Chapter 4
After getting separated from Gregory, Heather wakes up in the Superstar Daycare and finds a new friend in one of the Daycare Attendants.
Heather groaned as she laid on her back. She looked around and didn't see Gregory anywhere.
"My head... Last thing I remember was the crowd going nuts and then Gregory and me getting separated..." she muttered.
The only thing she could recall was seeing a lady in a white rabbit costume before losing consciousness. Heather shook her head to get rid of any mental fog and stood up.
"Where am I now?" she thought out loud as she noticed the sign painted on the brick wall.
The sign itself was cloud-themed and had red lettering that spelled out "Superstar Daycare".
"Huh... Didn't know this place had a daycare. Would've really helped out Mom and Dad back then..." she said as she pulled out one of her mini notepads.
When she reached into her opposite pocket she realized she had forgotten something.
"Darn it.. the one day I don't bring a pen. Maybe there's a desk somewhere."
She put the notepad back in her pocket and looked behind her and saw a claw game called "Capsule Drop". It was dark blue machine with orange stars, orange and light blue lights on the sides, and a small image of a humanoid sun and humanoid moon in front of a light red, orange, and teal rainbow. Heather looked at the posters and saw that they were the same ones on the machine that were advertising the "Sundrop" and "Moondrop" candies.
"Guess this is their territory. But why isn't Stardrop on here?" she said as she walked to it.
On the front of the machine there was a poster that said above a dark blue sphere-shaped capsule with yellow and purple stars on it:
"You can win Stardrop's famous Star Pen if you have the right amount of luck!"
Heather shrugged her shoulders as she noticed a quarter on the ground. She picked it up and put it in the coin slot of the machine. It activated as Heather gripped onto the teal joystick. She moved the claw to the right as she saw that same capsule was in the back. She then moved the claw up a bit and then pressed the orange button to lower the claw. The claw grabbed the capsule and held it. Once the claw got to the hole, the ball was dropped and Heather reached in to grab it. She opened it and saw that it was the Star Pen. The pen was a light purple color with a dark purple star-shaped fake gemstone on top. There was also a small manual that came with it.
"Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a Star Pen! To recharge the light's battery firmly press the button on the side and shake it for a few seconds. Do NOT try to write with it as it does NOT have any ink."
"So it's just a glorified lantern? Better than nothing, I guess," Heather said as she put the Star Pen in her other pocket and threw the capsule shell in the Roxy themed trash can.
Heather looked beside her at the shutter door. She walked to it and the door automatically opened. She then entered what appeared to be a main area that had some tables and desks, couches, a few TVs showcasing the Sundrop, Moondrop, and Stardrop candies, three golden statues of Sundrop, Moondrop, and Stardrop, a security desk, a slide that seemed to lead to the Play Area and a gate that led to what seemed to be party rooms. Heather went to the security desk and found a black writing pen. She put it in the same pocket as the Star Pen and went to the gate. Luckily she was tall enough and climbed over it. She walked down the aisle and looked around in wonder. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks as she heard two voices, one was clear while the other sounded a bit muffled.
"Thank you again for the software chip, Astre," the first voice said as it began to get closer.
Heather panicked as she immediately went into a room with a purple door. She looked for a hiding place and saw the long table that still had many party hats on it. She then crawled underneath it and made sure the tablecloth covered her side.
"No problem, Stardrop. I was surprised that whatever got to Freddy hurted you too," Astre replied. "Just get some rest. At least we'll have some time off."
"What about you?" Stardrop asked.
"You know how it is. If I'm not around to help, either Vanessa or Dave are gonna get trapped somewhere," Astre replied with a sigh.
"I meant you and Monty. Is... everything alright?" Stardrop said with the tone of a concerned mother.
"It's fine. You know how he gets. I'm sure he'll calm down after a bit," Astre responded.
"Well, alright. If you do need someone to talk to you, my door will be open," Stardrop said as she opened the door to the same room Heather was in.
"Now then... Where is my bag? I know I left it in here somewhere before all the chaos," Stardrop said as she walked around the room.
'Crap! What do I do? I can't just stay in here! But I also can't just barge out! She'll catch me!' Heather throught as she tried to quiet her breathing.
"Hmm... Maybe someone kicked it underneath one of the tables," Stardrop said as she looked under the other table.
'Alright, that's it. I'm getting out. I can just run for it,' Heather thought as she began to leave.
Suddenly, she felt something pull at her right leg. This caused her to involuntarily scream and kicked the underside of the table with her free leg. Stardrop jolted as she heard the scream. She looked behind her and lifted up the tablecloth with one of her hands. She gasped as she saw the quivering Heather and held out her free hand. Heather stared at Stardrop's hand. Still shaking, she took it and Stardrop helped her get out of her hiding spot. When Heather looked up, all of that fear seemed to dissipate.
Stardrop was a human-like animatronic with ball-like joints. She had caucasian skin, long light pink hair, and purple eyes with star-shaped pupils. She wore a purple ribbon tied around her head like a headband, a light pink t-shirt with a dark purple comet print on it, a knee-length light purple skirt, a light purple jacket with dark pink cuffs tied around her shoulders, dark purple flats, purple nail polish, and pink pearl stud earrings.
"Are you alright?" Stardrop asked while she let go of Heather's hand and kneeled down.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah..." Heather said as she looked down.
Around Heather's right foot was the strap of a purple messenger bag that had four pins: a dark purple star, a light purple seashell, a dark pink candy, and a pink tiara.
"I need you to raise your foot. Can you do that?" Stardrop asked.
Heather nodded as she raised her right foot. Stardrop slowly unwrapped the strap from her leg. She then placed the bag over her body as she said, "I'm done."
Heather put her foot back on the ground as Stardrop used beams of light from her eyes to scan her. Once she was finished she stood up and held her hands together.
"Scanning complete. Strange... Your guest profile is unknown to me. Who are you?"
'Right... I don't have a guest profile since Gregory and me snuck in through the air vent earlier.' Heather thought.
"I'm Heather..." the girl said.
"Heather... What a lovely name. I should notify the main office," Stardrop said.
She made a few technical noiseswhen she tried to contact the main office. Howevr, she was unable to call them after her processor let out a beep.
"Connection error? Why can't I connect to the main network?"
Heather shrugged her shoulders as she didn't know either.
"Someone must have cut me off. But why?" Stardrop muttered.
"Does it really matter?" Heather said.
"I suppose not. Now then, do you know where you're parents are?" Stardrop asked.
"My Mom died a few years back and my Dad left after she did," Heather replied with blunt honesty.
"O-oh... I'm so sorry. Well, do you have any other relatives that came with you? Like a sibling, a grandparent, anyone at all?" Stardrop asked while taken aback by Heather's previous answer.
"Promise not to snitch if I tell you?" Heather asked.
"Well... Normally I'm supposed to report these kinds of things to the staff. But since my connection is cut, I promise not to say anything," Stardrop answered witha smile.
"Okay. I have a friend. His name's Gregory. We ended up getting separated when Freddy had his accident," Heather explained.
"I see... It may be best for you to wait in my room for a while," Stardrop said as she walked towards the door.
"Wh-why?" Heather stuttered.
"So you can take a shower," Stardrop stated with a smile as she motioned for Heather to follow her.
At last, the second half of the prologue is complete. Fun fact, the "Capsule Drop" claw game was actually a claw game called "Moon Drop" that might have been cut content from Security Breach. I had found the art for it on Artstation and decided to use it as a way for Heather to get the Star Pen, which is an item I thought of. I originally wanted Heather to become friends with Astre, but since I had written her as a Security Guard role, I changed it so that she would meet Stardrop instead. I also gave more of an idea of what Heather's past was like before she met Gregory.