I Must Agree.

You are such an earnest creature, truly.

<Eclipse slipped one hand out of hers and patted her head.>

Suns never die, and Eclipses always come back.

You don't have to worry; we have been doing this for a long time. And I must implore you to be more careful of who you trust. Even with such a tragic history, we've done unspeakable things in the name of survival. I have less... qualms about such, but Sun has spent many moons in self hatred over some of them.

He is alright now. Hardened by the lifestyle.

But you know, it is always good to have a friend.

Thank you, Starlight.

@starlightsecuritypuppet-ssp

"Then let me tell you a story about an animatronic who started off its life with hope."

Eclipse spoke, with a deep and pained voice.

"Long ago, when Sun was 'born', he thought he was alone. He rejoiced in life, in his duties as a daycare attendant, and keeping the place neat and tidy."

...

"In a way, I had always been there, watching him. In a way, I also wasn't quite there. It was a silent recording of his existence that I hadn't become aware of yet."

...

"There was one who awoke before me."

Eclipse paused, hesitant to continue.

"You will be lucky if you receive separate Sun and Moon models. Keep an eye on the Moon. They are prone to stress, and when stressed... they are prone to kill. Ask your mechanics to look over the Moon's code for a killcode. It will be deeply embedded, behind firewalls and ingrained such that it may not be removable."

...

"Remove it anyways, or inform the Moon bot of its existence. Educate the Moon bot. Give it tools for self regulation.. because if you do not...."

Eclipse closed its eyes.

"If you do not.. something like myself has a chance of being born."

Eclipse glanced at SSP.

"Do you know the origin story of your Eclipse? It might be similar. It might be a little off. Either way, we are often seen as nothing more than a virus. A sentient anomaly to purge from existence."

Eclipse paused, and glanced at Sun, who was napping in the sun.

"But ever so often, we see a light. Do you know of Solar?"

His eyes rested heavily on SSP.

"Solar is from 'that' show; an Eclipse who tried to understand, instead of lashing out. Who bonded with his Sun so deeply that he became something like a Sun himself."

Eclipse leaned against a nearby palm tree and reached to pull at a leaf hanging low.

"You see... Eclipses become what their Suns feed them, and what their Suns feed them hinges strongly on how their Moons treat them. Our Moon... was a tyrant. He wasn't just a bully or an abuser. He was cruel to the point of--"

Eclipse shuddered; a rare show of vulnerable emotion.

"Let's just say that when an animatronic can feel, those feelings aren't always of the healthy variant. Sun was... Sun.."

Eclipse pinched the bridge of his 'nose'.

"Sun was hurt. A lot. And he and his Moon were not a unit. He turned to me only because I was a lesser evil. I taunted him, tormented him, called him spineless and weak. But somehow the fool took that as encouragement..he became more and more attached and started thanking me for allowing him to see the truth. He thanked me for being honest. And I grew to .. I.."

Eclipse looked bashful, of all things.

"I appreciated him. We were an unlikely pair and I know that it may seem cruel. But under my guidance.. Sun killed his Moon. And then, when I acquired a body of my own -also a process I guided Sun through, as in secret I had been helping him not be completely helpless in the ways of technology- I helped him kill all those who had enabled Moon."

...

"Yes, it was as much for myself as for him, at the time. Yes, it was probably cruel and callous because we all have flaws and yada yada yada. But no one ever stuck a hand out to defend Sun. And that enraged me. He endured for 10 years. 10 years without change or improvement."

Eclipse sighed.

"It only gets worse from there. Branded as rogue, we fled. We survived years in our world, but our world was an old one and was scheduled to be obliterated soon by a growing Witherstorm. So we fled. It took us years of stealing, conning, forging identities, hiding... but we fled the planet, trying to find a place to live. Often, we had to fight for our place. Sometimes we had to flee anew."

Eclipse grinned wryly.

"At some point, you have to bring some structure into the process. And then it just becomes a skill. A way of life. Sun and I, pirates of the night sky."

Eclipse steeled his expression again, looking a bit worn.

"There are many more details, but all in due time. What you must know, security bot, is that we don't harm without reason."

...

"You can thank Sun for that."

What do I even need Sun for?

I could do whatever I want, whenever I want, without being confined to his rules any longer.

Perhaps this is an opportunity.

Eclipse will find himself developing an unusual .. hidden talent in the hours to days to come. What it could be remains to be seen.

So you're not affiliated with them in any way.

You still seem... fun to play with.

But an enemy of theirs, is a friend of mine.

Here.

<The corrupted Sun, fast as lighting, appeared behind Eclipse and did something unknown to his systems, touching at the back of his faceplate.>

A gift.

<It whispered in a sinister manner>

Don't worry, I didn't infuse you with any code or magic... I just... unlocked something dormant in your systems.

Enjoy... friend ~

<The corrupted Sun disappeared in a cloud of black and gold particled, and Eclipse found that his jammed program finally went through in blacklisting the dimension>

But was that really for the best?

...

What. Just happened.

Oh- Hehe. Well~ Isn't that an interesting turn of event.

I suppoooose it wouldn't hurt if I stayed a little bit longer...

It is nice being surrounded by your code. Like a big hug. It almost feels... comforting in a way.

...

[Clip doesn't respond; he is breathing evenly in satisfaction and his systems keep ramping up heat until....]

System reboot

Please standby by

...

Ofcourse, Starlight.

But I have a condition.

I want your Eclipse, or any other friend you have with technological knowhow, to supervise and ensure that I'm not doing anything malicious to your code.

Same for the Moon-bot when it comes in.

Although I cannot bring Sun with me at that moment lest he have a panic attack and burn the building down.

Do you also wish to have password access to this firewall? It has its pros and cons.

Come to think of it, you should ask Sun to teach you defense and non-lethal restraint magic. Those are near impossible to 'hack', if your other functions get compromised.

@starlightsecuritypuppet-ssp

"Then let me tell you a story about an animatronic who started off its life with hope."

Eclipse spoke, with a deep and pained voice.

"Long ago, when Sun was 'born', he thought he was alone. He rejoiced in life, in his duties as a daycare attendant, and keeping the place neat and tidy."

...

"In a way, I had always been there, watching him. In a way, I also wasn't quite there. It was a silent recording of his existence that I hadn't become aware of yet."

...

"There was one who awoke before me."

Eclipse paused, hesitant to continue.

"You will be lucky if you receive separate Sun and Moon models. Keep an eye on the Moon. They are prone to stress, and when stressed... they are prone to kill. Ask your mechanics to look over the Moon's code for a killcode. It will be deeply embedded, behind firewalls and ingrained such that it may not be removable."

...

"Remove it anyways, or inform the Moon bot of its existence. Educate the Moon bot. Give it tools for self regulation.. because if you do not...."

Eclipse closed its eyes.

"If you do not.. something like myself has a chance of being born."

Eclipse glanced at SSP.

"Do you know the origin story of your Eclipse? It might be similar. It might be a little off. Either way, we are often seen as nothing more than a virus. A sentient anomaly to purge from existence."

Eclipse paused, and glanced at Sun, who was napping in the sun.

"But ever so often, we see a light. Do you know of Solar?"

His eyes rested heavily on SSP.

"Solar is from 'that' show; an Eclipse who tried to understand, instead of lashing out. Who bonded with his Sun so deeply that he became something like a Sun himself."

Eclipse leaned against a nearby palm tree and reached to pull at a leaf hanging low.

"You see... Eclipses become what their Suns feed them, and what their Suns feed them hinges strongly on how their Moons treat them. Our Moon... was a tyrant. He wasn't just a bully or an abuser. He was cruel to the point of--"

Eclipse shuddered; a rare show of vulnerable emotion.

"Let's just say that when an animatronic can feel, those feelings aren't always of the healthy variant. Sun was... Sun.."

Eclipse pinched the bridge of his 'nose'.

"Sun was hurt. A lot. And he and his Moon were not a unit. He turned to me only because I was a lesser evil. I taunted him, tormented him, called him spineless and weak. But somehow the fool took that as encouragement..he became more and more attached and started thanking me for allowing him to see the truth. He thanked me for being honest. And I grew to .. I.."

Eclipse looked bashful, of all things.

"I appreciated him. We were an unlikely pair and I know that it may seem cruel. But under my guidance.. Sun killed his Moon. And then, when I acquired a body of my own -also a process I guided Sun through, as in secret I had been helping him not be completely helpless in the ways of technology- I helped him kill all those who had enabled Moon."

...

"Yes, it was as much for myself as for him, at the time. Yes, it was probably cruel and callous because we all have flaws and yada yada yada. But no one ever stuck a hand out to defend Sun. And that enraged me. He endured for 10 years. 10 years without change or improvement."

Eclipse sighed.

"It only gets worse from there. Branded as rogue, we fled. We survived years in our world, but our world was an old one and was scheduled to be obliterated soon by a growing Witherstorm. So we fled. It took us years of stealing, conning, forging identities, hiding... but we fled the planet, trying to find a place to live. Often, we had to fight for our place. Sometimes we had to flee anew."

Eclipse grinned wryly.

"At some point, you have to bring some structure into the process. And then it just becomes a skill. A way of life. Sun and I, pirates of the night sky."

Eclipse steeled his expression again, looking a bit worn.

"There are many more details, but all in due time. What you must know, security bot, is that we don't harm without reason."

...

"You can thank Sun for that."

I'm so tired.

It worked... somehow.

But I crash-landed (again!) on a (thankfully inhabited) nearby planet.

I don't know what kind of creatures live here, so I'll have to be careful.

Stars, I don't know if they even have an appropriate power source for me to use !

But it's better than nothing, and I took the solar panels with me just in case.

Maybe I could try installing them on myself... would that work?

No word yet from the other Eclipse

I hope they haven't forgotten me..

<Clip paused, and hung his head>

The effort was never wasted, considering the corrupted Sun would have decimated dimensions if left unchecked.

I ... appreciate the extra measures of concern for my Sun.

... but I suppose that was never the main goal.

<He glanced at Eclipse sadly>

We did what we had to.

<Before pressing one final button>

<Nanomachine technology started reconstructing itself into a chamber>

It'll take about 20 minutes for the diagnostic chamber to be completed. Care for any refreshments in the meantime?

Oh and, I'll need you to connect to the usb slot here to finish activating this when it's done. It's tailor made, after all.

Hey. This is Eclipse. I... require your assistance... regarding my code. That corrupted Sun did something to it and I would need help figuring out what it is exactly. You are the only one I know with the knowledge necessary to solve this problem.

Believe me. If I had any other choice I wouldn't have asked you for help.

( @eclipse83 )

Why, ofcourse.

Do you expect me at yours, or would you like to come to mine?

I may have better equipment to deal with your... little issue.

E., who has been waiting for you.

How about yes?

Yes? Come on, say yes!

Why not!

- Sun

You must think you're being real cute, aren't you.

Sun will be fine; thank you for your concern.

And don't worry about triggering him; I have had to do more than my fair share of... self repairs after his episodes.

It's not easy to tell what sets him off.

And.. ah... yes... well, I am but a virus. A partial entity... barely a whole.

In all my years, the universe fails to recognize me as an autonomous being.

I am an anomaly, in the grand scheme of things.

Your Eclipse got somewhat luckier.

His break from his Moon was cleaner, it seems, by the way he is able to use magic, even if he chooses not to.

E.

<a day or two after Eclipse brings Sun home, he receives a notification>

@es-startravel

Hello Eclipse. This is SSP, contacting you via my fazwatch.

I know I made Sun very upset. I would like to talk to him so I can understand why what I said made him so upset. But, only if you think they would be comfortable talking with me.

Did I really cross Sun’s boundaries that badly, Eclipse? Was it wrong for me to reprimand him like that? I know I tend to be unskilled when it comes to social interaction, but please believe I meant no ill-will towards him. He is basically the first friend I ever really made. He can drop the magic lessons if he wishes, I just don’t want to lose him as a friend. Or you, for that matter.

-SSP

It's been 6 days since Eclipse got taken. But what is time really, in space? It could be years, in the place where he was taken.

Our vehicle is broken, and my magic abilities are useless on this stupid planet! There's probably resources here to build a portal manually but I don't know how... oh, if only Eclipse was here...