'There's no way this place is a family pizzeria!'
The lead mascot, a boy with blue-black hair and piercing blue eyes, strummed his guitar and sang to the watching children. The second, a boy with brown hair and teal eyes, played a decently sized drum set off to one side of the stage, and on the other, a mascot with purple hair and burgundy eyes sang backup for the first as she strummed her own guitar. Children cheered from their seats as they watched the robotic band play, and as Shiemi watched, she couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm.
The androids unnerved her, but she needed a job so she could help her mother pay the bills. Even if this job paid less than minimum wage, it was something, so she would bear it.
She shook her head and turned her back to the androids, just missing the wink the lead mascot shot her way.
~8 hours later~
Upon returning to the building that night, the girl signed her contract and immediately headed for her new office. She didn't like the looks the cleaning staff were giving her. Pity. Anger.
Fear.
Shiemi couldn't help but glance up at the androids as she passed them, only to freeze as she met the eyes of the band's lead singer and guitarist. They stared at each other for what seemed like a moment before she took a step away. His eyes remained fixed to the spot where she had just been, and she mentally scolded herself.
'There's no way a robot is smart enough to make eye contact with me. They're not even on right now, what was I thinking?' She completely missed the scowl the android shot at her back, as if he was upset that she had left.
The girl's new office certainly left a lot to be desired. Papers were scattered everywhere, and someone had even left their drink from a nearby drive-thru on the desk. "How rude," she muttered with a grimace as she pushed the drink as far away from her as she could. "They could have at least had the decency to clean up before they left."
Shiemi opened up the laptop resting on top of the largest stack of papers and glanced at the time in the corner. 11:20. She stared at the numbers in disbelief.
'I stared at that robot for fifteen minutes?! I'm losing it...'
She picked up the laptop and plopped into the rolling chair, noticing that there was a sticky note stuck to the middle of the screen. The light from the screen made it a bit difficult to read, but she managed.
'I can't wait to really meet you, miss night guard.
-F.'
'F...Freddy! Then that means...'
She paled. The android that had been staring in her direction really was staring at her. He'd left a message that he knew would reach her after he made his move.
He was playing with her.
Shiemi ran a hand through her short blonde hair and sighed. She hadn't even started working yet, and already something had her spooked. She tried to reason with herself as she flicked through the cameras quickly.
"I'm overthinking this...it's probably just some prank to mess with the newbie, yeah, that's it! They wrote the note and moved the robot...okay, this makes sense." She checked the time again. 11:30. She sighed and pulled out her phone to pass the time.
~25 minutes later~
Shiemi stared in shock at the laptop screen, her eyes anchored to the camera viewing the show stage and its inhabitants. At 11:50, the phone had rang, and she had answered. She'd been given a job briefing by the last night guard that had worked there, which basically consisted of, 'save power, check the doors, and keep them out.'
Five minutes later, she flashed her eyes over to the laptop. Her limited power supply hadn't started yet, so she flicked through the cameras once more. She decided to pay special attention to the door lights and hallways, anything else was unimportant. At the back of her mind, she wondered if 'Freddy' would make good on his promise, not that she would let him in.
She recalled his performance earlier that day. For a robot, he had a nice voice, and he didn't look to bad, either. But when had she caught his attention?
'It's a robot, Shiemi. It doesn't have a consciousness, it has pre-set lines and actions.'
She desperately hoped that this was all a joke, that one of her new co-workers would jump through the door at midnight and laugh at her for believing the girl on the phone, but she knew deep down that things were never that simple. Not for her, anyway.
She watched the time switch from 11:59 to 12:00, her palms suddenly slick and shaking.
No going back now.
She pulled up the cameras again and glared at the show stage, where all three mascots sat innocently staring out into the empty room. After deciding that they weren't going anywhere, she flicked through the rest of them before shutting the laptop.
'I can do this.'
Shiemi made it to two a.m. before the drummer left the stage. She had passed the camera so quickly that she almost missed it, but when she went back her heart almost stopped.
'No, no no no! Where is he?!'
She could have cried when she located the missing android. She wasn't sure if she should be happy that she knew where he was, or if she should be mortified that he was staring into the camera backstage.
"Go away," she whispered hoarsely, her left hand reaching for the door light in case she should lose him again. She checked the show stage again and bit her lip. Now the female android was gone. She heard pans smashing together in the kitchen, and she let her lip go. That solved that mystery. She glanced at her power meter. 71% at 2 a.m. She hoped that it would be enough to make it through the night.
Shiemi checked the backstage camera again and panicked upon realizing that the robot was gone. She immediately went to the west hall corner camera, where a pair of teal eyes stared up at the camera. Her eyes widened and she quickly checked her door light, seeing nothing there. She glanced back down to the laptop and checked on the show stage. Freddy hadn't moved, to her relief.
She flicked through the rest of the cameras again before checking the door lights, crying out when she met the gaze of the band's drummer. She slammed her hand down on the door switch, bringing it down in the robot's face before checking the door light again. She could see his shadow, and Shiemi shivered before checking the other door light. Nothing.
The clanging in the kitchen stopped, and she quickly brought up her cameras. The female android was standing at the end of the east hallway, staring into the camera with her jaw wide open and her head tilted. The night guard squeaked and checked the door lights, seeing no robots at either one and opening the left door. She located the androids quickly, the drummer was in the supply closet while the female hadn't moved. She checked the show stage again, noticing with a chill that Freddy was now staring into the camera as well, smirking in what almost looked like amusement.
'Can he tell when I'm looking at his camera?'
It was four o'clock and she was down to 39%. She was definitely going to be cutting the night close. As she checked on the band's drummer once more, the camera blurred and then went out completely. Shiemi squeaked in alarm and checked the door lights, making sure that the robot wasn't sneaking up on her again. She brought up the cameras again and located him in the party room, staring at the camera once more.
Another check of her cameras revealed that the female android was no longer at the end of the hallway. She quickly left the cameras and checked the door light, whimpering as she spotted the robot right outside the window. She slammed the right door down and checked the time. 5 o'clock with 15% left. She noticed with dismay that the robot didn't seem like it was going to leave the door anytime soon.
"Go away, go away, go away..."
Her power was draining quickly due to the door being closed, but she wasn't about to open it and let the android get into the office. She gulped and checked on the drummer and Freddy, who still weren't giving her any problems. She bit her lip and checked the time again.
"Come on, six o'clock! Please!"
10%
"No, no, no...go away! I have to open the door!"
8%
A quick check of the door lights and cameras revealed that the female robot was gone, and she sighed in relief as she opened the door. There was more clanging in the kitchen, and the drummer hadn't left the party room since four o'clock. Freddy hadn't even left the stage.
4%
A loud bell echoed throughout the building, signaling the end of Shiemi's shift. She checked the power usage, noting that the gauge had disappeared. A quick scan of the cameras told her that all of the mascots were now in their proper places. She'd survived her first night at Freddy's.