You fell.
The shard of glass cut against your arm in a flash before colliding with the back wall and shattering.
You barely had time to wince when you adjusted your footing incorrectly and tripped on Monty's legs under you.
The jarring sensation of falling was abruptly ended when your back hit against something hard halfway down. No amount of bracing prepared you for the agony that followed.
Sun had caught you, just barely. Just barely lifting over an arm in a swift motion as he flew through the window to meet you. It wasn't gentle. It wasn't enough.
At least you didn't crack your head open on the concrete flooring.
You cried as you suddenly arched backwards given he only barely caught you - his arm not even recoiling to soften the blow. Just as quickly as you made contact against his arm, he let go, using his other hand to wrap tightly around your forearm, swinging you like a ragdoll until your feet hung just barely against the ground.
He slowly raised you, grip tightening around your arm. Your feet disconnected from the ground as your entire chest stung in distress.
You wrapped your other hand around his that firmly clutched your forearm, clawing at it in vain attempts to remove it. You only settled for the extra leverage it gave you as your muscles did their best to hold your body weight. It was better than the alternative of hanging limp.
Every breath stung. You stuttered with each inhale, dreading the movement it caused in your ribs. You weren't getting enough air.
Sun finally holds you still, inches away from his unmoving face, the viscous, uncanny smile you've witnessed this entire time not faltering a millimeter. You didn't recognize him, and regardless of the pained expression and tears falling down your cheeks, he didn't seem to recognize you either.
His faceplate spins to the side, before his free hand shoots up to grab at a ray beginning to retract into his head, pulling it back into place. He leans closer, and your heart can only drop seeing the coldness in his eyes.
Ṯ̴̊͆i̶͍̫̓m̷͖͖͛ě̷͖͘o̷̙̅ṵ̴̊ṭ̵͐̀
He pulled you forward slightly, only to throw you back into the wall behind you. You might as well have fallen without him catching you in the first place. Your back collided with the wall, and you slid down just as quickly, your entire body recoiling with the sudden stop against the cold concrete flooring.
It fucking hurts. Your nails are digging into your palms as the other set squeezes into your thigh - only a papercut in comparison to everything else. Your teeth feel like they're going to break with how hard you're clenching your jaw. You squeeze your eyes shut and wait for relief that never comes.
Your eyes burn as you finally open them, the room being dead silent besides Sun's fans whirring violently. Your ears somehow ring louder. You feel sick.
You finally focus, holding a breath as you watch Sun tower over Monty, staring down at him as he holds a ray in place while the others extend and retract in a blur.
Your eyes widen, watching him pull up his arm, calling it backwards as his nails extend.
Monty growls as he struggles in his restraints.
"Yeah, show them. Do it!"
You release the breath you've been holding and scream.
"S-SUN!"
You slam your head back into the wall behind you and wince as you're forced to take in another breath.
When you open your eyes, his stagnant smiling face has focused to you, body still in its original position. He twitches, then turns to step towards you with a stomp.
He crouches, making sure he's still above you.
His voice box glitches before he speaks.
S̴̕͜…u̴͓̽ň̴̳ḟ̸͎l̸̗̚o̸̳̚w̶̲̔e̵̗͋ř̷̫.
T̸̩̀î̸ͅm̴̘͌ê̵̦ó̶̢u̸͍̒t̵͚̚.̵̧̉ ̵̭̌.
His faceplate spins, and his arm is now raised at you.
A ray retracts before he can grab it.
Monty speaks from behind.
"Ya gotta try harder than that, Moon."
Almost on cue, another ray retracts into his head in a flash you barely register. Another one attempts the same before Sun uses his free hand to dig into it, yanking it back out.
He twitches violently, his head indecisive as to focus on either you, or Monty.
He makes up his mind, and snaps to you, lifeless blue eyes drilling into your own.
His fist reels back as he shakes, fans whirring as the heat encompassing you does nothing to alleviate your cold sweat.
Every instinct in your head is screaming at you to move, while every muscle in your body refuses to find the strength.
Of all things, you lift you arm, it shuddering as you force it closer to the silky red and yellow ruffles around his neck. Your throat tightens as you watch him tense further.
"..S-Sun.." Your voice is soft, tears cold against your burning skin. You taste blood from where you've been biting your inner mouth tissue. You squeak out another syllable as you lose your breath.
"P-please." The bubble in your throat feels like barbed wire around your neck, tightening at his lack of response. Your fingers don't even get a chance to touch the fabric before he reacts.
You flinch at the sudden movement his hand makes as it flies towards you. You brace.
..He's knocked off course violently as his arm suddenly jerks to the side at the very last second. You feel the breeze against your skin as your hair settles into place, the deafening crunch and tearing of metal next to you provokes a flinch and sinks every inch of your chest and stomach into shock.
Your throat bubbles as you open your eyes, choking through tears and staggered breaths. Your entire body goes limp. Your chest jumps in fear with every little motion you witness.
His hand is in the wall next to you. His head twitches, inches away from your face. His rays retract as he stills, motionless.
Fuck, please. Sun. Moon.
You plead, you hope. You hope they'll snap out of this.
You watch for a few seconds, taking the time to shakily breathe in, careful not to intensify the already excruciating pain you're experiencing.
You surrender your head to the metal behind it, your soul being crushed to pieces as the rays extend again, one by one. Whatever, whoever, is fighting inside of them. Moon.. Sun - the Sun and Moon you know and love - they aren't winning.
You've been helpless this entire time, but the tiny fractions of hope you've had watching him fight and hesitate are torn away in an instant.
He reaches for you.
You flinch as he suddenly seizes and jolts.
You tense up at his ear-piercing scream.
TIM̸̯̺̑̅̕͠E̸̖͍̱͖̮̣͖͇̼̊͊Ọ̶̺͍̘͛̇-̶̧̗̗̜̄͛̉̀͗͒̆̒ͅO̸̡̼̣̜͎̳̞̖͆̇͛͘̚U̸̢̗̖͍̟̻̪̘̠̓́́͑͋̂̑T̶̼̹̱̬̮̼̂̐-̸͚̺́̂͆͆̕͝ͅT̵̮͕̺̱̗̖̻̲̏̎-̷̡̼̜͍͈̝̬͑̉͘T̸̛̰̻̣̯̤̪̈́̑̂̈́̍̄͊͠—̶̻̘͍̜͚͇̰̿͗̒̚–̵̠͓̺̹̪̟͉̗̲̉̔͊T—̵̡̠̦̪̜̭͎̩̪̒̊͆́̊̽͝—̵̷̛̛̪̭̦̠̩̻͉͓̦̬̯̝́̀͌̄́̌͛̑̌̀̐͘-
Your heart drops as you watch and listen, regardless or not if it's actually him. He falls to the ground next to you, his leg over yours as you trace a wire extending from him, to a gun - a person you can barely make out being on the other end of it.
Your vision is blurry and your head is dizzy and light. You're overwhelmed with sensation and emotion - none of which are good.
You hear multiple footsteps barrel into the room, one louder and more metallic than the others. You can't make out the incoherent yelling quite yet given your stupor.
You only watch as Sun ceases his movement, falling limp to the ground as the electrocution finishes. His legs are laid over-top yours, limp as much as you are. You watch as his lifeless toothy grin falters into a pained grimace, and you recognize him for the first time in far too long. Your throat tightens as tears begin to fall once more.
You hear a familiar soothing voice yell something about the lights, and seconds later, everything is dark. You can't tell if your eyes are closed anymore, the distorted imagery from stress is the same regardless. Flashlights daze you further as they flash around the room.
Your breaths are never enough to satisfy your need for air. It hurts to breathe. It just hurts. Everything is agonizing.
An orange and electric-blue blur crouches next to you, blue lines scan your body, head to toe, before mumbling echoes throughout the room, likely discernable if you didn't feel like you were going to lose consciousness any second now. Your tear ducts finally run dry, and your senses return momentarily.
The present security guards' radios repeat something about a "incident DA-6, code 1" and for further guards to report to Parts and Service.
You watch as the robot once splayed over your legs is dragged to the side, any movement from Moon is met with electrocution. You need to do something, but you're so weak. You mumble, begging them to stop, but no one hears you.
You can't tell how long it's been before you're attended to by what looks like paramedics. The voices are inaudible to you. It's a blur, all of it. You vaguely process them shining a light into your eye and wrapping something around your neck.
You begin to lose consciousness after wincing in agony as they lift you onto the stretcher, fastening you in. The ringing in your ears finally stops.
—
Your head is heavy, and so are your eyelids. The light entering them is uncomfortable, and it takes a minute to adjust.
Your ribs are sore, not excruciating though surprisingly. Definitely uncomfortable, but not unbearable.
You only notice the face mask strapped to you after the air you're breathing seems to be flowing onto your face like a slight breeze, your sense of smell returning to inform you the air smells funny.
Your arms are heavy, and you can barely lift your head. You look over to the source of the beeping, tracing the wires and saline bag IV to a needle in your arm and something clipped around your finger.
It's difficult to actually look down, given you're laying completely back - no pillows or anything. You realize exactly why when you try to sit up, the pain shooting through your chest protesting for you to give up.
You relax for a second, observing the room before stubbornly trying again.
A hospital again, wonderful. You have a feeling you're not gonna be able to just walk out this time.. even though you might still try.
You've almost reached your arm into a position that can lift you up further before a nurse walks in, expecting you to be still unconscious.
You freeze as she stutters for a second before turning to walk over.
"Woah, hey, easy now sweetheart. You're alright." She presses her hand lightly to your shoulder, signaling you to lay back down.
You sigh as you relax back into the hospital bed.
"Okaaay, do you think you can answer a few questions for me?"
You nod.
"Alright, do you know your name?"
You tell her your name, softly, half-expecting the mask to muffle your already weak voice, but she seems to hear you just fine, smiling after looking down at her clipboard.
"Okay, and do you know where you are?"
"Mmh.. hospital."
A really cold hospital. The blanket over you and scrubs you're likely wearing isn't very insulating.
"And, do you know what day it is?" She asks.
You pause, and shake your head side to side.
"Ah, well.." She flips a paper. "It's 10/25, Tuesday"
She pauses at your lack of response. "..You were admitted about two days ago, on Sunday."
You hum. It hasn't felt that long.
"You're up a little earlier than expected, but if you'll just wait right here, I can go get the doc." She waves as she exits.
Your memory is blurry, and you begin to panic as everything slowly comes back to you. A lot of it is still hazy, but you vaguely remember the events, and how Mimi is still at home. Hopefully she still has enough water.. her cat feeder is automatic at least. Fuck. You need to get home. You..
Sun.. Moon.. Oh shit. Fuck. They.. what happened? After..? Are.. they okay?
Your stomach drops.
You frantically look around the room, noticing your bag on the table close left of you. You hope it contains your watch and phone. You think you had the watch on, you can only hope it's in that bag and not broken.
You attempt to reach over, not quite being able to grab it. You wince as you stretch further, before footsteps rapidly approach next to you, adjusting your hand back to your side.
You groan. You were going to get your bag sooner rather than later.
"Woah, okay. Please don't make us have to sedate you. You have to stay still, at least for a little bit longer, okay? Do you understand?" The lady stands to your left, wearing a stereotypical white labcoat, a nameclip with her picture on it. You notice the name of the hospital branded onto the labcoat, recognizing it as the one you left last week after your car crash.
She places her clipboard down before walking over to the other side of the bed, getting a closer look at the machines and their readings.
"Okay. So, first off. How are you feeling?"
You twist your hand back and forth in an "eh" motion, not wanting to talk if you don't have to.
She giggles lightly. "Mhm, that's to be expected. Now, as to why you feel this way.. just, don't freak out, but we had to do minor surgery." She studies your eyes over the face mask for any reaction. Your eyes do widen a bit, mostly out of curiosity.
"Yep. Rib fixation surgery: we implanted surgical splints onto your ribs, they'll stabilize the fractures you have, along with helping the completely broken rib heal. It shouldn't leave any scarring either, we only made a few small incisions to lay the plates across the fractures and fix them into place. It's not going to make you magically better, but it will help the healing process. You'll just need a follow-up once they are healed in about two months for removal of the splints."
You only respond with an "Mmh." Already thinking of ways to get out sooner.
"You will have to stay with us for a few more days while we monitor you. You're.. pretty banged up. It's not just your ribs we're concerned about either.." She stares a little below your eyes.
You adjust your head from looking at her to the ceiling for a few seconds. You're pretty sure you know what she's talking about, and you're not looking forward to explaining the rest - that is, if they don't already know it was likely from an animatronic fucking biting you.
"Alright, so general rules. No lifting anything heavier than 30 pounds, no submerging the stitches either. Showers only. Take it very easy, and I emphasize that last part. You were in here just a few days ago following a car crash. The reports from your visit detail two fractures and one broken rib, light abrasions and minor cuts, a black eye, and bruised nose. The wrists had coloration that didn't line up with the time of the accident either, there will be a person in here later to ask you a few questions, and I really want you to answer them truthfully, okay? You're safe here." She explains that last part very softly.
Your brows furrow before realizing she thinks you're a victim of abuse as of recent. No, not.. really. You're not looking forward to answering those questions regardless.
"You did have a visitor wanting to be updated on when you wake up, along with some people from your workplace, is that okay? Do you want them to visit?"
Yep, of course. You don't know who the visitor is, but of course, the Faz-Fuck company would want to come in and probably do some bullshit legal stuff.
"Uh.. Yeah. Sure. That's fine." You speak softly as to not agitate your ribs. You haven't yet tested them with how loud you can speak or how deep you can breathe, and you don't want to.
She makes her way around to pick up her clipboard. "Okay, great. Your clothes, except for your shirt, which we did have to cut off, is laid out on the desk next to your bag. A nurse should be in soon to ask you some questions as well as swap out your saline bag. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to press the button just right behind you on the wall to call a nurse. Please, just do be careful moving, at the very least for the rest of today." There's a brief pause as she decides whether to say anything else.
She crosses her arms, clipboard against her chest. "And.. you were in a car accident. You discharged yourself almost immediately after you woke up, and then went right back to work..? You had broken ribs, how were you even moving? Please, absolutely do not do that again. You're lucky you didn't get pneumonia, seriously. You're going to end up in a lot worse shape than you are now if you don't take it easy for a bit. Okay?"
Neither of you speak for a few seconds.
You sigh. "..Okay.."
She hums pensively, doubtful that you'll actually take care of yourself. She's slowly turning away before you stop her.
"W-wait, can.. I have my bag..?" She stops to turn.
"Oh, of course". She gently sets it next to you, making sure it doesn't fall off. You thank her before waving goodbye.
As soon as she was gone, you reached up and removed the breathing mask from your face, setting it next to you. You don't really need it, at least you think.
You reach for your bag, digging one hand into it while the other stabilizes it, feeling around until you find your FazWatch. You pull it out and hover it above you face, briefly admiring the cute Sun and Moon stickers before holding the power button.
For a second, the screen lights up, only to be followed by an empty battery symbol across the screen.
Your heart sinks. You don't think you have a charger.
Fuck. Fuck.
Ugh. Your chest hurts, not from your ribs this time.
Are they okay?
You pull out your phone, holding it above your head as you lay straight back, attempting to power it on.
To your surprise, it has about 14% battery left. You lower your brightness and check your notifications. Besides spam emails, you have a text message.
Wendy
Hey. If and when you get this, I really hope you're doing okay. I want to let you know that the bills will be covered by the company along with any other miscellaneous expenses. You'll have paid time off too if you're wondering. I'm really sorry that happened, seriously. If there's anything I can do, let me know. I did ask if I could come visit, and they said they'd get your approval, so don't be afraid to deny it, I understand if you need some time. I can't really say the same for the investigators the company hired on, they're pretty adamant, and if there was anything I could do to stop them, I would. They probably won't be able to visit you if you deny them, but just in case.. you don't have to answer their questions. As far as I know, you just have to agree you're not breaking contract or anything. Besides that, I genuinely hope you're okay. If you need literally anything, lemme know. I'll do my best. Take care! I hope to visit soon! Regardless, good luck on the recovery. 3
She sent that Sunday night, a few hours after the incident. God, it's been two days.. fuck. You're glad she's coming to visit.. hopefully.
You also need to know if Sun and Moon are okay. You need to.
You
gosh. hey Wendy. yea, im fine. mostly. uhm, it might be a few days but ill be okay. im glad youre coming to visit, id.. really appreciate it if i could give you my house keys so you could make sure my cat Mimi is okay. it'd be nice to see you in person too finally. wish the circumstances were different though lol.
also.. do you know if Sun and Moon are okay? id.. really like to know. thanks. oh, and can you please bring a charger for the fazwatch..? id appreciate it
It took you way longer than it should've to write that reply, especially trying to type out the last part not to sound super.. you don't know, caring about robots? Ugh, fuck that. You shouldn't be ashamed. You're not.
Just a little flustered sometimes..
It's been way too long waiting for a response after hitting send, and before you even realize, your battery is warning you of being below 5%. You groan and shut off the screen after making sure the notification volume is up, resting it in your bag.
You wait.
And wait.
There's nothing much to do, besides lay here, and stare at the ceiling.
Thinking of what happened.
Of how Sun almost killed you.
No! That.. that wasn't Sun..
It doesn't make you feel better.
You can't help but recall the memories as the fog lowers. Memories flood in against your will.
You flinch thinking about how he threw you. How hard he slammed into the wall next to you. The crunch that could've been your skull.
Your throat tightens, and your breathing increases. You only notice this as your ribs burn with each rapid breath you take.
Your stomach tightens and releases. It's almost like you're laughing, but you are absolutely not, not even a little close. But.. that's all you can compare it to right now. The rapid tensing and release of your stomach muscles working in coordination with your breaths hurt. You can't stop it.
You try, but another memory of the incident involuntarily passes through your mind. You're powerless to fight against the vivid visualization of the memory. It passes, and another takes its place.
Your nails dig into your stomach where they've found relief at, the clip on your finger monitoring whatever has fallen off already. The least of your worries is breaking the gown and skin underneath, all you know is that you almost died the other night, and you're terrified.
He almost killed you.
Your stomach drops, your heart jumps. Everything that can physically be felt from emotion, you experience. Your throat tightening, the weakness of your legs that are all too familiar. It only intensifies the immersion.
You're dizzy, the ceiling is spinning and your ears are ringing. You can't hear the machine beeping rapidly as your heart rate increases.
Your stomach is still doing that thing. Squeezing into it with your nails isn't helping, but you need to do something.
You flinch and jump, you're not in control of what your mind is showing you anymore. All you can see is him. How he looked at you with dead eyes, how he was ready to kill you. How aggressively he handled you. How he held you to him by your forearm before throwing you to the wall, disposing of you to confront Monty.
How the only thing your pleas resulted in was him accelerating the process of shutting you up.
You recall Sun finally surfacing, how his expression changed from that cold lifeless grin, to agonizing dread as he was being electrocuted. His eyes only got a second to look in your direction. His eyes, full of life and love. But not in that moment. All you could read from him was agony.
As the lights were shut off, you could only watch Moon struggle to push himself off the ground - each time him being met with electricity burning deep into his circuits as flashlights dimly highlighted his suffering.
You feel nauseous, and on top of everything else, you feel like passing out again.
The darkness you're met with as you close your eyes only makes things worse.
Your stomach is so very tight, and drops every few seconds. Your rapid breathing stings your ribs, and there's nothing you can do about it. Your ears ring, only letting you feel your heart pounding against your chest - your ears being taken up by ringing. The nails digging into your stomach have definitely ripped skin. You haven't even noticed you're crying yet. You're burning up and freezing at the same time. You taste blood. Every single agonizing memory you're forced to remember ever so vividly elicits an involuntary physical jolt in your body, following instantly with pain.
The memories you can't escape finally wither with warmth wrapping gently around your cold arm. You can't help but flinch regardless, and the sensation is immediately extinguished as they let go.
You very slowly refocus on the world around you, and it takes some time for the room to stop spinning before you notice a couple of nurses tending to you and the machines.
You notice the nurse's mouth moving next to you, something about you being in the hospital bed, being safe here. Their words are slow and concise. You're slowly reeled out of the episode.
The ringing dies down and your ears begin to work as intended, listening to what the nurse has to say next to you. You hear the rapid beeping of the heart monitor, but only temporarily as it's muted by another nurse.
The nurse to your left notices you looking at him and not staring off into space. "Hey, you're alright. You're safe. You're alright."
He turns to the desk to retrieve something as you steady your breathing, pain returning in full force.
You wince, and tears continue to flow.
The nurse returns with a barstool chair and a small cardboard box.
"Hey, If you need some tissues, they're right here." He holds out the box, and your arm shakily pulls one out before wiping your face - the tears flowing sideways given you're laying back.
You finish, uncertain as to if they'll be more, but for now, you're okay.
He reaches down to grab a small trash can, before raising it so you can dispose of the tissue.
"..Okay, are you feeling a little better now? Do you need anything?"
You focus on breathing, inhaling before answering. "..Pillow." You want to sit up a bit, if that's possible.
"Ah, okay. I can do that. If you do feel worse physically, we can start you on more intravenous morphine. It would help." He steps up and walks over to a cabinet at the far side of the room. He returns with a fluffy pillow.
The nurse helps you sit up as you bite your inner lip, holding in a wince as tears prick the sides of your eyes.
You're back down, being relieved from the pain. At least you don't have to stare at the ceiling anymore.
He says something else about adjusting the bed to help you sit up a tiny bit more, to which you agree. He lets you know he can stop at any time or reverse the raising of the bed if you needed, but where he stops is okay, a little under a 45 degree angle.
You inhale. "..Thank you.."
He smiles, before standing up straight and asking if you need anything else. You don't for now.
You listen as something is announced over the intercom, to which he says his goodbyes, making sure you're okay, then hurrying out the door.
You lay for a few minutes.
You feel horrible. You're so upset. You need to know if they're okay. You know it wasn't them, it wasn't Sun. He wouldn't do that.
They need to be okay. You need to make sure of it. You fucking promised.
You sigh and relax into the pillow as your ribs throb with pressure and pain. It's somewhat bearable for now. You reach into your bag, still at your side, and pull out the pain meds. Apparently, in addition to alleviating pain, they can also help calm you down a bit, so.. hopefully you won't have an attack again. Ugh.
You take one, maybe two, before trading them with your phone.
It's dead.
You now had absolutely no contact with anyone.
You only hope Wendy actually does come to visit.
It's been hours. It has to have been. There's not really a clock in this room, which is pretty cruel.
All you can do is wait.
And wait.
You recall something you learned at some point, tucked into a little pocket in your mind. You think it will help with preventing an attack if another arises. .
5-4-3-2-1, something to do with grounding.
5 things you can see around you.
4 things you can feel or touch.
3 things you can hear.
2 things you can smell.
1 thing you can taste.
It's kinda hard doing the last two steps, but you use the oxygen mask next to you and how weird the air smells as one of the two things.
The inside of your mouth just tastes dry. Your IV drip must be keeping you hydrated, doesn't help with dry mouth though apparently.
You breathe, and anytime you feel yourself slipping into the memories you don't wanna address quite yet, you redo the method.
You're in the middle of it when one of your three sounds you can hear are checked off. Gentle knocking at your open door.
You've seen Wendy before, you almost forgot, but you did have a video call with her a few weeks ago. All the way back in the state you used to be living in when you were first being interviewed for the job.
Black hair, cute round glasses, a few visible freckles, and a sizable bag carrying whatever's stuffed in there.
You smile, and inhale. "..Hey." you mumble softly.
She lights up. "Hey! Oh gosh, sorry I'm late - we did have work today, and I did have to wait until I got off. But! I'm here now, aaaaand.." She pauses as she sits at the edge of the bed, dropping her large bag to the floor, bending down to dig through it.
"..Not one, but two chargers! Since.. well, the text had the little sent icon instead of delivered, and I think that means your phone is off - or in this case, dead." She grins as she animates holding up the two wires and wall connectors, you almost giggle before holding it in, very aware of the pain it might cause.
"..Hah, that's.. very kind.. Wendy." You pace your breaths, and she's patient as you adjust to actually speaking again. "And, please, don't make me laugh, my ribs are kinda broken."
Her smile turns to a frown. "O-oh, shoot. Sorry, yeah I can see how that would hurt.. I'll go ahead and plug these in to your watch and phone if that's okay with you." She begins to sit up onto her feet as you nod affirmingly.
She talks as she's pulling out the devices from your bag and hooking them up to the power outlets. "So, I'm way more than happy to meet your kitty! I'm sure she or he is doing okay, I'll make sure to confirm that after I leave here."
You smile. "She, and that'd be wonderful. Thank you.."
"Mhm, and.. onto your next question.. I do have good news and bad news." She diverts her attention from the wall socket to you as your silence fills the room for a second or two. The worry painting your face jump-starts her to continue.
"I-it's okay! They're.. okay. That's the good news.." She finishes plugging up the devices, walking back over to the edge of your bed.
You're relieved. At least they aren't.. yeah. You aren't really looking forward to the bad news though.
"Bad news now.. Sun and Moon, they.. won't let anyone touch them, especially not Moon, and they're both pretty banged up. We're also being very cautious with who we allow even near the Daycare given the incident.. We've had to close the Daycare portion of the Plex the past two days.."
She continues given your silence.
"Management is getting impatient.. we do need them up and running soon, or else I'm afraid they're going to do something drastic, which you and me both absolutely do not want.."
She pauses, and hums before continuing. "Uh, and.. you're really the only one that's stuck with them this long. We've had to swap out engineers almost every day before you got here.. I know.. they stuck you in a messed up contract, and.. between you and me, I'm not sure it's even entirely legal.. but, you.. at least seemed.. to be.. doing o-okay.. I-I'm sorry" She lowers her head.
You adjust yourself with a wince.
"Ah, I.. it's fine. It.. wasn't.. either of them I don't think.. Yeah." You watch as she looks up towards you, puzzled.
"It.. wasn't them..? The security ca-" She's cut off.
"No." You pause.
"It wasn't them.. there's something wrong, but.. I'm going to fix it once I'm out of here. I promise." You sulk. Self-doubt is a bitch. You hope you can fix it.
She thinks for a moment. "..I.. kinda thought so. After they were.. stunned.. and rebooted, they were themselves, so to speak. Sun didn't seem violent in the chair, so w-"
You interrupt her suddenly. "You strapped him down in the chair? What did they do?"
She stares at you confused. "..Yeah, they had him strapped down. He was powered off at the time, so all they did was run diagnostics.. then they switched him on after nothing seemed to be the matter.. He only seemed kinda uncomfortable in the straps, not violent, so they took him back to th-"
You interrupt again. "No shit he was uncomfortable. He's been tortured in that chair from what I'm aware of."
There's a pause as Wendy's expression changes to shock.
You sigh. "Sorry. I just.. do the engineers know they can feel.. feel pain? They feel.. everything."
Wendy adjusts her body to face you, scooting up a little, concern drawing across her face. "They.. feel? Most of the others only have, like, basic sensory interfaces for what's absolutely necessary from what I'm aware of. Not necessarily pain unless something traumatic happens. So.. they can.. they feel everything?"
You raise your voice despite the aching in your chest. "Y-yeah!? They've.. they've been very vocal about it! Are all the bots there abused and neglected like this? W-what the fuck? Yeah! They can feel pain. Was.. was no one aware of this? Did they just not care!? I-I don't.. they're.."
"Hey." She speaks softly. You tilt your head up from where you're ranting. "I.. didn't know. I'm.. shit, I'm so sorry. I'll help you in any way I can to fix this. T-to help. Jesus.. I knew engineers had an aversion to them, but.. I always figured.."
You huff. "..It's fucked up that they had to go through that. I'm.. I'm fucking pissed, alright. A-and I barely know what else they've been through here, and I can only imagine every other robot in that building.."
She speaks cautiously. "But.. do they actually.. are they.. rea-"
"Yes. They're real. Just.. trust me on that for now, please. Regardless, even if they were an imitation, it's fucked up people just treat them like that. I-it's fucked. I.."
Her expression is genuine. "..I.. trust you."
You both pause, ruminating for a couple moments.
You two share an understanding and empathetic look you haven't been able to appreciate from another human in a while. (..Besides some of the medical staff here, briefly.)
She speaks first through the silence. "..O-okay. Back to the issue at hand currently. Gosh, I'm so sorry to talk about work here, but.."
"It's fine. I want to know if they're okay."
She frowns. "Well.. are they? What happened Sunday night, a-and with Monty at the entrance.. I mean.. i-is it a glitch? Virus? Have you known..?"
You relax a little in your pillow. "I.. had suspicions.. but I didn't know it was this bad.." You sigh.
"..I don't know about a glitch or a virus, but.. I do know them, a-at least I hope I do. A-and, I'm pretty sure, I'm really sure.. that wasn't Sun nor Moon." Your heart sinks a little as the memory replays. Your throat begins to tighten as you tense. You don't wanna do this again, not here, not with Wendy.
She notices your discomfort. "Hey, we don't have to talk about it anymore right now. I'll forward to management you're still on board, hopefully that'll buy us some time, and.. if the uh, investigators.. haven't visited already, don't bother answering anything other than confirming you're not going to break the contract. You don't have to answer anything else, and I really suggest you don't answer anything else, okay?"
You nod.
She sighs. "..Now.. I kinda broke the rules."
You look up in surprise.
"..What rules?"
She grins ever so slightly. "..I tried to talk with them - Sun and Moon. They wouldn't talk, let alone interact with anyone else, but, I guess you told them about me or something?"
You recall them peering over your shoulder the other day before you went down to fix Monty, they likely read everything she sent then.
"After I introduced myself, Sun came out, I only noticed given the blur of yellow and orange across the Daycare occasionally. He was really hesitant though. It definitely took some time; I was there for almost an hour. When he did finally reveal himself, he.. looked worse than he did on the security footage and when they pulled him out.. " She pauses to frown, somewhat knowing what that might entail.
"..But, when I did mention you were in the hospital, and should be okay, he seemed to perk up.. mmh, just a little bit." Her smile returns, however weakly.
"..They.. really like you. Really like you." She giggles for a moment before stopping herself. "..And.." She looks at you, grinning, almost smug.
"..It's okay if you like them too.. You're.. uhm.. you're not the first one to grow a crush on one of the animatronics there - o-or two." She finally lets loose her laugh she wasn't so subtly holding in as your face is painted a bright pink in violent embarrassment.
You lean back into the pillow as you bury your face in your arms.
"Fuck." You curse.
Wendy takes a break between her laughs. "A-and, it's okay! I totally can understand your little crush, as I said, I trust you that they're.. real. Just.. you kinda suck at hiding your feelings, no offense.
You groan in your arms as you wait for her to stop giggling.
The noise finally dies down. "You done?"
"Mmmh, Maybe."
She suddenly gasps a moment later. "Oh, duh, sorry - I kinda forgot. Yeah, they wanted me to give you something, well, Sun was out, but he assured me Moon wanted to as well." She bends down to dig through her bag.
You slowly uncover your eyes from your arms.
She reaches up, and in both hands on either side of her smile, she displays the plushies of Sun and Moon you wanted so badly the other night.
You exhale as you smile adoringly. "Holy shit."
She scoots over to hand them to you as your eyes begin to prickle with tears.
You can barely hold it in. "Fuck. Wendy. T-thank you. A-ah."
A tear escapes your eye as she giggles. "No problem, I'm really glad I can help."
You rest the plushies against your chest in your arms, admiring the little details of Sun's rays and Moon's nightcap. They're perfect.
Wendy watches as you smile, genuinely happy she could help. "If ya need anything else, just lemme know, okay? You can call or text anytime. I do gotta go soon though, but you have your phone and watch now at least! Tell them I said hi!" She grins.
You smile warmly and roll your eyes as the physical emotions you feel in your chest and tummy are actually good for a change. Fuzzy.
"Mmmh. No, you've been perfect. Seriously, thank you so much Wendy. I'd.. actually be screwed without you."
She walks over to collect the keys you're retrieving out of your bag. "Anytime. Can't wait to meet Mimi!"
You grin up at her. "Yeah, she's super sweet.. oh! There's also zoomba. My uh, roomba."
She looks back to you inquisitively before walking away, a grin creeping across her face. "Your.. roomba?"
"Ha.. uh, yeah. He says 'ow' anytime he bumps into something, just forewarning you."
She laughs as she wraps an arm around her stomach. You feel a bit silly, but her laugh is contagious when it's not right after flustering the fuck out of you.
You recover, through the pain and happiness. "..I.. told you not to make me laugh."
"Ah, sorry! You kinda brought that upon yourself. Zoomba the roomba. Which makes ow noises as it bumps into stuff.. gosh.. Alright, see ya later!" She smiles as she gathers her bag and pockets your keys.
You wave goodbye to each-other as she disappears out the door.
You exhale.
It's a few hours before anything else happens. You've been playing on your phone most of the time.
You'd.. you would try to text them, but you're afraid. And you hate yourself for that. What are you afraid of? They.. need you. Ugh. You need them.
You drop your phone to your lap as you look down at the plushies between your arms.
You groan as you begin to reach over for your watch, being careful not to twist and hurt yourself any further. You wanna be out of here soon. The doc was.. unfortunately right. Take it easy.
You're snapped out of your stretch as footsteps enter the room, jingling to accompany them.
Cops. And a nurse..
Shit.
Okay.
It's not fun. They ask you a bunch of questions, mostly consisting of, "Are things okay for you at home." to more direct approaches like, "Is someone abusing you."
You excuse the cuts and bruises, including the ones that are obviously bite marks around your neck, to the car crash and 'workplace accident'. You're likely tomato red the entire time, so you're not sure they buy it. Regardless, eventually they leave you alone - but not without handing you a slip that would give you a number to contact in case of genuine abuse.
You're glad they do these things, but upset they wasted their time on you. You hope they don't actually think you're being abused and won't tell them. You tried your best to make it very clear you were fine.
You don't have time after they exit to catch your breath before two guys in stupid little suits enter. Definitely the investigators. The entire time you strictly stick to only agreeing that you're sticking to the contract, nothing more. They pick up on your stubbornness rather quickly, thankfully leaving in only a few minutes.
You're not looking forward to anything more anxiety-inducing for the rest of the day thankfully, besides maybe trying to go to the bathroom and eating.
You relax.
Squeezing the plushies of your favorite robots.. - probably favorite people on this Earth, you eye your watch.
Intimidating. You need to let them know you're okay. You need to make sure they're okay.
Why are you afraid.
You care so much about them.
Why are you afraid.
Ugh. Alright.
You reach.
