Welcome to the Drawing Board

The lights clicked off as Sundrop's persona faded away into his lunar counterpart. Moondrop stretched his arms before taking a glance at the sleeping child that still clung to his pants. He had wished he could have talked to her about a few things both of them had observed, but he knew that her need to sleep was far more important.  

After a few hours of what had seemed like peaceful slumber, the attendant's audio sensors picked up a small whimper from Sophie. Crimson eyes scanned the girl and noted every change: increased heart rate, tightened grip onto both the blanket and his pant leg, talking or begging something or someone to stop. 

"Why are you just sitting there!?" Sundrpp shouted.  

"Quiet." Moondrop warned. 

Sundrop had no experience in comforting a child in the throes of a nightmare, only ones that were awake. The animatronic slowly moved to pat Sophie's head, softly to not shock her awake. Who knew what she would do if she woke up and panicked. He shushed her gently when another whimper left before he moved to try and shake her awake. Even in her sleep, Sophie flinched away from the touch to her arms as her eyes shot open. In one fluid motion, she was curled up under the blanket fully hidden from sight and made herself as small as possible. 

"I'm sorry." She apologized meekly, her body shaking. "I'm sorry." 

"Sophie?" Moondrop called out to her, not making a move to reveal her. "It's ok. It's just me." 

A single blue eyes peeked out from under the blanket and upon seeing the animatronic helped her to calm down. She sat up from her cocoon of the blanket, looking up at Moondrop. Had she woken him up with her nightmare?

"I'm sorry I woke you up." Sophie muttered another apology. 

A low chuckle left the attendant as he moved his hand to ruffle Sophie's hair. "We don't sleep so no apology is necessary." 

"Oh…" 

"Would you like to talk about your bad dream?" Moondrop inquired as he opened an arm so Sophie could move closer to him. 

She shook her head no. Her mom would be mad if she told Moondrop what her bad dream was about.  Instead, she moved to rest against the still warm animatronic and tried to fight the sleep that tried to overtake her. The attendant saw her struggle and couldn't help the fond smile that crossed his faceplate. 

"We will protect you Sophie." Moondrop reassured the child. "When it is dark, I will let  nothing harm you and when the lights come back on, Sundrop will keep that promise too." 

Sophie looked up at him, a tiny bit of skepticism behind her half-lidded eyes. "You're not lying like my mom are you?" 

"We cannot lie." He smiled, tucking the blanket even tighter around her. "Now try and get back to sleep. You have a couple more hours until the doors open again." 

"Don't wanna go…" She muttered as the warmth that surrounded her slowly lulled her back to sleep. "Don't make...me…please."

Moondrop had no idea how to reply to what she had said. Unlike his sunny counterpart, the animatronic knew that Sophie couldn't stay here with them. She would need parents that could help her grow up and provide a safe place for her to live.  He knew Sundrop wouldn't understand but that was why he hid those thoughts from him. Instead of focusing on the future, Moondrop just gazed down at the sleeping child against him. His red eyes checked her for any signs of distress and the animatronic sighed in relief that there were no signs of anything but a peaceful slumber.

Morning came too quickly. 

The wooden doors creaked open as Vanessa stepped through with her flashlight on. It wasn't hard to spot the massive bed that Sundrop had built, nor the tall animatronic that sat in the middle of the bed. Crimson eyes only glanced up at the soft sound of the security guard approaching. 

"Long time no see Officer Vanessa." Moondrop greeted softly, returning his focus back to Sophie. 

"It's almost time." The woman stated softly as Sophie began to stir from all the talking. "The police will be here a little after six along with a woman from Child Protective Services."

Sophie yawned softly as she sat up,her hands rubbing away the last bit of sleep from her eyes. She looked up at Moondrop and smiled before surprising both the attendant and the security guard with a hug. 

"Thank you Moondrop." Sophie smiled up at the animatronic, which had the attendant's gears stuttering. 

So is this what Sundrop had felt earlier…

"Good morning little comet." Moondrop stood up, offering a hand to also help Sophie up. "We only have a little time left before you have to go." 

The smile that had been on Sophie's face turned into a frown. She didn't want to go.  Why couldn't she just stay with Sundrop and Moondrop. She shook her head as her hand clutched onto his pants tightly, a few tears welled up in her eyes. The attendant saw how upset the girl was getting and bent down, resting his larger hands on her arms. The wince didn't go unnoticed. He wouldn't let it slide this time, instead moving to carefully roll up the sleeves of Sophie's sweater. Vanessa watched curiously before her eyes widened in horror. Dark purple marks littered the pale skin that had been hidden by the thin sleeves. The security guard didn't miss how Moondrop's eyes glowed brighter as his gears turned louder.

"Who hurt you little comet?" He asked softly. 

Sophie shook her head. "She'll… she'll be mad. I can't tell anyone." 

"No. Remember what we promised you." He said with a little bit more urgency. "Whoever did this will never hurt you again."

Sophie looked up at Moondrop, searching for any tell that what he was saying was false. She'd been lied to so many other times that she was scared. But then she remembered that Sundrop and Moondrop couldn't lie. 

"My mom." The answer came out softly as Sophie kept her gaze on the floor. 

Vanessa thought she heard a growl leave Moondrop as he straightened to his full height, taking Sophie's hand into his much larger one. He knew that he would definitely not be calm enough to hand Sophie over to anyone, so he walked over to the light switch.  As if knowing what was coming, Sophie tugged gently on the attendant's hand. Moondrop looked down at her, kneeling down before being taken aback by what happened next. 

Sophie hugged him. 

The animatronic couldn't remember the last time someone had given him one since he only got to see the children when they were asleep. The soft glow of the stars on his hat and pants illuminated the smile of the child's lips.  He reached back and flipped the switch, his gears slowly changing him back to Sundrop. The cheerier counterpart had heard everything and couldn't help but give Sophie a hug too. She was such a brave girl for having to go through such torment that it broke Sundrop's mechanical "heart". 

"I'm so sorry Sophie.  So so so sorry that you've been hurt." Sundrop whirred as he took her hand once more. "But never again! Never ever ever will anyone hurt you like that again!" 

Sophie nodded as she walked with the attendant and Vanessa out of the daycare and to the front of the lobby.  The security guard checked her watch when it chimed, signaling it was six as the shutters rose from the front doors. She expected to see the police waiting… not a hysterical woman. Sundrop and Sophie stopped while she proceeded forward to unlock the doors to see what the woman wanted. 

Sophie froze in her spot, her body trembled slightly at the sight of her mother trying to beat down the door. She tucked herself behind Sundrop when the woman pushed past Vanessa to enter the lobby.  

"WHERE IS SHE?!" The woman screeched as she looked around frantically.  "Where are you keeping my child, you kidnappers!?" 

"Ma'am. I need you to calm down." Vaness held her hands out to try to diffuse the wild actions of the woman.  "No one kidnapped anyone. You must be…" 

"Sophie's mother, Nicole Allen." Nicole pointed her finger right in Vanessa’s face. "Get used to hearing it because I am going to see the fuck out of this place for keeping my child!" 

Vanessa wasn't buying a single word about the crazy woman going to sue them when they had proof she just abandoned her child, even though the mother didn't know that. As Nicole kept her tirade on Vanessa, Sophie peeked out from behind Sundrop's striped pants… which unfortunately didn't go unnoticed by her mother. The woman stormed over toward the child, ignoring the attendant she hid behind entirely as Vanessa pursued her. The security guard quickly stopped when she noticed something was off with Sundrop. 

"There you are you useless, stupid girl!" Nicole shouted. "You get over here right now or your punishment is going to be even worse when we get home! Are you listening?! Sophie! I said get OVER HERE NOW! You just wait until we get home!" 

When Nicole reached around to grab Sophie, something stopped her… something much larger. 

"We don't think she's going anywhere with you." 

The woman froze as the large hand wrapped around her arm with no difficulty.  Vanessa just stared up in slight awe, having heard about this mode of Sundrop's and his counterpart but having never actually seen it. Sophie looked up too in shock when she heard how funny the attendant sounded, and was even more shocked when she saw how he looked a little like Moondrop now too. 

"I think I'll let you take out the trash Eclipse." Vanessa waved as she stepped back. 

"Trash?!" Nicole snapped. "I'm a single mother who--" 

"YOU don't get to call yourself that!' Eclipse hissed as it started backing the woman away from Sophie. "Mothers nurture their children and love them more than themselves! They care for them! YOU left Sophie here not caring what happened to her! We've seen what YOU have done to her! Those are not marks of love...those…" 

Eclipse faltered as his crimson and white eyes glowed brighter with intensity the angrier he grew. He knew he couldn't hurt the woman in the same way she hurt Sophie, but that didn't mean one of them wasn't thinking about it. 

"Those marks mean that someone has to protect Sophie from a monster like YOU." They stated pointedly. 

Nicole stared up in fear at the animatronic, her heart pounding in her chest.  "Y...you're the monster! Keep her! I don't care, just don't hurt me! I… I have too much to live for!" 

"Pathetic…" Vanessa grunted. 

"Leave… and if we ever see you here again…" Eclipse couldn't even finish his threat before Nicole bolted out the door. 

The animatronic turned, walking back to Sophie. The girl had tears in her eyes, partially from the yelling but also partially from the relief that washed over her. Relief that came from the fact that her mother couldn't hurt her anymore. She launched herself at Eclipse when he knelt down to her height, hugging him tightly as a few tears fell onto his ruffled collar. Vanessa saw the approaching red and blue lights of police cars and moved to greet them outside to update them. It would also give them more time to say goodbye. 

As they calmed down, Sundrop quickly returned after saying a silent thank you to Moondrop for helping him protect Sophie.  Sophie was the first to pull away. Her eyes caught the flashing police lights,  which turned her smile quickly into a frown. 

"I don't wanna go." She admitted softly. "Can't I just stay with you and Moondrop? I promise I'll be good and help out in the daycare!" 

Part of both of them wished that Sophie staying was an option, but they knew she couldn't. 

"We both wish you could Sunbeam, honest…" Sundrop started, smoothing some of her hair back. "But we promise everything will be OK. I'm sure you'll find a new family that loves you very very much! And… and they'll bring you here lots so we can still see each other!" 

Some of Sundrop's optimism spread to the somber child, lifting her frown. Vanessa slowly approached with a middle aged woman in formal attire, clearing her throat to get their attention.  

"Sophie, this is Ms. Walker." Vanessa introduced. "She's going to make sure that your mom can't ever hurt you again and help find you a loving family. It's time to go now." 

Sophie was a bit apprehensive of the strange woman but knew that going out kicking and screaming wouldn't help her stay either.  She opted to give Sundrop one last hug, sniffling softly. 

"Don't forget me ok?" Sophie asked, her lip trembling. "You gotta promise not to forget me." 

"I could never forget you Sunbeam." The attendant reassured her, his smile widening slightly. "Neither of us could." 

Satisfied with Sundrop’s promise, and last hug, Sophie shyly approached the woman who had extended her hand toward the child. She cautiously took it before she was led out of the building and into a waiting police car. Blue eyes looked back one last time to see Vanessa and Sundrop watching through the doors. The child gives one last wave before the car starts to pull away. 

Vanessa sighed as she popped her shoulders back and gave a soft yawn before walking back toward the escalator. "Well… that was quite the night. Come on Sundrop, let's get you back to the daycare to charge before we open. We don't need you dying on us in the middle of the… day… Sundrop?" 

The security guard stopped her walk, looking back at the animatronic that was frozen by the door. Sundrop didn't know why but every wire, every gear, every microchip just hurt. He had seen plenty of friends leave every day when they left the daycare, but  whenever they left it didn't hurt like this. Vanessa’s gentle touch doesn't even get any sort of reaction. 

"She'll be back, Sundrop." She tried to be positive. "Just like all the other kids come back too." 

The animatronic gave no response. 

********

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Everyday Sundrop hoped that it would be the day that Sophie would be checked into the daycare so he could see his friend again, but it never came. He managed to keep up his cheery persona for the children that were present, but it was just going through the motions. He had to take care of them as part of his programming.  Whenever they were preoccupied with an activity led by one of the daycare assistants, he moved to an area to sulk.

It didn't go unnoticed by the assistants, who relayed the weird behavior to Parts and Service.  Of course, then the attendant's off behavior became the latest gossip amongst all the employees of the pizza plex. It even reached Vanessa and the other animatronics, who felt bad for their friend. The security guard was worried that his mood might lead to Sundrop and Moondrop neglecting their duties or, worse, lashing out at someone. She knew what had to be done… 

But it wasn't going to be easy. 

A few hours before closing one night, Vanessa peeked her head into the daycare before entering. She frowned when she saw Sundrop just sitting in the middle of the floor, staring at nothing. With slow footsteps, she approached the attendant. 

"Sundrop?" Vanessa called out to him. 

Nothing. 

"You're needed for your monthly diagnostic scan in Parts and Service ok?" She stated kindly. "I know you don't like going there alone so I thought I'd go with you. You can even use my flashlight so you don't change back and forth too much." 

There was no verbal response, but the animatronic did rise from his spot on the floor. Even though had changed his expression to be a permanent smile, which was much more unsettling than the technicians hoped it would be, she could still see the sadness he felt. He silently followed Vanessa down to Parts and Service after she gave him her flashlight to shine on his face. The room is fully lit as the technicians stand by for him to enter the protective cylinder. Once the attendant is strapped into the chair, they make sure to power him off to 

"So just a diagnostic right?" One of the technicians asked. 

"No." Vanessa quickly retorted. "There's a file deletion that needs to occur." 

"A file deletion? There's no form here stating that…" 

"Forget the form! I'll fill it out later! Just delete the entire day of June 27th from his memory, ok?" The security guard urged. "That's the only way to get him back to being fully functional." 

 The technician just shrugged, deleting a file wasn't hard. "Just get me the form ASAP." 

"Yeah yeah whatever." Vanessa grumbled as she stood off in the corner, watching them get to work. 

It was the only way to get Sundrop back to his normal self, even if it meant he was breaking a promise to Sophie. If she hadn't come back now, it was likely she would never be coming back. Vanessa knew that the attendant would have to move on eventually… She was just helping him. 

The diagnostic and file deletion took no time at all, the technicians leaving the protective cylinder before they powered Sundrop back on. Vanessa approached the animatronic carefully. 

"How are you feeling, Sundrop?' She asked. 

"Oh much much better!" His jolly response came immediately. "Oh dear! What happened? Did I get glitter glue stuck in my gears again? Kids can be so messy messy messy! But at least they have fun!" 

"No Sundrop, it was just a monthly diagnostic run." The security guard smiled as Sundrop drop stood up, swaying from side to side just like he used to. "Let's get you back to the daycare to charge." 

As the two left, the technicians began to get ready to leave for the night as well. Sundrop was completely unaware of what had transpired. He did feel much better after feeling so icky for months. Maybe there was a malfunction that they fixed to make him feel normal again. That had to be it. 

He had no idea of the precious memory he lost… and that Moondrop had hid from the technicians.  

The idiots had forgotten that there were two memories to erase. 

The parents came to collect their children, each child running back to the animatronic to give him one last hug. Sundrop waved the last child goodbye as his shoulders sagged slightly. It always made him sad when it was just himself all alone in the daycare. When white eyes landed on the disaster of glitter glue and dried paint that covered each table as well as all the blocks, toys, and puzzle pieces that littered the floor, Sundrop’s gears began to turn as he quickly set about cleaning the daycare.

“Oh no oh no! This mess won’t do! No no not at all!” Sundrop loudly muttered to himself as he started cleaning up. 

He was so focused on the mess that his audio receptors didn’t pick up on the soft sniffling coming from the playground. After another few hours, the animatronic stood tall as he scanned the area that was now spotless. With his chest puffed out slightly, he turned to make his way out of the daycare and go back to his room… until his audio receptors finally picked up on the smallest noise. His faceplate tilted from side to side in concern as he tried to find the source of the soft crying, his locators leading him to the play center. It’s only a short climb up into the tubes that thankfully were made big enough for him to crawl through. That was made as a precaution, in case a child got into the playset and got scared, so Sundrop could retrieve them. 

The animatronic made it to the highest tube when his eyes laid on a little girl curled up in a ball, her face buried into her legs. “Oh no… what’s wrong friend? Why are you still here?”

“My mommy forgot me…” Sophie sniffled softly as she looked over at Sundrop with her teary blue eyes. 

The animatronic’s personality chip began whirring as it pulled the upset girl close, the bells on his wrists jingling softly as he hugged her. He had scanned her and had her guest profile pulled up, but oddly enough, there was no adult listed to pick her up. It was quite odd… 

“Why don’t we go find the security guard Sophie?” Sundrop suggested as he saw the slightest bit of brightness flash across her face.

“How did you know my name?” Sophie asked curiously. 

The animatronic tilted his faceplate in an amused manner. “I have every child’s guest profile uploaded daily so I can keep track of them all! That way I can remember aaaall of my new friends for the next time they visit!”

A small smile cracked across Sophie's face as Sundrop easily slid out of the tunnel, extending his large hand out to her. The child gladly accepted the hand as she followed him down to the floor. As soon as the animatronic is able to stand at his full height, a small giggle escapes from Sophie. 

"You're really tall." She stated as her hand reached up to hold the attendant's much larger one.

A soft, staticy chuckle left Sundrop as he walked her out of the large wooden doors and out into the lobby. He knew Vanessa would be in the atrium checking on the other animatronics to make sure they weren't getting into too much trouble. Sundrop knew they could behave most of the time… just as long as they weren't trying to have another "friendly" game of Monty Golf. Roxy always accused Monty of cheating, which just led to them arguing and growling at each other while Chica and Freddy just tried to enjoy themselves. 

As the elevator doors to the atrium opened, Sundrop ducked out.  Sophie looked around in awe at all of the flashing lights and different places there are in the vast room. Now she really wished her mom had actually kept her promise because she would have loved it here. 

Sundrop made his way with Sophie down to the main stage when he saw all four of his friends practicing their newest song. As the two grew closer and closer, Sophie's hand slipped out of the attendant's to hide slightly behind his leg. The child barely peeked around when they stopped and waited for the group to finish. 

Chica was the first to notice them. 

"Hey guys! Look who finally came to visit! Hi Sundrop!" Chica called before excitedly waving to the much taller animatronic. 

"Hello Chica!" Sundrop greeted enthusiastically with a wave. "You all sounded so so so so great! The kids will love your next show!" 

"As kind as always Sun." Freddy stated before catching a glimpse of Sophie, who quickly hid back behind Sundrop’s leg.  "Who is that you have with you?" 

"Oh a new friend!" The animatronic explained, his head turning to look at Sophie.  "It's ok. I promise they're all very nice!" 

"Geez Sunny, we were kidding about keeping a kid!" Monty teased the attendant. 

If an animatronic could blush, Sundrop would be bright red. Instead, his fan just whirred loudly to stop himself from overheating. 

"I did no such thing! I'm not a rule breaker! No no no!" He stated firmly. "She… was left in the daycare. We're trying to find Officer Vanessa to see if she can help us out." 

The four moved off the stage to stand before the daycare attendant, the child peeking out once more. Chica knelt down to Sophie's height, offering a smile. Besides Sundrop and Freddy, she was one of the best animatronics when it came to working with children. She just had a natural bubbly attitude that her A.I. made sure was always present. All of their eyes scanned Sophie and saw her guest profile on their screens.  

"Do you like pizza Sophie? I'm sure you're hungry." Chica asked. 

The child looked at Chica before looking up at Sundrop. She was wondering if it was OK for her to answer the question. He gave a small nod before his hand rested on head, but decided to answer for her. She was stuck in here until 6am so they would have plenty of time to try and get her to open up. 

"I like pepperoni." Sophie answered in a small voice just before Sundrop could speak. 

All of the animatronics blinked slightly in shock at how scared the girl sounded to answer the question. Chica stood up and began to head for the escalator to the second floor of the atrium.  She would bring back some food for Sophie (and maybe a pizza for herself). The child continued to cling silently to Sundrop’s pants as the small group moved to an area with tables for them all to sit at. A small giggle left Sophie when Sundrop had to adjust multiple times due to his height. 

"Sophie?" Freddy asked, drawing her attention to him and giving her a reassuring smile. "Officer Vanessa will help get you to your mother." 

All of them miss the slight flinch from the girl… all of them except Sundrop. He was programmed to understand the smallest motion of body language a child showed, but this was one he had never hoped he would see. Sophie tugged her sleeves down slightly when she noticed Sundrop looking at her intensely. That wasn’t important right now. What was important was figuring out what she was going to do now that her mother was gone. Maybe she could just stay in the daycare? She had seen how sad Sundrop looked when all the children had left with their parents… maybe she could keep him company? Her mind was quickly drawn away from the thought when the delicious smell of fresh baked pizza hit her nose. Chica set the pan plate with two slices of requested pepperoni pizza and a small bottle of apple juice next to it. 

“Thank you.” Sophie said softly as she started on her first slice of pizza. 

The animatronics looked between one another as she ate. It was already in a silent agreement that she should stay with Sundrop in the daycare since the child seemed to trust him the most, but what were they going to do with the issue of her mother? Like a lighthouse on a foggy day, Vanessa’s flashlight came into view through the doors that lead to Rockstar Row. The security guard let out a sigh of relief at seeing all of the animatronics behaving and getting along, though she was curious as to what Sundrop was doing outside of the daycare. The only time he ever left was when the lights were off and Moondrop was out. He had always been the more exploratory one of the two. As she rounded the corner, she froze at the sight of the child happily eating pizza and sipping on her juice next to the daycare attendant. 

This certainly had never happened before.

Freddy looked up, giving a polite wave to Vanessa. “Officer Vanessa, we were just about to go looking for you.”

“You were huh?” The woman raised a brow as her gaze settled on Sophie. “And who is this?”

“Oh my new friend Sophie!” Sundrop stated proudly with a spin of his entire faceplate. “She was left in the daycare by accident.”

“Is that so?” Vanessa bent down to Sophie’s height as the girl once again tucked herself mostly behind Sundrop. “Do you know your mother or father’s number so we can call them to come get you in the morning?”

Sophie shook her head no. Her mother had never let her really leave the house before so she had no reason to memorize it. Her dad was in a place that didn’t need phones. Sundrop’s faceplate swayed side to side as he tried to collect the information from Sophie’s sign in form to the daycare. 

“Hmm… no number listed on the sign in sheet either.” The attendant reported. “What do we do?”

Vanessa sighed as she stood up, rubbing her temple. This was going to be a nightmare of paperwork when everything was over and done with. Right now, the most important thing was making sure that Sophie was kept somewhere comfortable until 6am. Only one place came to her mind…

“Looks like you’ll get that slumber party after all, Sundrop.” Vanessa said softly before returning her gaze to the child next to him. “Ok sweetheart, here’s what is going to happen. Tonight, you’re going to be staying with Sundrop and Moondrop in the daycare and before you complain, Sundrop, he’s going to need to come out because she is going to have to sleep with the light’s off. I’ll be calling the police and they will be taking you to the police station until they can find your mother. Hopefully, this was all just a case of momentary memory lapse or something like that.”

Sophie had stopped listening to the woman after she said that she would be staying with Sundrop (and Moondrop) all night. Maybe if she could show Vanessa that she was an extremely good kid then she could stay with the animatronics. Sophie finished her pizza and apple juice, taking the trash to the nearest garbage can before rushing back to Sundrop. The child tried to stifle a yawn but it was noticed by everyone. 

"Ok. Looks like nap time for you." Vanessa stated softly before looking up at Sundrop, noticing his slightly staticy grumble. "She needs her sleep." 

"You should know that… " Moondrop muttered to Sundrop.