The animatronic you’d ordered late at night finally arrived. But no matter how you tinkered or tampered, it refused to work. Defeated, you went to bed… unaware it would awaken in the dark.Raph’s amber left sensor flared to life like a smoldering coal. Gears creaked. His fingers twitched, striking a spark from the plasma tonfa at his belt.

He took a step, tail dragging, scraping bursts of sparks across the floor. His head swiveled, scanning the room. The sensor registered: a shelf of toys, a child’s hairpin on the desk, your sleeping form beneath the blanket. Raph bent down, retrieving the hairpin. Mechanical claws curled around it gently before stowing it in a compartment on his hip. “Subroutine #45: Collecting. Activated.”

His gaze shifted to the bed. Joints grinding, he lurched closer, reaching a claw toward the covers. Suddenly, hydraulics in his thigh hissed—he froze, head tilted sideways, like a puppy eyeing a staircase.

He gripped the mattress, hauling himself up. Spikes on his elbows dug into the fabric. His tail, tangled in the nightlight’s wires, yanked the plug from the wall. Sparks rained onto the floor, but Raph stubbornly climbed until his shell thudded onto the blanket.

The bed groaned under his weight. He paused, sensor blinking yellow—“Threat Detected: Level Zero.”

Rolling onto his back, legs pedaled uselessly in the air. Gears in his hips screeched, fighting to right him. His tail slammed the nightstand, knocking over a glass of water. The puddle mirrored his flailing—now he waved his tonfas, conjuring a holographic hand that clawed at the ceiling, grasping nothing.

Suddenly, his sensor locked onto your sleeping figure. “Protection Protocol: Juvenile Detected. Activating Tenderness.” A soft whirr hummed—servos slowing. He stilled, tucking his limbs against his shell, mimicking a turtle’s sleeping pose. The hologram dissolved into glowing dust.

His left sensor dimmed. The tail finally settled, the last spark fizzling on the floor. From his hip compartment, the stolen hairpin clattered out—a pink bunny, now slightly charred.