ɢʟᴀᴍᴏʀᴏᴜꜱ ᴇʏᴇꜱ

31 : Hopeless

Gregory's expression became bored, disinterested even. Robots with dead eyes flanked his side, under his beck and call like dogs. They were stiff and rigid, like puppets under a master's strings. Everything suddenly clicked in Moon's head:

All of this, the bot carcasses Moon would find in dark rooms and corners, dissected and mutilated beyond repair. All of that, it was for total control. It was Gregory who did that. This robot boy was not normal. He wasn't like the other humanoid robots he had seen many times. This was a major threat, a threat in which he didn't know the motives of.

"Drag him out," Gregory said as he crossed his arms, expressionless. The mechanical puppets rigidly approached Moon, who attempted to shove and push them away. First, he was grabbed by the arms, and then the neck. Moon growled like a cornered, feral animal. The boy glared at him, "I'm sure you're smart enough to know that resistance is futile."

The animatronic struggled as he was dragged out into the light. Slowly, his panels flipped and clicked into place as Moon's cool, icy colors changed into vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds. The transformation was over in a few seconds, and Sun silently took his place. The animatronic was uncharacteristically quiet and still, slumped over and defeated. He was dragged before Gregory, and was finally released, ashamed like a dog that was scolded.

The silence lasted for what felt like an eternity in the cold light of the daycare until Sun finally spoke with a quiet voice as he gestured towards the stiff bots, "what is the point of doing all of this to get what you want?"

"I get what I want through my own means, Sun," Gregory cocked his head quizzically before he motioned towards all of the robots around him. "These... are just objects that can be used."

"What makes you any different from them?" Sun retorted.

A ghost of a smile spread on Gregory's face. "You're right, me and you are like them. We all follow orders, we all follow programming given to us, the dictum in which we are controlled, we obey religiously."

Gregory leaned in, his gold eyes milky and boyish voice a whisper that dripped through the hum of machinery that surrounded them, quiet and somber., "But there is one thing that sets us apart from them, that sets everything apart. Who is more controlled, and who has the control..."

Sun stuttered through his voice box. He wanted to argue against what the boy was saying. About what? He wasn't sure. The boy was right of course, in a place like this, it's survival of the fittest.

Beneath all those smiling children and singing animatronics, it was a battlefield of wits. Who is replaceable and who is not. Gregory leaned back with a satisfied look in his eyes, he knew Sun couldn't help but agree. "You know, humans are the same way, always following a routine, just like us. But they have more freedom and control over their lives than us."

"Why even bring this topic up? Do you want to be... a human?" Sun laughed nervously. It wasn't the first time he had heard of such a thing. The robots who looked like humans imitated them to perfection. They were always almost identical to them, but never quite the same.

"No... I have given up on such pointless endeavors a long time ago," Gregory sighed tiredly. He looked older when he was like this, when he was serious and calm. Like he had seen the beginning and the end. But this machine, Sun knew, devours all ounce of what it could to feel like it's in control, even if it means being the farthest from humanity as possible.

Sun suddenly thought of the little girl. He remembered her clearly. She gave him a singular toy block, the first time he ever got a good look at her. Her innocent eyes, her naive nature. She didn't deserve this, to be looped in this twisted game.