stayed back and watched as John vanished behind shiny elevator doors.

Dennis suggested, "Maybe we'll meet up with some of the band. We'll definitely meet with Freddy." He hesitated. "Unless Freddy isn't in his room. He could be at the overnight birthday party."

"Overnight birthday party?" Sun echoed.

"Children should be asleep at night."

Dennis said, "Yeah. Parents will sometimes let their kids have a slumber party over here at the Mega Pizzaplex so they can stay after hours and basically have the 'Plex to themselves."

The elevator doors opened.

"Your turn! I'll see you in a minute."

Sun sent a look back at him before stepping inside.

Sun could barely move in the space provided without touching at least one slick silver wall.

Is this safe?

"John and Dennis said it is safe. As this belongs to Freddy, who is heavier than we are, this is safe."

Okay.

"Do not be scared, Sunny."

The elevator doors opened, and he quickly stepped out into a very cluttered room with chain-link walls just making the space smaller. A huge stack of small and medium-sized boxes pressed up against one wall with an open vent at the top. Was that safe?

John stood near the still-closed door.

"You made it! See? I told you it wasn't bad. We have to go through one more elevator and a few flights of stairs. I'm sure you're going to love the Daycare. It's huge and colorful and there are two play structures connected by a long bridge. And a ball pit! It will probably take a little while to clean the ball pit. But who doesn't like those, right? And your room, where you will be able to charge and stay, is set above it all. There are some off-limit places we will need to go over. And you will be working with a few people."

Sun cocked his head. "Who will I work with?"

"Security guards. There will be at least one security guard stationed in the Daycare while the children are there. After hours, you'll have the place to yourself, save for when you need to get checked on by a technician. You may need to interact with adults dropping kids off and definitely with people picking up children. We'll go over that once we get there."

Dennis left the elevator.

"You're here! Good. Let's get a move on."

The next room was even smaller than Sun and Moon's and cluttered with various objects pertaining to Freddy. A couch with a huge stuffed Freddy pressed against a wall with a Street Fighter arcade cabinet in the corner beside it. A vanity sat against the wall holding the door into the backspace. A curtain fell over the front wall, which had been replaced by glass. Was this a room or a display case?

They left through a fancy-looking sliding door and into a small pocket of space off the huge glittering hall speckled with display cases and a golden statue. Lights glowed in the ceiling and neon lights shaped into pictures scattered over the wall.

They made it through the small line made of red velvet and through the hall. Sun looked over at the wall holding Freddy's green room. Three other rooms with three other spaces occupied the space, all with their red curtains open. One was purple and decorated with rabbits. The rabbit animatronic in question sat on the couch and spun a bowling ball on one finger. Unlike the plushie, he had a few earrings in one ear and a striped shirt and bowtie. Beside Bonnie's room was Roxy's, which was also decorated with Roxy items and colors. She played with her mane in the mirror. As soon as they passed and she saw them in her star-shaped mirror, she turned around and set her emerald gaze on him. She narrowed her eyes.

Sun hunched his shoulders and looked away.

The next room was pink and white and belonged to Chica, who rocked out on her guitar in the middle of her green room. A tray with a few cupcakes sat on the vanity desk along with an open pizza box on the floor with a couple of slices left.

Sun decided to pay attention to John as they moved, and their surroundings changed drastically into simpler walls with posters and then a cardboard cutout near the end. The shutters opened into a huge space made of dark floors with walls spattered with shutters and doors. A huge pedestal decorated with foliage and a golf club proudly stood before one of the shutters.

Humans scattered about the huge dining hall and space around it, cleaning the floors and tables while a couple patrolled the area and walked up and down the stairs leading up to the next story. A stage raised at the front.

Sun received a few looks from the staff, but no eyes lingered for very long. He decided to keep his focus on John.

After a set of twin stairs, two elevators stamped into the wall. John, Dennis, and Sun could fit in this elevator, though Sun doubted another person could join them.

John said, "Once we get to the Superstar Daycare, we can show you around the place. Your room can't be accessed from the Daycare, at least by people. You will be able to reach it from the Daycare. But we'll need to use the backdoor. I think the current Daycare Attendant is still here? Yes, she should be working with the janitorial staff to clean up. She will give over her job to you."

"Oh. What will she do?"

"Leave. She already gave in her two weeks' notice," John informed him. "That's one of the reasons Briana wants your training to be sped up. Don't worry about her, okay? She'll be happy to meet you, I'm sure of it."

The elevator stopped and the opposite door opened.

Now they walked out into a carpeted landing. Two sets of stairs went down to the main floor, split in half by ticket booths. The entrance doors, currently closed by shutters, stood beyond. To the left and right of the stairs were shops. On the left was a two-story gift shop while on the right was a two-story café. To the left, a pair of shutters overtook the wall.

Sun looked up at the sign.

Painted upon a blue background, the words "SUPERSTAR DAYCARE" in a bubbly font swelled. A cartoon, smiling picture of Sun's face was on the top right corner, while Moon's, eyes closed as if asleep, was on the bottom left corner.

John said, "These decorations are actually a bit of a funny story. You see, we found sketches that inspired you in some old files the company gave over to us. The artist in charge really like the concept and designed a lot of the daycare around you two. Sun and Moon, day and night, playtime and naptime. The company just sort of built around it. Then I was given permission to bring that sketch to life! I tweaked a few things from the original code given to us, but you were made pretty much as intended. So, your presence won't be a huge shocker."

Neither Sun nor Moon actually responded. Instead, Sun looked around the dark corridor with various advertisements and a huge fountain splitting the middle. "SUNNYDROP" and "MOONDROP" candy advertisements painted onto the brick above the bathrooms. A few soda machines with members of the band on them stood on one wall.

Beyond the second set of doors with a charging station beside it was a small, sleepy blue room.

Sun jolted upon coming head-to-knee with a huge gold statue of him. Them, as Sun found when he looked around it. Sun stood up straight with his hands thrown up above him in a "ta-da!" pose. Moon, meanwhile, stood at his back, hunched over and one foot above the other in a funny jig. Neither foot actually touched the podium as a cord connected Moon's back to the ceiling. A feeling of… wrongness overtook him upon seeing them as separate entities.

"What's that?" Sun asked.

John glanced back at the statue. "You and Moon? Oh, that cord? I'll show you, once we're inside."

He passed by a pedestal and opened a short gate leading into a tall walkway.

The walkway overlooked the grandest, most colorful place either of them could ever imagine.

Sun ran up to the wall before the gate, which was made of clouds and rainbows. "SLIDE INTO FUN" printed in a curve stamped above a large hole for a slide. If Sun tried, he could crawl through it.

But the real spectacle lay behind it.

Sun stepped to the side so he could look through the netting.

Giant multicolored squares of the soft floor made up the bottom of the Daycare. The slide lead into a huge ball pit ringed by a castle wall. Two small towers connected by a tunnel of multicolored interwoven poles edged the wall. Higher up was a stage with half-closed curtains. On a metal, circular track was a huge sun. On the opposite side of the track at the bottom was a moon. Big clouds hung from the ceiling over huge jungle gyms protected by interwoven, multicolored poles. Slides and tunnels speckled the edges. A red rope bridge connected the large structure on the left to the smaller structure on the right. Different portraits of the band in various decorations stuck to the sides. Little chairs and tables in spots ringed by plush half walls took up space as well. At the very end of the space, next to a gray desk with computers and technology around it, was a set of wood-style double doors at least twice his height. A few people scattered over the floor along with toys and a few upturned chairs.

John looked back when Dennis called him. "Oh? Heh. Yeah, it's pretty great, isn't it? It's a big place to maintain. Lots of places for kids to run around and get into trouble! It also changes when the lights turn out."

Sun, without looking away, asked, "Really?"

"Yep. When the lights go out, that track on the front wall rotates so the moon is up, and the sun is down. Stars glow on the ceiling and walls. Music is supposed to play here during the day. That will turn off when the lights do. Come on! You can stare at the place while we're inside it."

At this, Sun turned to him. "Okay. Why can't we go through the slide?" He followed John regardless.

"Because I'd rather go through the front entrance. As fun as slides are, we're supposed to be meeting some people."

A set of stairs broke off from the dark carpet and led down to the shiny floor. Shops lined the wall opposite the Daycare.

They stopped in front of the grand double doors. Sun looked up at the creation.

That's a big door.

"It certainly is."