Chapter Text
I was good at this.
The statement had drilled itself into Sun’s mind as his hands had worked skillfully, stroking and grooming the canvas. Countless paintings and works of art completed, Sun could sense that his brush had reached out and painted The Host’s face with a smile. It was nice to have the spotlight for once. It could be argued that he had all the fame when he was totally in charge at the daycare—before he and Moon separated, but he still wasn't all that popular. He never had one of those fancy charging stations that all the glamrocks had. Sun had just been given a small room and some charging cord. He had always craved that fame, and he had to admit it, he was jealous. He took care of kids for hours, every day except for weekends, and the staff had treated him horribly. Here, it felt great to finally show everyone that he was important. That he actually mattered.
“Alright folks!” The Host exclaimed, ending the final round. “That about wraps up the fifteenth round!”
Sun felt himself wipe imaginary sweat off his faceplate. His hands were shaking, and his mind was spinning at how he won all of this. He did this.
“And the winner for this game is…our first contestant! Give some applause to Sun!”
The cheering from the chat was exactly what Sun wanted. He didn’t care that he didn’t know anyone there, or that it was all fake, it was perfect. The black curtain suddenly removed itself from the stage and Sun finally got to see Moon.
Oh boy.
He was furious.
Sun took an involuntary step back. Out of habit. He hated to admit it, but he had always feared his brother’s anger. It had always ended up with Moon smashing or throwing something, at least it wasn’t as bad as it used to be…
“Time for a commercial break everyone!” the Host announced, wiping his head. “Wow, this competition is getting heated! Both contestants are tied!”
Sun quickly got offstage after they were called to their break room, silently preparing himself for Moon’s confrontation. However, before he got there, he saw a small shadow dart behind a corner. Sun stopped in his tracks, his gaze going to the break room diagonal to him, where Moon was probably waiting.
Sun scoffed, he could wait. The more important thing was the fact that was someone else here. The Host had told him that they were the only contestants, right? He couldn’t tell if this made him nervous or not.
Swallowing a little, Sun kept going down the right side of the hallway, hearing a tiny bit of the commercials playing from the main stage. They were actually pretty loud, he thought. If he were to get attacked or something, no one would hear him…
He reached the end of the hallway and there was nothing. Just a dead end.
“Huh?” Sun pondered out loud, wanting to scratch his faceplate. “I’m sure that I saw someone down here.”
Suddenly his eyes locked on to a small brown door neatly hidden on the left side of the hallway. It was covered by a wall that was sticking out. Maybe it was hidden for a good reason. Sun knew that The Host probably didn’t want them down here, but…
Perhaps it was an exit.
Reaching out, Sun pulled open the door without a second thought. The world flashed white around him, like that visual effect in video games when you discover a secret. Ironic.
As Sun’s eyes blinked to adjust, he saw two things; posters of his and Moon’s show and The Host…wait, what?
“Ah, hello Sun!” The Host greeted cheerily. He was sitting down at a desk in the room which seemed more like an office.
“I-I-um,” Sun sputtered out, his mouth gaping open. He stared at The Host in horror, however he seemed unfazed. Hadn’t Sun just been caught?
“Right, you must be confused,” The Host looked him up and down. “I forgot that you real beings cannot harness the power and knowledge of true a.i.”
Despite his bewilderment and shock, Sun felt a little anger. “Um, excuse me, my brother and I are machines with-”
The Host waved him off, “Yes, yes, I know all that already. However, you still are real-world beings.”
Sun blinked. “I beg your pardon? What the **** is that supposed to mean?”
“Come and have a seat.”
Sun spotted a perfectly sized chair for him across from The Host. He didn’t really want to be seated with this lunatic.
“Actually, I think I’ll pass,” Sun rejected immediately, taking a few steps back. Maybe he could just bolt out of this room and get to Moon.
His smiling faceplate became more of a nervous one as he heard the door slam closed. Oh boy…
“Sit down.” The Host was becoming more impatient. He sounded nothing like the façade he had on a minute ago. Sun felt like this psycho could be friends with Ruin at this point.
Still, Sun hesitantly walked over to the chair and sat down, staring at The Host uneasily.
“Great, now we can have a little chat,” The Host beamed. The façade was back on.
“W-what do you want to talk about,” Sun stuttered.
“Hmm…” The Host put a finger to his chin as if actually thinking about the question. “There are many topics of conversation, but the topic I had planned was you.”
“M-me?” Many thoughts flew around Sun’s head. Was he about to get killed for disappointing The Host in the trivia round? Wait, can he even get killed?
“Yes. You have always interested me, Sun,” The Host smiled, staring directly into Sun’s eyes. He didn’t like where this was going.
“Why?”
“Because you have always been a true gamer!” The Host laughed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Haven’t you noticed that being good at video games is just another form of intelligence in itself?”
“No?” Sun never thought that playing games was ever that smart. It was Moon that was always helping him with the puzzles and logic components. He just liked playing them.
“Oh Sun, you have a lot to learn about the data world, don’t you?”
“The data what now?” Sun asked, before adding, “Does Moon know about this?”
“Moon? Oh, your dear brother?” The Host chuckled before shaking his head. “Not a clue that one, even though he is of a curious sort.” His tone dropped a few octaves. “Maybe a little too curious.”
“I still don’t understand what all this has to do with, hm, I don’t know, trapping us here!” Sun stated impatiently, slightly raising his voice.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry about the whole… transportation service here,” The Host replied, masking a regretful look on his features. “I’ve got a lot of feedback saying that wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences.”
“I wonder why,” Sun scoffed under his breath, before suddenly realizing something. “Wait, you said others? W-what others?”
“Well, you aren’t the only ones, of course. In fact, there have been too many to count,” came the answer.
To be fair, Sun was scared. Utterly terrified. It wasn’t just The Host that unnerved him, but the fact that the commercial was lasting a lot longer than last time. Moon must be really wondering where he was. But he would get through this; after all, the amount of times that Sun had to be in front of a psychopath have definitely prepared him.
He wasn’t stupid. The world just liked to believe that he was.
After realizing that The Host had just been staring at him all this time, Sun awkwardly coughed before clearing his throat.
“I-um if you don’t mind, can I ask a question?” he asked.
The Host smiled widely in return. “Ask away,” he offered.
“Do you have a name?” The question seemed to make him freeze for the first time since Sun had arrived.
“I’ve already told you what you can call me,” The Host stated calmly.
Sun wanted to facepalm, he was pushing it. “No, I mean an actual name,” he explained. “Something personal.”
The Host tilted his head, a small grin forming on his face. “I am an A.I.,” he laughed, “I can name myself whatever I like. Do you want me to have a ‘real’ name for your own preference?”
“I-uh…I guess?”
Smiling at Sun’s stuttered response, The Host suddenly sprung forward and leaned across the desk, making Sun let out a startled yelp and back away. The Host managed to cup his faceplate and feeling it in his hands before sighing.
“You may call me Nus.”
Sun was quick to ply The Host’s hands from his face, panting in shock. His hands trembled in fear at the suddenly close up. Then the words registered.
“N-nus? That’s not even an actual name.”
The now newly named Nus just smirked before replying, “Every name has never been an actual name,” he stated cryptically.
Sun blinked, this was making less and less sense. “What-”
Nus suddenly interrupted him with a gasp as he looked at his watch that magically appeared on his arm.
“Well, looks like the commercial break is over, dear contestant, it’s time to head back to the stage!” After he had finished speaking, he suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
Sun got out of his seat as he heard the door finally unlock. He suddenly felt extremely unnerved, as he had wanted to desperately question The Ho-Nus about a tiny detail.
The watch that had appeared on his arm had been sun-themed.