"Okay. Is it ready to go?"

"Yeah, speaker is on now. You can start."

Static fills the room, jolting the lanky mechanical humanoid out of its damp, freezing dark corner.

Humming from the yellow fluorescent light above was the only sound he's been accustomed to for the past.. however long it's been since he'd taped the first sheet of paper onto the wall. The drawing and dozens of others that followed showcased crude scenery that adorned a sun just above it all. Sundrop was allowed paper, scotch tape, and drawing utensils, however only under supervision of the cameras. They didn't want to be cruel. It was a good exercise for his artificial creativity to learn and develop anyway.

"Hi Sun, get into the chair please".

He froze, and promptly began to shake upon hearing the voice. His CPU simulated ringing in his ears. He didn't move for a just a few seconds, head tucked into the corner a little tighter to drown out the noise.

Sun's body jolts involuntarily. Pain. Signals sent via the wires strung from the ceiling that he was connected to, replicating a pain response. The wires supplied him with power, allowed basic communication, and general updates to his software. A leash that'd beckon him to obey, a leash that kept him alive. He didn't know where the wires led past the exposed metal ceiling, but he was careful not to find out. The room was padded in some places, bare with sheet metal in others. The only idea of the outside of his cage so far was the handful of basic imagery and education that were preprogrammed into him. Sun. Trees. Grass. A few animals here and there. The moon.

The intercom buzzed. "The chair, Sundrop."

His self-learning AI was learning all the wrong things. Adapting to the dread. Learning and shaping his worldview from only so far knowing suffering.

He didn't want to see the chair again. He wanted it to stop. There was a door to the right of it, but he didn't dare to mess with the handle after the first time.

Shakily whirring up onto his knees, static in his voice box, he mumbled an almost incoherent "okay". Turning around, Sun reveals a bare faceplate, all the mechanical parts underneath exposed, attempting to move a cover that wasn't there. Blue, glimmering eyes, large and glaring stared into the emptiness - dilating the pupils as his vision jotted back and forth from the cold floor he was sitting on, to the chair he almost forgot existed through his attempts to dissociate.

Almost.

He just wanted to huddle in his safe spot a little longer. But that wasn't an option, unless he didn't mind them hurting him again. Following instructions, he has no choice. He hesitantly sat down in the dreaded metal chair at the center of the room, clenching what fingers he had into cold, metal palms.

As soon as he made contact with the chair, he was suddenly pulled back. He pauses, recovering from the brace, he shakily puts his arms slowly into the slots on the sides. Legs stiff and tense as they clamped down immediately upon interacting with the triggers that confirmed his limbs were in the correct positions.

The near unintelligible, staticky deep voice filled the room once more.

"Now, we're going to run the initial stimulus test as we always do, as well as running basic diagnostics and making sure you're working like you should be."

The whirring of fans and coolant flushing his system attempted to alleviate the heat producing in his core. His core - a rough and barren torso with minimal plating he was finally outfitted with sometime last week, protecting his sensitive internal components they'd still prod regardless. The modeling team began their initial work already, coordinating with everyone else to engineer an acceptable physical vessel until quality testing was over.

All so he could burn up on the inside.

"If everything checks out fine, then Andrew will be in as always to check that you're physically functioning correctly before we add some new parts and pieces to you like last week. Confirm that you understand."

Nodding.

"Yes or no. Confirm."

"y-.. Yes."

Ą̵̛̟̫͙̳̠͎̖̺̥̼̒́͗̾̈́̒̍̈̄͝A̷͍͉̖̺̦̗͙̽̈́̾͌͐̈́̒̇̔͂̓͜ͅĄ̴̗̭͓̤̖̈́Ä̷̮̮̲̺́Ã̷̛̜͔͙͌̆̇̂̈́̋A̸͖̠̻̹͇̫͛̇̿̔̉́̈́͜͝ͅA̴̧̘͖̗͎̹͓̫̔ͅA̶̝̳̅͊̔͝͠͝Ą̴̺̥̤̖͖̱̤͓̱̝̾A̷̮͇̫͇̞̙͒̐͛̈̕̚͠Ȁ̴̢̧̧͕͙̜̳̗̆̂̉͌̚͝A̶̳͉͓͖̹̯͆̕Å̸͕̙̓̒̉̓͝͝Â̶̺̺͖̌̏̉̍̈́Ä̵̳̞͙̼́̊́̋͂͝͝Á̶̠͓͈̬̪͇̺͛̑̿̈́͘͠Ḁ̵̡̬̜͍̹̜̈̅͜ͅA̸͉͛̎̔͊͆̈́͛͋̀̕A̸̡̧̨̜̖̹̞̣͓̋̎̿A̸̤̣̞̱̪͉̣͔̜͑̈̔̋̈̓͗͝Ä̵͈̻̟̻͔̱̗̣̹Ā̷͔͔̼̮̩̗̦͜ͅĀ̵͔̲̖̰̲͈̿́͂̂̓̏A̶̟̣̫̳̭̱̽̒͊A̴̧̟͍̓̓̈̚̚À̴̜̱͓̄͘͜ͅÁ̴̪̙̞̤̕͜Ą̸̢̡̱͉̦̯̫͚̟̾̌͑̿Ȁ̸̲̫͕̳̕̕A̸̡̡̞̣̹̬͇͕̲̞̝̿̇͋̽̽̈͝A̷̡̠̥̤͔̯̦̩͎̩͒͆A̸̜̝͂̅A̴̡̨̞͕̗̮̻̋͑́̆̀͘A̸̢̩̹̖̖͚͇̜̾̌̍̈́̿͛́́͝Ą̸̜̫̱̳̯̖͙͓́͐͘͜À̴̧̢̻̥̻̰̰̗̰̥̮̊̂̽̔̕͝A̷̹̬̹̲̭͔̭͌A̶̡͕̠̪͎͔͂̾̈́̒͜Â̶̛̰̜͙͔̼͚͚̔̏̊͒A̸̱̱̅͝A̶̧̡͒̊̕Ą̵̢̟̺̱̯̫͕̃͒̒̇͘͠A̵̛̱̔̍̾̔̇̿A̵̢̲͕͓̺̅͆̑̑̚͘͝͝͝Á̸̹̥̹̃Ǎ̵̢̛̦͕̠̻͕̳̙͙͊̐̽̂͜Ǵ̶̫͚̲̬͙͚̱̆̌̿̑͋̀̒̀͋̚͜H̴̢̛̙͈̰͎̭̬̍͋̋̓̆͛H̷̨̥̪̮̠̹̩͓̣̓͜͝

Screaming. Sparks flew, however not caused by damaging the product. The diagnostic team curiously observing the simulated screams of the robot routinely muted the live feed and patently waited for it to be over. After the stimulation and diagnostic programs finally finished their course, Andrew walked in after unlatching the door, opening up Sun's chest cavity before he had time to recover.

This time the robot was relatively quiet. The amount of pure sensory feedback during the first test was unavoidable. Sure, they could find a way to disable his voice box temporarily, but it wasn't really connected to any software that could communicate with the program he was hooked up to in the booth, so they didn't really bother if no one was in the room. It was sound proof after all, and the mute button worked just fine.

As Andrew proceeded working his way through Sun's abdomen, previously during the first few maintenance routines, Sun would scream - he would protest. It was conditioned out of him early on via the agonizing jolt sent to his artificial nervous system if he did so choose to be a little too loud. As disturbing as this may have been the first few times, it was necessary to make sure the sensory feedback receptors were working properly. Two birds with one stone. Efficient.

They couldn't have his chest being opened without the proper disabling of sensory deterrents to prevent anyone outside of authorized maintenance personnel from opening the outer exoskeleton, exposing his sensitive inner guts. It was the excuse for the automatic pain response. Just a program doing its intended job.

This time, and a couple of dozen times before, the only thing that came out was a muffled, staticky cry of protest. No screams, not while a technician was in the room operating. He knew it would be worse if he hurt the man's ears. His behavioral training was not over yet. The subtle noise was all the technician needed to knock the pain sensory response off the checklist. Otherwise, he'd of course ask the robot if Sun was still completely quiet somehow, which he never was.

"Can't believe they gave a robot anxiety", Andrew remarked before continuing.

Hours upon hours passed in a vivid blur. Sometimes, new parts were wheeled in, assuring future agony as he could only watch in dread. Outside the door to Sun's right, the hallway's walls and ceiling were made up of the same frigid metal he was once peacefully sitting upon. How far his prison stretched was a mystery. The floor was grated metal, which encouraged the deafening wobbling of the cart. The noise of all that metal as it was rolled over to the side of the operating table only encouraged the back of his throat to seemingly bubble up further in fear.

If only he could cry, if only they would let him. His cooling system fought the helpless panic and blatant traumatic stress he was forced to experience, however in vain. It didn't make it better - just prevented physical damage. It wasn't any more tolerable when they started attaching the parts. Somehow, and thankfully so, Sun doesn't remember the rest after they proceeded to attach the glossy. triangular rays into his still bare faceplate. His head was strapped down, and he was only conscious up until after the third ray. They didn't question the quiet, assuming it was the learning AI and threat response doing its thing - shutting down just like a human would under stressful conditions. Mimicking panic. Fear. Dread. Pain. it wasn't really questioned, nor worried over. It was how the robot was supposed to operate. It wasn't really alive after all. Just simulating life, right?

Memories. It wasn't the first time he'd blacked out either. The stress was constant. It was expected of him at this point, and when he didn't have to be on, they mercifully didn't wake him back up. He wished he was granted this sleep more times than not. No one was here to save him, no one was here to care. No one would ever be.

Memories.

"Yeah if you could just hang it up on the 4th rack over, hook it up, and make sure it's restrained properly. I'll get to work on it after I run diagnostics. Should be able to go to the observation room by 4:30 I'd say. It just needs the lower half of the endoskeleton first so it can do basic maneuvering."

"It's.. going to the observatory?" Jacob questioned as he latched the longer-than-usual robot's arms down into the generic exoskeleton restraints.

"Chelsie. Aren't they supposed to be out of the modeling phase before they go to personality and quality testing and whatever the fuck else they do in there? ..That's an endoskeleton. The CPU is literally exposed. You've got the circular head and beady eyes, but I'm not too sure it's ready for export - unless someone wants to be fucking scarred at the sight of it."

Lifting her head up from the computer after she had begun opening diagnostic and recording programs on left and right, she let out a slight giggle, "Oh. Uh, yeah, but the Faz client sent in yet another order a bit late for a 'Daycare Attendant'. They brought in a supervisor to list their specifications, necessary operations, responsibilities and everything. Lots of fuckin' paperwork. We're uh, kinda sorta a bit rushed – but it's nothing we can't handle."

Jacob nodded, still observing the details and inner workings of the presumably generic exoskeleton that didn't seem so generic the longer he looked.

"We'll just have the rest of the operations and modeling work done in there. Hope it being conscio- I mean, online - most of the time doesn't interfere with that. I'm sure they'll have some work-arounds."

Strung up and plugged in, the diagnostics ran. It would boot online the bot's AI which was almost fully constructed already by the coding division a few wings down. It wasn't supposed to stay on for longer than the program needed to verify everything was simply working properly.

Flailing. It was supposed to stop. It also wasn't supposed to be moving its arms more than a few inches. Let alone its body. Jacob made the mistake of standing a little too close to the rack that would hold animatronics for basic testing and assembly. There was yellow and black tape laid out on the ground. He was past it. He would've likely been fired if not sternly talked down to by his boss as the security cameras captured every second of the incident. Every second, from when the exoskeleton broke its restraints and fell to the ground, taking Jacob with it - to when EMTs entered the warehouse with a stretcher and trauma equipment.

"W..What.. Why. What happened? P-..Please? O-oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. ö̵̹͚́̀h̴̟̄̈́ ̴̑́́. Cl-Cl-Clean.. up.. Are you.. -are you o-o..kay? I did.. didn't mean. Didn't mean. Didn't mean. Didn't mean. Oh.. God. I'm so. s..sorr-Y̸̧̳̽̑̈́͝Ỷ̸̨͔̼͔̀̇̕Y̴͖͑̎̎Y̵̱͉̿̆͝Y̷̹̬͎̍̉ͅŸ̶̺͇̠Ÿ̴̧̮̬̬Y̶̧̑͒-"

The voice box ceased its ramblings after a screech. The emergency stop was hit as the exoskeleton's arms dropped Jacob's head from where it was cradling it after the initial hit he took while the diagnostic check failed to shut off the robot once it was done running.

There was blood, broken bone or two. Some pierced out of his skin. Chelsie was out of the job on paid leave for a few weeks after that. Paid therapy too, of course. As far as Sun knew - from that point on, he killed the man. He had no idea what to believe otherwise.

Death was something he understood by default despite knowing he wouldn't get the opportunity to experience it himself anytime soon.

No matter how much he wanted to.

The manufacturing of Sundrop and Moondrop: the Daycare Attendants, continued.

There was nothing more to it, everyone in the manufacturing facility were just there to do their jobs and make the best of animatronics licensed by the Fazbear corporation this time around. It was a bit different from the usual contractors. Not many companies that took their services were entertainment of all things. No, usually it was combat units, or advanced AI creation - not necessarily needing a physical body at times. But for this, both robotics engineering and computer programming divisions worked together to meet their sizable and demanding order. They didn't need much of the weapons division until.. later. This type of order was unique, but nothing they couldn't really handle, not if they wanted the very generous paycheck it would reward. After all, they had brilliant scientists coordinating with programmers to create a pseudo-sentient AI capable of learning and acting as if it was a living being, but of course it wasn't really alive, surely.

Despite the quiet breakthrough they made a few weeks prior.

Everyone was just doing their jobs.. No matter how loud it got sometimes - no matter how realistically the robots would portray themselves as human. Sometimes, employees needed a break from working with specific animatronics and robots, but never in the capacity that this new order created. It was hyper-realistic AIs that resided in these mechanical suits. That wasn't something they were going to lie about. However It was made clear - these were not living things.

Do your jobs, it's fine. Regardless, even if they looked like they were suffering, their memories should be wiped as soon as they passed final inspection and did not require further manufacturing other than routine maintenance. After that it was a basic introduction to their roles and workplaces, and off they should go without issue.

Like it was all a dream, forgotten after they wake.