Chapter Text
Around the bend and down the little elevator and we were at the large wooden doors that lead to the play room.
Two huge play structures dominated the room with a little bridge spanning between them, a few areas had been set up with pillows and in the back of the room was a massive ball pit.
I would have loved this as a kid! I’d love to play on it as an adult!
“Hey! You the new hire?”
Looking around, I found a security guard sitting behind a desk just inside the door. I’d completely missed them while looking at the play area.
“Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” I stepped forward and offered a hand to shake, but the guard ignored it.
“Right.” The girl had long blond hair tied back into a ponytail and bright green eyes. She was giving me a once over that made me feel a little steamed as I let my hand drop.
“I don’t expect you to last long.“ she said before going back to her computer screen.
I scowled, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
“Excuse me-?”
“Hello! You must be our new repair technician.”
Turning, I almost fell over with a jolt as I found the towering sunny robot standing inches from me.
“-OH! Geez-“ I gasped, trying to recover from the scare.
“Yes. Yeah, that’s me. Are you Sun?” I asked, giving the robot a smile, hand pressed to my heart and I tried to calm to down some.
“Yes.” Sun said tightly, the ‘obviously’ left unspoken.
My smile wavered as I got a better look at this guy.
Thin body with a few exposed wires, thick puffy jester pants, round head with a ring of rays, a crescent moon on half his face, fixed smile and white pupils, almost invisible, that were studying me intently.
He was covered in hand prints, glitter and paint and something that might be soda which seemed strange for a daycare to be stained with. Who was giving soda to small children?
“Welcome to the team. Unfortunately, we- I am not in need of a repair technician. That being said I’m sure your skills could be of use…” he gave me a once over not unlike how the security guard had just done.
“Elsewhere.”
My brain took a moment to compute, then I eyed Sun before giving him a skeptical look.
“Looking at the state your in, I want to assume that you’re in need of some maintenance.” As I spoke, I could see Sun stiffen, but before he could protest I added
“But I’m not going to force you. If you say you’re fine I’ll believe you. If that changes let me know. I was hired to care for you and Moon.” I tried not to sound curt, but it was clear neither Sun nor the guard wanted anything to do with me.
“Not to worry. You won’t be hearing from me.” Sun said
And I couldn’t keep the frown off my face any longer.
“Right. Either way, I’ll still be dropping by tomorrow-“
“as I said, we won’t be needing your-“ Sun tried to cut me off, but I road over his words, raising my voice slightly
“-To check on the wiring in the lights.”
Sun stopped mid protest, his rays retracting into his head, before tilting his face plate slightly to look at the cloud lights hanging above us.
Three of the lights were out and one was flickering.
“You can tell me of any other concerns you have with any daycare equipment when I return. It was nice meeting you.” I said before turning on my heal and leaving the daycare, letting the door close rather loudly behind me.
I was angry and upset, but I didn’t know what had happened with the other repair techs. It sounded like the repair tech turnover was a revolving door. Maybe they’d mishandled Sun and Moon care and that was why he was so rude for a first impression.
I shouldn’t expect him to be nice to me any time soon, but I would win him over eventually. I knew I would. I was determined!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Elbow deep in a bucket of suds, I rung out my sponge for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“Don’t worry, big guy, we’re almost done.”
The plex had closed for the day and I was giving DJ MM a scrub.
The staff bot had concluded the tour in parts and service and had informed me that I needn’t work a full shift, but there was so much that needed to be fixed, I’d decided to stay anyway.
There was a huge repair chamber in the middle of parts and service that I probably wouldn't ever use unless I needed to fabricate something, a mess of tools and bits of endo skeletons.
First thing I did was take stock of what I had to work with down here. There was a little of everything and almost nothing useful.
As I put together a tool belt, I found a security badge with my name on it and looped the lanyard onto my belt. I guess they'd gotten that set up sooner than expected… or they hadn't expected me to hang around after the tour.
While the plex had still been open, I’d fixed the elevator in the lobby, started on repairing at least five different arcade cabinets, and had changed an alarming number of light bulbs.
I had created a document on my phone to list all the things I noticed that would need fixing and had them organized by floor and attraction.
It was an alarming number and growing by the minute.
Hopefully, I wouldn’t be the only repair tech for long… hopefully.
As soon as we’d closed, I’ll hauled a bucket of supplies and a toolbox up to DJ so I could get him in tip top shape again, just as I’d promised.
The staff bot who’d given me the tour had given me access to all the repair manual files and I had immediately downloaded them to my phone.
Currently, the one for DJ MM had been pulled up and was open, the phone screen glowing from the floor. I’d forgotten it down there when I’d started up the ladder to reach more of the DJ with a rag and some de-greaser so he wouldn’t have to contort for me.
Through the whole of my shift I couldn’t get my interaction with Sun out of my head.
Was there anything I could have done better? Said differently? Did something happen to make him an asshole or was he just like that?
I sighed, causing DJ to make a slide whistle noise in question.
“Mmm? Sorry. It’d been a long day. I’m alright though.” I said, quickly so DJ wouldn’t try to turn and look at me while I was on this ladder. The last thing I wanted was to fall and hurt myself on the first day.
From the entrance I could hear the chatter of people and I clambered down the ladder to see who it was.
Round the corner came the big four, Freddy, Chica, Roxanne and Monty, all making for the karaoke rooms in the upper part of the arcade.
Chica noticed me first.
“OH!”
I was hit with a identification scan and Chica squawked
“It’s the new tech! What are you still doing here?? Weren’t you supposed to have a half day?” She gasped, running over to say hi, her footsteps shaking the floor as she did.
“I decided to stay to get a head start on some repairs.” I explained with a nervous laugh.
“DJ was looking a little rough and his joints were giving him some trouble so I figured I’d go ahead and give him a check up.”
DJ MM played a fanfare, giving a thumbs up as he did, his teeth clicking happily.
“That’s wonderful!! He’s been creaking for ages now!” Chica gushed. When she reached me, she grabbed my hand in both of hers and gave it a vigorous shake.
“Don’t burn yourself out though! You just started!”
Up close to Chica I got hit with a sudden smell of rotting trash. It was only for a moment, but it made me pause. Was that cheese on the corner of her beak?
I’ll address that later.
“Aren’t you the Daycare Attendant’s tech? Why are you working on DJ?” Roxanne asked, eyebrow raised as she looked me over.
Why did people feel the need…
My smile went a little tight
“While I am the only tech here I’m going to try to maintain as much as I can within reason. That includes you four and DJ.” I said looking at the main four.
“My priority will be the Daycare attendant, but you’ll also need maintenance as well.”
“That is very kind, Superstar!” Freddy said, stepping forward to shake my hand.
“We would very much appreciate any time you can spare us! Welcome to the team!” He said happily, ears wiggling as Roxy turned to Monty and muttered
“They won’t last long.”
Monty scowled in response and stepped around Roxy to slap me on the back, making me stumble as he laughed,
“You’re going to work yourself to death, kid! Don’t push yourself too hard!”
“Well it won’t be forever! They’ll hire more techs for the team, I’m sure.” I said grinning at the joke only for my smile to drop as Monty, Chica, and Fred bear looked at one another.
“They’ve had job postings up for repair technicians for almost 2 years now. No one wants the job, chickadee” Chica said with a sad smile.
“Everyone who’s taken a repair job leaves within a few days.” Monty added while Fred Bear nodded
“It is unfortunate.”
“2 years?” I asked, eyes a little large.
“You’ve been without any repair technicians for 2 years? That explains a lot. Well, alright. I want all four of you to report to parts and service in the morning, I want to make sure there aren’t any potential issues just under the surface.” I said before muttering to myself,
“2 years.” It was a marvel that any of the animatronics were still functioning. I’d probably have to wait for Sun to break down before he’d let me anywhere near him for a check up. Maybe it wouldn’t come to that. I’d just have to put in the work to get him to trust me.
Maybe Moon would be easier to get close too… once I’d actually met him.
“Will you have time to do a check up for all of us?” Freddy asked, probably worried about my getting everything handled before the Plex opened in the morning.
“I should. I’m only going to do a quick look over to see what needs to be addressed and fix anything that I would consider an emergency repair. We can schedule a more thorough check up for later.” I’d already turned away, bending down to grab my phone to make a couple of notes.
“Don’t let me keep you! You guys go have fun! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
They were surprise and seemed a little concerned, but gave their goodbyes and went on their way.
This was going to be tricky if I didn’t want to over work myself… but I couldn’t leave them in this state. They were people. A lot of people still didn’t see this kind of learning tech as alive, but they were clearly people. People who’d been left to fall apart and decay.
I was going to fix that…
And not over work myself…
Or let what happened last time happen again….
DJMM made a whistling noise and it knocked me out of my thoughts. I’d been muttering and pacing as I looked over my notes on my phone.
I was already off to a great start.