Neon Dreams & Spacedust

by Candle_Fairy_BB

Summary:

Great, so you got the job. The pizzaplex you remember visiting every now and then when you were a kid, and now you get to work there! It was exciting, but at the same time you weren’t sure you were ready. The robotics used were all so new when you were a kid- but what if the magic goes away once you start working there? Didn’t matter now, you finally had a job, and you were sure as heckkk not gonna lose this one. At least you got to work somewhere exciting for once.

Yeah, same ole same ole, Y/N is the new hire at the pizzaplex. And like all Fnaf fics, there’s something else happening…something strange to say the least.

But with new friends and a somewhat nice pay it’s all worth it. I think-

———
This fic will contain ocs! Some are animatronics and some are human. I’ll keep a list in the beginning and end notes of every chapter so you can keep up with all the new names :]

Notes:

• Inspired by Solar Lunacy by BamSara

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Warm sunlight poured through the cracks in the curtains. Slowly you turned and stretched in your bed, barely opening your eyes to glance at the old alarm clock on your bedside table.

6:26 P.M.

Oh. Right.

You had trouble sleeping last night, it wasn’t a regular occurrence. You just had a lot to think about last night…Sometimes it’s just hard to wake up and get out of bed, especially when you are so comfy, and you had to try so hard to fall asleep.

Finally deciding to do something today, you sat up and start bed again. Rubbing the sleepiness from your eyes. 6:28….PM…Were you really asleep that long??? It only felt like a couple hours…well, at least you got your full eight hours. At least that’s something.

A couple of floorboards creaked as you walked towards your kitchenette. You were currently residing in a small apartment. A small apartment you were desperately trying to keep. However, with the surge of small time jobs preferring robotic employees, designed and sold by Fazco themselves, it was getting harder to keep any job. First it was your factory job to go, then your dollar store job, then not even the gas stations wanted to keep you around anymore…
You were running out of jobs nearby, and given the current gas prices, it’s not like you had much of a choice to look anywhere else. Your poor old car could barely travel a couple miles anyways. You really wanted to get something newer, maybe get it fixed, but all of your finances went to rent.

Yeah, being an adult is really all it was made out to be. Miserable.

The fridge light dimly lit up your figure. Still drowsy from the “nap” and wearing an oversized t-shirt with flimsy short shorts. It wasn’t the greatest look, but it sure was comfy. Grabbing the water pitcher from one of the shelves, you set it out on the counter. You grabbed a cup and filled it up.

Refilling the filter of the water pitcher, you watched the water drip down into the pitcher. Placing it back in the fridge, you closed the door and grabbed your cup. Slowly you sorta stumbled to the rickety old couch. Floorboards continued creaking. You took a sip of the water as you sat down. You placed the cup on the coffee table in front of you.

Grabbing the remote you flicked on the TV, the news was automatically on first. You watched it dazedly for a few seconds. Something about an accident at the old factory you used to work at. Yikes. Maybe it was a good thing you didn’t work there anymore.

Click. Click. Flick. Click-

Are there any good channels anymore? I guess everyone just uses streaming services now. Too bad you don’t have the money to own such a privilege. At least, not in a time like this.

Flick. Click. Cli- wait.

“-and we are glad to announce the re-opening of the Superstar Daycare! We are so sorry it had to be closed for a week, it wasn’t easy for us either! But don’t worry kiddos, Sun and Moon are back from their vacation and ready to start working again!”

Hm. An advert for the Pizzaplex. Must be like an update commercial or something. The Superstar Daycare? You remember going there maybe once or twice during some visits to the pizzaplex. Although, when you were living with your family the pizzaplex was much much further away, so if a trip was planned no time would be wasted at something like the daycare.

“-we also have some new items in the gift stores!” Some images of new merch was shown on screen. The employee continued talking to the camera. A map showed the locations across the country. A new opening in another state or something. Your thought started drifting from the commercial.

Pulling out your phone you started searching up the pizzaplex nearby. You always liked visiting it…just a small thought. You scrolled through articles, reviews, media posts from customers, some videos recorded there…Some mention the animatronics specific to the pizzaplex in your location.

Job listings…
It’s like something clicked in your mind.
You clicked on the website, an official FazCo. page. It showed pictures taken from the local pizzaplex, some employees working. Some text listing the benefits of joining the staff crew.
A multi-tasked position was open, you’d be part of the staff. The hourly pay wasn’t that bad either. The security positions seemed to all be filled, but you could work night shifts for the staff job. Which, knowing large companies, they’ll probably stick you with whatever shifts they need you to take at the moment.

Maybe this was it! If a company KNOWN for their animatronics and robotics were looking for human employees, then surely they wouldn’t replace you at any given moment! Well…you weren’t entirely sure on that, but it seemed a whole lot more promising then all the odd jobs you’ve been stuck with recently.

You took a gulp from your glass of water. Some random re-run of an older show was playing on the tv now, you weren’t really paying attention to it.

You checked out the applications for the staff position you were looking at. You attached your pitiful resume to it and filled out the rest. Filling out your email and contacts. You expressed your interest with the job, and your history with the location in the text box that asked you why you chose this job. Maybe they’ll give you a chance. There’s no doubt they probably have thousands of applications.

You hit ‘submit’ and watch the page load. The little circle spinning as you unknowingly held your breath.

‘Thank You for Submitting your application! You will receive a confirmation email in your inbox. We will contact you soon.’

You let out your breath.
Yeah. Sure. They always say they’ll contact you soon, then you never get the job. Even with online applications, it always felt dreadful. You didn’t really count on getting the job, so you continued your job search, browsing through the very…displeasing list of awful choices.

You let out a sigh into the empty room. You felt disappointed. You felt like giving up again. Maybe you would have to move back in with your parents…god you hoped it wouldn’t be left to that. You didn’t plan on asking them for help anytime soon. You didn’t part on the greatest of terms, and they especially didn’t get to know how dissatisfied you were with them. No matter how much you wanted to tell them that you wished they would just change, that you wished they became better people, that you were just so tired of how you had to live with them. Just everything. You just couldn’t do that. Especially in such an unstable stage of your life, you didn’t want to live with them while they knew where you stood with their opinions.

Doesn’t matter right now. You started coming back to reality, zoning in on the TV, slumped into the couch with your arms crossed. You probably looked like someone’s grumpy dad. The image of that made you chuckle a little, well more like pushing air through your nose while you slightly smiled.

The show on TV wasn’t that bad, you’ve definitely been unintentionally keeping up with the show. It was this weird old show about a woman and Dracula. It seemed like a soap opera, but it definitely had too many humorous moments that made it seem more like a dramatic comedy.

After taking another sip of your water, you set the glass back down on the polished wood of your small coffee table. The tiredness started slowly creeping back in as some more commercials started playing. Before you could even realize, you were falling back to sleep. You could faintly remember hearing the sounds of Glamrock Freddy’s voice advertising FazerBlast.

—————

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Hhuungh?” You groaned as you sat up on the couch. Bones and joints started popping a cracking as you started straightening yourself out. You really shouldn’t have fallen asleep like that…such an uncomfortable long term position.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Recognizing your alarm clock, you brought yourself to your feet. Stretching as you made yourself towards your bed area to shut off the alarm.

6:00 A.M.

Oh, dear.
You must’ve fallen asleep sometime around…7:30PM maybe? You’ve being sleeping so much lately. You know it’s an issue, or rather a symptom of a lot going on at the moment.

You slightly pushed the curtains to the side as you peeked outside, it was still barely blue outside. The morning light had barely made itself over the horizon. Your window faced the sunsets, not the sunrises. You’d have to go outside to see the sunrise. Not that you really cared at the moment. Dusk and dawn just seemed to be the same, most people just refer to them as dusk.

A glance over at the TV proved it was still on, playing some old cartoons. Must be Saturday. You’ve been so dull lately that you’ve just lost track of the week. (What an eventful start to this fanfic, huh?)

Your phone was still sitting next to your nearly empty glass of water on the coffee table. You just sat down on your bed. Taking a couple moments to rub your eyes and get your bearings.

…

…

Okay, now you were ready to start your day. Get things going. You grabbed your small laptop from under your bed. (It was sitting on a small shelf attached to the underside of your bed.) You flipped it open and let it power up.
A notification.
A notification?
…
A NOTIFICATION???
You never get notifications on your laptop- that must mean you got an email! You were suddenly very VERY awake. You picked up your laptop and took it over to your couch, hitting mute on the remote so you could focus on whatever was in your inbox. You took a sip from your glass of water while opening your inbox.
This meant that maybe *one* of your applications was accepted, and you finally had a job again.
What you weren’t expecting was a preview of the email in the inbox from “FazCo. (Inc.)” reading: “Congratulations! You have…” you immediately clicked on the email.
This couldn’t be- of all the jobs you sent applications to, FazCo was the first to get back to you??? You only sent in that application last night…they weren’t that understaffed were they? This felt weird.

However, at the same time you were very excited. It just felt unreal.

“From: FazCo. (Inc.)
Subject: [Application for Staff Position]

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the position of [Staff]! We went over you resume and considered you an invaluable member of the team!”

You subconsciously scoffed. At least you know what kind of cooperation you’re probably gonna have to go against some time in the future.

“We expect the best from you. Here’s a list of what to expect.”

You scrolled half-minded through the list. It was the general list of teamwork stuff and cooperation that all companies shpealed on about.

‘•You will have to handle malfunctioning animatronics from time to time.
* Fazco. is not responsible for any injuries or damage you sustain while operating around functional animatronics. You may be entitled to compensation. You will not be able to take legal action against FazCo.’

Eerie.
That did sort of set you back a little. You saw more and more of that in the fine print at the end of the email.

“Please arrive at 9:30 AM this following Wednesday. You will be given your uniform, shown your locker, and prepped for work by a S.T.A.F.F. Bot, and an employee will train you throughout your first two work days. You will be ‘Shown the Ropes’ and given a tour of the Pizzaplex. You will be given further instructions on your job after you have been through training.”

You absent-mindedly read through the rest of the email. You already got the details you needed to know, the rest was pretty much legalities.

“We look forward to working with you, [Y/N]!”

Well, hopefully they have air conditioning, it might just be May right now but you know the days are going to be getting hotter.

Maybe you can get more night shifts, at least it’ll be cooler out then. You didn’t like the feeling of not wearing a jacket in public.

This is it. It’s really happening. You’re going to be working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaplex.

Chapter 2: First day at work?

Summary:

You start working at the Pizzaplex! You learn something about your job from the employee training you, something important that FazCo. apparently left out in their email...

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee- SLAP.

You hit your alarm clock, apparently hitting the right button, because it stopped beeping. Or maybe you just like broke it or something. You were a little too tired to care. As you nestled yourself further into your pillows and blankets, inhaling the scent of the detergent and faint lavender dryer sheets. You quickly became relaxed again, silently falling back to sleep.

You suddenly snap awake, staring at your alarm clock. You immediately jolt up, sitting in your bed. It's 7:15 A.M. 'oh nooooo', you thought to yourself. How long had your alarm been going off? Maybe you should start shifting over to using the alarms on your phone...Doesn't matter now, you needed to get yourself together, Today was THE DAY, Wednesday, new job day! You jump out of bed, scrambling out of your sheets and countless blankets. It was getting too hot for that many blankets, but you'd rather melt than sleep without the blankets. Speaking of melting, you were rushing to the bathroom to get a quick shower. As soon as the water came out it was immediately so hot that you felt like your skin was melting. You already brought up this water heater issue with the landlord, they don't care.

Once you finished your shower routine, you went through your closet looking for anything that would look nice. Something that could make a good impression and be comfortable at the same time. After snagging a patterned button up t-shirt, some plain brown slacks, and a light jacket, you quickly got dressed. Time? Currently 7:58. Damn- you would be riding the bus today, no way your car would cooperate with the new routine at all. You were putting together some things you might need, and things you would definitely need with you. You needed a bag...a bag...oh great. You frantically started searching for any kind of bag or sack you could use.

After trashing through all of your organized belongings, you were really regretting not planning this out over the past couple days. You found an old backpack, it was in pale pastel primary colors. The sight of the backpack made you feel nostalgic, the sturdy old bag carried a lot with you through many years of school. You searched it, finding very few old supplies still left from your school days. A couple pencils, a pen or two, some erasers of different kinds. You started piling all of your required belongings into the bag.

With that, you slipped on your sneakers, tucked your phone into your pocket, and pulled your bag onto your shoulders. One more glance at the alarm clock. 8:28 A.M. Better get running to the bus stop.

-------

After what seemed like forever, you and a few other people climbed onto the bus. Paying your fee, you tipped your head to the bus driver, someone you had come to know well. She tipped her head back towards you with a smile as you walked towards a seat. Once sat, you put in your earbuds, rested your head, and tried to relax your racing nerves on the way to your new job.

You watched the familiar sight passed by until you got onto the familiar route you recognized from your childhood trips. The bus slowed down, rearing up behind another bus that was stopped at the edge of the parking lot. You took out your earbuds, putting them away and you shut off your phone and put it back into your pocket. You could hears the doors opening as the bus hissed. The weight of people stepping off as the driver called out to remaining passengers. You stood up and followed the short line of people out of the bus. You smiled and nodded at the bus driver, and she returned the gesture, closing the doors behind you as you were the last to get off.

You checked the time on your phone. 8:48 A.M. Great. The buses took off behind you, leaving for their next stops. Families bustling around the parking lot, kids screaming, screeching and cheering out of excitement. It didn't seem too busy today, but it also seemed like people have been pouring in all day. YOU gathered up your nervousness, getting a grip on the strap of your backpack, you started forward. Weaving between the excited families, you did get a few odd looks, but nobody focused on you. Once across the parking lot you cautiously took a few steps into the Pizzaplex. It's been a while since you've been here...it brings back so many memories, some good, some..not so alright.
If you remember correctly the ticket booth should be right over..ah, there. You go up to a booth, a bot sits inside with automated messages. Last time you were here as a kid there was a cranky teen behind the glass. Nice to see that humans aren't safe from being replaced from robots here either. Well, actually, that was to be expected.

You walk up to the glass after a family leaves with their passes and ticket bracelets. Upon seeing you the S.T.A.F.F. Bot lifts it's head, like in surprise or recognition. It grabs something from under the desk, a pamphlet, sliding it towards you under the glass. Once you take it, the bot points to a Map Bot that doesn't interact with any of the families like the other Map bots do. It suddenly looks over at the Bot behind the ticket booth, then to you, like it suddenly got alerted of your presence. It beckons to you, waving you over. You take a good look over the pamphlet, slowly taking steps towards the Map Bot.

"Enjoy your time at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaplex", the Bot speaks out to you, automated, but it..felt different.

You slightly smile at the bot, "Thanks, I think I will."

The Bot immediately goes back to greeting families and asking them what price plans they are looking for. Although a little odd, you found the little interaction to be kind of sweet. You always did like the derpy little STAFF bots whenever you visited as a kid. As soon as you reached the Map Bot, it turned as started moving.

"Follow me."

"Oh- Um-"

You picked yourself up into a little pace, following after the sounds of the motorized wheels rolling across the 80s themed carpet. It started spewing random information about about the features at the pizzaplex, things you already knew. Once again you could feel the odd looks families were giving you, and once again they couldn't care enough to be interested. You looked around, seeing some notable changes that weren't there before. Not to mention the things you noticed were missing. You didn't see anymore of Bonnie's or Foxy's posters. You never got to see Foxy as a kid, you only ever saw posters stating he would be a new feature soon. I guess they just never added him. You knew Bonnie stopped performing a while ago, you distinctly remember not being allowed to see his shows anymore, his stage was always closed after that whenever you visited. However now, you noticed that all of his posters were gone too. A sunken feeling dropped deep somewhere in your soul. It's probably best not to dwell on that, you didn't want to make your first day so miserable.

Before you even realized it, the Map Bot had led you to a 'staff only' door. It had opened the door, waiting for you to go through.

"Thanks", you nodded your head towards the bot as you waited on the other side of the doorway for it to start moving again. You had never been back here before, so you were definitely relying on the Map Bot to guide you. First thing you saw was a flight of stairs downwards.

"Oh- um, how are you-"

Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud-

"Oh." You watched the Bot just roll down the stairs. The door closed beside you. Well, too late to back out now. You followed the thuds of the Bot in front of you. It started up again, giving out random facts about the staff hallways, most of which could be found in the pamphlet. You glanced around, noting your surroundings as your reached landings within the flights of stairs. More and more hallways. Every now and then you'd see something strange, or concerning. Deep gashes in the walls, dark stains across the floors. Could just be...oil. Even if it was, why would their just be random puddles of oil in a seemingly safe space for Bots? I guess your imaginations just like to run wild.

When you expected to go down the next flight of stairs, the Bot stopped. It turned towards the hall on the level you two stopped on, and it started rolling down the hall. Guess we're going this way now. You looked up into the open ceiling above, bunches of hissing pipes and some steam. Peachy. You looked over at the walls, noting some signs painted onto the walls with arrows pointing in the direction you're going.

"Parts N' Service"

Huh...why would the bot be taking you there? Maybe your training just starts there. As you approached the doors of the Parts N' Service, past all of the countless boxes and crates, and all sorts of discarded things, you could hear the banging of metal and hissing of what was presumably steam, or water from a hose or faucet.

"This is our stop. I will part now." The bot spoke in a manner-of-factly manner. It just stared at you. You could hear the whirring stop from behind the doors.

"Uh..Thanks." You nodded your head, it nodded back as you pushed on the doors. Once it saw you going in, it left. Rolling away towards where you came. Hm, must not be fun going back up all those stares on wheels.

As you entered the large, kind of circular, room you made note of all the glass containment units. A large circular one in the center. A couple of employees where sitting over towards the "corner". One of them was typing something onto a computer, the other was tinkering on something. You found it odd that they were here, given that their caps said "SECURITY" across the front of them.

"Oh, hey, you're here." A rather young looking man looks up from what he was tinkering with, his head barely lifted up to look at you with a grin. You couldn't help but to grin back. He had semi-curly dark blonde hair that smoothed under his cap, and tanned skin. He seemed to be of average build, with a slimmed face and gentle, yet playful, hazel eyes.

"Hey- yeah, I guess I'm supposed to be...uh...here..?" You vaguely gestured around to the room you were lead to.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I was supposed to be waiting in the employee's break room for you, but I got a little bored" He chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat up straight. "The name's Owen, nice to meet y'a. I'll be training you for the next couple of days." Now that he was sitting up, you could get a good look at his name tag. Yep. Owen. He extended his hand to shake yours.

"Nice to meet you too, Owen. I'm Y/n." You introduced yourself. You brought up your hand to shake his. His hands were firm, yet gentle. Just as you two finished introducing each other, someone else stood up.

"The name's Bill." A gruff voice spoke. A much older man spoke to you, he tipped his cap to you. "It's nice to see someone new around here, I suppose."

Bill had shorter cut hair, like an outgrown buzz cut. He had an impressive hairline for a man his age, and the peppered coloring of his dark brown, almost black, hair looked nice on him. He had dark blue eyes, and a dark hazel complexion. The massive ring of keys on his belt jingled as he stepped towards you, offering his hand to shake as well. You shook his hand, it felt hardened and dry, rough. He probably worked a lot.

Owen chuckled, "This old man trained me back in the day, believe it or not." He gestured to the man standing beside him. You paused and took another look at Owen, he didn't seem..that old.

"Oh, when did you start working here?"

"Oh, it was a while ago. I was around 16, working as an intern..." he seemed lost in thought, "man, that first day...heh, it was rough." he chuckled, mostly to himself, but Bill let out a absent-minded chuckle too. I guess that's something you'll eventually learn about.

"Anyways, why don't we get started? Let's go get your uniform sorted out, shall we?" He spoke so smoothly, guiding you away through the doors as Bill went back to work. Just then you thought you saw someone else in the darkness of the room, they were working away, obviously not wanting to be seen. In fact, when you tried to get a good look, they shifted out of your line of sight. Weird.

You followed Owen up a flight of stairs and down hall. You decided to start some banter when you two passed a security office.

"So, how come you two spend your time down there..if you're wearing security uniforms?"

"Hm..well I do suppose that would be confusing, wouldn't it?" His voice was soft, consoling even. "Well, you see, me and Bill have been here awhile, especially Bill. We've been accustomed to the short staffing in the past, and the days were security and staff were the same things. We'd spend time down there chatting with the mechanics and helping them with their work...of course they eventually quit, or moved on...I guess we still just prefer that space over the cramp and stuffy security stations." He hummed to himself as he thought out his next words. "We just like spending our time down there between our patrol shifts, right now our other two guards are patrolling."

"Just..two guards patrolling at a time? In a place this big..?"

Owen chuckled, "Yeah, I know, you'd expect the place to be crawling with guards. However there are an abundance of Bots and animatronics everywhere, plus the cams. We're just the extra accessories. Which is also why you'll see us helping the staff around the plex with any odd jobs they might be doing."

"Hm." You hummed to yourself, nice to know you'll always have some human help when you need it.

"Well, here we are. Locker rooms, showers, and most importantly: Uniforms!" He spoke out in a cheesy excited voice, little jazz hand motions towards the open door. You chuckled and walked in.

"Alrighty, so uniforms are pretty much the same for security and Staff, just make sure you get the right cap. Oh, and here-" He pulled a badge with a nametag on it out of his pocket, handing it to you. "Y/N" was printed across the tag.

After a general guide of sizes from Owen, he helped you pick what would fit you best then directed you to a changing area by the lockers. Once you were done, you slipped on your name tag and stuffed all of your clothes into your bag. You had a hard time fitting your shoes in, now that you had your new work-issued non-slip shoes. You remember bring this up with Owen, about how Bill didn't wear work-issued shoes, but it was explained that was a time when employees brought their own shoes and Bill just didn't need the change, management saw nothing wrong with it. Apparently some other employees close to Bill get the same privilege. Although, it was just shoes, so you didn't mind.

"Lookin' good", Owen gave you a quick once over, checking out the new uniform on you. You couldn't help but smile, it made you feel a bit more comfortable in the new uniform. "I can help snag a jacket for you from the gift shops if ya like."

"Thanks, I'd like that" You nodded.

"Sweet- now that we have the snazzy new uniform, how about a tour 'round here? Then I can fill you in on your new role of Staff and Handler!" He spoke excitedly, mostly about the last part. You stopped, a slight worried frown came across your face.

"Handler...?"

"Yeah..?" Owen looked as confused as you did now. "o h- You didn't know, did you?" Now he just looked disappointed. Mumbling to himself about how excited 'they' were, you didn't really understand what he meant. "We were told you were going to be the new handler, it was the only staff position available-"

"I- I don't remember seeing anything about that on the website, or the application, or the email- I don't know how to- A handler?? Of what??" You sounded incredibly worried by now.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's just some simple miscommunication issues...I'll uh- I'll bring this up with management later, if you're still up for the job..? It'll be relatively simple, I promise, They'll absolutely adore you!" Owen's voice soothed you, and you tried to see the brighter side of this.

"Well..I guess I don't really have any other options. Um, who are they?" You asked, after coming to a defeated realization you had no other choice.

"Oh, the daycare attendant. They really need a new friend." He smiled warmly, he seemed to like talking about them. Well, you'll just be taking care of some sort of nanny bot, right? That shouldn't be so hard.

"I guess that's...nice? yeah." You spoke sheepishly, not knowing what else to really do in this situation.

"well, I'll you two meet up tomorrow after your basic training- until then, I have a tour to give you!" He grinned as he gestured towards the door. You slumped your bag into your designated locker, which you were starting to realize no one else here used their lockers. Oh well, your clothes made your bag too bulky to carry around. You checked you phone, then followed after Owen. You couldn't wait to see what had changed over the years since your last visit here. Maybe things turned out this way for the better. You were looking forward to it.

Notes:

New Characters!

Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Sorry for the rush towards the end lol hope you liked this chapter! Also sorry for lack of DCA, you meet the silly boys in the next chapter, well, you'll briefly meet Sun at least. Comments are much appreciated :D

Chapter 3: Not All It Seems To Be...

Summary:

You finally get to meet Sun! Albeit, not very long...it's more of a "noticing each other" moment. You get to look around the Pizzaplex a little, getting lost along the way. Nothing too exciting happened, but you do notice something strange in the staff halls.

Owen had to cut the tour short when he got a notification on his Fazwatch. Apparently a couple of families had gotten into somewhat of a scuffle, and most of the animatronics were occupied at the moment. Owen told you to feel free to look around while he's dealing with the issue, he handed you your Fazwatch, started up it's menu, then took off. Well, that's great. You took a couple of steps, awkwardly standing around in the middle of the dim neon lights, barely out of reach of the main lights.

You know this is the same place you visited as a kid, it had to be. It just felt...different. So many things felt new, so many things felt out of place, or missing. I guess that's what happens when you leave a place for so long. It will eventually just feel unfamiliar. This place feels so unfamiliar, yet nostalgic at the same time. It represented a time in your childhood before things started going not so great between your parents. You try to push those thoughts aside as you look around.

You noticed a couple of these little wet floor bots staring at you, they were stationed over on some tiled flooring. They were so cute, you felt obligated to interact with them. You finished securing your Fazwatch as you approached them.

"Hey," You spoke quietly, you didn't want to draw any attention from the families walking around. How ridiculous that must look to them, you, speaking to a wet floor sign bot.

One of the little bots did a spin, then it stared back you again. You let out light laugh, it was a cute display. You looked around at the other families, none of them were looking in your direction, so you did a little spin too. The bots made a little noise of recognition. They both started spinning. You chuckled a bit before reaching out your hands to stop them. Once your hands were on the top of their..heads? they stopped spinning. As they looked up at you, they made little noises. Like tiny beeps and boops to communicate with you, you figured they must have another way of communicating with each other. You smiled, taking your hands back to your side.

"Sorry, just didn't want you to get..uh- dizzy?" You questioned more than stated, you weren't sure if they could get dizzy.

They made a couple of beeps.

"Ah, okay." You had no clue what they said.

They looked over at something to your side. A little confused, you turned to look in the same direction. A couple of kids were staring at the whole interaction. Their parents glancing at you then back at their pamphlets, talking about what they should visit next while they still had time. A little embarrassed, you rubbed the back of your neck and awkwardly let out a small chuckle. You gave the kids a small wave. They just continue staring. Ooookay. You started shuffling your feet away.

"Uh, stay in school?" You pointed finger guns at the kids as you shuffled your way to the staff halls entrance.

The kids just continued staring at you, and so did the wet floor bots. You left everyone confused as you swiped your badge and escaped into the staff halls.

Well, that was awkward. Hopefully you could start getting more night shifts here, so you won't have to go through any more situations like that. Social anxiety was a bitch, wasn't it? You let out an exhale in the damp and dim halls.

Once securing your work badge back into your pocket, you set out down the long corridor. Maybe you could explore back here until around closing, hopefully it won't be as busy out there by then. You couldn't even begin to imagine what the Mega Pizzaplex is like on a Friday. You pulled up your wrist, checking your watch.

"Only 2:14 P.M....Great.." You sighed. Your shoulders slumped over. You were sure you'd eventually get used to working around so many people, this kind of environment.

Just as you started to walk again, you barely took one step before freezing. Some noise had startled you, a clinking noise from above. Up in the pipes and vents of the "ceiling". You immediately looked above you, looking around for anything. You didn't see anything, some vague lighting and a little steam hissing from a pipe. You saw lots of pinprick red lights, likely part of systems or power indicators. You also saw a couple green lights, on of which seemed particularly bright. You stared up into the ceiling for a while, inspecting the shadows of pipes and joints backlit by the small lights. It just felt eerie. You felt like something was watching you, like the darkness was staring right back at you.

You scrunched up your face in a little act of confusion and resignation, you let out a quick hum as you started moving again, slowly taking your eyes away from the abyss above. More pipes hissed, steam illuminated by the tiny red lights. As you turned your head back to where you were walking, you could've sworn you saw movement out of the corner of your eye. You of course did a double take, not seeing anything in the darkness you had already inspected before. Weird.

You started walking down the hall, avoiding the small piles of wooden crates and cardboard here and there. Made you wonder why there would be such a mess left back here. Didn't they have a surplus of STAFF bots specifically to clean messes? Why would such a big organization just let messes build up in their halls, didn't any of the animatronics or employees think the messes got annoying? You put the thought aside, maybe you could ask Owen about the Staff Halls. As for right now, you didn't want to linger any longer. Passing by oddly placed chain-link fences with signs on them, leading to other corridors you resumed. Deep gashes on the walls nest to the fences, the fences themselves didn't seem to be in the best of conditions either. You'd have to ask about that too. Once you finally reach another door, you quickly opened it up and left the staff halls, they just didn't sit right with you.

-----

A quick look around proved you were somewhere near the Superstar Daycare, you remember seeing it on the map in the pamphlet. Maybe you could check out the daycare while you're over here? That's where you would be working after all. What time was it? You always felt compelled to check. Bringing up your watch, it showed the time 2:48.
You don't know why you always felt the need to check the time, but you realized you do it more often out in public than at home. You walked past some STAFF bots that were mopping, they stopped to look at you before resuming their work. Families were bustling about, trying to get to as many places as possible. You just weaved between the busy families. You looked at the map in your pamphlet, you wondered how long it would take before you wouldn't need this thing. You were really wishing that Owen could've finished his tour by now. A complete tour of the place would have made things so much easier.

Okay, so a left turn hear, a few steps forward would leave you- at El Chip's?? You stared at the map in confusion. It wasn't very helpful, there were no indicators of the architecture around you. You let out a defeated sigh as you began trudging along again.

Going back a few paces, turning over here, making a right turn there, you would be- in the Superstarcade. Great. You looked at the stairs that went down to the lower level, but you didn't want to get lost anymore. You left in the direction that you came. You felt so embarrassed, there must be people seeing you walk back and forth, they probably think you're lost.

You put the pamphlet away, folding it up and shoving it into the pocket of your pants. You really wish you had a jacket right about now, a good ole' safety blanket. Plus it was kinda chilly now, the AC definitely did it's job around here. Once again, you felt compelled to check your watch. 3:36. You felt defeated, you wasted so much time going in circles. Hopefully Owen would be able to come save you from this dilemma soon. Maybe he could finally finish that tour. Lowering your watch, you just started walking. No particular direction. Maybe this'll help you get used to the layout a bit more, just take in your surroundings. While you walked, you looked at the sign and posters up on the walls. You made mental notes of places to visit later. Then, you saw it, giant doors with "Superstar Daycare" written over the top. OH. How did you miss that???

Once entering through the doors, you looked around a rather large area. It all seemed to be reserved for the Daycare. You eventually found yourself in a smaller room, with a giant golden statue in it. It reminded you of the Glamrock Freddy statue, just not as large. It featured two characters, you sort of recognized them from the posters. The figure standing tall resembled a jester, with sun rays around his head. The figure crouched behind him had similar features, but instead of rays he had a nightcap on. You definitely made the connection that they were a sun and moon themed duo. You looked around and saw some parents sitting at chairs, scrolling through their phones. A large pane of glass was easily the first thing you could've noticed. Upon reaching it, you could see down into a lit up area. There was netting, jungle gyms, a giant ball pit, play mats- ohh, this must be the actual daycare.

The laughter of children could be heard from the area down below, noises traveled up the tube slide to your right. What a cute drop off idea. 'I wonder how parents and their kids get registered that way though?' You tried not to think about it too hard. You could see a blur of warm colors doing tricks and running around in the daycare, a gaggle of children chasing after it. They all stopped, crowding around the figure. Jester shoes, little bells on them, barely seen through the crowd. Carnival striped pants, red and yellow, and they looked extremely puffy. Ruffles decorated the edges of the pants, and large ruffles wrapped around the red waist band. A yellow torso and arm, with red buttons on the front and ribbon tied around the wrists. Large bells were tied onto the ribbons. Large ruffles decorated the collar of this animatronic, and once you reached the face you could see the rays slightly spinning back and forth around his head. That must be the sun-themed animatronic you saw on the posters and the statue. He had a large grin on his face as he entertained the children, dancing circle around them.

You looked further into the daycare, another animatronic was down there. They were decorated in light blue, loose ruffles, white polka dots and a long nightcap. At first you thought this could've be the moon animatronic, but he couldn't be. Although he was very similar to what you presumed was the attendant, and to the likeness of the moon charcter you kept seeing, he definitely looked different. He was slightly smaller than the sun, the curves on his face were flipped and his cap was too long to be that of the moon character's. You didn't remember seeing any posters or information about an animatronic like this. You did remember hearing something about how each Mega Plex location having their own specialized animatronics. Kind of like one of kind animatronics that were assembled at the localized Mega Plex, you wouldn't be able to find them at other Pizzplexes. You figured that must be what's going on here, apparently they didn't get any promotional material.

As you were looking around the daycare, you got the feeling someone was watching you. You looked around at the couple of parents sitting around. None of them were looking at you. Confused, you just looked back into the daycare area. Right when you were about to dismiss the feeling, there, down below you saw him. The bright and yellow animatronic was looking at you.He tilted his head, waving at you. You tiled your head and waved back. Just as quick as the interaction had started, it ended, as he got his attention back on the kids that were all yelling for him. The light blue animatronic glanced up at you, then turned and walked away to do whatever he needed to do. Well, maybe you'll be able to meet them soon.

------

You started walking off to try and find Owen, a notification on your Fazwatch told you that he was done dealing with upset customers. He stated that he was at the locker room from earlier, since you knew how to get to that location by yourself. You retraced your steps from earlier, finding a doorway labeled "staff only" you knew you had somewhat made it. You praised yourself for getting better at this whole navigating the Plex thing. You were trying to recall which stairwell you needed when you heard the door latch behind you. It startled you a little bit, you were expecting it, but it still startled you. You barely spent any time in these halls and they were already setting your nerves on edge. You started walking, checking the message on your Fazwatch.

Click.

You paused, puzzled. A small metal noise sounded from somewhere in the hall, somewhere in the shadows behind you. The light flickered. Nothing was there. Confused, you just turned back around and slowly started walking again.

Click. Click.

This time you immediately turned around. The lights flickered. Nothing was there. Your mind started racing through the possibilities of what could be causing the noise. The flickering lights, old pipes. maybe some little critter walking around. You shook the thought from you head, you were starting to grow paranoid. Maybe there's something in the steam coming from these pipes? You chuckled to yourself, would explain the constant eerie atmosphere down here.

Click. Screeeeeech. Click.

Something metal was scraping along the concrete. Making clicking noises as it tapped the walls. The echoing of the noises made you nearly terrified. You were beginning to think there was something else in these halls. You just started speed walking to the stairwell, ignoring the countless tapping and clicking noises that started getting louder, and closer. It had become so loud and frequent, so close, that you just whipped around. Prepared to face whatever was behind you. Nothing was there. You felt like you were going insane.

You sped down the stairwell, you could've sworn you heard a dark chuckle echoing from the halls above. Once you were on the floor you were supposed to be on, you practically bolted for the locker rooms. Upon opening the door and seeing Owen standing there, you could practically feel the adrenaline slow down. Owen gave you somewhat of a confused and worried look.

"Hey, something wrong? You look...well, maybe like ya saw a ghost." He took a couple steps towards you.

"Oh- um.." You could still hear the fear in your voice, you weren't sure what to say. "I just, uh, got lost?"

"Hm" Owen let out a short hum, as he gave you an odd look. "Well, then I guess that makes the completion of our tour that much more important."
He totally didn't believe you. You knew you weren't the greatest of liars, but this was just so plain-faced anyone could have spotted it.

"But, y'know, if there was...anything else, you could always let me know," he suggested, giving you an empathetic look. He knew something about those halls.

"Uh...yeah, I'll let you know. So, um about that tour?" You didn't mean to change the subject, but you definitely needed that tour if you didn't actually want to get lost again.

"Yeah, let's go" Owen gave you a warm smile, though the concern still etched his face. He patted you on the shoulder and led you out back into the halls.

"Oh, and just so you know. Maybe try to avoid walking through the halls alone from now on. At least while you're still new here." He said those words so casually, smiling off the rest of his worries from before.

You on the other hand, had a sinking feeling that settled in your stomach. This little bit of knowledge did not help ease what you have experienced today.

Notes:

Quick update on OCs:

Owen: The guy training you. He's worked here since his internship at 16.

Bill: gruff old man, you didn't get to know him very much yet.

Light Blue Animatronic in the daycare: You don't know their name, or anything about them yet. You know more about Sun without even meeting him, compared to this strange animatronic assisting him.

Chapter 4: Just a day alone at home. Again…

Summary:

Just a regular day at home after returning from the Mega Pizzaplex. Not much happens....:/ sorry-

Notes:

Anyways, OC updates! Incase you forgot anything- I know it's been like months since I posted a chapter- ">>

So here's a refresher on em':

Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, older man and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Since Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Light Blue Animatronic in the daycare: You don't know their name, or anything about them yet. You know more about Sun without even meeting him, compared to this strange animatronic assisting him. There are no poster or merch around the pizzaplex indicating his existence.

I once again apologize for any errors ahead lol

You gave the nighttime bus driver a nod as you stepped off the bus steps. Much like the bus driver who drove the morning/day shifts, you had gotten to recognize them very well. You were already tired, walking around all day at the Pizzplex was fun but also not fun. Especially the whole getting lost part. Owen apologized for not being able to introduce you to Sun and his assistant. You tried to assure him it was fine, since you’d be meeting him tomorrow when you’ll actually be working. He still felt bad that he didn’t get to introduce you two.

 

Now that you were approaching your apartment complex, you took a quick look at your phone. 8:16PM. The Pizzaplex was definitely still open but you were about ready to pass out after everything today. You were out of your house for over 12 hours, and introverted, tired, you didn’t like that. You punched in the code and shuffled your way inside, dragging yourself up the stairs. Elevator was still broken. Time to drag yourself all the way to the top floor. Yayyyyyyyy-

 

8:25PM, well that certainly wasn’t forever, but it definitely felt like it. You were jiggling your keys out of your pocket to open the door, when you heard a door creak open nearby. A sweet face met yours after looking out into the hall. It was your neighbor, Donna. 

 

“Hello, Y/n.” Her soft voice carried over the sound of the door fully opening, her warm smile seeming to light up the whole hall. “I was on my way to go pick up some snacks when I heard your keys, looks like you’ve had a long day sweetie.” 

 

“Yeah, first day at my new job. Had a lot of weird and suspicious paperwork to fill out, a lovely tour of the joint, and some required safety videos to watch. Which also gave me some weird vibes.” You replied, you couldn’t tell whether you meant to say ‘lovely’ sarcastically or not. The way you said it though definitely implied something though.

 

“Ooooohh, sounds quite interesting.” She started, humming in thought. “Though I worry about your safety at such a place if it has that many…weird ‘vibes’.” Donna finished, with an interesting twang on the word ‘vibes’. 

 

“Oh, it’s not that bad, the wording on certain things is just a little sus, y’know? Oh, or, uh- well, like a less serious form of weirdly suspicious.” 

 

“Ohhh” Donna let out a little chuckle at your explanation for the word ‘sus’. “Well, I suppose most workplaces have their quirks.”

 

“Yeah, this one certainly has some…quirks, alright.”

 

“Now, what’s this place you’re working at?”

 

“Oh, it’s the Pizzaplex in town. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaplex.”

 

“Ohhhh, how exciting! I remember going to one of those pizzerias when I was a little girl. It was so exciting watching those animatronics as a kid. I went with my grandkids recently to see the new place a couple years ago, it was such an odd experience for sure. Everything was so different! And the place was huge! Them there animatronics are also just so…high tech compared to the ones I grew up with.” She let out a few lighthearted chuckles as she spoke, then ended it with a sigh. She was fond of the memories she used to have, the ones that were getting harder to remember. 

 

“Yeah, I sure bet they are different. It’s so neat though, that you got to experience those older models.” You couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing the old models working, doing what they were built to back when their technology was impressive. Experiencing something when it was in its prime before it led to something greater was something you wish you could do. 

 

“Mhm, mhm.” She nodded her head a couple times as she slowly closed her door. She somehow got her purse out of her apartment and put it over her shoulder and you hadn’t even noticed. “Well, I best be letting you get on in, you need your rest! As for I, I got some snacks to get.” She light-heartedly laughed as she made her ways to the stairs. 

 

You opened your apartment, nodding to her as you were about to go in. Then you suddenly turned back around, “Wait, are you going alone? At night? Down all of those stairs too-?” You hadn’t even realized how frantic your questions sounded.

 

“Oh, I’ll be alright, sweetheart. I’ll be meeting up with Susan, and her husband, Earl, at their apartments a couple floors down anyways. We’re all going on a little snack run together.” She curtly smiled as she continued down the stairs. 

 

You sighed out some relief, still a little concerned for her well-being. Especially since the elevators broke down. You watched her leave your sight as she continued down the stairwell, then you went inside your apartment and closed the door. It was good to be home.

 

Tossing your keys into the small basket ontop the table that waited by your doorway. There were some other things collected in the basket that you just kept forgetting to sort through. You kept making a mental note to yourself to clean it out whenever you tossed your keys in or retrieved them from the basket. Apparently, though, those mental notes never seemed to be enough to motivate you to actually do something about it. 

 

You’d hang up your jacket here too if you had it with you. Well, you did have your jacket with you, but you just stuffed it into your bag along with your uniform. Shuffling your way to the kitchen you checked for any snacks, not feeling like making anything for dinner. Your tired eyes grazed over the open cabinets before spotting a cup of noodles. Instant ramen doesn’t sound too bad right about now. Taking out the oil flavor packet, you poured in some water and put it in the microwave for the instructed time. You could’ve just boiled some water and poured it instead but that sounds like too much work right now. While that was cooking, you’d go get your stuff ready for a shower. 

 

The hum of the microwave could be barely heard from your bedroom. Tossing your bag on the bedYou sorted through some comfy, loose, clothes that you’d wear to sleep and probably lounge around all day in tomorrow. You eventually settled on some black basketball shorts, and a loose and faded navy blue t-shirt. Also just some random pair of underwear, which wasn’t important, cause why would that be important. Anyways, you brought this to the bathroom, setting the small stack of clothes on the edge of the sink away from the shower. You also grabbed a towel and placed it on the edge closer to the shower. You headed back to the bedroom, remembering you still had to sort out your uniform. 

 

Entering your bedroom, you could hear the microwave beeping, indicating that your ramen was done. You’d just let it cool down while you finished what you were doing in here. Grabbing your uniform, you just tossed it into your hamper. It’s not like you were going back to work tomorrow. Plus, you don’t know what those clothes have been through or how well they’ve been washed. Regardless of how new the uniforms are. You put the clunky shoes down near your closet. You also threw your jacket into the hamper too. MIght as well since you’d have to do laundry tomorrow. 

 

You made your way back into the kitchen, grabbing the instant ramen cup and putting it on the counter while you grabbed a fork. You could’ve just used chopsticks, but you saw the forks first and didn’t really care. You poured in the oil flavoring pack, stirring it in with the already dissolving powder flavoring. You took a seat at your couch, flicking on the tv to whatever popped up first while you enjoyed your ramen. 

 

—----(Anyways, you enjoy your ramen cup, take a shower, and go to bed. What else do you want from me? You were here for the animatronics, not for my over-explanation of your boring home life.)------

 

Stretching, you let out a yawn. You glanced around your bedroom to try and seemingly locate whatever was trying to garner your attention. It took you a couple minutes to register that your alarm was going off. You hit the off button for it while you stared blankly at…something, or rather, nothing in particular. Your sleepy eyes just glazing over your bed as you eventually woke up fully, registering that you were up and needed to go get some stuff done. Like your laundry. 

 

—--(Look, I know this is lazy writing but pleaseeeeee let me get away with this)----

 

It was around 2 in the afternoon, your clean laundry sitting on your bed while you were eating a quick lunch. You appreciated having your own washing machine and dryer in your apartment, which made your rent a bit more expensive than you’d like, but it beat having to use the laundry room all the way down in the basement of the complex. So,  you deemed it worth it. 

 

You turned off your tv after your little break, popping your earbuds back in to get back into the grind of your chores. You cleaned up your dishes and left them in the drying rack. Nothing eventful about tha. You flipped through some community-made playlists filled with songs you liked, and others you didn’t know but fit the theme of the playlist. You were looking for a little change in your song-choices after replaying the same 20 songs over and over again in the same order for the past week or so. Maybe it was two weeks. You didn’t know. So, you turned to community playlists. 

 

You found a playlist that had enough familiar songs in it that you’d feel comfortable, but with enough new songs to keep your constant racing thoughts occupied for a while. You were currently heading to the “broom closet” as you more-than willingly called it because it made it sound like you lived in a big house with room to spare for a specific tiny room for your bigger cleaning supplies. 

 

The song “Nobody”, by Mitski, starts playing. You usually go for something like Starkiller, by Bear Ghost, when you are planning on being productive. Today though, you felt more inclined towards Nobody , but that was probably because of the Mitski mood you were in lately. You could hear the music start playing after your 30-second ad, cause like hell you are ever gonna buy the premium version of this app. 

 

♪ My God, I’m so lonely

So I open the window

To hear sounds of people

To hear sounds of people ♪

 

You grabbed the broom and its dust pan, and began sweeping up your apartment. You weren’t going full throttle, lifting the couch above your head, kind of clean freak on the sweeping today. Just enough to get what’s become noticeable over the past week or so, things you kept reminding yourself to sweep but never really got around to doing.

 

♪ Venus, planet of love

Was destroyed by global warming

Did its people want too much, too?

Did its people want too much? ♪

 

 You went around the edges of furniture to get enough that might be stuck in a crevice or something, or anything under the lip of things like your couch. You dumped the dustpan in the kitchen trash can, satisfied and disappointed with yourself with the amount of dust and dirt you swept up. It really was getting grimy in here, wasn’t it? 

 

♪ And I don’t want your pity

I just want somebody near me

Guess I’m a coward

I just want to feel alright ♪

You swept up the kitchen pretty easily, there was never much to pick up in here since you made the habit of cleaning up after yourself as you used the kitchen. You got some dust, a couple specks of dirt, and maybe like a few pieces from a shredded wrapper or something that drifted from the trashcan at some point. Sighing with some new found content, you moved on to the  next area. 

 

♪And I know no one will save me

I just need someone to kiss

Give me one good honest kiss

And I’ll be alright♪

 

You couldn’t help but forcefully exhale at those lyrics, catching yourself thinking ‘god, i wish i could just get one good honest kiss too’. Within the same half-second it took to think that, you were already silently judging and reprimanding yourself for even thinking that. You don’t have anything against kisses, obviously , you were just a little tired of the notion behind it all. Or maybe it was just something like that, you honestly just didn’t want to think about how lonely you’ve gotten over time. It actually made you excited to see your neighbor, she made you feel like you were still alive. You were still someone worth talking to. You were still worth somebody’s time. 

 

♪Nobody, nobody, nobody

Nobody, nobody~

Ooh, nobody, nobody, nobody ♪

You slightly narrow your eyes, taking a moment to just stop and stare at the floor as you lean on the broom. Don’tcha just love comically timed music that breaks your thoughts of wallowing self-pity? Me too. 

 

♪I’ve been big and small

And big and small

And big and small again

And still nobody wants me

Still nobody wants me♪

Anyways, back to work. You half-paid attention to the song as it ramped up to the end. You swept the small hall that joined your bedroom and bathroom to the living room. You were sweeping up your, not proud to admit, very dirty bedroom floor. It seemed to be the one room of the apartment that you paid the least attention to. It got pushed to the back of your mind a lot, which wasn’t great considering how much naturally accumulates on these floors. You finished up your bedroom and, barely dirty, bathroom. The echoing sounds of the word “Nobody” repeating over and over again taking up the background. Eventually, it flicked to the next song. You were pretty sure it was “Are you Satisfied? ” by Marina and the Diamonds, but you were a little zoned out. 

 

Putting your broom away, you got out your swiffer and put one of the wet pads on it, you would’ve gone over everything again with one of the duster pads, but you just didn’t feel like doing that today. Plus it wasn’t like you were doing a deep clean today. You went over the floors to clean up what was left, thankfully all of the floors were hardwood, or maybe they were laminate? You weren’t entirely sure cause you didn’t really care. A smooth and easy to clean floor is just a smooth and easy to clean floor for you. You’ll actually start to care when you buy a house someday. If you ever get that opportunity. 

 

Eventually Starkiller did manage to find itself into the playlist, you have no clue how thaaaat happened. You had just finished putting the little swiffer back, tossing the wet pad away, and were currently staring at the clean pile of laundry sitting on your bed. Waiting for you . You knew it’d come to this eventually, you knew it was coming, you don’t know why it was such a big deal to you. Didn’t matter, it was still antagonizing you for some reason. 

 

~----(HA Expecting me again? I’m sure you were. God, this is such a boring chapter, isn’t it? I’m sorry :[ )----~

 

You finished putting your clothes away, closing the drawer to your dresser as you glanced over at your desk. Your laptop was currently sitting at it, and you probably needed to check your emails anyways. You saw the notifications for them flooding your phone’s lock screen anyways. You tried your best to ignore all of them throughout your cleaning session. 

 

You plopped yourself down at your desk, a sense of accomplishment with the things you were able to get done today. You flicked open the laptop and waited for it to get itself together a little bit before you went to the emails. Most were promotional, or updates on something. However, you promptly ignored all those and clicked on the flagged email that was pinned to the top of your inbox. It was an email from FAZco. Management. You made sure to flag all of their email addresses so they would always get pinned to the top of your emails. 

 

Upon opening the email, it seemed to be from their automated system, letting you know your upcoming schedule. Something you were thankful for, the brittle anxiety that’s been hiding in your core all day today about what time you were supposed to be at the MegaPlex tomorrow subsided. You looked over the schedule to see that you were going to clock in at 8:30PM. If you remember correctly from what Owen said, that was around the time that the Daycare closed. Made sense to go there when it was closed, so the “nanny bot” wouldn’t be distracted by work so you two could actually get to know each other. Maybe you could actually meet the other animatronic that was in the daycare too. Who knows. You’d also be clocking out at 12:15AM.

 

Taking a look at the rest of your schedule showed that you’d be clocking in the following day at 10PM,and out at 2:45AM. Then you’d actually start working the longer hours after that, working during daycare open hours until the MegaPlex closed, there were also some night shifts scattered throughout the next couple of weeks too. Neat-o.

 

With a sigh, you just closed your laptop, not really interested in anything else on it at the moment. You made sure to send the schedule to yourself first though, so you could check it on your phone. All this talk about time made you glance at the dingey alarm clock on your bedside table. 11:57PM. Whelp, might as well hit the hay now. Not like you had anything else to do for today anyways.

 

Prepping the house for sleep, you shut everything off, making sure the door was locked and setting up your alarms. You climbed under your sheets, silently cursing at the fact that you didn’t take a shower, you’ll just save it for tomorrow then. With that, you slowly, like agonizing-type slowly, fell to sleep. 

 

Notes:

Only one new person to add here today! Especially since the rest of the OCs are up top for the refresher-

Donna: Your neighbor! Sweet old lady that tries to look out for you as much as you look out for her. You aren't exactly the closest of people, but she is definitely a friendly neighbor and one of the only people that you get to talk to so often. On an *almost* daily basis.

Please attack me in the comments or something idk

Chapter 5: Sunny Weather

Summary:

You finally meet Sun! Under the supervision of Owen, who later teaches you the other extent of your job. You also meet that strange light-blue animatronic.

Notes:

Heyyyyy- Late again, I knowwwww-
but as usual, please ignore my grammar mistakes, the lnegth of this chapter (sorry), and heeeere's the OC summaries in case you forgot em from last time (I don't blame you, it's been months)

Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, older man and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Since Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Light Blue Animatronic in the daycare: You don't know their name, or anything about them yet. You know more about Sun without even meeting him, compared to this strange animatronic assisting him. There are no poster or merch around the pizzaplex indicating his existence.

Donna: Your neighbor! Sweet old lady that tries to look out for you as much as you look out for her. You aren't exactly the closest of people, but she is definitely a friendly neighbor and one of the only people that you get to talk to so often. On an *almost* daily basis.

You were heading out the door now, grabbing an oversized, deep navy blue jacket to slip over your uniform. Taking one more glance at the small mirror in the hall, you were... well, not ‘satisfied’ with how you looked, but it was good enough for your first official day at work. This would be your first time actually doing anything, and getting your training. Hopefully Owen wouldn’t have to leave your side much before you had a chance to settle in. You really didn’t want to embarrass yourself today. 

 

Taking a deep breath, and re-adjusting the bag slung over your shoulders, you continued out into the hall outside your apartment. While locking up the door, you glanced over at your neighbors door, hearing the muffled sounds of a TV coming from inside. Feeling a little relieved that Donna actually did make it home safely last night, not that you were too worried or anything. Why would you be worried?

 

Placing your keys into your bag, you put one of your earbuds in (on very low volume), and made your way downstairs. There were actually people working on the elevator today, so maybe that’s something to look forward to? The familiar voice of Mitski quietly playing through your head as you left the complex. You made your way over to the parking lot connected to the complex, today would actually be a good day to get your lifeless car back into action. Usually, the bus just seemed like the easier option, but you made time to expect any car failures, and you were really not looking forward to the midnight bus ride back home. 

 

The car sputtered a few times before relenting and allowing you to drive. Which was honestly a new record for the poor thing, especially considering the time it’s been since you last used it. You connected your phone to the bluetooth and you were now driving to the pizzaplex at 8:02, with “First Love/Late Spring” playing over your speakers. 

 

~ ----(WOOOWWWW- me, timeskipping? I would nev–)---- ~

 

You were now parked in front of the pizzaplex, disconnecting your phone as your last song came to a stop. You had been sitting in the car for a few minutes, waiting until it was closer to your clock-in time to go in. Speaking of which, it was currently 8:24PM, and you sure weren’t keen on missing your clock-in time because you got lost again or something. So, into Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex you go. 

 

Walking up to the doors, you glanced at the families leaving. Children laughing with their parents and siblings, showing off their gift shop finds, or ranting about their experiences with the animatronics. The happy warm feeling that gave you was quickly diminished by the wailing screeches of entitled children demanding to go back as their parents struggled to drag them out to their cars. With all the buzz around, it made you want to put your earbuds back in. You’ll have to remind yourself to dig out your earplugs when you get back home, for your future shifts. They helped with all the noise. You mentally kicked yourself in the shins for not bringing them with you today. It’s been so long since you’ve actually been around so many people, and noises, that you haven’t been wearing them as much as you should. You almost always had them in your pockets when you weren’t using them.

 

After the long trek across the parking lot, and your small inner dilemma, you reached the lobby area. If you can call it that. It made more sense to call it the entrance hall. Entrance Area? Doesn’t matter. 

 

You took a look around at the remaining families that were still trying to get their money’s worth while the Mega Pizzaplex was still open for a couple hours. The sounds of laughter and screeching wails seemed to be present tenfold in here. A couple of wary stumbles around made you realize, you really didn’t know what you were supposed to be doing. Anxiety started to brim your chest as you tried thinking things out. Do you just go straight to the locker rooms? The Break room? Parts And Service? Owen and Bill would be down there…They’d tell you what to do, and help you get started…But- What if you weren’t supposed to go down there off the clock? Were you allowed to go into the staff hallways without being clocked in? Were you even allowed to pass the entrance unless you were officially registered? You really wish someone was here right now to answer your questi-

 

“Take a Map.”

 

A somewhat loud and instructive voice monotonically directed you. 

 

Somewhat shaking you of your welling up thoughts quickly as it startled you. You looked across at the Map Bot. It held out a map for you, gently nudging it into your arm. 

 

“Um- Thanks? But I already have a map with me..” You trailed off as you pulled the map from your pocket.

 

The Map Bot reared back, seemingly frozen as it inspected the map you were holding.

 

“Uhhh, you ok?” You cautiously poked at the bot to see if you broke it somehow. 

 

The bot jolted upright as it began spewing automated messages, “Please refrain from touching working Fazbear Co. Animatronics.” 

 

“Oh, right, right. ” You huffed out a sigh, you already know those automated messages are going to get on your nerves. Awkwardly shuffling in the spot, you glanced around at all the unbothered, buddy, families. “Sooooo…Where do I clock in at?”

 

The Map Bot spun a little to face a direction just off to your side. It rolled up to one of the windows, took a cardstock paper from it, then rolled over to an odd looking machine by the doors. It was sorta shaped as Glamrock Freddy’s head. Maybe. You weren’t sure, but it closely resembled one of the older animatronics you've seen. The Map Bot stopped at the side of the wall-mounted machine, then turned towards you. It just stared at you. You took this as a prompt to go over to it. 

 

When you reached the machine, and the Map Bot with a staring problem, said bot let out a quip before starting its demonstration of the clock-in/clock-out process. It puts the paper in the top, some printing noises ensue from the machine, a couple of beeps, then the Map Bot pulls the paper out and promptly hands it to you. It contains your clock-in info, and some previously printed employer info. You’d assume this is just some paper for you to take home, and try to memorize the numbers on it. And then probably fail repeatedly to ever actually remember any of these numbers. There were a few sets of phone numbers, ID numbers and passcodes for your security clearance level.

 

You did take notice of the Faz-watch diagram and instructions about how to clock in properly, unless you want “points deducted” or something like that. You were looking over the cardstock paper when you heard some whirring and beeps from the Map Bot that was trying to get your attention by waving its three-pronged hand back and forth. You look back up at, pulling the paper to your chest to show the bot it had your attention. 

 

“Follow me,” it made a gesture with its hand to motion you to follow, “this way.” It turns and points to the staff hall you were led through last time, as it begins rolling that way. You followed in suit, glad there weren’t many people around to give their confused stares this time. 

 

The Map Bot stopped at the doors, instead of opening them this time, it turned to you. Upon your confused look, the bot reached into some sort of hidden compartment within its chassis, and brought out a card. You squinted at the card, trying to figure out what it was for until you realized it was a security card. You hadn’t even realized until now that the staff doors had levels on them, some of which were labeled with higher levels. This was totally just you not picking up on the small detail and totally not the author forgetting to write this detail in the earlier chapters. 

 

You retrieved the card after the bot lowered it to you. You began inspecting it in your hands, taking note of the level of security that was bestowed to you. It was a badge of sorts, this one already had a clip attached to it. It was level 1. Which, you thought, was a little too low for your job. You remember entering higher level areas the last time you were here, did they just leave those open for you? Owen did open a lot of them now that you think about it. But why would you be shown those higher areas if you wouldn’t have the clearance for them? 

 

The Map Bot swiveled off to the side, next to a card reader by the door, making a few quips to get your attention. It did a small demonstration on how you’re supposed to swipe the badge. It was unnecessary, but you didn’t have any reason to intervene. It waited for you to follow the motion with your badge, and you did it with ease. Because of course you did. It was just swiping a card. But the way the bot applauded for you still made you feel nice. 

After that small round of light clapping, the Map Bot promptly opened the door and rolled through, leaving no objections to follow it. For a second, you really thought this bot was just going to leave you behind in its dust unless you sped up your walking pace. 

 

Why it started going faster in the staff hallways was beyond you, but you didn’t question it too much. Everything they do is programmed right? Must be because it’s led you here before, and it doesn’t have to watch out for any customers, so it doesn’t have to slow its pace in here. Just some menial thoughts that you barely dwelled on, the only reason you thought of it at all is because of how hard it was becoming to catch up with this thing as it thumped down the stairs. 

 

The bot finally slowed down as it reached the clearing below that you recognized. It was on a floor above where the Parts And Service was located, and inconveniently located on the other side of the plex across from the PAS. There were long staff halls, or Utility Tunnels as the FazWatch map referred to them as, and stairwells that separated the Parts N Service and the employee area. The Map Bot had led you to the break room, where Owen was sitting at a table, fiddling with…something. 

 

“You have arrived at your destination.” The Map Bot announced, slightly lifting one of its arms to gesture to the mostly empty and crummy room. 

 

Owen jostled from his spot, trying to stuff whatever he had away and ended up standing up too quickly, making the chair fall backwards, “Ah, Y/n! There you are.” He nervously chuckled, crossing the room to get to you. “I hope Mappy here has been treating you well.” 

 

“...Mappy..?” When you questioned him, said Map Bot has turned to look at you, as if it was acknowledging its little nickname, which you found cute. Considering these bots have very low autonomy, seeing them respond to a ‘given’ name almost felt uncharacteristic, in a good way.

 

Owen nodded in response, his dirty blonde hair bobbing under the hold his ‘Security’ cap had on his head. “So, I’ll lead you to the locker rooms so ya can drop anything off there, then I can take you to meet them .” 

 

You nodded back at him, adjusting the bag on your shoulders. As you waited for Owen to leave for the locker rooms out the other door, you couldn’t help but notice the way ‘Mappy’ froze at the doorway you entered through. Their blank stare aimed at the empty Staff Hallway you just walked through. Whatever processing quarrel they had seemingly ended as they wheeled out of the room, allowing the door to close behind them as they sped off. Mappy must’ve had some processing errors or something like that, right? Usually these types of bots don’t take that long to make a precoded decision.

 

Owen did lead you through the other door, past one of the security offices, and around to the lockers rooms. He let you drop your bag off in your locker, then led you back the way you two came so you could take you to the stairwells and back up to the ground floor again. He created some small talk, giving details about the job and fun facts about FazCo and the history of this building, all of which he apparently learned from Bill. 

 

You simply nodded your head along as you listened, stuffing your hands into the pockets of your jacket as you strolled with him past all of the diminishing crowds. You occasionally checked your FazWatch for the time, it was roughly 8:50PM. Eventually Owen would come to a stop in front of the Superstar Daycare. It was closed but the lights were still on.

 

Knock. Knock-Knock Knock. Knock.

 

Owen knocked a very specific rhythm on the large and grand doors. Some rather frantic shuffling could be heard on the other side. As you waited a swelling anxious feeling that you’ve been pushing away started to resurface. The anxious, eager, feeling of meeting someone new, someone you’d have to spend a lot of time with. This wasn’t an actual person though, they were just an animatronic right? Sure, they have personalities, but they couldn’t be anything more than programming. Before long, the frantic shuffling behind the door halted and a voice spoke out.

 

“Who’s thereeeee?” The voice sang out, whoever they were they definitely knew who knocked.

 

“Lettuce.” Owen replied with a soft chuckle, this seemed to be a ritual of theirs.

 

“Uh- Lettuce Who ?” the voice warbled their question, to mock confusion.

 

“Lettuce in, Sun!” Owen called out, a smile etched onto his face.

 

The voice, Sun,  let out a loud gasp as he dramatically flung the doors open, “Friends! Come in, come in! ” he ushered you two in before closing and locking the door behind you two, to keep any wandering customers out of the closed daycare. “Ooooh, this is exciting! Owen, you brought our new friend” Sun nervously chuckled as his faceplate turned to observe you. The action made that anxious feeling swarm once more, like butterflies rising from your stomach to perch themselves on your ribs as their little delicate bodies tickled at your skin from the inside. Being observed by another being was already something that caused your anxiety to swell, but something about this animatronic, and his blank eyes, just cause that feeling to tenfold.

 

“Yes, yes I did,” Owen replied with a soft smile, his facial expression seeming more..solemn for some reason. “Sun, this is Y/n as you no doubt already know, but Y/n, this-” he gestured to the bright yellow animatronic, “-is Sun. You’ll be his new handler, you’ll spend a lot of time with him, both during daycare hours and after closing. Your job is to essentially note any problems with his performance, or any issues that he may report to you. You’ll help my dear friend stay in tip-top shape so he can perform at his best every day.” 

 

“Got it.” You nodded, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Sun” you smiled, holding out one of your hands for a handshake, you normally don’t like shaking others’ hands, but you weren’t sure what else to do in this scenario. 

 

Sun glanced between your hand and Owen in a nervous manner, after Owen gave him a small nod, Sun excitedly shook your hand. “Nice to meet you too, Y/n!” His hands were massive to say the least, his hand had completely engulfed yours. He quickly drew back after shaking your hand, like something just hit him and he realized he might’ve been too excessive.

 

You smiled softly up at him, which was another thing, he was tall . Towering over you at his hunched height. Why would they make a nanny bot so big??? Your thoughts were promptly interrupted by Owen who had begun talking again.

 

“So, I’ll just help you and Sun get used to each other little, and help show you around the daycare” Owen adjusted his cap as Sun seemed to mimic his motions

 

Sun waited for Owen to finish talking, and adjust his cap, before nodding frantically, “Yes, we have so much to show you! So much to teach you, indeed.” 

 

“Well, we better get started then, shouldn’t we?” You spoke up, feeling a little too quiet during this whole interaction. 

 

Sun gave a solid and defiant nod, “yes, we should! Let’s go, first I’ll show you the first aid center!” he dramatically directed you towards the small first aid center, pointing towards it.

 

Owen walked alongside you as you both slowly trailed behind the animatronic, he leaned over and whispered, “ he’s been rehearsing and memorizing his tour plan and informational ‘dialogues’ all day ” he spoke with a soft smile, it was clear him and Sun were probably close.

 

“ ...really? ” you whispered back, had he really been practicing such a small tour for just this meeting with you? You felt like that really told a lot about his character. 

 

Owen nodded with a quick “ mhm ” 

 

“Hey- you slowpokes! Get over here already!” Sun interrupted his informational speech to call out to you and Owen for walking too slow.

 

“Okay, okay, we’re coming Sun” Owen chuckled, picking up his pace to meet up with the animatronic, you followed in suit. 

 

“Well, my slow friends, this is the first aid center! It’s also the craft supply storage area…heh” he let out a dissatisfied chuckle as his blank white eyes stared at the crowded cabinets, “BUT! It of course would make sense to have a small first aid center, because the pizzaplex has an infirmary! If anything is that serious, that we cannot patch it up with so little materials we have, then the child should be sent to the infirmary!” he nodded defiantly, seemingly having rationalized it out in his head.

 

“Okay, so this would be where I’d find the band-aids?” You had asked, just to confirm.

 

“Yes! However that, along with other minor daycare responsibilities, will be handled by my assistant.” Sun  answered.

 

“...assisstant..?” you questioned, tilting your head a little. If he already had an assistant in the daycare, why did he need a handle so badly? Maybe the human that worked in the daycare didn’t take care of his animatronic needs? Yeah, that’d make sense. It’s just a human who had to work in the daycare too, right? It’d make sense to have a human working here, considering how many kids would be attending this daycare, it’d be kind of odd to have just an animatronic here looking after them. It also made sense why there was a ‘security’ esc desk in here, that’s probably where the human assistant would be when they aren’t helping. You figured your job would be more like monitoring Sun rather than assisting him while you were in the daycare.

 

“Yes, Comet, the Daycare Attendant’s Assistant, Comet. He handles all secondary tasks that Sun needs accomplished.” Owen filled you in. 

 

Well now that just left you confused, maybe it was a chosen name? However, it was space-themed…which led you to assume that it was another animatronic. Maybe it was that light-blue animatronic you spotted the other day during your wanderings? No..it had to be a human, there’s no way they wouldn’t have the daycare run simply by a couple of animatronics…..right? 

 

“Oh, okay…So, I’ll just leave that stuff up to him then.” You nodded, slowly understanding what Owen said. 

 

“Mhm! He’s proficient at his job, even completing his tasks before I even realize I need his assistance!” Sun nodded, before slightly turning his faceplate downwards, his tone going a little hush, “ although I wouldn’t exactly say he’s the best at his job when it comes to checking all of the boxes so to speak ” Owen gave Sun a solemn glance.

 

You furrowed your brow, what could he mean by that? They wouldn’t hire someone, and then keep them, for the job if they weren’t upholding all of the job requirements. FazCo could be rather stingy at times, even when considering their shady reputation. However…how could a daycare assistant not ‘check all of the boxes’ if they were so well at assisting Sun in the daycare? What else could they be possibly failing at if they could properly observe and assist Sun before he could even realize he needed help? 

 

“Well, uh, what’s next then?” You asked, just to help move on from the small moment of silence that built up after Sun’s little ‘snide’ remark about this person you haven’t even met yet. 

 

“Oh! Yes, over here in this cabinet is where you’d find all of the art and crafts materials!” Sun gestured to the much larger cabinet. Something you noted was all of the child-proof latches on the cabinet doors, something you expected in a daycare. “Me and the kiddos love arts and crafts time! I like setting out some materials on the little tables for the more neurodivergent or introverted kiddies to have something to do during playtime with me, but everything else gets kept in here until Arts and Crafts time.”

 

You nodded your head as you listened to him and watched his hand gestures as he explained. “Yeah, that makes sense.” You hummed, thinking about how kids can be so fickle with materials like that. Especially when they could have so many high numbers of kids in here, Sun and his assistant couldn’t possibly keep an eye on the cabinets at all times, so it’s good to keep the latches on them to prevent little kids from getting into them and making a mess.

 

“Indeed it does.” Sun added on as he turned his faceplate to glance at the contents inside of the cabinet. “The rest of the cabinets and cupboards hold the Naptime stuff, Moon will show you that stuff though.”

 

“Moon..?” You asked, was there another person in the daycare?? Maybe Moon was that light blue animatronic you saw the other day. 

 

“Oh, Moon is the other Daycare Attendant ‘program’, he runs naptime, you’ll be working with him a lot as well. He does security patrols at night, along with the other animatronics occasionally, so you’ll be tagging along on those sometimes while completing other tasks. Sometimes it's more of ‘he tags along with you while you get chores done’, so to speak.” Owen answered.

 

Okay, so he is another animatronic. It would also explain why you weren’t meeting him at the moment, if he did security patrols at night then he probably wouldn’t be ‘awake’ right now. Or would he…? Since it is starting to approach nighttime right about now…

 

“Uh..what exactly does he look like..?” You asked, it may be a weird question to suddenly spring up out of nowhere but you wanted to know.

 

Owen gave you an odd look, confused, he glanced over at Sun then back to you. “Um…I don’t know……blue?” 

 

You nodded your head, you recounted seeing him on some posters, maybe he faded or something over time, or the poster saturations were off. However…assuming that the light blue animatronic was Moon was also odd, because that statue of Sun and presumably Moon didn’t exactly resemble that unknown animatronic so much. You’d just have to find out when you met him. 

 

Sun picked up on your confusion, tilting his head as he watched the rusted gears in your head slowly turn with creaking noises. His posture suddenly changed as it appeared as though something dawned on him, but whatever it was, he didn’t say it out loud. 

 

“Well, friends, let's show our dear friend the rest of the Daycare while they’re still here!” Sun beamed as he subtly redirected the conversation before Owen could clarify anything. 

“While I’m still here? I’ll be here for quite a few more hours though…I know the daycare is pretty big, but it can’t possibly be that big, can it?” You curiously pondered aloud.

 

“Ah, nah, nah it’s not that big,” Owen chuckled, “We’ll be leaving the daycare around 10 so I can show you around Parts N’ Service, to help explain your Handler role and show you some of the maintenance you’ll be performing.” 

 

You nodded along to acknowledge what he said, letting out a small understanding hum. You didn’t exactly look forward to your time in Parts N Service because it meant you’d have to travel through the staff halls. You hoped you wouldn’t have to go through those halls alone ever again. Although, even you, knew you couldn’t ever be that lucky. 

 

Sun dramatically cleared his throat to turn the attention back to him, “well, then, we better hurry! It’s already 9:07!” he declared.

 

“Really? Already?” You questioned, bringing your arm up to peer at your FazWatch to confirm the time. 

 

“Mhm, my internal clock is never wrong!” Sun confidently huffed, baffled by the idea that you would check the time after he just told you what time it was.

 

“Plus, that’s when the lights in the daycare go out,” Owen added with a firm nod, “and we have more to cover for your training down in PAS anyways.” Sun seemed to almost shudder at the thought of the lights going out, you made note of that but didn’t say anything about it. Maybe animatronics could be scared of the dark too?

“Yeah..heh” you awkwardly chuckled, “..wouldn’t want to stick around in the dark.” You hoped you read the room right with that comment, but it just led to more questions as you thought about what else you could’ve said. If Sun didn’t like the dark, and you were learning how to do his maintenance and check-ups anyways- why doesn’t he just come with you and Owen to Parts N’ Service? It’d be well lit, in-fact, the other lights in the pizzaplex would still be on at that time. You were too nervous to ask about it though, just in case the answer was something obvious that you probably should’ve already known…

 

Owen gave you a curious glance as Sun seemed to have his faceplate turned away to look at something else. Although you could’ve sworn it looked like he was still looking at you from the corner of his eyes, studying your body language. You convinced yourself it was just the way the light was reflecting off of him from that angle. 

 

“So..um- Sun, you said there were some more things you wanted to show me, right?” You nervously spoke up just to help redirect the conversation back to where it originally was. 

 

“Oh, right! Yes, I have to show you the cleaning supplies, well, they’re mostly just sanitation products, because with big messes we can just request one of the staff members to bring their janitorial cart to clean it up- which I partially think is silly, because a lot of messes and accidents happen in the daycare! Why wouldn’t they just stock us with cleaning supplies in the first place-? Oh- well maybe it’s because we have so many little kiddies in here, I guess it would be dangerous to keep actual cleaning supplies in here-” Sun anxiously rambled on, venting about the issue.

 

“...okayyy..so if there’s a big mess in the daycare, I should request for another Staff member to come clean it up?” you asked, tilting your head.

 

“Yes! Or uh well, I usually request them, or I suppose you could just go track down a staff member and take a couple items from their cart- but you have to return the supplies before they put their carts away! Or in that case I guess you could just borrow their cart- Y’know what, just leave it to any Staff members who would be currently on their cleaning chores and janitorial carts.” He sighed with a small amount of defeat, unnecessarily tiring himself out. 

 

“Okay…okayy…I think I have a pretty good understanding of it..” you hummed, awkwardly shuffling in place as you put your hands into your jacket pockets. You weren’t entirely sure about it though, but you didn’t want to bother him with more questions on something that’s supposedly so easy to understand. 

 

“Right- So, let’s see… hmm OH, I still have to show you the security desk! Or, um, staff desk? Yes, something like that” he hummed, gesturing off towards the desk you had spotted the other day, the one you had assumed was for the human daycare employee. “I’d also like to give you just a general tour of the daycare! It’d be best if you could memorize the layout.” He firmly nodded his head.

 

You smiled and nodded your head as well, listening to Sun as he talked about another latched cabinet containing the ‘cleaning’ materials. It didn’t take him very long before you were following Sun as he brought you and Owen over to explain about the desk and that only human staff members were allowed behind it, handlers especially. That left you a little confused, which seemed to be a recurring theme around here, but you simply nodded along. 

 

He continued to explain the rules of the desk, and that the animatronics, and kids, weren’t allowed behind it. It was strictly off-limits. Owen mentioned that you would be able to find pretty much anything you needed in that desk. You listened closely as they went on, paying attention to such small details. 

 

Sun then promptly led you and Owen away from the desk as he excitedly began the tour of the Daycare, all of its nooks and crannies, slides and tunnels. He showed you particular places the kids liked to hide or hang out. You noted this for future use in case you ever had to help find a kid. 

 

“I noticed there are some…spaces? Up in the play structures and corners and stuff.. Where a lot of pillows and blankets are strewn about,” you started, curious about something, “aren’t those supposed to be put away outside of naptime hours..?” 

 

“Hm? OH, you mean Comet’s Corners? Yes, those are little desensitizing and quiet spaces set up and managed by Comet, more introverted or neurodivergent kiddies like to spend their time in those spaces or go there to unwind and de-stress during playtime.” Sun happily answered for you.

 

You let out a small hum of acknowledgement, looking at the blankets hanging up with little strings of fairy lights dimly lighting the dark areas filled with pillows and neatly stacked books. You spotted a couple, about three actually. One was tucked away into a far back, and mostly dark, corner of the daycare, only being lit up by the little string lights. It reminded you of an elaborate pillow fort. The other two were located in the play structures, one was barely visible as it was tucked far into the back of a structure, a small group of the little fairy lights being slightly visible through a gap in the blankets and playmats that lined the bottom of the structure ‘tunnels’, which  gave away the small hiding space. 

 

The last little area was in a gap of the outer wall of one particular play structure. The blankets and (seemingly unattached and placed) playmats that lined the bars of the walls helped block out any of the overhead lights, shading the little nook into a comforting darkness, filled with more little fairy string lights.

 

 You observed the small space and all of its pillows, and piles of blankets. You trailed her eyes upward a little further, spotting something odd. At first, with the glare of the overhead lights, and the space itself being dimmer, it made you think there was a strange shape of the pillows up there. As your eyes adjusted a little, you realized the shape may not have just been a pile of pillows as you looked further up. It was light-blue.

 

Your eyes froze as you locked eyes with a pair of glowing eyes, animatronic eyes.

 

That’s when you finally realized, Comet wasn’t a human . He was the light-blue animatronic you spotted in the daycare the other day. You could’ve sworn your face was semi-horrified, one of the worst scenarios your anxiety dreamed about was accidentally staring at someone. Now it’s happened, and like this . 

 

“Oh, Hi Comet! I had a feeling you’d be hiding up there again, wouldn’t you like to say ‘hello’ to my new handler?” Sun enthusiastically called out to Comet, gesturing to you. An odd infliction in his voice betrayed him, almost like he was afraid to ask, like he already knew what the outcome would be. 

 

Comet barely glanced over at Sun, staring down at you as you hesitantly waved at the little introduction Sun gave you. He didn’t say or do anything . He just stared down at you. You warily searched his mostly shadowed, and hard-to-see-from-this-angle form during the uncomfortable silence. The harsh lights from above, where he was sitting, and how he was sitting made it hard to view him. You could still tell he was that unknown light-blue animatronic from before though. His “nightcap” being overly extended to hang behind him, appearing as a long ‘comet’s tail. His faceplate was more simplified than Sun’s, and the curves in Sun’s design (that oddly represent a moon, or so you think) are reversed and made into simple lines. Giving the impression of a bright burning ball at the head of a comet or meteoroid. He had ruffles like Sun, but they were more…loose, to a point it would be questionable to consider them ruffles in the first place. From what you could see, little bells hung from these “ruffle” areas. You couldn’t tell much more than that, and you don’t remember much of his appearance from the small sighting the other day. 

 

“Eh..heh.heh-” Sun nervously laughed, “You know- I mentioned it the other day to you, um, Y/n here is going to be spending a lot of time in the daycare! So, um, you’d have to work with them, or uh, around them a lot…so, might as well meet them now, right?” He nervously chuckled again. The way he started stuttering as his confidence essentially drained from his voice, breaking down his theater-like personality. You didn’t know Comet too well, but you already didn’t like the way he seemed to treat Sun. How he could so easily break down Sun’s happy and energetic persona with barely any interaction so fast really unsettled you. 

 

“Hi, Comet…that’s, uh, that’s your name right?” You spoke up, just trying to break the awkward and uncomfortable silence.

 

The light-blue animatronic continued to stare you down, his cold gaze sent shivers down your spine. It made you want to cower and retreat into your own skin, suddenly understanding how Sun might feel in the moment. This animatronic made you wish you never even spoke.

 

“Oooookay, anyways, Sun, we had a couple more areas here to show Y/n, right? We’re running a little tight on the time.” Owen redirected the moment, seemingly unaffected by Comet and his ever-present disapproving demeanor. Comet’s half-lidded and freezing stare kept focused on your form as he looked down upon you, completely ignoring Owen in favor of unsettling you it seemed. He kept his faceplate upturned, furthering the narrative that he truly was looking down on you.  

 

“Oh! Would you look at the time! We truly have to get along, I still have to explain the rules of the ballpit-” Sun trailed off as he began listing other details about the remaining area to show you. You nodded your head along, a small anxious smile coming to your face as you followed him along.

 

You glanced up at Comet once last time, seeing his unwavering and unnerving gaze of ‘superiority’ following you. You managed to catch a look at Owen behind you as he followed along, he was sending a very intense glare at Comet as he walked past. You looked forward to better focus on where you were walking, and on what Sun was saying.

 

Well that… could’ve gone worse . 

 

However…you couldn’t possibly imagine what that ‘worse’ would have looked like.

 

~----( lemme just sneak in and timeskip here real quick- )----~

“Sorry, Sun, but we’ve got to be going…” Owen apologetically said to Sun.

 

“No, no, it’s okay! I know you guys have some important training to go over.” Sun dismissively waved it off, “As much as I’d love for you two to stay longer, especially since we just met…but it is imperative you stay on time. Andthelightsaregoingoutsoonlikereallysoonsolikecouldyoupleasegetoutalready .” Sun quickly muttered the last part under his ‘breath’. He cleared his ‘throat’, or a sound and motion gesture resembling it, as he clasped his hands together. The last part was said so quickly and quietly you were sure you probably misheard him, you barely heard the last part at all. 

 

“I’m sorry, but could you repeat tha-”

 

“ No. ” Sun cut you off with a firm shake of his head, his smile ever present on his face as he left no room for arguing.

 

“..Oooookay.” You muttered, narrowing your eyes at him. You were definitely going to be accounting for this behavior going forward.

 

“Well, I guess that’s our cue, we’ll see ya tomorrow.Or, at least I will- the lights would be out when Y/n arrives.” Owen hummed, noting aloud as he said farewell.

 

You made note that Sun wouldnt be available after lights out; he must go to sleep or charge, whatever it is for robots, at that time. You also made a mental note to clock-in early so you could see Sun before you had to meet the naptime attendant, Moon. 

 

“Until next time, Sun.” You nodded your head, doing your best ‘professional’ goodbye. 

 

“See you next time, new friend! Follow the rules, stay out of trouble, and learn lots byeeeeeee!” He quickly spoke as he closed the doors on you two, leaving the both of you outside the daycare as the lights shut down inside the daycare. The dim glow of decorative lights could be barely seen through the glass and netting.

 

You kinda just stood there, staring blankly at the giant door that was just promptly slammed shut and locked. He must really not like the dark. Owen let out a small chuckle, causing you to look over at him.

 

“Alright..we should probably start walking, hm?” He let out a small hum at the end of his sentence, as if prompting something, just to make sure you’d be following along.

 

You nodded your head, following after Owen as he turned to start walking away. You glanced back at the glass of the daycare, you could’ve sworn you saw something move in the darkness. Maybe it was just Sun or Comet? You didn’t question it too much, it wasn’t too odd to you. Considering everything else that’s happened so far. Although, the glimpse of red lights moving did throw you off a little.

 

When you faced forward, you noticed you had fallen behind a little. You did a small job to catch back up with Owen, walking sorta next to him, just lingering back a little so you could follow him more than just completely walk side-by-side with him. You looked around at all the neon lights that lit up the dim area, along with the few overhead lights and giant advertising screens to kept the area lit. There seemed to be more overhead lights around the outer daycare area, which makes sense, since it’s an area for little kids who are probably more susceptible to the fear of the dark. 

 

As you were looking around, memorizing the layout a little more, Owen had glanced over at you. A soft smile etching onto his face, and his brow furrowed a little, almost like it was a sad smile, or a pitiful smile. You barely caught the look out of the corner of your eye as you looked around. 

 

“So…whaddya think of Sun?” Owen hummed.

 

“Hm?” You turned your attention towards him. “Oh…he was nice. I look forward to working with him. Even if he can be a little…dramatic at times.” 

 

He let out a hearty chuckle, “Yeah, he can be..He used to perform, and I guess some of that carried over. Some other locations still have their variants instated as a performer, but a lot of them have put them in their daycares.” He absent-mindedly rambled on, giving you a few new details, although not enough to actually tell you much.

 

You slowly nodded along, archiving that information for later. It made sense for other locations to run things differently based on what they might need or what they have. Owen looked forward with that somber smile again, thinking about something. He worked here for a while, him and Sun seemed close…they’ve probably known each other for a long time if you had to guess. 

 

“I’m glad to hear that you look forward to working with him.” He started, you glanced over at him, simply nodding again. “But…If..you ever feel in the slightest, like you don't see a future in this job….or if you feel like quitting eventually,” Owen glanced over at you with that somber smile, “then just quit now. As soon as you possibly can before you’re around for too long.”

 

You paused, unable to respond. That really caught you off guard, you weren’t expecting that. “...how come..?”

 

Owen let out a sigh, reaching one of the staff hall doors, pausing as he swiped his badge. “They…don’t keep handlers very long, and it definitely takes a major toll on Sun. This job …this job doesn’t exactly makes things any easier though. It becomes impossible to leave once you work here long enough.” He muttered, like ushering a warning.

 

“.....Okay…got it.” You took in that information, so this really was an all or nothing kinda job. Nothing to sustain you long enough until you get a better job, just quit after a couple days or stay here forever . That was definitely gonna linger in the back of your mind for a while.

 

Owen opened the staff door, holding it open as he went in. You quickly followed in, letting the door shut behind you. You had barely just gotten into these halls and that anxious feeling of dread started brimming into your chest again. You subconsciously drifted closer to Owen as you walked with him towards the stairwell. 

 

Owen noticed your unease, letting out a soft sigh with that somber smile from a couple minutes ago. He could see you were unsettled…and he understood why. “I meant it when I said don’t travel these halls alone by the way…”

 

You glanced over at him with an uneased expression. He didn’t elaborate any further, which only heightened that unsettled fear even more. Practically haunting it into your core like a burn. 

 

“Yeah…uh..I’ll definitely keep that in mind…for the future…” You slowly spoke as you and Owen started descending the stairs. You just couldn’t get rid of that uneasy feeling, that unshakable feeling, that made you feel like you were being watched…like someone else was listening.

 

~----(another timeskip for the sake of shortening this chapter)----~

 

You and Owen arrived at the Parts And Service, he swiped his badge, holding the door open for you. The door shut as both of you walked in. You took a look around the room as you did your awkward shuffle as you waited for Owen to take the lead again. The large room didn’t change much from the first glimpse you got of it. It was a large rectangular room, with little stations off to the side reserved for different animatronics. Some of the unlabelled little cubby rooms seemed to be occupied as storage space, with boxes of spare parts and some dismantled endoskeletons. That reminded you of just how unhuman those animatronics were. You had to remind yourself that as you looked at all the small inner parts and gear, the gored endos, the random shell pieces scattered about in those little rooms; all of the tools laid about on the little trays, trolleys, and desks, they were reminders. They aren’t people, they are robots. Just unfeeling, cold, metal, programmed characteristically, robots. They’re just animatronics.

 

“You know I’m not… really ..a mechanic right? I mean- if you teach me, I’m sure I’ll learn.. something… but I don’t know how to do any of this.” You vaguely gestured to the entire room. When you had first started speaking, you could’ve sworn you heard something clatter somewhere in the room, and the sound of fabric shuffling. You brushed it off, maybe that gruff Bill was around here somewhere? Could always just be the on-brand and easily predictable mysterious noises of a company garage/mechanic workspace. 

 

“Yes…I sorta figured that. I’ll show you some basics, especially regarding the checkups and regular maintenance, which really doesn’t include much mechanical work to be honest. However, if something does pop up during one of those checks, you can always ask for assistance from me or Bill, or whoever else you find available in here during that time, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.” Owen said sweetly as you disregarded the sound of another small metal object clattering to the ground with more fabric shuffling. 

 

You nodded your head along as he talked, taking mental notes yet again. “Okay…gotcha, so what are we learning today?”

 

“Well, tonight, I’ll be showing you how to navigate the system, maybe not completely operate it, but be able to manage it enough to figure out the layout and do proper check-ups and basic maintenance notes.” Owen grabbed a tablet, that sort of looked used, but in a way that it was old but not handled much. It had little stickers on the back of the sun, moon, some clouds and stars. It was cutely and sparsely decorated. He handed the tablet over to you, you gripped it firmly as he flicked a couple things on screen to turn it on and get it to the home page. 

 

From there he explained how to navigate through the device and how to use the setups. There were a lot of confusing things on the device you didn’t understand but Owen told you to ignore those for now. He let you roam the device for a bit as he prepped the Daycare Attendants’ little cubby room. You found out there was a camera function on the device for recording damages to go with notes or emails. Aaand wherever there’s a camera function, there are a collection of photos, which seemed easier to look for and for you to understand on this device. You snooped through the photos files, just curious to see what would be in there. As expected, there were mostly photos of dents, scratches, among other more major or minor things. However, what made you grin and nearly chuckle was the amount of selfies and photos taken of others for no other reason than to be silly and fun. 

 

A lot of the pictures were of human staff members you didn’t really recognize, although Owen took up a MAJOR portion of these photos, with lots of selfies with him and Sun, or Sun sneaking a selfie with Owen. There were a couple pictures sneakily taken of Bill as well. There were a few strange humans scattered about in blurry photos, their appearances made you a little confused to be honest as you tried to figure them out. There were also a lot of pictures of other bots, some of which you recognized, but there were a few that you didn’t know.

 

“Oh, those were some good photos.” Owen spoke up, pointing to a group of photos with him and Sun in them. He was right, those photos did look comparatively better than the rest. It actually left you a little baffled how those photos, taken at the same place with the same lighting as all those other photos, managed to look so..HD…You narrowed your eyes at the photos as you stored that anomaly away into the back of your brain for later. 

 

Owen looked over the files, a little somber when he started recognizing the cheerful and occasionally glum faces of past Daycare Attendant handlers. “So…let me show you some basic functions and repairs then.”

He would go on to show you how to do minor and simple repairs, and where the washing station was, stating that a staff bot would take it [the accessories and pants] there to get washed according to the manufacturer instructions. They kept clean spares for everything stored in the Daycare Attendants’ repair cubby room. You asked about the giant cylinder, and he informed you that it was only for major repairs or replacements, not dents, scratches, and repaints. He informed you that you probably would never have to operate it, at least not for years. If you ever encountered a major repair issue, you would have to take a picture, add a note, and send it in an email to management  and send a copy to the leads in the PAS, which were him and Bill, even though they were only employed as Security, they handle just about everything. 

 

You made more mental notes, sure that you were going to be mentally exhausted after today, with all of the things to remember, and the built up anxiety.

 

Despite the warnings, it didn’t seem bad to be working here. (Pay per hour aside.)

You were just glad it didn’t rain.

Notes:

Update on one of the OCs mentioned!

Comet: previously known as "the light blue Animatronic in the daycare", he is the Daycare Attendant's Assistant. He's very cold, and refuses to take the energy to talk to you, or anyone for that matter, ignoring those unimportant or uninteresting to him. He made the "Comet's Corners" which are safe spaces for children to get away from the busy and loud setting of the daycare. It is hinted that he likes/prefers hiding away in the Comet Corner on the outer wall of a playstructure, looking down upon anyone who tries to interact with him. He makes Sun sad it seems. Owen doesn't like him.

Chapter 6: A Moon Perigee

Summary:

You chat with Donna before you go to work, where you eventually meet Moon and another co-worker!

Notes:

Would you believe me if I told you I had this written months ago and just- like- never posted it? Guess I'll finally go work on part 2 now instead- oh btw sorry this chapter is so long, that's why it's getting split.

Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, older man and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Since Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Donna: Your neighbor! Sweet old lady that tries to look out for you as much as you look out for her. You aren't exactly the closest of people, but she is definitely a friendly neighbor and one of the only people that you get to talk to so often. On an *almost* daily basis.

Comet: previously known as "the light blue Animatronic in the daycare", he is the Daycare Attendant's Assistant. He's very cold, and refuses to take the energy to talk to you, or anyone for that matter, ignoring those unimportant or uninteresting to him. He made the "Comet's Corners" which are safe spaces for children to get away from the busy and loud setting of the daycare. It is hinted that he likes/prefers hiding away in the Comet Corner on the outer wall of a playstructure, looking down upon anyone who tries to interact with him. He makes Sun sad it seems. Owen doesn't like him.

You pulled the rest of your uniform out of the dryer, while whatever show you were watching reels on in the living room. A little tiredness still lingered a little longer behind your eyelids from your nap, you had to take one for tonight’s shift. Theoretically, you probably could’ve gotten some good sleep once you got home from your shift last night. Realistically? You struggled to get your car working for hours after your shift, hours after closing, while the whole parking lot was empty. You couldn’t just leave your car there! It couldn’t possibly get worse, or so you thought…until it started to rain. You mentally cursed yourself for jinxing it.

 

 You didn’t even realize how long it had been until the night shift security walked out….and the sun started to rise. Owen was working that night and brought his car over to give your battery a jump so you could finally go home. You thanked him profusely, and apologized probably way too many times. You were too embarrassed to even consider sleeping when you got home. Eventually, you did manage to sneak in a few hours for a long nap, or quick sleep, however you choose to see it. You had to throw your wet uniform into the washing machine first though, had to wash away the smell of rain musk…and embarrassment. 

 

You dumped the freshly warm clothes onto your bed, taking a small moment to check your phone. The time was 8:34PM, Saturday, the humidity was high, and the temperature was finally settling down a little. It may only be May, but it can still get hot ‘round this time of year. Although, the worst part about May was all of the increased humidity. “April showers bring May Insufferable Humidity Levels”, or whatever they say about April and May. 

You start your shift at 10 tonight, and you were slightly dreading meeting Owen. Sure, he’s great, but after what happened last night/this morning? A shudder of embarrassment made its way through at the mere thought. Your manager- or, uh, he was the manager, right?...Uh, yeah, manager! Your Manager had to save you from your car troubles! In the rain! He would’ve known instantly that you waited out there for hours trying to start up your car in the rain! Hopefully that doesn’t hurt your first impression too much…Also, those things he said in the staff halls last night gave you an uneasy chill. That dude really needs to get a life outside of that place.

 

You shook your head to get your thoughts back on track, although you were still unsure where Owen sat on the management line, or hierarchy of power. You’d have to ask him later when you inevitably have to come into work tonight. For now, you idly listened to the tv in the living room as some talk show came on, as you folded your clothes and put them away. Getting your uniform laid out and ready for work tonight. 

 

~~~~

 

As the sun dipped further in the sky, you figured it was about time to start heading out. You didn’t wanna miss the bus, because there was no way you were going to count on your car breaking down two nights in a row. You finished adjusting your uniform, straightening it out before you slung your bag over your shoulder. You decided to snag your red hoodie just in case, considering how chilly it can get around night, no matter how hot and humid it is during the day, it can still be cold and clammy once the sun sets. You locked up your apartment and popped in one of your earbuds, nearly leaving until you noticed your neighbor’s door was open. You paused, a little confused why the door would just be left open. You stopped to take a peek inside, you saw colors flashing on the Tv indicating someone was watching it, so you knocked on the door and called out into the dim apartment. 

 

“...Donna..?”

 

You waited a couple seconds, until you heard a faint, “Hm?” in response inside.

 

“Hey…uh, why’s your door open..?” You spoke, gently nudging the door open a little further as you heard her weary footsteps coming down the short entry hall. 

 

“Hm..?..Oh…You didn’t open it?” Her tired face inspected yours, questioning you in the doorway. 

 

“Nah, I was on my way to work and saw it open. Everything okay?” You were sure…well, mostly sure, she was okay. But you still had to be sure. 

 

“Oh, I’m ok, sugar-cookie, all fine.” She smiled warmly in response to you checking up on her, in turn making you smile a little “I’m all fine…just must’ve left the door open…must’ve forgotten..” she trailed off towards the end, mumbling a little as she rubbed her head. “Been forgetting some things every now and then, just small stuff, like where I set that dang remote” she ended it with a chuckle.

 

You weakly chuckled along, “yeah…and forgetting to close the door? That’s….not so small. I mean, it’s a small action, but still…” You didn’t want to finish where that statement was heading but Donna must’ve been on that train longer than you even knew about the tracks. 

 

“I know, I know, but you don’t gotta worry about me, sugar, I’m….I’m just an old lady who forgets things every now and then” she laughed, making a joke about her age even though she wasn’t quite that old yet, “Look at you, all ready for work and here you are worrying too much about me! Go, go! You don’t wanna be late” she gently shoo’d you from her door, you lightly chuckled and lifted your hands in a surrender pose as you backed towards the stairs.

 

“Takin’ the bus today, sugar-cookie?”

 

“Sure am” you lightly chuckled, stopping at the top of the stairs.

 

“Well, you be careful!”

 

“I will be, you be careful too ” You lightly sang out the last part as you descended the stairs, you heard her let out a hearty scoff as she closed her door. You smiled to yourself at the little interaction as you left. 

 

~~~~

 

You stepped off the bus, giving a quick thanks to the usual guy running the nighttime buses. “Pink In The Night” by Mitski was playing through your earbud as you walked across the parking lot to the Pizzaplex. Lots of families were loitering as they struggled to get their children strapped into their carseats for what was probably going to be a long ride home. Alternatively, lots of parents carried sleeping children, worn-out by the day they had. The daycare would’ve been closed for a couple hours by now. 

 

While you did manage to stress about the families who barely glanced at you, there seemed to be a lot less glancing at this time of night. You are practically invisible, now that you thought about it logically. You reached the doors, not bothering to stop your music as you searched for either the Map Bot or Owen in the entryway. You saw plenty of grouchy children and parents alike, tired and fussy, but you didn’t see any human employees nearby. You did, however, have no chance of not noticing the map bot giving you a jumpscare. 

 

“Oh, hey, Mappy- it’s Mappy, right?”

 

Mappy let out a comical gameshow ‘dinging’ noise, followed by a monotone “Correct, employee, [Y/N] [L/N].”

 

You slightly winced at the sound of your last name being associated with you, the sound of it alone bothered you “Just call me Y/n, please.”

 

Mappy paused for a moment as it seemed to process that, inputting who knows what, “Understood. Fulfilling request, updating preferences for Employee: [Y/N].”

 

You let out a sheepish chuckle, “Thanks, Mappy.”

 

You awkwardly shuffle in place as you try to think of what you’re supposed to do now…You looked towards Mappy, who just sat there, blankly staring at you, as always. You looked around, spotting the clock-in machine- oh, right, you were supposed to do something with that, and your faz-watch? You were going to memorize that clock-in sheet at home, but you ended up a little…distracted..instead. You pulled out a little post-it note from your pocket as you went over to the machine, it suddenly sprung upon you that the Faz-Watches aren't supposed to leave the premises…and you left the staff Faz-Watch in your locker- so, what was the graphic on the clock-in sheet for? You’d have to look at it later…you could ask about it, but you were scared that would make you look stupid instead. You typed your numbers into the machine and clocked in exactly at 10PM. You stuffed the post-it note back into your pocket, turning around only to meet Mappy face-to-face. You jumped back a little while letting out a very humbling noise of surprise. Accidentally bumping Mappy in the process. 

 

“Please refrain from touching working Fazbear Co. Animatronics.” Mappy spoke out in its very automated voice message. You remember that one- 

 

“Righ, right , sorry, but I didn’t see you there- you startled me!” You whisper yelled at the Map Bot, anxiously glancing around to see who might’ve witnessed that little moment. The thought of someone seeing you startled by a staff bot isn't inherently embarrassing to you, just the concept of people looking at you at all. Thankfully, it seemed like no one cared, and you could relax at the prospect of not being perceived by anyone else for at least a moment longer.

 

 “Besides- aren’t you guys supposed to recognize employees and, like, not say those messages to employees or something?” You sort of asked. You weren’t entirely interested in the answer, if they did answer. The question just kinda popped into your head as you headed towards the maintenance/staff hall door closest to the entry lobby. 

 

Mappy didn’t give an answer, probably wasn’t programmed for it. Maybe you were just the new employee, so little things like this were bound to happen but eventually faded away the longer you worked here. 

 

You glanced back at the booth near the entrance, just beyond the computers set up on the desks, you could see some humans working. Last time you could’ve sworn it was robots running that station, maybe they rotated positions. There were still some customers lined up waiting to be attended to, even at this late into the day. You pitied those employees, who knows how long they’ve been working at those computers, handling customer service with cranky parents and hyperactive kids, or spoiled brats and their entitled parents. You briefly wondered how many refunds those poor workers had to deal with- or how much worse it was to deal with those people after finding out that basically everything in this place offers no refunds. You almost began wishing those shifts were run by robots. Then you began wondering about the actual customer service office and who works there- 

 

Your thoughts were cut off by Mappy stopping in front of the utility ‘staff only’ hall, they waited to the side for you to open it. 

 

“Y’know, Mappy- you can open these doors by yourself-” You began in a light-hearted tone, trying to suggest that Mappy can just open the door instead of waiting for you, “and since when were these doors locked anyways? When I was a kid, someone could easily just waltz in here if they wanted to.” You half-mindedly admitted, remembering something from the one or two visits you had here as a kid while you swiped your security badge to unlock the door. 

 

Mappy watched, curiously, though it wasn't present on their face or body language. They were secretly searching the database inside the network hidden in their head, communicating with other bots who were in varying different stages of their duties. The wet floor bots, the mop bots, off-duty security bots who were getting ready for their rounds tonight, and various other little bots in the S.T.A.F.F. network. The new employee just omitted some new information, and Mappy needed a little help searching through the guest profile database back to the approximate time that this new employee would’ve been a child. That was a large span of years to search through, but it was the nature of these bots to know everything they can about everything and everyone. (Well, it’s in their nature to be helpless gossipers-) Especially since there was a high likeability that [New Employee: Y/N] could’ve known information that they shouldn't have, or witnessed something that they may need briefed on for company policy- or, well- FazCo has a lot of secrets to keep, and this location in particular has a lot of ongoing secrets that can never be let out….   

 

Although it was mostly because Mappy was nosy, and perhaps the other bots would like to see the guest profile from the younger version of [New Employee: Y/N]. They probably could’ve met before somehow. Moppy, not to be confused with Mappy, was a prominent janitorial mop bot that spent most of their mindspace searching the network and helping other bots research information. They were happy to take on the challenge of looking for the old guest profile that belonged to a young Y/n at one point. It would keep them entertained as they mindlessly mopped the floors as the place started closing down for the night. 

 

All pf which happened within the span of seconds, Mappy now followed [New Employee; Designation Y/N] entered the staff utility halls, leaving their thoughts to the predisposed, and ever lovely, Moppy. All thinking and programming now had to be focused as they traveled with the new human companion into the halls, towards the stairs. Speeding up a little to help make this journey faster.

 

You watched as, once again, Mappy started to speed up as you two entered the halls. If Mappy was so scared of these halls, why did they keep choosing to escort you through them? Surely they would prefer to do their job, violently handing out maps to poor unsuspecting patrons. It made you smile a little as you did a little jog to catch up to them. They cared about your safety…. Ooooor maybe it was company policy to not leave the newbie alone so they don't get into anything they aren't supposed to. You still liked the company though.  

 

You went down the flight of stairs with Mappy, coming to an abrupt stop on the floor below. Mappy was seemingly frozen, staring at something beyond one of the gates. Unknownst to you, listening to a silent chatter on the network in their head. You had stopped behind them, confused on what had caused such a delay in your guys’ little routine. You checked your phone for the time (FazWatch was still in your locker), it was only 10:14PM, so what was with the hold up? You needed to get to the daycare soon, didn’t you? You only had a couple minutes to talk to Sun before he left and Moon took over the night shift, right? You cautiously peered around Mappy to see what was in front of them. Beyond Mappy was the endless stretch of the halls, diverting into different sections, some were gated off and chained. Pipes overhead hissed with steam, occasionally rumbling with water flow…and other things. Blinking lights above would light the open ceiling of pipes and wires. Surely all those open wires was a safety issue, and having electronic systems scattered in the ceiling all throughout the ceilings were not efficient were they? If one of those pipes busted, there would be some costly repairs…it started making sense why there were so many human maintenance staff kept on hand at all times. 

 

None of that really grabbed your attention though, you probably noted a similar scenery before, but now? There was something more important grabbing your focus. You couldn't help the way your brow furrowed with confusion, concern…bewilderment. Your mouth slightly ajar as you studied the other Staff Bots, and Mappy, as they silently witnessed this scene. There, on the ground, was a Staff Bot, a regular cleaning model it would seem, torn to shreds and dismembered on the cold concrete floor. Sparks flew from the open circuitry, apparently whatever happened to it was recent. Pieces of it were missing, and it seemed…oddly hollow. You weren’t sure what all was missing, the exposed circuit boards and wires were torn but still there. You just didn’t know these models well enough to know what was missing from this massacred bot. You couldn’t imagine how horrific this scene must be for these bots. That must be why they are so still, right? Are they…mourning? You weren’t sure about that either.

 

A Security S.T.A.F.F. Bot stood still with its flashlight on, beamed trained onto the mess of a bot piled on the floor. A couple of other regular S.T.A.F.F. modeled bots loomed around the scene as well. The Security Bot must be like the acting officer in this scenario, considering they aren’t supposed to be on duty yet, and the other two bots must’ve been the witnesses who found the ravaged bot. In such a calm moment, you began thinking so fast, like everything had slowed down for just a moment. You began putting everything together. That poor bot must’ve been traveling alone, weren’t they? You were warned to not travel alone, and you remembered running down the hall away from whatever was messing with you the one time you did walk alone. This poor bot must’ve been running too…or, uh, rolling, away from the same thing until it reached the dead end. Unable to get past the locked gate, it would’ve been cornered by whatever haunts these halls.

 

It wasn’t truly until now that you really believed in that warning Owen gave you. There is a threat that haunts these halls, a threat that can easily dismember a S.T.A.F.F. Bot and rip out its innards. As you put this altogether, a shiver ran down your spine. There is a threat that haunts these halls.

 

You didn’t realize you had begun to grip Mappy’s arm, not forcefully or anything, it was just a subconscious reaction. You felt a little scared by your revelation, and surely Mappy was even more scared by whatever knowledge they had of this event and any prior. They didn’t even issue you an automated warning when you latched onto them. You wanted to say something, but with the quiet stillness of this scene, it felt taboo to break it.

 

Eventually Mappy slowly wheeled backwards with you still latched to their arm, they now slowly wheeled towards and down the stairs with you. One of the bots lifted their head to watch you two leave. It felt melancholy, the way Mappy had changed its subtle behaviors. It didn’t rush through the halls with you, it didn’t even roll at normal pace with you, it didn’t automate a message about you latching onto it, it didn’t look anywhere besides straight ahead of it. It slowly moved with you through the halls to the staff locker rooms. Like it was in shock, or maybe it was even grief? You could just assume it was a low-level intelligence bot that moved automatically, with nothing but company programming in it. But you’ve seen their programming, and you’ve witnessed a behavior pattern with them. This wasn’t programming, this was a behavior. Whatever it was, it seemed as though Mappy wasn’t afraid of a threat at this moment anymore. Whatever had wrecked that STAFF Bot took what it needed, and it wouldn’t need a refill so soon. You couldn’t help but feel sad for Mappy at this moment, and those other bots too. In a matter of a couple days, the way you thought about these bots, all these animatronics, had already changed so soon.

 

 You walked to your locker, passing a few lockers that were kept open and slightly ajar by the owners, they probably preferred it that way. Beats having to constantly input your combo, you supposed. You were far too paranoid and protective of your things to do that though. Mappy had followed in and closed the door behind them as you put your bag into your locker. You thought about throwing your jacket in too, but it was too chill in here to comfortably reside without your jacket. Or at least, you weren’t comfortable enough to be without your safety jacket yet. Mappy currently stared at a wall while you adjusted the FazWatch around your wrist, putting your phone onto the shelf in your locker where the FazWatch used to sit. You let out a sigh as you tried to shake the queasiness away before you officially started your shift. You turned to Mappy, unable to see their face from behind the rim of their hat. Just barely able to see the rim of their glasses as they stared at nothing.

 

“Hey, Mappy?” You softly called out. 

 

There was a small moment of silence as you fidgeted with the cuffs of your sleeves, awaiting their response. A small whirring sound started up before it turned to look at you. It didn’t say anything, but it tilted its head slightly to let you know it was listening.

 

“Are you…okay?” You hesitantly questioned. You were unsure if the question was appropriate, or maybe even silly if the bot was nothing more than a basic AI with base programming.

 

Another moment of silence as Mappy straightened their posture, a very quiet whirring sound emitted when they moved, but the staff locker room was so quiet and echoey that you could easily hear those little sounds that were usually never heard.

 

 “Affirmative.” Mappy raised their hand forward to show their little thumbs up emote. “Is ‘okay’ now.” Their monotone voice spoke out as they slowly lowered their hand back to their side.

 

You gently smiled at the response, but concern still laced your furrowed brow. “If you say so, Mappy.”

 

Said bot let out a quick monotone chirp noise before doing a little spin in place. As if saying, ‘no, really, look how okay I am now’ or maybe something akin to that. You let out a quiet chuckle at the response, doing a small spin of your own to mimic the bot. Mappy let out another little chirp noise as they clapped for you. You practically giggled at the silly little display, but you felt glad that the bot were back to themselves. Even if you didn’t know this bot that well, you were already growing so attached to them. 

 

Then, as if they seemed to remember something, they reached into one of the compartments attached to them. You could only see maps stacked inside the little boxes, but they retrieved a small sticky-note from the compartment and handed it over to you. You curiously glanced at it, reading the scribbles on the note.

 

---

“Hey, check your FazWatch! There was some stuff coming up, so I’m unsure if I can supervise your shift tonight…I’ll send a message when I’m certain or yea-”

-Owen

---

 

 

The last part of the text was jumbled together near the edge of the note and was a little hard to read. It looks like he wrote this in a hurry before passing it off to Mappy. You stuffed the note into your pocket and pulled up your FazWatch, checking your notifications and message center. It appeared you did have a message waiting from Owen. You opened it up to check it out.

 

---

Heyyy- sorry I can’t join your shift tonight :( 

 

I really wanted to be there to help supervise your meeting with Moon! Dw btw, he’s not THAT bad, he’s just a little…eccentric. Don’t listen to whatever everyone else is saying abt him! Well, some of those things might be true- but i dont want you to be discouraged <:)

He means well- i think- but he’s probably excited to meet you too? 

Anyways, hope things go well tonight, I’ll wish you luck! Wish me some luck too, im probably still in the meeting at the office facility by the time your reading this idfiusbcfh not fun! These higher ups are already giving me a hard time and im only in the waiting room so far! Whelp, have fun,aaaand Moon should help explain everything else, he’s trained for this after all

If he gives yu a hrd time leave me an email ALLLLLLL abt it when you get home lol

BYEEEEEEE newbie! 

 

-Sorta signed, OWen (like literally, OW this meeting is gonna HURT lmao)

---

 

You let out a sigh, and groan. Upset at the news that you’d have to pilot tonight without any guidance; And while you were a little anxious to meet Moon, Owen assumed a LOT more than you knew or heard about Moon, and now you were a little intimidated to actually meet him. You glanced at the time to see that you might actually not get to see Sun tonight either, by now the lights in the daycare would probably be out and Sun would probably be heading off to do whatever it is that he does when Moon is on shift. Although a subtle grin took your face as you glanced at the message, Owen must’ve written that on his FazWatch…even so, his writing style was ...unique. You silently wished him luck with that meeting, which even you thought sounded horrible.

 

You turn to Mappy with a smile and gave them a thumbs up. “Alright…looks like I’m soloing tonight with Moon…I guess.” Mappy offered a thumbs up in return as you two headed out of the locker room. 

 

~~~~

 

  You had departed from Mappy not too long ago, they escorted you out of the halls then went to hand out their maps to patrons in their very specific manner. You got to witness them in action, watching a couple of customers, who were trying to find their way back to the lobby, jump back from the assertive yet monotone voice of Mappy. You couldn't help but grin at the sight as you left in the general direction of the Superstar Daycare doors. You were making an effort to not look at your map to find your way this time, and you did surprisingly well by your own standards, although you did not like how long it took. It ate away at any of your extra time, pushing your arrival closer to 11, 10:40-ish maybe? You were mostly guesstimating from the last time you periodically checked the time. 

 

You arrived at the dimly lit area, with the few tables laid about and the adjacent party rooms not too far away. The massive daycare itself was dark inside, having been closed for a couple of hours by now. You still don’t understand why the lights needed to be out for you to meet the naptime daycare attendant. You also don't know why Sun couldn't have just stuck around to make the introductions a bit easier since you at least already knew him from Owen’s introduction yesterday. You spied a mop bot mopping away in the empty lounge area, where you assume mostly parents would reside during active hours. They mopped away without a single care for who you were. The wet floor bots however, turned as they kept their ‘eyes’ on you, watching you walk across the open area. As cute as those little guys were, you felt at least a little uneasy by the way they silently and seamlessly tracked your movements. They didn’t even turn to look at the sparse customers on their way to leave. You brushed it off and awkwardly tried averting your attention back towards the massive daycare doors. You were so focused on the little bots to notice the faint glowing red lights in dark glass that followed your movements as well.

 

 You took in a long breath to steady yourself before knocking, barely getting past the third knock in your sequence before one of the large doors slowly opened. In true haunted mansion vibes fashion of course, cause why wouldn’t it when you’re already so unsettled to enter the large dark room. You took a few hesitant steps into the darkness, slowly closing the door behind you as your eyes began adjusting to the low light coming from the neon light decals around the daycare that you didn’t notice yesterday. It was actually pretty nice, the ambiance of the dim neons across the daycare would’ve been really nice actually if you weren't already on edge. 

 

“...hello? Uh, Moon, right? Or, um, should I call you Mr.Moon..? uhhh-”

 

“Only the kids call me ‘Mister.’ ” A dark voice nearby cut you off, nearly making you shriek out of surprise. You did jump away from the general direction of the voice though.

 

“Oh! S-sorry, I didn’t know you were there- “ You immediately began apologizing to the dimly lit silhouette, cutting yourself off this time as you took in the sight. Well, shadow of a sight really.  Faint glowing elements on his attire gave him away, especially his eyelights. Bright red, in the unnatural and uncanny kind of scary way. The faint glowing stars on his pants and hat definitely let you know that this was indeed Moon, otherwise there weren’t many differences. Which you were expecting anyways, given the statue and posters. You could also vaguely remember glimpsing them once or twice when you were a kid.

 

That feeling in your gut started up again. That feeling that arose when you first met Sun, like the anxious butterflies stirring in your stomach. Yet…darker. Moths, it was moths that fluttered in your abdomen, clinging to your ribs as they tried to flock to the flame that radiated from your very soul. It made you feel a little queasy, even if the moths were softer and more delicate, they were also more restless in this moment, and they were harder to shake off. 

 

“You aren’t supposed to wander into the Daycare without permission.” He spoke out again, in an eerily calm manner, like he was trying to spook you. He slowly tilted his head to the side, which you only knew he was doing because his eyelights shifted into an unnatural position in his silhouette. You could also see the starlights of his hat shift to the side as he moved his head. “Especially after closing.” There was an amused cackling tone as he spoke. Like he was holding in a sinister laugh, or at least you saw it that way in this moment.

 

“Uh, yeah- sorry about that, the door just like uh swung open after I knocked, so I thought maybe you opened it, because like, the doors are supposed to be locked, right? So, like, uh, it wouldn’t have done that unless you unlocked the doors and let them open- or uh- umm ” you began trailing off in your little anxiety-filled explanation ramble, making vague hand gestures as you did so.

 

You couldn’t see the way his grin fell, you weren’t being fun right now. You were supposed to be scared of him , you’re the new handler after all! He’s supposed to give you a hard time, it was his passion to drive off new handlers. You were too busy being anxious about everything else to be purely intimidated by him alone, and unfortunately you were able to make a point in your ramble that put off his little taunts. 

 

You heard him letting out a groaning sigh as he turned his head back to its upright position. Oh well - he’d have to get used to you, until you left too. You however were worried you did or said something wrong, there’s so many rules and policies around here and you really didn’t want to get fired so soon.

 

“Follow ME. ” he groaned, gesturing for you to follow him as he began walking somewhere else in the daycare. The big and loud bells on his costume easily telling you where he was walking at all times. You briefly wondered if those bells were just for show or taken as a precaution to give away his position in the dark. You shook the thought away, Sun had the same large bells, it was probably to help kids who were visually impaired. That made the most sense. Still- you couldn’t help but be a little thankful he had somethinig that would make it harder for him to sneak up on you. Which you dreaded to think of but your mind kept jumping to that thought.

 

He brought you over to a station near the shoe cubbies and near the cabinets that Sun and Owen toured for you during the last shift. You remembered that this was where the naptime supplies were kept. 

 

Moon began shuffling through the cabinets and cubbies to show you what was inside. “Do you have a flashlight?”

 

“Uh….no? Maybe? I think I left it in my locker…” You awkwardly admitted, earning another groan in response.

 

“Well then, I hope your eyes have adjusted to the dim lighting by now, otherwise this will be difficult.” The more he spoke the more you picked up on the subtle raspy twinge in his voice that Sun had, albeit a darker version, but it was pretty similar. Everything about them was pretty similar.

 

You simply nodded, inspecting the cabinets and squinting as you tried adjusting to the light. It was actually a little bright over here, being closer to the walls with the neon stars above. “Okayy, so these are the naptime supplies, right?” 

 

“ Correct. Aren’t you a smart one, hm?” He sarcastically remarked with a dramatic gesture, the backs of his hands on his hips as he looked down at you. In this lighting you got to take in more details, like his similarities and differences to Sun essentially. A nightcap instead of rays, any oranges replaced with dark blue and any yellows replaced with light blue/white, and his star speckled pants to match his hat. “Now, this section is where the mats are kept, rolled up and stacked.” 

 

You focused on the large cubby where he pointed then followed along as he pointed to other areas and explained where the blankets are, and the pillows, where the used blankets and pillow cases go to be washed, where the spares are kept when not ready to be used, and all that jazz. His voice eventually became a little less cranky and unenthused as he explained things to you. You followed along wordlessly as he left no room for questions. 

 

“Got all that, new handler ?” He sneered out the title he’d given you. 

 

You nodded warily. You didn’t just feel like a stranger in a new job, in here, right now, you felt like a nuisance, a problem. You didn’t like that feeling, especially when you didn’t even do anything to deserve it. 

 

“You're a big grown-up, use your words.” He leaned down towards you with that ever-stretching grin, speaking to you in a tone reserved for children.

 

You let out a slightly frustrated sigh, you were going to have problems with this guy, weren’t you? “Yes, I ‘got all that’, Moon.”

 

“ Good human. ” He gently patted the top of your head with a grin and you tried your best to not slink away from the touch, settling for a slightly annoyed expression in response to his little antic. 

 

He paused for a moment, as if awaiting something. You were about to ask when you heard an announcement over the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed the show! Unfortunately, we must close for the night now! Please make your way to the front of the building to exit the premises. Have an awesome night and we'll see you again soon!” 

 

You listened to the closing announcement a bit surprised, usually there were warning announcements informing guests that there were like 15 to 10 and 5 minutes till closing. You must’ve been too focused in here to notice. You were also just surprised how fast the time went by. Was it 12 already? You double checked your FazWatch to be certain aaaand yep, time really did go by that fast. Eventually the big overhead lights in the Pizzaplex itself went off, now all that lit up the scenery was the neon lights and advertising screens. 

 

“And now- phase two of our…training.” Moon chuckled as he slinked towards the door. This man straight up reminded you of a cartoon villain. As funny as that comparison was in your head, you had to remind yourself that you had to work with a cartoon villain for who knows how long, and that seemed tiring, especially at this hour. 

 

As you two were leaving the daycare, you could’ve sworn you saw a warm light move about inside the daycare, and a faint voice beginning to call out. It was soon muffled by the doors abruptly closing behind you, Moon closed them with much more speed or force than what was necessary. 

 

“Is there…anyone else in the daycare?” You asked.

 

“ Doesn’t matter. We must now patrol! Well, I will patrol, and you will do your share of chores. In which I will unfortunately have to guide you on.” He started off on a high note and slowly faded to a low note. It seemed like you were only dragging him down by the way he spoke. It also distracted you from what you had originally asked. 

 

“..my share of chores? Like in the daycare? Sun and Owen already explained-” 

 

“ No,” he cut you off with a sneer, his tone and look insinuating he had never heard something so pathetically stupid before, “your share of chores out here ,” he gestured around to the dimly lit Pizzaplex. “The chores have already been taken care of in the Daycare, Sun keeps himself busy, and the Staff bots have already collected the laundry.” he sighed, or at least, the mechanical recreation of a sigh. You weren’t sure if he intentionally sighed or if he just did that so much it cameout naturally. Well, as naturally as an animatronic could. 

 

“But Sun and Owen said that the general human staff covered that..?” You questioned, remembering something along those lines. You’d only have to deal with janitorial duties that related to the daycare, right?

 

“That’s for the daytime , you become part of the general cleaning staff when I go onto patrol. Afterall, what’s left to do in the daycare once it’s closed? Sun and I keep it tidy on our own.” He proudly puffed out his chest with his faceplate tilted up. You didn’t register his beaming pride, insinuating they didn’t need any help (or you) .

 

“And, uhh…Comet too, right?” You struggled to think of the light blue animatronic’s name for a second. 

 

Moon curiously tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, like he was squinting at you. “Yeah? I’d suppose he does his chores too when he has to.” He spoke as if he was unsure. 

 

“Well, okay then-? So…what exactly do I do out here?”

 

“ You will help any general staff with their duties should they need the help, and do some routine cleaning, which should be provided on a list. Small janitorial stuff, don’t feel pressured to finish everything because your main duties are to be a handler, or whatever .” He added the last part with a quick groan and roll of his eyes. “The cleaning is just to keep you busy and ensure stuff gets done when you don’t need to do anything else. The staff will appreciate the help, they always do.” He continued speaking in his unamused tone, like he wanted to be doing something else but was required to tell you this. 

 

“Okay, okay, so where do I-” you cut yourself off as you saw Moon begin walking away towards a line that dropped from the ceiling. Which puzzled you; where did that come from?

 

“Figure it out yourself, my patrol duties have already been delayed too far. Maybe if you weren’t so late we could’ve had time to go over this.” Before you knew it he was gone, retracting up into the darkness above on that little wire, and with him went his condescending attitude. 

 

You just sat there, listening to the faint sound of bells moving away, his stars covered up by the darkness above. You felt a little dumbfounded. You didn’t know he could fly , apparently. Why would he even need arial support anyways? 

Slowly your anxiety creeped back in as you realized you were alone, without solid directions, and still had a job to do. You checked your FazWatch for the apparent chore list you could help out with. You searched through your inbox and messages to no avail. You huffed out a sigh as you began walking, searching for any of the general staff that you could ask for help.

You passed a bunch of duffel bags and Faz present boxes lying about all over the place. Probably should be doing something about that. You also waved to any bots performing their duties, like the security bots doing their rounds, who were happy to wave back as long as you didn’t get in their way. There were only a couple Mop bots though, which you found surprising in a place this big. Of course there’d be wet floor sign bots everywhere though, even if there were no customers to warn of the wet floors. You briefly wondered why they needed the signs to be bots as well. Eventually you did run into human staff members. 

 

They had a lime green jacket covering their uniform, and they were barely just above average height. However, next to their coworker, they looked way taller. The other staff member had a large belt on, with an even bigger belt buckle on it. The decorative buckle was very hard to miss. They both made many adjustments to their uniforms. The shorter one, approximately five feet tall, had a very lush beard that connected to the messy hair that stuck out to the sides under his cap. His shirt was wrinkled and messily tucked in, while the taller employee didn’t even tuck in his shirt, it was wrinkled too. The shorter one had his sleeves rolled up to bare his arms, and in place of the standard tie he had a tie similar in color but with thin diagonal white stripes across it. He also had a pin on the lower part of the tie, the tie pin had an enamel Moon head on it. The taller one replaced his tie with a dark green ascot that laid flat thanks to the tie pin at the top near the knot. His tie pin had an enamel Monty head on it. A folded pair of glasses hung from his right shirt pocket. His hat didn’t sit right on his head, but his hair was shorter than the other’s, and he had crazy sideburns. His pants also seemed a little too short for him. Everything else about their uniforms were pretty standard.

 

They seemed to be bickering about something before the shorter one stomped his foot and stormed off. The staff worker with the lime green jacket groaned as he threw his hands up in defeat, he seemed pretty annoyed at the moment, but you needed to ask about the job duties. 

 

“Hey- sorry, but could you help me?” You hesitantly asked.

 

He jumped and turned around with a shocked face, his eyes were a little wide as they looked at you. “Who are you??? How’d you get there?” 

 

You smiled a little before apologizing, “Sorry, again, I didn’t mean to startle you…I just need a little assistance with my..job?” You added on, still unsure. 

 

He relaxed a little but fidgeted with his sleeves a little and avoided eye contact, “Oh, right- you’re the new employee, right?” You had a little trouble understanding him as he kept trying to hide his mouth. “So, new Daycare Attendant handler, huh?”

 

“Uh, yeah? I didn’t even apply to it- I just sorta had it sprung onto me, so I guess I gotta figure stuff out now.” You lightly chuckled as you made small talk with your coworker. His hat said ‘STAFF’ like yours, but he had security guard tools on his belt.  

 

“Yeah, me too” he chuckled, growing a little less anxious as he talked with you.

 

“...you’re a handler too?” You should’ve expected meeting other handlers, but you didn’t expect you’d be meeting them like this. 

 

“Yep, I’m Monty’s handler” he proudly beamed, putting his hands on his hips. 

 

You nodded your head, should’ve guessed that by his ascot pin- you also got a good look at his staff/security badge. The nametag part had the name ‘YEET’ printed on it. You furrowed your brow a little with a small grin, ‘his name is yeet? Seriously? No way the higher ups would allow that right?’ But then again- handlers didn’t work around customers too often anyways, so what their name tags said probably didn’t matter as much. “Is it…easy working with Monty?” 

 

“Ehhh- I wouldn’t say easy but he’s fun.” He shrugged.

 

You nodded again, that made enough sense. You heard rumors of him not being great with employees and being an overall hotheaded nuisance whenever he could be. “So- your job is kind of similar to mine-” which you were glad for, so maybe you could stick by him and learn what to do, “uhh. What do we do now? I’m supposed to, like, do chores right?” 

 

He nodded a bit as he shoved his hand in the pockets of his jacket. “Yeah, pretty much. I’m usually busy with Monty, and he lets me chill on his couch until the end of my shift so I don’t have to do anything else. Although I really am more busier because like the other glamrocks, they get lots of check-ups.” He let out a small groan. “Just finished up tonight's checkup, it’s easy because there was nothing to check up, but still..”

 

You noted his grammar choices, and his complaints about his job. “Okay…so what should I be doing right now?”

 

“Uhhh-” he briefly scratched his head under his cap before shrugging, “I dunno, guess you can go clean something I guess”

 

Well, that’s not very helpful. “Okayyyy- so- um….I don’t know, maybe you can show me things related to our jobs? Let me in on some tips? Maybe direct me to the nearest staff member who cleans here…or the nearest adult?” 

 

“Hey! I’m… almost an adult! I’ve got only like a year left before they start paying me more.” He huffed, “I don’t know if there are any cleaners- or uh, what’s the word…? Uh, janitors- yeah, I don’t know if there are any janitors on shift right now though..or where they would be if they were- but I can bring you to the nearest janitorial closet?” He suggested.

 

“ Sure , that’ll do- I guess.” You sighed 

 

~~~~

 

Before long, you were strolling with your coworker. Across the Glamrock Row, past the small exhibits and glass cases. He briefly glared at one of the empty cases as you two walked by it. You wondered why they would keep an empty glass case? 

 

“Oh, sorry, I just realized I didn't actually introduce myself- I’m Y/n.” 

 

“Oh! Right, you can call me Eli!” he grinned, baring his teeth as he had seemingly forgotten his insecurity around you already. The enamel seemed comepltely eaten away and one of his front teeth were missng a chip. 

 

You were a little confused by that. The name that is- Wouldn’t he go by Yeet if he liked it enough to put on his nametag? You didn’t question it, nothing here made sense, and a teen with a weird nametag was the least of your growing concerns. 

 

“Pardon me for asking, but who was that you were arguing with back there..?” You were probably out of place to ask this, but who would be yelling at a teen coworker like that anyways?

 

“Oh-” he groaned, “That was my brother N-..uh, Billy. Not to be confused with Bill the security guard in Parts N Service, or well, he’s usually found there, but he actually does his rounds a lot- when he’s here that is, because he’s actually at a meeting right now with a bunch of other guys from here- I think-” 

 

You took in that jumbled explanation with a few nods along the way. It’s nice to know you weren’t the only rambler around here. So- We have a Bill, and a Billy- and Billy was yelling at his presumably younger brother about something. You’ll try to keep those names to their faces without messing them up, although you know you will confuse the two eventually. 

 

“What..was he yelling about?” You hesitantly asked, knowing it wasn’t your place to pry. 

 

“Oh he just yells at me about everything, I guess I forgot to put something in the right place and so he had to do it and one thing led to another I guess.” He sighed, it was more of a groan really. 

 

“That’s not an excuse to yell at you though? It doesn’t sound like it was a very big deal to begin with either.” You replied.

 

“It wasn’t! I was busy with Monty’s check-up so I forgot. He may be a handler too, but doesn’t have to do check ups every day! Or after every show- Ugh- He’ll just get over it, it’s fine.”

 

You hummed in response, realizing this is probably where that conversation ends. 

 

“So- where’s the other handlers?”

 

“Eh, they left already. They don’t stick around after the end of the day maintenance check-ups, plus I’m pretty sure it was the end of their shifts anyways. It was just the last thing they had to do before they could leave I guess.”

 

You noted that as you two reached the janitorial closet, passing the rooms with closed curtains and noises emanating from behind each one. 

 

“Well, I guess I’ll take one of these carts and go do some cleaning around the place.”

 

“Okay, well, I’m gonna go do some arcade maintenance I guess then. Make sure they’re all working- and uh… playable ” He muttered the last part with a smile before he hurried out a ‘bye, nice meeting you’ and ran off towards the arcades.

 

You watched him run off with a little grin, shaking your head a little as you took out the cart to start some cleaning. 

 

“Making new friends I see.” 

 

You nearly jumped out of your own skin at the surprise of hearing Moon’s voice. You turned to face him but didn’t see him anywhere. Then he slowly lowered down to be within your field of vision. “Oh-” You nearly forgot about the wire. 

 

“That kid’s been working here for a little over a year now” He hummed in thought as he glanced off down the hall of the glamrock alley. 

 

“Really?” You were a little astonished to find out that someone like him has been working here for even that long. “...that’s..neat? I guess? So, you know him?’

 

Moon nodded, “Not too well, but I know him well enough. Him and his brother bicker a lot, they usually aren’t supposed to be on the same shift together but he wanted to stick around after the post-show check-ups.”

 

You hummed, taking in the random new information thrown your way. “Aren’t those big shows once a week? So why-”

 

“Glamrocks still get daily check-ups, because they’re the Glamrocks .”

 

That didn’t quite answer the question you were going to ask but it was good enough. 

 

“Why does he stick around after the check-ups anyways though? Everyone else went home”

 

“He likes to play the arcade games and calls it maintenance,” he shrugged, “plus he likes to say hi to his brother.”

 

You nodded along as you wheeled the cart towards a trash can. You could start there. “I’m guessing the reason this place is so barren right now is because of that meeting, right?”

 

Moon nodded as he glided along with you. “The janitors usually have everything done by now.”

You hummed, ignoring the subtle jab of a fact as you checked the time on your FazWatch-

 

“11:46PM” Moon read out as he sorted through the bottles on the cart, rearranging them. 

 

He was correct about the time, and you lowered your watch. “Still two hours of this?” 

 

“Awww, sick of me already, new handler ?” He snickered, picking up one of the spray bottles labeled ‘water’.

 

“No” you sighed, “Just not looking forward to almost two hours of cleaning.” 

 

“Aw, cheer up-” he spritzed you with the water bottle, “I’ll keep you company between my patrol rounds.” 

 

“Hey!” You rubbed at the wet spot on your jacket, you let out an annoyed sigh as you took your jacket off and tied it around your waist. “I think I’d look forward to the alone time if it means not getting wet any further.”

 

“Ooooo- scared of getting wet, are we? Best avoid Monty Golf then” he chuckled, nearly giggling like a child at your initial reaction to getting sprayed. 

 

You let out a huff as you replace the garbage bag in the can you were emptying.

 

“ Or do - There’s some cleaning to do around there, I just can’t promise that you won’t tragically fall into one of the ponds thanks to an outside force or not.” He hummed, gliding along with you as if he was relaxing on the top of a swimming pool, his ever present grin stretching on.

 

“Thanks for the warning, I’ll be sure to avoid the place as long as you might be on the loose” You grinned at the thought, his little half-threats at least made it seem like he was warming up to you a little at least. 

 

You and Moon had to depart as you went to collect more garbage and clean up any spills or stains along the way, he had to continue his patrol rounds, which of course were elsewhere. You couldn’t help but notice that Moon seemed less stressed the further the night went on. Maybe patrol time was like his ‘free’ time? You remember Owen mentioning something or another about the Daycare Attendants not being able to leave the daycare. As big as the daycare was, you couldn’t imagine being stuck in there all day, everyday. Whatever the reason for his initial crankiness, you were just glad to see him loosen up a bit. Especially so soon after meeting him, it would’ve been miserable to work around a cranky animatronic all night- nevertheless all week…

 

 You, on the other hand, were starting to get annoyed with all these darn duffel bags everywhere. Does the gift shop even sell this many?? Why are people forgetting so many of these??? Everywhere????

 

You’d have to make a quick stop at Lost And Found before going down to the garbage disposal. Which of course you were waiting for Moon to finish his current round to go do, because there was NO WAY you were going to be traveling down there alone. Especially after what you’d seen earlier today- or, well, yesterday by now as 12AM slowly rolled by, inching closer to 1AM.

 

As you were rolling the clunky janitorial cart full of trash and duffel bags to the staff halls, you slowed to a stop, looking around for Moon. In the meantime you noticed a stain that you could relatively clean up quickly, the STAFF bots wouldn’t be able to reach its place on the wall. You go to your cart to search through the bottles, cans, and rags to find what you need and that’s when you realize it….Moon never returned that spray bottle…

Notes:

New OC's!

Eli: Younger human co-worker, Monty's handler, and apparently works with his older brother Billy, generally unhelpful but at least he's sweet?

Billy: Not to be confused with Bill, you haven't talked to him yet, but you saw him and Eli bickering

(I would add more for these two descs but I gotta go do something so I'mma just publish this and add a more detailed desc box for both on the starting notes on the next chapter, since that's where it will matter)

Chapter 7: A Moon Perigee (cont.)

Summary:

A continuation of the last chapter, where you just finish of your shift with Moon.

Notes:

Can you believe I had this chapter like 90% done just sitting in my Google docs for like-...*checks notes* SINCE LAST YEAR???? There's no way the last chapter was published LAST YEAR.

GOOD GOD.

I AM SO SORRY TO Y'ALL.

~~~~
Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, older man and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Since Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Donna: Your neighbor! Sweet old lady that tries to look out for you as much as you look out for her. You aren't exactly the closest of people, but she is definitely a friendly neighbor and one of the only people that you get to talk to so often. On an *almost* daily basis.

Comet: previously known as "the light blue Animatronic in the daycare", he is the Daycare Attendant's Assistant. He's very cold, and refuses to take the energy to talk to you, or anyone for that matter, ignoring those unimportant or uninteresting to him. He made the "Comet's Corners" which are safe spaces for children to get away from the busy and loud setting of the daycare. It is hinted that he likes/prefers hiding away in the Comet Corner on the outer wall of a playstructure, looking down upon anyone who tries to interact with him. He makes Sun sad it seems. Owen doesn't like him.

Eli: Younger human co-worker, Monty's handler, and apparently works with his older brother Billy, generally unhelpful but at least he's sweet? Apparently also likes to play on the arcade machines and calls it "maintenance", he hangs out after hours a lot.

Billy: Not to be confused with Bill, you haven't talked to him yet, but you saw him and Eli bickering, prefers the day hours and had a "Security" label on his hat like Owen and Bill. He had a Security belt of tools too. You only saw him and his brothers after the plex was closed.

(I know I said I would add more info on those two's desc but I haven't introduced enough abt them to add more lol)

You leaned against the doorframe for quite a while, idly picking at your fingers as you tried not to bite your nails. (Another idling habit you were trying to break.) You recalled that fingernail biting is often seen as an anxious habit, even though you had mentally convinced yourself otherwise; but you figured your little hard-to-break habit was actually, truly, an anxious tic in the moment. If it wasn’t just your nerves acting up over having to enter the halls again. You knew what happened in there, and it’d be hard to brush it all off as pure imagination or your mind playing tricks on you at this point. However, you couldn’t understand how you got pushed over the paranoid edge so quickly in what was just a couple of days, only a couple of barely unsettling experiences. Normally you wouldn’t spook so easy over something that wasn’t social-related. Okay, maybe , you can admit to yourself that you saw or experienced some things in those halls that couldn’t be brushed off, but you were always more inclined to be a skeptic.

 

You nearly jumped out of your skin again when a very close by voice broke your train of thought. Once again , you found yourself letting out an undignified noise as you stumbled away from the source of the sound and practically tumbled into your cleaning cart. Your reaction had earned a dark chuckle in response from your mildly interested tormentor. 

 

“Well, well, well, the new handler gets frightened easily, hm?” Moon’s low and raspy voice drawled out, teasing you. 

 

You let out a mild-mannered sigh as you went to put your hands into your pockets, only to forget that your jacket was tied around your waist. You settled for putting your hands on your hips instead. 

 

“ No , you just…snuck up on me is all.” You defended with a huff of annoyance.

 

“ Mmmmmm” Moon did his best impression of a microwave (in your opinion) , humming with his eyes narrowed at you, “No, no, I’m pretty sure all I did was walk up to you and talk, don’t recall any sneaking involved in that.” He sarcastically replied with a slow nod of his head.

 

You had a rather unamused face on as you glared at him. The further your silent response stretched on, the further his grin stretched as well. That was something that quickly became a source of unbridled anxiety for you. There was just something about that grin that deeply unnerved you for no good reason. 

 

“ Anyways , did you need something?” You sighed, you were actually glad he showed up, meaning you could finally travel through the halls and get your job done. 

 

Moon simply shrugged his shoulders as he lined his hands behind him, taking a couple steps nearer to you. Which for some reason puts a pit in your stomach. Was it even just him specifically that made you so unreasonably anxious in everything he did? Or was it just animatronics in general that unnerved you? Seeing them move certainly unnerved you as a kid, despite how cool it was just to see robots. Still, Moon himself was just a special case.

 

“Well, I saw you idling by this door, not doing your job…” He said with a pointed glance down at you, which only uneased you even more, “...couldn’t help but wonder what you were doing, lost in thought and such.” He finished, his tone conveying that he didn’t really care what your answer was, or why you were apparently “wasting time”. 

 

There was a lengthy pause as you tried to find any better ways to put this, as to not make you look even more vulnerable. You knew you’d just have to say it as it was.

 

“Oh- um, I was just waiting for you…” admitting that felt humbling to say the least. 

 

Moon quirked a brow as he curiously tilted his head, looking down at you with a little more intrigue than before. “ Oh? How come?” 

 

You let out a small groan as you debated actually telling him that you weren’t willing to enter the staff halls alone, especially at night, when everything seemed darker despite the overwhelming lack of windows in this place making it seem eternally night anyways.

 

“I… might be a little nervous going into the utility halls…alone…” you slowly, and sheepishly admitted. 

 

In a feat that seemed impossible already, Moon’s grin stretched even further upon hearing this noise. You assumed their faceplates didn’t even move to begin with, the dawning realization that they could move (they, being the daycare attendants) was already horrifying for you personally. Now, seeing up close and personal just how twisted and malleable these things could be did not ease any of your fears. Seeing his dark grin twitch to the very edges it could reach just to break character at what you had said was enough to get those moths stirring within you again. Restless as they clung to your ribs.

 

“ .......you’re afraid?” He chuckled, his tone suggested a question but it sounded more like he was mocking you, waiting for you to confirm.

 

You paused yet again, you’re sure your uncertainty was clear on your face. Your hesitance to answer back would’ve cemented that theory. Well, if it could be called a theory, just whatever it was that he was seeing now. The longer you didn’t answer the closer he got, it almost reminded you of how a bird would inspect a bug. 

 

“...... n-” you cut yourself off from denying it seeing the way he titled his head, “ well, I just wouldn’t say- I wouldn’t call it ‘being afraid’..” You put up air quotes around the last part, your voice unbearably quiet and meek in your own opinion..

 

“ Ohhhhh~” His raspy voice rang out as he stood back up to his full height, part of you was relieved he gave you some space, the other part of you was deeply unsettled by how tall he truly was. Which was something very noticeable when he was next to you. “Well, I guess if you don’t call it fear then it just can’t be fear, right?” He chuckled, tilting his head at yet another unnatural angle.

 

You made a mental ‘note-to-self’ to not bring up your fears or anxieties around Moon again.

 You took in a deep sigh, if you were going to get anywhere with this lunatic you’d have to put on a brave face and be sure of yourself; otherwise he’d be the one pushing you around. 

 

“ Look, I have to finish my job for the night, and in order to do that I’d have to go through the utility halls. Owen told me himself to not travel in there alone if I could help it, and if I have to work with you, because apparently I’m your handler, then you’re gonna have to help me out here too.” You ended with a defeated, yet firm sigh. Just enough to show you had been agitated, but not enough to reveal the tremble that rougely coursed through you during your moment of strength.

 

You stood defiant as Moon looked you up and down in an unsettling silence, before he eventually let out a low hum, narrowing his eyes at you as his head tilted back to its upright position. His grin rested comfortably where it should be, in its more commercial resting place really, you just found that position to be more comfortable personally. 

 

“ Well then.” Moon’s low voice cut short, the rasp being hardly noticeable in his current tone. 

 

For a moment you questioned your call of authority, standing up against him on something that you could’ve let slip. But how far would he push it after that? But then again…his current demeanor, his shift back to the attitude from earlier in the night when you had met made you anxious. Like you did something wrong, that you had upset him. You couldn’t see how your anxiety was making a nervous wreck over nothing again. How it was eating away at you for simply standing up for yourself. There was just too much to be worried about right now based on the reaction he gave you.

 

“ Lead the way.” Moon cut your thoughts in half, a small hiss in his voicebox replacing the missing rasp. He stood there holding the door open, the utility door you had been waiting by this whole time. He gestured inward with his other arm, raising his brow when you didn’t immediately go in. 

 

You let out a quiet “oh” as you rushed to go in, dragging the cart in behind you. The deadpan look on his face let you know which side of his personality you were working with right now, even if it wasn’t for long. What you couldn’t see, however, was how he scrutinized you with his gaze. (Mostly because you were actively trying to avoid eye contact after confronting him for a mere thirty seconds.)

 

  He could easily see through your false bravado, how much courage it took just to defend yourself from some little teasing. He previously wondered if your weak and anxiety-riddled state-of-mind would make it easier to annoy you, tease you, to make fun for himself while you were here. While he was stuck with you. Now he can see that it would only cause him the annoyances and problems. He knew you would quit sooner than the rest, if judging by your state of mind was anything to go by. Stronger-willed and meek handlers alike couldn’t last long with him and Sun. Your replacement would come soon enough. Even if Sun denied every time Moon said so with each new handler, Moon was always right. Nobody ever stayed, and Sun was a fool to get attached to any of them. Or at least, Moon thought so.

 

Moon looked down at the new handler who confusedly glanced around the halls as they surely tried to remember which way to go based on whatever information Owen gave them. They were so average. Moon inwardly groaned to himself, of course the human had heard it but he didn’t care for their reaction. At this point the only personality they had to go off from was just how anxious they were, how unsure they were of everything, how much they tried to hide themselves away, protecting themselves. They muttered to themself as they once again got stuck at a crossing between the halls. They didn’t wear anything expressive, and didn’t try to talk about anything regarding themselves. Moon only knew them for a couple of hours at best, plus the few hours that Sun got to know them. He just knew that he wouldn’t miss them when they got replaced.

 

“Oh! Good, that’s helpful…” You muttered to yourself. Pretty much everything you’ve said to yourself since you’ve entered the halls has been to yourself. Moon didn’t make for good company, if anything, he was just your shadow. You kept wondering if you made him mad. Of course that would be unreasonable, but it’s just where your mind went to.

 

What you had commented on was a painted arrow on one of the walls that helped guide you to the garbage disposal area. It was pretty low, on the same level as the locker room though. At least you thought so? It was pretty easy to get lost around here. As you undoubtedly proved to Moon so far. Maybe you should’ve just made this journey alone…

 

The lost and found items had already been dropped off, so this was the last thing for you to do for the night. Moon still wordlessly followed along on this pursuit. Several times you had to glance back just to make sure he was still there, sometimes his bells wouldn’t ring with each step, or you had to stand still somewhere. He always glanced down at your face whenever you glanced back, he still faced forward or wherever he was looking previously but his eyes would trace your face with a quirked brow, as if questioning why you were looking at him. 

You always quickly looked back to the front, easily getting spooked by the idea of confrontation or being rude by staring wordlessly at him. After the first couple times he’d let out a chuckle when you glanced back at him. Probably seeing it as a weird little quirk you have, or maybe he was just amused you had to keep checking to make sure he was there with you. You weren’t sure what the reason was, but you sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him why.

 

The quietness of the halls only made you that much more unnerved by the shadow following you around. You figured that if he had anything better to do he would’ve left. You were actually surprised he was still with you after all this time. You also mentally debated why he wouldn’t pipe up with some simple directions every now and then, just silently watching you get lost instead as you lugged the cleaning cart around. You left out an uncomfortable sigh as you wondered why they would make you do so many jobs instead of just the one they apparently assigned to you. You figured since it was a less popular location that they ran things looser and less official than the more infamous location. The one with far more rumours and budget.

 

The quietness of the halls ... .you didn’t register how quiet it actually was, the soft jingle of bells from Moon actually made you realize you couldn’t hear any hissing or rumbling pipes. Of course there was the electrical buzz making your ears uncomfortable the entire time, but there was nothing else. You were almost thankful for that. Nothing to freak out about, nothing scampering around, nothing to tear you apart. Well, except for the tall shadow behind you who has yet to say anything since you’ve entered the halls. 

 

“So….” You began, clearing your throat of the nervousness that broke your voice. You liked the silence, you were comfortable in it, but it was starting to drive you insane with him right behind you making no noise willingly.

 

“ ....so?” He repeated with a slightly confused mirth after you didn’t continue.

 

“...um…” You started again, “uh..-” You looked around for something to talk about and realized you could actually ask someone about the halls. Maybe you didn’t want that to be him but who else would know the strange things that happen around here? You just hope he would actually tell you instead of teasing you again. “..what…uh..what happens in here?”

 

There was a pause as you heard Moon’s bells slow for a second as he slinked along, like he was contemplating. Or more likely, staring right through you, if you could see him. 

 

“ ..lots of things..” He hummed, no doubt eyeing you as you felt his mechanical gaze.

 

“..uh…like what..?” you could feel your voice getting quieter as you mentally acknowledged the utility halls foreboding aura again.

 

There was another pause.

 

“ ..come in here alone next time and find out.” You could hear the grin in his voice, which briefly made you consider how their voices or programming worked again. 

 

You were also a little concerned, obviously he was just teasing you right? What if he was the one doing all of that stuff? What if asking him to escort you was no better than actually walking in here alone? What if there was actually something living in these halls that had heard you…? What if it would be waiting for you to be alone next time…?

 

Moon’s low chuckle reverberated around the concrete walls. 

“Awww, did I scare you that bad new handler ? You’re practically shaking .” There was a growl to his voice as he said that last part, it sounded almost hungry . You wouldn’t have to even look at him to know he had that face-splitting Cheshire grin again.

 

“.... I’m not shaking.” You meekly slipped out, trying to sound confident. It only made him laugh more. You refused to look at him as you tried to actually get you’re shaking under control. 

 

“Do you always make it this much of a habit to lie?” He teased. Your face grew redder, not from all the embarrassment you’ve already put yourself through because of this smug bastard but because that had crossed a line for you. 

 

“ I’m not a liar.” You seethed, a small amount of your anger leaking out. You hated it when people didn’t believe you, and it’s not like you were being truthful with him ( or yourself..) just now, but you didn’t just lie for fun. You actually tried to avoid it as much as you could, and here he was backing you into a corner just to call you a lair. 

 

There was another pause, but he didn’t laugh at you this time. 

 

“ OoOoOo, touchy~ ” was all he seemingly had to say. Although he didn’t sound quite as amused as he had before, in fact he sounded annoyed. You didn’t care, your mistake for trying to talk to him anyways.

 

You let out a sigh as you realized you didn’t even get an answer to your question. You should’ve seen that coming to be honest.

 

~~~~

Arriving at the trash compactor was just as uneventful as you expected it would be. There wasn’t much to comment on as you followed the instructions for dumping off the trash. You panicked a bit at some point afraid that you’d mess something up, or simply because you didn’t know how to do anything yet. Thankfully you didn’t have to activate the compactor or anything, just drop the trash off. Moon wordlessly watched in the background, and started messing with a STAFF bot at some point to amuse himself. 

 

Now you just had to lug this cart all the way back up to the closet it was originally in. You groaned at the thought before letting out a yawn as you brought up your FazWatch to check the time. 

 

“ 2:17” Moon said without looking over at you, which perturbed you slightly. 

 

Glancing over, he was still messing with that poor STAFF bot who seemed to be getting frustrated, or as frustrated as a bot with basic programming could be. It only further amused Moon apparently. It was easy to read him, at least a part of him was easy to read. It was clear what kind of give and take his programming seemed to evolve into. 

 

You let out another yawn as you began to push the cart. You would consider yourself a night owl anyways, but you were still getting used to these shifts. It sucked that once you got used to these training shifts they’d change it to the ones you were actually supposed to work. You were actually dreading those because you’d have to be around people a lot more and wouldn’t have the comfort of the quiet nighttime to guide you anymore. 

 

There was a thunk as you absent-mindedly bumped Moon with the cart. 

“Oh-! S-sorry Moon…” You rushed to apologizing, shaking the tiredness from your head as it seemingly distracted you just then. You figured he would’ve moved if he saw you coming, even now he just stared at you with an unreadable expression. 

 

“...Moon?” You dreary called out to him, looking up at his imposing form. The dim lighting of the place under the PizzaPlex did not help his shadowy form. The stars glowed even dimmer in the contrast of his shadow, almost making him seem more gentle but you weren’t trusting that.

 

“ .....tired?” His response took so long that you were almost sure he wasn’t even gonna say anything. The way he asked you intrigued you, there was no tone to it that you could pick up on. It almost didn’t even sound like a question. His facial expression remained just as unreadable. You wanted to say it was more comforting than his usual aura but something had unsettled you just enough to be noticeable. Were you ever going to feel comfortable around this animatronic?

 

“....yeah?” You answered back, unsure of yourself. You knew you were tired, you weren’t sure why you answered like that. 

 

He let out a flat hum, once again reminding you of a microwave, not that you would ever tell him that. 

 

“ .....tired.. ” At this point you made up your mind that he wasn’t even asking you in the first place, just telling himself for whatever reason. Like the idea was foreign to him, maybe it was? He was an animatronic, robots don’t sleep, they recharge. Apparently , as you thought over some of the things you heard from Owen and Bill.

 

“ ....okay…” You mumbled as you tried pushing the cart past Moon to get out, he didn’t move as he watched you go past. You then began dreading the stairs again as you remembered Moon chuckling at you earlier when you had to drag the cart down them. The thought of dragging this thing all the way back up those stairs had you sighing, as well as distracted. Before long you felt something wet splash against the back of your head, your shoulders hunched up as your delayed reaction to turn around only got you wetter. 

 

“Hey!” You yelled in protest as you lifted your hands to defend your face from the onslaught. 

 

Moon began chuckling, and it was oddly comforting to hear him return back to the mischievous meanie you began to know earlier. You looked up to see he was spraying you with the water bottle again, you went to snatch it from his hands only for him to move it out of trajectory and continue spritzing you. You let out a groan as you continued to grab it, unfortunately he was a giant for some ungodly reason that the makers decided on. By the time he had relented, apparently having his fill of your shrieks, your shirt was nearly soaked. Great now both your jacket and shirt were wet; thankfully it was summer, but the AC in this place, as great as it was, was also unforgiving. 

 

“..how dare you…” You muttered, a grin on your face nevertheless, as you put your jacket back on. It was still wet, but at this point you didn’t care. 

 

“ Mhmmmm~” Was all he seemed interested in responding with.

 

You let out an easy sigh as you began pushing the cart again. 

 

“ Why don’t you head to the parts and service area…?” Moon asked, a certain sly mirth to his voice.

 

“...why..?” You muttered, eyeing him suspiciously as you stopped the cart. 

 

“ Because of the elevator. ” He simply responded with a wide and unmoving grin. 

 

You stopped altogether, staring at him with a fixed glare. 

 

His grin stretched as he seemed to feel your frustration, the silence egging him on. 

 

“....the elevator.” You repeated, more to yourself. There were elevators all through this place, and there was one close by. You dragged this thing around and down the stairs for no good reason. You knew about the elevators obviously, but why didn’t this moron, who had been here his WHOLE LIFE remind you at any point in that??

 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU REMIND ME??” You may have yelled what exactly was on your mind. 

 

Moon only snickered during your little outburst, it was far more genuine than most of the chuckling he did at your expense previously. Of course he was doing exactly that right now too, but now it seemed like you had taken him off guard for a second. 

 

“ Because it was funny ” he grinned as his laughter died down. 

 

There was silence as you gave him a deadpanned stare, he simply grinned down at you, clearly amused. You eventually turned away as the eye contact eventually became too much. But this time you did head to the elevators instead. 

 

By the time you got back up to the main floor you just went around spot cleaning, Moon left to go continue his patrols. You’d have to clock out soon but found ways to keep yourself busy in the meantime by going back over wherever you or the STAFF bots had been cleaning before.

 

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, collecting garbage and any lost items from patrons again. Scrubbing away the occasional spill or stain you missed before. Moon did make it a little more fun though, as he did before. Whenever his patrol path aligned with wherever you were working he would taunt you and steal a supply or two. He did steal the rag you were using and ran- or well, glided away with it only to throw it at you when you were cleaning somewhere else.

 

You were sure that it could’ve gone worse with Moon, he didn’t try to actively sabotage you majorly like you were expecting. Although you probably wouldn’t find out until tomorrow if that’s what he was doing. Walking to the doors you faintly felt the presence of the shadow following, stirring the moths in your stomach again. You might even say you two could be friends eventually. Who knows? He’s still a jerk though. 

 

You clocked out that night while also waving bye to Moon, he waved back from the rafters- or at least, you thought so by the frantic jingling of bells attached to his wrist. Before long you were on the nighttime bus back to your apartment.

 

More importantly, you were excited to get some sleep.

Notes:

*somberly stares at the "published October 20th 2024" on the last chapter*

anyways uhhh- come bother me on my other accs, I'm not that active on IG anymore but feel free to ask me stuff on Tumblr, my ask box is always open <3

Chapter 8: Solar Power!

Summary:

Your second training shift with Sun! It's mostly uneventful, which is to be thankful for....

Notes:

I wrote most of this while literally sick out of my mind- literally couldn't eat anything but canned chicken noodles and was in so much pain I couldn't even sleep....so according to AO3 rules of fiction, this should be my best chapter so far.

also....like you should totally keep in mind that I never proofread any of these....
first pass then I just drop it like it's hot LMAO

anywayssss- OC guide time!

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Owen: He's showing you the ropes, and teaching you the basics. He's one of the few human security guards, but you'll find him assisting staff a lot, or hanging out in Parts'N'Service.

Bill: Gruff, older man and seemingly the longest working employee of this Pizzaplex location. He trained Owen. Since Owen learned after him, so you'll be able to find him doing pretty much the same things that you'll find Owen doing. He is more security focused than staff-oriented.

Donna: Your neighbor! Sweet old lady that tries to look out for you as much as you look out for her. You aren't exactly the closest of people, but she is definitely a friendly neighbor and one of the only people that you get to talk to so often. On an *almost* daily basis.

Comet: previously known as "the light blue Animatronic in the daycare", he is the Daycare Attendant's Assistant. He's very cold, and refuses to take the energy to talk to you, or anyone for that matter, ignoring those unimportant or uninteresting to him. He made the "Comet's Corners" which are safe spaces for children to get away from the busy and loud setting of the daycare. It is hinted that he likes/prefers hiding away in the Comet Corner on the outer wall of a playstructure, looking down upon anyone who tries to interact with him. He makes Sun sad it seems. Owen doesn't like him.

Eli: Younger human co-worker, Monty's handler, and apparently works with his older brother Billy, generally unhelpful but at least he's sweet? Apparently also likes to play on the arcade machines and calls it "maintenance", he hangs out after hours a lot.

Billy: Not to be confused with Bill, you haven't talked to him yet, but you saw him and Eli bickering, prefers the day hours and had a "Security" label on his hat like Owen and Bill. He had a Security belt of tools too. You only saw him and his brother after the plex was closed.

You were once again pulling stuff out from your dryer as you put off washing your slightly wet clothes ( thanks to Moon, the bastard) until a couple hours ago after waking up. Sleep was the first thing on your mind when you got home, your uniform and hoodie could wait. Until about an hour or two ago that is, anyways. 

 

You didn’t really know what to think of Moon to be quite sure, he seemed to constantly contradict what you believed him to be and even himself at times. Yeah, Owen may have mentioned him being overbearing or something like that, you weren’t quite sure since the sticky note in your pocket got ruined in the wash. Not that you needed it, you could check the message on your Fazwatch but that was too much effort at this point so whatever he said about Moon could be marginalized for now. 

 

You glanced at the clock on your open laptop, it was only 7:36, you had basically an hour to get to work. The bus wouldn’t be at the stop until 8:15, but you might as well get dressed for work. You couldn’t understand why people would wanna get dressed at work unless they absolutely had to, it just seemed uncomfortable to change in a foreign space. By the time you were dressed, backpack packed and red hoodie on, lounging in your living room; it was only 7:44. You weren’t expecting to be dressed so quickly. You popped in your earbuds and fired up your mix of songs before deciding to go ahead and leave the apartment. 

 

You locked your door and instinctively looked over at Donna’s door. It was closed but you could hear some 70s music playing through the cheap wood. You decided to knock just to check up on her, you pulled one earbud out in anticipation of conversation. Eventually the door opens and Donna smiles sweetly at you, you start to feel bad realizing the time and now reconsider that she might’ve been sleeping.

 

“Oh, sugar-cookie! It is nice to see you, did you want to come in? I made a roast and veg’s for dinner. In fact, I just pulled it out.” Her warm smile is almost just as inviting as the heavenly smell coming out from her apartment. The thought of a home-cooked meal, alongside the smell, nearly has you drooling. (sorry vegetarian readers-)

 

“I would love to…but unfortunately I was on my way to work…” you disappointedly admitted to your sweet neighbor.

 

“They really like making you burn the midnight oil, huh?” Donna nods her head as she says this.

 

“Yeah, I mostly work nights, and when my new schedule comes in I’ll still be working closing shifts only.” You sheepishly admit. 

 

“Well, I’ll save you some! I’ll probably still be awake when you come anyway.” She waves off her statement like it meant nothing, but it made you think. She tends to be awake really late, she even made dinner later than most other people her age.

 Shouldn’t she be sleeping early? 

 

You decide not to bring up your concerns in case of another dismissal answer like yesterday. 

 

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you, and I would really appreciate it.” 

 

“No problem sugar-cookie! I’ll see you when you get home.” She smiles at you again, sweet and full of warmth.

 

You bid your farewells to each other, only vaguely aware of Pearl by Mitski still playing in your ear as you start descending the stairs. You leave the other earbud out so you can be more aware on the bus. Before you know it you’re back in the Mega Pizzaplex parking lot, staring at your watch while avoiding all the families that are leaving for the day. It made you wonder if the original location is busier than this. It probably is. 8:16 PM.

 

You gave a quick wave to the humans behind the ticket station, or the pass station, or whatever that booth is that allows patrons entry. You didn’t really bother to learn because you were told you were explicitly never working there. Which is a relief, no customer service shifts? Amazing. As far as you were aware only bots and underaged part-timers who were only here after school, weekends and school breaks- and just couldn’t wait to go home in about three hours. You were pretty sure they went home an hour or two before the actual pizzaplex closes since that’s around the time the ticket booth closes. Or pass booth. Or whatever it’s called. 

 

One of the apathetic teens behind the counter gives you a short wave in return, they had a casual grin as they listened to the parent in front of them argue about something with them. Said teen didn’t seem to be even entertaining the conversation in the slightest, not even nodding. The lazy grin seemed to imply that this was at least the 50th person to do this today. It was the last day of the weekend afterall. 

 

You had already clocked in, did a couple spins in front of some wet floor sign bots, and some sweeping bots, and were slowly making your way to the utility halls whilst avoiding families galore. You got confused the closer you got to the hall doors as you still haven’t seen Mappy yet. 

 

“Employee, [Y/N]. Exclamation Mark! .” 

 

You jumped when you saw Mappy around the side of a pillar, having rushed to you upon seeing you. You can’t believe you almost started feeling concerned for this bot’s wellbeing a second ago.

 

“Ah, Mappy! There you are…I was almost worried I wouldn’t see you today.” You let out a hum as you let your hands rest in your hoodie pockets. 

 

“Today is Sunday, May, 8:18PM, Your third [official] shift. Exclamation Mark! .” Mappy’s voice was distinctly louder than normal, and it was causing others to look. You try your best to ignore them.

 

“Oh…um…thanks for the update..? Y’know, I’m noticing a lot of exclamation marks here.” You unknowingly grin to yourself at the bot’s antics.

 

“It is noted that humans like cheerful and joyful expressions, and exclamation marks are commonly used in human text to show one’s appreciation for another’s presence. Exclamation Mark! .” 

 

“Ohhhh” You nod your head in understanding before it hits you…Mappy’s trying to say they are happy to see you, and they want you to know that they appreciate your presence. It makes you grin like an idiot at the revelation, it surprises you. Just a week ago your ideas around these bots had been completely different, how did a couple of interactions like this change you so much? How did a simple map bot of all animatronics get you feeling different on your own opinions like this?

 

“...are you trying to say…you’re happy to see me..?” You ask for confirmation as Mappy curiously tilts their head.

 

“Affirmative. Exclamation Mark! .” 

 

You grin even more, absolutely giddy over this information. 

 

“Well, I’m happy to see you too buddy…but uh, you don’t have to keep doing that ‘exclamation point’ thing, or uh being loud, I like the way you express yourself just as you are. I did appreciate it though.” You let out a little chuckle as Mappy does a little twirl as it leads you to the utility hall's entrance, apparently satisfied with the conversation. Thankfully this trip through the utility halls is pretty uneventful, but Mappy remains ever diligent and vigilant nonetheless. By the time you had gotten to the locker room, took your hoodie off, tied it around your waist, and tossed your bag into your locker- it was only 8:22.

 

You realize now that you probably clocked-in way too early, and hope that doesn’t get penalized against you tomorrow…Mappy had long since wheeled outta there as soon as they could, it still baffles you that a robot with base-level programming could have paranoia, let alone survival instincts it seems. You started heading towards the Daycare, it would be closed by now so you wouldn’t have to deal with any kids or strangers in general. Carefully maneuvering the halls still hadn’t become second-nature to you yet and you kept getting turned around in the endless twists and turns. You had to stop a bot pushing a laundry cart to ask for help, they pointed you in the right direction but quickly hurried off after one of the pipes creaked. You weren’t as unsettled by the creaky infrastructure, but you could understand the paranoia and thus quickly took your leave too. 

 

~~~~

 

You were almost grateful to see the dinky daycare shining in the artificial lights. The desolate emptiness made it seem so much worse than lifeless when families were still abuzz outside, trying to get last-minute activities done. A glance at your watch told you you were still early by a few minutes, maybe it’d make up for missing him yesterday. Although you were gonna arrive early to see him yesterday- so you technically weren’t supposed to see him yesterday anyways. 

 

When you arrived at the grand doors you spent a couple of minutes trying to remember what knock sequence Owen used the other day, but ultimately gave up when you couldn’t pinpoint the exact details of it. A simple knock echoed out from where your knuckles rapt against the wood. You silently cradled your hand, the knock hurting far more than you imagined it would. Once again you could hear things bristle inside, things being knocked over, and the mutterings of Sun as he got closer to the door. 

 

“WhooOOooOoo isss it?~” He dramatically sang out in that nasally voice of his. Could it be described as nasally? It still had that rasp that you recognized in Moon, but it was certainly more cheery. They really did strive to make those two as similar as they could, even down to their voices apparently. 

 

“Uhhh…me?” You lack-lusterly answered back.

 

“ eh , me who?” Sun answered back and you realized he wanted a knock knock joke like last time. However, he sounded way more confused and unsure in his answer this time that it genuinely sounded like a question; one that he was trying to avoid in order to keep up the joke’s punchline. 

 

“Oh…um..uh” you thought genuinely hard for a couple of seconds to figure out how to work your fumble into a workable ‘knock knock’ punchline “-oh! Don’t leave meowt here… oh that sucks” You muttered the last part to yourself as you facepalmed in spite of your own stupidity.

There was a long pause of silence as Sun processed this answer, no doubt seeing it as a poor attempt- in your opinion. 

“ ...acceptable I suppose ” Sun loudly muttered beyond a sigh, “but it would’ve been funnier if you said ‘meow’ instead of ‘me’ when answering the first time.” He unhelpfully added his critique, but still didn’t open the door.

 

“...so you gonna just leave meowt here then?”  You blankly stared up at the door with bordering apathy at this point.

 

You could hear him chuckle as the doors were dramatically swung open for you to be let inside. You quickly made note of Owen lounging on some foam padded shapes in the large open play area. He gave you a casual wave with the slightest flick of his wrist without bothering to get up. His lazy grin had a certain charm to it as he tucked his arms behind his head, leaving his legs crossed at the ankles. You vaguely made note of the door closing and locking behind you, but it was to be expected to keep unwanted guests out this time of the night. 

 

“Good, now that you’re here, maybe you can do something about THAT.” Sun dramatically pointed an accusing finger at Owen, who simply grinned more. 

 

You quirked a brow at the scene, looking between the two. 

“Oh, yeah? And what exactly is ‘ that’ ?” 

 

“ That is an unhelpful blockage in the smooth system we run in here, simultaneously not helping with any cleaning while also preventing any progress from being made!” You made note that Sun’s faceplate didn’t twist or change as much as Moon’s did last night. Neither of them were particularly expressive despite the malleable faceplating, they seemed to always divert to the regular expression, using it as a mask. You spared another glance over at Owen after Sun’s little tirade about his unhelpfulness just to see him with what couldn’t be described as anything other than a “shit-eating grin”.

 

“Hmm…I dunno Sun…..” He quickly turned towards you, seemingly already betrayed by your tone, “He doesn’t look like he’s doing anything wrong.” You grinned as you watched Sun begin to unravel.

 

“WhA- YOU- huh- no- he- HE. HIM.” He kept repeatedly pointing at him as he sputtered out his answer. “But that’s the problem!! HE’S NOT DOING ANYTHING!” 

 

You tried to hide your amusement at his outburst, but by the way his shoulders slumped as he blankly stared at you it was clear you didn’t hide it well enough. He was still pointing at Owen accusedly as he now stared you down, eventually letting his hand fall as he let out a calculating “ Ohhhhhh .”

 

“Ohhh…I see what this is…you two- ARE WORKING TOGETHER!”

 

“Yes, Sun, that’s what co-workers are.” Owen explained in an overly kid-patient, yet fiendish, tone. This was enough to make Sun jump into his antics again, quite literally actually as he stomped over to Owen sputtering more theatrics against him as he tried to get him to move.

 

You sat at the security desk as you watched this unfold, it was quite amusing actually. You figured the daycare would have to be cleaned and tidied eventually, but you two still have two whole hours to do that before you were kicked outta the daycare for lights-out time. 

 

They bickered some more before you watched Sun literally kick Owen out by throwing him over his shoulder and gracelessly tossing him out the doors, telling him to ‘never come back’. It reminded you of a tela-novella, and it left Owen laughing outside as Sun muttered a quick “ok bye see you tomorrow” from behind the door before officially closing it again. 

There was a beat of silence as Sun stood by the doors, staring ahead of him. You were out of his line of sight, or so it seemed, from where his faceplate was angled.

 

“Sooooooo- friend , you ready to get down to business?"

 

“If by business, you mean cleaning and checking for repair issues- then yes.”

 

“Good! Oh, and er you don’t have to check for issues until the training shifts are over.” Sun oh so helpfully informed you.

 

You let out a quiet “oh” in acknowledgment, otherwise feeling a tad embarrassed about being corrected. 

 

“However! Yes, yes however friend-o, when your official official work shifts start, you don’t necessarily check each day, just a check over once a week, and I’ll report any issues that would need your assistance.” Sun chimed the instructions over like he’s said them a hundred times. It was a nice little reminder since you were struggling to remember what Bill and Owen said the other day anyways. 

 

“Gotcha,” you muttered in response as you already started towards the cabinet containing the sanitizing supplies. Sun silently watched you move, seemingly thinking something over. Similarly, you were also distracted by thinking. You weren’t too sure if you were as committed to being here as Owen implied you should be. The discussion- or more accurately, the warning he gave you the other day recently resurfaced in your mind. Now that your training shifts were going to be ending soon, you’d really have to think about it. 

Should you quit? Leave while you still can? Were you sure you’d be able to warm up to everyone at this location? Can you actually handle the responsibilities and hazards of this job, and still be paid lower than you should?

 

A heavy bottle of cleaner tumbling out of the previously child-proof locked cabinet right onto your foot, breaking you free from your train of thought. You let out a bit of grunt as you held your breath, it surprised you more than anything. It only fell out because you had become careless in your distracted pursuit. 

This also seemed to snap Sun out of his thoughts as well as he instantly perked up and rushed over. 

 

“Oh no, friend! Are you okay???” He asked while picking up the bottle for you and frantically checking you over for signs of distress and injury, despite it only landing on your foot. Also, it wasn’t that heavy. 

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” You swatted him away from you, more so swatting the air to get him to back out of your personal space. “It wasn’t that bad anyways, just surprised me.” 

 

“Okay, okay- if you say so! Are you absolutely so totally sure that you didn’t acquire any injuries though…?” His head titled in a manner that was way too unnatural for a person, giving his worry a very distracting uncanny undertone. 

 

“Yes, I‘m absolutely so totally sure, Sun.” You assured him with a light huff, and a small smile. He nodded at this and backed down, returning to his more normal state. You were starting to notice that Sun seemed to be chronically anxious beneath that dramatic show-stopper personality of his. It slipped out a lot. 

 

~~~~

 

You two had made quick work sanitizing the daycare and tidying up all the strewn toys and craft materials. Sun tried to start conversations a lot more than Moon did apparently, speaking of which- you didn’t see him around anywhere. You figured he’d be out around this time, getting ready for the night shift. You still haven’t found a chance to ask about the odd discrepancies between the two bots yet. Since Sun was so desperate to get a conversation out of you, you figured you could ask him.

 

“Hey, Sun?”

 

“ Hmm? ” He let out a very loud and eager hum, immediately turning his full attention to you. He was finishing up the tidying, putting some crayons back in their boxes while you were wiping down a play structure right next to him. 

 

“How come Moon isn’t out yet? I know he handles naptimes and patrols, it would just make sense for him to…I dunno, be around..? Y’know, at this time of night, since his patrols would be soon.” You ask with a casual shrug, just tryna piece your thoughts together.

 

There was a lengthy pause as Sun didn’t immediately quip back. In fact he was still frozen in the same pose he started with when you spoke up.

 

“OH- um, well-” Sun nervously looked away, distracting his movements with more tidying. You weren’t going to pay it much mind, but it did seem odd to you. It was a simple question after all. “You see…um…Moon…. er - doesn’t like the light! Yes, yes- he hates it! Scared of it even. ” He turned his attention back to you now that he had his story straight.

 

“ Scared… ? Of the light?” You curiously asked as you now turned your attention to him, pausing in your task. 

 

“Yes! Very scared . People are scared of the dark all of the time! He’s just scared of the light.” His eagerness to sell this narrative was a bit suspicious, and his grin stretched a little too far as he sat there blankly. You recognized that blank look, he did that a lot too, like he was zoning out or something. 

 

“ Oh …well, I guess that makes sense? He did seem a little weird around the light last night…I guess I’ll just have to keep that in mind next time, so I don’t make him uncomfortable or anything.” You hummed in contemplation, still accepting this information. The grin Sun had at those words was near sinister in your opinion, but you didn’t address it with any more than a side eye as you got back to your task at hand. 

 

“Yes, yes , you should definitely check on him about it every now and then.” He chuckled to himself as if it was unbearably funny, you grinned a bit at the sound but couldn’t understand what was so funny about it.

 

“Well, that’s all I really wanted to ask for now, I’m gonna head up so I can finish sanitizing this structure.” You gestured upwards while giving Sun a final glance, more just letting him know what you were doing and not waiting for a response as you already started climbing on the playmats. 

 

“Oh, okay! I’m done tidying so I’ll go start on the other one so we can be done even faster!” Sun excitedly called back before departing to get him own sanitization weapons for the mission. You nodded at his words despite him not being able to see it, once you realized he wouldn’t be able to see your instinct reaction you gave him a loud enough ‘alright’ instead.

 

~~~~

 

You had been scrubbing and scraping a few areas here and there, and wiping down the rest, for a while. You had worked up quite the sweat and decided to sit down for a bit to calm down for a bit. You looked over and noticed the faint glow of string lights behind some blankets hanging on the other side of one of the plastructure’s walls. The walls all being linked poles made them grids of bars, well- most of the “walls” were at least. This meant you could see the blankets hanging up and the string lights shining through them, but couldn’t actually reach the space through where you were currently. 

 

Curiosity got the better of you and you carefully scrambled over, you reached in and lifted the blankets aside like a light-weighted curtain. Peaking inside the space, you noticed it was one of the Comet Corners, particularly the one you saw the other day. You got a chance now to really take in the details of the space, all the pillows, books, and blankets. It had its own play pads to act as the floor and a couple walls, apparently the one for this wall had fallen over at some point today, exposing the back wall to peering eyes like yours. 

 

Your blood nearly ran cold when you noticed that this space was occupied, there, in the center was Comet himself. His back was facing you as he seemed to be studying the daycare, or you assume so since you couldn’t really see his face. He was so incredibly still that it instantly gave away that he wasn't a person. It was such a stark contrast from Sun that it unsettled you, and quite frankly threw you through a loop. 

 

You were just about to leave, slowly putting the blanket back where it was; however when you tried to back up the playmat underneath squeaked ever so slightly. It was a sound similar to a rubber shoe on a wax floor, just much much quieter and softer in nature. It was still loud enough to spook you though, after holding your breath and being quiet for so long, any little sound was bound to startle you. Not to mention, give you away - you quickly looked up at the grid of bars right in front of you, the blanket was sheer enough to see Comet’s head slowly turn to look behind him. A single eyelight can be seen from where he was side-eyeing the course of the noise.

 

“.... Do you make it a habit to spy?” 

 

The words were so quiet and detached that you weren’t entirely decided that he was actually talking to you. His voice was just as cold as his glare, but not in a harsh way…just hopelessly apathetic.

 

You sat there for quite a while, not sure what to say to that, you didn’t even think you’d be in this position. 

“Uhh… no? ”

 

There was a soft hum from beyond the blanket, the eyelight no longer visible as you could just barely see him turn his head back to facing forwards. Whatever rebuttal you were expecting never came, it seems he had nothing else to say to you, or that he was ever interested in your answer to begin with. You slowly backed away from the space and made your way back out of the play structure with your sanitizing gear. Suddenly, with a new appreciation for Sun’s warm company after that cold interaction.

 

~~~~

 

Sun let out a dramatic gasp while you were talking to him at the security desk. You had just told him about the accidental Comet interaction in a hushed tone, still cautiously sparing glances over at the space you knew he was inhabiting, despite knowing you wouldn’t be able to see it from here, and that the animatronic there wouldn’t be looking over here anyways.

 

“ He actually talked to you!?! ” Sun whisper yelled as he too did cautious glances over at the registered Comet Corner, that Comet seemed to like the most. 

 

“Yeah, actually surprised me a bit…” you muttered, happy to gossip with him. While your feelings about the animatronics seemed to constantly flip-flop, you could enjoy their company in moments like these. 

 

“Surprises me too! He rarely talks to me anymore…” Sun admitted defeatedly, and it made you kinda sad. Their interaction the other day still lingered in your mind, Sun seemed really defeated then too. 

 

“Well,since I’ll be sticking around…maybe I can get him to play nice. Get him to talk to you more, so you won’t be so lonely here when everyone else is gone.” You shrug as you look out over the daycare, chin resting in your palm as you leaned on the desk.

 

Sun instantly lit up at your words and immediately straightened his posture.

 

“... really? ”

 

His words were so quiet and soft you didn’t even register it was him that said it. 

 

“Well, yeah? I’m supposed to be looking out for you anyways, right? Plus I don’t really like that guy’s attitude.” You huffed, seemingly deciding in your mind that the other animatronic is public enemy #1 since you’re on Sun’s team now.

 

He was silent a little longer but his posture relaxed as a gentle hum could be heard from his chassis as he fidgeted with his fingers, and next the ribbons and bells around his wrists.

 

“...you actually wanna stay..?” He wasn’t as quiet this time, but the softness in his tone nearly made you melt. You were starting to miss the sassy and dramatic antics of this anxious bot. You hadn’t even noticed when you started feeling less anxious around him simply just because he somehow managed to be even more anxiety-riddled than you.

 

At first you didn’t know what to say as you turned your attention back to him, watching him closely as several responses started then died on your tongue. You softly smiled instead as you nodded your head, a subtle turn in his faceplate showing that he was previously looking away from you until that movement. 

 

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure I’m gonna stay.” You confirm with a firm nod of your head.

 

You hadn’t even noticed that he was hunching again until you said that and he straightened out, clutching his hands together as his rays spun wildly.

“Oh, yay! Goody, I was really gonna miss you new friend-o! I was also hoping to get to know you more!” He giddily hopped from one foot to another. 

 

“Really…?” You thought this over, you weren’t all that interesting in your opinion but you appreciated it nonetheless. “I wanted to get to know you more too, I guess.” You hummed, “You are pretty interesting.”

 

Sun gasped as he brought his hands up to cover the lower half of his face, “I am?! Aww, thank you.” 

 

You rolled your eyes at his antics, “Yeah, you and Moon are already interesting- y’know, being animatronics and all that, but you’re also very interesting for animatronics in general.” You cut yourself off before you had a chance to ramble.

 

“Awww, you really think so? You sayin’ we’re more interesting than the glamrocks then? More special, perhaps?” He goaded, leaning in on the desk to get you to confirm.

 

“ Yeah …you could say that, but I was thinking more of….crazy.” You teased, just to keep his ego in check, you couldn't give him too many compliments in one day, you still didn’t know him too well. 

 

Sun let out a loud and very dramatic gasp to show how “offended” he was. 

“How dare you! Can you believe this?” He turned to ask someone who very clearly wasn’t there, his dramatic gestures indicated he was playing up the ‘crazy’ for jokes. “They think I’m crazy!”

 

You chuckled a bit, “Maybe I just should’ve called you a luney instead.” You hummed.

Sun turned his head back towards you while putting his hands on his hips. 

“Now that’s just rude.” He huffed with an obvious tone to indicate he was just teasing.

 

You hummed in thought while squinting your eyes at him, he squinted his eyes right back at you. 

“Wouldn’t calling Moon a lunatic be technically correct though?” 

 

Sun arched a brow with a wide grin, apparently this really amused him as he gave you this look. His posture relaxed more with his hip cocked to one side, being so lanky- it did look a bit odd, but looked incredibly sassy nonetheless. 

“Oh, is that so?” He lured you into talking more about it, his grin seeping into his voice; a feat which only continued to baffle you on how their voiceboxes were programmed. 

 

“Well, isn’t lunatic derived from lunar? Or like it had something to do with moon-crazy people or something? Didn’t people used to think the moon could make you crazy?” You not so helpfully defended your point with questions.

 

“Why, you sayin’ you’re ‘moon crazy?’”

 

“I dunno, but Moon certainly makes me feel crazy.”

 

Sun let out a series of snickers at that statement. You had hoped for a chuckle at least, but you didn’t see it as that funny. Maybe he was just amused you were talking about someone he has to be close with like that- are they like brothers? You’d have to ask sometime. 

 

“I feel like there’s a joke here about ‘the Moon’ being crazy and that’s why he’s a lunatic.” You hummed, thinking over the pieces of information to work with here. Sun was nodding his head. 

 

“Oh definitely, but it doesn’t need to be said- we all know he’s crazy anyways.” Sun added with a firm nod and a genuine grin, albeit a very mischievous grin.

 

You gave another suspicious squint before letting out a wavey hum as you shifted your focus back to the desk. There wasn’t anything- well, anything loose on it, probably for good reason considering it was inside a daycare. You went snooping through the drawers, Sun didn’t stop you but he did lean as far as he could over the desk to look at what you were doing. It was actually pretty funny to look; he had one hand gripping the inner edge of the desk while nearly laying his abdomen flat across the top because of the length of the surface, meanwhile his face was completely facing down in a way that just seemed comical to you as he just barely moved his head every now- making it obvious to you where he was actually looking. Considering you couldn’t see his eyes from the way his face was flatly angled, and probably also the fact that he had completely blank eyes. It was such a small thing but it tickled your funny bone the right way. He was like a cartoon character. Eventually he looked back up at you to see why you were snickering, you quickly averted your eyes before he could lift his head. You could see him narrow his eyes at you in your peripherals.

 

“There is nothing in that drawer that’s that funny.” He stated plainly. The lack of tone almost made it funnier.

 

“Nonono- uh, see-” You took breaks between your laughing so you could find something in the desk to subvert the “funny blame” to, “this!”

 

You held up the little fake potted plant. It was one of those dinky little solar powered flowers. It was a sunflower specifically, making you think one of the past handlers bought it for the desktop because of Sun- only for it to be tucked away in here and forgotten. It was covered in dust, despite being in a drawer for who knows how long. You wiped the dust from the strip of solar panel with your sleeve, it slowly came to life and it’s fake plant limbs started swaying back and forth. 

 

Sun eyed the little plant, then you, then the plant. It only made you laugh more, because of the very obvious headturning he was doing to make it known that’s where he was looking. When you started laughing again, he stopped and narrowed his eyes at you even more. 

 

“ What’s so funny about the plastic plant. ”

 

You were this close to wheezing. Nothing was this funny, but the way he was reacting nearly bringing you to tears. You ever have those moments where something so unfunny is suddenly the most hilarious thing in the world simply because you shouldn’t be laughing at it? Yeah, that. 

 

“I- well, um- just look at it move! Why is it moving???” You must’ve sounded crazy, hysterical even. 

 

Sun very obviously looked at the plant, and you had to look away. You don’t know why his animated reactions were getting to you right now , in fact you’ll probably be embarrassed about this later. 

 

“It’s solar powered. That’s why it’s moving .” He said it so matter of factly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Because it was. More likely he didn’t believe you were laughing at the plant. Because that was also pretty obvious.

 

You set the little plant down on the desk with a giggle, solely focused on it for a while as you calmed down. There was still a grin on your face, one of those stupid-looking ones that people only get with they’re either really happy, just got done laughing, or are very smug. 

 

Sun watched the little plant for a while as well, just staring at it . You were doing your best not to start back up again. At this point he had propped himself up with his elbow casually. You both just stared at this little solar powered plastic sunflower rock back and forth in its pot. Eventually Sun just slowly turned his faceplate towards you with no readable expression. You merely flicked your eyes his way just to share the eye contact. You couldn’t help the way your stupid grin spread as you looked at his face. He was no doubt hardcore judging you right now. 

“ ..it’s solar power. ” You meekly muttered through your grin with little jazz hands. 

 

He just continued to stare at you with a blank face before he slowly nodded his head a couple of times.

 

“ Mhm……Sure is friend. " 

 

~~~~

 

You two continued to get into low-level shenanigans and really really stupid back-and-forths that had you laughing again. You were able to get him laughing and smiling along with yu a few times, but most of the time he was just disapprovingly staring at you while you chuckled about something that was nothing short of pure stupidity. 

 

You weren’t even aware of how much you were enjoying yourself until you caught a cold glare from Comet after watching Sun fall into the ball pit. You had just pushed him in after he made a silly joke- of course you don’t think you could’ve actually pushed him off the edge if he didn’t want to fall. The grin you had was instantly wiped off your face from one accidental glance at that light-blue icicle.

 

You ushered Sun back over to the desk after that, keeping your shenanigans away from Comet’s line of sight. You didn’t even know if he was upset at you two making noise or not! He was just so quiet and judgy-looking that it just led you to believing the worst of him, and according to Sun his remarks could get pretty rude when he decided to speak up- so maybe assuming he was judgy was correct. 

 

Eventually Sun seemed to perk up, cutting himself in the middle of a conversation. You gave him an odd look.

 

“Sun?”

 

He snapped out of it and he quickly turned his face towards you.

 

“Oh, friend!” He quickly stood up straight and started to fidget. “You have to go get to your tasks for the night!” 

 

You confusedly looked at your Fazwatch and saw the time was-

 

“9:58!” Sun blurted out hurriedly. 

 

You looked up from your Fazwatch, suddenly remembering two things: 

1. Oh yeah, they have clocks n’ stuff in their heads.
2. The lights go out at 10!

 

“Oh- I guess I do have to get going….” You glanced out of the daycare glass and netting to see some people still walking by. You let out a sigh, dreading having to go out there and actually work around people. 

 

Sun was practically bouncing from leg to leg. Apparently he wasn’t satisfied with your contempt and he literally started knocking on the desk to get your attention frantically.

 

“Okayokay! SoLikeYouShouldTotallyGONOWnotThatThisWasn’tFunOrAnythingBUtlikeyouneedtogonowmhmhm!” He spoke in a blur as he wildly started gesturing to the door.

 

“OKay, okay! I’m going.” You let out a nervous chuckle as you got up and headed towards the door. As soon as you left behind the desk and got within arms reach of him, Sun picked you up and bounded for the door. You let out a yelp at suddenly being picked up, when your feet finally touched the ground you were outside the daycare again. 

 

Sun fervently waved at you blurting out another quick message, “okaybyefrienditwasnicetohangoutwithyouforliketwowholehours!thanks!seeyoutomorrow!!!”, then suddenly the doors were slammed shut. You stood there blankly staring at the door before hearing the lock click into place. You glanced at your Fazwatch, seeing it change to 10 as soon as you pulled it up to your face, when you looked back up the lights were out in the daycare. Maybe the reason Sun was selling Moon’s fear of the light to you so much was because he was actually scared of the dark? Did you have this conclusion before…?

 

You shrugged it off before waving into the darkness of the daycare, knowing he probably see it. You called out to him anyways. 

 

“Well, it was nice to hang out with you too! See you tomorrow, Sun!” You began walking away and suddenly felt self-conscious when you realized the pizzaplex was still open- and there were definitely a couple of people giving you odd glances. You just pulled your hat down a little further by its brim. 

You checked your Fazwatch for your chore list for tonight, but there weren't many at all. You had to help some families that were in a rush to get some things before closing in between tasks and waited the rest of your shift out in the Faz-Pad; mostly because it was calm, and you liked the environment here compared to the other restaurants. Most of the families weren’t stopping anywhere to eat when there was barely an hour left open in the ‘plex at that point. Only a couple people came in to get some food to go, probably having a long ride home tonight, and this was the closest eatery to the exit. You eventually used your employee discount to order some overly priced food. They knocked the price down even further for you when you just asked for whatever they had left on the warmers at this point. Of course the one human staff member in the joint put that in for you out of appreciation, since the S.T.A.F.F. bot manning the register was a stickler for the rules. Because of course it was. It was a S.T.A.F.F. bot after all.  You weren’t sure what all they exactly handed to you, but it seemed to be an amalgamation of literally everything they had left on the warmers. Which you were grateful for as you skipped lunch, and weren’t actually expecting to get dinner tonight. You were actually hungrier than you thought, because you actually ate all of it. There seemed to be a bunch of Freddy-Branded fried rice, what seemed to be some pork dumplings, a little Chica-Branded tikka masala, a single sliver of pizza, and seemingly some pulled pork. You think it might’ve originally been part of a Monty-Branded “bayou” dish that had multiple things in it. You’re pretty sure the actual dish could’ve been considered a mockery to actual bayou cuisine, but isn’t that how it goes at massive corporations making “themed” food?  ( I once again apologize to our vegetarian readers.)

 

You only had 15 minutes to yourself after closing before you had to clock out, so you decided to just stick around in the Faz-Pad longer until they had to kick you out so they could put the chairs up for cleaning. The sole human worker there was actually clocking out after kicking you out so you walked with them to the locker room. Along the way you learned their name was Alex and they had a killer hairstyle and an even cooler taste in clothes- or at least the clothes they could wear around their uniform. They said you two probably wouldn’t get a chance to see each other often but they were glad to meet you, and they actually reassured you on some things around the place. They were also fun to vent with about working here, or just work in general, and you probably cringed a lot at their stories with customers and the food industry in general. 

 

You swapped stories to the point you don’t even remember grabbing yourself and walking through the halls with ease. They were supposed to clock out a while ago, but you probably slowed them down a bit. They said they used to cheat getting out on time by hiding their stuff up at the Faz-Pad but eventually a manager saw their stuff in the kitchen and made them put it down here, threatening to dock their pay if they did it again. You hoped you wouldn’t have to run into an experience like that. Before you knew it, you were watching them clock out and bidding each other farewell as they booked it out of there. 

 

You waited right there with your stuff, pulling out your phone to watch the time pass on. At 12:15 on the dot, you clocked out and began to leave. You might’ve been imaging things, but you could’ve sworn you heard bells as you were ducking under the shutters, but when you looked back, no one was there. Or so you thought. You should’ve known better at this point.

Notes:

Should I add an OC guide for Alex? I was debating it, but I don't think I will because I don't plan on mentioning them a lot in future chapters- except for like maybe in passing-

idk that feels weird because I have OC guides for characters that have barely been mentioned and not actually shown much yet

but Alex doesn't have any actual dialogue...

buuuut neither does Billy, in fact Alex has more "screentime" words written for their scene....

 

....hm? Oh, you're still here? You can leave now if you want, I'm just thinking to myself.

Notes:

Check out my Tumblr and IG for more content relating to this fic :D
IG: @/candle_fairy_bb
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Check out Solar Lunacy by BamSara (and their other works-) Solar Lunacy was a major inspo for actually writing this fic :D