"Dude, it's fine, I-" You don't really get a chance to defend yourself from the rapidly approaching guard in front of you before the familiar voice behind speaks up.

"Miles, chill. It's alright. They're good." Vince walks past you and Sun, gesturing a hand to defuse the guard from whatever has him so worked up.

He stops in front of him, Vince not really allowing him past the Freddy statue. Miles clicks his flashlight off and releases his hand from his radio, at the ready just in case he needed to call for backup. "What? Isn't it supposed to stay in the Daycare section? I thought management.."

Vince looks back at you, Sun towering over despite slouching a little and wringing his hands. Besides his height, Sun obviously doesn't look very threatening, not now at least. "Huh? Yeah, no. They're fine with Sundrop just having the control chip. Kieran did kinda escalate things anyway."

Miles studies Sun, diverting his eyes from Vince, constantly keeping an eye on the bot. "Y-yeah, but, we were both there. The nighttime one was.. a lot more aggressive. Shit, they're really fine with it? Dude's in the hospital."

Mile's face contorts in curious confusion when Sun mumbled something about 'language'.

Vince sighs, but holds his smile. "It's alright. Kieran's been through worse, he'll be fine. You know he's hot-headed, he got himself into that mess all by himself."

Miles is silent for a few seconds processing Vince's appeal. "..Alright, I guess. Just wanted to be safe.." He pauses and looks Vince in the eyes for a few seconds, opposed to Sun. "..And I'm sure Kieran wanted to be too."

Vince crosses his arms. "..I guess. The engineer over here has it handled though, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll talk to them if that makes you feel better, but I'll see ya around though, alright?"

Miles gives you and Sun a final look before beginning to turn. "Cool. Okay, just stay safe, man." He hesitantly but surely walks away down Rockstar Row where he came from.

Vince turns back to you, and as assured, he's definitely gonna talk to you. "So, what are you doing out with Sun?" He smiles.

You roll your eyes a little. "Tour. Never really got the chance in the past week."

Sun leans forward a little over you endearingly, and rests his hands on his hips, his grin glowing. "Mhmm! Already visited Chica's Bakery, and the Atriuuuuum, mhm!"

You can't help but smile a little at him. "Heh, yeah. This was next on our list."

Vince smirks, checking behind him to make sure the stray guard actually has buzzed off. "Cute. What else do ya have planned? I patrol the building like, every other day, so. I'm pretty familiar with places if you want suggestions."

You hum, and adjust your backpack strap. "Uh, after this we're going to Fazerblast, and then the Fazcade, and the theaters next."

Sun's eyes light up, and rubs your head a little, messing up your hair. "Oooooh, good memory, Sunbeam~."

You look away to the ground in response to your mild embarrassment. "It's not that much to remember.."

Vince laughs for a second. "Mmh, Sunbeam, how many nicknames does he have for you?"

You only grant him eye contact for a second. "Uh, just a few, I guess.. I call him Sunny or, like, Sunshine sometimes too."

Sun smiles smugly down at Vince above you. "You forgot Sunlight~."

You place your hand over your face. "Yeah, that too."

He's still amused for obvious reasons. "Well, I guess Sun or Sundrop is a little too formal, huh?"

You disregard him. "Mmh.. Okay, so, what other recommendations did you have?"

He giggles. "Right, okay, so, this place has everything, including a Bowling Alley! Bonnie Bowling, yeah. It's pretty cool. I'm sure Sun could play pretty well."

Sun tenses just the slightest.

You hum, looking over to Sun, his expression causing your smile to falter a little. "..Well, we could probably check it out. My wrists weren't the best a couple days ago, but, yeah. Sounds fun. If.. Sunny is all good with it, of course." You'll give him the option whenever you're actually able to plan something.

Vince nods. "Yeah, and if you're ever down to play, lemme know. Our breaks could probably align? Or I could just, probably find some spare cash. I'd probably destroy you though, Sun included."

You grin. "You could beat Sun? A robot?"

He confirms proudly. "Mhm! Me and my parents used to go bowling all the time, usually my dad, but, mom would come too a lot. God, dad was the best. Taught me all his tricks, so, seriously.." He leans forward. "..Watch out." He crosses his arms and smirks.

You giggle. "Uh-huh, I'd be down. Definitely would be amusing to see you get beat."

His smile fades after being silent for a few seconds extra. "Hah, yeah. Well, we could probably sneak a game in or two, hopefully not get caught slacking, I don't.. have much spending money, hah, b-but I'm not really a stickler for the rules." Vince's banter fades, and he stares at the ground for a second.

You tilt your head. "Well, I could just pay. Or if worst comes to worst, I could just override the computer or whatever. Did it to a photobooth earlier, but, uh.. don't mention it to anyone."

He smiles up at you. "..Hm, yeah.. if you don't mind, of course." He giggles. "If either of you win, I'll share my dad's secrets. Can't really do it himself, so, I'll pass on our knowledge on that condition."

You sit on the little bench surrounding the statue. "Like we'd need your secrets if we beat you."

He giggles, and there's silence for a second. "And.. of course I don't mind. Doesn't this place pay you okay though..? Uh.. S-sorry, if that's kinda invasive. Just.. seems like patrolling a massive building with multi-million dollar robots performing each weekday would pay a little better."

He rests next to you on the bench, Sun lowers himself to be criss-cross on the floor in front of you both, head in his hands, watching attentively and leaning side to side ever so slightly.

He sighs. "Nah, pay's great. Just, healthcare sucks here. Really expensive."

You hum. "Yeah.. country does kinda suck. Do you think you'll, uh, be okay, though?"

He smiles softly. "Oh, it's not me. I'm fine, don't worry - I can still kick your butts in bowling." He pauses. "..No, it's for my sister. I got off pretty easy, she didn't. Yeah, parents definitely didn't."

You turn a little further to look at him, adjusting your knees to point in his direction. Sun's head lowers a little. "..Oh, sh-.. sorry. Oh, dude."

He focuses on the floor. "Nah, it's alright. It was a car crash. It's insane how injuries can just.. vary from where you are in the car. I'm perfectly fine, and they're gone while my little sis is in the ICU."

You wince and cover your mouth a little. "..I.. yeah, car crashes are horrible. Was in one, last week. Still recovering from it.."

He looks to you for a second, then to his hands as he picks at the skin on the side of his nails. "..Lots of people I'm close to, just, get hurt or something. At least Kieran and my sis are in the same hospital, so, visited him last night too when I saw her."

"..Oh.. Kieran.. Well, I.. really hope it gets better. If you need anything, Vince, lemme know, okay?" You look over to Sun, then back to him. You carefully pat at his shoulder while he's lost in his head for a moment.

He sighs. "It's alright. It's looking okay for her recovery, but, yeah. Gonna take a bit."

Your hands return to your lap. "..I really do hope she heals up fast. I'll send you some cash for balloons and stuff for her, or whatever she likes. I'm sure she's a great kid."

He exhales sharply a little out of his nose, and smiles. "She loves to read. She's at an upper middle school reading level, and she's only in the second grade. Probably will get her some books."

Sun smiles a little. "..A-and, when she gets better, if you want, you could always bring her to the Daycare! We read sosososo much, yesyes.."

Vince perks up some more and smiles warmly in Sun's direction. You adore Sun's rays spinning a little faster, him having noticed it helped Vince cheer up a bit.

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Definitely will need help babysitting. Gosh, she could be here while I'm working, too.. well, sometimes." He leans back into the marble behind him.

You giggle for a second. "I think it'll be okay. I'm sorry you had to go through that, dude. But, yeah, I'd definitely be down for bowling."

Sun's smile falls, and he slouches a little bit.

Vince sighs, and looks over at Sun, then you. "Yeah.. Uh, sorry about the whole Kieran situation. I.. didn't think he'd actually go that far."

Sun's rays shrink a little. "..Is he.. okay..? S-same hospital, yes?"

Vince nods. "Yeah, saw him last night. He'll be fine. Minor concussion, dude is tough, been through way worse.." He sighs. "His dad wasn't very forgiving, and he got into fights at the academy we trained at a ton.. Just.. I just wish he wouldn't be so volatile all the time."

You tilt your head a bit. "..You sound like you know him well."

He smiles. "Yeah. Since middle school. I think it stems from him just.. being protective, I guess..? Especially after the crash. Definitely doesn't take any shit when anyone messes with me. Hah." He looks off to his side where he can hide his face for a second.

Sun whines, then muffles out his protest to Vince's language. Vince just laughs and adjusts his hat. "Right, sorry bud."

He takes a second to resume. "..It's dumb, we were close for so long. We just, drifted apart over time, I guess. He still tries to stay close, and if I'm being honest, I don't want him gone either, but.."

He rests his face in his hands. "..The line is always so blurry, y'know? He didn't have the best relationships in the past.. family, friends. I think I'm the only one that hasn't really hurt him. So it.. it sucks he thinks I threw him under the bus last night. He used to be so kind, still is, to me, I mean.." He takes a second to breathe. "..But, it got exhausting seeing him get into fights with others. I'd always get to clean him up after he started fights in training, though.. I wish we didn't have to use that as an excuse to.. yeah. Ugh.."

You sigh. "Jeez, yeah.. blurry lines. I'm.. I'm sorry it didn't work out with him."

He exposes himself from his hands for a second, before returning to them a little deeper. "..Hah, yeah. It.. would've been nice. Never really got the chance, I guess. I could only help him so much."

"You're doing good, dude." You look over to the greenrooms behind you. "And.. I guess if I'm gonna end up making amends with Monty, I can at least help soften things up with Kieran, right?"

He composes himself, and breathes. "..Heh, that'd be nice. He.. just seemed really angry last night. I think his pride is damaged a little bit more than he is."

Vince checks his watch. "..Oh, sh- shoot. Sorry for the vent. Ah.. my gosh. Wow, I didn't mean for.. to spill everything like that.. I.. guess it's just been a while since.. I've had anyone to talk to about it."

You smile warmly up at him as he stands. "It's no problem, Vince. I'm more than happy to talk anytime. Swing by the Daycare if you're ever free! We'll see about that bowling match, and Sunny will be sure to wipe the grin off your face."

Sun forces a smile and nods a little. "M-Mhm.."

Vince adjusts his hat, and checks his belt to make sure he has everything on him. "Oh yeah, for sure. You'll definitely get me good."

Sun suddenly sits up straight after a moment of resolve. "O-oh! Vince.. i-if you want.." He digs around in his baggy pants pockets, and pulls out a dozen or so stickers, holding them out to him. "..What is your sister's name..?"

He looks down at Sun's hand, and his eyes glint under the neon ceiling for just a second. "..Stella." He giggles, and his smile is just as warm as Sun's aura filling the immediate area.

Sun's rays spin a couple times. "Oooh, that's a veryvery cute name, I-I hope we can meet her one day! Yes.."

Vince nods. "I'm sure she'd like to meet you too, Sun. The stickers are cute, I'll tell her all about you." He shuffles them, adoring each and every one. From the Sun and Moon chibis, to the little artistic depictions of their candies and the symbol on their gate.

Sun's eyes widen and his smile glows, gosh how your heart melts. "..A-and, Ooh, Moon is sososo excited too, we'd be so very happy to read to her! So many stories and lullabies, yesyes.."

Vince pockets the stickers carefully in his big jacket pocket. "Heck yeah. Hah. See ya around, guys. Take care. And.. wow, thank you." He shoots a peace sign before heading towards the gates you and Sun entered through a half hour earlier. You wave almost as expressively as Sun while he ducks under, responding on his radio following a few beeps as he disappears behind a corner.

You turn to Sun, sitting up and walking over behind him. "We really need to get that language response fixed, Sunlight." You play with his rays as you lean over his shoulder.

He stiffens, but leans into you, and his voice box has traces of static here and there when he talks. "M-Mhmm, y-yes.. we.. we do.. Sunflower.."

You quickly kiss a ray as subtly as possible before running your hand down his arm and linking with his fingers, him helping you raise it.

You smile while he stands and begins to hover over you. "C'mon, I wanna see the display cases and stuff. And.. maybe in a little we can check out if Monty's in his room.." You sigh, looking in the direction of where he should be at this time.

Sun nods, brushing off the impending altercation with the alligator before smiling and pulling you towards a little gift stand. "Oooh, look at the plushies! Mmh, we have some in our room, yesyes!"

You giggle and recover from basically flying over to the stand. "Heh-ah, yeah, I think I saw them at some point. Why aren't there any of you two being sold anymore?"

He turns to you after tidying the plushies up all in a perfect little row. "..Oh, b-budgets cuts, not too sure, nonono.." He sulks, and then pops straight back up. "But! We have a box full of them! And.. the old gift shop still has a few things! Mmh, you're the first one we ever shared them with though, mhm."

You giggle, and look around the area. "..They really should have more stuff for you two, you're really unique, y'know? Special. Definitely to me. Ya gotta show me that gift shop too sometime, by the way."

He walks over and alternates to each side of you every few seconds, hands behind his back but the rest of him animated as ever. "..O-oh, unique..? Mmh, m-maybe a little. You're veryveryvery special to us too, Sunflower."

You make your way over to some paintings on the wall, past decaying animatronic parts displayed in a glass case, only occasionally showcasing things like guitars and toys. "You two are far different from anything else I've seen here, of course you're unique. Charming.."

He suddenly steps in front of you, leaning in from your side as his faceplate spins to sit upright. "We try our veryvery best, yes! Ooh, sososo glad.. you like us sososo much.." He almost redirects you elsewhere before you plant your feet.

"Of course I like you, silly. I'm sure I've made that very obvious so far." You look up at the paintings, the ones above seeming to be pictures of older versions of the main cast. Except for Monty and Roxanne.. You hum, and turn away, looking up to his warm smile, it having faded into almost a frown, his eyes stuck on the same photos you just scanned over. "..And.. nothing will ever change that, alright?"

He waits a second, then slowly looks down towards you. His smile slowly returns as he takes in all the little details of you for the millionth time this week. "..O-okay, Sunflower.." He reaches up his arm, gently adjusting your hair and tracing your jaw line with his other hand. You hope that's enough reassurance for now, since with the Foxy cardboard artwork and other miscellaneous trinkets and art everywhere you go, you're sure Sun and Moon are tired of being reminded. Just tired. "..O-oh, and.. we don't have to go bowling if you don't wanna, Sunshine. Don't worry about it, okay?"

He warms, and his blue eyes are so very pretty as you can't help but admire. He just nods in response, focusing on your face while he still can.

You hold his hand back to your face as he begins to eventually pull away. "Mmh.. Still got Fazerblast, the Fazcade, and Theater, if you don't wanna be here anymore."

He sighs, having noticed you developing just as much aversion to the Foxy and Bonnie art as he's been. "..Oh, Sunray.. We don't mind being here, nono.. We-we'll have to confront it eventually, but.. I will be okay for now, mhm.."

You take one of his hands into yours. "..Okay, if you're sure, Sunshine. It's really pretty here, but.. everywhere seems to light up with you around, anyway."

He turns after you notice him smiling, leading you to another one of the statues. "Well, of course it's lit up, silly, that's the only way I can be out."

You giggle. "..You know what I mean."

He bends down and looks you in the eyes. "Mhmm, but you're being sososo sappy. Sugar and sweet will have to wait for the Fazcade, yesyes."

Your eyes light up with curiosity again to which he really does find adoration in. "..Isn't it just arcades? Plus, everywhere we go it gets a little sugar-y.. usually."

He shushes you. "Moon insisted, it'll be his turn afterall, mhmm."

You pass a golden Roxy statue and some paintings of more-so polished animatronics, the one resembling Bonnie in a more cartoonish design dark unlike the rest lit up by spotlight. "Ooooooh, so Moon is gonna be all.. romantic? Romantic this time?"

Sun plants his hands on his hips and walks backwards in front of you. "So you don't think Moon can be romantic? Is your memory foggy, little flower? Silly silly.. he's been romantic in the past!"

You laugh and cover your mouth to shield the smile that's probably a little too wide. "I wouldn't call wrapping his tongue around a churro romantic."

Sun tilts his upper body to the side, at almost a ninety degree angle. "Oooh, he is so going to show you, Sunflower, yesyes.." He giggles and turns on his heel.

You ignore Monty's room to your left for now, maybe it can wait a little longer. "Mhmm, lookin' forward to it."

He turns back to you, before his head suddenly jerks to your left. "Oh, y-"

You hear the door open, and footsteps stomp against the cold, polished floor. You begin to raise your wrist and turn on your watch as Sun stiffens.

You watch as he appears out of his room behind the statue in front of you. He locks eyes with Sun, then you. His low voice booms and echoes throughout the room. "Hey, kid!"

You have the app at the ready, and you near Sun. "..What? I'm not a kid, dude. Stay there."

He chuckles. "..Oooh, what? Ya scared of big ol' Monty? C'mon, I don't bite!" He's still approaching you.

Sun moves you from in front of him, swapping places with you. "M-Monty, stop, please."

He does. "Huh? C'mon Sundrop, all they need is a little hug!" He lifts his hand to Sun's shoulder, and takes a step forward.

Sun tenses, and stumbles back. He steps off to the side, and quickly regains his composure, but not fast enough.

Monty laughs. "What're y'all scared of? Here, have a little gator hug!" He turns to you, and before you're able to react, his arms are under yours.

You scream, jolting backward. "MONTY, W-WAIT!"

He stops in place, and pulls away. "What? Don't like bein' touched? Alright, alright, I gotcha."

Sun's fingers wrap around his torso and he throws him backwards onto the ground with a loud thud.

Your stomach sinks a little.

You careen forward. "S-Sun, wait! It's okay. I'm fine!" You press a hand over his shoulder and gently guide him back. He turns his head to you, his rays still and stiff, but allows you to take him. You bring him over to a bench, and sit him down. "I.. think I can handle this. It'll be alright, just relax for a second, okay?"

He's staring at the ground, eyes wide. You reach up to a ray, and gently rub with your thumb and fingers around it. "You okay?"

He locks eyes with you, and his rays suddenly attempt to spin, stopping noticing the tiny bit of resistance. "O-Oh.." He looks over to Monty, his hands hovering in front of him, still recovering from the throw, and his eyes return. "..Y-yesyes, okay.. p-please be careful, Sunflower.. Please."

You nod. "Watch is open, I'll be very careful." You back up, and turn to Monty.

You yell. "What the actual.. what is your problem!?"

Monty stands to his feet, brushing himself off before answering. He seems to struggle speaking at first, crackling with each syllable. "Why.. why did Sundrop do that..?" The static fades. "Kid, I just wanted to give ya a hug!"

You scoff. "..Do you not remember me? Or Sun? Did they actually reprogram you?"

He stills, and is silent for a couple of seconds. He suddenly stiffens, his arm pausing in place where it was reaching up to adjust his glasses.

His voice is full of static again, and he jolts in place. "..Han̵d̸l̸e̵r̶.."

He immediately resumes the motion. "Huh? Of course I remember Sundrop, he's one of the Daycare Attendants, hah. You're an engineer, I could get ya file for you if ya want me to remember so bad." He chuckles deeply.

You only now begin to notice the underlying robotic tone of his voice, almost muffled, which you hadn't recognized ever before.

You take a second to process the confusion. "..Oookay. No, I'm good. Uh, what's the last thing you remember?"

He tilts his head. "Hey, I'm just tryin' to get to Gator Golf, ya wanna come play a round? I'd beat ya but it'd be funny to see you try! Maybe I'll-" He tenses again.

"he̴̯͛ļ̴͌p̵̻̊-"

He resumes, back to normal with less than a second between the pause. "-ya learn if you're real bad!"

He chuckles, but raises his claw to his head, and squeezes a little too hard into the plating. You swear it bends a little, nearly missing the arm of his glasses.

That honestly makes your stomach turn a little. The way he froze in place and stared at you, you swear you could see straight through his purple-stained lenses and straight into something trapped within.

You're not dumb. He's probably still in there somewhere, thankfully. Maybe not a full reprogram, but an autopilot feature? Safe mode? Whatever it is, you're still not too sure you wanna fix it.. but, out of curiosity, it shouldn't take too long to just peek into his head. The control panel should have presets and information on his status at least, so you won't have to dig through his entire code.

You adjust the ribbon around your neck to make sure it's still tight. "..Alright, well, uh, I actually came here for routine maintenance, yeah. It shouldn't take too long, I just gotta check on your status and stuff, alright.. bud?"

Sun sits up from behind you and walks over.

Monty stares at you, still, but soon animates back to life suddenly. "Agh, alright. Really.. w̵a̸n̷ted to go play some golf, but if it'll be quick, come right on in!" He turns and ducks back into his room.

Sun takes the lead in front of you. Neither of you can see into his room through the curtains covering the glass display window, and Sun still doesn't trust him.

Sun hesitantly creeps around the corner, slowly and methodically, locking eyes on the position of Monty as soon as he's in view. You follow in and look around.

Monty sits down on a couch. Small patterned blankets cover the armrests and back, while the cushions are flipped upside-down. The walls have posters literally everywhere, it's almost like it's the actual wallpaper. On the right of the curtained window-wall, there's a trash can, almost overflowing with things like ripped-up papers and torn-to-shreds stuffed animals, but the rest of the room is surprisingly clean. The green neon reflecting in Monty's glasses catches your eye for a second as he shifts, looking over at the plushies on the left side of the glass wall. He suddenly jumps up, and walks over, tail almost knocking into the coffee table in front.

He.. begins organizing. It's comparable to Sun, but.. he's not Sun.. and neither does he seem to be Monty.

He chuckles. "Hah, sorry for the mess. It was.. unlivable in here a day or two ago. Dunno what got into me before!" And he returns to the couch.

The door shuts behind you automatically as you're clear of it, and you jump.

Sun catches you after stumbling forward and almost tripping over the coffee table. "..W-woah, clumsy.. silly, mhm."

Monty sat up in preparation to catch you if you fell any further. "Hah, yeah, be careful. You little things are pretty fragile."

You sigh, swinging the backpack around your side. "Yeah, you should know."

You walk over to the side of the table perpendicular to Monty, closest to the window, and sit on the floor, criss-cross. Sun walks around you, and to the couch where Monty is sitting. "..Mmh, M-Monty.. can you move over just an itsy-bit, pretty please..?"

He giggles lowly. "Hah, yeah pal, whatever you need." And as soon as he's clear, Sun sits in-between you and the gator.

You pull out your laptop from your bag, and boot it up. "Alright, how do I get into your head, Monty?"

He turns a little, and points behind his skull. "Flip up the mohawk, and open the panel."

You nod, and open the program. You pull out the cable that'd allow you to connect to him, and plug it into the computer. "Hey, Sunshine." You hand the other end to him. "..Do ya think you could?"

He pauses his nervous leg bouncing momentarily before gently wrapping his fingers around the cord, pausing a second when brushing against your hand, and turning to Monty. "Mhm.."

You watch as Sun carefully opens up the back of Monty's head, and plugs him in. Immediately, the program detects Monty's connection and displays the UI. You get to work understanding the interface.

Sun plays with his hands. "..S-so, Monty.. What.. what is the last thing you remember..?"

He pauses, before lowering his glasses. "Ah, man. They said I was in an accident. Probably fell off the scaffolding in Gator Golf again, hah."

You look up from your screen, noticing him mentioning it not being the first time. "What are you doing on the scaffolding?"

He looks over to you, and you can see his eyes locked wide with yours over his glasses. "..Uh, sorry kid, that's.. kind̸a̵ ̷b̵l̶u̷rry."

You hum, and return to the computer screen.

Sun stares down at his hands, wringing them, not diverting his gaze. "..M-Monty, do you remember anything about me..?"

Monty perks up. "Oh! Yeah, man, hah. Bonnie and I carried you to parts and service that one time, probably to fix ya up or something. Old head is a little foggy. I'm sure we're pretty good friends though, you seem like a cool little bot." He pats Sun's shoulder, to which he flinches. You look up at Sun, and give him a knowing look that you intend not to question Monty's comment. You reach over and rub his knee, and it stops bouncing.

You look back down and your eyes widen in the light of your screen.

The UI indicates he's on a lower power level than normal, but there's also a preset activated. Under the button with a lock beside it, there's a short description.

Comatose: "Suppress AI to factory personality settings - autopilot animatronic property according to safe-mode restrictions."

You sigh a little, and look over your screen. "..Monty, you still in there, dude?"

His head slowly turns to you. "What-What do you mean, ha̵̝̾n̵̛͎d̶̮͋l̵̝̄e̴̮͝r̶͇̀? K-Kid, I'm great. Are ya almost done? I wanna head to.." He hesitates. "..Monty Golf. Hah, kids are probably waiting too! Got autographs to sign and everything."

You hover your mouse over the button to disable the preset. "Monty, it's the weekend. Saturday."

He tilts his head. "But.. it was Thursday yesterday. Today's Friday! We're super busy!"

You swipe through the tabs, combing through his control panel. The date for his system reads that it is Friday. "..You're missing a day, dude. Probably when you were shut off. Can you relax for a second? Just like, lean back into the couch?"

You return to the preset screen. "Sun, come over here, okay?"

He turns to you, and away from Monty's eyes he was drilling into. He gets up, and sits next to you, still separating you and Monty, but off the couch at least.

You really hope you won't get in trouble for this.

Monty chuckles. "Ah, so, are you fixing the date? Hah, thanks tech."

You hover over the button. "..Not really."

You click.

And nothing happens.

The lock icon next to the button does flash red however from it's dark-green color that kinda blends in with the background a little too well.

You sulk a little. "Ugh."

Monty lowers his glasses. "Well, I could just keep it i̵n̶ ̶m̷i̷n̵d̶! Ya wanna go play that game, n-n-now?"

You groan, and comb back through the interface.

You need a higher security clearance? Cool. Someone manually locked the preset.

Sun backs up from over your shoulder he's been watching, and grabs your backpack, opening up a pocket. "..The plushie, yesyes.." He pulls it out, and hands it to you.

You grin a little. "..Oh, yeah. Right. Thanks, Sunshine."

He brightens you up without even trying. Magic.

You turn and inspect the plushie to make sure there's nothing unusual about it. You're about to grow frustrated again before noticing its tiny little claws. You look up to Monty.

"Can you cut this thing open?"

His eyes widen as his glasses slip, and he stiffens. "V̸i̸o̴l̷e̵n̴c̴e̶ ̴i̶s̶ ̵n̵o̷t̶ ̴p̵e̷r̷m̸i̶t̴t̶e̴d̴ ̴i̴n̸ ̸t̶h̴e̵ ̵P̷l̶e̷x̸."

You cringe. "..It's more like using a boxcutter, dude. Chill."

You turn to Sun, his leg tapping against the carpeted floor. "..Can you, Sunshine?"

He nods his head, and carefully glides his claw over the fabric, it ripping despite how little pressure he's putting on it.

He releases it back into your grip. "..Thank you, Sunny."

He nods his head. "Mmhm, just a tool.. yesyes."

You smile, and dig into the plushie.

You hit something that doesn't really feel like stuffing. You grab it, and pull.

It looks like.. a chip. It has a USB connection, and is missing casing that's probably supposed to be around it. It's likely a security badge with the electronics inside removed. Hopefully it's a high enough clearance level.

You pull out a USB cord, and connect it. A little prompt pops up granting high permission levels: [8], and you can enable developer mode. You flick back to the preset screen, and look over at Monty. "Relax, alright?"

You turn on your watch in preparation for him devolving into aggression again as Sun stands to his feet. You hit the switch.

It's anticlimactic. He falls limp for a split second, then catches himself.

Your fingers are hovering over a semi-paralysis option for Monty, and you watch him stare at the ground for a few seconds, processing the transition.

He slowly looks over and up to you, then Sun.

His eyes return to you, and you don't really give him a kind look back.

He looks away, over to his right, staring at the walls covered with posters and arcade machine concealed with a sheet draped over it. He lifts his right arm and sets it on top of the blankets covering the armrest of the couch. With his left hand, he pulls out the cable attached to the back of his head, and closes the hatch, clicking his mohawk back in place.

He tosses the wire to the ground, still staring away from either of you.

"Go."

He turns a little further away.

You pull over the cable, and disconnect everything from your computer. You put your laptop and the cords back in their corresponding places, finding a small pocket with a zipper for the fragile security badge chip.

You zip your backpack up, and swing it around your arm, strapping it over your shoulders. You stand up.

You look back to Sun, his frown that makes your heart ache and eyes that intensifies the pain up to your throat, tightening it. He's playing with his hands, staring at Monty.

He steps forward just the slightest. "..Monty.."

Monty orders a little louder this time. "Leave."

You sigh, giving Monty a disappointed glance before taking Sun's hand. "..C'mon, Sunny."

You both head toward the door, and Sun ducks under first. You follow.

"Handler."

You catch yourself before turning around the doorframe and out of sight, you back up a little, and look to Monty. His eyes refuse to meet you, being a little more comfortable on the floor.

You tilt your head, and he raises his, finally meeting your eyes.

He nods just once, mouth in a line as much as his can be, before diverting his gaze. You hum, acknowledging the silent thank-you, and leave.

You walk around the dividers and over to the golden Monty statue with Sun. You lay your bag next to you and collapse into the little bench built into the statue that circles it.

Sun sits down next to you, and you lean into him. You breathe. "..Mmh.. that was something, huh?"

He lifts his arm up and rubs your head. "..Yesyes.. I.. think it'll be okay. We.. we'll be okay, yes.."

You nod, and rest into his side for a minute or two.

He nuzzles the bottom of his faceplate onto the top of your head. "..Y-You're not gonna get in trouble, are you Sunflower..? F-for fixing him.. nono, that.. oh, that wouldn't be good.."

You giggle. "Nah.. and.. as long as there isn't any other incidents, I don't see how they'd find out anyway. Don't worry, Sunny. We'll be okay."

He hums. "..Okay."

You two eventually sit up, and you take Sun's hand, heading to Fazerblast.