Interesting...

The two work deep into the proverbial night, not without some initial terse exchanges. But after a while, the two Eclipses get lost in a world of code, magic and solving puzzles, momentarily forgetting previous animosity.

After a long while, and several heated failures, it's finally time.

Eclipse can go home, with a new lease on his ability.

Before they part, Clip pinched his ray and tells him to not be such a sourpuss all the time. He also tells him that he's a pretty cool guy and if he ever wants to work on some projects, to let him know.

But before he can get the last word of goodbye out, or listen to Eclipse's reply, an alarm rings and Clip looks like he's seen a ghost. He tersely tells Eclipse to just go home for now, opening a portal, as he leaves the space.

Eclipse would only later come to learn of ☆Sun's death...

@eclipse83

<Clip wasn't aware of Eclipse's inner thoughts and 5 minutes passed in amicable silence>

<The nanomachines then stopped working and a fully functioning, yet inactive, chamber had materialized.>

<Clip briefly inspected the machine and, deeming it up to standard, looked to Eclipse>

Are you ready?

...

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 had a dream while charging... gosh, it was so long ago.

One of rare planets with a tropical island...

We really relaxed a while there, sipping sparkly drinks for the hell of it.

Eclipse can't hold his alcohol..

And then we went spelunking because why the hell not?

Indestructible animatronic mode activated!

<Some time before SSP's arrival>

<Eclipse could be heard humming to himself as he worked on repairing his unconscious Sun>

Place your head against me now.

Your tired lips, your open mouth.

Drink my madness if you want to drown.

Swallowed by fury and sound.

Eclipse got friendshipped

gasp

Probably shouldn't be eavesdropping...

Doesn't matter. It'll still work fine.

Now I'm gonna open this up... Pretty simple mechanics but that's to be expected... Putting this here... and...

There. It's done.

You can test it out. The connection should be more stable.

( @eclipse83)

Alright. Let me give it a try...

@lost-in-space-sun Hello? Hello? Starlight Security Puppet calling in! Am I coming through more clearly now?

it is incredible what you can do, Eclipse...

Don't worry about it!

I'll be with you in a moment, just setting up a few things real quick.

Thank you for letting me do this.

Thank you, my dearest.

Loathe as I am to agree with Eclipse..

I agree with Eclipse.

This is pathetic.

Eclipse, it looks like you're going through a lot. Once again.

if you need anything between Starlight and Pixel Sun let me know man!

It's scary your friends are in danger.

You're smart and capable and you'll get through this but if you need any help at all, I can try!

✊

Even after leaving the pizzaplex drama still follows me.

I doubt you could do anything to help.

Soon. Very soon, I promise.

I just need to get ready, make sure everything is perfect. I want our first meeting to be perfect. You deserve no less.

Believe me when I say I'd want nothing more than to be with you, for real. But we shall both wait a bit more. I'll make it worth it.

What a flatterer you are.

I shall await you, darling~

I do not care.

This is the last interaction I will entertain.

I do not have an interest in your "suggestions".

Hello Sir or Madam,

I come to deliver an important message.

I've already seen it and I obviously won't comply.

Please go elsewhere if you value your time.

Of course~ Oh, I was hoping you'd say that.

I am very glad to see you've started to see reason. Talking to you was such a good idea.

I cannot wait to get started.

Excellent.

And do consider showing your lovely face around my quarters if you so please.

Perhaps we can have a.. more personal chat.

I'd love to know more about you, and what drove you to come to my aid.