Chapter Text
Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex had become quite the hotspot attraction for families all over the state. It was like a huge mashup of everything that made the 80s and 90s so great: Synth-rock, arcades, bowling alleys, go-karts, laser tag, dance halls, an overall retro aesthetic decked out in neon lights. Combined, of course, with cutting-edge modern technology. The “animatronics” that performed on stage and roamed the halls for fans to meet were far more along the lines of robots with advanced AI. They could carry conversations, give their thoughts and opinions, react emotionally. Though, that didn’t stop a good amount of people from finding them creepy and uncanny, especially since the place was crawling with rumors about murder and mishaps.
The rumors didn’t deter a group of friends that had started frequenting the complex in their down time. Though they were in their early and mid-twenties, Mina Tailor and Nate Hawkins weren’t ashamed to let loose and have fun. Mina’s inner Scene Kid phase ate up all the bright colors and punk-rock charm; Nate’s shameless love of all things nerdy and action-packed kept him frequenting the arcades and newly renovated go-kart racing.
In the meantime, Mina's parents were in a bit of a rough spot. Her journalism assignments were turning up dry, and she needed a way to make some extra cash for a little while. It just so happened that there were a few job openings at the Pizzaplex, mainly for night watch. The most prominent one was for a night guard position at the kid's day care. The robot attendant had apparently started becoming antsy at night, sneaking out and causing trouble for the other staff.
The images and giant statues of the Daycare's two robots had caught Mina's interest whenever she walked by the area. What a fun-looking duo! She'd always had a bit of a soft spot for clowns and jesters. She decided to take the job, at least for a month or so. Her boyfriend Inzi would get very sad if they weren’t able to spend the nights together anymore. But hey, it was just looking after a robot made to take care of children. What could go wrong?
At midnight on her first night, Mina was directed to the small security office by the Daycare, following instructions to click on the large video thumbnail in the center of the screen titled 'Orientation'.
The image of an unassuming staff member with a receding hairline appeared, giving a wave to the camera. "Hello...? Hello hello! So sorry that I can't be there to greet you in person. I'm out of town for a conference, but this video should help you get settled in."
The man cut away to show two graphics of the jester-like animatronics. "Now, a lot of folks don't realize this, but Sun and Moon here are actually one in the same. Think Transformers, heh. Sun - aka Sunny, Sundrop, Sunshine, Sun-man, Sunrise, whatever you wanna call him... though uh, it should be noted that Sunnydrop is actually the name of his candy, not the animatronic, a lotta folks seem to get that mixed up... We tried branding it as Sundrop but we would’ve been sued by the soda company in a heartbeat...”
She could already tell this guy was gonna be long-winded. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to listen to one of these every night for her training week.
“Anyways; Sunny is the default when the lights are on. When the lights go off, his sun rays retract, his clothing pattern shifts like one of those fancy holograph cards and shows off his glow-in-the-dark stars, his metal plating changes like those color-changing Barbie dolls... Super advanced stuff."
The next slide showed various murals and cutouts of Sun around the pizzaplex, and a video clip of the robot skipping about in the daycare, playing tag with some of the young kids.
"Sunny shouldn't give you too much trouble. He's probably my favorite ‘bot here aside from good ol' Freddy. He is a bit uh, hyperactive, his entertainment and companionship programming is cranked to max in order to deal with all those rambunctious little tykes. Might wanna make sure you have plenty of coffee in your system if you're gonna try to keep him entertained all night, haha. My recommendation is, try to keep him busy in your first couple hours, so that you can get your audit paperwork done in the third hour."
The next slide was similar, showing various depictions of moon. This time, though, it didn't show any imagery of the actual animatronic.
"Moon is... well..." There was a distinct hesitation in his voice. "He can also be a bit much to deal with. It's typically why we don't turn the lights off in there. He's pretty good-natured, but he's programmed to make sure the kids have their nap-time, so he can come off as kinda imposing to the little ones. Tells them that the tickle monster'll get them if they don't go to bed on time, scoops em up and plops them into the little daycare cots, reads them bedtime stories, gives them Moondrop candy when they need to calm down. They’re just melatonin supplements, though there are some with light sedatives like pentobarbital and chloral hydrate that the parents gotta give a doctor’s notice for.”
Oh, alright, well that doesn't sound bad at all. Pretty cute, actually. Though there was one word that caught her attention...
"But you should know that after-hours, that programming goes a little haywire. Especially around adults. It isn't anything to worry about, of course! You see, all of our robots have security protocols to deal with would-be robbers, squatters, and other unlawful visitors. It usually entails knocking them out and dragging them to an office for holding until authorities show up. Don't worry, he won't knock you out when he sees your uniform," he tried to reassure with a laugh. "He just can't really fight off his programming telling him that lights off means bedtime. He scolds night staff all the time for working such late hours."
Mina snickered to herself at the image of a grumpy jester in pajamas running around yelling at everyone to go to bed.
"You're gonna meet him sooner or later, because all the power in the building gets diverted to the charging stations for about twenty to thirty minutes at the end of the night. It gives the other guys a quick boost to make sure they don't go dead. It used to be that the power would go off every hour for a few minutes, but guess they figured that was a little inefficient, and Sunny was getting frustrated with Moon draggin' him out of the Daycare every hour."
A short video clip showed an example of the pizzaplex powered down, and Chica and Roxy stepping inside the quick-charge stations. Mina could've sworn she saw a lanky silhouette dancing about in the background, with vivid red eyes peering out from its face...
"Your best bet for making sure not to get on his bad side might be to just kinda... Play dead. Pretend you're asleep. And uh, better hope you're not ticklish," he gave a light-hearted laugh, with a twinge of nervousness.
That sentence alone was enough to make Mina stiffen in her seat. "Oh...?"
"Well honestly, both of em might try to get at you. They uh...show a lot less restraint around adults. They're good about stopping when you say the word 'Eclipse' though. Think it's a safety override precaution or something."
Oh... Oh no. Now she was curious. She swallowed back a lump in her throat at the thought of being locked in a room all night with this supposed tickle-hungry devil.
"Well, that's about all I've got for ya! If you have any questions, concerns or complaints, feel free to bring them to management. Just remember the waivers you signed when you were hired on, and uh, good luck!"
Unlocking the side door into the daycare, Mina was greeted with a fun little jingle playing on the overhead speakers, and a very nostalgic sight that brought her back to her days of spending time at playgrounds and fast-food jungle gyms. The room was well-lit, with spotlights illuminating a large opening on a mural of a castle tower high up on the wall.
"Helloo? Sunny?" She called out.
It didn't take long for an answer; the golden-colored jester robot pirouetted out onto the ledge. "YA-HOO~!" He called out, before doing a swan-dive down into the ballpit below. Mina walked over to the edge, trying to follow the rustling lump with her eyes.
"HEELLOOO~!" The robot burst out of the pit right in front of her.
Mina couldn't help but let out a startled yelp, jumping back. Holy crap he's tall!! Then again, everyone was tall to her 5′2″ frame, but he easily could've been a little over seven feet. Seeing him up close in person was also quite a bit different than his images. She could understand how slow-blinking robot eyelids and a wide, permanent smile could be unnerving, but in her eyes, he was very cute. He had spots on his face and nose that resembled large freckles, twinkling baby-blue, almost pearlescent eyes, a gap between his teeth where his face was divided by his crescent moon ‘mask’, and prominent rosy cheeks.
Sun just giggled. "Hehehe~! Are you my new night buddy?? Nice to meet ya, sunshine!" He took the brunette's hand in his own massive digits, shaking hard enough to jerk her whole arm up and down. "Oh I can't WAIT to have a new pal!! You're not one of the little guys, but I'm sure you still like to have plenty of fun, right??" He excitedly swayed back and forth.
Mina was immediately won over by his cheerful - and maybe slightly obnoxious - demeanor. "Hehe, hi Sunny! The name's Mina. And heck yeah! You don't need to be a kid to know how to have fun. Everyone deserves to let themselves goof off every now and then, y'know?"
"Yes, yes, exactly!! I’m glad you understand!” He giggled wildly. “Oh we’re gonna have SUCH a good time!! We can sing, dance, fingerpaint, tell stories, eat all the junk food we want!! There's only one rule here! Keep the lights onnn!!" He booped Mina's nose. Though he kept his cheery cadence, there was a definite stern edge to his last word. “SO, whaddya wanna do first??” He kept his eyes glued to her expectantly.
“Well, what do you usually do at night? Do you have a routine?"
"Well!" He clapped his hands together. "I always gotta start by making sure everything's cleaned up nice and tidy," he patted the top of a nearby tower of squeaky cylinder barrels. "Then I go up to my tower and and spend time looking at all the wonderful drawings that the kids give to me! We can do that later though, I'd rather spend time with you!" He hopped in place. "OH-! And later, I like to take a stroll around the Pizzaplex, say hi to everyone, maybe play some of the arcade games. And it's really fun to mess with the STAFF bots, they can barely tell their left from their right and it's funny to make them spin around like confused Roombas, hahaha~!" He cackled into his hand.
Welp, the orientation video wasn't exaggerating. His energy was on par with Nate's after chugging one too many sodas for his late night D&D sessions.
"I gotta be sure to recharge a couple times at night though! You'll know when I'm runnin' low on juice when I staaarrtt taalkiiinngg liiike thiisss..." He dragged out his words and slowed his voice in a comical drawl, sagging his arms and head... Before popping right back upright. "BUT that's about all! It's your first night here so I wanna do whatever you wanna do!"
Mina giggled to herself. This bot was adorable in a manic kind of way. "That all sounds good to me! Well, you probably know this already, but I do need to get paperwork done and do some cleaning and routines outside the daycare.”
"Ughh, yeah I knooow," Sun groaned and rolled his eyes. “I don’t get why organics gotta have all the boring jobs.”
She shook her head. “Well, I can’t imagine taking care of a room full of kids is easy. Not a lot of humans would envy that position.”
Sunny just puffed out his chest proudly. “Well I was built to keep up with ‘em! I got an energy core like no other! Want me to prove it to ya~?”
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “And how’re you gonna do-”
"TAGYOU'REIT!" Sunny gave her a tap on the shoulder before cackling and taking off, merrily skipping away.
Mina blinked hard. Was she seriously about to play tag with a robot in an empty kid’s daycare while on-shift? ...Absolutely. “Oh you’re on!” Luckily for her, she was pretty fast on her feet. She managed to catch up to him before he clambered up one of the slides, tagging his leg before darting off. They kept up the back-and-forth tag for a little while, and she nearly tripped over one of the squeaky barrel towers, accidentally knocking them over.
Sunny shrieked. “Nono NO be careful of those!!” He ran over to quickly stack them back up with an exasperated sigh. “Ohh what a mess, which one was the bottom, which one’s the top?!”
Mina was a bit taken aback by his mini panic. “Uh, sorry, Sunny, I didn’t mean to--”
The moment he re-stacked them, he acted like it hadn’t even happened. He responded by reaching out to tag her. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, sunshine! Just don’t do it again, or else~!” He wiggled his fingers at her playfully.
She did everything to keep the squeak from escaping her throat. “G-Gotcha, I’ll keep that in mi-”
He took off running, shouting back at her. “Well hurry up, you’re it!!”
After she tagged him back again, he ramped up his efforts. He eventually corraled her over toward the ballpit; she'd either have to jump in, or swiftly turn around and attempt to duck past him. But he didn't leave her any choice. Instead of just tagging her, he effortlessly scooped her up in his long arms and tossed her into the ballpit, making her scream.
"TAAAG~!" He burst into loud squawking laughter, slapping his knee and doubling over. "HAHAHAAA I gotcha good~!!"
"UGH- SUN!!" Mina scrambled out of the pit, but she couldn't even act fake-annoyed, bursting into a fit of giggles. "Okahahay okay, that was a good one, but do that again and I'm pulling you in with me!!"
Still giggling and snorting at his successful prank, Sunny reached down to help Mina out, grabbing around her sides. "Hehehe, okayokay, deal--"
"YEEP-!" She couldn't stop the squeal that escaped her when she felt those metal fingers prod at her sides.
"Oh-! You squeaked!" Sun tilted his head at her, starting to set her down on her feet.
Mina quickly tried to save face, but she could feel the blush quickly creeping up to her cheeks and ears. "Y-Yeah, you just surprised me, that's all, I-I'm not used to being picked up like thahahat-!!" Another giggle slipped out, just from the close proximity of his fingertips near her armpits, making her wiggle more.
"...Waaaait a minute. Is someone tiickliiish~?"
She immediately felt butterflies. She knew that question had sealed her fate. "W-Wha?? Nooo nono not at aAAEE-HEHEHE!!" He didn't allow her the chance to finish before giving soft, rapid-fire squeezes up and down her sides. She instantly burst into giggles, folding in on herself.
"Ohhh that's so CUTE! I love when you organics have these giggle-buttons~!" The bot snickered impishly, skillfully flurrying his dexterous fingertips over her soft belly, playing her ribcage like a piano. He kept his touch gentle, but fast-paced.
EEee-heeheehee!! NAAaa-hahaha stahahaha-!!" Mina tried to shield her torso with her arms and swat his hands away, looking away shyly and shutting her eyes, stumbling back more. Sun wasn’t deterred, taking a step forward, leaning in very close to loom over her.
"Coochie coochie coochieee~ You have such a pretty laugh, sunshine~! It brightens up my day! Er... Night!"
The cooing and punny compliments just made her squeal and giggle louder. "Staahahap-hehehe!! Nuuu-hahahaha!!" She tried to shove his arms away. Eventually, her staggering back caused her to stumble and fall. Thankfully the floor was very plush.
Instead of helping her up, Sun immediately knelt down over her and used one of his large hands to keep both of her arms above her head. He raked his fingers down the hollows of her armpit, before wiggling them back up and around in circles, switching to the other side to repeat the process. “Heeheehee, you’re so wiggly, like a squeaky little caterpillar~! Tickletickletickleee~!”
She squealed in delight, though she had now become very flustered by the attention, her cheeks and ears burning, shaking her head back and forth. “NUUU-HEEHEHEHE SUNNYYY-HEEHEE!! P-Pleeeheheheheasee!!”
A playful glint appeared in his eye. He scooted himself down, and quickly grabbed her ankles the moment she attempted to scramble backwards, yanking off one of her shoes and socks. “I spy some cute little piggies~” He cooed, fluttering his fingers very close to the ball of her foot.
Mina yelped and frantically - but half-heartedly - tried yanking her ankle away. “NOO nonono don’t even THINK about it-!!” She hoped the bot could tell how half-hearted her protests were.
Either way, he raked his fingers down her soles and up again, flurrying them over her toes. “Heeere, piggiepiggiepiggieess~! Heeheehee!!”
“GYEE-HEEHEHEHEHE SUHUHUNNYYYEEE-HEHEHEHE!!” She flailed in his grip, hiding her face shyly, trying to curl her toes down. Her squealing laughter just became louder when he took off her other shoe and sock, holding both her ankles with his large hand and flurrying his fingers back and forth between each foot. “NUUU-HAHAHAHA PLEEHEHEHEHEASE~!”
When he finally decided she’d had enough, he let go, scooting up to sit next to her. She laid sprawled out on the plush floor, her face red as a beet, panting for breath for a few moments. “How ya feelin’, sunshine~? Sorry I got carried away, you just looked so CUTE laughing like that~!” He giggled, petting her head.
“Y-Yeah yeah, I’m fine... But you’re a total brat,” she stuck her tongue out at him.
He just snickered and gave an exaggerated shrug. "What can I say~? I could do that alllll night~ OH, wait, you know the magic word, don'tcha?"
"Magic word? ...You mean Eclipse?"
"Yep, that's the one!!"
"Sooo you do this often enough to need a safeword?" She teased.
Sunny snickered sheepishly. "Yeaaah, kinda," he shrugged. "I never get carried away with the little guys, they're too fragile and I don't EVER wanna make em feel uncomfy. But you adults and 'big, tough' security guards are just too much fun to turn into a giggly mess!!" He chuckled, though his laugh had a very sly edge to it. “Anyways!! Let’s do something else!” He hopped up, helping her to her feet after she put her shoes and socks back on. “What else d’you like to do?”
“Hmmm,” Mina held her chin in her hand. “Well, usually my friends and I watch movies or play video games at night.”
“OH, we could use the TV!” He waved her over to follow him to a large flatscreen on the wall. “They tried adding games and movies for the kids a while ago, buuut DVDs and game controllers kept getting broken or going missing, haha... So now the adults are in charge of what the kids can do on the TV. But you can find the movies under the security desk! I’m not allowed to go behind there, so..”
“Really? Seems kinda mean to keep them from you.”
“Ehh, it’s not really any fun to watch or play stuff alone, so it doesn’t matter either way,” he shrugged. “What kinda movies do ya like?”
After Mina found the cabinet drawer full of movies and games, she started shuffling through them. “I kinda like a bit of everything. Action, fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers & horror...”
“O-Ohh, I see, heh,” he laughed nervously. “Well! We don’t have anything too scary or graphic for the little ones, but-! Hopefully you’ll find something you like!”
She eventually settled on Moana, holding it up to show him.
"OOH, yes, I love that one it's so pretty!!” He ran over to the TV area and started collecting some nearby cushions to pile up, while Mina put in the blu-ray.
She was impressed that he was actually able to stay somewhat still during the movie. He'd shift between laying on his stomach while kicking his legs behind him then sitting cross-legged, then pulling Mina into his lap to rest his chin on her head. He laughed obnoxiously loud at some of the jokes - which in turn just got Mina laughing harder over things she didn't find as funny before. He sang along with "How Far I'll Go" and "Shiny", hopping up to put on theatrical improv dances right along with the characters. He wasn't the best singer, he missed a few notes and sounded a bit like a rasping parrot at times. But Mina didn't mind, as she sang right along with him. The cheeky robot found plenty more opportunities to sneak in quick tickle-attacks.
He whined quietly and hid behind Mina at the climactic appearance of Te-ka, gripping her shoulders.
“You remember what happens after this, right?"
“I know, but it's still scary...” he fidgeted. “She isn’t herself, and it’s all Maui’s fault!! If Moana didn’t help her, then she could still be all angry, and in pain, and...” He trailed off. Mina was impressed; For someone so childlike, he was also surprisingly insightful.
But he quickly calmed down at Moana’s final song to restore Te Fiti, clapping at the end of the movie.
Mina glanced up at the cuckoo clock on the wall, seeing that it was already 3am. "Oh shit-”
Sunny gasped and covered her mouth with his large hand. “Language, young lady!! Or I’ll hafta reprimand you~!” His other hand fluttered its fingers against her ribs.
“MMPH-HEHEHE!” She squealed and wiggled, pushing his hand away. “W-whaahahat, I can’t even swear after-hours?”
“Now now Miss Mina, you should leeeaaddd by exaammmp-p-pllee--” his voice suddenly slowed as if he was lagging out. “Ohhh no, I should re-re-re charrggeee,” his head twitched a little, and he covered his eyes and face in embarrassment.
She just snickered and started to stand up, tugging his arm to try and help him up. “Go do that, then! I need to start doing my night audit stuff, so I’m gonna walk the halls first.”
"Aww, okayyyyy," Sun whined, staggering to his feet to go to his recharging station. "But promise you’ll be back!!"
Mina felt a little relieved to have a little time away from the hyperactive bot. She didn't dislike his company at all; he was adorable, and she was a pretty high-energy person herself. And the incessant tickle-attacks were far from unappreciated. But having to keep up with the energy of a clingy curious seven-foot-tall puppy every night might get to be a bit much. It might even be nice to have a break with the version of him that would demand her to go to sleep.
Which got her thinking... He hadn't even mentioned Moon yet. The training video led her to believe they were two separate personalities. But maybe they were still the same, just with alternate appearances? Was Sun aware of Moon at all, or did they just appear with separate programming?
After running her checks on the nearby door locks, she went back into the daycare. Sunny was just a few feet away from the door, rocking back and forth on his heels. The moment he saw Mina, he bounded over and picked her up to give her a spin. “YAYY you’re baaack!!”
”EEP-!! Of cohohourse I’m back!! I said I’d come back!” She gave him a playful shove when he put her back down.
”Hehehe, I knoow I know! I’m just all juiced up now and ready to roll!! So hurry, go do your papers n’ stuff!” He skipped over toward the security desk area. Following him closely, she decided to use the opportunity.
“Hey, Sunny?”
“Yeees?”
“Can you tell me a little about Moon?”
“Uh— ...” He paused on the spot, and for the first time, his cheery disposition seemed to make way for nervousness, tapping his fingertips together. “I-I’d rather not, haha... He doesn’t like me talkin’ too much about him to new people.”
”Oh, okay, that’s fair,” Mina shrugged. “I’ll just talk to him myself, then.”
“U-Uhh, he won’t wanna do that, either...” He just seemed even more nervous. “H-How ‘bout you just get your dumb work stuff done? Then we can play more!!”
How strange... Both the manager and the robot seemed like they had something to hide about this nighttime counterpart. She decided not to pry, though. She went to the security desk to work on the paperwork. It was mostly just logs of events that happened throughout the day; She did a lot of filing like this back at her newspaper office, so she got the gist of it pretty quickly.
The jester didn’t really appreciate the lack of attention. After ten minutes or so of him keeping himself entertained on the jungle gym, he cartwheeled over and placed his hands on the desk, looming over her. "Heyyy, Miss Mina, are ya done yet??"
She gasped and jumped at his imposing figure over her. "Ah-! No, not yet, Sunny."
"Are you almost done?"
"I think so! I'll let you know when." She was answered by the disheartened jingle of bells as he shuffled away.
Ten minutes passed, another ‘THUD’ as he slammed his hands on the desk, making her yelp. He snickered at her reaction. "Aaaaare ya done yet?"
"Don’t do that, you brat,” she stuck his tongue out at him, which just made him let out another gremlin giggle. "And no, not yet; Gimme ten more minutes, okay?"
"Okaaaayyy," he whined, slinking away again.
Five more minutes passed. "Minaaa I know you said ten minutes but I thought maybe you got done early!"
Mina rolled her eyes and shook her head. It was difficult to stay annoyed at him; It was in his programming to be this wired up after all, and she also wondered just how lonely he probably got at night. “Sunnyyy, I’m not done yet,” she gently reprimanded. “I don’t want to rush it and do something wrong. Be patient, okay?”
“Okayyy I’m sorry,” he scooted back. “I’m just excited!! I haven’t had a night buddy since…Well, since the last one a couple months ago,” he scratched his cheek. “He quit because he said the night shift here was…Too much for him,” he chuckled nervously.
“I see...” Mina let out a big loud yawn, rubbing her eyes. "Ohh, man...”
"Uh-oh, someone getting sleepy?" Sunny ruffled her hair. "Here, I got something that'll help!" He rustled in his pockets to take out a couple hard candies with a sun pattern on the wrapper.
“Oh? Thanks!” She took it, starting to unwrap it. It looked a bit like a lemon toffee. "It isn't caffeine, is it? I've cut that out of my diet."
"Oh heavens no!!" Sun wheezed. "I'd NEVER give caffeine to kids! Nahh these have stuff like, potassium, vitamin B and D, serotonin... All good stuff! All good for you and gives a great energy boost! Plus, they taste like bananas and lemon!"
After Mina had finished her paperwork, she did start to feel a bit perked up. She wasn’t sure if it was a placebo, but she decided to humor the robot while she still had a second wind. She was definitely going to have to start bringing some of her own games for him to play to keep him distracted. For now, they settled on the default Wii Sports games. Which, to Sun, were just about as fun as anything else. He cheered and jumped for joy whenever he won a round, but also quickly turned to give a show of good sportsmanship to Mina. ...And occasionally snuck behind her to attack her with tickles to try and mess her up. The Wii games easily ate up the remaining hour...
Until Sun suddenly let out a gasp, and looked over to the cuckoo clock: 5:35am. "Wait- Miss Mina, how late are you staying again??"
"Till 6am. I have the overnight shift, at least for now. I don't think I can handle more than a couple weeks of staying up that late.."
"Ohhhh dear," he scratched behind his head-plate. "Moony's gonna come out soon..."
"Oh! Yeah, I know, the guy on my orientation video told me about the power going off."
Sun let out a nervous laugh. "Y-You might wanna leave for the end of your shift then, I don't want you to get freaked out..."
Mina frowned and tilted her head. "How come? He's not a bad guy, is he?"
"Ah- No, nono, not really!" Sunny shook his head. "He's just...He scares a lot of the other staff, his idea of playtime isn't everyone's cup of tea, and he can be a real jerk about it..." He sighed. "I just want your night to end without any trouble, so you really should go!!" He started trying to push her toward the exit doors.
Mina had to try very hard to fight off the grin starting to creep onto her face. Everything he said just made her want to meet this other version all the more. But she just took Sun's hand, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "Hey; I appreciate you looking out for me, but I promise I'll be fine. I'm gonna have to meet him sooner or later if I'm going to be working here, aren't I?"
"Well... Yeah, I guess you're right, and he wouldn't wanna be left out..."
With that, there was a huge metallic droning overhead as the lights in the building powered down. It wasn't completely pitch-black, as the ceiling was illuminated by star-like LEDs, including hundreds of glow-in-the-dark stars and planets; like the kind she used to have in her room as a kid.
"HGKH-" Sun let out a grunt. "J-Just don't say I didn't warn you!!" He staggered and took a knee on the floor, and his head flopped over, like he'd just passed out on the spot. His body started quietly clicking and whirring; his triangles retracted, and sure enough, Mina could swear she saw the fabric of his outfit shift. A mechanical 'arm' even popped up from inside him to place a night-cap on his head.
"Hello...? Moon...?" She shined her flashlight on him.
She was answered by a deep, gravelly, outright villainous chuckle rumbling from the robot's metallic chest. The sound immediately sent chills up her spine... As did his voice. It wasn't the same cheery energetic cadence anymore; it had shifted to a deep, raspy growl.
"Naughty, naughtyyy...." He slowly lifted his head. She was taken aback to see that his pearly eyes were now illuminated a piercing red. "It is way past your bedtime, young lady..."
"U-Uhh...H-Hi, Moon..." She gulped and took a step back. "It's my job to be up this late, y'know... I'm here to keep an eye on you and the day care."
He stood up to his feet and took a couple slow, stalking steps forward, his round head tilting way over to the side; before 'tsk-tsk'ing at her, waggling one of his long digits in front of her face. "Silly girl...We don't need a night guard here. We can guard the daycare juuust fine on our own~"
His voice absolutely oozed with mischievous intent; as if he was a cartoon supervillain. He was freaking terrifying. And she couldn't stop smiling. "A-All right, then..." She folded her arms, looking up to glare him straight in the eyes. "What're you gonna do about it~?"
Moon stiffened, seeming taken aback by the show of bravery. Before he responded with an even louder amused laugh. "Hmhmhhehehehe...I think that kind of attitude.... needs to be punished~" He extended his fingers, wiggling them dangerously close to her sides.
That's all it took for the brunette to bolt the other direction.
Moon immediately gave chase, that raspy, gremlin-like cackle echoing out into the huge empty daycare.
Mina attempted to duck behind the cage-like structure of one of the jungle gyms, keeping an eye out for his piercing red eyes and glowing stars.
"It's time for beeddd~!" He called out in a singsong voice, tiptoeing closer, looking right at her from between the jungle gym bars.
She squeaked and made a break for it. "No it isn't! I HAVE to be awake!!"
"Says who~?" He started clambering up the sides of the jungle gym like a spider monkey. "You're in MY domain now, and you'll listen to MY rules~" He tried to reach an arm in between the bars to take a swipe at her, still wiggling his long fingers at her. She yelped and hurriedly climbed up to the top of the steps. She did a double-take when she saw what looked like a power generator in one of the cubbies off to the side. What the hell was that doing inside a kid’s play structure?!
Her direction was quickly brought back to her predicament by a loud THUD above her. The bot glared down at her with his Terminator eyes, letting out another mad, raspy cackle.
Mina shrieked and quickly tried to clamber down the nearby tube slides before running across to the other play structure, her heart pounding in her chest. She remembered what the video had mentioned: Just play dead. Yeah, right!! There was NO way that was gonna work. Besides... It’d be no fun if she just gave up on the chase.
Twenty minutes came and went quickly. She’d begun to familiarize herself with the layout of the jungle gyms. ...Sort of. At the very least she’d found three of those generators by now.
"Hidey-hide... I will find you~"
"Come out, come out, wherever you aaaare~"
Every one of the jester bot's devious cackles and playful taunts sent shivers up her spine, and a thrill of both terror and delight.
And finally, he caught up. The next time she tried sneaking out from behind a solid wall, he took a flying leap at her, getting a death-grip around her ankle and pinning her to the floor, latching his hands onto her sides and rapidly wiggling those long, dexterous fingers.
She screamed, right before bursting into frantic, elated laughter. "YIEEE-HEEHEEHEE!!" She flailed, shoving at his arms, trying to clamp her arms to her sides, wiggling back and forth like a fish on land.
Unlike Sunny, this alter ego showed zero restraint. It's like he already knew to drill rapid circles into her ribs and hip bones, and knead her soft belly like dough, to really get her going.
“NOOOO-HAHAHAHA MOOHOOHOON PLEEEHEHEHEHEASE!!”
He laughed right along with her; A smug, sinister laugh, pleased with himself for reducing his target to this state. "Hehehehe, tickletickletiiickle~ This is what you get for breaking the rules~"
"I-I'M NAAAHAHAT BREAKIHIHING THE RUHUHULES!! I’M DOING MY JOHOHOHOB!"
But before he could get too carried away, or carry on the 'punishment' any longer... The lights powered back on. "HHRGHK--" Moon grunted, stopping mid-attack to shield his eyes from the light, then plopped on top of Mina like a deadweight.
"Oof--" Thankfully his tall metal frame wasn't much heavier than Inzi.
The bot shifted back to Sunny again; he gasped and popped his head up. "Mina!! Are you okay??" He scrambled to get off her and help her sit upright. "Well you're still in one piece, so that's good, hahaha.."
Mina was still a little frazzled, her heart rate calming down, her face still red as a tomato. "Y-Yeah, I'm uh, I'm good..." She cleared her throat. "J-Jeez, he really goes after people, doesn't he?"
"Yeaaah, he... He really doesn't like it when the night staff isn't in bed, heh.."
"So I've heard.."
"He can get very carried away, but-!! You know the magic word so that'll help!!"
"I mean..." She shuffled a bit. "I don't...exactly mind... I get into pretty intense tickle fights like that with my friends and boyfriend all the time. And I think they're uh... Pretty fun~" she giggled sheepishly.
"Ooooh," Sun covered his mouth like a kid who just watched someone get in trouble. "You'd better hope Moony doesn't hear you say thaaat... But I mean, if you're sure, then I guess I can't really stop him~" he snickered, helping Mina to her feet.
Well that was sure a quick change of heart. "If you knew the worst he was gonna do was uh... That... Why were you so worried? Why'd you insist on me hiding from him?"
“Well, I just... I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about him. About us.." he twiddled his fingers. "I-I know he can be pretty scary, but he means well, and... After the incident, he really doesn't like security guards. He doesn't trust 'em. And it's been a lot harder for people to trust us, so we both agreed it might be best if he just... lays low, y'know?" Though he tried to sound optimistic, Mina picked up on a twinge of sadness.
"Incident...?"
"UHH, don't worry about it!! It’s almost the end of your shift, yeah? Better get all cleaned up and ready to go!”
Mina just let out a loud yawn in response. The night had really caught up to her and she was beginning to feel like she'd collapse at any moment. Sunny offered her another one of his candies, before scooping her up in a big, tight spinning hug.
“Byeeee!! I can’t wait to see you again tomorrow night!!”
Inzi picked her up at 6am, practically having to carry out his loopy, exhausted, flustered girlfriend, wondering just what kind of shenanigans she’d been up to all night.
This was going to be a very interesting night shift.