The elevator ride was pretty uneventful, only an audio recording that played as soon as William was going to press the button for the elevator's door. "Due to mechanical and electronic problems, your assistant will be out of order for an undetermined amount of time. The basic mechanisms are still functional, but you will spend the night unmonitored. Any damage in property, damage to the robots, or unauthorized consumption of beverages from a vending machine will result in immediate termination." The unnatural robotic voice stated, and William rolled his eyes as he crawled through the vent.

The Primary Control Module seemed to be in good condition for now, although what unnerved the man was either the busted open vents or the particularly missing window of Ballora Gallery, which appeared to be smashed by a large heavy instrument. He could see the ballerina on stage, deactivated, so perhaps it wasn't her fault.

Maybe the last night technician had an accident. From what the manager he hired had told him, these guys were either clumsy, or absolutely nuts. Foxy was also on his stage and he was deactivated as well. It appears that someone has turned them off after the establishment shut down.

The only difference was that his window was still intact. He took a deep breath and crouched down to peer intp the vent that led to Circus Control. It looked vacant, so he began to crawl inside, feeling that particular prickle of anxiety that accompanied his entry to that room.

"Come on, you little robotic brat, show your creepy face." William felt little emotion when sparks flew and bright lights filled the dark gallery. He was now standing in Circus Control, not the most pleasant place on earth. During the rental establishment's golden age, this room would be full of beeping and flashing buttons on the numerous panels scattered throughout the room, the lights, fully functional lights, illuminating the stage, and Circus Baby would be standing in the middle of it like a good robot (if it weren't one of those... bad days. She would need a little "motivation" then) and the whole time would be spent listening to useless banter from HandyUnit. But now, the assistant AI was partially offline, trying to conserve energy as it followed a common routine used during power shortages. The place was in a terrible state, broken hardware and such an excessive lack of maintenance, and William would bet the animatronics on the fact that nobody has been here in at least a couple of years.

He exhaled slowly, watching the glass with the least amount of interest as he pressed the light button, feeling the slightest twinge of fright when the single flickery bulb showed an empty room.

Where on earth was that rusty, dumb pile of wires?!

His expression turned to one of pure disgust as he jammed his finger down on the shock button, realizing that he was incredibly wrong when he thought that this dump was still useful in some way. Well, he could salvage some parts out of the other robots, but Baby seemed to be absolutely useless. He created her to be perfect, and the others were nothing but side characters only there to emphasize her perfection. Huh, how foolish he was, thinking that such a piece of machinery could last even longer than his own competitors. But to be honest, those competitors never lasted long.

After slamming down the button for a couple times, he tried the lights. They didn't work. Feeling the very irrational fear creeping up his spine, he shook his head and moved closer to the window, placing his palms on the glass. He could only make out the very dim outline of the stage, but the entire room was in darkness. William moved up cloer to the surface, trying to think of ways to lure the animatronic out of hiding. Then he remembered.

She liked to talk. So maybe he could make her come out of hiding by talking to her about something she knew more than anyone else. He felt the anxiety retuning once again, but he forced it down. "Baby." No reply. "Baby, I know you're there. You know me." He sat in silence for five minutes or so, but he still hadn't heard anything from her. Just when he was about to get back from the window, however, a familiar quiet voice reached him in the dark, and god, it sounded so close, as if Baby was also inches away from the window.

"How dare you come back here?"

"I own this place." William said with a hint of slight annoyance in his voice, but she cut him off before he could say anything else, sounding even louder and closer than before. "But you never came here. We were somehow lucky, never seeing you again. Why have you come? Who do you want to take?" The words were stuck in William's throat, mainly because he was surprised she had already knew what he was doing in the Primary Control Module, but suddenly he thought of something to change the subject to. "Who broke Ballora's window?"

"I don't know. I'm not strong enough to break it." William highly doubted that statement. "Look, Baby. I'm not here to hurt any of you-" In a sudden fit of rage, Baby nearly screamed at him, but apparently she managed to control herself at least slightly. "You just shocked me." William gulped unsteadily. "I thought you were deactivated like the rest. It was a misunderstanding."

"Was I a misunderstanding too?" Why did she have to bring that up?! "I don't know what you're talking about." "Liar." He stared at the glass, acknowledging his reflection in the mirror-like surface. He truly regretted making the "ice cream system" and he thought she already knew that. Didn't they have a decent stage life for a bit? "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I... I didn't really mean to make you like this. I admit, the- the scooper was a mistake." He could now hear foot steps, and he closed his eyes as in regret. "I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry for everything I made you go through."

Whirrr...

Two neon green eyes appeared millimeters from his face, but he didn't even flinch. Baby seemed to stare right through his skull. "William..." Her voice carried an odd emptiness to it, as if what was inside her once, what gave the ability to be genuinely happy, had been stolen away.

"What is it?"

"That didn't make me feel any better." The eyes now dimmed slightly, and the whirring grew louder. "I still hate you." Memories of that horrible day filled his mind, and he felt pity for himself, for Baby, for Freddy, Foxy and Ballora, and all those he had hurt for the first time since... well, he didn't even remember. It was a nasty, foreign emotion, and he hated it. He hated himself too. "You have all the right to hate me. I don't blame you." Heavy footsteps echoed off the vast stage as Baby retreated, the bright light of her eyes the only indicator of where she was. "Unlike you, I blame myself for many things." He knew very well what she was talking about.

"I'm going." He declared.

"Where are you going?"

Dammed good question. He thought. "Heading back to the Control Module. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and kill you." William let out a short, dry laugh. "Feel free to try." He said, crawling back into the vent.

"Oh, I will, William. You know that I always will."