A/N: Kyttin here. This chapter is more of an experiment to see if I garner any following before moving along with the plot I've been slowly developing over the last several weeks. It is also a method for keeping my motivation to work on my FNAF-themed Hallowe'en project.

If this chapter seems to be a bit lackadasical, I can't say I apologize; it'll be clear enough if you read it as vaguely as I wrote it.

The Game

Chapter 1

Shoes clack down the street. Everyone has somewhere they need to be. Eventually.

Nobody notices the masks. Everyone wears them every day. Most of the time.

Nobody seems to care.

Idle chatter on cell phones. Honking and purring of cars. Raucous confusion.

Smog. Hotdog grease from the cart down the street. Stale piss. Is that beer?

I haven't slept for the past week.

Thrumming notes. A vibrating pair of hands.

Two hours ain't enough for me.

Suits and skirts wandering past, always busy, always moving.

I feel inspired at quarter to three…ey-em.

A handsome devil with sharp sunglasses and a platinum Rolex in a red Corvette.

I haven't changed since our last meet.

A beautiful woman in skin-tight leathers astride a powerful sport bike.

I'm still getting all my meals for free.

Two kids, hands clasped together, skipping through the crosswalk.

I think I'm being shunned by my feet again.

A honking horn. No time to think. No time to feel.

Had he delayed even a breath longer, the children would have met a grisly end in the middle of a crowded street. Instead, the trio stood panting, eyes wide and alight with terror, on the far side of the street.

"You saved us, mister."

The little girl reached up to pat one purple ear with gratitude.

"Kids! Get away from that thing!"

They gave a start and sprinted away toward their calling mother, her hand clasped over a cell phone just like the rest.

"Don't you know to stay away from those androids?" he overheard. His ears drooped.

Adding insult to injury was the sudden realization that his prized guitar was ruined, crushed by the wheels of the hurried truck he'd narrowly avoided moments before. Splintered bits of birch and maple lay littered in the street, six coiled wires akimbo and swaying gently in the breeze. He sighed, regaining his feet, eyes cast down to his patched shoes. The hole in the knee of his jeans had left a brilliant scuff on his furry knee. That would leave a bruise.

He scooped as much of the destroyed instrument into his arms as he could, his body feeling like naught but an empty shell within which he happened to reside. He tossed the detritus into its former case, clattering the meager offerings of the passerby who'd had spare change to donate, sealing the locks and hefting the case and himself away.

"Interesting."

From within the coffee-shop just behind the android's chosen corner for the day emerged three more androids, all garnished to have the appearance of animals. One, clearly the front, sported a top hat, spectacles, and what appeared to be a tuxedo minus the jacket. He had the muzzle and ears of a bear to match his furry brown epidermis, bright blue eyes beset with intrigue at the scene he'd witnessed. To his left stood a girl shorter than he, clad in a black hooded sweatshirt over a hot pink graphic tee-shirt with a bib bearing the colorfully-scribed phrase "Let's Eat!;" a navy blue skirt and fishnet tights finished the outfit into black ankle pump boots, all covering a thick layer of yellow feathers. She rolled her beak around, the remnants of her iced tea sifting from between her inner layer of teeth. To her right stood a tall gent, garnished with a long trenchcoat colored brown and black and inlaid with gold buttons and rubies of the finest cut. A black tee-shirt and ripped linen trousers coupled to thick, heeled boots completed the garb, leaving only the muzzle of a fox beneath the eyepatch of a pirate to fill in the gaps. He wore a tricorn with the letters FFP delicately stitched into the back in bright silver cursive font.

"Ey, what's so interestin' you interrupted our tea break, Fred?"

The bear drew a pocket watch of fourteen-carat gold from within his vest, checking the time with a critical blue eye. He gazed to the purple of the chicken and the green of the fox, a delighted smile quirking the corner of his muzzle.

"It appears we may have stopped for the right cup of tea at just the right time on precisely the right day, cubs."

"Ehh, whar be ye meanin' behind thine wordin's, Fred?"

"What I mean is very simple, Foxy. You and Chica have been needing a form of accompaniment, and that android might be just what we're looking for. Compassion, dedication, talent, and something we can't be programmed with."

"Which is?"

"Heart, Chica. He has heart."

The two looked to their leader and nodded. "Then we be needin' ta get 'im on our side, aye?"

"Precisely. Come! We must make haste if we are to reach him."

Normally I title my chapters, but I'm not that creative this time. Ton of setup, not much plot. First chapters, eyy. I love you all, my gentle snowflakes, and I'll see you again soon...if this gets any attention, that is. ~Kyttin