"Tha Puppet's off his rocker…" Foxy murmured, which almost immediately earned him a shushing from Toy Freddy.
"You know not to talk like that…he's the one that's kept us safe all these years, after all…"
"Safe'r not, he's still lost his mind…how exactly is rippin' Laurel's soul out of her body and shoving it inta an animatronic gonna help her exactly?!" Foxy replied, looking incredulous. "Isn't tha' kinda tha' opposite a' what we wanted ta accomplish?"
"Calm down, Foxy…" Vixen said, holding up her hands in a "just relax" gesture. "I know it does sound kind of counter-intuitive, but hear us out…you weren't here when they were discussing things. The Puppet even admitted it's pretty drastic to go about doing it this way, but the best option we have is to put her soul into something that's, for all intents and purposes, unable to be killed by Springtrap, and keep her body preserved down in the old meat freezers in the basement from when this place was a manufacturing plant. That way, her body isn't damaged by Springtrap, or killed by him; if her animatronic form breaks, or something along those lines, we can at least fix her…if she's hurt as a human, though…we're at a loss, and if her soul is then put into an animatronic, she's trapped here forever…"
Foxy still didn't much enjoy the idea, as much as it did make sense. Springtrap could hurt her body, but not her spirit, so it made sense to put it somewhere that it could be preserved. But still…something about it didn't feel right to him. They still didn't have a clear idea of what their old enemy was plotting to do.
"An' wha happens if that bilge rat finds'er body down thar?" he pointed out. "He's got access to tha lower levels same as we do…"
"The Puppet seems confident that he can find someplace to store it where he can't locate it…I mean, they go on almost for miles down there. And if we can find a way to keep tabs on what Springtrap is up to…he wouldn't be able to try anything," Toy Chica pointed out.
"It does come with some pretty hefty consequences, though…" Toy Freddy pointed out. "I wouldn't blame her if she chose not to…"
"It's not as though she would lose her memories forever, though…most of them would just be sealed with her body, to keep them from being lost while she's removed from it…it might be her best chance at getting out of here as unaffected as possible…" Mangle countered his statement.
"I still don't like it…" Foxy murmured, though he knew it wasn't his choice to make. Laurel had already been explained what would happen, and she had agreed that it was likely her best shot at keeping alive throughout this debacle.
"You can be grumpy about it all you want, Foxy…but she's likely going to need our help adjusting to living here for the time being while the place is unreachable…" Mangle retorted softly, though she sighed. "We do need your help, though…we need an animatronic body to place her soul into for the time being…"
Foxy cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why're ye askin' me fer one?"
"Most of the ones that are down in storage aren't in good shape, but Freddy said there were a couple that were once a part of Pirate Cove that are relatively unused…do you know where they might have stashed them?" Toy Chica asked.
Foxy knew what ones they were referring to, and sighed. "Aye…fine. I'll show them where they are…best if she feels this is tha best course 'a action tha' she at least gets a body tha's workin' properly…"
Laurel honestly wasn't 100% on board with this, but the more she had took some time to think it over, the fewer options she felt were viable for her. As the Puppet had explained, being comprised of flesh and blood in this place, with Springtrap able to evade them, was immensely dangerous. It would take only a very brief time while the others may be distracted, and he could end her. Not to mention, in the near-freezing temperatures that the restaurant was reaching because of the power outage, it wouldn't be very good for her health to remain there, and could possibly also be life-threatening to her, even if she stayed bundled up. Having her sealed in an animatronic would give her the sort of durability and immortality that she needed for now, to buy time.
Down in the catacombs beneath the banquet hall and play court, there were seemingly endless tunnel-like corridors that were left over from this location's past use as a meat-packing facility. The freezers that had once housed large carcasses of cut meat in transit still worked, and were used by the facility to store frozen food stuffs, soda, ice, and anything else that was needed for the parties upstairs. Most of the freezers were relatively empty, however, and one of them had a long, empty canister that was leftover from its past days. That would serve as a temporary holder for her body, though when she was shown it, it felt more like a coffin, or a tomb. She had to muster a lot of gumption to get that thought out of her head.
Fortunately, the Puppet was able to make the transition upstairs where it was warmer. The animatronic that they'd been able to scrounge up for her was a discontinued character from Pirate Cove that was still in pristine shape.
"Aye, these characters were supposed ta be side characters in my performances…" Foxy explained; Laurel looked down at the animatronic quietly. It was of a female rat character; she was smaller since she was one of the Toy animatronics, with faintly tan fur. She was wearing a pink cover similar to Toy Chica's, along with a pink bandanna around her tuft of brown hair, and a white bandanna around her neck that had cute little pictures of Swiss cheese on it. She also had a play slingshot strapped to her left thigh, and a long mechanical tail.
"This one was called Ruby the Bilge Rat…she and her twin Rudy were sort of side-kicks years back to Foxy. But the company was sued by some big-name corporation that claimed copyright issues with having rat or mice characters, so the two characters were no longer used and put into storage…we think they were eventually going to salvage their parts, but they were just left to gather dust…" Mangle explained further. "The Puppet is also going to activate Rudy, just…for another set of eyes, what with Springtrap running around…"
Laurel mustered a small smile. "Heh…well, at least they're pretty cute…" she replied. "Once…once I'm inside of the animatronic body, I…I won't really remember much of who I am, will I…?"
"No, you will not…" the Puppet replied. "You'll have faint memories of your life…similar to how those of us were once inhabited by spirits had glimpses into their lives. But, for all intents and purposes, you will have to live in this body as Ruby…her old memories of being an animatronic here will come to the forefront, and your personality will be a blend of your own, and hers…"
Laurel nodded. "I'll…I'll do my best to maintain what I can of who I am now…"
The Puppet nodded. "Whenever you're ready, lie down beside her shell, and we'll begin the process…"
Laurel took a deep breath, trying to resolve herself as best as she could, before she laid down beside the animatronic; ironically, it was about the same height as she was now. At least she wouldn't have to get used to being in a body that was substantially different from the one she was in now, at least size-wise. The Puppet came to her side, and knelt down on his spiny legs, then carefully rested one of his hands onto Laurel's forehead, and the other onto the forehead of the animatronic.
Almost immediately Laurel felt weary, like that sort of exhaustion you feel just after you've run a marathon or busted out a 14-hour shift at work. Her eyelids felt weighted, and shut almost immediately, and it felt like she was falling into a deep, endless cycle of sleep. It felt like she was sleeping for a long time, and also awake again in an instant.
Her first experience as an animatronic was shocking to say the least, both literally and figuratively. It hadn't been used in some time, and the mechanisms and gears inside of it shuddered and seized up for a moment as her spirit settled inside of it. None of the others moved or said anything; it wasn't something foreign to them, as this was the same method that the Puppet had used before to seal the spirits within all of them initially; it had become almost a sacred sort of process.
Eventually Laurel's optics managed to open, though actually getting the mechanism to release and allow her to see was a challenge in itself; her joints all felt tight and rigid, and she struggled a bit to get the body to move with the way that her "mind" was telling it too. She let out what almost sounded like a gravelly sigh as the internal mechanisms circulated the copious amounts of dust out of her. Oddly, awakening in this state seemed to trigger a sense of fight or flight and she felt the need to immediately get up, though when she tried to her animatronic form locked up and she fell back to the ground. The Puppet immediately rested a hand on her forehead, which somehow calmed her a bit.
"Give it a moment…it takes some time for your spirit to acclimate to being in a form that isn't made of flesh…" he said; his voice was utterly soothing to her now. She did as he instructed, however, and laid still, taking a moment to allow her spirit to settle. It almost felt like her ethereal persona was trying to fill in the empty void of the animatronic itself. Being inside of it almost felt…like a strange cross between being inside of a trippy dream and also being locked inside of a tight, claustrophobic cage. Her fingers somewhat spastically still clenched and unclenched; each time they did she could hear the telltale sound of the joints letting out a mechanical squeal.
"That's good…flex your fingers and toes first. Work from your extremities inwards," the Puppet said; she did as he said, and moved her fingers and the three large toes on her paws first, then worked her way up to moving her arms and legs a bit, and then her torso and neck; this helped to loosen the joints a bit again, and she found it easier this time to push herself up first onto her elbows, then her hands into a sitting position. It felt weird moving her long tail around, since it wasn't something she'd had before, but she got the hang of it; it wagged slightly as she managed to push herself up a bit.
Getting onto her feet probably would have still been somewhat impossible, but Foxy and Mangle each offered her a hand to hoist her to her feet, which she accepted gladly. She still teetered and almost fell when she managed to stand, her knee joints buckling a bit miserably, but Foxy immediately caught her from falling forward onto her face. He smiled a bit to her, trying to reassure her.
"How ya feelin' lass?" he asked.
"K…kinda weird…" she replied, though she winced a bit hearing her voice; it was still coarse from the shell being in storage for so long. "I-I'm…sure you'll all tell me this…takes some getting used to…"
"It does, yes…" Freddy nodded. "You'll get used to it quicker than you think though. Our bodies might be anthropomorphic and mechanical, but they still function in many the same ways a physical body would, just…minus the flesh and bone. Your movements, joints, and sensory functions are all the same though."
She looked around a bit in response; her optics flickered a bit for a moment, but cleared after a bit of use. She found her vision was relatively the same, though she found it to be tunneled a bit. Her auditory sensors, however, were incredibly strong, probably since her ears were now so big. She could hear the shutters outside rustling ever so slightly in the wind. She was already finding that many of her memories felt faint and distant, however, and there were some things that she couldn't remember at all. She did recognize her body on the floor, however, though seeing it sent a strange chill through her somehow.
"Well, now that she's gotten installed into her new form, let's activate her brother for the time being…" the Puppet replied; he reached underneath the small animatronic's neck to reactivate its switch. Laurel heard Foxy groan a bit.
"Rudy was always…over eager to be a help, to the point of being pretty insufferable…" Toy Chica chuckled slightly.
"Tha's puttin' it mildly…" Foxy grumbled a bit. "He ne'er had a human soul inside a' him…which means he runs only on 'is programming…he's good natured, but…naïve, and…well, dim-witted sometimes." Laurel, however, watched in silent fascination as the Puppet flipped the switch, and almost immediately the small rodent animatronic sputtered a bit and then came back to life. Whereas her form, Ruby, was tan with green eyes and pink garments, Rudy was gray with blue eyes, a blue bandana and blue Bermuda shorts with Swiss cheese on them. It seemed like the second he was reactivated, he suddenly managed to spring himself up into a sitting position and then stand.
"Ah, it feels good wakin' up after such a long nap!" Rudy proclaimed happily as he stretched a bit, though the second that his gaze was turned, Laurel suddenly felt the her "twin" impact Foxy in what she could only describe as a tackle-hug. Rudy grinned widely as Foxy glared back up at him, however, even as the young animatronic's tail weaved side to side playfully. "Ahoy cap'n! How be tha' seas farin' these days?"
Foxy let out a restrained cross between a sneer and a groan as he plucked Rudy up and off of himself with relative ease. "Ah don' know how many times ah kin tell ye, Rudy…tha's based on tha' cartoon…here, we jus' make kids happy, remember?" he said, his voice growling a bit, though it didn't seem to shake Rudy. The other animatronics seemed to find this interaction pretty hilarious, however most of them had the fortitude not to burst out laughing since Foxy could be such a hothead. Even the Puppet had an amused half-smirk.
"Aye, ah remember, is jus' my dream ta actually have real adventures cap'n…"
"Kid, call me Foxy, not "cap'n"…"
"Aye aye Cap'n Foxy!" Rudy replied enthusiastically. Foxy sighed and ran his claw down his face as some of the others giggled and snickered a bit. Rudy's attention, however, eventually wandered to Laurel, and he suddenly did about the same thing to her and she found herself half-pinned to the ground. Rudy's expectant gaze was aimed down at her, his grin still plastered from ear to ear.
"Ahoy sis, how're ye farin'? Ye were locked up fer ages with me in thar," he said; she noticed that while he did have the thick pirate lingo, his voice was prepubescent and very childlike, whereas hers sounded older and more like her actual voice.
"Uh…I'm…f-fine Rudy…" she replied, giving him a sheepish grin in return, though his expression suddenly changed a bit with confusion.
"Sis…? Why's yer voice sound like a landlubber's now?" he asked, squinting as though he were suspicious she was who she said she was. He was suddenly lifted off of her, however, by Foxy, who tugged him up by the bandana around his neck using his hook.
"Rudy, Ruby's jus'…a lil different now is all, but it's still her," Foxy said, knowing the real explanation would probably go right over the young one's head.
"If ya say so Cap'n Foxy…" Rudy replied as he was set back onto his feet. Laurel managed to get to her feet as Rudy suddenly seemed to have a jarring thought and took off. "Ah wanna go'n see wha' they've done ta Pirate Cove since we've been gone!"
"It's called Kid Cove now Rudy!" Foxy called after him with a sigh. "He's got way too much darn energy…"
"Think that he'll be confused if you call me Laurel…?" Laurel said, though even now the name was starting to feel almost distant to her.
The Puppet frowned a bit. "That won't be a problem…because you won't be called that in this form, Laurel…you're Ruby now. I know it seems strange, but when you take on one of these forms, you identify with it for the time being…we'll put your body somewhere safe downstairs for the time being and keep it preserved, so that no harm can come to you. But…for now, you're part of the world that we exist in…" he rested his hands on her shoulders. "Do you understand…?"
She paused for a moment; it felt like the gravity of all this was finally starting to weigh in on her, but there was no turning back now. She'd made her decision and now she'd have to stick with it for now. She only hoped…that she'd remember enough about who she was before all this happened.
"Yes…I understand," Ruby replied.
Adorable…really, it is. They're all still so naïve, so unrefined and yet, so dutiful. It's almost admiration, really…for how drastic their measures have been, there is still something so childish to them that has survived all of these years…
He paused for a moment, smirking a faint bit as his claw passed over the old, outdated tablet that was wired into the security system. It wasn't working the best, the images sometimes fading out into heavy static and sometimes cutting out completely. All these years and technological advances later and still they hadn't invested into an actual security system. Guess humans were still as greedy and cheap as ever.
He watched with a lazy gaze as the cameras flickered over the images of the animatronics as they began to disperse, wandering the place in the rare daylight. Some of them paused at times to glimpse out the windows, rarely able to see the sunlight or even the falling snow outside because of their usual location deep in the restaurant. His gaze, however, intensified a bit as the screen flickered over Foxy walking alongside one of the "new" animatronics. He remembered those ones…a pair of mice that had entertained the youngest brats years ago. They'd gotten shelved after copyright infringement had been claimed against the company that owned the franchise, however, and he hadn't seen them since that time. His apathetic gaze morphed into a twisted smirk as the realization came to him.
Ah, they're cleverer than I realized…though an animatronic body can only keep someone so safe… His fingers flexed a bit, cracking the screen slightly as a flicker of anger caused his grip to tighten slightly, though he calmed it quickly. He didn't want to lose his window into seeing around the play-place, after all, and he only had the one tablet for the time being.
So…"Laurel" is it?…you're now one of us, hm? This just makes things all the more interesting…now, you're just as naïve as the rest of them and even more in the dark of the dangers that are here…perfect. His eyes flicked up slightly from the key card that Laurel had lost when she'd first been attacked in the storage closet; it didn't unlock all doors in the facility…but it did access most of them. I might not have to drag you down there kicking and screaming then…now, there's a chance I can simply convince you to come with me of your own recognizance…and I know just how to do so…
He paused and turned, leaving the now abandoned security office, tucking the key card and tablet into Laurel's forgotten winter coat, which he tucked under his arm. He heard some voices approaching and swiftly dodged into one of the VIP rooms, concealing himself there for a moment until they passed. He recognized Chica's and Mangle's voices and sneered silently as they passed, though they had no inkling he was there. Once they were out of earshot, he slipped out of the room and quickly found his way back to the unlocked door into the basement.
He'd already watched Freddy carry Laurel's body down into there, alongside of that damned Puppet; the latter had caused him so much trouble over the years, he detested him most of all. He looked forward to putting him into the incinerator soon enough. The others, however, would wish they could have such a swift and relatively painless fate.
He didn't know where her real body was, but that was of little consequence for the time being. He could find it later; right now, what he needed was someone who could act as his emissary of sorts without alerting them to what was happening. He slowly approached a locked door at the end of the corridor, past all of the coolers and freezers which were partially operating. He pulled out Laurel's key card and slid it through the reader. His smirk widened a bit as he heard the machine beep to acknowledge it, and the door unlocked itself.
He reached out and pushed it open, stepping inside; it was nearly entirely dark, the only light coming from the fluorescent ones in the hallway behind him, casting a cold gleam into the room. It illuminated a larger animatronic that was slumped back against the far wall, lifeless and motionless. He approached it, reaching under its chin to feel for the activation switch.
Springtrap smiled a bit, an odd and eerie sort of nostalgia spreading across his features. Golden Freddy's features were re-molded like his own to resemble more of the "kid-friendly" toy animatronics, but like Springtrap, he was still the same on the inside. He felt the switch and slid it into the "on" position.
"It's time for us to get to work, my old 'friend'…"
[Author's Notes: Hey guys! Thanks so very much for being patient on this chapter. My two jobs have been crazy lately, but it's looking like I'll have a bit more time to write now, so I should be updating a bit more regularly! I hope you enjoyed this new installment, and as a warning, from here on out things will probably steadily get more brutal and dark, so bear that in mind!
Hope you guys are enjoying this so far! Thanks again for the support as well!]