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If Sun had the ability to taste, it wouldn’t be the sweet sugary taste of candy or Fizzy Faz that bubbled and coat your tongue, or maybe something kin to tasting the salty greasy food of the plex. With a metallic body he was given, the taste of metal was out of the question as well, the farthest possible thought that crossed the mind filled with ideas for a fun day for children. A mind made up of a super AI with dancing numbers that twirled into a beautiful ballet of coding that ran through course wires like blood through veins.
It would be bitter. Bittersweet, to be precise.
Sun would have a sweet tooth, a preference to the sugary treats of small balls of candy they’d hand towards the children when they wanted to hype up on caffeine to exhaust themselves amongst the towering jungle gyms and the arched twisting slides that connected together for them to hide in and play. He held the orange candy in nimble fingers, the one named after him, recognizing the saturated marigold colored candy he was so familiar with. The excitement the kids felt when they saw the candy, the exhilaration felt when they could taste the sweet citrus bubbly flavor, knowing the high of energy they’d feel after consuming them.
To Sun, it was a bitter memory. Because there was never just one candy, just like there was never just one daycare attendant.
Sun remembered the moondrops, the beautiful wrapping of yellow and blue mixing together with modest art of stars and a crescent moon covering over the front. It was a soft blue color, mute compared to the almost saturated yellow of sundrops and calming, a pretty looking candy. It had the smell of soft lavender to those who had them, the taste soft and just the slightest tinge of bitterness to it, a melatonin for those who’ve had restless nights. They were beautiful, despite being candy, and it was reassuring that the moon rested ahead of the sun.
But a painful reminder now, the only candy that filled his pockets being those that resembled bright colors of yellow, moondrops being locked away into the dark like the one who he relied on. Recalled, put away after the incident where the naptime attendant painted themselves with cardinal color of blood, staining the pristine white and soft blue of his body. The night everything changed, the rules changing on regulation for the lights to stay on and to let Sun prosper on in limelight as the curtains closed behind them to hide the defect away to keep the appearance of perfection within the daycare walls. Moon was a liability, but Sun had the upper hand as the prominent face of the daycare, the chance to thrive on for he was too significant to lose.
The taste wasn’t bittersweet. It was the taste of grief.
Where did Sun go wrong, losing a friend he would have stayed with to the bitter end, and watching the diminishing mind of Moon crumble away like someone crushing a piece of candy within their palm, letting it granulate into small fragments. Falling between one’s fingers to be left on the ground to be forgotten, no longer edible or useful. The feeling of grief is powerful, it’s consuming and swallows you up and drains you of energy that leaves you too exhausted to get back up and fight. It’s not violent, nor comforting, a weighted blanket that was too heavy to attempt to do anything but surrender. Sun’s strength outweighed any human durability, but those moments left alone in isolation made him feel feeble and small, the lights too bright and the joyous music too loud. His enemy wasn’t his mind, it was his actions that posed consequences for his retribution.
For it was Sun who crushed the candy in his hand, his strength unrecognizable in the moment as soft flurry’s of blue grains of candy cascade through his fingers to be left in the dark unreachable corners below him.
Sun enjoyed everything around them, seeing the beauty of seizing the moment and keeping a chin up for the imminent future that was sure of its jubilant potential for the children he devoted his time to. That was his life that came with no regrets, and the payoff was sweet to him to know someone’s day was improved with the gain of smiling faces waiting to see Sun once again. But for once, time was taken for granted when his negligence led to the decay of the one friend who stayed by their side through thick and thin. The one animatronic that Sun’s shadow casted over, yet in return did Moon keep his company and showed him the wonders of outside the daycare when he walked along the halls to secure them from intruders. The one who needed Sun the most, did he fail to recognize the defect that corrupted the mind of its oblivious host until a life was snuffed away.
Sun was heedless, waving away that maybe it was a simple issue that could be solved in parts and services, his back turned to the shadows as Moon’s mind rotted away slowly. Alabaster pupils sinking into the sharp colors of red that painted his face, glowing within the dark that sunk into pools of black, a walking nightmare that violated a sweet dream. Unrecognizable, yet still intact did fear seize Moon in that instance, taking back the control did the awareness set in of the abominable act he committed. Reaching out, calling, crying, screaming till his soft voice turned gravely and hoarse, was left behind by Sun dwelling in horror and fury. Stuck between fear and blame. Never granting Moon innocence in that time, a ringing that deafened Moon’s pleas for help.
But that was long ago, time aging between the two as Sun realized he would be doing this all on his own. Moon was there, but he wasn’t there. Had Sun had the chance to redo everything again, he promised he would have never made the mistake again, he would have stayed with Moon all night if he knew how to save a life. Sun submitted to his mistakes, paying for hostility instead of empathy that he paid towards the victim of an enemy within the walls of the Plex, unaware of the white rabbit that roamed the halls like it was her castle.
“I’m sorry.”
The attempts to reconcile were empty and sometimes felt like Sun was talking to themselves, praying to god that Moon could hear him. Raising his voice, trying within his might to solicit some kind of response from a friend he lost, a brother, that he put the blame on when in reality it was Sun to be blamed. Slowly did fear take reigns that Sun obsessed with, always shutting Moon out with any attempt to come out, keeping the lights on at all times. The last line straw for Moon, for any apologies after that was silenced. He was unafraid now, striving to keep living and no longer afraid to keep walking alone. Where he walked left, Sun kept right.
The attempt for an apology with a soft hushed voice like Moon used for naptime was countered with a howl of Moon's raised disoriented voice, snapping with bared teeth that Sun didn’t know best when he tried to slip past defense. There was a long list of everything wrong , and no, Moon didn’t hear him, lost in cynical bitterness.
“You left me. I don’t need you.”
There was the one acknowledgment that Moon admits, that he was just not the same , and Sun knew then where he went wrong. Because there was nothing else to admit to.
“I’m sorry, I just. . .”
“You’re not sorry. If you were sorry, you would have said so before.”
Moon was not a vessel for good intentions, and the weapon best against someone he knew like the back of his hand was the call out on the flaws of someone who performed so flawlessly, so perfect to stay as Moon was left behind. Guilt was the best ammunition to use, and he knew it was eating Sun from the inside out, a fair punishment but still wasn’t enough. Apologies drowned in the blindness of emotions between the two, because Moon was right. He was right. And Moon did not grant the chance towards Sun to try and comfort himself to live with false amends that Sun did the right thing when his vanity was the reason Moon was left with nothing. Sun didn’t know best, despite the times before of encouraging words of enlightenment or gentle scolding to act as a parental sibling.
Helpless, Sun could only keep pounding his fists harshly against the walls that Moon built around themselves to try and scream for him to forgive him, for anything. To try and find a solution of any kind, but the promise of that was empty. There’s nothing Sun could say to fix and change that part of Moon that was damaged, his words drowned out as he slowly became demanding. The more he fought, the further away Moon became immune towards the cries of helplessness, the fear of Moon being lost away. The irony was there, while Sun’s voice was loud and vocal, Moon’s was worn from his own cries from before. But he was never granted the allowance to be heard.
So why should Sun?
The passing of time dwelled over them both, the sharp feelings of sorrow, anger, and betrayal fading into them rather than simply existing on two sides of the same plane. Moon was kept shut out, his hunger for vengeance still dimmed down inside himself as Sun kept him pushed back to put not just his duties ahead, turned to ensure the safety of others, to save a life. Adamant about the rules, it was ingrained into the heads of anyone who stepped foot within the daycare, his voice shrill with the intention of gaining attention towards the rules. The rules must be followed.
The lights must never be turned off.
Living the life of the monster, the nightmare that others saw Moon as, his beliefs morphed into that of twisted vengeance that he protected the territory of the dark as best he could. Not only for the idea of having something for once to himself, a place to prosper in, the only place that Moon could, but a leading factor that was still stitched to the back of their mind. Fear . The dread of someone dragging Moon out once again, against his will to relive the horrors of being inside the dim and somber room of parts and services he’d endure what he thought, alone. It was an unspoken anxiety that would be denied if confronted about, but it stuck with Moon and refused to be the only memory that wouldn’t disintegrate. And like Hell would he go back.
The act of discipline distorted bared teeth and bare hands capable of crushing skulls of anyone who dared to enter the daycare if the lights were off.
“ You must be punished.”
The last things to be heard before an untimely death for sure, but it wasn’t directed without reason to an unfortunate security guard or employee who challenged Moon’s authority by ignoring the signs. Sun preached the ominous warnings like a sermon, heading caution for it wasn’t a suggestion but a promise they would meet ends for recalcitrant behavior. If the boundaries were defied, the ownership of protection by Sun was handed to Moon, snatched away in an instant to Moon’s beards cruelty. Those words held deeper meaning, the punishment held like a dangling piece in front of Sun, clenched between blue lapis colored fingers in a mocking fashion. If Sun could save a life, he should have tried harder to save this one unlike Moon’s.
This was Sun’s punishment, to stand by powerless as Moon played his role of the jester he was, the jester he could have been. Putting on a show and snuffing out the last breath of those who dared walk the perilous lines with stupidness that was laughable.
Moon wasn’t deemed a killer, but the degree he was willing to go to as a bite back towards Sun he would take. These were the cards he was dealt to, and he was ready to play them with the bidding he had, gambling hard with nothing to lose while Sun had everything to lose. And it was a fun game, to know he was striking the cords that hit the hardest, to puncture the nerves and twist the wires of the same body they shared if only Sun felt it. Because why hold back when he was betrayed and forgotten, why shouldn’t he live in guilt for the aftermath of his callous actions? Sun couldn’t be anymore cold-blooded as Moon was, heartless and so easy at deceiving everyone that he was as compassionate as others thought they were.
Swimming in spite, Moon failed to see that behind the fog of hostility that blinded him mixed with the glitch that enabled the aggression in his system, the animosity he felt was unrequited. Sun was waiting, waiting on the other side with open arms, waiting for Moon to come back to him. Making amends, an internal thought that was kept to themselves, Sun could only wait. Because forgiveness was the only thing he longed for now, the wish he’d keep on shooting stars he’d only count with Moon. But for now, Sun was living with the unimaginable, for their sake. The threat of being decommissioned would never leave an animatronics life, always watching and monitoring them.
Whatever happened to Sun, Moon would be right there with him, because Sun felt the same things Moon did in parts and services, although it was a soft blow compared to what happened to Moon. And if Sun had to run himself ragged, till he was exhausted at the end of the day and barely hanging on, so be it. If he had to force himself to keep pushing, to pull labor harder and harder to keep the daycare thriving, so be it. Because it kept Moon there with him. The responsibilities he’d take to rest on his brow, he’d take millions to know that there’s a chance that Moon would prosper, that there was a future Moon would be to overcome the darkness that ate himself from the inside. That one day Moon would forgive him.
They don’t make Moondrops anymore.
But in Sun’s hand did his thumb gently roll over the casing, held tightly and kept hidden for himself as a small reminiscence to motivate himself to keep going, keep happy smiles and bright days. Keep shining like the sun. He wouldn’t crumble this one, a soothing memory that replaced the bitter past with the sweet prediction that in the future things will heal themselves. It was a tether that kept him grounded, Sun’s desire to fight for not just himself against the cruelty of the plex, but Moon produced a new flame that rivaled that of the burning bridge between the two. It was kindled from restitution, and there inspired Sun to reject his act of negligence in honor of keeping Moon’s memory as alive as he could.
Posters of Moon still stayed, plushies of the twin attendants sold in pairs, and this was the only act of trust that Sun gave the employees of the plex with, to keep them together. If a child wanted to see or know of Sun, they must at least acknowledge that there was also Moon despite him not being there. It was the softest act of kindness given to Moon, a step at a time as they awaited for Moon to also take that first step. Sun was still cautious, still keeping Moon at bay fearful of the retaliation that could be struck upon innocent bystanders, but he would not make the same mistake he made the first time. Not again. And with all his might, would Sun avoid it as well.
If Sun had the ability to recall their life, it wouldn’t be a sweet tale of happiness that followed him around, to be able to say he couldn’t relate to the feeling of grief or regret. Or the to say he has never experienced the numb feeling of metallic fingers having never touched the thin viscous feeling of copper smelling blood that haunted the daycare even after the cleanup. It staind its image in his mind much like it had stained the colorful play mats that lined the daycare. A mind made up of a super AI with dancing numbers that twirled into a beautiful ballet of coding that ran through course wires like blood through veins.
It would be bittersweet, like the lavender scented moon themed candy he held onto for his own keepsake.
He’d grant innocence instead of walk-in between the lines of fear and blame, instead of turning a blind eye, if he would have fought a little harder for Moon.
Sun knew where he’d gone wrong, losing a friend somewhere alone in the bitterness.
And Sun would have stayed up with Moon all night. .
Had he known how to save a life.