"What seems to be the problem?" You observed him for a moment, attempting to identify any apparent issues. "Can you show me?"
"Sure!" He said with a wide smile, "It happens whenever I do this-" The sun animatronic sat up all the way, dangling his legs over the side of the table. He gently kicked them back and forth, jiggling the bells on the ends of his shoes. He began to cycle through his movement sequences.
You'd almost be mesmerized by such a childlike action, that is until a loud grinding noise filled your ears. With a raised brow, you stepped closer, moving in-between Sun's legs to get a better look.
"I think I found the problem." Bending down to peer into his chest cavity, you see a set of cogs that helped move his internal systems coated in a sparkly gooey substance. This was preventing the cogs from turning, causing the grinding noise, and the reason for his inability to perform this movement.
Without thinking much of it, you grabbed a spray solvent from your belt and coated the gears. This dissolved the glue, allowing you to wipe it away easily. However, before you could get them all the way clean, a low humming sound started up, signaling the bot's cooling fans had turned on. Was there another issue that needed to be fixed? He shouldn't be overheating this quickly, especially now that the glue was gone. You moved back slightly, looking up at him once more.
"Are you okay? You seem to be overhe-" You lost your train of thought as you locked eyes with him. His expression had changed, his eyes half closed, the normal blush on his cheeks seemed..darker. It took a moment for you to process, is he..embarrassed?
"I-I am sorry sunshine," He said, his voice much lower now. "This is why I don't get maintenance done very often, my internal systems are very sensitive.." His chest rose and fell at an elevated pace, as if he were breathing.
Was he designed to do that? Freddy and the others don't simulate breathing. They blink, and certain parts of them fidget from time to time to seem more life-like, but you've never seen them breathe.
"Sensitive?" You questioned, "You mean you can feel this?" You reached your hand out, more intrigued that he possessed the sensation of touch rather than confused about why. You reached into his chest cavity and gently stroked your finger along one of the wires connecting to his endoskeleton. The sun animatronic gasped, joined with a slight 'whirr' sound that emanated from his computing system.
"Yes!" He protested, "I can feel that."
You quickly pulled your hand back, not wanting to bother him further.
"Wow," You stood and pondered the thought of just what kind of technology it took to give a robot the sensation of touch. Freddy and the others are programmed to detect threats and look after guests. They exhibit a minimal amount of emotion, the expressions on their faces limited by the metal structures. But this one is different, completely different compared to the design of the other robots in the Pizzaplex. He is very human like, and it made you wonder if he was even created by the same person.
"I'm sorry, I've never seen a robot react like that before." You said, looking at him once again.
"It's okay!" He responded with a playful tone. "I don't get to experience that very often, hence why it tickles sometimes!" He smiled and laughed softly, his legs beginning to swish back and forth again.
"Well it looks like you're all fixed up buddy." You reached up to close his chest cavity, placing your hands onto the smooth surface of his outer shell. Expecting the usual sensation of cold metal, it shocked you to discover that he was warm. You pushed the door of his chest cavity closed, hearing it lock into place. Your hands lingered on his chest for a few moments, your palms absorbing the soothing warmth.
"Y-You can call me Sun." He said softly, the low hum of his cooling fans initiating for a second time.
You removed your hands and took a few short steps backwards. You clasped them together, rubbing away the sensitivity. The absence of warmth left them tingly, craving the comfort of being held against heat. You assumed it was because he was designed that way, being warm to the touch seemed like a reasonable option when it came to handling kids.
"Well Sun," You said, giving him a slight smile. "You're all done, you can go back to the Daycare now."
"Oh boy!" He vaulted forward, pushing off from the table, leaping and landing in a graceful plié. "What will you do (Y/N)? Do you have more work to do?"
You shrugged, having to look up even farther now that he was standing at his full height. "I have some cleaning up to do, your repair didn't take nearly as long as I'd thought."
"Clean up, clean up!" He said with a laugh, "I can help!"
You couldn't help but giggle, his attitude is adorable, the over bearing need to assist is clearly no design flaw. Perhaps having an extra set of hands wouldn't be so bad.
"Sure Sun, you can help me put away my tools." His sun rays spun with excitement as you took off your toolbelt and handed it to him.
He scanned the room, his advanced location detection making quick work out of finding where the tools went. He placed everything in it's proper place and returned to you before you could fully step out of your coveralls. Underneath you wore a Mega Pizzaplex t-shirt, and jeans. Reaching up, you loosened the hair-tie that held your ponytail in place. Your hair fell to your shoulders, the lost tension soothing to the strands as you ran your fingers through them. You closed your eyes and sighed deeply, reaching up to stretch out your muscles from a long day of work. You opened your eyes again to find Sun staring at you, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, twiddling his thumbs.
"What's the matter Sun?" You asked, placing a hand on your hip as you turned to him.
"Nothing sunshine!" He beamed, bouncing on his tip toes. "It's just your hair..it looks so soft!"
That made you laugh, an actual compliment? You haven't heard one of those in a while, especially one directed at yourself.
"Thank you," You whispered, subconsciously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "Since I'm all done down here, would you like for me to walk with you back to the Daycare?"
"Oh boy would I!" Sun twirled, one foot held graciously out to the side, his arms lifted while he spun. "This is going to be so much fun!" He followed close beside you as you headed for the stage.
The two of you ascended back up to the Atrium, the spacious room surrounding you with the glow of neon lights as the stage arrived back at the top. You would never get over just how cool this place was. There are so many attractions, games, and activities. Not to mention the various places to get food. This would be heaven for a kid, you only wished it had been around when you were growing up.
Sun followed you through the dining area, a jingle sounding each time he took a step on the tiles. His movements are so bouncy, he leans and bends into each action with such fluidity. You really had to admire his build, you could see why a bit of glitter glue caught in his gears would cause such an issue. You both made it to the escalators, going up one level to reach the elevator that would take you to the main lobby. You pressed the button, the doors opening, allowing you inside. You watched as Sun leaned down, ducking his head so he could fit inside. This made you giggle again, and Sun's rays spun in a circle as he laughed with you. Freddy and the gang are tall, but Sun seems to be a bit taller than the others. He's more lanky, not as bulky and built like the glamrock crew. Once the elevator reached the lobby, Sun stepped out and waited for you, once again glued to your side as you headed left, towards the Superstar Daycare.
"You know, I've never been to the Daycare Sun." You said to him, walking down the hallway.
"Really?" He seemed surprised, "Well, I guess you are a bit older than our usual guests." He paused outside the entrance, right in front of a giant golden statue of himself and another jester themed character.
"Would you like to see it?" He asked, gesturing to what looked like a giant play structure behind him.
You looked at him, and then over at the big golden statue. You had thought there was another Daycare attendant, and the two figures in the statue confirmed it. Where was the other animatronic? Perhaps you'd meet them if you went down into the play area.
"Sure, you can give me the grand tour." You smiled at his over excited reaction to your response.
"We can color, play hide and seek, swim in the ball bit, and OH!" He clapped his hands together, "I can show you my glitter glue collection! Come on (Y/N)!"
Your cheeks heated in the slightest at the fact that he remembered your name. Following, Sun lead you over to a big slide. He gestured for you to go in, anxiously bouncing on his toes.
"This is the entrance?" You raised a brow at him.
"Yep! You have to go down the slide to get in silly!"
You felt a bit of embarrassment rise in your chest, you haven't gone down a slide since you were a kid. It seemed a bit awkward, but Sun was waiting, so you sat down at the edge with your legs out in front of you. You were about to push yourself forward and slide down, but Sun's arms were suddenly around your waist. The heat in your cheeks from earlier slowly grew as his legs slid in beside yours, and his stomach pressed against your back.
"Uhm, Sun-" You didn't have time to think about it before he pushed you both forward, sending you sliding down.
"Here we goooo!" He yelled as the two of you twirled through the tube, around and around until you came out with a splash into the ball pit.
As you surfaced, you found Sun laughing, watching you with an infectious smile. You grinned back at him and began to laugh too, you haven't had this much fun in a long time. Was it weird, having this much fun with an animatronic? No matter how life-like he may seem, he's still a robot that's programmed to entertain kids. You were letting yourself start to feel as if he could actually care, and want to be around you. Sure he might say you're his friend, but he's programmed to be everyone's friend. The boundary between human and robot was very blurred when it came to Sun, you'd have to keep reminding yourself that he's just a robot.
"What would you like to see first (Y\N)?" He asked, moving through the ball pit over to the exit, you following close behind.
Once out, you looked around. The room looked larger from inside, the play structure seemed enormous now that you were down next to it. Padded floors, toys, things to climb on, slides, this place was a little kid's dream.
"I guess you can show me the glitter glue." You teased, earning a slight blush from him.
"Of course! But first, the Daycare only has one rule (Y\N)." He said, his tone becoming a bit more serious.
"Oh? What's that?"
"Keep the lights ON." His face tensed with an expression you couldn't quite place, and you weren't sure if he was joking or not.
"The lights? Uhm, okay-"
"GREAT!" Sun reached down and grabbed your hand, pulling you towards a small area of tables and chairs that were kid sized. He showed you various bottles of glitter glue, and a great many more craft type items. You assumed this is where the kids made things to take home, or drew pictures for their family.
It took some convincing from Sun, but he finally got you to agree to at least play one round of hide-and-seek with him. He found you pretty quickly, but it wasn't any less fun, he was just super good at it. He told you a few stories, some about events that happened here at the Daycare, others that you were positive were just programmed into his memory. He performed a puppet show for you, a short cute tale about a kingdom that had a jester, a jester who was very similar to a certain animatronic. That detail made you giggle, Sun pretending to be oblivious as to why you were laughing. Before you knew it, the hours had passed by, it was really late and if you didn't get home soon, you'd never get enough sleep to come back in tomorrow.
"Sun?" You peered down at your watch.
"Yes sunshine?" He was sitting next to you on the floor, his legs crossed. The two of you had spent the last bit of your time just casually talking. You were surprised that Sun had even asked some of the things he did, like he genuinely wanted to get to know you. Things like how old you were, what you like to do for fun, how long you've worked at Freddy's, where you're going to school, and of course who your favorite animatronic was. He didn't like hearing that Freddy was your favorite, you even thought he might have been a bit jealous, but he changed the subject quickly after that.
"I should get going, it's pretty late." You stood, straightening out your shirt as you did so.
"You're leaving?" Sun looked over at you from his spot on the floor. "But we just started having fun!"
You laughed. "Don't be upset Sunny, I'll be back tomorrow." You stepped over to him and reached out your hand to caress his cheek in attempt to comfort him.
The gesture was intended to be innocent, but as soon as your palm rested against his face, the familiar warmth bloomed against your skin, drawing you closer. You raised your other hand up, placing it gently on his other cheek. The surface of his face didn't feel like metal or plastic, it was smooth..and soft to the touch. You pondered if it were some type of silicone material as you gently rubbed your thumb back and forth in a small motion. Sun closed his eyes, leaning into your touch as you gently held his face. You recognized the low humming noise of his cooling system, and it made you smile.
"Will you come and see me again tomorrow?" He asked in a soft voice, opening his eyes once more. "I've had so much fun with you today (Y/N), I'd like to get to know you more, i-if that's okay."
You felt the blush on your cheeks, and you looked down to avoid his gaze. "Of course I will, I'll come see you after my shift okay?" You didn't want to, but you slowly let go, your hands dropping back down to your sides.
He smiled and nodded, standing up. He lead you over to a large brown door next to the security desk. "This will take you back out to the lobby." He opened the door for you and pointed outward.
"Just go up those stairs, they will lead you back to where we came in."
"Thanks Sun." You said, stepping outside the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."
You didn't know why, but it pained you just a bit to see him so sad. You tried to keep the smile on your face as he stood in the doorway, trying his best not to seem so down. With all the positivity he had programmed into him, you didn't think it was possible for Sun to be sad. It was hard to leave him like this, and even harder for you to understand why you wanted to comfort a robot.
"See you tomorrow (Y\N)." He waved, and slowly closed the door.
You made your way back up to the main lobby, down the steps, and out through the gate to the parking garage. This was the first time since starting at the Pizzaplex, that you didn't want to go home.