The cold December rain, neither a drizzle nor a downpour, fell lazily upon the empty midtown sidewalks. Were it not for the pattering of water against concrete and the occasional drunkard-ferrying taxi, the streets would have been silent. Most businesses were closed, and those which weren't soon would be. The town was small, with few places other than bars providing services at the hour. The time was 11:13 pm, Sunday night.

One location that was open at such a time was Dino Dan's Discovery Zone, a local family restaurant which provided fun and games to children and served as a competitor to another local restaurant known as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Both establishments harbored similar amenities: cheap food, games, prizes, exhausted parents, and, most notably, a band of animatronic mascots. Fazbear's was a long-standing fixture in the town and thus its characters garnered popularity through familiarity and nostalgia, while Dino Dan's made its livelihood by appealing to the seemingly universal love of dinosaurs harbored by children. Even on such a dreary Sunday night, this appeal proved to be successful as the arcade, paleontology exhibit, and dining area emanated the sound of children's laughter.

Michelle Schmidt stood leaning against the wall of the show area at Dino Dan's Discovery Zone. She was an attractive young woman, though standing at only 5'4'', with smooth, youthful skin, short, silky black hair, shiny brown eyes, and a set of curves which would best be described as generous - not just a prominent chest, but a very vast set of hips; more than enough to earn her an unsavory look from time to time, much to her disdain. She was clad in a white, button-down shirt, accompanied by a black tie and a badge with her name on it, as well as a black leather belt, tight-fitting jeans, and the nicest pair of worn-down sneakers she could find in her closet. This outfit was her work uniform; she had just finished her orientation for her new position as the nighttime security guard at Dino Dan's. Her first shift started at midnight, but she wanted to observe the animatronics which populated the restaurant. She had fond memories of going to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in her childhood - being served pizza by Chica, getting piggyback rides from Bonnie, laughing at Foxy's terrible puns - and she wanted to see how the competitor stacked up. She was a bit pensive at first, though the thought of working with small children would unnerve anyone. It didn't help that she was already uncomfortable with the circumstances of her employment; taking a low-paying security job just to scrape by wasn't exactly her ideal situation. Despite this, she found a bit of warmth in the proxied nostalgia of the place, down to every cheesy child-friendly decoration. Her shift didn't start for a few more minutes; plenty of time to bask. Her eyes scanned over the late night crowd: mostly small, close-knit families enjoying an evening indulgence on behalf of the youngsters, more smiles than grimaces. It was honestly hard for her to believe this place still had patrons this late on a Sunday night, especially since Fazbear's had so much more notoriety, but the cries of children are a hard thing to ignore.

With the reverb of a dramatic chord, Michelle's attention turned stage-side, the main attraction finishing up their admittedly catchy set. The four animatronic characters, each representing a different dinosaur, were going through the rounds, acting as if they were winded from their pre-recorded exploits. The titular Dino Dan, a rather hefty looking Ankylosaur, shuffled his way forward to the edge of the platform, seemingly winded, as he spoke to the audience.

"Now, children," he said, waving a hand at the cheering crowd of younglings before him, "I know you're excited, but Unky Dan needs to rest his old bones. We're closing in a few minutes, you know."

His small audience let out a collective whine, to which Dan responded with a chuckle.

"Now, now," he said, "we're not going anywhere. You'll just have to wait to see us again. And patience is very important." He turned his head to establish eye contact with each of the children as he imparted his wisdom.

"Aww, come on Dan. Don't leave the little dudes hanging on that bit of boring." The diminutive Velociraptor on his right came up next to him, electric guitar in hand and sunglasses up. "We're not going anywhere guys so make sure you come back and see us! I promise Dan'll be a bit cooler by then."

"Oh, hush now," Dan scolded. He turned to the kids, placed a hand next to his mouth, and whispered: "I'm too old and stubborn to change how 'cool' I am."

The children laughed, easing their earlier disappointment.

"Don't take it personally Dan," the sizable Tyrannosaur broke in, a thick Australian accent on her tongue. " Randy's just a bit of a drongo. You know we appreciate ya, you old battler. Besides, it's your name on this place anyway!"

"Yes, Tracy," Dan laughed, "I suppose you're right."

He stood up, giving Michelle a clearer view of his form; were it not for his friendly speech, one would easily be intimidated by him, as he sported a thick brow, hunched back, and almost samurai-like armored plating. He wasn't taller than Tracy was, at least without standing up straight, but his stocky shape made the details of his person the easiest to discern with the crowd in the way. He clasped his hands together and looked at the children.

"Well, it's time to go now," he sighed.

Another collective moan from the audience.

"Come now, children," a soft female voice said.

The voice belonged to the only member of the band who had not yet spoken, and who had remained hidden behind the other animatronics; she was very difficult to see from the angle Michelle was looking from, but the top of her head shone and indicated that she was a Triceratops. She gestured with her hands to tell the children to turn around. They obeyed, and she walked them back to the other side of the room where their parents were waiting. As she did so, she hummed a peaceful lullaby, to which some of the kids joined in. They all said goodbye to her and returned to their parents, relaxed and ready to leave. Michelle was a bit in awe of what she'd just witnessed, how a pack of soda-fueled children were so easily calmed by that animatronic's voice. It was almost surreal but sure as day, the families began to depart, grins on both parent and child alike. A small smile cracked on Michelle's visage as well, a touch of hope for the coming shift. She turned to the hallway nearby and made her way to her office.

The office was a modest but somewhat cramped space, consisting of a table, an aged office chair, and an old desktop computer that looked like it had been found by many a child, various stickers and crayon graffiti defacing it. On top of the wood, there was a sizable packet about as thick as Michelle's thumb labeled: "Dino Dan's Employee Handbook and Reference Guide." Despite sitting through two hours of what had to be the most deadpan orientation delivery her manager could provide, there was a bit of time to kill while the staff closed up shop; may as well pass it somehow. A brief leafing through showed it to be presented as if it was written by the restaurant's characters, a bit of a cute departure from the usual boilerplate these kind of manuals were known for. A look through the Nightly Duties chapter had Dan acting as narrator.

'Now as you know, Dino Dan's Discovery Zone is a place of whimsy, wonder, and wild times but that doesn't just happen on its own, now. You, as a member of our staff, are a part of that process now and though you may not realize it, have a responsibility to make sure it keeps on going strong. After all, I can't move these old bones as fast as I used to! Now, onto your duties. If you're here as a chef, turn to page 14. Security, turn to page 20. If you're management, then please grab the attached packet, we have a lot to cover about how you're going to run my show. Chances are, not as well as me but we can try.'

A light chuckle escaped Michelle as she made her way through, the anecdotes providing a nice bit of levity to an otherwise dull career choice. Page 20 gave the reigns over to Tracy, now seen wearing a guard hat along with her usual checkered bandanna.

'Good onya mate for taking up one of the most crucial jobs here at Dino Dan's: Security. Now I know what you're thinking: How much is there really to do in a simple little job like this? Well let me give ya the good oil: Right now you're in charge of either keeping the ankle biters or me and my bandmates out of harm's way.'

Michelle took a moment to soak in the confusion induced by the alien slang.

'Now believe me, this is nowhere to veg out. During the waking hours, it's up to you to keep the kids from going too bonkers and keep the older folks from causing a ruckus up in here. Sounds straight iffy, right? But it's the real dinky-di. You wouldn't believe some of the things we've dealt with here. I can see the worried look on your face already but don't worry, normally that badge of yours is more than enough to solve most tiffs. Come night, things get a bit easier. You're really just looking out for the crooks and mongrels and keeping 'em from having a go at our business. Remember, it's up to you. We've gotta sleep sometimes!'

Michelle would never be more thankful for the glossary section of a book in her life. Still, at least things seemed simple enough. She turned towards the computer. She turned it on and, after a lengthy boot sequence, she double-clicked on the desktop icon labeled 'DanCams.' Upon startup, the program displayed the time, 12:09 am, a small map of the restaurant with labeled buttons where each room was, and a live camera feed of the show stage, for which the corresponding map button was lit. A cycle through each button exposed roughly a dozen areas of the complex, ranging from views of the hallways, the kitchen, and one in the employee break room. The picture blurred and a carrying a fair bit of static, but it was adequate enough. As she clicked the icon for the main stage, she was met with the sight of the animatronics from earlier hunched over and deactivated, their mechanical souls gone quiet. It was a bit odd for Michelle at first, having spent many an afternoon at Fazbear's during her youth, to see the entertainers, those vibrant characters, just laying lifeless on stage. It was only after a few moments of musing that she realized that one of them was oddly misplaced. Dan was in his oversized rocking chair, Randy leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed in rebellion of some manufactured norm, and Sarah was just barely in view behind one of the heavy stage curtains. But Tracy was nowhere to be found, her bass guitar propped atop a lonely crate. It's not like she could still be walking around; all of them were up on deck before closing. Maybe she was in back for maintenance?

In the midst of her slightly miffed concluding, her attention was drawn by a sudden knock at her door. Her eyes turned towards gateway with frightened haste, body tensing up. If her job description was to be believed, all of the other employees should have gone home by this point. Had someone broken in? Or had one of them waited until they could be alone? As she reached into her purse for her stun gun, a voice began to accompany the knocking. It was of an odd quality, sounding like a mixture of tones and inflections cut together.

"Oi Nighter, you there? I heard you were new so I wanted to know who was making their quid here. You are in there, right?"

Wait. That voice. Those words she still couldn't really grasp. The missing animatronic. A look of pure incredulity worked its way onto Michelle's face as her mind put together the pieces that had no business fitting.

"...Tracy?" her voice rang out, touches of confusion hanging on each syllable.

"Strewth! Figured you'd want some company if you're staying up 'til sparrow's fart."

"...What?"

A somewhat modulated sounding sigh can be heard escaping the technological Tyrannosaur. "Dawn. Sorry, dawn. I keep forgetting they use me in Yank land. I hope I'm not the only one here realizing how awkward it is for us to be talking through a piece of metal."

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Michelle said to herself before rolling her chair over to the bright red button on the wall labeled 'DOOR.' With a moment's hesitation, she pressed it.

The metal slab separating the two lifted, disappearing into the wall, revealing the anthropomorphic T-Rex automaton behind it. Up close, Michelle was able to survey her appearance far more clearly than before. As if her large jaw and clawed extremities weren't intimidating enough, Michelle estimated she was about 6'2''. Her eyes, large and yellow with slit-shaped pupils, were each decorated with two oversized cartoon-character eyelashes. Her chassis, built to simulate an athletic physique, consisted of a layer of green, rubbery synthetic skin atop a plastic shell. Her tail featured a dull yellow underside, separated by thin black lines every few inches, continuing up her torso and stopping at her collar. Paperlike, light green spikes ran from the back of her head to the tip of her tail, those between her neck and tail being smaller than the others. On her neck she wore a red, checkered bandanna turned slightly to her left and kept a pair of sunglasses resting above her brow.

"Much better," Tracy said, looking up at the slot the door had retreated to.

She turned her gaze downward, towards Michelle, scanning her up and down. Michelle couldn't help but feel an onset of anxiety as she watched a large robot with unknown intentions look her over. Tracy's eyes stopped moving and she smiled. A sudden flash of movement right before her caused Michelle to flinch, shutting her eyes.

Tracy chuckled. "Relax, Sheila."

Michelle opened her eyes to see Tracy offering her hand. After hesitating for a moment, Michelle reached out and took it.

"Sorry," Michelle said as they shook hands. "Never interacted with a sentient robot before. Wasn't sure what you were going to do."

Tracy let go of Michelle's hand. "I take it you had those old stories about Fazbear's in mind?"

"Couldn't really help it," Michelle said with a nervous chuckle.

Tracy walked towards Michelle's desk. "They ain't true, ya know," she said.

"I figured," Michelle replied. "Company wouldn't still be around if something like that actually happened. Just hard to keep it out of my head when a huge animatronic dinosaur is staring me down."

Tracy looked at Michelle silently.

"Um, no offense," Michelle said.

Tracy propped herself up on Michelle's desk, sitting with her legs crossed.

"So, what do you think of the old joint so far?" she asked.

"Reminds me of better times, that's a plus," Michelle answered. "Was surprised to see so many kids here so late on a Sunday."

"Yeah, well, we've had more in the past." Tracy looked off to the side in thought for a moment.

Tracy absentmindedly crossed her legs again, causing Michelle to detect a feature of hers that had previously gone unnoticed; a surprisingly curvaceous figure. Her chest may have been flat, but she sported a pair of thick, distractingly shapely thighs. Michelle hypothesized that they were either there to be true to T-Rex anatomy or to provide a little something for the bored father waiting for his child's party to end. Michelle hastily darted her eyes back upward as Tracy turned her gaze toward Michelle again.

"You met any of the others during the day?" Tracy asked.

"No, I just watched you guys perform from the back of the room."

"Well," Tracy said, grabbing the edges of the desk and leaning forward, "you should know that we're not all quite the same between the day and the night."

"Speaking of which, " Michelle interjected, "exactly how are we doing this right now? I mean, no offense, but you're a singing robot for a kids' restaurant."

"Yes, and?"

"So, it kinda seems like this'd be a little out of your range."

"Eh, however it happened, it happened. Me and the others have been like this long as I can remember. During the day's when we let all of the scripted stuff happen. The night's all ours though."

"Wait, if all of you can do this, why'd only you show up?"

"Curiosity, really. Been a while since we've had a night guard so wanted to see who was wearing the hat and badge." Her tone began to take on a much colder edge as she continued. "That and well, the others are a bit… dodgy, to say the least. Randy's either being his pigheaded self or hanging out with the bat from Fazbear's, Sarah's afraid of her own shadow, and don't even get me started on Dan. Right bunch of crazies."

A look of worry mixed with confusion came over Michelle's face upon seeing the odd amount of vitriol coming from the mechanical dinosaur. "Is it really that bad? Kinda seemed like you guys were decent friends on stage."

"When we're following script, sure. After that, we pretty much keep to our respective circles, not for lack of trying though." In the midst of her venting, Tracy looks over to Michelle's visage, noting the startled expression upon it. A heavy, warbled sigh left her mouth as she dismounted the desk, a look of slight embarrassment in her eyes. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have just dropped that on you like that. To be honest with ya, I mean completely honest, the nighters are the only people I can talk to around here. I'm just sick of trying and getting nowhere with those ponces. I'm uh, I'm gonna go blow off some steam for a bit, get my head back on straight. What's your name, by the way? Kinda got too wrapped up in things to ask."

"It's Michelle. And it's no problem really; I'm just surprised, is all."

"Been nice talking to ya, Chelle. Hopefully, next time I can keep it a bit more upbeat."

With that said Tracy made a turn towards the door, right hand up in a friendly wave as she made her way out, Michelle taking a slightly too long gaze at the molded thighs of the animatronic Tyrannosaurus. A bit of blush found its way into her cheeks at the odd thoughts brought on by such a peculiar design choice.

Once Tracy was out of sight, Michelle closed the door and returned to the cameras. Awkward as her conversation with Tracy had been, Michelle was wishing she hadn't left; she still had a long night ahead of her. Hours of just waiting for some kind of noise to emanate from the computer, signaling her to check the cameras, only to find that the disturbance was caused by the building settling. One thing that was of note, however, was her discovery that the other animatronics had left the positions they were lying in earlier. Dan was sauntering down the halls and Sarah was looking around the party area, occasionally nudging askew decorations into place. Tracy had gone back to her paleontology exhibit, and seemed to be studying the pieces there. Randy, however, was nowhere to be seen. Michelle pondered where he could have gone. Tracy said something about a bat at Fazbear's, but Michelle was unsure if she was talking about some new animatronic or if she was just rattling off more Australian slang. She certainly never remembered a bat character from her childhood visits to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, but it had been so long since then. Who knows what could have changed in that time.

Michelle continued to monitor the restaurant, occasionally checking on the animatronics, but she ultimately sidelined the constant monitoring in favor of solitaire. All she had to do was listen for loud noises and give an occasional glance to the minimized DanCams window on the side of the screen. Though she would have preferred more games to choose from, time did seem to pass with merciful celerity when she had something to do. Soon enough, Michelle looked at the clock and saw it was 5:38. Not much longer until the end of her shift. That's when a knock came to Michelle's door once again, startling her.

"Good morning, dear night watchman. Care for a chat with a fellow employee?" The voice coming through the door had a distinct southern twang to it with just the faintest bit of static hiding on its edge.

Raising up from her ragged chair, Michelle grabbed hold of the doorknob with a pang of curiosity. Really, she was wondering why it had taken another of the characters this long to come see her. Opening the door revealed none other than Dino Dan himself, a stocky, slightly hunched Ankylosaur with a chassis of an aged bronze color. His build was almost like that of a sumo wrestler, with a muscular-looking chest accompanying a rotund belly. Unlike Tracy, he carried a bit more wear and tear to him, patches of the scaling on his back beginning to peel and fray. In an oddly cute way, he uses the club-like end of his tail as a walking stick by pulling the appendage around to his front and using it to balance himself. There was an air of implied benevolence to him, the soft, slightly older features to him invoking the feel one would have while with their grandparents. Upon seeing him, Michelle had to wonder what about him could bring up so much of Tracy's ire. As Dan shuffled in, he took a long, scanning glance of Michelle, mechanical eyes sizing her up in a very objective, almost unsettling way.

"Well, I must say: you are quite the sight, Miss Night Guard. It's been quite the expanse since we've had nightly security here; here's hoping you'll do as well as our last."

"I'll do my best at least," Michelle answered earnestly. "It's a bit surprising that a place like this even really needs a night guard though. I mean, who really wants to break into a kid's restaurant?"

"Are you really that short-sighted?"

"...E-excuse me?" Michelle was genuinely taken aback by the curt comment that just left the mascot before her.

"Do you really believe this job carries no weight? Tell me, say someone managed to get in here after dark. Found their way into some oft-overlooked area and decided that would make a nice hidey-hole. Do you understand what danger that could pose to the patrons? To the assets of this company? Your actions here could be the very difference between life and death, Miss Night Guard, and I refuse to let you take that for granted."

Michelle couldn't help but scowl. "Doubtful. And my name is Michelle, by the way."

Dan leaned down, putting his face uncomfortably close to Michelle's. "Always cover your bases," he said. "You never know what might happen."

Tracy's unfavorable views of her partner became much more apparent to Michelle; his condescending nature and general lack of humor would put a knot in anyone's stomach. "All right, all right, I get it. I'll be a bit more… what's a good word for this? Oh, yeah. Diligent. This job is important after all."

"I'm very glad to hear that from you. It's always been my displeasure to work with the youths of this era. So brash, so brazen as to the point of abandoning all caution. But you? You at least have some understanding of what goes on, even if you need a nudge or two in the right direction. I'll be looking forward to dealing with you, Miss Night Guard. Here's hoping you'll make me proud." He glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. "It seems that your shift is almost over so allow me to dispense some words of wisdom before I go. The characters here: myself, Sarah, Tracy, and Randy? We carry a heavy weight. The joy of the children that come through those doors everyday is dependent upon our well-being. We could honestly use your help maintaining that. If not for our sake but for theirs. There is nothing more wretched in this world than allowing a child to be in despair."

With that said, he turned away from the night guard, slightly fuming in her seat, making his exit without another word. When he left, Michelle closed the door once more and turned back to her desk to get ready to leave. All the while, her annoyance with Dan ate at her mind. She was amazed by how rude he had been. Then, as Michelle was shutting down the computer, she reluctantly admitted to herself that his reasons for being so overbearing were probably valid. Maybe. She didn't like having to alter her preconceived notions of people, but she had to submit that he was just very concerned about the company.

Michelle exited the building through the front door at 6:00 am. Only the slightest hint of sunlight seemed present in the sky as she locked up. Other employees would be in soon enough to take over.

As she stepped through the puddles on the way to her old hand-me-down car, she took one more look back at her new place of employment, trying to process the bizarre series of events she had just encountered. Strangely, an odd sense of excitement found its way amidst her bewilderment, harkening back to childhood days. She turned back, got in her car, and drove off into the cloudy horizon.