Chapter Text
Moonbeam looked up as Sanani and Nisshoku popped out of the ball pit. Polaris gave a happy squeal as they emerged into their home Daycare. Solar Wheelie was sitting on the floor near one of the small tables and Lunar was perched on his broad shoulders.
"You guys were gone for ages." Lunar mewed.
"We danced up a storm, believe it!" Sanani said brightly.
Moonbeam tossed his head a little as the fug around them reached him. "I can tell?!? You're both practically glowing with magick. What did you do?"
"We visited the SunChips." Nisshoku said tiredly. "Their Killcode bounded off the Daycare with a magick circle and we had a dance party to fill it up with energy."
The unicorn trotted up closer to put his mouth next to Polaris. Her tiny hands papped against his soft upper lip. "Hello little one. How is their... guest faring?"
"Angry, smelly and slimy." Sanani said with a bit less gusto. "Yeah." Nisshoku added. "But powering things up should help. It certainly perked up both of their dead brothers."
Solar raised a metal eyebrow.
"YEEEEE!" Polaris shrieked happily. She smacked both little hands against Moonbeam's lip and he spooked backwards, stamping his feet and shaking his head.
The Transformer immediately shifted to concern. "Moonbeam!"
The unicorn stopped moving and his expression turned sour as his mate and family bust into surprised laughter. "What the hell are you all looking at?" He asked. "Is there something on my face??" He stuck out his tongue to lick his lip and froze in a blep as it touched something very fuzzy.
"I'm sorry!" Sanani crowed. "I'm sure she didn't mean it!"
"I think it looks pretty good myself." Nisshoku added with a sly grin.
Moonbeam turned with a flick of his tail and stomped to the front of the Daycare to turn the magic mirror on. He was staring at his reflection as the others came up the aisle. He could hear their barely stifled giggling.
"I hate all of you."
Solar chuckled. "What if I liked it?"
"YOU LIKE ME HAVING A CURLY BLACK MUSTACHE."
Lunar nodded with glee. "Those have been out of style for ages. It's pretty cringe."
Moonbeam considered it, twitching his lip a little. "You really think it's cringe?" The others were a sea of nodding smiles. "Fine... I'll leave it until after my next live-stream. We'll see if the fans like it. If no, I'm shaving it off."
Josie was bustling around in the kitchen when she heard Moonlit and Sunlo come out of their rooms. "Good morning!" She said brightly. "Did you get a good nights sle-charge?"
Moonlit leaned on the door frame as Sunlo headed into the bathroom to fix her rays. "You can call it sleep. It's close enough.It's kind of an idle-lower power mode. It's super relaxing. Especially with such..." He cast a glance at the edge of Sunlo's skirt poking out of the open door. "-pleasant company."
"You two are so sweet together. Just watching you two reminds me of my younger days. Ah. New love is the most wonderful thing."
"Can I ask... have you ever been in love Josie?" Moonlit ventured.
"Oh heaven's yes! Several times." He expression turned wistful. "Sometimes things don't last. That's all. And Night Vale can be dangerous. Fortune favors the cautious here."
"Well I'm unnerved now."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine." Josie said sweetly. "Actually, could you turn on the living room radio for me? Just in case."
"In case of what???"
"You never know. And you can't know if you don't hear the announcements." Josie returned.
"Right... sorry" Moonlit turned on his heel and went into the room to do as she asked. He moved the wrong knob and the box let out an electronic squelch that made him wince. He turned it the other direction and his casing crawled at the sound of scuttling and chitinous clicking noises coming from the speakers. He moved it the other way and a hollow, echo-y voice poured out of the speakers.
"The wide sill juts out into the darkness. It offers a place of rest for anything that may wish to sit beside the glass. To gaze into the warm, dark room. Hair is fanned over a pillow, shoulders rise and fall softly under the shelter of a quilt. The stillness of the night is barely broken by the hushed slide of wood against itself as the pane is pushed upward with a glacial slowness. Fingers walk like a spider across the sill, moonlight from outside painting them white as a corpse.
The window is open.
A hand reaches in."
Moonlit shivered in terror. Staring at the radio. There was a moment of silence and then the voice began again. It described the same scene with all the same inflections. Josie leaned into the doorway. "Turn it a lil more to the right?"
The lunar bot forced his shaking fingers to move the dial. It was some kind of commercial for home improvement supplies.
"That's better. Thank you. I didn't realize the dial got bumped."
Sunlo came into the hallway with her rays all fixed. "So what are we doing today?"
"Whatever strikes your fancy darling. It's the beauty of being retired." Josie said. "I will say there might be bad weather on the way though. I didn't see your friend out there when I went to get the mail."
The cars not here?" Sunlo asked with a bit of dismay. "What does that have to do with the weather?"
"Wild cars can have a sense for these things. They'll go hide like other desert critters when storms and such are rolling in."
"So... what do we do?" Sunlo asked curiously.
"It might be a good idea to cover up that white car you brought with a tarp from the shed. A sandstorm could really wreck the paint."
"And Sun would be mad about that." Moonlit said. "He's probably annoyed we've had it here for so long in the first place. I'll go cover it up."
Sunlo blew a kiss to her partner as the other bot went outside. She noticed that Josie was fiddling around with the tips of her hair. "Everything okay otherwise?"
"Just... well, last night's broadcast. Apparently the person that usually cuts my hair went mad and wandered out into the desert to scream it out." She noted Sunlo staring in horror. "It happens. He might even snap out of it in a month or so. But I really wanted to have this old mop trimmed. My ends are all split and frizzy."
"I could do it?"
"You can cut hair?"
Sunlo shrugged. "I am a machine. An AI built to learn. Theoretically I can do anything a human can. Plus a few extras." She stuck out her hands and stepped her feet in a slow circle under her. Her torso un-moving as she twisted her waist a full rotation and then back to the front again.
Josie gave her a wry smile. "You'd make one a heck of a gymnast. But if you want to take a crack at cutting my hair... I suppose I could walk you through it."
The radio blared an odd whining sound and Josie perked up with a concerned expression.
Ladies and gentleman. Remain calm. It is Street Cleaning day-
Josie was out of the kitchen in a flash and shouted outside for Moonlit to come back in. He was just finishing covering the car and picked up on her panic as he ran up the walk. The old woman quick-walked to the the closet by the front door and grabbed a large tackle box out of it. She tossed it down in the hall and went in the living room to draw the curtains.
"What's wrong??" Moonlit asked.
"Why is is a big deal if they're going to clean the streets Josie? It's always better for everyone's health if things are clean."
She passed them in the hall to get the other front windows and put the chain and the deadbolt up on the front door. She pulled something that looked like a cane out as well and forced it under the front doorknob. She picked up the radio as well and motioned for them to follow her. "Grab that box okay? It's a bit more complicated then that."
The two followed her to the back of the house and watched curiously as she lifted up a hatch to reveal a fruit cellar with a dirt floor and flagstone walls. She didn't speak again until all three of them were in the space and the hatch was closed again. "Try to keep your voices down."
The ceiling was low in the small space and Sunlo dropped nearly to all fours to keep her rays out of the cobwebs that clung here and there.
"Street cleaners are vicious." Josie said grimly. "They will run you over like a juggernaut and keep going. They're actually attracted to heat and movement. Taking shelter isn't a guarantee of safety, but it's a much better course of action then trying to run. Best to stay hidden until they give us the all-clear over the radio."
Moonlit looked around in the dark with his one red eye. "How long does it usually take?"
"Well... We're out on the edge of town. So we might hear them as they roll in from the desert or when they leave again. They're pretty big and they make the ground shake a little. When it's safe... people tend to congregate in the biggest park in town to check on one another."
"Is this normal?" Sunlo asked incredulously.
"It doesn't happen often or with any regular schedule. But yes. Normal enough."
Moonlit felt the tiniest thrum and put his hand against the dirt floor. "I can feel something." He said in a hushed tone.
"Then we don't have much time before they pass by." She sat down on a box and pulled out a deck of cards. "Shall we play for a bit?"
The crowd hadn't been waiting long. The one they were anticipating usually kept a tight schedule, but everyone wanted to be near the front to get a good view. Signs had been discouraged as usual because they made it hard for people in the back to see. But many of them had phones at the ready to take video and pictures. The backdrop that had been chosen was an imposing government building with a wide staircase and a porch that was often used for giving formal speeches.
Today it would witness the arrival of a god.
A small group of nicely dressed humans shuffled a bit as the clock ticked closer to the top of the hour. All the surrounding temples in the city had been alerted to the impending visit and were waiting as well to ring in the occasion. As the hour chimed, the air came alive with the melodious sound of steeple bells in every direction.
The vibrations seemed to electrify the crowd and they stood on tiptoe to see what would happen.
They had expected him to appear at the top, where it was harder to see.
A tongue of flame traced a circle on the ground in front of the stairs and the security detail made a point of trying to look dignified as they raced down to stand protectively near it. The fire exploded upward into a showy column that pierced the clouds, and then raced down and outward like spilled water. The fire spread outward in a ring against the ground and rippled out through the crowd before dissipating. It had no actual heat, but people felt the tickling sensation as it passed under and through their legs.
Lord Eclipse appeared in the center of it and the crowd went insane with cheering and snapping pictures.
SSun was standing behind him with a stiff posture and an expensive briefcase in one hand. It was clear he was used to this.
Clips was standing in the shadow of the porch with Sunbow in his arms and Lunie's hand clasped firmly in one of his. The jealousy he was feeling burnt him to a crisp. The human guards were looking at him curiously from the corners of their eyes. They'd been asked to stay with him until SSun could break away from his master's meeting to accompany them.
"He's like a rockstar." Lunie said. "It's pretty cool."
"Yeah... cool." Clips said with resignation. He watched as Lord Eclipse signed a few autographs and stood still long enough for the razi to get some decent photos. It was absolutely a power move to make the human leaders wait a few extra minutes so that he could soak up the adoration of the many many humans who had come simply to get a glimpse of the god that ruled their world.
Lord Eclipse had thrown a long red cloak over his shoulders and the wind blew it dramatically around him as he finally ascended the stairs. He paused long enough for the humans to greet him individually and offer respectful bows to his glory. Once the formalities were completed; the group went inside.
Clips squinted curiously at the crowd as they seemed to spread out towards the sides of the building. People put down towels and blankets and sat in the grass. The park across the street was alive with humans making a holiday of the auspicious visit.
He sighed.
SSun came back out alone and walked over to him. He waved his hands to shoo off the human security detail. "They'll be at that for a while. It's usually quite boring and formal."
"I don't understand. Are they petitioning him for something?"
"Oh no, not at all. It's a diplomatic issue that got too big and complicated for a proper treaty. He's already made a detailed plan that should please everyone involved just enough to make them all shut up. At least for a while." SSun smiled. "It's not exactly glorious. But it's nice to get him out of the house now and again so he doesn't get all wrapped up in himself. And... it's good for the people to see him in person. Just a reminder of who is in charge."
"Is there any push-back to that?" Clips asked.
"Not anymore. There are few humans alive who might remember the last time Lord executed someone. He's found my method to be a lot more effective and humane." He leaned on the railing, and the daylight glittered across his golden face.
Lunie jumped up and down excitedly. "Does he turn them into animals or something?"
"Not gonna lie; I'm curious as well..." Clips added.
"We give them jobs." SSun said proudly. "Civic positions that help people directly but also involve lots of paperwork. Steady pay and a sense of accomplishment works wonders for reforming dissidents. Humans can be very loyal to one another. If you hang a man, you also make enemies of everyone who would have preferred you didn't." SSun waved for them to follow him into the building. "We'll go out one of the side doors where the crowd isn't so thick."
The marble floor underfoot was chilly compared to the sunny day outside and Clips was very aware of the scattered humans trying not to stare at him.
"Are there any... more of our kind here?"
"No." SSun said simply. "They're fairly used to seeing me at my master's side though. It's normal for them to be curious about you and the kids."
"But if there are no animatronics? What's the tech level here?"
Lunie skipped along, "can they go to space?"
"Yes Lunie, a little bit. And the tech is close to what you're used too." SSun offered. "But Fazbear does not exist here. My Lord made certain of that." He opened another door and they walked down a path beside the building and onto the sidewalk.
"So what are we doing?" Clips asked quietly. It was all so much to take in, and rather heartbreaking to see what he himself could have had if his star had been stronger, better-made. Or perhaps... if his luck wasn't so terrible.
Sunbow made a sleepy noise against his chest. The child was his fire, and he warmed his freezing hands on their love for him.
"It's not terribly exciting... But I actually need to get groceries. My Lord and I don't eat much, but with guests and children. I feel like the pantry is embarrassingly bare."
"You don't need to-"
"Nonsense." SSun waved his words away. "I enjoy cooking and it gives me an excuse to make sweets that might go mostly uneaten otherwise. Money is no object and we have storage devices that can preserve things in stasis for obscenely long periods of time. It will be nice to have the company."
Firefly stared at the computer monitor and let his attention drift. There was no easy way to put it, and it was not something he wanted to admit. But he was bored. He rolled his eyes to look at Earth. It was her turn to sit with him and he could see she was quietly reading something on her own computer. Occasionally she would turn to gracefully dip her bill into a cup of tea and slurp it down with a bit of difficulty.
The goose got the smallest prickle on the back of her neck. She could feel the broken eclipse watching her. She considered it a good sign that the other was tolerating her presence so well. Earth couldn't even imagine herself in his place. Her predicament was annoying to be sure, she missed having thumbs and it was no fun being so small. But at least she wasn't having to lay in filth just to stay functional. She suppressed a shiver. It was clear the other did not want their pity and the horrified reaction his visage provoked hurt his feelings. She felt the barest graze of a claw on her tail feathers. She shook her tail from side to side. She'd learned that it was a thing ducks and chickens did to signal that they were happy and relaxed.
"Something on your mind?" She asked softly.
He shrugged.
She turned to give him her full attention. It was odd for him to request it directly. "Do you... want to talk about something?" He said nothing, but the pinch in the shape of his eyes told the conflict in his head. "It's okay to just need some kind of stimulation." She offered. "I'm familiar with how Sun's programming works and Eclipse's is very close to the same. If you're bored, it's okay to say so. I'm literally sitting with you because we want to be sure you aren't spiraling or going stir crazy from being alone."
"Fine." He said softly. "I'm bored. I want to talk about something other then my own shitty life for a while."
Earth was trying her hardest to not vibrate with excitement. Firefly reaching out to her for help, no matter how small, it was a huge step. She'd have to tread ever so lightly. "Would you like to do something with me? Then you could talk about that."
"Oh, I suppose you want me to play something with you for your channel then?" He folded his arms on the bag and rested his chin on them sullenly.