You reawaken alone. As you move, you find that your ankle isn't tied down like usual. Odd. You get up to stretch your legs, throwing your arms over your head, too. You wonder what happened? They must have been in a rush to leave if they forgot to tie you up.

But what if it's a trick? You hug yourself at the thought. What if they're watching you, seeing what you'd do now that you're not bound. You nervously peek out of the curtains and glance down. You gulp. Nope! No, no, no, even if this wasn't some sort of test, which it most likely is, there's no way you can get down without breaking your legs. Probably.

You go back and sit on your bed to await their return. You'll make sure you pass this test with flying colors and prove to them that you don't need to be tied up anymore. Should you be worried that you aim to please them more than getting out? Maybe, but you can't dwell on it right now.

Sun rushes in in a panic. "Star-!" he cries before seeing you sitting nicely, "-light...". He straightens himself out, awkwardly shuffling his foot, embarrassed for freaking out.

The two of you blink at each other before you finally ask, "Um, where did you go?"

Sun waves his hand, chuckling. "Oh, Moonie just had some patrolling to do! Nothing to worry your pretty head with!" You scratch your head in confusion. Why is he acting so weird?

"Sooo..." you drawl, "did I pass the test?" Sun's head tilts in confusion, his blank white eyes scrunching up.

"Test...?" he echoes. You lift your wrist and point to your leg with your other hand. "O-oh!" he realizes what you mean and wrings his hands together. "That test! Yes, yes, yes! You did so well! We wanted to make sure you wouldn't move while Moon went on patrol! Sosososo well behaved!"

You blush at his praise, not noticing the lie. You sit up a little more, excited at the prospect that this test might mean more freedom. 

That's definitely not a good way to think but it's been happening anyways.

"Does that mean I can move around more?" you ask hopefully, making your eyes wide to appear more appeasing.

Sun goes silent, surely discussing this with Moon. He then acts out a dramatic scene of 'thinking'. He puts his finger to his chin and tilts his head back way too far while loudly humming. When he puts his neck back to the proper position, he smiles and claps. "We can do that, Sunshine! For being such a good girl!"

You bounce happily, hopping up off the bed. "Really!?" 

The solar bot narrows his eyes. "Hmm...You're not going to jump, are you?" He watches as your eyes nervously flicker to the balcony before settling back on his own.

"Nuh-uh," you say, shaking your head vehemently. No way in hell are you trying that again. Sun and Moon deduce you're being truthful, and to show that they're serious about trusting you with this, Sun removes the rope completely, throwing it back through the blue tunnel in the wall.

"So! Are you hungry, my Sunflower?" Sun asks. Your stomach decides to answer for you as it loudly rumbles. Your cheeks redden as he chuckles. "I would say so!" He walks around and sits behind you on your bed. "Hooooow about we take you to the cafe? Get you breakfast and some coffee?" 

Your eyes widen, not even realizing he's started to brush your hair. "You...you'd take me...out of the room?" This must be another test.

Sun hums, brushing out a particularity ornery knot. "Weeell not me, Moonie has to. I'm not allowed outside of the daycare!" You frown. You didn't actually know that. If Sun can't leave, could that be a possible way out of here?

You...you still want to escape...right?

Of course I do! Are you mad? I can't stay here forever!

"Sunshine?" Sun's voice knocks you out of your internal debate. You shake your head to rid those thoughts, turning to give him a smile. 

"I'd love some coffee."

~~~~

You don't remember the last time you stepped foot out of the daycare. Being in such a wide, open space, you can't help but take in a few deep breaths. The high neon lights lining the ceiling burn your eyes but you smile at the sight.

Moon, a few paces in front of you, but listening intently to your heart, spins his faceplate. "Coming, Starlight?" he queries. He would love to stand here and stare at the wonder you have in your eyes, but they're in a time crunch, as the Plex will be opening in less than an hour.

You jump, forgetting you weren't alone. "Y-yeah..." As you walk hand in hand, courtesy of Moon making the first move of course, you can't help but think if they'd ever let you outside to get some real fresh air.

Why let? Wouldn't you rather leave altogether?

Leave and then do what? Try ending it again? Fall into debt with the fees there'd no doubt be from my abandoned and trashed apartment?

So you're okay with staying here? You've given in?

Of course not. I'm still planning...

Moon frowns at the obvious mental struggle you're having. He gives your hand a squeeze, smiling when your eyes flicker up to meet his. You look away quickly, not liking the calm and happy feeling his eyes are making you feel.

"Cute," Moon says in his headspace out loud.

"You think she's getting used to this?!" Sun squeals, having watched the interaction. Moon can picture his brother jumping up and down in excitement.

"Can't say for sure. We'll just keep giving her positive reinforcement."

~~~

Moon makes sure to take you through the tunnels to the atrium, lest someone was out and about before they should be. When you arrive at the small cafe tucked into the corner, you take a seat.

Moon sits across from you, hands clasped together as he rests his chin upon them. You pick at the sleeve of your shirt as he stares at you. "Um, do I go order?" you finally ask shyly. Staying in the same position, Moon smirks, shaking his head.

"No. I already pinged the STAFF bot. I hope you like breakfast sandwiches, my Love." At that, the lunar bot hears your heart beginning to beat faster. His smirk widens, showing off his sharp teeth. He makes a mental note to himself and Sun to keep using that specific pet name.

Caught off guard, you stutter out a response, "Uh ye-yeah yeah... usually..." Thankfully, the STAFF bot wheels out with your order, saving you from the awkwardness that is Moon's stare down. It places down a simple white cup of steaming hot, black, coffee and a plastic wrapped sandwich consisting of ham, tomato, egg, and cheese.

Smells good. Fresh, too, surprisingly. Though...staring at your coffee, you cringe before looking around. You spot a station over by the counter with sugar, cream and the works. Noticing where you're looking, Moon tilts his head with a hum, wanting you to ask.

With a huff, because you know what he wants and because you know you're going to do it anyways, you reluctantly ask, "Can I go get some stuff for my drink? I don't like straight coffee." You watch his beating red eyes curl as he smirks at you. You withhold a groan. "Please?"

"Of course, Starshine," he finally moves, just barely, his hand waving off in the direction of the counter, "such good manners, thank you."

You stand up without another word, cheeks hot. You stiffly make your way over, completely embarrassed by the way he spoke to you. You're not a child! But then, why does the praise feel so good?

You grumble and growl at yourself, harshly picking the fix-ins for your coffee. Though, you seize your chance to look around at your surroundings a bit. You worked here, but you never really took note of anything in particular. Who knew you should have noted possible escape routes from kidnapping animatronics?

You doubt anything around here would be of use for you. Not to mention you can feel Moon's eyes burning a hole through your back. Giving up, you return to your seat and pour in your fix-ins, stirring it with a stir stick.

"See anything worthwhile?" You frown at the question. What does that even mean? At your confusion, Moon continues. "Starlight. I know every possible route, exit, and vent system. Any way to the outside, and I know it."

You squeeze your eyes shut, willing them to quit watering up. Of course he knew what you were thinking. How could you possibly think he wouldn't bring you out here and not know you'd think about leaving. This really is a test, isn't it? And so far, you're failing it.

"I'm sorry..." you whisper, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm sure you are. You're free to think all you want, Star. You cannot run from me. You cannot hide from me. Whatever you're thinking of doing, if you act on it, there are consequences. You know this, surely, hm?" He's patronizing you.

Not trusting that your voice wouldn't tremble, you nod your head, nibbling on your sandwich, appetite somewhere far away. Moon extends his arm over the round table, clasping and entwining his fingers with yours.

"We do this because we love you. You know that, right?"

You nod again.

"We need to keep you safe, Starlight. We can't do that if you try to run."

Another nod. 

What else can you do?

~~~

The day goes by in a blur like always. Sunny came up to deliver your lunch and Moon snuggled you during nap-time. Not much else happened besides that. However, you've noticed the two being a bit distant throughout the day.

You try not to pay it any mind. You tell yourself you don't care that their minds have been on other things. Your recent freedom to move around as you please is a much better thing to think about and since the two have been gone, you have time to check out that power outlet on the wall.

You finger the small flat head screwdriver indents. That metal file you found in the bathroom will surely fit and turn those screws. In fact- You do just that. Pulling out the tool, you fit it snugly into the screw and strain your wrist taking them all out due to them being stiff and tight.

With a victorious whoop, you pull off the plastic covering. When you peer inside, though you can barely see with the poor lighting in the room, you can make out some old looking wires. It appears this outlet was never used, or perhaps not recently.

You huff. The chance these wires could do any damage to you, let alone fatal, is low. You go ahead and put everything back the way it was. No way you'd risk letting Sun and Moon in on what you were planning.

After you finish, you stare longingly at the nail file. Maybe it could come in use some other time? You pocket it with the thought that it might. The curtains behind you rustle, causing you to jump and turn around hastily, rubbing your knees raw from the position you're in.

The corner of Sun's lip quirks curiously at seeing you near the wall. "Whatcha doin' over there, Sunflower?" he asks jovially.

"Ah! Nothing!" You cringe at the voice crack. "I was just stretching, enjoying the lack of restraints." You give him your best smile. Sun decides not to mention your elevated heartbeat. 

He grins warmly, taking a seat on the edge of your bed. "Well, alright, Sunshine. Would you like to watch a movie tonight?" The bot pats the spot next to him. You oblige and sit, only cringing a little bit at his instant touch to your arm.

They just love having some sort of physical contact, don't they?

You think for a second. Yeah, you could go for some stimulation that isn't board games. However... You turn your head to look at him, noticing his nearby rays retracting to not poke you. "Could we have popcorn?" you ask with a smirk.

Sun gasps. Not only are you agreeing to doing something with him, you're being playful! "Ooooo!" he flails his hands excitably, "Popcorn! Yesyesyes! Good idea, Sweetheart!"

Sun stands up, raring to go, but quickly stops. When he spins to look at you, frown on his face, you mimic it. "What?" You know this mall has popcorn, so why's he so depressed all of a sudden?

"Popcorn is in the atrium, Darling..." he tells you. You nod, knowing this. "Moon'll have to run and get it." You nod again. "You...you'll stay put, right? We really want to trust you, Sunbite, but if you do one thing out of line...the rope goes back on." You roll your eyes. 

"Duh, Sun. I get it." His smile returns. In just two steps, he's on you, arms wrapped around your midsection as he lifts you up in a tight hug. 

"Good! I'm so glad you're coming around, Honeybee! I hated tying you up like that!" He gives you a few kisses on your face in quick succession before you could protest. You splutter as you're sat back down on the bed and he flees the scene.

You lay down with a sigh. At least he left fast enough to not see how red your cheeks are. Without moving your head, your eyes glance over to the balcony. This would literally be the time to do anything you'd planned on doing.

But is the risk worth it? If you get caught, what would they do to you then? Would you be able to move at all? Moon has mentioned wanting to take care of you 24/7, and expressed joy in the thought.

On the other hand, said daycare attendant will have to traverse, presumably through the vents, to the main atrium and locate a popcorn cart that is usually scattered around the area. He'd then have to warm it up and pop the corn.

That should give you fifteen minutes at the most. Some of those machines heat up faster than others. You swallow the lump in your throat. Nervously, you approach the balcony, moving past the curtains. It's dark, but the colorful balls at the bottom are easy to spot.

You begin breathing heavily. Last time you attempted this, Moon somehow caught wind and grabbed you. What if he's nearby, waiting to see if you'd try anything? You almost vomit at the thought.

Before you can either chicken out or commit, the shutters at the entrance open, the loud metal sound echoing throughout the empty daycare. You gasp and lay down flat. No way they made it back already!

What you hear is not the sound of animatronic footsteps, however. Instead, two workers begin walking down the long party room walkway. 

"Nah, man, you didn't see it. I responded to the STAFF bot's call, it was gnarly. Straight out of a Saw movie. Chris was all tied up and gagged, his fingers were bent backwards! The chair he was in was knocked over so he had been laying in his own piss and tears and everything."

"Holy crap, did he say who did it!?"

"Nah, funny enough, he absolutely refused to say. He only muttered incoherently."

"Think it was a break in?"

"Most likely, but I mean, who would break in here just to do that to some night worker?"

"What if he did it to himself? I could see him setting something up this elaborate for PTO."

"What? No. How would he tie himself up? Let alone break his own fingers? Chris is stupid but he isn't stupid enough to do something like this! He probably has some enemies if I were to guess."

You're still as can be, in shock at what you've just heard. Something happened to Chris? Last night?

What are you doing? There's human workers right there! Now's your chance!

Even though this could be your ticket out, you're worried and confused about what happened. You don't even want to begin to think that this event could correlate to Sun barging in in a panic and you being left untied. There's no way...right?

You smack your head for answers. What happened last night? You and Moon had some sort of heart to heart and you...you mentioned Chris. By name. Moon implored you to talk more about him.

That can't be a coincidence, you concur. You have to get out of here before anyone else gets hurt. You open your mouth as you watch the two workers walk downstairs. Why won't any words come out? A scream? Anything?

You're terrified. What if they get hurt for helping you? If Sun and Moon had hurt Chris like you suspect, they'd have no qualms over hurting these two to keep you hidden away.

You take a deep breath.

You gently roll off.

~~~

Maybe you're high on adrenaline or maybe it really didn't hurt as bad as you thought it would, but you quietly limp your way down a utility tunnel. Okay so maybe that limp isn't a good sign, but you press on as quickly as possible.

When you had landed into the ball pit, you heard the workers talk about it but brushed it off as the attendant fooling around, so they went on with their patrol.

Every little sound makes you whip your head every which way in fright, worried Moon will snatch you from any corner. Tears begin falling freely down your cheeks. You're in for it now. You're going to get caught and they're going to hurt you.

Sunny was so excited to trust you and you went and ruined it all just because you overheard a conversation. Maybe the boys didn't hurt Chris. Maybe it was a freak accident. A freak coincidence.

You're screwed.

You freeze as you hear someone call your name in front of you. You duck behind some fold out chairs. "I see you there," the voice grumbles, approaching. "Oh my gosh, it is you! What the hell?"

You stand up, recognizing the voice. It's Manny. Another coworker of yours that you've had...less than pleasant encounters with. "H-hey, I'm kinda in a hurry," you say as you try to push past him. He's a pretty big guy, though, so he doesn't budge.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where do you think you're going? You're alive?" He blocks your way, voice hard.

You grind your teeth, your ankle starting to throb. "Yeah, I am. You should probably pretend I'm not, though."

"Nah, nah, nah. I knew you liked attention but this? That's hilarious. First you try to tell everyone I tried to roofie you, then you fake a suicide? That's low. Management is going to flip to hear you're still alive and apparently squatting in the pizza plex!"

"No!" you cry. "Don't tell anybody! You hear me!?" You try to sound serious but your voice shakes horribly. Manny rubs his chin, leering down at you.

"Hmmm. I could let this slip my mind..." You breathe a sigh of relief but then squeal when you're suddenly pushed up against the wall. "For a favor... of course."

"W-what?" you whisper, almost not believing the situation you've found yourself in.

"Well considering you left me hanging on our date, I figured you'd owe me something. So, let this happen and I won't tell management about your 'death'."

You hyperventilate. Do you struggle? Call for help? It's the nightshift, only a few people walk these tunnels for it. As the man begins to lean in, you try your best to lean away. A voice suddenly cuts in, the sound tinny and full of static.

"Am I interrupting something here?" You don't know if you should cry out of relief at the sound of Moon's voice or not. You opt for trying to not vomit everywhere.

When you turn to look at Moon's face, you almost flinch. You've never seen him look this angry before. He is livid. His fingers flex and unflex into a fist multiple times as if he's holding himself back from tearing Manny to pieces.

He probably is.

Manny scoffs in response, "Tch, no. Keep walking, Daycare Attendant."

Moon's grin somehow widens, his teeth shown in all their glory. "Mmm, is that so?" This time, you do flinch. The static and malice that just came from Moon's voicebox sends shivers down your spine. Manny doesn't notice the bot stalking closer and closer methodically. "You do know I'm part security, yes?"

Manny's lip curls as he sneers. "Yeah? So what? I'm dealing with her myself."

"Well it appears as if you're harassing the young lady..." Moon flips his hand as if only slightly concerned at the scene in front of him.

"She's just an attention whore." He pushes you harder against the wall, venom in his words. The moment Manny's attention is back on you, Moon strikes, so quick you only see a blur of blue.

The larger man is ripped from you and thrown on the cement ground. He groans on his back, rubbing his head as he begins to sit up. "What the hell!?" he yells. Moon bends down to your level, scanning you for injuries. He gently grips your chin, coaxing you to look at him.

You tiredly stare into his ruby eyes. The sheer wave of love and concern you feel as you gaze into them overwhelms you and the tears return. How? How could someone hold that much emotion for you?

Were you wrong about them?

As your heart tries to settle down, you feel Moon press a kiss to your head and turn to your aggressor. You shiver as you watch the hulking animatronic crouch down and get on all fours, making sure to show off his claws on the way. Manny, sweating profusely and muttering apologies, begins backing up, having troubles doing so from all the clutter on the ground.

He's going to kill him.

Look what he did to Chris.

But did he really do that to Chris?

"M-Moon! Wait!" you cry out, your voice trembling. The lunar bot instantly stops in his tracks. His head swivels back to look at you, eyebrows quirked in concern. "D-don't kill him...p-please..."

At your request, his sinister grin turns genuine and soft. "Of course, Starlight..." he tells you, standing up to his full height and tucking his claws away.

Manny, still on the ground, looks back and forth between you two. "K-kill me?!" he squeaks.

Moon glowers at his voice and in the blink of an eye, is on top of the man. You gasp as he chokes the worker into a painful sleep. 

Better than the alternative.

"Are...are you gonna...when I'm not looking?" you ask in a whisper, afraid of the answer. Moon takes your hands in his, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. 

"Of course not, Sweetheart. I said I wouldn't, hm? We have never lied to you." You glance at the unconscious man.

"A-and Chris..." you trail off.

Moon makes a humming noise, taking one of his hands to pet your hair soothingly.

"Sun and I went to... extreme lengths to bring justice for you...we needed to know more about what you went through. To help you. You weren't privy to telling us and we...may have gone overboard." Moon chuckles to himself.

"I-I overheard those workers...you really hurt Chris..." Moon tilts his head, waiting for you to say more. "I-I thought you might hurt me and-and panicked..." The bot clicks, pulling you in for a hug.

"Oh, Sweet Star, Sun and I love you so very much. We would never ever hurt you... We're so sorry we made you feel like we might. We never wanted you to find out about Chris. We only want you safe. We thought finding out about what you went through would help us understand you more, to help you.."

You were right in suspecting the boys were to blame for Chris but getting confirmation and reason for it was...more soothing than you thought.

Surely Moon would have lied to make you feel better and the fact he didn't, proves to you that everything else they said is surely true as well.

You messed up.

Pulling back, you quickly begin apologizing. "I-I'm sorry! I left and got caught by Manny and I was just so scared! I didn't think and I thought...I thought..." Moon hushes you up by pulling you back into his chest.

"Shhh, I know, I know. You're safe now, Darling. Always will be with us." Looking down, Moon frowns at the angry purple bruise forming on your ankle. 

"Poor thing! We need to get her back to bed!" Sun pipes up, his anxieties filtering into Moon's processor, making him feel the urgency. 

Agreeing with his brother, Moon easily lifts you up in a bridal hold and starts the trek back to the daycare. You'd made it surprisingly far with that ankle. 

They'll be back for Manny once you're all taken care of.