Unraveling

Running

You hadn't exactly thought this through. Here you were driving down streets you didn't know following this red string, not even knowing if the other end of it is within reasonable driving distance. It could go out into the ocean all the way across to another continent for all you know.

This could take you days, months even if you were right about your soulmate being in a different country. you should probably let your boss know that something came up and you don't know when you'll be back, pretend a relative died or something.

currently you were driving down an open country road that was surrounded by rolling hills covered in green pastures. The sun beated through your car windscreen, making you warm and sleepy. The road was mostly deserted appart from you, you had only seen two vehicles pass you so far, an old dingy truck and a slow tractor.

Alongside the road were several different farms with wire fences separating the road from the pastures. There had been cattle, sheep, horses and sprawling feilds of produce that seemed to continue past the horizon.

Through said pastures, was the string you had been following. you'd prefer to follow it directly but you couldn't exactly crash through the fence of some farm to go four-wheel driving through some poor farmer's paddocks. But everytime the string made a turn around a building your gut would sink as you were stuck on the road going one way and your string going in another direction.

When this happenned you had to remind yourself that it was fine, the string was litterally permanently stuck to your finger, you couldn't loose it. the next time you came to an intersection, you'd simply turn in the direction the string went.

Were you really doing this? After years of cynicism, thinking how stupid and impulsive people became when it came to their string, here you were doing the exact same thing.


Sun was in a very good mood today. Technically it's his first mood ever, so there's not much else to compare to but he knew it was good.

He could feel it in his grin, in the hop in his step, everything felt right.

He has a soulmate! he's going to have a friend for life, one that he can take care of, make laugh and hug!

Sun goes about his day with a little extra energy, constantly dismissing Moon's worries in the back of their mind because not even the brooding angst-bot could ruin sun's mood because they had a soulmate!

You're probably really cute and lovely, you'll treat him and Moon like real people-

What if they don't though?

Shush, why would they be our soulmate if we aren't perfect for eachother?

we'll probably never meet them, since we're stuck here

Sun paused for a second. Maybe Moon had a point. They were incapable of seeking you out as they were stuck in the daycare, and even if you followed the string here, they didn't have much to offer you in a place like this.

Sun grappled with the idea of maybe, just maybe, going against his programing and leaving the daycare and the pizzaria, possibly forever.

The idea didn't sit too well with him. he's sure a replacement would be made to take on the daycare and in the meantime the other animatronics were perfectly capable of stepping in for him however the very concept of breaking rules made his gears churn. And that wasn't just his programming talking.

Moon already breaks the rules near constantly for reasons unknown to Sun, so he supposes he wouldn't be too mad if he switched in after moon to find himself already outside and free, that way he himself would have never had to go against his code.

Sun watched fondly as the chaotic crowd of rambunctious children ran and played, knowing Moon's impulsivness, this might just be the last time Sun gets to look at them.

Some were playing with blocks, coloring with crayons, and climbing on the jungle gym. The sound of their laughter and giggles filled the room.

In one corner, a group of children gathered around a table, eagerly participating in a game of Simon says. In another, a little girl sat quietly with a book, lost in the world of its pages.

The children were constantly moving, discovering, and exploring and Sun felt content in knowing that their little brains were moving so fast that they would never have the time to miss him if they even noticed he was gone at all.

Over the day Sun felt more confident about it, the idea of leaving the daycare at the end of the day just like all the parents and children started to feel less and less like an impossibility, maybe even something he could do himself rather than just waiting for Moon to do it.

...

nope! maybe he'll just wait instead.

So that's how Sun spend the next few days, always being surprised to still find himself in the daycare after moon's night shift, but being absolutely confident they'd be gone soon, out in the world, looking for their soulmate.

but they days passed, one after the other and here they still were.

"Moon?" Sun wispered to the empty daycare. No children had arrived yet and in the quiet he sought an answer from his counterpart.
"Why haven't you escaped yet?"

Sun was met with more silence. He began to wonder if Moon's AI was even still running anymore after not hearing from him in days.

"Why would I?" finally came his response.
"You seem to be under the impression that I even care about this stupid string."

Sun was confused. "How could you not care!?"
Not only does this string mean that there's someone out there that they're suposed to be with, but it also meant that they were alive. real and truly alive.

"Even if we did, who's to say we'd get very far before we run out of power. Think about it. We're never off. Between you during the day and me at night, we are never fully off. who's to say if we shut down, that all this, the feelings, the sentience, the string, would all be lost. It's not written into our boot up sequence." Moon spoke slowly, emphasising every point.

Sun remained silent this time. casting a forelorn gaze at the gates to the daycare. if moon wasn't going to then he'd just have to do it himself... 

After he wrapped up with all the kids today. He mentally backtracked as a boy and his mother walked through the doors.