#the only sentient robot was an animatronic rabbit lolol

[cold-neon-ocean]

Immediately after you mentioned that Wyatt is both the only sentient robot in your universe & the mascot for a company comparable to Disney I started wondering some things:

1. Does it bother him that he's the only one of his kind?

2. Why is he sentient? You mentioned that it's a closely guarded secret so I can only assume that's a feature of his design and not a "glitch" (or at the very least it's something the company thinks it can live with through secrecy)

3. How does he feel about the company that owns him, and furthermore does he enjoy entertaining people?

4. How much agency do they give Wyatt behind the scenes?

Sorry if this is a bit of a loaded ask, you just got me thinking about a lot of stuff!

Hello yes I am happy to answer questions about Wyatt, I love talking about him!!!

It does bother him to a degree actually! For various reasons, including that he knows it's hard to genuinely connect with people because he will always be "a machine" to most. Even kids who see him eventual grow up and go "Oh yeah, he's just a robot." Neon Wonderland actually has other animatronic characters aside from Wyatt- though none are fully sentient the way he is, and while he does regard them very fondly (some more than others) he does wish that one day he can feel like they are just as real as he is, as opposed to "playing pretend" as he feels.

The reason behind his sentience was deliberate, yes! His company had the financial means to put money into the project of bringing their flagship character "to life" and wanted him to essentially be the ultimate media icon, and be an all encompassing system through which every aspect of their company, from the theme park, to film media, merchandise, all of it could consistently flow through. He is also a performer! And they wanted him to feel as lifelike to fans as possible, and be able to connect with guests in a way that feels real and personable. The ultimate mascot in a sense lol he was designed to be very personable, he's a great conversationalist, but also capable of discerning how people feel. Like if he's doing a walk around he can tell if someone is or isn't comfortable with him approaching them. He remembers every face he's ever met as well! They wanted him to feel as real as possible while also him being able to govern himself and process things around him as organically as possible.

Wyatt absolutely LOVES entertaining, genuinely! It's his favorite thing. His drive is ensuring that everyone that comes through his doors has the time of their life and he does everything within his power to assure that. His feelings towards the company are complex. On the one hand they do have him a lot of say in how they pursue new endeavors, but at the end of the day he is considered "property" of the company. I wont spoil too much of what I have planned, but Wyatt feels that if he's gonna be the face of the empire, he see's no reason why he shouldn't own it himself~

Wyatt is actually given quite a lot of agency! He's the primary metric that customer satisfaction is weighed through, from both being the one to interact with guests, but also his access to the internet where he gauges how company decisions are being perceived by the public. He is also the primary security system of their theme park. He has access to every visible and hidden camera there is, and has his own network of other Wyatt bodies he can pilot that he can see through at any time. They're mainly used for walk arounds since the venue is so huge, they're never within sightlines of each other- it also gives the illusion that he can appear and disappear in a very Wonderland-esque way. But yeah so he's got access to criminal databases and has facial recognition so he knows who every person that walks through the doors are. That's part of why he's able to built relationships with people, he will remember them every time they come over the years.

Wyatt knows he's their company's golden child, and at the park he's pretty much considered the boss by most employees, even if unofficially, it's usually whatever Wyatt says goes. So he is given quite a lot of freedom, but the secret that he is in fact a sentient free thinking machine is kept heavily under wraps. Wyatt doesn't necessarily mind, but he's definitely got plans in the works for his future~!