dying of cringe overload rn as i read over my first version of this chapter
SHOUT OUTS: SoulErrorArwitch (yes, I have overcome my writers' block, and thank you!), FiveNightsAtLuis and JosXgamer for favouriting and following the story, and wdsnoop for following the story!
Chapter 2
"Fuck no!" Zoe yelled, throwing an empty pop can at the TV. "That was a home run! I saw that with my own two eyes! Come on!"
Zoe sighed, leaning back in her chair and taking another bite of pizza. "Stupid scorekeepers," she muttered with her mouth full of cheese and pepperoni.
She was sitting alone in her small-ish house, watching people play baseball and other people do a terrible job at scorekeeping. She did this a lot. Being the best mechanic in a city had its downsides. She didn't get much free time because people were constantly coming to her to fix things. The only time she had to herself was at night, when she should be sleeping.
But there she was, at one a.m., watching a pre-recorded baseball game while eating pizza, pop, and popcorn.
The game just ended and she was gathering up all her trash, when her phone rang. Zoe dug it out of her pocket and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Hello?" She answered, setting it down on the chair and continuing to pick up garbage.
"Hey, Supernova," a familiar voice said.
The mechanic grinned as she grabbed an old chip bag off the floor beside the TV. "Hey, Jerebear. How's Mickey doing?" She asked, using their old nicknames from high school.
"Eh, he's fine. Except for the fact that our boss is a total control-freak."
She tossed a Pepsi can into the trash. "Really? That must suck for you guys."
A bitter laugh sounded from the other end. "Yeah. He's kinda scary, though, with all these rumours saying that he killed five kids." He took a deep breath. "Okay, I have something I need to ask you," he said in an overly serious tone.
Zoe picked up an empty pizza box from two nights ago. She needed to start cleaning her house more often. "Yeah? What is it?"
"Okay, so, our boss heard about your mechanical skills, and he says you could maybe help us."
She dumped all the garbage she had in her arms into the trash. "Help? With what?"
"Ah, he was thinking that maybe you could help rebuild the animatronics."
Zoe froze just as she was about to pick up and empty chip bag. A shout of joy welled in the back of her throat.
"Don't scream!" Jeremy ordered, and Zoe forced it back. Still, she couldn't help smiling. They wanted her to rebuild the animatronics! Freddy's would be back in business!
"And the boss says you could maybe become an employee, if you want."
This time, she couldn't help yelling at least a little bit.
"Holy shit! Are you serious? Me?"
"Whoa, calm down, Zoe," Jeremy said.
Zoe stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm calm. So, when do I start?"
"Can you be here at maybe two p.m. tomorrow?"
She glanced at her watch. It was one-thirty in the morning. "Wait, by 'tomorrow', do you mean 'later today'? Or actually tomorrow?"
"I think the sooner the better. Mr. Graves can get pretty impatient."
"Great. See you then." Zoe hung up and went upstairs. If she was going to be rebuilding deadly animatronics, she would need a lot of sleep. She was going to be working hard.
xXx
Zoe walked into the rebuilt restaurant thirteen hours later to the smell of smoke. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. Other than the smell, the place looked great. It looked almost exactly like the old pizzeria, but everything was newer. The stage at the far end shined like it was just polished. The tablecloths were a bright white, and the chairs didn't have marker drawings all over them.
Zoe gave a low whistle. "Damn."
Then a man in a purple suit walked into the room, holding a cigarette in one hand and a smile plastered on his face. Zoe grimaced. This was going to be her new boss?
Oh well. You can deal with it, she thought. Do it for the memories, and all the kids who will be able to come here when it reopens.
Zoe glued on a polite grin and walked over to the man. "You must be the owner. Jeremy told me about you."
He held out his hand, and Zoe shook it. "Yes. I'm Vincent Graves. So, you must be Zoe Nova." It didn't sound like a question.
She nodded. "Yep. So, what do I do?"
"I thought Jeremy already told you."
"He did, but-"
"Well then, come with me." He started walking back the way he came, and it took her a second to realize she should probably follow him.
They stopped in front of a white door that said "Parts and Service" on it in big black letters. He opened it with one hand took a puff of his cigarette with the other.
Inside was a huge mess. There were bits of metal scattered everywhere. Wires hung off the ceiling, and the control panel in the centre of the room looked kinda beaten up. The only thing holding it together was a crapload of duct tape. There were four people inside, cleaning up the mess.
Zoe stepped in after Vincent. "Wow. This place is totaled."
A brown-haired guy picking up wires at the far end looked up. His face broke into a smile. "Zoe! How's it going?"
Zoe shrugged. "Hey, Mike. Could be better." Then she smiled. "Well, actually, I couldn't be better. I mean, I'm actually here, and I just-" She shrugged. She didn't really have words for how she was feeling right then.
A guy with curly red hair looked at her and squinted. "I can't see her."
Another guard with neat salt-and-pepper hair and glasses clapped the redhead on the shoulder. "We'll get you new glasses, Fritz." Then they looked at her. "So, you're Zoe Nova?"
She nodded. "The one and only."
"Hey, Zoe," Jeremy smiled and waved. She waved back.
Vincent smiled dryly. "So, Zoe, we were thinking that before you started working on designing the animatronics, maybe you could find out what went wrong with our past attempts." He went to the taped control panel and picked up a clipboard. "We know some of what we did wrong, but can't quite figure out what the real problem is," he said, handing the clipboard to her.
Zoe took it with both hands and gazed at the sheet of paper. She read over it and snorted. "Really? My gosh, you guys are terrible mechanics."
"What is it?" Jeremy asked eagerly.
Zoe giggled. "Oh, gosh! This is- god, you guys are like five incredibly drunk men trying to walk in a straight line."
"But what did we do wrong?" Mike asked.
She shook her head, still grinning. "Never mind, never mind. I'll help you guys rebuild the animatronics." She looked at the control panel. "Starting with that."
The black-haired guy tilted his head. "That's not an animatronic," he said, as if she didn't already know that.
She rolled her eyes. "No wonder you guys failed twelve times. To make high-quality robots, you'd need a high quality database."
Fritz shrugged. "This was all we could afford."
Zoe shrugged. "Fair enough, but a good computer or laptop would probably do." She knelt down and picked up a piece of metal in the shape of a bunny's ear. "Hmm."
"What is it?" Mike asked.
Zoe turned the metal over in her hands. "This has nothing to do with your failed attempts, but maybe we could try remaking the animatronics into more- human-looking forms."
The black haired man tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?" She stood up. "Those animatronics were kind of creepy, to be perfectly honest. Maybe it will improve the company's reputation if they were less creepy and more human. I also think that we should change their programming a little so they don't end up trying to kill people in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, I'm not good with technology. I'd need someone who can do coding and stuff to help me with this."
Fritz raised his hand. "I'm good with technology."
Zoe nodded. "Okay then. Fritz and I will work on the animatronics."
"Hold up," Vincent interrupted. "This place is famous for having animal looking animatronics working here. Are we really just going to change that? It won't seem as kid-friendly, will it?"
Zoe stepped closer to him. He was pretty tall, so she had to look up. She hated it when people tried to order her around.
"Who's the mechanic here?" she asked. "Me? Or you?"
Vincent shrugged. "I used to be a pretty good mechanic myself."
"Used to be. Well, Mr. Purple Guy, if we create them with their original programming, they could easily be swayed to murderous. Meaning that they could resort to their old habits of doing what they do best. Being killers. They could go back to biting children and killing security guards, and your restaurant would be closed once again. So, are we going to do this your way, or my way?"
The two stared at each other for a moment, having a silent standoff. Finally, he backed away. "Fine. We'll do it your way."
He inhaled some of his cigarette and left the room in a flurry of smoke.
Zoe looked back at the others. "Is it normal for him to be this bossy?"
The black-haired guy shrugged. "Pretty much. I'm Scott, by the way."
Zoe nodded at him. "Nice to meet you." She looked at the bunny ear in her hand. "Alright. First order of business; let's get this place cleaned up."
