They enter through the backdoor near the dumpsters into the backroom to find their manager, Nick, sitting at the desk and waiting for them to relieve him.
"Hey, kid! Long time no see." Nick laughs. They're silent in response. He sighs and removes his visor to run his fingers through his hair. "Listen, I'd love to give you more time, I just...y'know how it is."
"Yeah. It's no problem, I had to come back sometime." They hang up their coat. "Rent doesn't pay itself."
"I hear that. Listen, I'll cut you a deal. What if I tell you a scary story? Undercut the bitterness. I know you like that kind of stuff." He smiles gently.
"Not right now, Nick...I'm not really feeling it." They sigh. His smile falls. It's silent for a minute, then he sighs.
"Yeah. I get it, kid." He stands up from the desk chair and out of the way of the ancient computer so Sprocket can clock in. "I hate to ask after everything, but I really need a solid. I have to take care of some business, and I need someone to watch Addi. Would you mind?"
"Huh?" They say absent mindedly as they log into the system. When they look to Nick his brow is furrowed. "Oh. Uh, yeah I mean. No, not at all. It'd probably do me some good anyway to get out of the house outside of work."
"Thanks so much, I'll be sure to pay you well. She really likes you, and I'm worried she hasn't been handling her sacrificial ceremony too well. She won't talk to me about it, I think she'll talk to you though." He sighs with relief.
"Don't worry about the pay. She's a good kid, Nick." They finish punching in and stand up, grabbing their name tag from their locker. "And I'll try to talk to her about it. It's not like any of us handled it much better."
"I hear that. Thanks so much, kid, I'll be seeing you." Nick smiles and waves as he discards his name tag on the desk so he can leave out the back. When he's gone for good, Sprocket quickly swaps their own name tag for his and discards their visor on the desk.