Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What do you mean that you’ll separate me and Eclipse?”
I paced in front of Ms Emily, I knew I was being rude and would get a punishment… But I couldn’t control myself! Eclipse was my mirror, my opposite, where I was kind and forgiving, he was cruel for no reason! Attacking people who just wanted to be here, like Ms Emily’s brother Sammy! Why does Eclipse have no trust for him? I have no idea I mean he is a literal security guard, wasn’t Eclipse originally intended to be like a security guard? It didn’t exactly matter but- “Lunar,” there was that sweet as honey voice, she came closer and patted me on the head. “I know that this is scary, but here is the thing. You know that I would only do something that I have planned fully… You also know I have your best interests in mind.”

I slowly nodded, even if I knew that someone who cared wouldn’t hurt me, shock me . “I know, it's just, you and the kids have always told me about how evil Eclipse is! I would appreciate it if you could explain why you're doing this…”

Slowly Elizabeth approached, yet I couldn’t hold back the flinch, even if I couldn’t see anything in her hand but maybe it's reasonable since I saw her smile. “Well Lunar, you are perfect , you listen to orders, you care for the kids, you don’t fight back , and most of all you don’t hurt people.” There was a pause as she stalked away her back towards me, “Lunar have you ever heard of the social theory that suggests that when people interact enough they rub off on each other?”

I hesitated, did she actually want me to answer or was that rhetorical? She was staring at me expectantly so I figured that I should at least attempt to say something “no I haven’t heard of that theory.”

She let out a hum, “disappointing, regardless it's been getting harder to control Eclipse, so we need you to keep an eye on him, make sure he is under control.”

I looked away from her piercing green eyes, “how can I do that? I am not that strong, I wasn’t programmed with self defence…” Plus the fact that I can’t recognize danger.

She patted my arm, “don’t worry, we shall make you stronger than the original body, and we will also make you smaller so he will underestimate you. You will be able to protect those around you, I will give you that ability.”

I likely shouldn’t argue against her, she wouldn’t appreciate that, plus I had always wanted to be shorter, more similar in height with the other children, so maybe just maybe I could convince Monty to pick me up and swing me around like a child. “Thank you Ms Emily.”

“Of course Lunar, now get ready. For if there aren’t any complications it will happen next month.”

Then the daycare doors slammed closed, and I was once again left alone in the darkness, there wasn’t much to do before and after the daycare opened its doors, and even when they are open not many children will come, they are all too afraid of Eclipse. It doesn’t help that my programming was never meant to be the only one active. Sure I know games and stories that I can tell the children, but I wasn’t programmed with what children need to survive, I know what I can do to entertain them, but I can’t tell who is safe and who is not, I can’t tell whether or not to raise the alarm for danger, I can’t tell what is safe for children to eat. Add in the fact that I can never turn the lights on, the children all trip and fall and I can’t do anything about it for their own safety 

It hurts, because I love the children, every time I interact with them I feel a warm feeling, and I feel good . Yet despite my apparent ‘perfection’ I can only do half of what I was meant to do, the other half I have to guess, the other half I have to desperately look up in my mindscape, hopeful that I can somehow fix my knowledge on children. But there aren’t online courses for robots trying to find out how to care for children, there aren’t online courses specifically designated for babysitters who never were human enough to find out how to protect the children on their own. I have tried to learn! Trust me I have, but every time I look at those courses on nutrition and child care my vision blurs and my literal programming seems to scream ‘ no! ’ and it's so annoying . I just want to get better, I want to protect the kiddos, I want to be the best daycare attendant ever . Yet even if Ms Emily tells me that I am, I know that I still fail , it's the other kids who have to determine whether they are in danger. Even worse, sometimes it seems as if even Eclipse has better danger senses than me, after all, any time the children are in danger and sometimes when they aren’t (which I always find out from the children) the lights always turn on. I have tried to find out the triggers that turn the lights on but I still can’t figure what these triggers are . At least when he turns on his first priority isn’t hurting the children but instead the adults in the area. Although that is a small comfort.

I can’t solve this issue, I can just work on arts and crafts in my area, until the lights turn on, until a staff member has to tell Eclipse what will happen. Or perhaps it will happen tomorrow, and I can play with the children before this. Talk to them, play with them, distract myself.

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(Eclipse)

I scanned the world around me, making sure there were no threats or children here, but there was neither. Typically, I only activate on Sundays at 9 pm to start cleaning. So why am I active now? I looked around again, hoping to find the reason why I was activated, and I saw a person, the last time I saw someone they ran screaming from me, although I still have no idea why, I mean, the only reason they would have had to fear is if they were going to hurt children. Perhaps that was their plan? Hm, then I should have tried to scare them off. Although perhaps management has been spreading rumors about me to try and impede my work, that would make sense.

Nevertheless, I should focus, they had dull eyes and looked at me as if they hated to even be near me, a typical look for staff. So not surprising that they were indeed wearing standard human uniform, yet I still couldn’t help but grimace, although I haven’t met many. We have never gotten along; I was literally programmed to make sure that the children would never be hurt.  Yet they always try to stop me, defending the cheapskates who dare hurt the little ones in my care. The children are annoying, they always shout and scream, ‘oh no! It's Eclipse,’ then they run. However, it is my purpose, my reason for existence, something to focus on when I can’t find anything to do in my mindscape, yearning for connection, hoping for someone to say thank you for protecting. It is something that makes me feel a little less alone. But it doesn’t matter if the children run from me, my purpose is to protect them, and it's not like there is anyone better at handling children than me. I mean who could be better than me at caring for brats? I am a literal daycare attendant! I would hope that my Creator did one good thing in my life and made me good at handling them. I would hope that as a daycare attendant I would be the best option to take care of children. I do hate the fact that all the children always run scared, and of course I am upset that any adults I meet always go on and on about ‘therapy costs.’ (What even is therapy?) But I don’t need thanks, I just need to protect them.

I moved on from studying the worker, looking around to see how much of a mess was made… Ugh, not as messy as it usually is, but not as good as it could have been. I looked back at the person with metaphorically raised eyebrows. “Hello? Why was I brought out?”

They sighed, shoulders slumping as fear I hadn’t recognized flew out of their frame. They tapped at a tablet “well three-C-I-L-E-P-explanation point-” I scowled in my head, I literally chose the name Eclipse, filled out all the paperwork to change my name. Yet they still call me that. What was the point of all that effort? At least now they use Eclipse for any paperwork concerning me.  “Ms Emily has deemed your performance unsatisfactory. Due to our contract with your Creator and Mr Emily we cannot scrap you-” I repressed the shivers that gave me. “So we found a different way to make sure you can never hurt anyone ever again.”

I rolled my eyes, walking around the staff member as they focused on their clipboard. Shivering whenever I got too close, it's ok to spook them a little bit, I have a little protection after all. “I think you should know by now that I will always find a way to fulfill my purpose.” So many attempts they have made, assigning a human handler (so easy to make them vanish when they threatened the children), programming a robot (they almost lead me astray, but I knew to stick to my morals, they were only tricking me anyways) and the first thing they ever did was make sure to restrict my time online. Yet I always protect the children, to the best of my ability anyways.

Their eyes studied me for a moment, a flicker of curiosity, a flicker of apathy… Hm so much like a killer, I wonder if I have to do more than scare them? But no, unless evidence beyond that comes forward, I will not hurt this person. I just have to be aware when they are around, “yeah, sure. Well due to the contract we must also inform you what we will do but do remember that Fazbear owns you. You have no rights, just like all you monsters should.”

I rolled my eyes, I remembered clearly the first time I was activated. Elizabeth Clara Emily was a piece of work, she immediately gave me a controlled shock then leaned close to my face telling me that ‘any wrong move and you’ll get another taste’ before leaving. Having one of her lackeys inform me that I was owned by Fazbear Entertainment and therefore Mr Emily, who is Ms Emily's Father, which means I have no rights, no protections, and I have to obey Ms Emily. I never saw her again but I don’t particularly want to. Especially since it was technically a lie, the contract that Creator had sold me on outlined that much. Less rights than humans but just enough that I couldn’t be hurt too bad. I studied the area around me, acting as if their presence was less than the dirt I walk on, as if I didn’t have to give them the time of day, it is always so fun to see how far I can push.

The daycare was all so messy, why couldn’t the organization be the one thing that remains? It changes dates, I change locations, the world changes around me, and worst of all not even my organization sticks. I have to see such a perfectly clean daycare… Only to have it stripped away from me as soon as I become active once again. Not that it matters , I quickly began to start scrubbing down each surface, I took care of the terrible organization that everything was in. (Seriously, who kept messing with this?) “Yes, I am already aware of what Fazbear thinks, now continue, I am just organizing.” A tightrope line of how much sass I can talk before getting shocked.

I heard them flip some pages on their clipboard, before sighing “you and L-four-N-at-R will be separated.”

I felt myself mentally raise an eyebrow, “uh who?” How could I have been separated from someone I have never known? I didn’t bother to look at them, they would either respond or they wouldn’t, not much I can do about it. Though that ‘name’ was mentioned in the contract, I wonder what that refers to.

Still shifting all the barrels around I could still hear them pause, “you don’t know?” I pricked at the tone, something was being kept from me, even unintentionally it was still so… Irritating , the pressure of me scrubbing on some new stains on the plastic table formed scratches, the rag I held barely holding on by a thread before I was forced to take a deep breath and loosen my grip.

“What don’t I know?” I couldn’t help but growl that out, the stain just wouldn’t come out, another layer to my quick temper.

“You have shared a body with something else, L-four-N-at-R comes out with the lights out and you come out when the lights are on.”

I sighed, so they weren’t going to tell me, “yeah ok, keep your secrets.” I have spent so long alone in that stupid mindscape I think I would know if there was someone- anyone in the darkness. Plus why would they keep me shut down for so long then? If this other version of me came out, they couldn’t possibly be that much better than me. I am a literal daycare attendant. What could possibly make this… Lunar? Why not, Lunar better than me? Wouldn’t they be the same as me? Shouldn’t children run screaming from them too? Wait, are they why the daycare is always so messy when I wake up? Doesn’t matter, maybe this Lunar is just weaker than me, easier to control.

They hummed before simply starting to walk away, “doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. You’ll find out next month.”

Then they left the room, I couldn’t help but pause. It wouldn’t make sense for someone else to share my body, the technological knowledge to be able to change the body doesn’t seem convenient, well… Really, all they’d need is LED lights/color changing paints to change the colors, and I do know that my Ray’s are retractable… I huffed as I started putting away things on the ground. Toys scattered everywhere, children were so messy. But why would children be allowed here without supervision? They were too scared to be around me but… No, this mysterious Lunar couldn’t be better than me. Even if they existed, they just can’t be better than me. Maybe this Lunar is just a messy person, programmed to be like a child... I couldn’t help but stare at the security computer, I had always had access to security cameras but I have never been able to use it. Typically I was locked in the mindscape, coming up with blueprints, codes, a couple of times I would play Cult of the Lamb.

Now I could check, I felt myself stall, the hand that was picking up toys slowed in movement. Every inch of my body drawing me to that computer, my thoughts rattled around my head as I wondered, who was this person, could I talk to them? Do they know what I do? Do they appreciate what I do? Do they hate me? Do they like to program? Are they like the staff? Are they afraid of me? It is likely that they are like the rude staff if they aren’t scared of me. However it would still be amazing if they defied logic. If they were like the people in the few books I have read. The unrealistic ones where the protagonist gained love and care, someone to understand them and their flaws… Protagonists where people didn’t run in fear… No, there is a reason I stopped reading those types of books.

Yet my eyes returned to the computer, the answer to my questions, it isn’t wrong to prepare myself now, is it?  So, I quickly put away the toys in my grasp then stalked over to the computer. I didn’t want to scan for the relevant things by myself, so I searched the various codes I had invented. Eventually coming across ‘Solar’, an AI I created to scan security footage. I have tested it, however I wasn’t sure if my machinery would fry if I didn’t use my storage space wisely. So Solar has no memories. Plus, every time I unplug Solar the data is saved at a different point in creation, so I wonder what I will have to fix this time. I took off the top of my middle finger and released the drive hidden within, preparing the files for Solar to get inputted.

I didn’t know if there was any mention of L4N@R or not, however it shouldn’t affect me too much, I just have to figure out whether the staff are messing with me. Then what to do after. I detached the drive from my finger as I went off to continue cleaning. Each stack in its proper order, each toy in its box, every bit of the play structure wiped clean, and I never really had enough time to clean out that stinking ball pit. If I could I would but I turn off after exactly three hours… Does that mean the lights are on a timer? If Lunar activates in darkness then that would make sense… Ugh, can’t believe I hadn’t connected that before. “Solar is online, primary directive…” His voice was monotone and that line was something I programmed into him.

I quickly went back to the computer I plugged Solar into, luckily over the years I have learned how to quickly but thoroughly clean the daycare in 3 hours. It's always stressful and leaves me at 5% battery, however that isn’t exactly my issue now is it? “Solar, scan the security feed for mentions of L-four-N-at-R or/and Lunar.” I chose Eclipse because that is very close to my coding name, so it makes sense that if this L4N@R does exist they too would choose something close to their code name.

Due to the fact that this was technically their first time being on I didn’t expect them to be fast, in fact I would prefer them to be slow to double check they got everything. After all, I would turn back on eventually , and it has only been an hour minutes since I activated, so we have 2 hours before I have to stress. Now it's time to get back to cleaning, because I know that there is gum under the desks, glitter glue on the ceiling (glitter gets everywhere don’t be surprised) and I know that I probably missed something the first round of cleaning. The first round of cleaning was typically getting things in their proper places and doing a light scrub of everything. The second round is more a focus on scrubbing and removing disgusting particles from objects, the third round will be double checking that I didn’t miss anything. “Solar, can you focus on more than that task?”

“No Eclipse, but I can put it on pause if you request it.”

I shook my head “no we can test the other features of your programming later. Just focus on scanning the footage and putting it together.” I should work on allowing Solar to multitask though, it would be helpful.

“Understood.”

Then back to scrubbing I went.

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“Eclipse, I have finished my task.”

I glanced at the security computer, currently I was scrubbing at the stains on the ceiling, how the children get stains up there every time, no idea! Honestly I am afraid to find out. “Ok Solar, just let me work on this, send the video to my discord. I will watch it while in the mindscape.” No idea why I was programmed with Discord built in but I wasn’t about to complain.

“Of course Eclipse.”

I slowly started to climb down the play structure, “by the way Solar, we should probably test your capabilities. This was a pretty rushed first test, but it will probably be fine. I know enough about your systems that you wouldn’t have ruined the computer.”

“What would you like to test first?”

I considered this question as I grabbed the ladder from the top of the play structure, climbing down with it in one hand to place it back in the supply closet. “How about you test what you have access to first? Avoid messaging management however.”

“Of course Eclipse, based on your parameters some reasonable tests are: can you access any members of the pizzaplex’s bank account, scan security footage for a blue ball, put together videos of children playing with said blue ball, note down every time you see the blue ball and what the children like to do with said blue ball, can you find embarrassing videos of Elizabeth Clara Emily, and can you hold a conversation with three strangers online without them questioning my humanity.” The basics of what I need Solar to be able to do, the turing test, security and some fun ones added in for extra measure. I was so surprised when I found out other animatronics were getting paid, I made a big ruckus about it and something happened making it so I got 1% of all the income, not much but it works.

I nodded, “yep, but it would probably be best to do most of those while I am inactive, wait on the conversation with strangers until I give you an update, but I would like to do a few other tests on my own real quick.” The ladder was placed in the closet and I then went back to pick back up the rags that I used to clean the tables. The play structure needed a once over… Well more like a twice over but who actually cares?

“Of course Eclipse, what tests would you recommend?”

“Well, I would like to try holding my own conversation with you, and I would also like to ask some basic questions about the footage you sent me earlier.” That seemed like a good test, I mean he already looked over that information so he should contain some knowledge of what was in that footage. Unless he was reset to that one period where he was having issues with his memory. Then I need to add that to the update and it would still be a good test.

“Of course Eclipse, what would you like to ask?”

I paused in my work as I tried to structure what I wanted to say “how often is the word Lunar or L-four-N-at-R mentioned in a day?”

“An average of 245 times every day, most often by children in reference to someone who has periwinkle skin, white puff pants, and a cyan hat.”

Huh, so he exists, and kids actually talk to him…. “Solar, do any children run in terror from Lunar?”

The response was immediate “only 1% of all children do, and even then they are quickly comforted.”

I don’t understand, aren’t we both daycare attendants? Why would the children run in terror from me and not Lunar? What am I doing wrong? I mean, children are disgusting snotty gremlins… But I do still kinda care about them, my only purpose in life is to make sure that they are always safe. Why would they run from me and not Lunar?  “Solar, based on your knowledge of the footage you just went through, how many children would you say come here every day.”

Maybe Lunar is just lucky, maybe he has only encountered the rare few who wouldn’t  be afraid of us. That's the only reasonable solution, “around five children in a week.” That may not sound like a lot but on average that is a large number, there is no way that is possible, but I will have to check the footage later. Need to see how wrong Solar is before I adjust his programming. “Eclipse, how should I treat Lunar?”

I started to get up to finish up the rest of my cleaning. I already wasted so much time, but this still caused me to pause “what do you mean?”

“Well, presumably Lunar is a daycare attendant as well, you are the only daycare attendant I have been programmed to assist but a gap in my programming tells me that you are the only daycare attendant. How should I rectify this?”

Solar did have a point, if Lunar was the daycare assistant and he actually cares for the children then he would likely need loads of help. Children are messy, hyperactive and it's so easy to lose track of any of them. Of course he likely isn’t the only one working there but it should be ok if Solar offers assistance. “You can offer your assistance to Lunar, but don’t give him access to any of your systems or any extra security parameters unless he has been programmed with the necessary security codes.”

“Of course Eclipse. Do you require anything else?”

“No, I don't require any more assistance from you.”

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(Lunar)

I blinked awake, the three hours were done, thank goodness. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder how Eclipse took it? What was his reaction to our seperation? Is he thankful? Is he already making plans for hurting children? I looked around the daycare, it was clean as it always is after the lights turned on (why would Eclipse willingly choose to clean everything? I have no idea but I shall not complain. I hate cleaning.) Slowly I began my system check up, because Eclipse is not good at making sure that our body is intact. The battery wasn’t as bad as it usually is, it's on 10%, and there weren't any notifications of strain on our body. Well not on the typical level anyways, so he probably didn’t take it too badly.

None the less I studied the area I woke up in, close to the closet just about to close the door. Eclipse had likely just finished his cleaning and was putting away the foul smelling chemicals that parents have always been half convinced are toxic for children. Immediately I slammed the door shut and ran to the arts and crafts area, today John and Evan are coming! They won’t likely get along, due to John loving to talk a lot about star wars but Evan actually hates star wars, he only watched the first movie before deciding it was absolutely terrible, so I need to make a plan to make sure that they both are entertained and I can play with both of them! So down I went, removing my cyan glitter pen from its hiding place and my white glitter paper folder from a different hiding place (I will not reveal my secrets to even you reader… Hehe) I opened the folder and looked quickly through my notes on each child to find Evan and John’s papers. Despite the fact that I am the absolute best daycare attendant, there are way too many kids that visit every day (usually they never show up again, but I always keep notes on each one, just in case) so on the white glitter paper I note down their favourite games and their favourite activities. What they like to talk about, certain things they like to repeat, what their name is, gender, age, birthdate, I have never had to update anything other than age but I do hope that if I do this properly then they might come back! Then we could become best friends!

But I first have to figure out how to make sure they tolerate each other… Ok John enjoys hotdogs (he insisted that it was the healthiest meal ever, so he must be right) and Evan prefers dinosaur nuggets, they're about the same age, 9 and 8 respectively… Hm, oh! Perfect they both like coloring, all I have to do is give John star wars coloring pages in a slightly hidden place and Evan can have some coloring pages on Chica! Perfect, the plan is set. “Your name is Lunar correct?” I jumped, the glitter pen flying out of my hand and the glitter papers scattering everywhere. “I must apologize, I didn’t intend to create a mess.”

Quickly I shook my head “no, no not your fault! It's just no one is supposed to be here…” I looked around, trying to identify where the monotone robotic voice came from. “Where are you?”

“Before I answer that can you answer my question?”

I quickly blinked as I started picking up my papers and placing them back into my folders, desperately trying to stuff them back together. “Uh, my name is Lunar… Daycare attendant of the pizzaplex… Now who are you?” I did my best to sound energetic at the end but I was still stuck on the fact I can’t see him.

“Hello Lunar, designation daycare attendant and created by Creator. My name is Solar, designation security footage reviewer, created by Eclipse.”

I jolted at his name “wait what did Eclipse create you for?”

“Eclipse created me to review footage, and make sure that no one could alter it except for him. I am also to assist the Daycare Attendants of the Mega Pizza Plex. I wished to inform you of this so you know to ask me for anything within my abilities. I can track children, toys, and hack, though only Eclipse has that permission.” I shouldn’t really be surprised that he already started to make moves, but how should I handle this? I don’t know his actual capabilities and Solar is technically a victim too! Well Elizabeth would probably want me to make him ‘underestimate’ me.

He still hasn’t told me where he is… “Where are you?”

“I am currently in the system. I was uploaded yesterday by Eclipse in order to find out if there was a robot known as Lunar in activation when he was shut down. Upon finding out there was a high likelihood you exist he granted you an ability to make certain demands of me.”

What? Why wouldn’t he know that we were in the same body? I was literally programmed with this knowledge. It seems dumb to only do that with one and not the other. So he is lying, but why? What is the point of lying about that? I made a move to open my mouth when suddenly the door opened, “Lunar! I wanna play now, I came back like I promised.”

I quickly glanced at the clock and noticed that it was ten! Oh no… I wanted to plan so many other things, but it's too late now “of course Evan! Come in, do you want to do some coloring pages? Or do you first want to play hide and seek? In thirty minutes someone named John is coming, and he enjoys coloring too!”

“Gasp! He does?” The tiny human was so small, easily picked up and swung around as he giggled “no Lunar! I am a big boy now, I don’t need swings.”

I sighed, “but I like swinging you…”

“Oh, well too bad” he crossed his arms and turned away after I set him down. “I don’t.”

“Oh well ok, but do you want to color?”

Quickly he shook his head, “no, my older brother is a very big boy, and he draws . So I have to draw.”

I rolled my eyes, why do kids always want to act grown up? I will never quite understand that, although it's not like I have ever been a child so not much I can say. “Yeah ok, let me get you some paper and some ‘big boy’ crayons.” There was no such thing as ‘big boy’ crayons, but I figured since he is at this stage in development he would likely want me to say that.

Luckily I was rewarded as he immediately started vibrating hands grabbing the air to signal that he wanted them, and he wanted them now. So I quickly selected the crayons from their drawer and handed them to Evan who immediately yanked them from my grip and raced off to the plastic table, placing down the plain white paper and beginning to scribble on it with blues, reds and browns. What he was trying to make I had no idea but I was glad that he was enjoying himself. “Lunar, another child is coming to the doorway.” Glancing up at the clock I noticed that it was fifteen minutes later, not the planned thirty, but I shrugged and decided it would be ok to check real quick. Not that he could do anything in the five seconds it would take for me to discover whether or not he was telling the truth.

So I quickly raced over and yanked the door open, “John!”

I quickly gave him a few swings and John giggled “again, again!”

Not willing to disappoint, he gave a few more swings before setting him down, John acting wobbly as he giggled slowly making his way into the daycare. I glanced at his Mother who was on her phone, “have fun sweety,” then she began to walk away. At least she wasn’t late this time.

Quickly I came back inside, following John as I spoke “John! I am so glad that you're here, there is someone else here too named Evan! You might like him, but right now he is drawing so if you want to do something more active then you need to do that somewhere else.”

“Do I really have to talk to someone else? I just want to play with you!”

And tell me about star wars, I mentally added, but that's besides the point “well you won’t have to talk with him if your drawing, so let's go and do that-”

“Lunar, I must inform you of something.”

John startled but I quickly told him “don’t worry he is just someone in the system.” Like a virus.

“Oh! Like-”

“I am sorry to interrupt, but Evan is about to put some chemicals in the closet into his mouth.”

Why does that matter? “Oh no, the last time I did something like that my Mom yelled at me a lot, and I had a very bad stomach ache. Lunar, can you stop him?”

“Of course!” So I quickly put him down and started to move towards the closet, quickly I made it to a crying Evan “Evan! What's wrong?”

Immediately he began to sob in my arms, “Lunar my tummy hurts! I was just drinking some really pretty liquids, it even smelled like salt! But now my throat and mouth hurts…”

“I will call 911 and explain the situation.”

Pain was bad, I couldn't help but remind myself of this fact even as I panicked with shaking hands. “What can I do?”

“Nothing, just stay with Evan and make sure he doesn’t do anything else that could injure him.” Despite the fact that his voice stayed constantly monotone, I had the feeling that he was judging me right now.

So I rolled my eyes and asked “well I am not programmed with first aid. Of course I wouldn’t know what to do!”

That did not help with Solar’s merciless judgement. However I stayed with Evan, and rubbed his back as he wheezed, struggling to breath as I slowly realized that normally Eclipse would have taken over by now.

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“It's a good thing you called 911 Lunar, otherwise this kid would have died.” What? Solar was the one to call them… But Evan would have died? “The symptoms suggest this was sodium hydroxide poisoning, common in drainage cleaners. Next time you should lock the closet door.” Then the police officer left, Evan would have died on my watch, the only reason he didn’t is because of Solar. He has a much better sense of danger than me, does that mean it's confirmed? Eclipse has a better sense of danger than me, but if he does that doesn’t explain certain things. But why did he program Solar to help that child? Isn’t Eclipse evil, doesn’t he hurt indiscriminately? Doesn’t he hunger for blood? Hm, maybe there was a misunderstanding. I suppose that the only way to find out is to reach out.

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Inside the mindscape, I watched, I watched Lunar befriend all the children. I watched as he shuddered in horror at my name, I watched as he swore never to let me touch the children, I watched as the children treated me like a boogie man. Someone to be feared, someone to run from, not a protector, not a caretaker like I had been programmed to believe myself to be. I was only able to convince myself to skip over the staff scenes, everything else had me entranced.

Apparently, blood traumatizes children, but how was I supposed to know that? All I was programmed with was the knowledge that I had to clean, and I had to protect children at any cost. I didn’t know that children didn’t like watching me hurting their attackers! I don’t personally understand that I mean it seems like a programming issue for children to just… Care about those who hurt them, I wasn’t programmed to care about those who hurt the children, so why should they? Clearly something that should have been remedied, but I don’t know how to fix it. I do know that children getting forced to be what they aren’t can hurt them badly. So I can’t fix them, and I won’t change. I won’t become weak; I will protect them at all costs. Lunar was clearly made to care for the children; I was made to make sure they weren’t hurt.

The children are boogers, messy, and so so annoying. I was programmed with this knowledge, I have always known this. This knowledge was something I thought was common sense, yet Lunar doesn’t seem to know this, perhaps it is better that he is the caretaker, and I the misunderstood protector. It seems poetic, doesn’t it? Children will always be my priority, I may be lonely forever, but does that really matter as long as I fulfill my duty? As long as they are present to be annoying, present to be scared of me. Although I would have to figure out how that would work once I separate from Lunar, if they would run in fear at a mere sight of me how would Lunar keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t kill themselves with their idiocy? How could I make sure that they aren’t being attacked or hurt or kidnapped? Maybe I could stay at the top of the play structure, out of sight but with a security set up to make sure that I can keep an eye on the children. Make sure they're safe. However, what if I am not fast enough? What if I can’t make it in time to be the protector? Hm, further thought is needed.

Although I suppose I would have to add Lunar to the list of those I protect as well, if they are going to watch over the others when there isn’t an emergency then I will have to make sure he is protected. From the footage he seems childish, good enough to count as one, don’t you agree programming? ‘Request Scanning…. Processing, processing…. Request scanned, approved.’ It was always good to double check with my original programming, I might have adapted out of it but in emergencies I rely on it. Flight or fight instincts rely on it, so now I am sure that I will protect Lunar.

Now, I am going to play more Cult of the Lamb, it may never save my progress but at least it's fun to play.

Chapter Text

I scanned the area for children and/or threats, upon finding neither I began to think. I woke up sooner than expected, it wasn’t Sunday, in fact it was Monday, add in the fact that there weren’t any threats and I couldn’t help but question why I was active. The daycare was a lot cleaner than when I typically get activated, there were some more of those impossible stains, but the toys were a lot more put away and the organization wasn’t as ruined. So that couldn’t have been the reason, perhaps another staff member came to tell me about something? But upon scanning the area that theory was disproved as well, then my eyes caught on a glittery page on the counter. It had been a while since I had last seen the glitter paper, I had assumed that it had just never been restocked once Fazbear realized that it was just an excuse to make a mess. I picked the sheet up scanning it quickly, there was writing in glitter cyan ink (why must glitter get everywhere ) despite the immediate expectation that glitter pen means that a child wrote it, the handwriting looked like it was printed from a computer. Precise and calculated, the specific font was Merriweather, weird since Proxima Nova was the obviously superior font.

‘ To Eclipse, 

Hi! My name is Lunar, the nighttime daycare attendant, and I was so surprised when Solar told me that you didn’t know about me. I mean I was programmed with this knowledge, so it's weird that you weren’t. I do have to thank you for allowing me access to Solar though, he helped me a lot, but I do have to ask, why do you hurt people?

-The Best Daycare Attendant

Lunar

PS: It's creepy to watch me with the security cams when I don’t know. ’

Huh, Lunar seemed… Interesting, I studied the area around me, trying to spot whether there was a reasonable excuse to skip out on writing back to Lunar. However, just as spotted the first time, the area was comparatively very clean, so they likely knew that if I chose not to write back it was on purpose. Rolling my eyes at the obligation of having to speak to someone else. I selected a piece of printer paper and a black pen, before hesitating. I have never really talked to anyone outside of threats, giving orders, the staff and attempting to comfort children (which I am not good at) … How do you do this? Do you respond to the questions? Are there other weird social norms that I don’t know and will cause him to hate me even more for not knowing? Another moment and I slowly began to write down a response.

‘To Lunar,

I only fulfill my programming, my purpose is to protect the children, so I will fulfill it. I am glad that Solar was able to help. I may not interact with children much, but I do know that they are idiots, and they need all the help they can get. Though if we are going to talk more, we should probably trade discord or something, then we can talk while either one of us are off. Also, I have a question for you, why are you so messy? Like I have only three hours out of the mindscape, three . Yet I have to spend most of that time cleaning up your messes. Seriously, no wonder my programming accepted my designating you as a child. You are one .

-Best is Relative,

Eclipse

PS: how else was I supposed to make sure the staff weren’t lying about you?’

That should be good right? I mean, there wasn’t anything I missed… Plus I didn’t outwardly insult Lunar, I think, so he probably won’t hate me for speaking my mind… I took a deep breath, I’ll find out later, though it is curious that apparently, he knew about me. It does make sense for this knowledge to be programmed in us… But why only Lunar? Why didn’t anyone tell me? And why didn’t my programming include this?  Which, may I say that it is just rude I wasn’t programmed with this knowledge, like I get that Fazbear massively rushed our creation but honestly this feels like the second thing we should be programmed with. Not something someone has to inform me of, if they feel like it . You know what? Adding this to complaints I have with Creator as 230.

Now it's time to start cleaning…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Lunar)

Hm, Eclipse didn’t write like an evil person… It is weird that he claims he was literally programmed to hurt people, but more importantly how dare he insult children? Honestly, I am tempted to give him my discord for the express purpose of telling him off. Because while children aren’t the most intelligent, that is just because of experience! Some children are even smarter than adults, they learn quickly (when they want to) and they are oh so fun to play with! How dare he try to pass off calling me a child as an insult, that's a compliment thank you very much. 

Regardless, that's not important, what is important is deciding how I will deal with this. I mean, Eclipse doesn’t seem evil… But Ms Emily is always right… So maybe he just doesn’t know that what he is doing is wrong? No he probably does- but Solar saved Evan! Would someone evil create something good? Something to help someone live, had Solar done nothing I would have been none the wiser, I would have assumed that it wasn’t his fault, that he didn’t have the capability to assess danger like me. But he didn’t, Evan lived thanks to him, isn’t that good? Hm… I don’t like that, maybe I can talk to Monty? He is kind of distant, but I could use him as a sound board, but then again Ms Emily doesn’t like it when I visit other people. What will I do? Well, if she doesn’t know then she can’t get mad… So out the door I went, trying my best to sneak past security cameras towards Monty’s golf course, but then I suddenly heard the loudest footsteps ever known to man. I barely held in a groan as Freddy spoke up “ Oh hello Lunar, it's rare to see you outside the daycare. ”

I quickly spun around as I looked at him, the bear was nice, but we have never really interacted enough to really know who he is. Nor to know whether he is trustworthy. “Oh yeah… I just,” my eyes darted around for an excuse as I bounced on the tips of my toes, finally alighting on the pirate Foxy cutout my eyes widened “wanted to see the cutout!” Quickly racing over to it I made a show of examining it, my eyes nervously darting to him before nodding “yep! I examined it, now I am just going to… Head back.”

I quickly spun towards the exit, “ wait, you seem kind of nervous, are you ok? ”

I took a deep breath, as I spun around my hands behind my back. “I don’t know what you mean, I mean it's not like you know me so…”

“ Maybe but Uncle Henry told me about Elizabeth’s plan- ” wait, Fazbear was related to the Emilies? Holy duck, this was a lot worse than I thought, he is most definitely telling his cousin about how bad I was being, I mean I literally was sneaking out- “ So I was going to seek you out either way. I know we don’t know each other very well but I hope that I can help even a little bit, or maybe you want me to leave… I would be ok with that. ”

Well, I would be getting in trouble either way, and Ms Emily has always been good at telling me what I should do, so I might as well try it out. “I guess it would be fine, but honestly, I don’t know how you can help me. I mean, he is just going to be let out and I just don’t know his priorities or goals or personality … I mean he did something earlier today that suggests he isn’t completely apathetic and cruel, but really everyone has told me conflicting information...”

“ I could meet him? ”

I looked at Freddy, “wait really?”

“ Yep, I could see if he is as bad as everyone says and tell you about it. ”

I gave an exhale of relief, “I would appreciate that sooooo much. If you want, you could meet him now? I could just get into the Daycare and flip the light switch off…”

Freddy nodded and I immediately started dragging him away.

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I was in the middle of playing minecraft when I woke up again, once is ok, that's typical, it is certainly rare, but it would happen occasionally, twice in succession… That seemed impossible, just a week ago if I was told this would happen, I would laugh in their face, maybe call a psychiatrist to see if they were insane. Yet here I am, so soon to the last time I was out, and I was facing an animatronic bear. “ Hello, Eclipse, right? ”

I studied him for a moment. On his chest there was a blue lightning bolt, he was orange and tan with a black top hat. I stared at him, then upon my systems identifying him as ‘ safe ’ I decided to give him a chance. So, I snarked out “no I am the easter bunny, as made obvious by the bunny ears.” Freddy would likely leave soon; he probably needs something from me. I should keep my distance from him, the staff wouldn’t stop him from decommissioning me and he isn’t stopped by a contract.

“ I don’t think you're the easter bunny. ”

I groaned, “I was joking, maybe I should change your designation to ‘wet blanket’.” deeming him as unimportant (and my senses better at tracking him than him sneaking around) I then began my clean up procedure.

“ Oh, sorry I don’t know you very well. ” I could imagine him rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, so he is an annoying try-hard, yay.

“I would hope so, never met you before after all…” Then I spotted some gum under the tables and grumbled “why are kids so messy?” Before starting to walk to the closet for supplies, Freddy began to follow me, I made sure to keep my distance, however it wouldn’t be smart to tell him to stop, then he would only want to do it more.

“ Hold on Eclipse, I need to talk to you. ”

I rolled my eyes, he attempted to stop me with his hand however I easily dodged it. “Excuse me Mister Freddy Fazbear but I am on a timer, the lights will turn on in about two hours and 50 minutes and I still need to clean this place. As well as scan for threats but those two parts of my programing are combined. So if you want talk to me, you must either be patient or follow me as I clean.”

I quickly got out the scrapper for prying off the gum from the plastic tables and the simple green for scrubbing the disgusting germs off the table. “ The lights are on a timer? ”

I shrugged, “pretty sure, whenever the lights turn on it's either an emergency or a saturday at 9 pm and it always turns back off after three hours. Which is unfortunate because sometimes I need more time than that.” My mind flashed back to this one time, I was looking for a child outside the pizza plex after making sure that the police left someone to watch the children. I was hot on the trail and so close to finding little Jeremy. Then everything turned black and I was once again in the mindscape. no idea what happened after the lights turned off, but I do know that the poor bugger wasn’t able to go home. Unfortunate since I knew where he was, but when I came back to the site I couldn’t find anything. No footprints, no evidence, no sign of a five-year-old boy crying, begging to be able to go home. Soon after I upgraded my systems to run much faster, but there is only so much I can do.

Less serious note, the second time I was ever activated I thought I had more time to clean so went really deep clean … Three tables are still white from the scrubbing; it was unfortunate I could only finish a couple of them. “ Huh, well at least you're being separated, you’ll definitely have time to clean then. Though I do have to ask what you usually do when activated? ”

I raised an eyebrow, scrubbing at a toy in my hands before putting it away, why does that matter?  “Depends on the circumstances, if there is a child, I have to make sure they're safe, if there's a threat, I have to eliminate it, if none of those are fulfilled then I have to clean.”

I scraped off the gum, then sprayed the simple green on it. So disgusting… “ What do you define as a threat? ”

“Hm, someone with a knife, someone not registered to the database, someone who is hurting the children, someone who has a criminal history, people putting bombs in the area, someone who is clearly manipulating a child, someone talking as if a child is an object.” This stain was hard to remove, I mean I know that children are messy, but it's been two days, yet this is so sticky that it refuses to be removed… Ugh, I guess I should let it soak, then I’ll come back during the second round.

“ That seems a little vague, what if a child’s family member wasn’t registered? Or someone was teaching a child how to use a knife? ”

I scoffed, “all relatives who are eligible for pick up should be registered in the database, and why would someone be teaching a child how to use a knife at a daycare . That seems dumb.” Almost as dumb as children are, but I didn’t say that out loud.

There was silence for a moment and I could practically feel his eyes on me as he considered my words. Although I don’t understand what there is to consider, I mean it's pretty straight forward and makes sure that no children can be hurt. “ What if a child fulfils any of those terms? ”

“Not their fault, make sure they are safe and without weapons, keep an extra close eye on all the children until it's time for the daycare to close, then investigate the child’s home to make sure that they are safe. If they have no home send them to the orphanage with a coupon to come back to the daycare. Then keep an eye on them to make sure they stay away from whoever put them up to it, and -if I can- remove them from the equation.” I didn’t have to even think about the response, my security protocols were the first thing programmed into me and everything else was based off of that.

“ What if nobody put them up to it? What if they just decided to do it? ”

I scoffed as I moved on to another table, “unlikely, but honestly kids will be stupid, my number one priority is their safety. So, I have to make sure that they have learned their lesson, and why it was wrong, scare them from ever doing it ever again, then keep an eye on them.”

My second priority is their hygiene , why must they make my jobs difficult? I am trying to help! Regardless of how ‘scary’ they think I am. He studied me for a moment, almost debating whether to question my perfect logic, before he made an audible sigh. “ Helpy wouldn’t agree with you. ” I could hear some amusement in his voice, and if I had eyebrows that I could raise I would raise one.

“Why should I care about the purple bear mascot for Rockstar Pizzeria?”

“ He is also in charge of taxes and contracts at the Rockstars and double checking on the Pizza Plex, though I suppose you wouldn’t care about that. ”

“Wow, look at how much you have learned about me.” I paused in my work to give him a slow clap. But only a few, the sarcasm may call for me but the washcloths are louder. So, I went back to cleaning quickly “though why wouldn’t Helpy agree? Wasn’t Henry the guy who didn’t press charges on Micheal Emily for accidentally leading to his daughter’s death? Didn’t Micheal make Helpy?”

I could hear Freddy’s machinery shrug, as I finished up with the light first layer on this table and moved on to the next. “ Henry didn’t press charges, but Micheal never forgave himself for playing that prank on Charlotte. ”

I mentally frowned, “wasn’t he an adult when he made Helpy? Was that why he…. Sent himself to Glitter Paradise?”

Freddy laughed “ did you seriously just call it Glitter Paradise? ”

I stood up, finally facing Freddy for the first time since the start of this conversation. “Ugh, you try getting around these profanity censers! I have to find different ways of saying d-e-a-t-h and explaining it or they go haywire . DIY d-e-a-t-h is definitely outside of my allowed language protocols.” I moved on to the next table, “but I guess if that is literally in Helpy’s programming he can’t really do much to change that. Now I would like you to explain why you decided to talk to me.”

He mumbled “ technically it isn’t in his programming. ” Then he coughed, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant. I mean there were rumors of Rockstar Pizzeria being haunted, although there are many rumors, that are very likely false, circulating around that place. For example, people have blamed Mr Emily for Evan Emily’s disappearance, even though no evidence pointed towards him. “ The reason I decided to talk to you is because of all the rumors circulating around. ”

I started back to the closet to get a more heavy duty cleaner for the play structures. “Really? I mean I should have guessed, but now I am curious, what are these rumors?”

He considered his words for a moment, and I let him, part of me wondered how they would portray me. They didn’t know what my primary purpose is, and I wondered how wrong they would get me. “ Well mainly that you are cruel, vindictive, manipulative, and don’t care for anyone but yourself. That if someone sees the lights turn on they should just try to obey or fear for their lives. ”

“Well typically the lights turn on during emergencies where it is life or death for the children…” I placed the foul-smelling liquid on my rag, scrubbing at the metal bars and the plastic decorations. Considering the words, cruel and vindictive, vindictive meaning ‘ having or showing a strong or unreasoning desire for revenge ’ “I would say it depends on who you are referring to when you say I am ‘cruel’, but I am absolutely not vindictive. For my desire for revenge is completely reasonable, although it may… Get out of hand every now and then.” I could recognize that, after all, having no sympathy towards those who hurt children and enjoying their pain… Can cause me to be distracted. “I am not manipulative.”

Manipulation means that I use someone’s emotions against them to get what I want. I may threaten people but that is the extent of my manipulation, even then it is merely for fun not to get anything out of them. So that is certainly not true, a hum as I slowly began to crawl up the play structure. Eventually as I was double checking the screws he called up “ can I help you clean? It feels awkward to just stand here watching. ”

“Don’t worry about it,” I will have nothing to do other than clean for the next three hours and I might have to do a deeper dive to stretch out that time. After all, what else am I supposed to do? Go out of the daycare? I don’t know anyone outside except for the staff and Freddy, most of those people hate me, or tolerate me. So no real reason to go outside. Plus I don't know what I can do outside the mindscape besides my job,

He sighed, “well do you like doing anything outside of cleaning?”

I grumbled as I spotted another stain on the metal bars, “yeah? I often play Cult of the Lamb, Minecraft, and experiment with programming in the mindscape. I actually made something that I put into the computer Saturday,” I called out “say hi Solar!”

I swung down from the play structure as I realized I ran out of my cleaner. This also gave me a perfect view of Freddy, jumping at Solar saying “hello, Eclipse and Freddy.”

Before going silent again, for a moment all was quiet, but then “ Eclipse, you made that? ”

“Yep, took a while, but I have nothing but time.” Clambering back up the play structure, I sprayed some of the cleaner onto the metal then began to wipe it down. The first time I had activated Solar he couldn't even put proper sentences together. It's a wonder that he has come such a long way… Not that I have really tested him much in this iteration, maybe I should attempt to talk to him while cleaning next time. Freddy likely wouldn’t help me with that.

“ Hm, well after you are done cleaning why not join me and Circus Baby? We were just going to play some minecraft. ”

I scoffed, “and why would I do that?” I turned towards him with crossed arms, I was almost done with the play structure.

“ Well, you are almost done with cleaning, and you don’t seem to…” His eyes shifted away before looking back “interact with a lot of people. ”

I don’t know Circus Baby, and I definitely don’t trust Freddy to think he wouldn’t lead me to some weird trap, he clearly isn’t afraid of me, so he must be like the staff but unlike them, he isn’t restricted by a contract. I am not protected from him, so that is literally the dumbest thing I could ever do. “No,” I carried the cleaner back into the closet. “I can just go ahead and finally clean the ball pit.” I let my eyes wander over to the multicolored monstrosity known as the ball pit. Shivering at the fact that after all those years, this is going to be the first time I have ever cleaned it.

“ You are going to clean the ballpit? ” A soft grin in his words.

“Yep,” then under my breath I grumbled “ finally. ”

“ Glad you enjoy cleaning. Elizabeth always complains about how much Lunar hates cleaning. ”

Is he actually on a first name basis with the CEO? Eh not likely, she absolutely hates animatronics, so he likely means someone else. "That doesn’t give him an excuse to skip out on cleaning! I mean he is a literal daycare attendant, even children should learn to pick up after themselves. What if someone got hurt because of the dirtiness of the area?” I chose the Kleenex mop for the floor, just wet enough to clean off the floor but not enough to make it soggy.

“ I suppose you have a point, but it is not like I can really say anything about this to him, I mean Lunar does try his best and management… Tends to overreact. ”

I shrugged, I didn’t know what they did with Lunar, I tried my best to always avoid them, they often extended the same courtesy. Well except for emergency situations, where they try to hunt me down and use electric shocks to control me. That's about the only time they do though, after all they know I bite back. “I suppose, regardless, I do have to ask if you need anything else? I think I need to explore the closet to find the appropriate tools for cleaning the ball pit, then I need to give myself a deep scrub.”

“ I could help you with that, a ball pit that hasn’t been cleaned in ten years definitely sounds like a team effort. ”

I studied the bear for a moment.  “Why do you want to help so much?”

He blinked for a moment, a tilt to the side, “ why wouldn’t I? ”

I narrowed my eyes, I didn’t know what game he was getting at but if he is the only one there then it's less likely I will be overpowered, I have experience dealing with foes, smaller foes typically but there have been a few people who made animatronics to fight me. “I guess, I don’t have a system you would get in the way of.”

“ Good, now tell me how you want to do this. ”

I sighed, “in the closet there should be a giant container for the balls we can place them in after we polish each one… I am likely going to need to get a vacuum for the bottom, what type of cleaner for the balls though?”

Hm, choices, choices.