PolterBeetle

Hello and welcome to my MasterPost of my ongoing personal writing project, The Seven Deadly Stars.

Originally this was a FNaF Daycare Attendant Alternate Universe Fanfiction, but I have decided to move away from this story being a fanfiction and turn it into an original story. Of course, elements of the original concept are probably still going to be recognizable, especially in some of the characters.

As an overview, this story will have elements of Disney's (2002) Treasure Planet as that was the original AU the fanfic was designed into. Regardless of any rip-off content that may be present, I am greatly enjoying working on this project in the background of my life, and collaborating with my friends who are far better at visual character design than myself.

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I have 7 characters that our story revolves around, since they are currently getting a redesign to move their appearances away from looking like rinse and repeats of the DCA, not every design has been completed. However, don't let that deter you from meeting the crew!

So, if you've read this far, I assume you're interesting in knowing more.

Well, let's start with my characters.

__________.MEET THE CREW.____________

My Prologue chapter was already posted on my blog earlier, feel free to have a read of the start of the 7 Star Crew, and their ambitious navigator's journey.

_____________.PROLOGUE.______________

Beyond all that please go check out the friends of mine who assisted me in designing and creating these characters designs and bringing them to life in art.

.....pmknptch-real.....

Horrified gasps and screams are muffled by the door. Lumin stands behind it, performing his pre-show ritual.

Despite performing this show twice a day, he still needs his little ritual.

He taps the tips of his three larger rays, right, left, top, left, right.

He takes a breath, or at least completes the motion of such. Before pressing the button that slides the door open, he bounds out with his usually excited act, only to be met with a scrambling crowd, all rushing desperately to the exits of the amphitheatre. Lumin holds his friendly smile, cracking a joke.

“Come on folks, if anyone should be scared, it should be me.”

He slowly begins to turn around, intending to finish the punchline and gesture to the massive carnivorous beasts in the enclosure with him.

“Afterall, I'm the one who-.”

Lumin stalls as he is met with an unfamiliar colour.

Red.

Its a Dark Red.

A Dark, Crimson Red.

It's blood.

Lumin drops to his knees in the ankle-deep water of the shallow pool.

A small shoe floats on the slowly rippling surface, red stains splotch the little green shoe. His vision starts to splotch as well, black slowly consumes the outer edges of his optics, slowly enclosing on his vision.

With trembling hands, Lumin picks up the shoe, examining it more closely. Before his vision fully shuts off, he knocks the bottom of the shoe, and colours of yellow, blue and green dance back and forth.

His vision finally gives and Lumin goes offline, other park staff rushing to remove his body from the crocodile enclosure.

They set him plugged into his charging station, letting his body restart on its own, as they quickly commence their evacuation procedures.

In his internal darkness, Lumin replays the events of the day.

- Coming online at the beginning of the day.

- Opening the gates and greeting the morning staff.

- Assisting to feed the animals which do not have feeding shows.

- Making his way to the lobby to meet a birthday group that had booked his park guide service.

It was a young boy's 8th Birthday, and he was so so happy to be celebrating it at the park, and have him be their tour guide.

Harper.

That was the boy's name.

His whole family was there, both his parents, his older sister, and a grandparent from either of his parents’ side. One grandmother, and one grandfather.

Lumin took them through every part of the park on the special tour bus, separate to the park train which ran on its own schedule. Harper insisted he sat in the passenger seat.

“I'm the big birthday boy!” The boy reasoned loudly. Giggling as he struggled to climb the step. Lumin checks with a glance to the boy's parents, they nod, and Lumin gently lifts the boy into the seat.

“Seatbelt.” Lumin reminds. Pointing at the sticker on the dashboard. It was a sticker version of one of his posters, the ones that hang at all the park train stops. Reminding passengers to buckle up.

The only time Lumin wasn't with the birthday group, was when he was scheduled to do his 1pm crocodile show, but they would be in the audience, and Lumin planned to have some banter with the little boy.

Just before he parted ways at the entrance to the amphitheatre. The boy tugged at his hand.

”Wait. Mister Lumin. I wanna show you something.” Lumin stops and give the boy his attention.

The little Harper beamed like the aussie sun. Then with a hefty effort, the boy jumped up, and when his feet met the ground again. The bottoms of his shoes danced with colours of yellow, blue, and green.

”They were my Birthday Gift!” Harper explained excitedly.

Lumin pet the little boy's head.

Suddenly his memories merge, the little Harper's bright smile flashed with the colour of red.

The strobing image of the blood stained shoe in his shaky hands, the crimson background of the blood filled water.

His smile.

Red. His smile.

Red. His smile.

Red. His smi-. Red.

Red. His s-. Red. Red.

Red. His-. Red.

Red. Red. Red.

Red. Red. Red.

Lumin lurched forward suddenly, ripping the charging wires from his head.

His optics come online and he sees his office, his charging station behind him.

He looks down slowly, the shoe still clutched in his grip. He reaches his free hand up to his faceplate, the ends of his smile still stretch to the sky. The back of his mind fizzles.

He should be feeling something.

Feeling something.

Something.

ANYTHING.

Anything at all. The boy was only 8 years old. He was their tour guide. He was the employee running that feeding show.

He claws at the edges of his smile, trying to rip the plating downwards, in the desperate, painful hope that he could express his despair, his guilt, his regrets. He can't frown, he can't cry, he can't even feel like his heart is aching, he doesn't have one.

Then he feels it. A fleeting crack in his chest.

Ripping his shirt open, his chassis is bleeding. Streaks of oil drip out from the gaps where his plating doesn't sit exactly flush. Peeling away the small layer of sealant, he lets more of it run down his torso.

He knows most people would be crying right now…

He wipes some of the oil off his chest, and smears the liquid down the sides of his face, imitating the tears he can't seem to shed.

Clutching the shoe to his chest, dropping his face down into his hand. Gripping the tiny peice of footwear against himself. Whispering to it, as if he could reach the ears of the young boy. As if begging for his forgiveness was still plausable.

Lumin

Mascot of a Wildlife centre and theme park in Melbourne, Australia.

Lumin originated as nothing more than an informational poster, his poster littered the walls and signs of the park, reminding clients to "wear sunscreen", "not to feed animals outside of feeding shows", "not to go poking your little fingers through any fences".

The character became so popular among the customers that the company had an animatronic built. The initial intention was to create a basic animatronic, not installed with any sort of personality AI, only designed to be placed in the lobby as an attraction to take pictures with. With set movements and voice lines.

But during one of the meetings to discuss Lumin's purpose the idea was proposed that he be transformed into a sentient animatronic, similar to the ones in America with "Fazbear. Co".

The idea went over extremely well with the company's owner and, most importantly, financial manager.

It took 2 years for Lumin to be brought to life. He was installed with knowledge of every animal within the park. Lumin was programmed to be charismatic and extroverted, excited to interact with customers, he was even given a program on the show schedule, where he does a show with the crocodiles and some of the birds of prey, since there are less legality issues if he gets "injured" by an animal.

Lumin served as the park's mascot and star performer for 15 years before there was an accident.

The park was shut down that same year and the news stated the animatronic was decommissioned. Luckily, since Lumin's show had not started at the time of the tragedy, a loophole kept him from being decommissioned, but had it occurred 5 minutes later, Lumin would have had it worse than the storage crate he spent those 3 years in.

Lumin was picked up in an auction, those 3 years later. It was actually a coincidence, the storage container was marketed as having "valuable history and memorabilia", but none of the sellers could open it. It had to be cut into for anyone to get the container open.

And Lumin sat, eerily quiet at the back corner, folded in on himself like a limp, lifeless doll, with a small tarp over his legs, as if someone had "tucked him in" after he was put away.

_______________

He a circular faceplate, the faceplate adorned with 7 ray pieces, they were yellow from the base and faded into a white at the tips. Soft green eyes, that are the most he has to express with, as his permanent smile is stuck in the same cresent shape, no matter what feelings he truly has.

He wears a dull blue, long sleeve button up shirt, with the top two buttons undone, revealing the silicone plating of his chest, the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, two pockets on the left and right of his chest.

________________________________________________________________

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've all heard the riddle, Galaxy Geek.” A man in the audience blurted out in the otherwise silent room, interrupting the introduction to my final assignment before graduation.

It's the last month of my final year in university, studying Celestial Cartography. My obsession with the age old legend of the Planet of Fortune never dulled, fueling the career I am aiming for in my quickly approaching future adulthood. As soon as I've earned my degree in Celestial Cartography and received my official Galaxy-Guide Licence, I am aiming to join a Star Crew and follow the words of the scroll, like so many before me.

With a sigh, I ignore the rude interruption continuing with my presentation of how I interpret the scroll’s verses, my predictions in falsities presenting by the potential locations that have been speculated by previous Celestial Cartographers, as well as my own speculations of where the verses elude the location of the map pieces. My classmates seemed uninterested throughout the entire thing. I could tell by staring out at the sea of bored looks, and people off in their own conversations.

At the end of the day, I couldn’t help but feel my explanations fell on deaf ears. With a small sigh, I pack away my belongings into my school bag and slip it over my shoulder. Lifting my eyes up from my desk to the empty centre of the room, where I stood a few minutes ago, preaching about my dreams of searching for the Planet of Fortune, the presentation’s final slide still projecting onto the wall. However, me eyes fall upon my professor in the corner, his official title is Professor Vari, but he respects my dedication to his class and allows me to call him Mr. V, plus, I’m kinda just his favourite student. Teacher’s pet much.

Mr. V beckons me over with a small wave of his hand and so, I make my way across the classroom. The walk was rather short, since I preferred to sit at the front of the class, closer to the board. He is probably going to give me some early feedback on the presentation today. He always likes to give early feedback if he can, just another quirk that makes him my favourite teacher.

As I approach him, I can see a small slip of paper in his hand, those must be the notes he plans to hand me.

“Another stellar assignment from my Star Student.” He gives me a soft clap, reciting the same joke he’s always made since my first semester, when I wiped the floor with his previous grade average. I offer the same thankful smile as always.

“Your class never fails to spark my interest, sir.” I give him the same response I’ve given time and time again. Even as my time in his class is coming to its conclusion, he hasn’t treated me any differently, a freshness that keeps me afloat amongst the sea of exam studies.

“I see from your final presentation, you’ve never been deterred from your goal to become a Star Crew Navigator.” He compliments my unwavering determination.

“You know me, sir. Any early words of feedback?” I ask, speeding up past the small talk, after all I have studying to get to before my exams creep up on me.

“Well, actually no. I have an offer for you.” That’s a surprise to me, blinking a few times in confusion. He takes my silence as a signal to continue.

“As I’m sure you remember, during your third semester you made a submission to the Celestial Navigation Committee, which earned you an advantage in receiving your Galaxy-Guide License early. Which the Committee should be sending to you in the coming days.”

I nod along with his words, remembering the early submission request I made for a Galaxy-Guide License, usually an additional year of on-ship training with the committee officials earns someone the experience required to gain a licence. However, with that early submission and the recommendation from my professor, I was put into an off campus program that gained me the required experience, while still balancing my studies appropriately.

“Well,” Mr.V continues. “Along with your submission, your Galaxy-Guide profile was created by the committee, putting you on the market to be snatched up by Star Crew’s looking for guides. Additionally, I took the first draft of your presentation that you submitted to me, and uploaded it to your Galaxy-Guide Portfolio. Just to show a bit about your knowledge and ambition. As luck would have it, a few Crews put in a request to have you on board.”

He hands me that small piece of paper that I eyed in his hand on my way to his desk, it’s a list.

“I compiled the most trustworthy Crews into a small list for you. Always research a Crew before agreeing to join, shady people take advantage of the system. Every Star Crew must be registered, so never be afraid to look through the registry for known criminal activity.” 

That’s my professor, always looking out for me.

“If I may make a suggestion, I know you have trouble interacting with other marsupial creatures. If your time with your classmates is anything to judge by.” He taps the page, next to one of the Crew names, a small red dot already drawn there. “This Crew is wholly Automations, or “Animatronics”. They have a small reputation, but it’s on the positive rise. It’s only a suggestion, but I think you’ll be best suited for them.”

I give my professor an over-excited hug. To think, even before properly earning my licence, I’ve been requested by multiple Star Crews. He returns with a small pat on my back.

“This will be the last time I help you. It’s all you from here.” He pulls back from the hug with a smile. His statement weighed on my heart a little, this probably was the last time he would ever help me in the long run, and once I’ve graduated I’ll likely never see him again. I go back in for another hug, this one more sincere. This time he properly returns the hug. 

“I’d hold onto that presentation script of yours. You have an incredible mind for dissecting those verses, don’t forget the theories you’ve already crossed off your own radar.” 

I leave the classroom with a smile. Three weeks, two exams, and one letter from the Celestial Navigation Committee, then I’ll officially be a Galaxy-Guide. I walk through the hallways of the school pondering how to go about choosing if I will accept any of these Star Crews offers, I look up from the paper as a flash of unfamiliar orange passes the corner of my eye. I whip my head back to try and catch a glimpse of whatever that striking colour was attached to, but all I see is the tail end of a long maroon coat disappear into one of the doors further down the hallway behind me. Maybe it’s just one of the professors you don’t see often or something like that, I decide to shrug it off and continue on my way home.

________________________________________________________________

The door to Professor Vari’s classroom swings shut. Vari looks up from his desk, his eyes landing on the face of a familiar bot.

“Pyre. Old friend, so glad you got my letter. I apologise for the summons on such short notice.”

The tall figure removes his large, brimmed hat, placing the item on Vari’s desk, the orange feather slipped in its side, flaps softly as the hat is set down. Revealed underneath, the thick, mane-like hair implanted into the bot’s head, the pastel maroon colour is accented by streaks of off white, almost looking like heavily marbled, high quality meat. The bot meets Vari’s smile with his own, a wide smile reaching across his entire face, the lower half of his face made up of a screen mask.

“Vari. It’s never a long trip to visit a friend like you.”

The bot leans down to meet Vari's hand and the two share a firm handshake.

“Do tell, Vari. What occasion did you call me for this time?” The taller bot inquires, eyeing the projection left on the board. A mapping of the Sterlin Star System, a red circle drawing attention to one planet in particular. 

Vari chuckles. 

“Well, this is less of an occasion and more of an offer.” The bot returns his attention to Vari, tilting his head to mimic quirking an eyebrow.

“I know you’ve been looking for a Galaxy-Guide for a few years now.” Vari continues. The bot clicks his tongue at the mention of his lacklustre attempts at finding a suitable Galaxy-Guide. “Don’t remind me.” He groans.

“Well, I have a student in my Celestial Cartography class-.” The professor starts, but Pyre stops him with a wave of his hand.

“Oh please, Vari. Last time you recommended one of your students to me, he didn’t last a month with my crew.” Pyre says, dismissing the idea. Vari frowns, picking up the remote that controls the projector, clicking back a few frames. Pyre’s eyes are once again averted to the wall where the images are being projected. Vari stops on an image, it is one of the predictions of the third verse of The Fortune’s Riddle, a prediction made by the famed Celestial Cartographer, Byte Herrk, and is currently the most researched prediction in the universe.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Pyre asks sceptically.

“This is a presentation from my best student, who I’ve given your crew's information to already. Debunking the falsities behind Herrk’s prediction, and making a prediction of their own. One that places the third piece in a different galaxy entirely. I know how much you love picking up strays. Your crew is a testament to that. So, take another chance on my student, they may just surprise you. Captain.”

Pyre looks over the frame for a while, studying the crossed lines and explanations of the falsities in the prediction.

“This student of yours must be pretty confident in themself, if they’d do something as outlandish as making a prediction without building off any historical cartographer’s past predictions.”

He picks his hat back up, placing it back on his head, adjusting the rim to fit around his head. “Fine, Vari. I’ll consider your student as a candidate, but if you’ve given me another passionless “adventurer”. I’m not doing trade runs for you anymore.” Pyre threatens, but Vari only smiles in return.

“Oh, trust me Captain. This one will be worth your troubles.”

Pyre smirks, making his way to the door.

“They better be.”