Chapter Text
People often assumed that Sun's erratic personality and lack of filter meant he wasn't very observant.
That wasn't true. He was incredibly observant! He often knew when a child was sick before they started showing symptoms, kept careful track of what supplies were needed in the day care, and knew a lot more about his adult co-workers lives than they expected.
But knowing about something and caring about it are two very different things. Why the hell would he care about Adult 34's bitter divorce when that brat Andy just ate the last box of red crayons?!
Trapped in the confined space of the van, he had no choice but to notice you. The dark bags under your eyes, the way you ate straight out of any random can with little thought to what was in it. How you didn't sleep so much as pass out at night.
Pale. Thin. Twitchy.
You... weren't okay.
The end of the world as you knew it had been hard on you. That was only natural, of course, but you were smart, you should have figured something out after six months!
Maybe Sun expected too much. You were only human.
He stared out of the window as you drove, trying to distract himself with the passing scenery. Tree. Tree. Tree. Cow. Cow. Tree.
You sniffed again, wet and nasally. He had to hold his tongue, that noise giving him the ick like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He was trying to be nice. Trying to be quiet. You were clearly sick.
Another sniff had his metal spine crawling, and he had to physically restrain himself, shuffling in his seat and crossing his arms.
"Will you please blow your nose?!" He stressed.
"Hm?" You replied sleepily, eyes not leaving the road.
"I said, will you please blow your nose?!" He repeated.
"Hm. Sorry."
You made no move to do so, blinking slowly.
Ugh.
It wouldn't be long before your fever would set in.
"Pull over." Sun ordered.
"Why?"
"Because you're sick."
"I'm fine."
Ssssnnniiiiifffffff.
"You're not fine! Pull over!"
"There's no good place." You half-heartedly argued.
"We've passed like three good places! Look, there's another one!"
"Too exposed."
"AUGH!"
He nearly threw his hands up before remembering the low ceiling, crossing his arms tighter and slumping down.
"There's a town in five miles." He noted as you drove past a sign "Pull over there."
"We'll see what it's like when we get there."
"You're impossible!"
You did not stop at the next town. You drove slowly through the main street for a moment before flooring it, declaring it 'too clean'. 'Too clean'?! What did that even mean?!
Before nightfall, you found a place you deemed suitable to stop (in the middle of nowhere, off the road and hidden from view as usual), ate your measly can of unseasoned tuna, and once again passed out.
It wasn't even dark yet. Sun had already watched all the DVDs Moon had brought along, and there was nothing else do to.
So he sat, cross legged in the back of the van, watching you as your temperature rose, and rose, until you were finally what would officially be considered ill. His programming told him to call someone, but... who? His supervisor? Your parents?
Everyone was dead.
Dumb programming.
...
...
...
Everyone really was dead, weren't they? As much as he often wished people would leave him alone for a while, he didn't want... this. Forever.
Those early days in the plex when everything had started going wrong... he thought it was some kind of nightmare. A bad joke going on way too long. He kept expecting management to come in and sort everything out, that he'd reactivate in the morning and everything would be fine.
That didn't happen. Obviously.
It didn't take long for the people to stop coming. The animatronics were... scared. Scared of the silence, of the stillness. It had never bothered them before, but knowing the plex would never reopen, that the children would never come back... the glamrocks grouped up first, all bunking in the same room because they couldn't stand to be alone. He resisted for a while, before the day care... got too much for him. Even the staffbots, basic as they were, started doing their usual duties in groups and pairs, babbling electric nonsense at each other to fill the silence.
Fearfully, like expecting the last balloon at the slumber party to burst, they waited.
And then it happened.
They started breaking.
Loose wires. Missing bolts. Thread caught up in joints and treads.
Even if they had the knowledge to fix themselves, they didn't have the dexterity, their large metal hands couldn't grip the delicate tools well enough.
They were scared to move. Scared to not move, in case they locked up. Scared to pop a bulb that couldn't be replaced, loose a spring that couldn't be recoiled, snap some custom part that had to be shipped in from Switzerland.
They were scared.
And then the power went out.
So they started unplugging things. Arcade cabinets, fridges, cameras. They turned off lights in areas they didn't use much, and room by room the plex got smaller as they tried desperately to keep the generator alive.
Sun went offline quickly after that. Their battery level needed to be high for him to front, and they just couldn't spare the juice. Sharing a memory chip with Moon didn't guarantee he knew what happened, just like a human knowing they had a dream didn't guarantee they would remember what it was about. With their processors so strained, a lot didn't copy over.
Until you fixed him. That was the last crystal clear thing that passed from Moon's memory to his. Waking up fixed, and begging to go with you. He may not have the full context, but he trusted Moon well enough to assume it was for the best.
Kind of.
Sort of.
...
...
Well, this just wasn't a lot of fun, was it? Everything was so serious and important in a way he couldn't stand, and you wouldn't even explain the rules to him so he could play along. Like what did 'too clean' mean? Clean was good!
And what was with the van anyway? Why not find a nice house, warm and clean, rather than worry about fuel and supplies and all that boring junk?!
He didn't get it. He didn't get it, he didn't get it.
You didn't wake up the next day, fever in full swing. Moons anxiety lingered like a hangover, no matter how much Sun tried to shake it off. Worrywart. It wasn't like you had the plague, you just didn't take care of yourself.
Well, what was he going to do all day if you were out for the count? All you ever did was drive around anyway...
Sun could drive...
Yeah! Yeah, he could drive! You'd be so happy when you woke up to find he'd been the responsible one while you were taking your extended nap. How hard could driving even be?!
Hard, as it turns out.
He didn't fit in the drivers seat even with it all the way back, his knees either side of the steeling wheel. He had no idea what the numbers on the stick-thingy meant, or what the pattern was about. Was it some kind of puzzle? While you were driving? Seemed unsafe. When he turned the keys, the engine made an unhappy noise, but nothing else happened.
What was he doing wrong? Did the stick-thingy have to be in a certain place? When did he get to press the pedals?
One sudden lurch into a tree later, and Sun was sick of driving. They were close enough that it hadn't done any real damage to the van, but his bolts were certainly rattled. You hadn't even woken up, just coughing and turning over in your sleep.
Well...
...
...
f*ck driving! There was nowhere Sun could get to on the power of his own two feet! He'd never been outside on his own before, and now seemed like the perfect time for a walk! A bit of sunshine, a bit of fresh air, maybe he'd even find some other people!
Yeah! Solid plan!
The first hurdle was the mud on the way back to the road. It was sticky and oozy, like chocolate pudding mixed with Fizzyfaz... gross. But with his long legs, he managed to step over the worst of it, using tree roots and large rocks to clamber his way to the relative cleanliness of the road.
The second hurdle was the fifteen minutes he spent frantically cleaning his feet afterward.
But with that out of the way, he was unstoppable!
He picked a random direction, just ambling along the road. The grasses and plants were very overgrown, but he supposed that was far from anyone's priority these days. He head heard all about 'autumn', when the plants turned orange and brown and all the leaves fell from the trees, but he never thought he'd see it with his own two cameras. Trees were pretty funky looking, weren't they? All odd angles and stumpy bits. Ooh, a magpie!
He had no idea how long he walked, just looking around at the scenery. Up hills, down hills, around corners, always following the road with his head in the clouds. Nature was so ... chaotic. In a peaceful way. Did that make sense? It was messy, but he could spot geometric patterns everywhere that made his robot brain happy.
Spotting a structure on the road ahead, Sun stopped at a little metal shack with only two walls and a plastic roof. Was this a... 'bus stop'? An old woman sat there, skeletal thin and eyes just as white and clear as his, looking perfectly calm with her umbrella and bag beside her.
"... You might be waiting a while, grandma." Sun told her.
"They always come eventually." She replied calmly, probably having heard his bells coming "I can wait."
"I don't think the buses are running any more."
Grandma gave him a smile that he wasn't sure how to read. He had never seen that expression.
"You sound very young." She said "Are you here on your own?"
"Eh, there's another one with me." He shrugged, rocking on his feet to entertain himself "But they're sick. They're no fun even when they aren't.'
"It's important to have fun, even when times are difficult." Grandma agreed "It's what makes us human."
"Right?!" Sun declared "You get me!"
"What's your friend sick with?"
"Eh, nothing serious. They don't eat well, they don't sleep well. They're just run down."
"Oh, poor thing."
"I guess."
"Are you out looking for medicine?" Grandma asked.
"I'm just letting them rest. What else is there to do?"
"You could cook them something nice to help them get their strength back."
"I don't know how to cook." He explained.
"What's to know?" She replied with an amused smile "Just find a cookbook and follow the instructions."
"I do like instructions..." Sun mused.
Grandma laughed, adjusting herself on the bench.
"You're a funny one, young man." She said "Thank you for stopping to talk to an old lady."
In the course of his walking, Sun came across another town, one of those tiny, out of the way places that would have fit neatly inside his day care. White picket fences, manicured lawns, freshly painted houses, why, he's just bet this place would be full of flowers in the spring.
Dare he say it, this place was downright pleasant. Walking along the main street, he found a little shop, a florist, a bakery, and he was sure that if he looked around some more he'd find a little school too. Better yet, there was no mess! No litter, no abandoned cars, no... other things. It looked like the plague had missed this place completely!
How exciting! Maybe he could convince you to come here? He could run the day care and you could do... whatever it was you did? If he could speak to the manager, he was sure-!
With a sickening crack, one of his sun rays flew off, skittering to a halt several feet away. The next shot hit him in the chest, the last in the shoulder.
"Stop, stop!" He yelled in confusion, covering the important processors in his head "What are you doing?!"
"What the f*ck?!"
"I told you it was a real robot!"
"Shut up, Darryl!"
"Stay right where you are, hands where we can see 'em!"
Not knowing what else to do, Sun raised his hands. A group of men emerged from behind some cars ahead of him carrying rifles and shotguns. What the heck, why did they shoot him?!
Most of them looked... odd. Like they were cosplaying as adults in costumes that were too big - a butcher, a doctor, a barber - but they were all armed to the teeth, with belts of bullets over them like they expected to be attacked at any moment. The 'sheriff' was a corpulent man whose uniform was many sizes too small, thrown on like a vest over his normal clothes.
"Who the f*ck are you?!" The sheriff demanded, jabbing at his chest with the end of his shotgun "Who sent you?!"
"He must be with the government!" The butcher thought "Who else could afford to make a robot like that?"
"I'm Sun!" He introduced, trying to keep his cool and sound friendly in the face of firearms "I was made by Freddy Fazbears for the Mega Pizzaplex. I'm the day care attendant! If you have any children that need-"
The robot received a gun butt to his head for his trouble. It spun around a hundred and eighty degrees before stopping, making the crowd 'oooh'.
"Don't you f*cking lie to me, asshole!" The sheriff raged "There ain't a Fazbears for a hundred mile of here! Who's piloting this piece of sh*t?! Where are you hiding?!"
"No-one is piloting me." Sun insisted, making sure his neck bolts weren't knocked loose "I'm just-"
He was floored by a blow to the back of his knees, hitting the concrete road hard.
"You're some kinda scout, aintcha?!" The sheriff accused, spittle flying "Trying to see how many of us there are so you can come in and take over!"
"You ain't welcome here!" The barber agreed.
"We kept this place clean this long, you ain't takin' it from us!" The butcher added.
"I don't care if you are from the government." The sheriff growled, spitting a phlegmy glob at his feet "We kept this place clean and free of disease all by ourselves, we ain't gonna be giving it up now."
Sun was speechless as a dozen guns aimed at him. What hell was going on?! Why did they think he was from the government?! He didn't mean any harm, why wouldn't they let him explain?!
"Wait!" A woman's voice cried.
The men did wait, pausing and moving aside as the woman ran over.
"Darla, get your ass back inside!" The sheriff ordered.
"You came from outside of town, right?!" She cried, almost begging as she stopped before him "Did you see an old lady anywhere?! She looks like me, just shorter!"
"You mean the grandma at the bus stop?" He supposed, seeing the resemblance.
All colour drained from the woman's face as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"The... the bus stop?" She whimpered.
"Darla-"
"How did my mother get to the bus stop, Winston?!" Darla screamed at the sheriff "She's f*cking blind!"
The sheriff looked uncomfortable a moment before squaring up, poking an accusatory finger at the woman.
"For f*ck's sake, Darla, pull yourself together, you sound like a liberal!" he accused "We're running out of food, you know! We had to trim the chafe, your mother understood that - if we have to choose between feeding our kids and feeding her, we have to pick the kids!"
"Wouldn't know, looking at you." Sun sassed, mouth faster than his brain "I bet if you went on a diet, there'd be food enough for everyone."
The sheriff's entire face went red.
"How dare you?!" he raged "I'm the one protecting everyone, I deserve to eat!"
"Are you saying my mother didn't?!" the woman screamed back.
"Some blind old bint who never did anything?!"
"HOW DARE YOU-!"
Sun barely had time to register the blow to his back before it loosened the wire to his battery, plunging him into a death-like sleep.
He reactivated suddenly. The sky was orange and black. It was so hot. Why was it so hot?
He tried to get up, but his arm was caught on something, his leg snagged. He looked around, horror filling his entire being.
On his arm was a body. A fresh kill, the blood barely coagulated, staring at him with glassy eyes, wearing the exact same camping bag that you had. His foot was hooked on a ribcage, the rotted flesh still moist and staining his trousers. The ground was unstable where he lay, but he was afraid to look around more. He thought he knew what was below him, he didn't want to see.
So hot, so hot, he'd melt if he stayed here. He had to run away. Back to safety. Back to the van.
He was almost shaking as he reached for the fresh body, not wanting to touch it or look at it, pushing it gently to free his other arm.
He couldn't not see the rest of them. Some were fresh, days old. Some were bones. Some kind of ditch, the sides deep and wet, full of bodies being cooked by the heat. A place to dump the mess to keep the town clean...
Clean.
They kept the town clean.
Oh no.
Oh god!
Is this what you meant?!
Panic overwhelmed him. He wasn't wasn't programmed to deal with this! He scrambled like a mad creature, shattering bones and squashing parts he didn't stop to confirm as he clawed his way up the muddy bank.
The fire was everywhere. The entire little town was ablaze, not a single fence post or blade of grass not alight. How the hell had this happened?! Where were all the people?! Melting... he was melting... he had to run!
He picked a direction and sprinted. He barely stopped himself tripping over burning corpses, too charred to tell anything other than they had once been human. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the end of the tiny town, to the cooler air, away from the pit of bodies.
His foot caught, on what he had no idea, sending him careening to the ground, tripping over a fence and landing behind a bush. He pulled himself into a tight ball by some instinct he didn't even know he was programmed with.
That was when he heard the sound. A powerful 'whooooooosh', followed by an explosion of heat.
Sun peeked around the bottom of the bush.
Sturdy black boots. Fatigues. A gas mask.
A flame thrower.
Then he saw the trucks. Big wheels, armoured, khaki.
The army.
The army was torching the town. The gunfire sounded almost like popcorn as people ran. Sun thought it would be louder.
With another sickening 'WHOOOOOSH', flame billowed over the bush, forcing Sun from his hiding spot. He sprinted once again, hearing the 'pop pop pop' behind him as he fled.
Why?!
Why were they shooting him?!
Why were they burning everything?!
Why was any of this happening?!
He ran.
He ran, and he ran, and he ran, until his battery threatened to go into low power mode. He almost skidded to a halt, looking all around, but he was alone.
He jumped at every crack of wood, every rustle of grass. Where was he? Was this the way he had come? He didn't... he didn't know! He hadn't been paying attention! Where was the van, where were you?! How long was this day, why wasn't the sun setting yet?!
He hugged himself tightly as he followed the road, ignoring the blood and gore that covered his back and legs. He hadn't found his broken ray, you probably couldn't fix it.
You were gonna be so mad.
If he ever saw you again. He shouldn't have wondered off.
The endless day continued.
He found himself back at the bus stop, his relief that he was heading in the right direction shattered underfoot when he saw all the blood.
Grandma...
What kind of world was this?
He didn't understand.
He didn't understand.
He didn't understand.
Her bag had been ransacked, the measly contents tossed into the road. Photo's of her daughter and grandkids, the sheriff's head torn from them. Some dress-up jewellery, a couple of books. Kneeling down, he picked up the one that hadn't been torn up, turning the beautifully hand-written pages to and fro.
It was a cookbook. Organised, varied, with clear instructions and timings. A labour of love by someone who would never give it to the person it was intended for.
He took it with him, holding it close to his chest as he stumbled back down the road.
He didn't know where he was. Had he passed the van already? You had hidden it so well. Everything looked the same. Why wasn't the sun setting? Moon would know what to do.
He was an idiot. He shouldn't have left the van. He broke the rules, he broke the rules, and now he was being punished! He should know better, rules were important!
Warnings wouldn't stop flashing in his vision, his systems failing where he'd been shot. Did you have the parts to fix him?
Would you even bother, after he'd broken the rules?
Idiot.
Idiot!
IDIOT!
A metal clang had him flinching, the dull sound sending birds scattering. What was that...?
"C'mon, man!"
"I'm trying, these sh*ts aren't easy it get into!"
Another clang.
"Give me the damn crowbar!"
"I'm telling you, I got it!"
A crowbar? Difficult to get into?
The van. The van! You were still sick!
Sun ran for it, not even thinking about the mud as he left the road. It was the van! He found it, he found it, he was safe!
The two men startled and jumped back at the sight of him. Between the fact he was a robot and the blood he was covered it, he wasn't sure what shocked them more.
"What are you doing?!" he demanded, not able to stop the unhinged lilt of his voice.
"I-we-just-m-money!"
"There is no money!" Sun raged "We threw it out like the trash it was! Get out of there BEFORE I KILL YOU!"
He screamed so hard his voicebox crackled. The men didn't need to be told again, turning tail and running like the devil was on their heels. Stumbling over to the van door, he heard the sound of shrill engines starting up and speeding off.
He still had the key. Somehow. Somehow, he still had the key.
The lightly damaged door felt so heavy. He almost crawled inside, broken and bloody, scared of what he would find.
You were asleep, breathing hard as the fever ravaged your body.
But you were safe.
Warm, safe. Whatever passed for home.
He picked up the discarded duvet, laying it back over you.
His hands were covered in blood. How he didn't get it on the sheets, he'd never know.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think. He did the only thing that came to mind, grabbing a bottle of water and cleaning supplies, sitting himself in the rear door to wash away this nightmare, flinching at every noise and shaking so hard he could barely hold the sponge.
