Eventually the lights turned back on, and Nightmare let himself wink out just to avoid interacting with anyone, leaving Dream reeling as he processed everything. Including how he was now on top of the jungle gym.

He did end up getting down and through the rest of the day, though he was left feeling unsteady and unsure of himself. Melissa shot him questioning looks, but never said anything. It wasn't the time.

In time the children filed out, returning to their parents after a long day. Dream was happy to see them run excitedly over and start rambling about their day, though a few adults looked at him with fear. Some even hurried out of there afterwards. He winced at that, but couldn't blame them.

Eventually it was just Angie left, asking if she was going to stay over. Melissa assured that they couldn't do that yet, though maybe some day they could.
The girl had just kicked her legs and went back to doodling.
Not wanting to let her feel forgotten, Dream absently made a few simple pipe cleaner flowers before weaving them into a crown, setting it on her head.
As quiet as ever, she just smiled at him and went back to drawing.

Eventually a woman with the same hair came in, eyes red-rimmed and hair unkempt. The stick figure from earlier made a bit more sense now, as she was considerably endowed, cradling her little girl and starting to cry.

“There isn't much I can offer.” Dream hesitantly began. “And while I have no power over entry fees, I can keep her safe and fed for however long you need.”
She cleared her throat once, then twice as she looked up at him.
“Thank you.” Her voice cracked. “I didn't know he.. I didn't know.” There was a wave of disgust and sorrow that washed over her face, though underneath it, Dream thought for a moment he could sense gratitude. He could just have imagined it.

She picked up Angie, adjusting the little girl in one arm, ignoring how one of her breasts became an armrest as her free hand wiped her eyes.
“I'm sorry I was so late, everything has simply been so sudden today.” She apologized.
“There's no need for that, it's perfectly reasonable to need time to process.” Dream assured kindly.

“And seriously, if there is anything I can do to help, I will do it without question. Even if that somehow entails testifying; though I doubt that would be allowed.”
She smiled thinly, appreciating the offer.
“I just wanted to know how you attacked him. I didn't know animatronics could.”

He tilted his head, lacking any way to express his chagrin. “Just between you and me, I have a few freedoms the others lack. Largely due to drastic oversights from those in charge and a general lack of concern here.” He hesitated, glancing around before leaning in to whisper.
“All the bots save for the staff stand-ins are fully sentient and self aware, and management just uses them to have workers that don't need to be paid. I think Bonnie hates it the most, though I haven't really gotten to know the others well enough yet to be sure.”

She seemed a little disturbed by that, hefting Angie up even as the girl continued sleeping on her shoulder. Dream regarded her rather pitiful state with a bit of guilt.
“Can I walk you to the exit? That way you won't have to rush.”

“I can manage.” She declined, turning around to leave. Dream hesitated, but chose to watch her go, the woman pausing at the brand new red stain just outside the shutters before picking up the pace.
Finally, when it was just the two of them in the lobby, Dream asked.
“What's going to happen now that we did that?”

Melissa spoke up quietly. “Got an email about it. No request for a meeting or anything, just.. basically they expect business to go on as usual and for the incident to be ignored. He was clearly guilty of it, so it was well deserved, I guess.”

He turned to her, a little bewildered.
“Is that your opinion on the matter or what was in the actual email?”
“Both. I'm starting to wonder how many deaths they've swept under the rug like this, to be honest.”
“Given the current track record, that might be a question you don't want the answer to.” He remarked, glancing at the disorder left in the playroom through the glass.
It occurred to him that it was fully possible no one was going to come clean it.
Melissa followed his gaze, and they stared in silence for a few minutes.

“You didn't age like humans?” She then asked out of the blue.
Dream flinched, wishing she'd just forgotten that comment.
“I don't want to talk about it.”
“Can you at least explain what you were? Because it seems pertinent to know that much at least.”
He shrugged, clueless as to what to say.
“I don't see why. We're not that different from humans.” Especially now. He added privately.

“So you're aliens.” She raised a brow as Dream did a double take. “What? No?? Wait-” He realized that could include not being from the universe at all, in which technically they would be aliens in that sense.
“Maybe interdimensionally, but that- shouldn't count. It doesn't count. I'm not an alien.” He scoffed incredulously.

Melissa just fixed him with a look.
“I'm not.” Dream asserted defensively. “I'm just. We. I. We're guardians, alright? I won't say what of, it's complicated.” He just didn't want to deal with those questions. Not if he couldn't just flare his aura- it didn't exist anymore. He was starting to resent that fact more by the day.

She studied him intently for a minute, then seemed to let it go- at least for now.
Turning away, the human regarded the daycare.
“It doesn't look like anyone's coming to clean that up..”
Dream sighed heavily, though it was just a sound coupled with hissing motors. It didn't really do anything for him, and that sort of annoyed him even further.
“I already hate it here.”

. • ° ° • .

The rest of the week passed much like the first, without any new incidents. Angie did come back each day, though by day three it was apparently her aunt who would now drop her off, the girl's mother busy with working out separation and the developing situation surrounding the poor girl's excuse of a father.

Many of those who had witnessed their breakdown on day one removed their children from the daycare and never came back, but it ended up not mattering as almost twice as many parents started bringing their kids. Dream was horrified at the mass of children, even more so when he learned the daycare was supposed to fit up to a 100 kids at once.

No. No. He made it clear to the human coworkers that he refused to even go above half that number. It stopped being about his comfort levels and purely about legitimate safety. Two people against 100 kids was just insane, even if one was a robot that could constantly use cameras. With some practice.
..A lot of practice.
They both missed being able to sense others and their emotions.

And Nightmare outright refused to talk about that little story on day one, often resorting to forcing himself asleep or Dream, depending on whether it was dark or light at the time. If it was Melissa asking, he outright denied that it truly meant anything and wormed his way out of the conversation.. often blatantly.

Still, the woman continually proved to be a blessing, looking up methods for child wrangling and how regular daycares were run to figure out how to deal with the children after learning they were literally only “trained” in handling one at a time and had no prior experience at all. Quite possibly the biggest oversight of them all on the company's part.

So by the end of the week they had implemented a schedule and the kids were starting to listen. Dream was concerned about how lunch and snacks were always messy junk foods, mostly fuelled by the medical knowledge implanted in him- another thing he was kind of learning to hate. It was constantly stressing him out.

At least Melissa acknowledged that giving them pizza and cake every day was unhealthy as well. Even though there was no immediate solution, given that of course the company only replied that complaints were taken into account- even those left by parents, which Dream had actively encouraged them to do.

The weekend came as a blessing, for the daycare was not yet open for weekends. Instead, apparently they had something else scheduled for the twins. A checkup of some kind and update. Sure.

Apparently a technician came up about an hour after the lights should have come on, when they hadn't. Melissa hadn't shown up for the day yet, so Nightmare greeted the man curtly. The human had looked him up and down with an annoyingly critical gaze, regarding the blue eyes with a confused frown.

“Your optics should be red?” He asked, clipon badge reading ‘Davidson’.
“We noticed that design flaw and found it idiotic.” Nightmare replied, uninterested in telling the truth.
“That's not how it- your voice is different.”
“And?” He challenged. They weren't in that room anymore, and the company had made it clear they didn't care so long as the job was done and lawsuits weren't filed.

“But it was never listed as a change here, along with the optics..” Davidson trailed, looking at a strange tablet not unlike Melissa's.
“You expect us to believe this is something for children?” He switched to the speaker long enough to drive the point home.
“Let alone glowing red eyes in the dark.” He scoffed. “Their fear may be amusing, but you ought to know better than that.”

“I'm not the one responsible for design choices, I just need to make sure you're functioning properly.” Davidson pointed out wearily. “You're complaining to the wrong guy.”
“I'm more so hoping if I annoy enough of you humans enough, it will change.” Nightmare openly admitting, pleased with how the man seemed to die inside just a little bit more. Dream was disappointed, but not about to argue with it either.

“Follow me.” The human muttered, turning around to leave.
“And why should I?” Nightmare questioned, obliging him regardless.
“Parts ‘n Service. Should be your first trip. It's just for some diagnostics and getting you set up in the server.”
“Server?”
“All the main animatronics share one for security purposes. Since you're the detail, you'll need access to it too.”

Nightmare recalled hearing about that.
“Why did it need to wait a full week before our inclusion?”
Davidson shrugged, heading for an elevator. “Gotta test how you work on the field first. I dunno why management’s so convoluted about these things. No one does.”
He hummed, a little disappointed as the human looked up at him curiously in the well lit elevator.
“Is the light level bothering you? I forgot to check.”

“Somewhat. However, it's nothing I cannot handle.”
Now it was the human's turn to hum, thoughtfully going through his tablet. A bit like Melissa in a way.
Speaking of which.. “Where is our manager for today? Is she not due to come in?”
“Who?” Davidson was confused.
“Melissa.” He clarified.
“Mel.. you mean your handler?”
“Manager.” Nightmare growled, the elevator stopping.

The doors slid open to reveal familiar dingy halls. He was immediately on edge, reminded of that dreaded padded room they'd been trapped in for so long. The memories of no control, of anxiously waiting for a day it would all be over, one way or another.
“Right.. manager.” Davidson rolled with it. Squinting, Nightmare let it slide as he continued.
“I think she's supposed to come in later after you're acclimated and everything. I don't exactly study the scheduling.”

“Shame.” He remarked, feigning disinterest. “Shall this take long? We planned on discussing.. next week's schedule.” He lied, well aware that she and Dream were already working that out together. No, she had brought up how there seemed to be something under the racetrack given his description from the cameras. Something being built over that she had heard rumors about, largely centered on stains cleaners had to regularly wash off, as well as scrapes and odd noises at times. She was suggesting they look at it at night, as part of security.

Somehow, Davidson either didn't pick up on the conspicuous pause, or just didn't care, opening the door to a fairly ominous room with a walled off chair with attachments surrounding it.
“..My opinion of FazCo just shifted from greedy incompetence to villany.” Nightmare decided solely based on the visual.
The human gave him a look. “Really?”

“Why not?” He spun his head around for good measure. “Something interesting to temper the frustrations. There may even be truth to it.” He thought back to the attempted training in leading children away to someplace else to be left there. Not very helpful when they were in the same claustrophobic room the entire time.
This company seemed very, very stupid.

“You need to lay on the chair.” Davidson gestured to what looked like something an evil dentist would have. Ignoring him, Nightmare tapped on the glass. “And this?”
“Protective cylinder.” Was the short response, human still waving him to go in.

Nightmare weighed the options of just walking away for the sake of it, then grumbled when Dream pointed out being able to contact the other animatronics more freely. They couldn't rely on Melissa for everything. So he sat in the evil dentist chair, flicking one of the metal arms in disdain. It made a satisfying ringing sound as the door slid shut.

There was an automated announcement indicating the new daycare attendant was in the protective cylinder, going on as Nightmare tuned it out, watching the human at what looked like a very old computer compared to just about everything else in the facility. It was quite laughable, really.

We should probably let it knock us out this time. Dream suggested. If it does that, anyway.
Nightmare didn't reply, simply irritated as he squinted up at the light. It was bothering him just like every other light of average luminosity. They all made him want to stop moving and go to sleep, which was infuriating.

He jolted a little when one of the robotic arms started moving, pulling out a wire. He glared at it, especially when it reached for the back of his head.
It's fine! It's okay! He said it was a check-up, remember?
Don't patronize me.

Eventually he let it connect, disgusted to have a wire there again. Brought back painful memories of constantly whiting out and waking up at random with no grasp of the situation. The feeling of vulnerability was something he despised.
“Shutting down the daycare attendant.” The voice announced suddenly, Nightmare automatically tensing.

In a blinding flash of white in his mind, Nightmare abruptly stopped thinking.

. • ° ° • .

For once, waking wasn't a jolt, instead a groggy feeling as he blinked. The light was blinding at first, but then he sat up, oddly appreciative of the bleary feeling. It felt.. real, after so much artificial everything.

So Dream was able to sit on the side of the seat and process what felt different. It was like a mental catalog in his mind, aware of different points made of different aspects that only made sense after registering the labels that existed for them. He recognized the names of the different animatronics, including the spider he'd yet to meet.

Eventually he also registered that they were sending messages, though it wasn't like anything he was familiar with. It was mostly congratulations for finally getting online. The DJ offered to guide him around the Internet later if he wanted, as he was online the most.

That was apparently another thing, being connected to the internet automatically. He could recognize some basic apps after some scrutinizing- he really wished he could just see it normally somehow, not just vague information in his mind.
He worked out how to send messages just to thank them for the welcome.

After that Dream realized on something else that was sort of separate from everything was a message apologizing for not being present for their big moment, as the “handler” wasn't viewed as necessary for the procedure. He quickly figured out it was Melissa, asking just to be sure.

The response was reasonably quick, mostly asking how it felt because it had to be weird.
Dream agreed that it was, though not too different from how he communicated with his brother that it was completely foreign. He just.. needed to get used to it. Melissa then pointed out that they should both be able to email management directly now, stating that they knew what to do.

Dream absolutely did know what to do, fully aware that he was taking a while but he inevitably found it and sent a long, definitely polite and respectful and not at all passive aggressive message regarding their design choices before finally looking up to see a small group of humans huddled together in discussion just outside the cylinder.

Given that the door was now open and it was fairly dark outside of it, he chose to wake up Nightmare, pausing when everyone went silent and stared at his presence.
“...Am I interrupting something?”

“How the hell are your optics now yellow, too??” One of them questioned almost hysterically. They all seemed sincerely bewildered just looking at him.
“..I didn't think white was really my color.” He lied, knowing full well he was literally bone white before he died.

“That's not how that works!” Another cried out in sheer frustration. Oddly, now that Nightmare was awake- and reeling from all the information- he thought there was a twinge of negativity coming off them.
“There isn't much I can tell you, I'm afraid. I don't have any answers for you.” Dream reluctantly admitted. And it was completely true, he had no idea how they managed to alter that.

He was then hit with another message from Melissa.
𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛, 𝚋𝚝𝚠
𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍
𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘
Tԋαƚ ɱιɠԋƚ ʂσɱҽԋσɯ ʝυʂƚ Ⴆҽ α ɱҽ ƚԋιɳɠ αɠαιɳ. Dream admitted, noticing the difference now that he was paying attention. It wasn't something he could see, only sense somehow.

“Should we just go back upstairs?” Dream suggested to the group of technicians, only to be met with a chorus of yes and no and maybe, the humans falling into an argument amidst themselves.
Dream simply inched towards the exit, seeing as they were thoroughly distracted.
“I'll just.. go this way, then. Nothing to see here.”

He made it back into the tunnels, only to hesitate when he had no idea where to go.
Despite still being confused by all the new information, Nightmare took the time to guide him back to the elevator, where he readily entered to leave.
No one had noticed his departure.