You pull in, and relax in your seat a little before getting out.
Your hands remain on the wheel, and you admire the bead bracelets Sun and Moon both made to match the ones you created for them the other day at some point when you weren't as busy. Yellow and red on your left wrist, purple and blue on the other.
You watched as they used April's bracelet box to make them. Sun made his before Moon came out later that night, and made his in the bed, referencing the one already around his wrist below gold and black ribbons. They were surprisingly dexterous. Their large hands and long fingers didn't have trouble at all threading the beads. Not even struggling to tie the knots. They did it with ease. After they finished, they gently but firmly wrapped their fingers around your wrist, stabilizing it while they slid the new bracelets on. Their fingers could wrap around your wrist almost twice.
Frost builds up on the edges of your windshield, yet even with the cloudy gray skies above, you're warm inside.
You remove the keys from the ignition, grab your backpack, and step outside.
Retrieving the box waiting outside, you hastily unlock your door.
The absence of meows and nuzzles bombarding you as you entered cooled your heart down to a more frigid temperature much like the outside air. Mimi is safe and sound with Wendy and April. They're taking wonderful care of her, having sent videos of her chasing a laser pointer and taking up way to much of a bed as she sprawled out in the sunlight.
At least the ow's rather than meow's can satisfy you until you get a little more time to yourself, and can see her again. Zoomba doesn't need as much maintenance as a living animal, but that doesn't mean you won't treat it as such whenever you're able to.
You set the box down onto the kitchen bar, and throw your backpack onto the chair after zipping back up a pocket from where you just opened it.
Zoomba should turn on at some point while you're here. It's currently asleep in its charging port against the wall. You won't be met with any Ow's yet, but it's probably for the best as you replace some stickers it has peeling off.
You decorate it with the abundance of stickers Sun and Moon offer at their disposal, peeling off old ones that they gave you which you placed onto it at some point. They must be getting worn with how much Zoomba sneaks under furniture and scrapes its top.
Pretty symbols of stars, suns, moons, and of course their own cartoonishly depicted designs which they certainly have too little of. It brightens up the black roof of Zoomba, and once you're satisfies, you kneel back up and head to the kitchen with the old stickers in hand.
You stare at the stickers for a bit, worn and torn, although unusable, it still feels a little bad to throw them away. You do anyway, and turn to the fridge for something to eat finally.
You eat next to the box that arrived earlier. A simple sandwich. You're exhausted, and you just came for the box. You really don't have the energy for anything else. Thankfully Sun has been suppling you with snacks and to-go boxes of the best meals he can find in the Plex when possible. You of course gave him your card so he wouldn't be stealing, and he adventures throughout the Plex and retrieves a few after handing off the last kid to their parent. He's grown a lot more confident, and you've made it very clear that he is allowed to be outside of the Daycare. You're not tolerating any shit recently, and just about everyone knows it. Sun always returns without any issues, and stores the meals in the breakroom fridge for the next day.
He'd do it even if you wouldn't reward him with a kiss on the cheek, baggy eyes and soft smile adorning your pretty face as you look up at him with gratification.
You rinse off your plate, and head upstairs with your backpack.
You stuff a few new pairs of clothes into the backpack, probably needing to find another spot for the blaster you won at FazerBlast the other.. week? Time is weird.
You exhale after zipping up the backpack, suddenly exhausted. You sigh and fall backwards into your bed. It's a mess, abandoned for Sun and Moon's instead. You sink into it regardless, and pull the plushies of themselves they gifted you close to your chest.
Beginning to stretch, as soon as you relax, you're so incredibly lightheaded. You fall limp for a second, and await your vision to return.
Your FazWatch buzzes against your wrist, and you slowly raise it to your face.
Moondrop
Better be back before naptime, Limelight. Best to not make me wait until tonight, no. Far too long.. unless you are napping. Be safe.
It takes you a whole four minutes to type a response after unclipping the watch and pulling out its little keyboard.
You
yea ill be there. dont think i can sleep anyway. getting ready to leave now though, cya in a bit moonie. 3
You clip back on the watch, and crawl out of bed.
Splashing water on your face helps for a few seconds, but your hope for a state of consciousness not plagued by exhaustion quickly fades. Dark eyes, sun and moon earrings.
You adjust your backpack and head down the stairs as a symphony of little ow's fill the air. You grab the box, and lock the door behind you as you return to the cold for just a moment.
Luckily the Plex has employee parking. The actual lot is twice as big as the Plex itself. It's Thursday, so not as busy as tomorrow will be.
Certainly not as busy as the upcoming announced weekends it'll be opened for. Besides the Superstar Daycare due to Sun's.. problem, it's been publicly announced that most other areas of the Mega Pizzaplex will be available during the weekend. Next weekend. This includes the Glamrock's performances, visitations in their greenrooms, and parties they'll be booked for.
The leak of Sun blacking out and almost.. killing you, hasn't really affected you publicly, but the Daycare has experienced a noticeable drop in popularity since then. PR is doing all they can - claiming the footage as doctored and fabricated. There have certainly been worse stunts encouraging defamation against large conglomerates recently with realistic deepfakes and rapidly advancing and publicly available CGI software. They're actually handling it pretty well, especially with you not coming out and making any sort of statement. You're not fucking with them legally right yet, that's for sure. Bigger problems.
Sun of course is certainly a little upset at the decrease in kids he's been taking care of, but it should return to normal soon. The Daycare is still pretty lively, but he says he does notice a few missing faces. You hope you can resolve everyone being overworked soon, since it'll certainly include Sun and Moon once the Daycare returns to normal, and especially after you fix Sun's glitch.
The weekend openings are really only going to affect everyone else for now if you can't execute your plan before next weekend. Not like parents statistically need babysitters on weekends anyway, but you're sure the company will still exploit any opportunity at profit regardless.
Freddy didn't have to break the news. It's advertised everywhere.
Dom has to help some other on-call maintenance workers reinstall the glass window in Monty's room. Besides him punching it out yesterday night, he's been rather docile otherwise. It's just been that incident.. so far. They chalked it up to an accident, but Freddy let Dom know what he thinks, and Dom informed you this morning via text.
You just hope he's not gonna be a problem in a bit when you meet with all the Glamrocks here in just a few hours. You've gotta discuss the exact details of the plan you have, and finalize some decisions before executing it ASAP.. Hopefully tomorrow.
No one really has Monty on a leash. He's a ticking time bomb in your eyes. 2125 PSI of bite force ready to obliterate anything in its jaw with just a little snap.
You brought up the concern to Sun at some point, and Moon brought it back up before bed. Ambiguous threats that he thinks would solve everything, you brushed off after stating, again, not to cause any issues. Kieran is out of the equation for now. You don't want to replace him with Monty.
You squeeze past people crowding the outside Entrance, and hurry off to the far right side behind the turnstiles and hundreds of people awaiting entry. The blinding neon and deafening roar of crowds fill your senses, louder and brighter by the second. You quickly unlock the maintenance door with the badge around your neck, and enter the tunnels.
The ringing in your ears rises and returns after the loud clang of the door behind you slams shut. You can't hear the muffled voices of visitors like you usually do.
You ignore it, and navigate the maze.
The Daycare hallway is quiet and soothing. The only sound is your footsteps and a parent's leaving after presumably dropping off his kid. He walks towards the exit on the opposite side of the plastic oasis separating the routes to the Entrance and maintenance tunnels.
You walk through the opened gate, and the lobby's lights are dimmed. Through the glass window overlooking the Daycare, darkness consumes an empty void of a blurry and dull spectrum of colors.
Moon's probably worried. You technically didn't get here before naptime.
You make your way down the side stairs, and around to the large wooden doors of the main entrance to the Daycare.
There's limited lighting here too, dim enough not to disturbs kids if the doors were to open, yet bright enough to see somewhat clearly.
You adjust your backpack and open the imposing doors which tower above you. They're surprisingly quiet for their size, regardless of opening or shutting. It takes some force for them to make any noise, which you certainly do not have.
You quietly step onto the padded floor, slowly making your way to the security desk. Soothing, quiet nighttime ambience replaces the Daycare Theme, white noise lulling children to rest.
Your head is on a swivel, as the kids a few meters in front of the desk in the napping area are suspiciously missing their guardian.
As soon as you begin to look up after hearing a faint creak, a hand is wrapped firmly around your face, covering your mouth.
You jump a little, however slowly but surely, you're growing used to his scares. His large hand covering half your face muffles the reflexive yelp, and he grins down at you, upside-down with white eyes burning into your retinas.
He removes his other hand from the back of your neck and gradually aligns itself with his faceplate, following it as a finger stays vertically centered in the middle of his lips, hushing you. Both his faceplate and hand turn to keep the expression as it spins to stare at you rightside-up. His body is motionless, floating above you. As soon as he's satisfied you're docile, he alleviates the pressure against your face.
You roll your eyes and hide the faint upturn of your cheek creeping onto you as you continue to the desk.
Moon disappears into the dark, and you make yourself comfortable at the desk's chair.
You pull the little box out of your backpack, it noticeably bulging from the clothes and rectangular cardboard container testing its capacity. Luckily you left your laptop here instead of taking it with you. Probably would've bent and broke at this point.
You look over the desk, and spot Moon appearing from under the bridge connected the two giant play structures, returning from the entry slide. He's hunched down and making himself as small as realistically possible, not needing to duck with how arched over he is. He has to be only about six feet tall as he slouches down. Slowly, he approaches, guiding a little girl gently with her hand in his, Moon's other arm hanging limp, dangling in front of him. Her hand only really wraps around two of his fingers under closer observation. She squeezes one of the many teddy bear plushies the Daycare supplies, and stares up and over at Moon cautiously, refusing to glare elsewhere.
He releases her hand from his fingers and stops a little before the naptime area. He slowly leans down, gesturing both his hands together and against the side of his faceplate expressing him sleeping, before looking over to the kids napping a few meters away as the girl follows his gaze.
Audible enough for her to hear him, but quiet enough as to not disturb the children, he speaks.
"Naptime."
His soft, soothing deep voice assuring she understands.
He expresses the same hushing gesture he gave to you just a minute ago. Her grip which was seconds earlier reserved to squeeze the plushie against herself, slowly relaxes, noticing the other kids, resting peacefully on their mats, tucked in and safe. White noise of nighttime nature sounds soothes the atmosphere of the Daycare during naptime, complimenting the thousands of pretty glowing stars on the ceiling and luminous moon on the distant wall under the balcony. One of his hands slowly creep into her vision, and as soon as he has her attention again, he magically conjures a moondrop from thin air, brief fancy motions of his fingers captivating her in the spectacle of the trick. Ribbons wave, beads click, and he commands his bell to quietly ring just once. With a wave of his fingers, it's unwrapped, and he offers it to the girl, letting her take it and observe the candy for a second before slowly putting it into her mouth.
He carefully takes her hand, and quietly guides her over to an empty mat at one side's edge row, accommodating dozens of dreaming children. He lowers himself to his knees, and tucks her in with the teddy bear as whatever drug in the moondrop dissolves and takes effect. He smiles warmly down at her while executing the task of ensuring her comfort. He rapidly spins his faceplate to which you think she weakly giggled at, surprisingly. His nightcap flutters and he lifts a hand to his head, holding it against it while he sways and imitates dizziness.
Moon hums, barely audible to you, a gentle melody guiding her into sweet dreams after soft innocent giggles settle.
He watches her for a few minutes as she drifts away, admiring the peaceful state she had succumbed to. A glint of metal eventually sparkles behind him, and he's promptly lifted up into the darkness.
You're not able to tell where he is when you look up. The stars that would be obscured by him swimming through the air twinkle, glimmering chaotic, yet soothing sparkles . They're indistinguishable from Moon eclipsing them.
He's only ever seen when he wants to be.
Luckily for you, your eyes are something he can't get enough of.
He slowly descends over the side of the desk, cupping his hands against the bottom of faceplate. He stares at you, his body upside-down, head closest to the ground situating itself to spin rightside-up. His knees bend a little forward, behind, and over him. It's like he's mid-dive, ceasing his fall to observe something that powerfully denied even gravity.
He's sure to remain quiet, even as his curiosity ignites noticing the out of place box on the desk next to you.
"Mmh, wise not to test our patience too long. What is in it?" He leans a little forward, and you reach your hand over the box, securing it to the table.
You lean forward towards him in retaliation. "You'll get it after the kids are gone. I'm taking it with me to talk with the Glamrocks, so, you'll have to wait a little longer." You grin a little at the finger you have wrapped around him. Curiosity seems to be a weak spot they both share.
He unwraps himself, and lowers to the floor while his hook retreats into the night sky. He plants his hands firmly on the side of the desk as he towers over it, a good meter above you as he leans forward.
He's silent for a little, staring into your soul, but you don't budge one bit.
He hums, and relaxes himself backwards. "..Hint?"
You grin as you play with the bracelets around your wrist. "You'll see, don't worry about it for now. Promise I'll show you here in a few hours when the Daycare closes, okay?"
Moon sulks, and turns to observe the children. "..You'll show Sun."
You tuck the box a little closer to you with one hand, trading the other to reach over for his arm. You barely reach it, and pull it up so you can hold his hand. "Not necessarily. You can be out when we unbox it, if you want."
He turns back to you briefly, looking down into your eyes, but retreats away just as quick.
"Okay."
You yawn, and squeeze his hand. "Just.. lemme know of anything you want, or are concerned about Moonie. Please. I'm never gonna just.. not listen, or anything."
He slowly lowers himself to his knees, still able to have his chest visible over the side if he sits up. He rests the arm not occupied in your hand on the side, parallel with the edge, and lays his faceplate on top of it. His nightcap settles, and the fluffy star lays against the desk. His outstretched arm is forced closer to you, accepting your touch.
His gaze remains focused on the dozens upon dozens of kids resting peacefully a couple meters away, in-between the security desk, and left most play structure.
You hold his hand, interlocking fingers. Laying down against the desk similar to how he is, you use your other hand to gently trace nails up and down his exposed arm, caressing soft silicone-like material not occupied by ribbons or the bracelets you share with him.
His hand engulfs yours, his fingers locked with yours easily, wrapping over and reaching the top of your wrist. He sighs, and finally joins your eyes.
"..Not much time with you. Working, or sleeping. Miss you." His eyes lid.
Your heart falls just a bit in your chest. "..Moonie.. I've gotta. I'm not risking this in the slightest. I, uh.. might have a few other ideas I could try that won't take as long as manually reviewing raw code, but.." You sigh. "..We'll talk about it later. It won't be like this forever. This just, has, to get done. I have to figure this out. I.. you know what happens if I don't. You both do."
Moon observes the children again, taking a few seconds before answering.
"..And you know I will burn this building to the ground before I allow that to happen, yes?" He faces you again, face void of emotion, white eyes static and calculating.
You sink into your arm. "The nuclear option doesn't spare you, just takes everything else with you."
He doesn't reply.
You look up. "..I just need like.. two more weeks. The Glamrock issue shouldn't take too long. A few days, maybe the weekend. I'll talk to you both about it later, I'm just.. really tired now. Gonna go get stuff set up with Freddy and the others, and that issue will be resolved in the following days, maybe even tomorrow. I.. swear."
He hums. He doesn't believe you.
Neither of you release each others hands.
He returns to overseeing the kid's naptime. A minute passes, enjoying your touch, caressing his arm, gently tracing your fingers up and down it.
Moon's faceplate ticks, and he quickly swivels his head to you.
"..Is Monty going to be there?" He faintly scowls.
You nod. "He won't be an issue. Everyone else will be there too. Besides, his control chip is still active. I'll be safe."
He suppresses a growl. "Why can you not simply meet with Freddy, Limelight."
You sit up a little. "All of them have to know the plan. They have to know what to expect, and what they might have to do. Unfortunately, that might include Monty. I doubt he'll need to do anything at all, but.. it's best to address everything all at once, with all of them present."
Moon isn't convinced.
You squeeze his hand. "..Besides, I disabled the soft reset. He's not trapped inside his own head or whatever anymore. He'll be conflicted at the very least, probably.. He's not gonna do anything, especially not with everyone else there. Has he caused any issues since then? Besides.. breaking his window.."
Moon's white pinpricks dim a little. "..Has he?"
You roll your eyes. "You'd know. I know better than to think you're not keeping tabs on him whenever possible. You definitely were with Kieran."
He pauses for a few seconds before turning away from you, back to the kids. "..Be safe. Be quick."
You tightly squeeze his hand, rubbing his forearm with your other, your nails having all the potential to elicit goosebumps if he could produce any. "I will. I'll try."
You yawn.
You fell asleep against the desk for a few minutes at some point. You woke up to a blanket over you as the lights clicked on, and the Daycare theme resumed.
Moon tried his best. You have an alarm for two anyway. About thirty minutes from now. You've gotta be on time. The Glamrocks only have half an hour between their next performance.
Pushing the blanket behind you, you stretch and listen to Sun consoling the kids, some upset about being abruptly woken up. You definitely empathize.
He hands out sundrops, and guides the kids over to stretch a little after waking up. You smile warmly at his animated little movements, how he doesn't reach his tippy toes when bending down so the kids who can't really stretch that far don't strain themselves attempting to match Sun. He finishes, and passes out star stickers to everyone with spinning rays and a beaming smile. After congratulating everyone, he gets to work organizing some activities. He turns on the Elefun thing, sets out puzzles, supplies coloring books, and provides drawing supplies.
You're tempted to open your laptop and get a few minutes of reading code in, but, you'd only finish a couple dozen lines. You'll just watch Sun do his thing for once.
He's drawing with the kids. It's cute. He teaches them stuff he knows, and tips he used, while making it simple enough for them to understand. He creates his own examples, and draws alongside them, making sure his final product isn't better than the kids'.
You smile and get lost in simply admiring him.
Over the next twenty minutes, he plays hide and seek with some kids, puts on a little performance with stuffed animals for another group that's interested, and fishes a few out of the ballpit when they grow claustrophobic and forget which way is up, somehow.
During hide and seek, whenever a kid is the seeker, most of the other kids crowd around Sun. It makes it pretty hard for him to find a good hiding spot if he doesn't get a head start, but you have a feeling it wouldn't be the best he could come up with anyway. Giggling always gives their position away, and the seeker finds almost a dozen when they find Sun trying his best to be animatedly sneaky. He peers out behind corners as the kids erupt in laughter when he dramatically pulls away and leans tightly against the wall to avoid being caught, gesturing a hush with his finger. You can't help but join the laughter and giggle a little.
The plays he puts on are a bit inaudible for you, but he always entrances most of the Daycare with the growing amount of children audibly gasping and intently enjoying how he expresses the story he comes up with. You wonder if Moon helps him a little. He uses little blocks as props, and sketches scenes on paper which would be easier to illustrate in drawing. Once or twice he put together a little castle out of building blocks, and drew what looked like a pretty landscape with one of the stuffed animals adorned in armor or something. As the kids sit criss-cross on the padded floor surrounding him, he's rarely sitting down with them. He animates the story with a smile, rays spinning intently, capturing the attention of everyone he possibly can. He gives each kid a close up view of drawings and props he builds with the blocks, explaining their significance. He even lets a few kids keep them after he's finished, making sure they know the importance of sharing. The applause the last few days you'd hear every so often suddenly makes sense, having been too entranced in your work deciphering sections of code you exported from Sun.
Kids of course are pretty upset when they can't escape the ballpit, but whether it's them getting stuck, or someone getting hurt somehow, Sun is always there with a caring and positive attitude, making sure the kid is okay physically, all the while calming them emotionally. Everything was so natural to him. He flowed while taking care of the children like water, following an innately predetermined current ever so naturally. It was admirable.
You slip, and are pulled out of your adoration of Sun currently helping a group of kids build a giant tower out of Lincoln-Logs. Your hands resting against your face, elbows supporting them onto the desk falter as a little voice calls out your name from the side.
He peeks over from the right side of the security desk. "You aren't busy anymore? Do you wanna play with mister Sun!? Can you?"
You take a moment to respond, looking over at the kid curiously questioning you suddenly. You blink and relieve your elbows supporting your head. "..Oh. Uh, I'm taking a break.. Xavier. I'm gonna go soon though."
You're surprised you remembered his name. He came up to a few times before in the past week, but Sun always called out to him and gently guided him away before you could really respond.
He gives that little look kids give when they're not satisfied with your answer. He quickly looks over to Sun currently occupied with searching for a lost kid in the ballpit on the other side of the Daycare, and then back to you. "You're always busy! You should play with us and Sundrop! Please!? He never lets me talk to you, but I think you're cool. He thinks so too! Are you scared of him? He's very big but very nice, it's okay! He's cool too!"
You smile and exhale sharply out of your nose in amusement. "Uh, hm. I might sometime, just.. not today. Don't worry though, I'm not scared of him bud. He is pretty cool." You check your watch. You should get going here in about five minutes. You're reminded of your first day here, and how you and Sun played tag with the kids. It was.. really fun. Really fun. Super tempting. If only you weren't so exhausted and busy. Kids aren't too bad in small doses, and you certainly can't get enough of Sun.
Xavier lights up. "Yeah! You've been looking at him a lot! You have the same bracelets as him, a-and earrings that look like his face! And Moondrop's! He looks at you a lot too, and he always shares snacks with you when it's snacktime. Do you like him? Do you live here!? My teachers live at my school I think, do you stay with them? Are you-"
Sun suddenly swoops down and scoops up Xavier from under the arms and lifts him effortlessly as kids begin to swarm around the desk, following. "Friend! We shouldn't bother my assistant, veryvery busy, do you want to play tag!? We can play sososo-"
Xavier protests violently, wriggling like a cat trying to free himself. He's loud. "No! I think they have a crush on you! You should let them come play! You like them too! You look at them a lot, a-and they look at you too! They've been looking at you since naptime! T-They wanna come and play with us! And you!"
Sun sets the kid down as he begins attempting to kick at his chest. Sun holds him by his hand, and leans down to him. "That is not very nice! We should not assume things about other people like that, nono! We're going t-to go to timeout, okay? I won't tell your parents if you are nice and behave, though, okay friend?"
Sun leads him away, and sits him down at one of the tables used for snacktime and/or arts and crafts over to the right of the main door. He lightly scolds Xavier while he refuses to meet Sun's eyes, crossing his arms and pouting. Sun's completely helpless to the new abundance of kids crowding the security desk, having witnessed the spectacle.
You're stunned at the barrage of questions, and only watch as Sun promptly rushes over to herd the kids away, failing for a couple seconds.
He makes a deal. "O-okay, FizzyFaz for everyone who joins Xavier at the arts and crafts table, yes!" Announcing it loud enough for the whole Daycare to hear.
It works, mostly. A few kids hover around Sun and question him about his crush. They tug on his baggy yellow and red striped pants, and look up at him with hopeful curious little eyes. He simply dismisses the pleas and guides them off to the proper direction. "Not something to address now, nono. If you want soda, you should go join your friends, pretty pretty please?" He clasps his hands together and smiles weakly, rays retreating hoping it soothes the situation.
They groan and the situation is finally defused. For now.
You begin stuffing the box into your backpack. You smile up and over at Sun. "..So, you think more soda is a good idea?"
He clasps his hands around his rays. "Sososo sorry, was the only way to get them to behave.. besides another snacktime. Are you okay, Sunflower?"
You giggle. "Yeah, I'm fine Sunny. Are you? How are ya gonna explain your little crush? Most of the Daycare knows aaaaall about it now. They're probably gonna tell their parents and everything." You zip up your bag, and walk out around the desk, stopping in front of him with a grin.
You look over at the kids, and Sun does the same.
All observing you both, chattering while intently staring with curious eyes. You're sure they've all whispered amongst each other, updating the ones absent on the situation.
Sun sighs. "..Mmh, yes.. I will.. handle it." He whines. "I-I should get them their soda, before they get inpatient, yes.."
You smile up at him. "Uh-huh." You give him a quick hug, squeezing around him before pulling away and stepping towards the door. "See ya, Sunshine."
The kids all orchestrate in unison. "Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."
You wave goodbye with a smile, and Sun sulks a little, dreadfully preparing to address the kids. "B-be safe.. Sunflower.."
The door shuts behind you, and the Daycare explodes with muffled chattering of children.
Parts and Service.
The dull black and gray room is depressing, but currently unused and private. Luckily all the Glamrocks apparently have an elevator leading directly down here, hidden behind the large capsule at the back of the room.
They're already here. Chica, Roxy, and Freddy talking among each other to the right of the Upgrade and Repair module. Monty crosses his arms and leans against the opposite beige tiled wall, separated from the group. Their bright colors seem so out of place is such a dreadful environment. Cold and callous.
Dom surprises you a bit after he pops up from one of the lower drawers on your left. He uses his boot to shut the filing cabinet a few meters past the light switches, along the wall. He quickly joins you near the main entrance to the room, following as you walk over to the computer station on the right. He adjusts his dark blue beanie, proceeding to get started right away. "Hey. Alright, so, we need to decide who'll take the rigged power supply. After that, you'll have to install it tomorrow before the shows, and then forge diagnostics for later use."
He sets down the folder onto the metal desk. You join him as he opens it. "PSU blueprints?"
He nods and smiles. "Yep, should be easy to fry it. Your idea works pretty well. There are a few conditions, though.."
At some point you did discuss the Glamrocks being overworked with Walker. It went as expected. He didn't budge. One of their multi-million-dollar animatronics catching fire on stage in front of potentially thousands of visitors might encourage a better response, however.
The Glamrocks stare from across the room, awaiting any input from you or Dom. You call out to Freddy. "You guys can join us now."
Freddy nods and approaches as Chica and Roxy follow. Monty remains a few meters behind them, lurking far enough to be uninvolved, but close enough to listen in. You definitely don't have a problem with him ignoring you.
You lean over the table, your palms supporting yourself against it, meeting startlingly cold metal. "Ah, do.. any of you know if me and Dom are the only technicians scheduled for tomorrow? Really important we're the only ones to inspect and diagnose the aftermath."
Freddy clasps his hands together, nodding. "Yes, according to the schedule, you and Domingo will be the only ones available tomorrow afternoon. If I am not mistaken, any others are likely on-call.. But, tomorrow?"
You sigh. "Uh, yeah. I know. It'd be possible, though, right?" You turn to Dom.
He studies the blueprints for a moment before replying. "..Yep, looks like it. Just like you suggested the other day, I can apply excess compound-like adhesive internally to the PSU. It'll be conductive, encouraging the overheating. I studied their energy draw while you've been working on Sun's issue. It shouldn't ignite or reach a critical temperature as long as the animatronic does not move whatsoever. Walking around draws tons of energy. It'll be more than enough to heat it up and burn the board, starting a fire that'll destroy most of the battery's components all at once.." He pauses, and looks down a little. "..But, uh.. I don't know how quickly the fire'll spread.. As long as it's put out ASAP, we should be all good."
You hum, and think for a moment. "..We should be fine? So, there's still a chance something bad happens? Something unexpected..? It won't ignite prematurely or fail to in the first place?" You cease your rambling, noticing how you sound. "..Uh, sorry, I.. know how much effort you've put into this, but.. one of them is gonna be literally ignited. We really don't want to damage any other hardware. I'm.. worried."
He nods, holding up a finger before retreating to the opposite side of the room, retrieving something.
Carrying something in a container, he sets it on the table with a clang of metal.
Removing the lid, he reveals what's inside.
"..I've already test run it. Benchmarked. I gave this one the exact same treatment I plan to with one going inside the bots. The threshold which standard overheating begins is about 70 degrees celsius. We only need around 60 degrees for the adhesive to begin burning, which is conveniently the temperature it'll average out at with neurological and motor systems running at once. Their PSUs are advanced, but usually can regulate themselves around the same temperature as most desktops today - about 40-45 degrees being their standard operating temperature when not under a full load."
He sighs, noticing the worry still present on your face. "As for the variables we can't replicate, such as how quickly it'll really spread internally before it can be extinguished.. I'm not sure. The most important thing is that it doesn't reach the CPU or storage drives, right? In their heads? It shouldn't get that far. I-it won't. The PSUs are installed in the lower abdomen."
You take a moment to breathe and process the sudden abundance of information. You pinch your nose. You study the fried PSU in the box, definitely destroyed. "..You already test ran it. Okay.. good.. Uhm, yeah.. I just.. thought this wouldn't be as risky. It does make me feel a little better that you verified the battery's response, but.. yeah."
He frowns. "Yeah, I know, but it's not a giant concern, I seriously do doubt it'll be an issue. It'll certainly cut power to the bot instantly. We'll only have to replace the power supply after this is all over. We just need someone to volunteer. Doesn't really matter who, they all use about the same amount of energy."
Roxy squints down at the power supply, and back to Chica. She groans. "Yeah, not gonna be Chica. No way." She meticulously adjusts her bundle of green hair at the front of her head, before crossing her arms.
Chica leans around Roxy, a hand clasping her bright red shoulder pad, obviously opposed to Roxy speaking for her. "Roxy.. I-"
Roxy covers Chica's hand at her shoulder. "No idea how it'll react in one of us. It's not going to be you."
Dom crosses his arms. "Well.. as long as the fire doesn't spread too quickly, and-"
Roxy interrupts again. "I don't care. Can't be me either, I'm not popular enough for anyone to really care."
Freddy sighs, and his ears drop. "..It is okay. I already volunteered, Roxanne."
"No."
Monty growls a few meters behind the group.
Freddy turns, and tilts his head a little. "..What, Monty? I am more than okay with using the modified battery. I will be okay. We have STAFF bots and fire extinguishers ready to be used."
Monty's purple tinted, star outlined glasses hide his eyes. He uncrosses his arms, and slowly begins walking towards the table. Each step releases a thud from the ground, all until Roxy and Chica have moved out of the way, and he stops at the end of the table.
Roxy takes Chica's hand, and begins walking towards the back. She briefly waves. "Later, Dom." Freddy watches as Chica frowns back at him, being dragged off towards their elevators. They enter Roxy's.
Freddy sighs.
Monty slowly rests his palms against the table, leaning forward just slightly as you back up a step. The table divides you two, but you're still growing anxious. Your heart drops a little as memories forcefully overtake you.
Monty turns to Freddy.
"I'm taking the battery. Understand?"
His voice is low and gravely, but the words bring you back a little.
You blink, and collect yourself. "What?"
Monty snaps to you. "You don't have a choice in this either, handler. I'm taking the battery. Shut up, and stay out of the way."
Dom grows a little uncomfortable to your left, putting the lid back over the box and sliding it closer to him. "Uh.. Well, you won't be able to move. At all. We'll have you carted under the stage and onto the rising platform, from there, you should be able to sit up. You'll black out about half a minute after, though."
Low clicking emanates from his voicebox. His grip on the metal table below tightens. "Whatever. I'm sick of this, kid. When is it being installed?"
You lean forward. "Monty. Why?"
Freddy's ears return to their lowered position, and he hovers his hand over Monty's shoulder briefly before deciding not to touch him. "..Yes, Monty. You do not have to do this. You do not have to do anything. I will be fine."
He shrugs away from Freddy, subtly baring teeth. "No." He glares over at Dom. "Can you install the battery without the babysitter?"
Dom clasps his hands together, and frowns. "Uh.. I won't be here tomorrow morning. Gotta help my abuela with moving. I'll be here after noon, though." He gestures to you. "I'm sure they're more than qualified to install the battery.. what's up with you two?"
You groan. "Just.. don't worry about it." You adjust your backpack and hesitantly meet Monty's glasses, shielding his eyes. "We don't have to talk. I'll install the battery, and be gone. Half an hour at most. Freddy can help get you out there."
He snarls, and his tail behind him sways like an aggravated cat. There's a solid 30 seconds before he replies. Freddy almost speaks up, while Dom watches the situation nervously. You two simply stare. He groans deeply, a defeated sigh. "Fine."
Freddy relaxes, imitating a relieved exhale before turning to you with soft blue eyes. "..Thank you, Superstar." He faces Dom. "Thank you, Domingo.. You two are.. a relief, from the employees we usually have."
Monty's grip on the table tightens, he grimaces, and his claws indent the metal. "What time are you opening me up, handler?"
Freddy's ears turn upwards. "The eighth show of the day at 4pm will be optimal. It is a Friday tomorrow, and that is when we are most busy."
You hum. "Guess I'll do it around noon." And silence overtakes the room, ambient humming of machines once again the only sound filling the void.
Dom takes the box and folder, and returns it to whatever hiding spot he has it tucked in, thankful for any excuse he has to relieve himself from the awkward silence. He calls out to Freddy on the other side of the room, needing him for whatever reason.
Great.
You cross your arms at the opposite side of the table to Monty. The giant alligator towers a good two feet above you, just a little over a meter away.
He's not leaving.
Your grip on your backpack strap tightens. You sigh. "Do you not trust me or something? I reversed your soft reset, dude. I don't like you, you don't like me, but shit has to get done. Why were you so insistent on volunteering in the first place if you're going to be so difficult?"
He doesn't reply. Purple tinted glasses hide him from view. His arms crossed and body motionless as he stares down at you fuels your boiling anger.
You sharply exhale through your nose, your breathing growing erratic. "You refused to let me leave and lifted me by my wrist. You literally, intentionally, almost got me killed. Why are you like this? Jealousy can't be your only excuse, right?"
Unanswered questions, denied closure. Everything that's been festering in you wants to flood the room.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
He's silent. You groan after a good ten seconds pass without a response from him.
He suddenly drops his palms to the table, not hard enough to come off as aggressive, rather assertive. It still causes your stomach to drop.
Your eyes focus on his arms, his claws visibly indenting the table. You notice his right arm, a little cleaner and polished than the left. His glasses lower to look over the golden star-shaped frames, and he peers over at a camera in the corner of a room for less than a second, subtly, but you catch the direction.
He pierces your eyes with venom.
"Drop it. Have fun with your babysitters, babysitter. At least you're safe. You always will be.. Noon. Tomorrow."
He leans back, and turns as his tail flicks, stomping away.
He stops. He groans.
His head turns a little, revealing the side of his face. Just enough so he can look back at you with one eye.
You barely hear him. His voice is low and sunken. He growls. He somehow looks.. sick.
"..Fuck.. Thank.. thank.. you, I'm.. sorry, but shit, shit, you're smarter than this, handler."
He groans, cringing for a second.
You watch as he quickly turns and stomps towards the hallway leading to his elevator at the back of the room. It sounds like he's clawing the wall as he rushes down the hallway.
Freddy and Dom who've been observing the situation from a distance finally approach you.
Dom softly places his hand on your shoulder. Your eyes don't leave from where Monty disappeared. He squeezes a little. "You alright? What's his deal? What was that about? Seriously, what's up with you two?"
You sigh. "It's fine. I'll install the new battery at noon tomorrow. Where is it?"
Dom shows you where to retrieve the new rigged battery before saying goodbye and walking back to the computer desk, sitting in a chair, and studying various blueprints and documents, lost in hyperfixation.
Freddy kneels down to you. You're lost in thought.
"..Thank you, so much, Superstar. I am so sorry this is difficult. Please take care of yourself, okay? You are doing so much."
You hum, looking over at him. "..Yeah. I'll try."
He stands back up. "Be safe. Tell Sundrop and Moondrop I said hello too, please. I care about them, I care about all of you. I just can not fix everything, unfortunately."
He holds his hands at his chest, and you smile warmly up at him. "You're not alone. We'll get through this. See ya, Freddy."
He nods, smiling and waving as you exit through the main exit.
Making your way through the maintenance tunnels, navigating the maze, you're about one turn away from the exit into the Daycare's main hallway.
You turn the corner, and spot someone at the end facing the wall, perpendicular to the door on their right.
You quietly approach, and notice another person with black hair in front of the one with blond, facing the wall. Likely Vince and Kieran respectively. Of course.
Kieran is a little taller than Vince, and as you begin walking closer, you notice him forcing Vince against the wall. You don't think he's touching him, but Kieran is blocking Vince from any escape whatsoever.
Suddenly, Kieran decides to violently press his hand into the wall next to Vince, enveloping him further, allowing him zero escape. He uses his other hand to grab Vince's head, holding it firmly from what you can see given the angle. Vince presses his hand against Kieran, the other laid against the wall he's being forced into for support.
Yeah, absolutely not. "Dude, what the fuck are you doing!?"
Kieran jumps back towards the side wall, and quickly turns. You back up a step.
He struggles for a response as Vince watches from the wall. "Wha- What are you doing here? Mind your own business, fuck." His head swivels back and forth from Vince, to you.
You lean over to see past him. "Vince, you alright?" He doesn't respond, watching the situation stunned. You lock eyes with Kieran and snap. "What the hell is up with you? You're bullying Vince now too? He's your friend, why?"
Kieran can't build a response. Luckily Vince does.
He slides a little upright using the wall being him, and collects himself. "..He, uh. He wasn't hurting me, or anything.."
You alternate between him and Kieran, studying their expressions. Vince is obviously red from the conflict, and Kieran is far more reserved than usual. "What? No, that's messed up. Don't make excuses for him, dude."
Vince covers his face with his hands and giggles a bit. Kieran crosses his arms and exhales sharply. "None of your business." He opens the door leading into the Daycare hallway, holding it open and giving you space to exit. "You can leave now."
Vince grins a little behind him, and collects himself, however still shielding his eyes for whatever reason. "..We weren't fighting, or anything."
It clicks. "..Oh."
A grin forces its way onto your face, and you quickly calm down. "Oooh. Cute. Smart to avoid the cameras too." You giggle. "..Alright, have fun. Text ya later, Vince."
Vince clasps his hands together and covers his mouth. interlocked fingers, looking down towards the floor. "Y-yeah. See you."
Kieran groans, pinching his nose. "I don't wanna hear shit from you. Bye. Mind your own business." He gestures for you to leave while trying his best to avoid looking at you whatsoever. "Like you're not doing weird shit with those robots. Bye." And as soon as you're through the door, he slams it shut.
You make sure he heard you laugh a little before the door shut completely.
The Daycare is as busy as ever. Sun greets you back, and you get to work reading through code. Seems like he got the kids settled and everything, since they're not pestering you about earlier.
Hours pass, and Sun comes up to the desk a lot more often than not. He's asked questions like these occasionally the past few days, but there's definitely a noticeable increase in them now. He asks so many questions, excusing it as the kids being curious, and him relaying the information, but you think he just likes learning from you. You definitely don't mind. Basic things like what kinds of animals there are, lunar cycles, how the moon affects the tides, how too much of the actual sun can be harmful - him commenting that he hopes you can't get too much of him. He asks how wireless things work, and how exactly they can access the security cameras, since it's an innate thing they're capable of - they don't know exactly how it's possible. He asks if you would draw with him later than night, and if you'd want to hear lullabies and poems Moon wrote, as usual. He's impressed that you can operate such a large machine such as a car, and fascinated with how the engines work. It leads to where gasoline comes from, and how old the Earth is. So many things. Absolutely any time he gets a chance to talk with you, he does so.
You think you mentioned at some point to him Freddy saying hi, but you can't remember. Your head is fuzzy.
Sun escorts the last kid up to the lobby, and hands her off to her dad.
You hear him approach the main door to your right as you skim through hundreds of lines of code.
He stops, and you're sure he's just watching you. You grin, drop your head a little, and surrender as you look at him with a smile. "..Oookay, let's go up." You save, and shut your laptop.
He's peeking out from around the doorframe, and waits until you get your stuff ready. You throw a backpack strap over your shoulder, and exit from behind the security desk. You stop after a few steps, beginning to approach the balcony. You turn. "Are ya c-"
A yellow blur tackles you.
A hand supports your back as you dramatically fall to the padded ground beneath, yet you still make contact with a little too much force.
Your backpack strap slid off your shoulder, and lays out to your side. A giggle combines with a wince, producing a silly little sound. "..O-ow, ribs. S-Sunny."
He leans up a little from above you. "Oh! O-oh, sorry Sunflower, I-I.. gentle.. yes.."
His baggy pants surround both sides of your right leg as he's on his knees in front of you. You smile up at him as he hastily inspects you, lifting up your shirt about halfway, evoking giggles from how ticklish you are. "H-ah, n-not too far. I'm fine, don't worry."
He whines, and his rays are retracted an inch or two shorter than they usually are while idle. "B-but! Such a fragile little thing, nono.. need to make absolutely sure you're okay, yes! Was silly.. soso silly, shouldn't have been so rough. We-we just miss you, Sunflower.."
You push yourself up onto your forearm, and wrap your other around the back of his little neck. Pulling yourself up, you give him a quick kiss on the cheek before scooting back and collecting your backpack again. "You've got a few hours of me to yourselves now. Plus, we can open the gift I got us. It'll help with me being so busy, kinda."
His rays shoot out and spin frantically. "O-oh! Yes! Moonie wants to be here for it, come on!" He whines and helps you up to your feet, taking your hand before almost dragging you to under the balcony, and floating up with you in his arms.
You get situated in their bedroom, taking off shoes and whatever else. It's a little after six, you'll take a shower here soon, and surely be lulled to sleep by Moon before midnight. You've still got a few hours of time to spend with them.
Sun finishes tending to the flowers in the other room, making sure they're watered and have proper light from the grow lights. He slips through the tunnel and unfolds himself to stand about eight feet tall. You're already in bed, picking at the tape sealing the box shut. "Mmh, so does Moon wanna be out?"
He grins so very wide, nodding his head frantically as he turns on the fairy lights, and switches off the lamp. He flicks the main light switch, and mechanical parts whir.
Moon hums, and falls into bed with you. You let him pick you up, and place you in his lap as he leans against the pillows, against the wall.
You begin to giggle as he imitates satisfied purring.
The purring stops, and he hums angrily. "..Are you making fun of me, Starlight?"
You roll your eyes, discarding tape off to the side onto blanketed flooring to be cleaned up later. "I think it's cute. You should know this by now silly."
He sinks a little into you, enveloping himself around your little body beneath him. He wraps his arms around your tummy, and squeezes.
"Good, since we can certainly provoke cuter noises from you."
You nervously giggle. "I'm.. well aware." You discard the first unmarked box, and retrieve the actual container out of it which houses your gifts.
You use your teeth to open this one, the packaging being a little more secure, and finally open it up entirely. Moon watches intently as his head is lowered next to you, his incredibly soft nightcap's star brushing against the side of your face.
The plastic housing the bracelets is all that remains.
Moon hums, and reaches for one before you pull it away from his hand. He growls. "Mmh.. What are they?"
You take one from its packaging, and adjust it around your right wrist, just below Sun's bracelet. Your other wrist has the Fazwatch and Moon's bracelet. You take Moon's hand, and place the bracelet around his own which thankfully fits after adjusting the black strap. Their wrists are growing so crowded. Pretty colorful ribbons and the two bead bracelets you both have a pair of.
Now, a strange new bracelet.
The bracelets have a little device connected to it. A small, black, smooth-edged rectangle, taking up about a third of the bracelet, which doesn't seem to do anything. Yet.
You make sure the pad is aligned with the top of his wrist, and you do the same with yours.
"Okay, so, on the count of three, you need to hold down on the little pad thing, okay? I'll do it to mine too. Just hold it for about five seconds and then let go, okay?" You hold your wrist up to his.
He inspects the bracelet, and hums. "Okay.."
You smile. "One, two, three."
You both hold for five seconds, and a thin white line blinks across the pad momentarily, before solidifying and disappearing.
You run your finger over your bracelet's pad.
Moon's wrist reflexively flinches. You giggle. "So, you feel it?"
His head lowers and he inspects the bracelet closely. "..What.. is it?"
You gently rub your bracelet's pad. "They're called bond-touch bracelets. Anywhere you touch the pad, I'll feel it too, and vice-versa. No matter where we are."
Moon slowly lifts his other arm, and gently runs his finger over the bracelet's pad. You feel it vibrate against the top of your wrist in the exact same place he's touching. It lights up in white and follows where he traces as the subtle vibrations follow.
You lean a little more into him. Your tummy feels full of butterflies. "..Yeah. And, you can tap it too. I was thinking that we could have our own code or something. I don't know Morse Code, but maybe we could have a simple little system?
He's fascinated with the gift, but looks around over at you. He stares into your eyes for about half a minute. You admire him the entire time too.
Moon pulls away, and returns his head to its position above you. He places a long kiss on the top of your head.
"..I don't deserve you."
You draw a little heart into the bracelet's pad, it being just big enough for the design to be intelligible. "That's too bad, since I'm always going to be here with you guys. Can't make me go anywhere else."
Moon hums, and rests his faceplate gently on the top of your head. His hands are still around your tummy, but they're situated where he can gently rub the bracelet's pad, watching from above as yours lights up in response, and you surely feel it.
He begins tapping.
"A system? Mmh.. taps." His huge legs adjust around you, closing in, reminding you of the insane size difference and how small you are beneath him.
You tap back. "Yeah, that'd be cute. Like, maybe one tap for 'thinking about you' or something. Two for 'miss you'? Three for 'I love you', of course."
Moon purrs. "That sounds nice, Limelight."
He promptly taps three times.
You giggle, and tap back. Your tummy flutters.
You feel so very warm despite the air around you being cold. "..And if.. there's ever an emergency of some kind, you could long press it. Hold it down for more than three seconds. Only in absolute emergencies though, okay? Seriously."
He hums, not liking the idea of that being necessary. He sighs, accepting reality. "..Okay."
You grab the three-foot-long, blue stuffed shark from your right side among all the other plushies, and pull it into your lap. You turn a little, and rest the side of your face against his chest. His chest is relatively cold, but not uncomfortable. "..Do you like them?"
He squeezes you as close to him as comfortably possible. "Of course, Starlight." He taps three times.
You grin. "Good.. wanna read those poems and lullabies to me?"
"In a minute.. mhmm." His arms constantly adjust around your body, not able to have you close enough.
You wish you could melt into him all the same.
He eventually recites to you his poems and lullabies from memory which you of course adore so very much. You leave after about an hour to take a shower, and pick up something to eat before returning to the Plex. The entire time while you're out, every few minutes, you'll receive either one tap, two taps, or three, and you'll always send them back.
Sun is out when you return, and he absolutely showers you in adoration. He's a lot gentler tackling you this time, and you're afraid the kisses he's giving are gonna evolve into hickeys which you don't have the energy to explain to anyone.
At some point, Sun and Moon were brought extra clothes by Wendy last weekend. You wear their neck ruffles occasionally, in private, of course. They adore it, despite how silly you think they look on you.
You draw with him, you read with Moon. Their bedroom walls are filling with Sun's drawings. A stack of notebooks and paper grows taller and taller on their desk as Moon writes his stories, poems, and practices handwriting.
You don't wanna think about anything but your time here with them, and these few hours before you fall asleep in Moon's arms, you plan to dedicate just to them. Only to them. You don't wanna have anything else. You don't wanna be anywhere else.
Comfy clothes, gentle hands holding you close.
You don't wanna fall asleep, you wanna spend more time with them.
But just as every single night before, Moon effortlessly succeeds pulling you into a deep sleep.
You swear you dream of those three little taps on your wrist.
Or it was just him tapping while you slept.