The rest of the week followed a similar pattern of sweeping and fixing. Little progress had been made regarding Zalgo, but I was feeling confidant that something would come up. I had slowly turned the security office into a little home for myself, even getting permission to replace the chair with one that laid back. The fact it could also spin was a bonus. Moving in a file cabinet and dartboard, I used them to keep track of Zalgo and any clues to where his infection was located. As this was before my coat could fold space onto itself, I also had a trunk to keep hold off all my knick-knacks and souvenirs. Soon came Sunday, the day I had been dreading.


Mr. Schmidt had asked me to watch the place on the one day it was closed, as it was often when any break-ins happened for a business. I had accepted without thinking too much about it, and was soon subjected to Zane's rants about how much of an idiot I am for "willingly locking us in with those lifeless freaks!". My rebuttal of how much of a bitch he was being for fearing "lifeless freaks!" was swiftly met with forced memories of being slowly torn apart by hoards of undead. Not pleasant, especially when you can't die.

When Saturday night came, I got ready for the long haul. A few instant meals and two liter bottles of soda. One of the few good things that came with Zalgo's experimentation was that proper nutrition could go fuck itself. As long as I could digest it, it was free game. Surgery things seemed especially effective for whatever reason, and that had led to me developing a taste for fruity candy. Bags of sour gummy worms and Skittles where within reach as I laid back in my chair, getting comfortable.


Noticing someone sneaking around, I got up and walked out to the pizzeria proper. Searching for any sign of the intruder, I was about to shrug it off as nothing when I heard someone knock over a chair. Twisting around, my heart seized when I saw Bonnie. Staring the rabbit down, my mouth gaped open when I saw her ear twitch. Suddenly, I heard a crash behind me as someone kicked open a door. Distracted, I turned to investigate before realizing what I had done. Immediately returning to Bonnie, I gasped when she wasn't there. Spinning around, I was bowled over by someone who had snuck up on me. Hitting my head on a table, my vision blurred for a moment before I could get a good look at my attacker.

As they ran off, I swallowed my fear and chased after whoever had broken in. Convincing myself that I hadn't seen what I saw, I chased down the intruder. They didn't move very fast, but they clearly knew the layout better than I did as they dodged things I tripped up on. If the way they ran was any indication, something was wrong with their right leg.

"Stop!" I yelled, getting annoyed as I stubbed my toe on a sudden rise. "I'm not letting some kid break in here and get away on my first weekend!"

So began the chase. For whatever reason, the figure I was running after didn't try to leave. It was like they were hoping I would tire out and give up. Realizing that we had ourselves trapped in a loop, I took a risk and turned back the way we came. Almost shouting in joy, I tackled the annoyance to the ground. Instantly, they locked up and went rigid. Anything I was going to say caught in my throat as I got a good look at Chica, who I was straddling.

"What in the fuck…?" I mumbled, immensely confused.

"Hey! Watch your language." Chica scolded, her hands slapping over her "mouth".

With a scream, I fell backwards onto the floor and scrambled away. Backing into someone and flipping them over me so they landed in my lap, I found myself looking down on Bonnie. We stared at each other a bit, her floppy ears unfurling from over her eyes, then I screamed.

"Aaahhhhh!"

Causing Bonnie to scream.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

Which caused me to scream again.

"Aaaahhhhh!"

"Aaahhhhhh!"

"Aaaaahhhh!" "Aaaaahhhh!"

Rolling Bonnie off me, I got to my feet and tried to run. I say tried, because I quickly ran into the brick shithouse that was Freddy.

"Whoa there buddy, just calm down a moment." He said, trying to be calming. "Let's just take a deep breath and-"

"Yarr, what's all teh ruckus?" A voice said, prompting me to turn my head.

There stood Foxy, looking at us with a surprised expression on his face. This was the straw that broke the camels back, as I froze up with a stupid grin on my face.

"…The animatronics are alive." I said to myself. "Heh. Heheh. Hahehe. Hahahaha. HAhahaha. HAHAHAHA-Aaaaahhhh!"

With a final scream, I timbered backwards and slammed into the ground. The last thing I saw before fading into unconsciousness was a worried yellow face leaning over me.


With a start, I woke up screaming (which was unfortunately nothing new). Looking around, I found myself in the security room. I checked the time.

6:00 AM

Pulling off my mask to wipe away my tears, I noticed a note fall to the ground.

"Please don't tell anyone, we'll explain everything." It said.

"The fuck is going on here?"

*I don't care, let's just bail.*

"I can't just leave, we need money."

*The fuck we do, we can just take what we want.*

"No, we can't."

*Yes, we can. It's actually really easy, I'll even do it for you.*

"Let me try again. I don't want to."

*Fucking bitch.*

Considering my options, I decided to come back later after taking a break. I needed the job, and if worst comes to worst I would get the chance to beat down on some animatronics. It could be cathartic.


Nervously glancing at the cameras, I watched for any strange going-ons. I quickly remembered that one of the chefs told me something had happened with Foxy, or so he overheard from the din of the main establishment. Steeling myself, I made my way to Pirates Cove.

The place was about what you'd expect, a pirate themed play area for the kids. The main part of the attraction was Foxy, who stood on the bow of a half sunken ship that was surrounded by fake treasure. He cycled through telling jokes, saying pirate-y things, and the occasion shanty.

For now, he was lain haphazardly on a nearby table, a few errant pieces scattered around him. From the way his legs were bent, something must have failed in the locking mechanism that kept him aboard the ship. Cautiously, I walked over to him and set up what I needed. Waving my hand over his face, and breathing a sigh of relief when nothing happened, I went to work.


It didn't take long to fix him back up, but then I discovered a new problem. He wouldn't come back on. I searched everywhere, but for the life of me I couldn't find a battery or switch or anything that would activate him. In my searching, I noticed that Foxy seemed pretty sophisticated for an animatronic. If I wasn't so focused on turning him on, I probably would have found this odd.

"Fucking damn it all!" I shouted, pissed of that I couldn't figure out the problem. "Why won't you turn on! Fucking fuck-fuck!"

"What did I say about language?" A voice behind me said.

Screaming a bit, I rolled forward and spun around.

"Who's there?!" I demanded, threateningly brandishing a screwdriver.

Chica stepped from behind a corner, looking mildly annoyed.

"Would you please stop screaming?" Chica requested. "It scares Bonnie."

Any rebuttal I had died in my throat when I was reminded of the other two. Quickly looking around, I started to panic when I couldn't find them anywhere.

"Where are they? What do you want!" I growled, backing towards the wall.

"Freddy and Bonnie are waiting by the stage." Chica explained, stepping closer. "We decided that-"

"Don't! Just…stay there." I ordered. "Don't get any closer."

"Alright honey, just calm down." She soothed, putting her hands up. "There's some things we need to talk about. That's why you came back, right?"

"Honestly, I was hoping Zane was pulling some bullshit." I replied. "He's kind of a dick like that. Or my lack of sleep had caught up with me, that's another one. Pretty much anything other than haunted animatronics."

*Fuck you, I'm the one that said not to come back.*

"You say lots of shit, am I supposed to believe all of it?"

"How rude, we've barely spoken to each other." Chica responded, indignantly crossing her arms.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was…never mind." I sighed, cursing my lapse. "Just say what you have to say."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Well?"

"…I don't know what to say."

If this was an anime, I would have fallen to the ground.

"Then why did you try to talk to me?" I asked.

"I want to explain everything, but I'm not sure how." Chica admitted, looking awkward. "Everyone else ran away by now."

"~sigh~ Then let's start from the top." I offered. "Why are you haunted?"

"Haunted? We're not haunted." Chica responded, sounding confused. "Why would you think we're haunted?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you're walking around and talking and shit like that?" I answered. "That could have something to do with it!"

"Must you use such vulgarities?" Chica scolded. "Anyway, we're not haunted. We're…robots."

"Really, I couldn't have fucking guessed that?" I chuckled. "Lets see; metal parts and protective casings? Clearly a damn tree."

"Specifically we're not animatronics." Chica continued, glaring at me. "We're something more. In Foxy's mouth is a switch, press it."

*Does she think we're fucking stupid? Like we're going to fall for-wait, the fuck are you doing!*

Pressing the switch, there was a hiss as Foxy's head opened up. Two halves slid back to reveal…something glowing.

"…What am I looking at?" I asked, slightly amazed at what I was seeing.

A metal sphere adorned with glowing red lines rested inside a padded case hidden in Foxy's head, a small well of what appeared to be oil just under it.

"Calling it our brain would be accurate, but to be honest we aren't sure ourselves." Chica explained. "All were sure of is that it's not normal."

"Defiantly, the only thing can can come close is…Doc's core." I said, slowly realizing what I was looking at. "Holy shit, you're an AI."

"A…I?" Chica echoed. "What does that mean?"

"I had friend who was just like you, who could think and feel and do all of the stuff humans could do." I explained. "He had something like this, but it was far larger. To see a core this small is…amazing to say the least."

Worrying was something else that could be said. Technology this advanced should be impossible from what I've seen of this world so far, it had to be planted here. But why? And by who? As I was thinking over this, I noticed something sticking out of Foxy's core. Pressing it back in, the core's glow switched from red to green as a spark flew up my arm and shocked me.

"Holy fuck!" I swore backing up.

"Are you alright?" Chica asked worriedly, closing the distance between us. Taking my hand in her's, she started looking it over for damage.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered. "It's just numb."

"That's good, nothing permanent." She said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Apparently just noticing what she was doing, she hastily dropped my hand.

"Sorry." She apologized, backing away.

"It's alright, I'm over the whole 'freezing terror' thing." I replied. "Sorry about accusing you of being haunted. Possessed animatronics are kind of a big deal for me, can't handle it."

"So, no more threatening me with a screwdriver?" Chica smirked, crossing her arms.

"Not unless you want me to." I smirked, playfully poking it towards her. "Best be careful, I'm armed and dangerous."

"Oh no, whatever shall I do?" Chica mocked, a look of "horror" on her face. "Please don't hurt me Mr. Guard, I don't want to be screwed to death."

"Bwahaha! Sorry, you don't have the necessary parts for me to do that." I laughed. "You don't have the right 'access port'."

"An innuendo and a robot joke?" Chica replied, glaring at me. "You're simply the worst."

Before I could reply, I was interrupted by a sudden tackle.