The Daycare Attendant

Reflecting

The clock hits 2AM. I haven't moved from the door. I refuse to move. I cannot let the kid get back in here. However, I have been hearing the other animatronics walking around here. Miss Vanessa was right, they don't sound like themselves. I wish to take a look at them, so I get up and look through the windows.
"Chica... Montgomery... Roxanne..." They look so different. Vanessa must've gotten them to look for the boy. But, their behaviour scares me so much, I'm afraid that the moment they get a grasp on him... he might meet his end.
I sigh and walk through my Daycare. I decide it might help if I just clean everything up. The child and Moon left behind a mess. I put toys back where they belong and begin sweeping up some knocked-over glitters.
"I wonder if Vanessa knows more about the kid. I have no recollection of him, so it confuses me that he was able to flawlessly navigate the Daycare." I think about it.
"And I haven't seen Vanessa at all yet... I wonder if she's alright. What if my friends have hurt her..."
I then realise.
"All of them are on the lookout for the child, but I haven't seen Freddy anywhere..." I rush back to the windows and notice that there isn't anyone here anymore. They all moved to different areas of the PizzaPlex. I can still hear them though. Their voicelines are their usual ones, but their behaviour doesn't make sense. When we almost close, bots are allowed to look for remaining children but not to hunt them... Then again, I've never been asked to help with finding missing children. Which is weird, because I'm literally a caretaker. I even know how to perform CPR and I know all locations of the defibrillators in the building. I sigh. Why is it that I just now realise how much I get excluded. Ever since that one day, I haven't seen them again. I try to remember that day. The most lovely day.

"Hello everyone! And welcome to another show  of Freddy and Friends! You can enjoy music, lots of amazing food, take pictures with our stars and you can let your face get painted by our beloved Daycare Attendant!"
There's glitter everywhere, they managed to stick a bowtie on my chestplate. My head even glows! This is magical.
Today is Opening Day. The PizzaPlex is beautifully decorated and kids can get used to and introduced to my friends and me. I've already facepainted 7 children. Each time I finish a facepaint job, I allow the kids to put a sticker on me.
"Next one up! Hi there sunshine!"
A very small girl in a fitting small wheelchair stops in front of me. She looks sad that she can't get on the designated seat. I see she's upset and use one of my hands to lift the wheelchair to the right height. I shape my fingertips in a way that she cannot roll off my hand. I smile and she's surprised. She giggles.
"What would you like me to paint on your face?" I ask politely. I see she has a feeding tube. I calibrate my hand to make sure I don't touch it or get paint on it.
"Can you paint a big butterfly on my face?"
"Of course! Which colors would you like for the wings?" I show her my painting palette.
"Green and yellow!"
"Alright then! I'll get straight into painting!"
I take a sponge and use the green and yellow to make the base for the wings. I make them into a nice ombre. I try not to push too hard or move too fast, since it can confuse the kids.
"Time for the lines! Do you want me to make them black... or gold?" I smile.
She lights up at the latter. "Gold please!"
I snicker and dip my brush into the gold paint. I graciously paint the lineart on her face, directing her so she can hold her head at the right angles for me. I draw some small stars around the butterfly and put some setting powder on it to set it in place.
"Now it might itch a bit, but no worries! The paint won't come off unless you wash it off sith hot water or a wipe."
She smiles.
"Sun, can you move me closer? I gotta place my sticker!"
I do as she asks and she puts a lovely flower sticker on my nose. It's a daisy. I love daisies. I smile, and feel her giving me a small peck. I gasp and my cheeks glow a light red.
"Aw dear, that was so sweet of you! I can't wait to see you again!" I put the wheelchair safely on the floor and wave her goodbye.
I love days like these. The music is loud, so in my area I have a basket of earplugs for the children that cannot handle it well. I've seen my fair share of overstimulated children, so I want the PizzaPlex to be as accessible as it can be. And if the staff won't do it, I'll do it myself. After all, I've taught myself sign language in several languages. They forgot to put it in my programming, so thanks to the help of one of the mechanics and the staff accidentally giving me access to the internet, I was able to get it in my system. So far it has made many kids happy, so I'm glad I did that.
"Sun! Sun!"
I look down.
"Hello there!"
"Sun can I put my sticker on you? I forgot to do it right after you painted my face." A boy looks at me with a cactus sticker in his hand.
"Of course! Put it anywhere!"
The boy smirks and puts the cactus on my pants. I smile and wave as he runs off laughing. I don't understand what's funny, until Vanessa takes it off and tells me that he put it where nobody should put that.

I miss that day. I had so much fun! I made so many kids smile. And look at me now, terrified of myself and terrified of what I can't control.
I continue sweeping up glitter and picking up fallen pens and markers. I begin humming the PizzaPlex theme to myself to calm me down a little bit.
"Sun?"
I look up by the gate. It's Vanessa.
"Miss Vanessa! I was—"
"Have you seen the kid?" She sounds angry.
I sigh.
"He was here about an hour ago, made a mess. So I'm cleaning up after him."
She groans.
"Miss Vanessa, listen, Moon—"
"I can't deal with your stupid failures right now, okay? I have to find this damn kid. Alert me when you see him." And she walks off.
I worry about her, I still do not understand why she is so aggressive.
I decide not to overthink it and I keep cleaning. I can't focus though, I hear footsteps but all my sensors say that there isn't anyone here. I sense a presence, but I can't locate it.
"Maybe I am going insane."
But I swear I hear it. Like someone is skipping around the PizzaPlex. I brush it off and hum again, to cancel out the sound.
Something is definitely going wrong in here though, besides my problems with Moon.