Sunshiny Days

Chapter Three

Sun sighed again as he sat down on the ground. He patted the ground next to him for Alexandria to sit too, but she sat across from him instead. He cleared his throat and began:

"We used to be separate entities, Moon and I. We worked in the theater and brought smiles to all the children with our antics! Moon was the villain of all the stories, and I was the hero. I always thought that Moon would be bothered by his casting, but he didn't seem to mind. We always put our entire souls into those performances, and we loved seeing all the happy faces on our audience." Sun stopped talking for a minute, and it seemed like he was reminiscing. He then looked at her and started again.

"One day, when we had finished our last grand performance, a man in a suit walked up to us backstage. He was the CEO for Fazcorp, and he told us that the theater was being torn down and remodeled into a Daycare. He showed us the blueprints and was really trying to sell us the idea. We didn't like it." Sun looked down for a minute.

"Moon told him that the theater was our life, and that it shouldn't be torn down because the children loved it. He angrily told the CEO that he should just build the Daycare somewhere else. The CEO folded his blueprints back up and left without another word. We didn't see him for a whole day after that, and we continued to prepare for our next performance the next night. When all the children had gathered and the curtain was about to be lifted, an announcement was spoken over the loudspeakers.

'We're sorry for the inconvenience, but the theater is now closed permanently for renovations. Please check out our gift shop on your way out, and have a Fazerrific day!'

Moon was furious. He looked at me and we both had the same thought: the CEO had done this. We took off our costumes and decided to go look for him. We came into a back office that had a cracked door. I was scared, but Moon put his hand on my shoulder. We both braced ourselves and walked in to confront him.

He was waiting there for us, almost in expectation. Before we could even close the door behind us, he.....knocked us unconscious."

Alexandria's expression saddened but Sun continued.

"When our processors came back online, we were strapped to a table. I immediately tried to rip the restraints off to no avail, but Moon tried to get us free more subtly. He was trying to loosen the screws on the metal." Sun stopped for a minute, as if he was trying to collect himself. He wouldn't look Alexandria in the eyes.

"The man walked in. He looked at both of us but walked next to Moon first. Without saying anything, he injected Moon with a....a" Sun stopped and stared at the floor.

"You don't have to tell me, it's okay." Alexandria said with a sad expression.

"No, I need you to understand." Sun said and straightened himself up again. "He injected Moon with a virus. He writhed in pain until his processors shut down. He was never the same after that..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Alexandria replied and scooted a little closer to him.

"It's okay," he said quietly. After a minute, he started again.

"The rest is a blur, I only remember small fragments of what happened. I remember that the CEO took us apart, piece by piece, and made us into one being. Existing has been agony. We weren't meant to be one person, we were made to be separated." Sun suddenly looked at Alexandria. "Please, don't hold Moon accountable for what he's done. He's not in control. He's not...himself anymore."

Alexandria looked at him and saw the pain in his eyes. She tried to understand his position, but Moon had tried to kill her earlier. Even if it was just a virus, he had probably tried to slaughter other innocent children. She shuddered, because that thought was too much to bear.

"You only become Moon when the lights turn off, right?" she said at last.

"Yes." Sun said quietly.

"Then we have to make sure the lights never turn off. There wasn't a fail safe for when the power went out yesterday, maybe we should change that." she said and stood up. Sun watched her as she walked over to the playset. "What if, we install generators in here? That way, we can make it harder for Moon to get to the children." she said confidently.

Sun thought for a moment about this. "But what if he crawls inside? A playset won't stop him, he's very flexible." Sun said as he recalled Moon being able to spider-walk backwards. Alexandria tried to think of another solution, but that was all she could come up with. Sun walked over to her slowly. "Thank you, you've done more for me than anyone else has. I'll talk to management about the generators."

Alexandria let him be close to her and smiled a bit. "You're welcome." They both stood there in silence for a few minutes before Sun spoke. "So uh, I'm assuming you won't be falling asleep again, right?"

She looked at him and sighed. "No, I don't think so."

So, Sun decided to walk back to the table with her and they began to draw again. It became later and later, and eventually, she fell asleep at the table. He gently put down the drawing he was working on and walked over to her quietly. He then picked her up and took her over to a mountain of pillows. Walking very quietly, which was hard to do with bells that jingled, he placed her there very gently and covered her up with a blanket.

"Nighty night, sunshine." he said and pranced away to finish the rest of his chores.