#5un

Levett felt nerves balled up in their stomach, making them feel nauseous. But everyone felt nervous on their first day at work, right? Though, usually jobs didn’t require someone to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements that threatened potential execution and waivers up the wazoo that basically lined up as ‘if anything happens to you regardless of severity on or off the clock, the company holds no responsibility and expects the employee to uphold the contractual NDAs signed’.

All the health care was free though… which was a big bonus. What was worse: paying thousands in medical bills if something happened in general like a car crash, or risking life and limb with steady pay for debt and able to not live month to month?

Honestly, arguably pretty even.

They tried to take a steadying breath as they drove up to the gate of the compound, showing the security guard their ID and clearance badge. They weren’t exactly the highest clearance since this was their first day, but level three on a five level system wasn’t too bad. They were let through with relative ease and drove up to the underground car garage meant to protect the vehicles at least a little in case of… incidents, and parked in one of the empty spots.

Levett got out of their car and locked it, trying to not shake as they walked to the underground entrance. Was it nerves or fear? Probably both. But, either way, they had to shove it down. 

Once more, they used their clearance badge and ID to enter through the door. There was a door on the right that they knew led up to the above-ground section of the building, but that wasn’t where they were meant to go. No, that was only used to function as a bit of a decoy from the underground facility that spiderwebbed deep underground.

They walked to the elevator labeled “Maintenance Only” and hit the button, the elevator dinging before opening for them to walk into. Once inside, they flicked out a key from their pocket and opened the “Maintenance” panel where a PIN pad rested. Punching in their specific PIN that was generated with their employee ID, the doors closed and they were on their way down to their first assignment.

Obviously, they went through weeks of training videos and scenarios to prepare them for what they were getting into, so *technically* they knew what to do if they were assigned some particularly dangerous subjects, but they would still rather not start off with one of the subjects capable of apocalypses.

Levett couldn’t help but go over procedures and briefs in their head as the elevator rumbled deeper and deeper underground for almost a full minute before stopping at Level 1, basically the lobby of the underground section. They stepped off the elevator, looking around the area. Everything was as sterile as the first time they’d been toured around Level 1, the white surroundings and LED ceiling lights already hurting their eyes. 

Someone waiting for them helped them ignore their light sensitivity, a man in a lab coat walking up to them.

“Hey, Dr. Katherine Levett, right,” he asked, a small smile on his face but it seemed a bit strained with obvious tiredness. A glance to his ID clipped on the coat collar, his own name was Glenn Wortwood.

“Yeah, I’m Dr. Levett,” Levett nodded, extending their hand on instinct for the introductory handshake, which was taken by Wortwood.

“Perfect! I kind of figured since I know everyone scheduled on Level 3,” the scientist chuckled as he released the handshake. Gesturing to himself, he confirmed what they already knew and added, “My name is Dr. Glenn Wortwood, I’ll be showing you around Level 3 so you can get yourself acquainted with the layout and the systems, show you how to access the file systems you’re cleared into, and get you your first assignment.”

“Nice to meet you. Sounds all good to me,” they nodded in acknowledgement, trying to not let the situation overwhelm them. 

“Great! Follow me to the other elevators! Oh, and I need to show you the locker rooms.”

Wortwood walked off down the left hall, forcing Levett to speed walk a bit to catch up after a moment or two of frozen surprise. There were other elevators around Level 1 to go to the building above ground and to the Levels below. The ones that were able to reach the rest of the underground facility required PIN, ID, Clearance Badge, and handprint to authorize it to move. The first stop though were the locker rooms, where they were handed a lab coat and assigned a locker number in case they wanted to put their belongings away.

After taking them down one of the elevators to the rest of the facility, he showed them some of the halls of Level 3, practically an underground city with its labyrinthian layout and size, chattering on about the rooms that were passed and their basic tasks throughout their time. But, firstly, administrative tasks like signing in, registering their PIN into the Level 3 computers, unlocking their file systems up to Level 3, etc, etc. 

And it took *hours*. Wortwood left them to figure out the sign-in systems for most of it to ‘take care of something’, leaving them frustrated and not wanting to admit that they were struggling. 

Levett didn’t want to get lost trying to bother Wortwood and felt intimidated by the thought of interacting with anyone else that they didn’t have to. Eventually though, they were able to sort of brute-force their way through clunkily and slowly learning how everything worked. And, by the time that was taken care of, Wortwood was back.

“Alright!” Wortwood sighed as he entered the computer room, making them look up from the monitor. He straightened his lab coat as he approached, looking over their shoulder and asking, “Were you able to figure things out despite me not being here?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t too hard,” Levett lied, ignoring the fact that they were still just at the informative page that took an embarrassingly long time to reach.

“Great to hear. You up for the rest of the tour?”

“Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not,” they replied, glancing briefly at the computer.

“Alright, let’s go then,” Wortwood gestured for them to follow as he walked right back to the door he’d walked through.

Levett blinked in surprise, quickly logging out of the computer and hopping to their feet to follow. Wortwood seemed like he was in a bit of a rush to give them the tour, but from their understanding anyone could be called in at any time. And, with how tired he’d looked when they’d just walked in, they wouldn’t be surprised if he was eager to get this over with to go home and sleep.

Wortwood opened the door and off the duo went around Level 3 again, Wortwood rambling some more as he showed them around the rest of the floor, which took another few hours and left Levett wondering just how much of a concern earthquakes would be considering the human-sized anthill of a compound that resided underground. Should they be concerned about the structural integrity of everything?

Levett had even zoned out from the informational overload, lamenting about how sore they were going to be tomorrow and probably for the rest of their lives if they had to go through with this everyday. They almost ran right into Wortwood’s back, not noticing that he had stopped in the middle of the hall.

“Aaaand, that should be all of it. Any questions?” Wortwood asked as they tried to shake off their mental cobwebs, turning around to face them.

“Uh, n-no, I’m good,” they said, glancing at someone walking by before returning their attention to him. There were definitely not a lot of people that they’d seen walking around, but most were probably in their assigned rooms, doing admin, or in the labs that dotted around the facility.

“Good,” Wortwood nodded with another tired smile. “I know it’s definitely a lot to take in, so don’t be worried about getting lost too much. It’s the whole reason the doors and rooms are labeled after all. You’ll just need to know your assignment doors, the administrative computer rooms, and the laboratory for your assignment. Don’t forget, you’ll be sharing these labs, so try to not make a mess for anyone else once you or your technicians are done. Now, onto the specifics of your job and how it works around here.

“Since you’re brand new, you’ll only be getting one assignment for now, but expect to take on one or two more within the next year or so,” the scientist had turned on his heel and started walking down the hall again, causing Levett to trail behind him once more. “There are several factors to whether or not you’ll be handling more dependant on results, the difficulty of your assignment, and how well your performance is. You’ll be expected to submit daily reports on your assignment, including any breakthroughs made in behavioral understanding, abilities, physiology, etcetera, etcetera. Even just writing down whether nothing significant is to be reported, or a NSTR report.”

Levett found their head swimming again as they were once more bombarded by Wortwood’s explanations, but they found it easier to force themselves to focus. After all, this was a bit more pertinent to their job than the offshoots of halls that didn’t concern them. That, and they weren’t focusing on trying to memorize a map of directions in their head anymore.

“There’s report templates in the files system you have access to now, so all you need to do is fill it in the best you can. Now, as for your assignment, it’s a fairly new addition that we managed to contain about a week ago,” Wortwood turned down another corner and walked past several doors before stopping in front of one with the number ‘3057’ on the plate beside it. He stopped and looked back at them, gesturing to it and adding, “This is your assignment room, so just make sure you don’t forget the room number.”

They nodded, forcing some of the directions they’d remembered to the side in favor of the number by repeating it a few times in their head. Their nerves were getting worse, but a surge of giddiness almost accompanied it. They were about to get their first assignment!

Wortwood, satisfied with their acknowledgment, used the PIN pad on the door to open it, revealing a decent sized observation room. 

It maintained the sterile white of the rest of the halls and facility, but it looked like there was a light dimmer that Levett decided they would certainly use to avoid light headaches until they could get used to the brightness. To their right was a few shelves, a counter with a sink and filing cabinets. On the left, more shelving, filing cabinets and a double door. The wall ahead of them was bare aside from the large rounded rectangle of one-sided glass that was currently dimmed and obscured the view into the next room. In the middle against the wall of one-sided glass was a desk with the operating systems required for documentation and reporting, along with a printer for physical file recovery.

Wortwood walked into the room with them close behind, gesturing around the room and saying, “This is your observation room for your assignment and where you’ll be spending most of your time in the facility. If you’d like, you can personalize the area as much as you’d like as long as no electronic devices are brought into the building unless expressly permitted by the head of Level 3 security. Paintings, knick knacks, and the like are allowed along with a backpack or bag that you can bring lunch or snacks in. Don’t worry about having your bag checked or handed over to security, the elevators have their own built-in scanning system to ensure contraband isn’t brought in.”

“Got it,” Levett replied, glad that they’d be able to bring in stuff other than the clothes on their back, their ID, clearance, and keys. They hadn’t exactly been shown a cafeteria, so bringing in their own food was better than going hungry for hours to stubbornly not leave. They started walking around the room, taking in the mostly bare look before asking, “Will I get to see my assignment today?”

“Yes, you’ll be able to see your assignment,” the scientist nodded, a flicker of amusement on his face as he walked up to the side of the one-sided glass where a dial sat, turning it all the way to the left. The glass slowly began to turn more translucent to reveal the room beyond.

From ground to ceiling, it was two stories tall and about 40ft wide by 60ft in length, with the observation room on what would be the second story so that it allowed a high view of the area below that looked… well, rather colorful compared to the rest of the facility. The floor was covered in a colorful flooring that looked reminiscent of playmats or gymnastics mats while the walls sported rather colorful and pastel depictions of skies and hills. Stacks of colorful cubes, several kinds of toys and items were splayed around and what looked like a miniature circus tent the height of the room took up the entirety of the far right corner and at least an eighth of the room's size.

It looked more like a preschool or something than a facility room, and the comparison didn’t really sit right with Levett. They knew some of the subjects within the facility resembled harmless-looking items or creatures like teddy bears or children, and sometimes was a room itself. Was it a child-looking subject?

“Uh, is it in there,” Levett asked on instinct, glancing around the brightly colored room warily.

“Yes, it is,” Wortwood walked to the desk and picked up a file that they hadn’t noticed, handing it to them. “Sometimes it simply prefers to be in the tent. Now, as stated before, we just got this specimen about a week ago, with much of the time being getting to room prepared. It was going to be a Level 5 specimen, but was reverted to Level 3 after a workaround was figured out.”

“Workaround?” Levett opened the file to look it over. No photos accompanied it, but a quick skim showed that the subject's identification was S0L4R.

“Yes, it appears to harbor two behavioral patterns, though we don’t know whether or not it's some kind of Sundowner’s Syndrome related to light levels rather than time of day. The subject is humanoid in appearance, though looks more robotic than human or animal,” the other scientist sat against the edge of the desk as he watched them skim through the papers. “As long as the lights remain on and functional, it seems to maintain a more friendly personality. It still acts in self-defense, but shouldn’t cause any harm unless it deems necessary.”

‘Shouldn’t’ felt a lot less reassuring than he probably meant it.

“What we know is that it’s intelligent, able to communicate, is able to be affected by electronic disruption devices, and able to manipulate its form to a certain extent. *You* need to figure out everything else,” Wortwood pointed at them and caused them to blink in surprise.

“Everything else?”

“Yup. Biology, behavioral responses to certain stressors, anatomy, what material it’s made of, you know the drill,” he waved his hands a bit dismissively as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Maybe he was here long enough that it would be to him. “Everything required for its survival and functionality so that we can keep it contained and understand it.”

“Right… Makes sense,” Levett began to think that they were in over their head, but after weeks of signing contracts, it wasn’t exactly like they could just quit. Besides, a fair amount of their nerves was probably just due to it being their first day.

“Every sector of Level 3 is at your disposal, from laboratory equipment to scanning equipment. Just, make sure to put in a request if you plan on trying to take MRI’s or something, since that requires the assignment being taken to the MRI ward. Let’s see, is there anything else,” Wortwood hummed a bit as he thought, a concentrated look crossing his tired features. Then, he jolted as if he forgot something incredibly important. “Oh! And, I’ll be your supervisor! I probably should have mentioned that a lot sooner, but I just wanted to make sure that you were set up”

“Oh. Uh, well, doubly nice to meet you then,” Levett said. Right, supervisors were very important. They’d just been so overwhelmed that they forgot about it. But, it would definitely make it easier to direct questions to someone they already sort of knew than someone they hadn’t met.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. That’s what happened when you tour after a full night shift,” the other scientist shrugged. “Anyways, any questions?”

A full night shift?! It was already three in the afternoon, no wonder this guy was exhausted! They were honestly impressed he was still fairly lucid considering they would have been dozing off at this point. But, they shook themselves from their surprise, replying, “No, nothing that I can think of.”

“Good. Well, with everything out of the way, I probably better get going. Don’t need to be up longer than I have to. Dr. Killian will be in here later to fill in for me as supervisor, but for now I imagine you just want to start getting your desk setup,” Wortwood stood up with a yawn. He walked over to the door back to the hall and gave Levett a farewell wave, adding as he left, “Just try not to burn anything down on your first day here, alright?”

“I’ll try not to,” Levett replied with a smile and a wave back. Once the door clicked shut and left them alone, they looked around, antsy. They *could* go onto the computer to sign in their credentials and read the file that they’d barely skimmed over during the whole conversation…

OR, they could try to get a glimpse of their charge to try and satiate the curiosity that had their fingers twitching around the file they had in their hands.

Dr. Wortwood hadn’t said that they couldn’t take a look inside… And S0L4R was their responsibility now, so it wouldn’t hurt to introduce themselves. S0L4R was intelligent and friendly after all, so what was the harm in just going down briefly? Just a quick, “Hi, my name is Dr. Katherine Levett, I’ll be in charge of taking care of you.” and then they’d be back in the observation room before Dr. Killian even showed up.

Spurred on by their curiosity and the logical hoops their brain went through to encourage them, they placed the file on the desk and looked outside the glass. Nothing had changed from before, though they thought they saw something move the curtain of the tent. If that’s where S0L4R was, it was probably what caused it.

“Just a quick look,” Levett told themself, standing up and walking over to the double doors that could only lead into the enclosure.

And, it seemed their assumption was correct when they opened the doors and they showed an enclosed darkened staircase with another set of double doors at the bottom. They only hesitated slightly at the top of the steps before walking down, but found their nerves hold them once they reached the second set of doors. They knew they were probably not supposed to be doing this, but it was just so damned hard struggling against their curiosity and close proximity to the source of it.

‘Fuck it,’ they thought to themself, forcing the double doors open before they could second guess themself again. 

They had to blink a couple times as their eyes went from the darker interior of the stairwell to the brightly lit and brightly colored room, eyes adjusting after a few moments as the door shut behind them. They noticed a handprint authentication to go back in, probably to countermeasure the intellect of the being. Doors were pretty easy to open after all.

The floor gave way a little beneath their shoes, solidifying the comparison of playmats as they walked a few paces from the door. They looked around at the scattered items and toys, at the walls and corners where nothing could hide, before their gaze settled on the tent in the corner.

“Hello?” they called out, walking a couple more steps past a stack of the colored cubes. Everything definitely seemed bigger than from the observation room, the cubes a meter high each.

Levett found themselves growing more nervous the more they walked in, wondering if S0L4R was friendly or if Dr. Wortwood was just trying to downplay its behavior. It hadn’t exactly tried attacking them yet, so maybe it was just shy? They decided to try again, saying, “If you’re nervous about me, I’m brand new! This is my first day, so I figured I’d introduce myself since I’ll be your caretaker.”

“Caretaker?” the reply from the circus tent in the corner made them jolt in surprise, having mostly been expecting continued silence. It sounded a bit mechanical, but it made sense if it was more robotic than organic.

Unused to the voice, they weren’t sure whether or not they just insulted the subject, nervously backtracking a little, “W-Well, yes, and no? I don’t know what you’d prefer it to be called, but I’ll be in charge of your well-being and trying to learn more about you. Likes, dislikes, that sort of thing. I just wanted to meet you so that we could get first impressions out of the way, and maybe even become fast  friends so that-.”

“Friends,” the word was spoken with a questioning tone, though it sounded excited at the prospect. The curtain of the tent shifted just enough to reveal glowing white eyes that stared at them from low to the ground.

Levett had to resist the urge to jolt in surprise. They probably should have read a bit more about S0L4R to figure out what they were getting into, but it seemed like they were slowly making headway with the subject. Smiling encouragingly, they slowly walked closer to the tent for a few feet until the subject inside flinched, crouching on the ground to get better eye contact. “Yeah, friends! I know it’s probably lonely, so I’ll be trying to-.”

“Oh, ho, new friend, new friend,” the subject exclaimed happily before bursting out from the tent and startling them. It was shockingly *tall* and had to have been crouched low behind the other side of the tent for its eyes to have given the impression of it being far smaller, and it was a gangly mess of limbs as they found themself scooped up from their crouched position on the ground and spun around. 

They couldn’t help but let out a yelp of surprise at the quick turn of events, colors of the room blurring for a moment before the subject made a noise and placed them back down on the ground by their feet. Their knees almost buckled from the shock and from the dizziness of the spinning, vision refocusing as the subject took a couple steps back and looked down at them with what looked like concern. It was hard to tell.

The creature was definitely humanoid in shape, but it was about eight feet tall with little over half of it just legs and it was wringing its four hands nervously. Its face looked similar to a cartoon sun, with sun rays flaring from its head, though half of the face looked like a crescent moon. Pale yellow with lighter shades, it also looked like it wore a gold and red outfit that gave them a jester-y vibe, bells on its shoes and attached to its wrists. Its face was pulled into a nervous grimace and they realized it was talking.

“-idn’t mean to startle you, truly, truly,” it stammered, though its mouth didn’t open to speak. As the adrenaline left their system, Levett found that its size was daunting. But, it also looked distraught at potentially having just ruined whatever friendship they had been offering, unable to help from feeling a bit bad at the sight. “I just got so excited that I couldn’t help myself, but that’s still no excuse to just pick you up, and-!”

“H-Hey, hey,” Levett raised their hands to get its attention a bit, though it was hard to tell without any pupils in its eyes. It paused its nervous hand wringing. “I’m fine, you just startled me, that's all! I wasn’t expecting you to charge out full speed, haha.”

S0L4R seems to perk up at not being reprimanded, or at least not having completely scared off its new ‘friend’, the face going from the grimace to a wide smile and it began to look them over. “I didn’t accidentally hurt you, did I? Oh, I hope not, that’s not a very good impression for a new friend!”

“No, no, you didn’t hurt me,” they shook their head, slightly amused at its mostly crouched position and apparent need to now keep its hands far away from their body, two clasped in front of itself while the other two hands clasped behind its back. “Speaking of first impressions, my name’s Dr. Katherine Levett. Do you have a name you’d like to go by?”

Levett extended a hand for the creature to take, its head rotating a full 180 degrees in what seemed like surprise before carefully unclasping a pair of hands to take their offered one. Or, sort of. Its whole hand from wrist to tip of middle finger was almost as long as their arm and would entirely engulf their hand. Instead, it just pressed its index and middle fingertips to their palm for them to shake.

“I’ve been told that I look like the sun, so you could call me that,” S0L4R suggested happily, head tilting as they shook the two fingers before letting go.

“I can call you Sun if you’d like,” they said, hand dropping to their side. They put their hands in the coats pockets, adding, “Just let me know if you want to be called something else!”

“Caaaan do, new friendo! What sort of activities do you want to do? They gave me a bunch of things to do to keep me occupied, and now I can do them with you,” S0L4R - Sun now, Levett reminded themself - began to rattle on about finger painting, coloring books, and other activities that fit even more with the preschool/daycare theme. And they were feeling awful about how lonely it seemed in the enclosure. 

“Oh, uh, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick around long,” Levett said, making Sun pause in its excited rant and a pang of guilt as its smile fell a little, looking more strained. They glanced up at where the one-sided glass was and found that it was currently two-way. Ah, that explained the more than expected amount of settings on the glass dial. 

Dr. Killian would be able to see them if he/she/they entered the observation room, and there was no doubt that they’d end up with at least a talking to. But, if they were quick enough with whatever activity Sun wanted, maybe they could still make it back in time to not be seen.

Rubbing the back of their neck nervously, they relented with a sigh, “Oh, I guess I have enough time for one activity. One. And it has to be a quick one, okay?”

Any misgivings that Levett had about being caught and potentially being in trouble were dispelled by the immediate *glee* that Sun seemed to exude as it perked up immediately straightening like a shot with its torso spinning a couple times as it clapped its hands. The sight compared to his slowly deflating demeanor reminded them of a delighted kid that just got their birthday wish.

“Oh, what did you want to play friend,” Sun asked excitedly, using its hands to count the activities once more, “Oh, you said it had to be quick, so finger painting and coloring won’t do, which is a shame because I was given so many colors, but we can do that another time. Oh, oh! What about tag?”

“Tag,” Levett raised an eyebrow. One of Sun’s legs was almost the length of their entire body. Regardless of whether or not they were ‘It’, they felt that they would be at a severe disadvantage. 

Sun seemed to know of their misgivings, trying to give them a reassuring smile while stating, “Don’t worry, friend, I’ll even give you a headstart and try to go easy on you! You said you wanted a quick activity, and there’s no quicker game that I can think of then tag!”

Well, that was true. If there was something that was somewhat quick, tag would certainly fall into that category. Especially with Sun’s lanky legs. 

So, they  shrugged, replying, “You know what? Sure! Tag seems fine then.”

“Goodie,” Sun’s face rotated happily and it made shooing gestures towards Levett and going, “Alright, now run off! I’ll give you a fifteen second headstart before I start coming to tag you, okay? Now, go, go!”

Levett hadn’t really woken up this morning expecting that they, a grown ass adult, would be participating in a game of tag. After a second or two of hesitation, they ran away and around some of the cube stacks as Sun began counting backwards from fifteen. Already, they felt a bit winded. If Sun’s longer steps didn’t get them, their lack of stamina would.

“Zero! Ready or not, friend, I’m coming to get ya!”

They weren’t exactly hiding, but there was still a bit of suspense as they waited for Sun to pop around the corner of stacked cubes. Which didn’t take long, Sun had probably seen them run over here, popping its head out from behind the cubes with the smile on its face.

“Friend, you’re supposed to keep running,” it said in amusement, seeing them waiting for it. 

“I was waiting for you to get closer,” Levett retorted, starting to run off in a different direction. Yelling over their shoulder, they added, “I’m trying to save energy!”

They couldn’t help but glance behind themself to find Sun *skipping* after them, the sight a little unnerving with its size, made worse by the fact that it actually seemed to be keeping pace pretty well. It didn’t take much more than a minute of them running around and Sun trying to give them time before they found themself too winded to continue running much. Sun skipped to their side and gently tapped them on the shoulder.

“Tag! You’re it, friend!” Sun declared, face rotating in triumph.

“Y-Yeah, you got me,” Levett panted from the brief run around, winded from what could debatably be considered a jog. After a few seconds, they regained their composure, straightening to their full height after slouching in exertion. “W-Well, I should probably head back now.”

“O-Oh, already,” Sun asked, smile falling a bit once more. It started shifting nervously on its feet, making Levett feel guilty again. But, they couldn’t just spend all day in here. At least, not yet.

“Look, I’ll come back in to hang out as soon as I can, okay,” they said, patting one of its arms in an attempt of reassurance.

“P-Promise?” Sun’s vocals stuttered, giving his already mechanical voice an impression of static or glitchiness.

“Yes, I promise,” Levett said. And they genuinely meant it. They felt that it was cruel to not socialize something that was harmless enough and that obviously craved company.

Sun was quiet for a second or two, the sunrays rotating separate from the face once or twice, making them realize that mechanical-like whirrs seemed to click with every movement of it. Then, it perked up, its grin widening again as it nodded vigorously. “I’ll hold you to that promise, friend! I’ll make sure all the activities are ready for when you get back so that we can spend even more time together, okay?”

“Okay, Sun,” they smiled, earning a delighted face rotation from the creature in question. Whether it was because of the promise or the use of its self-proclaimed name, they weren’t sure. They just found it endearing.

Levett started walking toward the exit doors, Sun trailing beside them. They placed their hand on the imprint scanner, adding, “Oh, and let me know what activity supplies you want next time I see you, okay?”

“Can do,” Sun gave a mock salut, awkward with two hands to his forehead, but the spirit was there.

Levett chuckled, giving Sun one last farewell with a wave included before opening the doors and walking inside. Up the stairs, they entered the observation room, looking down to see Sun staring back expectantly, waiting for them to appear at the top. Seeing them, it waved happily and they responded in kind before settling at the desk to actually start setting up their systems. Seeing the forgotten file on the desk, they paused.

They should probably read up if they wanted to connect with Sun more, and knowing everything they could like potential origin and circumstances of its capture.

When Wortwood had mentioned that Sun was friendlier in light, he hadn’t mentioned that it had killed a Detail without lights. They felt like that would have been very good information to have considering they were in *charge* of it.

The security members weren’t labeled as being killed, much of the information for Sun’s capture redacted due to the initial Level 5 classification that would hopefully be reversed in the files now that it was Level 3 responsibility. Hopefully. It was best to know everything available.

They found themself engrossed in the details of the file, absentmindedly sat at the desk with their hand over their mouth in thought as they read.

.

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|| Subject Tag: 50142 (S0L4R)

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|| Subject Class: Temperamental/Deadly

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|| Containment Procedures: 50142 is to be maintained in its cell of 40ftHx50ftWx70ftL with the lights permanently on unless behavioral reports for potential Sundowner’s Syndrome are scheduled to be conducted and proper safety procedures have been put in place, at which point 50142 is to be moved to room 3583 for the behavioral experiment.

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||Physical Description: 50142 is an eight foot tall, thin robotic-looking humanoid with four arms and a face that resembles a sun with a crescent moon that wears a jester-like costume. 50142 is mainly pale yellow with more saturated yellow, orange, and red accents, and white, pupil-less, glowing eyes. Yellow and pale orange sun rays circle its head. The costume consists of red and gold striped pants, gold and red striped sleeves adorning each of its four arms with red ribbons and bells attached to the cuffs. A red frill with a gold stripe and a dark gold-brown bow with bells are attached to the neck and chest, and two orange-brown slippers with bells on the ankle complete its ensemble.

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In the absence of light, 50412’s appearance and behavior change drastically, the phenomenon currently labeled as 50412-1. 50412-1 is instead a base color of white and dark navy blue with black eyes that now have red glowing pupils, light blue ‘cheeks’ and lacks the sun rays that 50412 normally has. Instead, a dark blue nightcap with yellow stars and a white edge and white ball at the tip. The costume pants are made of the same dark blue and yellow star pattern as the nightcap, the sleeves a darker and more desaturated blue with no discernable pattern. The neck frill is dark blue with a gold stripe, the bow is black, and the slippers are purple. 

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||The only consistency in costume between 50412 and 50412-1 are the red ribbons and bells attached to the cuffs of the sleeves, the thin red fabric against the bottom of the pants and on the upper arms, red band of the costume pants, and bells on the slippers.

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||Behavioral Description: 50412 shows no outward signs of aggression on first contact after capture, instead adopting a more excited and friendly personality. Shows no hesitation answering questions or holding conversation unless related to the circumstance of capture. Appears to dislike 50412-1 related questions.

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||50412-1 is highly aggressive when induced and should be approached with extreme caution, even with proper safety measures in place.

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||Abilities: 50412 shows the ability to change its appearance, though it’s unknown how or why other than the absence of light. 50412 also appears to harbor the ability to [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. Samples of [REDACTED] have been taken for examination and study.

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||Discovery: 50412 was discovered on [REDACTED] after several reports from concerned parents to authorities in the area of ‘a sun man’ and ‘Mr. Moon’ that children began talking about in alarming consistency and similarity compared to usual playground imaginary friends. A Scout Detail was dispatched to place equipment around to confirm the existence of the anomaly and discern whether it was metaphysical or physical.

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||50412 was confirmed and-

—------------------

.

The rest of the report regarding Sun’s capture was entirely blacked out, not even bothering to use the phrase ‘[REDACTED’. The only thing they had to go on was the last sentence of the Discovery report: “50412 was restrained with steel cables and EMPs, and brought to the facility. The members of the Scout Security Detail are still MIA.” 

Not even anything with the initial questioning that had one hundred percent happened was present.

They’d already read over its file twice now, as though they could unlock more of the text with each reading to glean anything about its capture. They also didn’t really like how at least two abilities were redacted. With Sun’s unfamiliarity and newness, there was potentially even more that not even the Level 5 team had come across. At the very least, there was no mention of food or other nutrients required for Sun, so they assumed that it didn’t require sustenance to function. They’d probably ask later.

However, Levett wasn’t sure if they could bring themself to go back down into the containment for the rest of the day. They had promised Sun to hang out as soon as possible, but the new knowledge that they had just looked over made the prospect nerve-wracking.

They had entered casually before because of the excitement of getting an assignment and thought that they wouldn’t be tossed to the wolves by being given something dangerous. A misplay on their own part.

They needed to mull things over. And what better time than waiting for Dr. Killian or whoever to show up? So, they continued thumbing through the meager file they were given and thought things over. It was very cyclical in rhythm. The concern over what they were in charge of would be brought to the surface, carefully talked down by the logic of the friendly first impression, only to be kickstarted once more as they thought, ‘But what if next time, it decides to act differently’. 

Sun, S0L4R, 50412 or whatever, didn’t have an established pattern yet. No routines set in place, no knowledge of whether the 50412-1 was entirely light based or if it could also be triggered by stress and aggression. Intelligent, it could be putting up a farce of friendliness to try and comply until attacking or attempting escape.

So many things could happen given the uncertainty of it and the circumstances.

Levett sighed and glanced at the computer's clock, surprised to see that it read 05:12PM. They had been told to clock out by five. Where the hell did that Dr. Killian go? Did they forget about the new hire? Maybe the other scientist had gotten busy.

They tapped their fingers on the desk’s surface, wondering whether or not they should just leave. Eventually, they decided it would be the best course of action since, if Dr. Killian looked at the schedule, they were supposed to have been gone by five. So, waiting around had the potential of being fruitless if they were thought to have already left. Besides, better to ask forgiveness than for permission.

Closing the file and putting it in the drawer of the desk, Levett stood up and straightened their lab coat. They’d forgotten that the window was currently in two-way mode as they looked up and saw the bright colors after staring at black and white paper.

They walked over to the dial beside the window, a movement from below catching their attention. Sun was peeking out of the tent in the corner, and after making eye contact with them, began to wave excitedly. They waved back with a smile, but they couldn’t bring themself to match the enthusiasm and energy the subject had. They weren’t sure how to convey it, but they gestured to themself and jerked a thumb to point behind them to try and say that they were heading out. They tried to ignore the pang of guilt as Sun’s movements slowed in disappointment.

Levett turned the dial all the way to the right, obscuring both their view of Sun and vice versa, and stood for a moment before taking their hand off the dial.

“We’ll see what tomorrow holds,” they told themself, walking out of the room and flicking the light off in the observation room to go home and spend the rest of the night trying to mentally prepare for the next day.

And what tomorrow held for Levett was a lack of Dr. Wortwood on Level 1 to greet them with no replacement supervisor again. Security, scientists, and others with clearance milled around like the day before, but they didn’t want to bother anyone. They wondered if he was just waiting in their assignment room, but after about half an hour of getting lost searching for their room, there was still no one inside.

What they noticed was that the light was on, since they’d turned it off the night before, and an item on the desk along with some papers. They walked up to the desk, seeing a scribbled sticky note that read: “Dr. Katherine Levett - Dr. Wortwood”.

Curious, they picked up the papers and looked over them. 

One of the papers was Dr. Wortwood apologizing for the lack of ‘supervisor-ing’ that was going on, but explained that it tended to be the way of things considering the circumstances around the job and the hoops needed to be accepted that left the entire facility pretty short-staffed.

Another of the papers had a list of questions and procedures he suggested to start gaining information on Sun, from scheduling an MRI, X-Ray, and cat-scan to see any potential internal organs to simple questions to ask Sun to try and get a better understanding of it. Considering Sun’s intelligence and friendly demeanor, he suggested building a rapport with it to try and ‘minimize aggressive behavior and maximize cooperative behavior’. He also said that they had to get a certain number filled by the end of the week and warned against letting their guard down too much or becoming too attached.

It had been one of the brief and training sections considering some subjects have and will use the empathy of certain handlers to try and escape. Or to lull them into a false sense of security and kill them.

The thought wasn’t really helping their nerves….

And then the final paper was explaining the device that was left on the desk, a chunky looking bracelet thing that could apparently emit a decently sized EMP if needed while notifying Security Details if Sun ended up stepping out of line. There was also the suggestion of some sort of regulatory device for Sun as prevention, but Levett felt that would have the opposite effect of building rapport.

They let out a deep sigh, putting the papers back on the desk and running a hand across their face tiredly, already feeling exhausted from a restless sleep and not wanting to head down to greet Sun. But, they knew what they were signing up for. It just hadn’t really set in until now.

Levett took another settling breath, opening the desk drawer to pull out the file and the clipboard that was sat in the drawer. There were no pens or pencils, but they pulled a mechanical pencil out of a coat pocket and put the items on the desk. The next fifteen minutes were spent trying to get the damned bracelet device on without trying to break it. It had a smooth surface when clasped that made it difficult to figure out how to open it, but they were eventually able to figure it out and clip it on. There was a red button flush with the rest of the bracelet to prevent it being accidentally pressed when going about their day but would activate the EMP and alert security.

And, after that struggle, they had no more excuses to avoid starting their duties of the day with Sun. Well, they could just sit at the desk and do administrative work to procrastinate, but they felt like that would make their worry worse. So, with a pit in their stomach, they reluctantly gathered the file, clipboard, and pencil before standing up. They debated turning the currently tinted window into one-way or two-way mode, but decided against it and opened the door down to the stairwell. 

The sound of their work shoes against the laminate steps echoed in their head, hesitating at the double doors at the bottom of the stairs before forcing themself to open the doors. Blinking in the bright light again, their eyes adjusted to the saturated colors again, noticing what looked like play structures scattered around the room that weren’t there yesterday. Each was probably placed in the night by whoever was in charge of containment environment.

Mildly changed interior aside, Levett stepped in and cleared their throat. Holding the clipboard and file closely while their heart picked up the pace a little, they glanced around the enclosure and saw that Sun wasn’t out in the open again. Curious, and now cautious after reading the file, they called out softly, “Uh, Sun? You in here?”

“Of course I’m in here, friend, I’ve nowhere else to go,” Sun’s robotic voice came from not the tent, but one of the play structures. Before Levett could even really think of investigating, Sun’s head popped out from over one of the climbing structures before he climbed over and down. Two hands helped him climb down while the other two held onto a piece of paper between the large digits. “I was wondering when you’d come back! I wasn’t sure, you left yesterday without coming back down to say goodbye, so I thought that you’d gotten upset or something!”

“Uh, no, not upset,” Levett replied, once more caught off guard by Sun’s energy and rambling nature. They weren’t sure whether or not what they said was a lie. “Just… busy.”

“Busy? Busy with what,” the creature walked up to them within five strides of its long legs, bending down to be more on eye level with the scientist. 

“Oh, paperwork, files. That sort of thing,” Levett waved off Sun’s question, trying to ignore the part of them that wanted to leave. God, they’d already forgotten how large Sun was. They tried not to think about how easy it would be to have their head snapped off by the large metallic-looking hands. ”Rather boring stuff.”

“Hmm,” Sun cocked its head 45 to the side, something crackling in its voice before the head snapped upright to the normal position. The smile stretched as it moved the hands clutching the paper, presenting it to them. “Well, I don’t think my paperwork is like yours exactly, but I *did* work with paper to make this for you to celebrate our new friendship!”

What Sun held in his large hands was a piece of cardboard paper that had a… well, a surprisingly good rendition of Levett in their labcoat standing beside Sun with the ‘floor’ multicolored like the playmats that lined the enclosure.

“Oh,” Levett made a noise of surprise, not really expecting anything from the whole ‘friendship’ thing other than a potentially good standing with the creature. They shook off their surprise quickly, giving Sun a smile as previous years of babysitting and occasionally watching kids kicked in. Were they the best? No, but it’d been serviceable in the past. “It’s very good. You have artistic talent in ya. But, I wasn’t expecting you to make anything, so I didn’t make you anything, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, friend!” The cardboard paper was gently pressed against their hands as Sun beamed, sunrays spinning a bit before righting themselves. “We can make something together when you have the time! Maybe friendship bracelets or paintings!”

“Maybe. But, if it’s alright with you, I need to ask you some questions.”

Sun’s smile barely faltered, the eyes narrowing ever so slightly in a way that made them wonder if it was simply a trick of the light as it replied, “Questions? What sort of questions? I thought the questioning was over when we were brought in.”

‘We?’ Levett frowned a bit. Maybe Sun considered the Sundowner’s Syndrome as its own entity, or maybe it’d been brought in with another subject. Tilting their head a bit, they decided to take a chance and asked, “We? Were you brought in with someone or something else?”

The sunrays on Sun’s twitched but the rest of the creature seemed… stiff. It hadn’t moved, it hadn’t really changed its posture, yet it suddenly felt like Levett was standing on a razor’s edge as some unknown emotion ran through Sun. After a split second that felt far longer than it actually was, the moment of tension immediately dissipated once Sun spoke back up, waving one of its hands as it chuckled. “Oh, ho, I was referring to the other humans! When I was brought in, there were quite a few. But, I don’t know what questions you need to go through that haven’t already been answered.”

Levett jumped a bit at Sun’s sudden movement, blinking a bit. They didn’t quite believe Sun, but they just decided to file their suspicion for later. They weren’t exactly a Behavioral Analyst, but they felt like pressing would just make Sun defensive and reduce the chances of getting any answers in general.

“Riiiight,” they shifted and glanced at the file in their hands before looking back to Sun, shaking off the brief startle. “Well, they never gave me any of the initial questions or answers, so I’m supposed to go through them again. Is that okay with you?"

Sun's perpetual smile was thinning, a near grimace like when it had grabbed Levett the day before, but they decided maybe an incentive would help.

"You don't have to answer questions right now, but afterwards, we can do coloring books or whatever else you'd like for a bit," they smiled at Sun encouragingly, hoping that it would accept. They weren't sure what would happen if they didn't finish their questioning or other stuff after long, but they also knew that normal firing wasn't on the table.

Sun's faceplate and rays spun once, looking a bit skeptical as it asked, "Really? Can it be anything?"

Levett felt the question was ominous, but forced themself to nod and answer, "Yes, it can be anything."

Sun's torso spun once in excitement, grin widening genuinely as its face spun and its free hands clapped a couple times. "Oh, goodie! Well, friend, hold this!"

The cardboard paper was once more pressed to Levett's hands, which they carefully took and placed it on the file folder while curiously watching Sun. The creature straightened and walked to the tent, letting out a sing-song "Don't come in, friend!~" before going inside. After a few seconds, it walked out with a plastic table and two chairs like from a toy store in its four hands, just scaled up a bit.

And by a bit, the furniture was fitted more for an adult human size, making Levett realize that human-sized stuff was like children's toys to an adult. It made sense given Sun's size, but it was certainly weird to see as the table and chairs were set down with ease.

"Here we go! Ready for my interview," Sun exclaimed lightly, knees folding as it sat in one of the chairs that reminded Levett of a stork a bit with the human chairs seeming almost like they belonged to children to him. It clasped its hands in front of itself on the table, waiting patiently for the questions.

“Okay,” Levett nodded in acknowledgement, sitting in the unoccupied chair. It had the same bumpy plastic texture like children’s furniture too, making them internally grimace at the feeling. But, they ignored it for the most part, placing the file folder and drawing down on the table. Opening the file, they pulled out the questions and documentation paper before readying their pencil and looking up at Sun. “Let’s get started with the basics then. I’m sorry in advance if all of these have been asked before.”

They allowed Sun a moment or two to respond if it wanted, but it just sat there staring expectantly. They weren’t sure if it’s posture was stiff or if it just looked like it to their own nerves.

“First things first,” they cleared their throat after a few uncomfortable seconds of the silent stare, clicking the pencil to coax some lead out for writing the responses. “What are you?”

“Hmm?” Sun’s face spun a full rotation, orange-y eyebrows furrowing. “I’m Sun, silly. You named me yourself.”

Levett blinked in surprise at the reply, tilting their head and saying, “Well, yes, but that’s *who* you are. Not what.”

They weren’t sure whether or not Sun was genuine in its confusion, but worked with the prospect of giving it the benefit of the doubt. 

“Oh,” Sun’s smile fell a bit, sunrays moving a bit for a reason unknown to Levett. It was quiet for several seconds, seeming to mull over the question. Had… Were the questions already super existential? But, before Levett could open their mouth to try and coax an answer, it perked up a bit with an apologetic smile. “Well, we’re caretakers then!”

“Caretakers,” Levett asked, urging Sun to continue as they wrote down the creature’s response.

“Yes, yes, caretakers,” Sun nodded, the smile returning to a more genuine look.

“Caretakers of what?”

“Why, children of course! Mostly. Though, I’m willing to help anyone in need!”

“Uh huh,” Levett frowned a little, writing down the answer. Was that why everything was so… colorful? “And, why are you a caretaker?”

“Wh… Why,” Sun asked, head tilting severely in confusion at the question to almost over 90 degrees. “What do you mean ‘why’?”

“Oh. Well,” the scientist tapped the pen to their cheek a bit in thought, trying to think of how to explain and continue forward. If they couldn’t even get answers for the first question, they weren’t sure where to go from here. After a couple seconds, they hesitantly tried to elaborate, “Like... Were you made to be a caretaker, is it something instinctive? I guess that’s another good question: did someone make you?”

Sun’s face tilted in the opposite direction, mostly silent. They didn’t realize before that very faint clicks could be heard when Sun moved its head until this almost unbearable silence. Nervously, they thumbed at the emergency bracelet a bit.

“I don’t… I don’t think we were made,” Sun eventually replied, voice attempting to be chipper despite the nervousness that seeped into it, making them jolt. Maybe the glitchy sound was unrelated. It was difficult to tell. "Sooo, it'd be instinctive!"

Levett nodded, writing the response down. They had the brief thought of 'How do you not know if you're made?' before remembering that humans didn't remember jackshit for years while the brain developed. So, whether or not Sun was created remained to be seen in the long run and it'd probably be dependent on what it was made of. Tapping their pencil a couple times and rereading the response, they moved on. "Next question: where did you come from?"

"I mean, I'm not sure what the town we were captured in was called," Sun tapped a finger against a knuckle while managing to keep its hands clasped and still.

Levett stopped Sun before it could continue by raising their hand briefly to catch its attention. Once they had it, Sun cocked its head a little with a curious hum. They looked back down at the question sheet with a bit of a frown and added, "Uh, I'm pretty sure the question means your point of origin, not where you were… brought in."

Though, they had no idea about the location of Sun's capture, so if Sun wanted to talk about it at some point, it could give some more insight that the classified files couldn't. 

"Oh! Well, the Daycare, of course!"

"Uh, Daycare," Levett asked at Sun's confident answer, glancing around at the containment with the realization that it was supposed to emulate a daycare and not a preschool or other place. “What do you mean by ‘Daycare’? Is that why you said that you were a caretaker?”

“Yessiree!” Sun unclasped two of its hands and did a mini Jazz hands gesture while confirming the inquiry. “It’s why I’m so good at all kinds of activities!”

“Right,” more questions ran through their head as they wrote the reply down. They struggled with their curiosity and the listed questions on the list since they technically got their answer. However, curiosity won out and they hesitantly asked, “I-... Was this a named daycare?”

“Named daycare? What do you mean,” all of Sun’s confidence dissipated, face tilting. “It’s just the Daycare.”

“I-... That makes no sense to me, but we can circle back to this later, okay,” Levett said, giving Sun an apologetic and encouraging smile while looking back at the question list. This was mostly to try and cover up their own confusion, trying to be casual as they tried to not furrow their brow much in thought.

If Sun didn’t know *what* daycare it came from, if it even came from an actual daycare, then that meant that it had to have been inside the entire time of its existence, or maybe it couldn’t read??? They weren’t sure.

Realizing that they had been quiet for a couple seconds longer than they’d meant to, they cleared their throat, looking back up and asking, “Uh, right, well, do you know what you’re made of?”

“Made of?”

“Uh, yes,” Levett felt like the interview was just going downhill, looking over the question sheet as though it could tell them how to not fuck up basic questioning. “Like, for example, I’m made of flesh and muscle, and I’m carbon-based.”

“I… I don’t *know* what I’m made of,” Sun said, face turning and the faint clicks sounded almost accusatory to Levett with their nerves. “I never really had to question what I’m made of.”

:”Right. Yeah, that makes sense…” Levett struggled to look over the paper for anything that didn’t feel like it’d decrease Sun’s liking of them. Already they felt like they’d gotten a few in real life instances of [Sun disliked that] throughout this entire process and could only wish that this was actually a video game with no consequences. After several seconds of their own nerves getting the best of them, able to feel Sun’s stare and hear every click that came from it, they eventually inhaled deeply and closed their eyes.

Taking their hands off the sheet of paper, they opened their eyes and placed the paper and note page back into the folder, closing it and shoving it a few inches away from themself. They were very aware of Sun’s gaze as they looked back up at it, sighing in exasperation.

“... Are you okay, Dr. Levett,” Sun asked, catching them off guard by saying their name rather than just calling them ‘friend’.

Levett quickly gave a sheepish and apologetic smile, replying, “Yeah, no, no, no, I’m fine. How about we just-?.. Go off script? I don’t think any of those other questions will help, honestly.”

Taking a steadying inhale, they put their hands together and said, “Let’s just start off with getting to know you and what happened. I have nothing on your past or your capture, so, if you’re willing, let’s start from the beginning. What were you doing outside?”

Sun’s face did a full rotation in surprise, the smile dropping fully for a moment as it blinked, and they immediately began to worry that they’d said or asked the wrong thing. But, Sun’s smile came back, seeming less strained than it had started getting just a question or two prior. The two pairs of hands unclasped as it leaned on the table a bit, making its already goofy posture look downright painful with its surprising flexibility.

“We were looking for children,” Sun answered sincerely, almost seeming wistful. “It’d been so long since a child had come across the Daycare that we eventually went looking for them, for some new friends.”

“So you could leave the Daycare,” Levett stated, cocking their head to the side a bit as Sun shook its head.

“It was against the rules, the RULES, to leave the Daycare. But it’d gotten so lonely. No one even came to visit or check in on us, that… Well, we wondered if something had happened,” Sun continued, voice crackling. “Maybe we had broken a rule that was unspoken, maybe the other humans had gotten hurt or injured and we just didn’t know. So… we sort of left…”

“And then what happened,” Levett asked after a couple seconds of silence, urging Sun to continue.

“Well, we didn’t know where we were, so we had to stumble around a bit until we came across a park-” - Wait, so this Daycare wasn’t around civilization? - “and we saw all these kids with their parents. But, no, we couldn’t just walk up! Something was… wrong about that. We’d never interacted with parents, only the children, so we weren’t sure how to go about it. Before we knew it, it turned into night as we tried to think of how to help the children.

:”The plan was to go back to the Daycare and return to the park the next morning. But, we didn’t remember how to get to the Daycare. We were sure we had gone in the right direction, but we ended up wandering around until we had to rest. It was like that for days. Trying to find or wait for lone children to help and find the Daycare,” Sun began to tap a couple of its fingers on the plastic of the table.

“That seems… Benign enough,” Levett said, frowning. “How were you caught?”

“Eventually,” Sun’s face rotated a bit, smile lowering into a near frown. “A child that was at the park fairly often in the weeks leading up to capture walked up to us where we stood in the trees. I thought that this could be our chance to help. She asked us what we were doing, and I said that I was looking for children to help. We had a delightful conversation! But, the mother of the child came over and started yelling at us. I… panicked. I know the dangers of adult humans and didn’t want the child to get hurt. So, I ran.”

“You *kidnapped* a child?!”

“It was an accident! I’ve never dealt with children around adults before, but I knew that children would be hurt more easily than I could,” Sun grimaced. “The child wanted to be let down and started panicking on her own, especially as night fell. I.. we didn’t stop until we felt safe from the park and the other adult humans. We tried to comfort her, but without our fun activities or being able to find the Daycare.. It didn’t work out very well…. I, uh, don’t remember much after night fell, but I woke up with the other humans in black and white.”

Levett mulled over the new information for a couple seconds, feeling bad for the little girl and mom since, as per procedure, they had definitely been brought in for questioning, mind erasure using subject 43129 or as a worst case…. Well, also contained. Or, uh, offed. They decided to not bring that up though.

“Well, once you were brought into custody, what happened? Level 5 hasn’t given me any notes on the last week, so anything mentioned could be helpful,” they said, watching Sun expectantly. However, instead of answering, it began to fidget in its undersized seat.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Sun replied, head tilting unnaturally. “At least, not right now. But! But, I’d still be willing to answer other questions!”

Its smile widened as its head tilted to the other side, white eyes closing for a moment or two before reopening.

Levett, on the other hand, frowned. Now they really wanted the Level 5 files to be declassified to Level 3. They resisted the urge to press Sun on what happened, instead changing the subject and asking, “Well, since I’m in charge of your wellbeing, do you need to eat? I wasn’t really given any notes on your care either…”

“Oh! Well, I can eat,” Sun answered, seeming a bit caught off guard by the question. “I don’t need to though. I get the majority of my energy through electricity!”

“Oh, really?” Levett blinked. “What happens if you don’t get enough electricity?”

“We just go into a dormant state. Kind of like how certain animals hibernate!”

“Did they give you a way to, uh, recharge,” they asked, resisting the urge to glance around the room as if a giant charger was plugged into one of the walls. They were relieved when Sun nodded though, glad that it wasn’t technically being ‘starved’ or anything. “That’s good!... I think I’m mostly done for the questions for now, but I have one more that I’d like to ask.”

“Shoot,” Sun’s head tilted in curiosity, gaze seeming to become keener despite not having pupils or anything discernable.

“Well,” they hesitated to voice the question on their mind, not wanting to metaphorically step on Sun’s toes more than they already have, but they couldn’t help but blurt it out. “You keep saying ‘we’, not ‘I’ and not third-person. Is the other part of this ‘we’ another subject that was brought in, or is it related to your potential Sundowner’s Syndrome?”

“Sundowner’s Syndrome?”

“Oh, did no one else ask you about it,” Levett asked, getting confirmation when Sun shook its head. “Ah, well.. I guess the best way I could describe Sundowner’s Syndrome without actually having the definition in front of me is… well, a syndrome where the subject or patient experiences confusion, anxiety, disorientation, and agitation that occur during specific times of day. Usually late afternoon or night, hence the name. 

“You’ve mentioned that you don’t remember things when night falls, or at least the night you were captured,” they watched as Sun’s eyes seemed to widen slightly and felt the gaze sharpen, but they didn’t stop. They folded their hands on the table, tensing a little to press the emergency button on their bracelet if needed. “Yet, you’ve never succumbed to these symptoms under my care, and despite it only being a day under my watch, I also know that the lights are what affect you, not the time. So, either you’ve got light-based Sundowner’s Syndrome or something else that is affecting your behavior and mannerisms in a lightless or dim environment.”

Sun remained silent after Levett’s explanation, and they weren’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing. One second turned into two, then three, and then several seconds of silence ticked by without a reply. Without much of any response, the creature stiff as a board. After almost half a minute went by with no reaction, not even a twitch of its now frozen smile, they cleared their throat.

“Uh, S-Sun? Ya good?”

Another moment or two of nothing, then, as they moved to maybe get up and touch its shoulder to check on it, Sun’s face suddenly spun a couple times and startled them.

“Sorry, friend! I sort of zoned out there!” Sun’s smile widened, a hand waving off their unspoken concern. “I mostly say ‘we’ out of habit! It’s interchangeable to me, so either one works when I’m talking. I don’t think I have this ‘Sundowner Syndrome’ or whatsit.”

“Uh, right,” Levett frowned, not sure if they should buy it. Sun seemed a bit unpredictable on its own, so maybe it was lying to protect itself or something. But, Sundowner’s was usually associated with memory loss… Maybe Sun had some kind of memory loss in its past? Either way, they forced themself to keep the added questions to themself, not wanting to ask more after saying it was their last question. So, they clapped their hands a bit and declared, “Well, that’s all the questions I have for now.”

They stood up, seeing Sun’s smile begin to fall, and quickly said, “I have to put these files back and write down a report, but I *swear*, I’ll be right back for whatever activity you want. Okay?”

Levett gave Sun the most reassuring smile they could muster up, wondering if the creature really had it in it to kill an entire Security Detail. At least, probably not while the lights were on.

Sun’s smile, while it didn’t fall completely, seemed to turn into a hesitant one, nodding its head and replying, “Okay. But! If you break your promise, we have to do two activities next time, deal?”

“Deal,” Levett laughed, causing Sun’s face to spin once as they grabbed the folder, mechanical pencil, and the drawing Sun had made for them. “Go ahead and bring out whatever activity if you want, unless we’re going to be playing something again.”

“Got it,” Sun leapt to its feet like a shot, starting to walk towards the tent while its torso remained pointed in Levett’s direction. “But, no peeking!”

“I won’t,” the scientist chuckled, turning to walk to the double doors. Movement in their peripherals made them look up, noticing that the one-way window was on the two-way setting again. They didn’t change it when they were upstairs…. Did they?

Perturbed, Levett sped up their steps, activating the stairwell doors and walking up cautiously, folders and drawing in their right hold while their left hand hovered over the bracelet. Reaching the top of the steps, they opened the second set of double doors to look in on their observation space. 

Someone was sitting at their desk.

The person looked over towards them at the sound of the door opening, a female scientist a shade or two darker than Levett with brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail like regulations stated. She turned the chair towards Levett and stood up, saying, “Good, you’ve finally come back up.”

“Uhhhhh, hi?” Levett frowned a bit, glancing between the new scientist and their desk. “Who are you and how can I help you?”

“Ah, well, I’m Dr. Killian,” the woman walked up and held out a hand for them to shake. “Your backup supervisor.”

“Oh. Hello,” Levett had to shift everything from their right arm to their left so they could shake her hand. “I, uh, wasn’t expecting anyone to check in today. Dr. Wortwood had left instructions and papers of what I was supposed to do.”

“Yes, I read them,” Dr. Killian rolled her eyes, though it wasn’t directed at them. “Honestly, some of the people around here don’t remember how much of a bad idea it is to just kind of toss the new scientists to the wolves. Metaphorically, of course. Unless you’re talking about 12986.”

Levett blinked in confusion, earning an apologetic look from Dr. Killian.

“Sorry, a Level 5 subject that resembles a wolf. Anywho, sorry for not being able to pop in yesterday like I was supposed to,” she walked back to the desk and tapped a nail against the surface. “Something had come up at the last minute in Level 5.”

“Wait, Level 5?” Levett blinked, brow furrowing in surprise. Usually supervisors were supposed to remain within the same Level as their subordinates.

“Yes, Level 5. I usually work down there, but I was assigned as your co-supervisor given that your little subject down there started off as a Level 5 priority,” Dr. Killian explained, looking down into the colorful environment where Sun was placing several items on the plastic table, though they were indiscernible from this distance. “I’m not sure I would have been able to make myself go down there alone after the carnage it caused while bringing it in.”

“I, uh, didn’t get the full report of it…”

“Ah, that explains your laissez faire behavior around it. Let me give you a word of advice,” the other scientist looked back to Levett and gestured down to where Sun was still setting up the table. “*Don’t* drop your guard down too much around that. I don’t care how safe it seems. From now on, I want you to at least have five Security members up here or down there when you’re interacting with 50142. In fact, I’ll assign them myself.”

“Yeah, Dr. Wortwood had said something similar about the whole dropping guard thing,” Levett said, tapping the folder in their hold nervously as they watched Sun below.

“And yet, you still went alone, without alerting either of us,” Dr. Killian frowned. “At the very least, you’re wearing the Micro EMP. That will at least get you enough time to run back to the observation room.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, putting a hand on her hip and continued, “Look, I get it. You’re fresh out of Initiation. You want to satisfy your curiosity, you want to get to know your subjects as much as you can. However, you can’t get attached to them. Good scientists and Security members have died from having too much sympathy. Some subjects have even used that to their advantage through manipulation. *Don’t* get complacent.”

“R-Right, I won’t,” Levett said, a bad feeling at the pit of their stomach. Something about Sun’s chipper, almost puppy-like and excitable personality made it hard to remember to keep their walls up. “Uh, when do you think the current files will be declassified from Level 5 to Level 3 status so that I can look everything over?”

“That I don’t know,” Dr. Killian didn’t comment on the change of subject, but she did narrow her eyes slightly for a moment. “I’m not the one that wrote them and declassifying goes to the Head of Level 5 Security. Could be a couple days, could be a couple of months before they get brought to Level 3 status. For now, we’re starting from scratch.”

Levett nodded, glancing back to the window to see Sun waiting patiently now with its eyes trained towards the door. If it had seen the window was two-sided for now or felt their gaze, it gave no indication.

“Well, I just finished interviewing 50142 over a few questions, so I should get the report into the system,” they said, hoping to get time without a supervisor over their shoulder.

“Good. File the report then. I imagine you’re going back down if the art supplies on the table are any indication,” Dr. Killian remarked with displeasure. “Keep what I said in mind and be *careful*. Starting tomorrow, you're being paired with a Security team.”

Levett watched as Dr. Killian turned from them and started walking towards the door leading to the hallway before she stopped and glanced back at them. She opened the door and added, “Oh, and by the way, I scheduled an MRI, X-Ray, and lab work for you, you’ll find the dates and times on your desktop notepad. We’ll talk about behavioral checks with the Sundowner’s Syndrome in the future.”

With that, Dr. Killian gave them a final wave before walking into the hall and closing the door behind herself, leaving Levett alone.

They had… a lot of thoughts going through their head. But, they could sort them out later, placing the folder and drawing down on the desk before sitting to fill in their report. They pulled up the report template, typing down what little notes they’d taken and what they could remember from their conversation with Sun. It took longer than they’d like to admit, mind constantly wandering to their curiosity and questions, both old and new.

After about an hour, they finally finished up, yawning and standing up. They moved to head back down and saw the picture Sun had made them again. Conflicting emotions ran through them, but they could sort those out later as well. For now, they carefully placed the drawing in the desk drawer with the file folder to keep it safe for now. Maybe they’d get a binder for it and other potential drawings later.

Levett forced themself to go back to the double doors, reminding themself that they’d be fine with the Micro EMP. Sun hadn’t done anything to harm them. But, then Dr. Killian’s words and the redacted report came to mind and a small voice in them couldn’t help but add the word ‘yet’.

Shaking their head from the thoughts, they walked downstairs and went from the dim stairwell back to the colorful enclosure. And felt a pang of guilt at seeing Sun still sitting at the table in the same position as before.

Sun, however, didn’t seem to mind the lapse of time, grinning at seeing them walk out from the double doors.

“Sorry, that took longer than I thought it would,” Levett said as they walked closer, Sun watching with contained excitement and tilting its head. As they approached, they saw an assortment of papers and art supplies on the table, from crayons to acrylics. “Woah, this is… a lot of stuff. You know I said *one* activity, right?”

“Yup! We’re drawing! Or painting, whichever you prefer,” Sun declared, extending its four arms to point to several items. “There’s paintbrushes, and markers, and crayons, and even paint sponges for making clouds. And all kinds of paper!”

“So, only one painting,” they asked, raising an eyebrow incredulously at Sun’s enthusiastic nod. Shrugging, they sat down in the chair they had been in before, instinctively running a thumb over the EMP bracelet as they asked, “Alright then. What are we painting then?”

“I was thinking about our favorite animals,” Sun said, clasping two of its hands by its head excitedly. “We can slowly get to know each other with activities, and I thought this was a great start!”

“Uh, alright,” Levett thought the activity was rather mild and a bit childish, but they were talking to a creature that proclaimed itself as a caretaker in some unknown Daycare. So it made sense that the activities would be more for kids. Keeping an eye on Sun as it watched them expectantly, they grabbed a random piece of paper that seemed thick like cardboard.

As if waiting for them to make the first move, Sun began to look for its own supplies of choice, grabbing another kind of paper and some watercolors.

“What’s your favorite animal,” Levett asked, slower at picking their own drawing utensils of choice, eventually settling on acrylic paints.

“Ooh, it’s so difficult sometimes, so I usually just have a favorite of the day since I love so many animals. But, I think today I’ll paint a parrot,” Sun replied, using its two lower hands to hold onto its chosen watercolors while the left top hand held the paper in place and the right hand began to draw. “What’s your favorite animal?”

“Cats, mostly,” they started drawing as well. It’d been so long since they’d drawn that they knew it wasn’t going to turn out good and didn’t hold much hope on a good final product. “I used to be really into dinosaurs as a kid, but cats are just small and fluffy, you know?”

Sun hummed in agreement and for the next hour or so both of them worked on their paintings with random chit chat that ranged from favorite colors - Sun surprisingly really liked green - and favorite kids stories to Levett explaining a couple movies at some point. Wherever Sun’s Daycare was, it was devoid of anything very modern, finding themself explaining the first Avengers until they decided they were done with their painting.

“Okay, finished,” Levett said, capping the orange acrylic and looking down at their painting. For an hour of work, they thought it looked like shit. But, they weren’t an artist, they were a scientist. 

The cat itself, meant to be a rendition of the one at their apartment, looked more like a fluffy orange alien than a cat. Its eyes were lopsided. The attempt of giving the cat markings was what had taken most of the time. If they had to rate it based on average child level, they’d have to say that they were on par with a fifth grader.

“Ooh, I like it!” Sun didn’t have to lean far to get a better look of it with its height. “It looks so fluffy! Here, I’m almost done, too!”

Levett waited the minute or so that it took for Sun to be finished with its watercolor painting, at which point it picked up the paper after waiting for the colors to dry for several seconds and presented it. It was a parrot all right, one of those bright red ones with rainbow wings. Like the drawing of itself and Levett, this one was also pretty good in quality.

“That’s really good, Sun,” Levett said, not wanting to touch the paper and ruin it. “I like how you painted the feathers.”

“Thank you, friend! Do you want to take it with you,” Sun asked.

“Oh, no thank you,” they held their hands up. “You keep both of these. Since, you know, you already gave me a drawing you made last night. Think of it like an art exchange.”

Uncertain of the time, they were still pretty sure it’d been a long time, adding, “I should probably go though. I can help you put these back in your tent and-.”

“Oh, no need, friend,” Sun quickly interrupted, standing up. With a sweep of its hands, it gathered a large portion of the paints in one hand, scooped up all the paper neatly with another, and carefully held the two paintings with its remaining hands. “I can handle the cleanup! You need to rest up so that we can do more activities next time!”

Levett blinked in surprise, confused as to why it wouldn’t want them in its tent. Then again, the tent was the only thing truly private in the enclosure, so it probably wanted to keep some portion as its space. Rubbing the back of their neck, they felt awkward as they stood up, saying, “Uh, alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow then, ‘kay, Sun?”

“Okie-dokie,” it paused in its gathering of art supplies to wave goodbye to them with the hand holding the sheaves of paper, grinning widely. “See you tomorrow, friend!”