Chapter Text
Well sh*t. This certainly wasn’t your definition of an ideal morning. You wake up sticky from sweating all night, whether it’s from the summer’s heat or the nightmares you know you had but can’t remember what they were about; you don’t know and frankly don’t care as the text message on your phone reading:
- No scheduled events. Important meeting at 10:30am with manager Ansel Hail, seems far more important right now.
The last time you met with Mr. Hail was when he was scolding you for helping a security bot get gum unstuck from its wheels, or in his words, “slacking on the job.” Anyways, it seems your concerns last night were valid. That security guard totally snitched on you and you’re totally getting fired today. You don’t take too long getting around this time, simply throwing on a Fazbear T-shirt and some basic blue jeans. You do, however, pack your outfit into your work bag, assuming they’re going to ask for it back. You finish the rest of your morning routine without any problems and head out to your car, taking a quick moment to appreciate the slight chill in the morning air before it heats up.
Finding a parking space is significantly easier due to how early it was, leaving you with extra time that you decide to put towards buying some food. You head over to the food court with your work bag held tightly against your person, a habit you picked up from constantly needing to make yourself small to fit through the crowds of people. But it was quite empty at the moment with only a couple of families and friend groups dotted throughout the food court’s area, and you feel that you probably look a little suspicious hugging onto a big duffle like this, so you shift it around so that the strap crosses you front and the bag part rests against your hip messenger-style. You were too nervous for your own good. You didn’t even truly know if you were getting let off; yet here you were moping and skittering about like this was your first time ever being out in public.
You run your hand through your hair and sigh as you make your way over to a small food shack dawning the name “Bonnie’s Breakfast” on a bright blue and pink neon sign. You weren't surprised to see a staff bot dully greet you behind the counter with a rigid wave, its expressionless black eyes making you feel quite unwelcome.
“What can I get for you today? Members of Chica’s Mazercise program have a 20% off deal on parfaits!” the robot informs you with a slight crackle in its voice, which makes sense considering the poor thing probably gets little to no maintenance. It’s not like they're the ones really bringing in the money, though. That's the Glamrock’s job. You nod at the staff bot and begin to scroll through the different options. After scrolling through the different foods offered on the kiosk, you settle for a small coffee and breakfast burrito. The bot rings your order up and gets to work behind the counter, leaving you with nothing to do but doom scroll through your phone and mull over the upcoming meeting. Your ears, however, hear something much more captivating; an elderly woman patting a crying child on the back and speaking the familiar name, "Daycare Attendant." God damn your curiosity.
Upon scooting closer to the woman, you notice she's on the phone. “Remember when they used to have an hour dedicated to nap time? Yeah, they need to bring that back. Cooper is always so cranky when we pick him up..” the woman complains while readjusting her grip on the misbehaving toddler. “Oh, well that's not anything interesting”, you think to yourself. What you do find interesting is how that place is even still up and running when it seems to have a never ending list of complaints and problems. You drag your attention off of the lady and to the metal arms extended in front of your face, holding your order. “Your total is $7.50!”
Startled, you take a few steps away from the stand before coming back to your senses and grabbing the food offered to you. “What is up with me lately..?” You mutter as you swipe your card on the kiosk, frowning at the extreme amount of money you just gave up for a simple burrito and beverage. You don’t understand where this newfound obsession for the Daycare came from nor why you even care in the first place, but what you do know is that if your chances of getting fired weren’t already high enough, they definitely are now if you don’t bust ass and make it to Hail’s office in about 5 minutes. You adjust your bag once again and shove your face full of greasy food and mediocre coffee as you rush your way towards the nearest entrance to the employees-only tunnels, praying you don’t get lost while navigating the seemingly endless passageways. It only took about 3 minutes for the gold plaque donning the engraving “A. Hail” to catch your eye and you were even lucky enough to find a trash can right beside his door, as coming into your manager’s room with hands full of trash wasn’t exactly the best look for your situation.
You lift your hand to knock, but before you can even land a knuckle on the wood, Hail swings the door open, blinding you with his shiny bald head and equally bright smile; which you suspected was full of veneers. “Ah! There you are! Just in time, just in time!” He repeats quite awkwardly, moving to the side so you can enter. Though he looks the same as he usually does, you can’t help but notice the difference in his demeanor. Known for his domineering charge, you instead see a more nervous and frantic side of your boss that reminds you of someone who was just caught doing something they shouldn’t have been. You welcome yourself to the computer chair in front of his desk, instinctively picking at the cracking fake leather on the armrests as you wait for him to make his way over. His office was scarily neat, like “I haven't touched a single thing in this room” kind of neat with only a few papers scattered in front of the table you sit in front of and one uncapped pen in his pencil holder. “Is there something wrong, Mr. Hail?” You ask said boss as he makes his way to his seat, seeing no point in beating around the bush. If you’re going to go out, you're going to go out brave. “No, no of course not! The opposite in fact!” He rambles as he bends down and begins fumbling through the different drawers in his desk, but you pay no attention to what he’s doing or what he may be searching for as you’re too busy relishing in the feeling of relief as it washes over you.
You’re not getting laid-off! Your shoulders drop as the invisible weight you didn’t even know you were carrying was lifted off, and you fail at fighting back what could possibly be considered the biggest sigh of your life. After the solace comes the familiar feeling of curiosity you always seem to feel when in the Plex. What did he need you for? Were you getting a bonus? A raise? You felt like a kid on Christmas day. You look down at Hail, who was still rummaging like a mad man through the different compartments throughout his office before he finally let out a huff of triumph. “Ah found it!” He drops a heavy packet onto the table labeled “Daycare Assistant Guide,” followed by many paragraphs of fine print and two blank lines, presumably where one’s signature would go. You look from the guide, to your manager, and then back down at the guide. “Uh, what is this for Sir?” You question with a raised eyebrow, cautiously grabbing the packet to read its contents. Hail coughs out a laugh that sounded more like a bark at your suspicious attitude before clearing his throat. “As I’m sure you know, our Daycare Attendant has been experiencing a plethora of complaints and malfunctions over the past few months.” He states solemnly with a shake of his bald head. “Yeah?” You encourage him to continue, even though you think you know where this is going.
“A friend of a friend here recommended you for the Daycare Assistance position! And after reviewing your progress as the Birthday Event Curator over these past few months and taking your specialty with handing children into consideration, I’ve decided you’re perfect for the job!” Manager Hail exclaims with glee and clasped hands, giving you an expectant look. He was starting to look less like an authoritative figure and more like a begging child. “I was recomm-” your question was cut short as Hail grabs the packet from your hands and flips it to the next page. He points a thick finger at its contents that consists of what your new schedule would be, your pay, wage, and what your new job would contain. “You’ll be working longer hours, but your pay will significantly increase! All you have to do is watch over a bunch of kids with that daycare robot! Easy-peasy, no?” He grins and clicks a pen open, skating it across his desk to you. “Just sign the front and I'll take care of the rest!” Feeling overwhelmed, you take the pen and put it in between the two of you.
“Mr. Hail, I don’t know if I’m as qualified for this position as you think I am..” You express, but your concerns are dismissed with a wave of his hand. Unfortunately for you, he didn’t drop his stubbornness when adopting this new personality. “Nonsense! You’ll make mistakes here and there of course, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it all soon! After all, we’re no different from our robot counterparts here! We learn as we live, just like their AI systems!” His chair creaks under his weight as he leans back into it, and he brings his wrist up to check the time on his watch. “Look, I’ve got somewhere to be in about a half an hour, so if you’re really not interested, then I’ll let you go and find someone else to fill in the job. But I really do think you’re perfect for it..” You don’t like how he's putting you on the spot like this, as the more professional way to go about it would be to give you a few days to consider the offering, but it seems you have no choice. You bite the inside of your cheek in thought, weighing your options. It’s really no different than your current position if you really think about it, you’ll just be more involved in the kid’s activities instead of simply setting up and monitoring from a distance. Besides, money is money, and you can never have enough of that. You take a deep breath and exhale slowly before taking the pen and signing your name onto the front, which brings a bright smile to Hail’s face. “Wonderful, wonderful! I knew you had it in you! You’re a bright kid, I'm sure you’ll adapt quickly!” He grabs the pen from you and signs his own name on the line below your signature before closing the packet and standing up with a huff. You stand up as well, smoothing out your shirt with one hand and scooping your work bag up with the other. “Well, no time to waste! The Daycare will be opening soon..” He chirps, walking over to the door and opening it for you. Wait what!? He wants you to start right away?! “Wh-what do you mean?” You ask with a nervous laugh, darting your eyes around the room to avoid his eager stare. “You’re going to meet your new coworker of course! Though we here at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex prefer the term ‘Teammate!’” He continues on, expecting you to follow behind him. “Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense! I should probably meet the guy I'll be working with!” You jest awkwardly, though it receives no response from Hail. You continue to meander through the staff-only tunnels, trying hard to keep up with his pace while he chatters on about what to expect from your new job until you stop in front of a heavy metal door labeled “Daycare” in bold, red lettering.
“This is one of the secret entrances! It’s mainly used by the security guards, but I expect you to use this door to get out of the Daycare in the scenario of an emergency. Other than that, you can simply enter through the main doors with this!” Hail hands you a blue card with a cartoon picture of Sundrop’s face on it. “That's a Daycare pass! Though yours is a bit more special than the ones parents apply for. Yours can open any doors within the Daycare plus give you access to anything behind the security desk.” You perk up as you remember your question about the security desk from when you were snooping yesterday. “There’s a security desk?” You feign ignorance, hoping to get more answers out of him. “So does that mean there were other assistants before me?” Hail suddenly goes rigid, his hands balling into fists at his sides, as though he let something slip that shouldn’t have. He clears his through roughly before answering, “Well, yes. We had human workers in the Daycare, but uh—that was years ago; like the first year of the Plex’s opening.” Hail’s smile is strained and you wonder why this seems like such a touchy subject for him. “So what happened? Why did humans stop working in the Daycare?” You ask, looking past Hail’s obvious discomfort. “Well, the Plex wasn’t as popular at the beginning! Especially the Daycare. We simply couldn’t afford to pay the workers and decided on shutting the position down.” You almost scoff at the obvious lie. The Plex? Not having enough money? That’s hilarious. Poor manager Hail’s sad attempt at deterring you from sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong has failed, and instead you’re full of more curiosity than ever before.
But you let it slide this time as he begins to push the door open to the Daycare, opening a portal to what feels like a whole new world. It looked much brighter than it did when you were peeking through the window panes in the lobby, and you noticed the medieval-town theme going on that you didn’t beforehand. There’s cheery music blasting throughout the room that’s quite catchy, but too loud for comfort. Though the colors and sounds surrounding you are quite distracting, your attention is easily directed towards the large robot nervously playing with his finger as he walks back and forth. Your heart practically drops out of your ass upon seeing him. Perhaps large was an understatement. This thing was all limbs! Once again, much different from the view you had above! Hail chuckles at the shocked expression on your face and places a heavy hand on your shoulder. “Much bigger in person, isn’t he? Don’t worry, we get that a lot. Sun is completely harmless though!” Your lips press into a thin line and you nod slowly. “Hey Sunny!! Over here bud!”
The animatronic quickly jerks its sunny head in your direction, perking up upon seeing Hail next to you he skips over, each foot making a soft thud against the playmate. You note to yourself; much quieter than the other animatronics. “Hello, hello, helloooooo!! Mr. Hail, who is this new friend you’ve brought in?! My new assistant, perhaps!?” His voice isn’t any more comforting! Unlike the Glamrock’s whose voices always reflect one that’s happy and refreshed, Sundrops’ sounded tired, shrill, and overworked. Like how you expect a person with his job to sound. The robot must have noticed your discomfort as it extended its big arm out for you to shake his hand. You do it with slight hesitation that doesn't go unnoticed, but nobody says anything about it, possibly for your sake. In an attempt to cut the tension in the room, Hail clears his throat and gestures toward you. “Sunny, this is indeed your new assistant! And today, they will be watching you from the security desk while you work!” You whip your head back towards Hail with furrowed brows and a strained smile. He never mentioned staying during the meeting! Last time you checked, the Daycare closes at 5pm! Looking at the clock on the wall, it’s only 11:40. That’s almost 7 hours of unpaid work! “What..?!” You hiss through gritted teeth at your manager; who is currently ignoring you by looking at his watch.
“My, my look at the time! I’m afraid I have to get going. Sundrop,” He looks up at said animatronic with a radiant, fake smile, “Take good care of your new assistant, okay?” This earns Hail an eager nod from Sundrop, which gains a chuckle out of your manager. “And you,” Hail points a fat finger at your chest, “You start next week! Anything you need to know will be emailed to you plus a copy of the guide from earlier will be sent as a pdf, so please don’t forget to look over that! And your new uniform can be found over at the security desk, go ahead and try it on when you have the time.” Hail leaves out the door you both entered in with a wave goodbye, leaving you and your peculiar co-worker in awkward silence. Once the heavy door slams closed, signaling Hail’s departure, the solar robot turns to you. “Oh how excited I am to have an assistant once again!” He coos, clasping his hands over his chest. You blush slightly, not knowing what to say. “Oh well-” The clang of his hands hitting the sides of his metal body interrupts you before you can finish your sentence, and you look up to see what could only be described as anger shining in his white optics. “IS WHAT I WOULD SAY IF I WAS EXCITED!” He hollers and your hands fly up to cover your ears from his shrill voice. Utterly confused, you can only stammer out a pitiful “H-Huh..?” Which only seems to make him angrier. “You think I’m oblivious to your plan?” He accuses, scrawny fingers flying up to grip at his rays to keep them from spinning. The sound of his internal cooling system kicks in as he begins to sporadically mumble to himself. “I was made to replace YOU! YOU HUMANS! Not the other way around!” Is this a big joke you’ve found yourself on the outside of? You try to defuse the situation by explaining yourself, but it only makes his temper tantrum worse as he dramatically flops to the ground and begins to claw at his eyes. “Wahhhh…no fair, no fair!” He mimics crying and turns onto his side to roll up into a ball. Suddenly it all clicks; this big baby thinks you're coming for his job! You can’t blame him for approaching the situation with such theatrics though. He’s been surrounded by children ever since he was created. Of course he would react like one. “Listen here,” You take a deep breath and place your hands on your hips, trying to look as calm and mature as possible. “I am not trying to steal your job! Not to mention I highly doubt they will ever let me. You make this company a lot of money, you know? You’re free labor. Now get up and stop crying!”
Sundrop’s whining abruptly stops as he lowers his hands from his eyes to blankly stare at you, as though he was processing this new information. The silence continues for a painfully long minute before a ping is admitted from the speaker in his chest. “What was tha-'' He springs back to his feet with a mighty jump that slightly shakes the mats beneath you. “The first child is here! You go over to your stupid desk and find something useful to do!” He shoos you away as he begins to skip over to the entrance. You wanted to call out and remind him you technically weren't supposed to be doing anything but watching, but decide against it thinking it’ll cause another breakdown. You make your way to the security desk and plop down on the hard seat with a sigh. You look up to see the first crowd of children as they trickle into the Daycare, smiling up at Sundrop as he warmly welcomes them all in and encourages them to say goodbye to their parents. Though he’s been an absolute monster so far, you can’t help but feel both horrified and impressed at this robot’s mercurial temper. You rub your already tired eyes and kick your feet up, preparing yourself for a long day of absolute boredom.
