You stretched right outside the sliding doors as a yawn escaped your throat. As you entered the building, the rush of cold air from the ac woke you up just a little. It was around 11:30 P.M. You liked to arrive early to minimize the stress you felt about being tardy. Not that it would’ve been a big deal to your boss, but it was to you as a newbie.
Your footsteps echoed as you made your way to the cash register to check-in. You hovered your index finger over the screen and tapped a few buttons. A concluding beep sounded as you scanned your fingerprint on the side of the monitor, which meant that you were on time and ready to start your shift.
You needed some extra money on the side while you took college courses, and the Pizzaplex offered a reasonable amount for part-timers. You were hired as a janitor. Yes, there happened to be tens, maybe hundreds of staff bots who cleaned up after-hours, but they were limited in terms of what they could clean. You were in charge of cleaning what they couldn’t. That included restrooms, arcade machines, counters, etc. It seemed like a lot of work at first, but you didn’t mind. As long as you could leave before opening hours, then you didn’t care about how long it took.
You hummed along with the instrumental song that played in the main building as you made your way to the nearest supply closet.
‘I hope I’ll have enough time to visit Sun today,’ you thought to yourself as you grabbed your mop and other cleaning supplies.
It was around 4:00am when you finished cleaning up what you could. You had your thirty-minute break in between all of the cleaning. Technically, your shift ended at around 6:00am like the security guard’s did, so you decided on a whim to clean the hand railings in the Daycare. You crouched underneath the garage-like door and immediately smiled when the daycare music flooded your ears. You walked towards the railings by the party rooms and began your tedious work, totally not expecting a certain animatronic to interrupt you. A couple sprays and wipes later, Sun had noticed you in his peripheral. Immediately, he connected himself to the wire hanging from the ceiling and met you at eye-level as close as he could from behind the netting of the play area.
“Hello, janitor friend!” He said enthusiastically, which made you chuckle and set down your Lysol and cloth.
“Hi, Sun. Good to see you,” you replied. You smiled a little wider when the bells on his wrists jingled a little as he lifted his hands to hold onto the netting.
“Would you like to hang out today? We could play hide and seek, draw, or whatever it is that eighteen-year-olds do?” he suggested with a slightly pleading voice. He probably gets bored when the place closes, despite how anxious he says he gets when taking care of multiple kids during the day. You smiled at the replacement of ‘play’ with ‘hang out.’ You didn’t notice that before, but you guessed that he changes his speech patterns to fit the age range of who he’s speaking to.
“Yeah sure! Just give me a minute to put this stuff back,” you said happily as you carried your cleaning supplies to the daycare’s check-in counter. Excitedly, you took off your shoes and held onto them as you slid down the colorful slide. Right after falling into the ball pit, you scanned the area for Sun. He wasn’t nearby, so you made your way through the ball pit and to the comfortable padded floor. You heard the familiar clicking of Sun’s endoskeleton and looked up. He detached himself from the wire and landed in front of you. His eyes went to the shoes in your arms.
“You didn’t leave your shoes in a cubby?” He asked rhetorically. You answered anyway.
“Well, I don’t really want to climb up that slide just to get my shoes. I’m leaving through the security entrance anyway,” you said and motioned towards the big wooden doors. He nodded and gave you time to place your shoes by the security counter.
“So, what should we do first?” He asked with excitement.
You thought for a moment and suggested hide and seek first- one of your favorite games as a little kid. You were an adult, but it sure didn’t feel like it as you rushed to find a hiding spot in the colorful playground.
You were glad that Sun brought out the childish side of you, especially since you really couldn’t be that way elsewhere without being labelled as immature or weird. However, Sun doesn’t mind and actually encourages it, which is why you liked to visit him. Just that one chance to be a kid again without being judged made you eager to return to work the next shift.
“One, two, three…” you heard him count from his spot facing away from you. You decided to hide in a play structure, so you crawled into one and began your ascent to the top of it. When you finally reached the very top, you watched Sun count from behind the play structure’s safety net.
You tried to hold in a laugh as he counted to forty and looked around. He skipped through the play area and searched for you. The last time you both played hide and seek, you hid in the ball pit. He found you so easily that time.
He checked there first to see if you’d hidden there again. You fake-scoffed and shook your head. Of course you wouldn’t hide there again after he rose up suddenly from the ball pit and picked you up with a triumphant “found you!” You were so surprised that he feared he almost gave you a heart attack that day.
He crawled through the first play structure next, which would probably take a while, so you sat back into the corner you were at and relaxed. You took a look at your mismatched socks and smiled at the designs. The left had little ducks and the right had stripes. You reminded yourself to get some more socks when you had the chance. Your dryer kept ruining your favorite ones.
You honestly felt a little tired. What time was it now? You didn’t have a fazwatch or your phone with you so you couldn’t check anyway. Your eyes began to close as your breathing slowed slightly.
You didn’t even notice Sun’s endo clicking until you sensed someone nearby. You opened your eyes to see his shoulders rise and fall as if he was holding in a laugh. You smiled at him and lifted your hand to poke his nose.
“Darn, you caught me again,” you said in a playfully mocking tone. Of course he found you. This place wasn’t built so kids could go missing. “You’ve had too much practice during the day with the kids so it doesn’t count anyway,” you joked as you put your hand down.
He scooted to your side after he noticed how sleepy you sounded.
“No snacks or stickers today?” he asked as you rested your head on his arm.
“Nah, I think my shift is almost over and I don’t wanna fall asleep on your time,” you replied, fighting the urge to pass out. He nodded his head and let you rest there for a while.
“Do you ever want to quit working here?” You asked him suddenly as you yawned. He thought about it for a minute before responding.
“No. I can’t really imagine myself being away from here. That could be because of my programming, though,” he said thoughtfully, something you didn’t really expect from someone as eccentric as him. You nodded your head in understanding and kept your eyes closed.
You were so fascinated with how human the animatronics here were. But, if you were being honest, Sun scared you the first day you met him. He was a bit loud and his frozen smiling face wasn’t very friendly-looking to you at first. He apologized multiple times that day when you backed away from him while pointing the Lysol spray bottle at him like it was a weapon. You never would’ve imagined anticipating hide and seek sessions with him while the establishment was closed.
“I wish you were allowed to see the outside. The beach is cool,” you said absentmindedly in your half-asleep state.
Sun looked at you, half-wishing in his mechanical mind that he could see the beach with you. But he knew that wasn’t realistic for him. You’d probably be arrested for stolen property the moment you both were spotted outside the building. He began to move, which forced you to sit up and look at him.
“Alright friend, let’s get you to your shoes,” he said, a little quieter as to not disturb you too much. You both crawled out of the play structure and he walked with you to the security entrance. You tried to blink a few extra times to prepare yourself for the drive home as you slipped your shoes back on.
“Thanks for today, Sun. I appreciate it. Even though I was too tired to really do anything,” you said as he pulled you into a hug.
“Anything for you, friend. Get some extra rest so we can hang out more on your next shift, okay?” He said warmly and you gave him a tired nod. He opened one of the doors for you and told you to drive safe. You just lifted an arm to show that you heard him and the door closed quietly behind you. You began your walk to your car, making sure to grab a Fizzy Faz to help keep you up while you drove.
