Part 1. > Here. Part 2. > Here. Part 3. > Here.
The daycare was shut down a long time ago, replaced by some... movie theater thing? Not that it matters to you, for all you know, the daycare itself could just be a rumor. One of those things that get made up into a story somebody tells the other person.
You tried searching something about it up on the web. Of course, you came up empty. But... those teens yesterday. They were talking about it- them?? Something about this big animatronic that used to watch over them as a kid. And you were sure they said something about a daycare.
But... maybe you were mistaken?
You sat down a semi heavy box in the storage room connected to the back of the theater, located in the plex.
It mostly just held old dvds (as if people still used them anymore, but you guessed it was better than paying those high subscriptions most companies had nowadays), and other stuff the theater might need. Including exrta cleanings supplies, and whatnot.
Just, the usual stuff you'd see in a place like this.
You thought back to the daycare. You don't know why, but something bothered you. A manic bot? But those teens were obviously recalling only good times with... whatever it was. Missing kids? You couldn't find anything about that. And... they just, removed a whole daycare???
You thought about how many people would kill for a good babysitter these days- most bots that are programed for that, well, that's all they're programmed to do. Maintain the health and safety of the child until their guardian came home. Something like that, at least.
But the bot those teens talked about? It- they?? Sounded... animated. More... involved with the caretaking.
...
You were really started to feel bad for just, listening to their conversation like that. But it was interesting! Who wouldn't be interested in something like that.
You could name quite a few people. But weren't one of them.
You stretched, looking around the dimly lit room. It was big. Spacious. Had a lot of boxes piled up. None of them named, though. You guessed the maintenance bots had something to do with that.
You pursed your lips, looking around again. This place... was once connected to the daycare, right?
You took a step deeper. No one was around... didn't see any cameras... geez, there was dust everywhere. The stuff in here had to be old.
You stretch one more time, before letting your arms fall to your sides. Yeah, you were definitely about to snoop.
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It had been about a full tem minutes of snooping, which was a lot on work time. But, whoever was over you barely ever kept up with you... so... yeah.
You could hear some animated movie distantly playing in the background. Thin walls. They must have just quickly built something up to have somewhere to put the theater.
You sigh. You still hadn't found anything. Zip. Zero. You were losing hope. And fast.
You were about to leave, but then something catches your eye. Something shiny?
You walk over to a pile of boxes, much deeper in the storage room. They were stacked on top of each other, as most things were here. But that didn't matter to you. No, what mattered right now was the shiny bell hooked to some sort of red ribbon, hanging a little out of one of the boxes.
Definitely not something for the theater.
You smiled. Finally, something interesting.
You carefully removed the boxes on top, finding even more stuff. Shirts, cups, even glowing the dark wrist bands. All having the same sun or moon themed design. Oh, yeah. Jack pot.
As you took out the contents of each box, you were careful to put it back just the way it was. Gotta be discret. Or at least try. Finally, you get to the boxes with the ribbons.
You take one out, feeling it. "What is this? Silk? Some sort of satin?" You quietly mumbled to yourself, flipping the fabric in your hands.
You decide to take one with you, there were tons. One wouldn't hurt... maybe. Hopefully. If they take it out of your paycheck, it's fine. The little bell on the end made it worth it. You found yourself shaking it a little as you walked around, looking for more boxes like the ones you just went through.
Your eyes don't land on it at first, in fact, you miss it three times- far to absorbed in your little mission to find more cool or interesting stuff. I mean, a glow in the dark jacket?? That was nice. It was also themed like everything else you found so far.
But then, you see it. Something. On the farthest back wall. Laying haphazardly against some more boxes. Like it was just, thrown there at some point. One of its triangles??? On its head, had act poked through a box.
You wanted to run. To just turn around, pretend you didn't see anything. Go back to the theater, glance at the movie every now and then.
But you couldn't. You were in too deep now. You needed to see this thing up close.
You take out your flashlight that was hooked to your belt, and point it at it. It was too dark in the place they had set it in to get a good look at it without it.
Wow. Okay. Yeah. Creepy.
Tattered clothing, blank eyes, horrifying smile... you didn't get why any kid would want to get close to this thing. At all.
You walk closer, there was a crack on it's left eye. If you looked closer, you could pin point exactly where the impact-
You slip.
You reach for air as you fall, any box being too far away to grab.
Your head lands on it's chest with a loud bang.
You grab it in pain, failing stand from how much it hurt. Bone to metal definitely didn't mix.
When you had hit your head, you faintly remember hear some sort of... click. Almost like when you click a pin. It was quiet, but not quiet enough to be unnoticed.
You squint at it's chest. A button? Oh, it had more than one.
You sigh, beginning to stand back up, but freeze.
Your eyes lock with its. And it speaks.
"Who... are you? W-where... am I??"
