I'm back~ Here's another chapter that I admit, is mostly the phone messages and Mike's reaction to them. It gives you a bit of a peek into the mind of our dear friend, Mike Schmdit.

Mike sighed as he entered his office. The previous night, the animatronics had left him completely alone, as they had the night before when he'd upset them with the truth. Once again, he had nothing to do, so he turned back to the phone, pressing the button to bring back more memories.

"Uhh, hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!"

How else would I be hearing this if I didn't make it to night two?

"I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses."

Yeah, try being here for a month.

"Uhh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know… Uh… Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often."

No, only to fix the chairs and clean up the messes around the pizzeria. Plus, the guy's great at figuring out strategies and stuff. He almost got me a few times, and I think HE was the one with the 'make the power go out' idea.

"I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so, hey, I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power, right?"

My point exactly.

"I-I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights. There are blind spots in your camera views and those blind spots happen to be right outside of your doors."

That would have been nice to know on night one, thank you very much.

"So if… if you can't find something, or someone, on your camera, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react… Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that."

Oh, of COURSE not.

"Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know."

You could have told me THAT on night one, too. Thanks for worrying about my safety.

"Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon."

Under control. Right.

Mike sighed as he sat back in his chair, mentally going over what Phone Guy told him on night two. There was a lot of information he could have told him on the first night, that would have been extremely useful, such as the door lights and the 'Foxy trick' as Mike called it.

He couldn't help but wonder why Phone Guy was so calm about everything. One would think that he would be telling Mike to get the hell out of that place, but instead, he was trying to convince him that it was all going to be fine. Or, wait… Was he just trying to convince himself that the whole time, just over the recording for the new guy?

With that in mind, he played the next message.

"Hello, hello?"

Does the guy always have to say hi twice?

"Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long. I mean, you know, they usually move on to other things by now. I'm more implying that they died. Th-th-that's not what I meant."

Right. Animatronics trying to stuff me into a crossbeam filled suit. No threat of death at all. Got it.

"Uh, anyway, I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight."

Yeah… That was when Freddy started 'investigating' down the East Hallway. That guy knows how to be freaky as hell when he wants.

"Uh… Hey, listen, I had an idea: if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh, try playing dead! You know, go limp."

Because that would work.

"Then there's a chance that, uh, maybe they'll think that you're an empty costume instead."

That could work IN THEORY, but then…

"Then again, if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to… stuff a metal skeleton into you."

My point exactly.

"I wonder how that would work."

Don't want to think about it, thank you.

"Yeah, never mind, scratch that. It's best just not to get caught."

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Um… Okay, I'll leave you to it. See you on the flip side."

No, you won't… No, you won't…

Mike sighed again, pressing the button to stop the messages. He wasn't ready for night four quite yet. He knew what happened on night four, and it wasn't pretty. He decided to glance at all the cameras to see that no one had moved. The kitchen was silent, but it had been the previous nights, as well, meaning that Chica was probably still in there. Bonnie was yet again in the Supply Closet, Foxy was hidden away in Pirate's Cove, and Freddy was back in Parts and Services, almost like he hadn't left since the night before.

He hated that he had hurt them this much, and desperately wished that there was something that he could do to help them. But what? What could he possibly say that could cheer them up after finding out that? How could he make them just forget the horrors that they now knew they had committed?

Mike groaned, putting his face in his hands. What kind of person was he, to drop that kind of bombshell on his friends? And as horrible as he did, too…

If anyone in the pizzeria could be considered a monster… it was him.

"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey wow, day four. I knew you could do it."

Glad one of us did.

"Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow."

*banging*

There's Foxy…

"It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you – ahem – uh, when I did."

Me, too.

"Uh, hey, do me a favor."

*banging*

"Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?"

*banging*

I can't do that, Phone Guy… I'm sorry.

"I'm gonna try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad."

I wish it wasn't.

*banging*

"Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there."

*Toreador March*

And there's Freddy.

"You know…"

*moaning*

"Oh, no…"

Mike winced as he heard the almost inhuman scream reverberate through the phone's speaker. That was the last he'd ever heard from Phone Guy. No doubt, he'd been stuffed into one of the suits.

The guard jumped when he heard a noise to his right, almost like a static-choking noise. Curiously, he pushed the button for the door light to see Chica standing there, looking at him sadly.

"Did we…" she began. "Did we do that?"

Mike wanted to lie. He didn't want to hurt her, or any of the others, any more than he already had, but since the truth was already out there… "Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, you did."

"What was his name?" the animatronic asked quietly.

Mike paused. He never found out the man's name before, only ever calling him 'Phone Guy'. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I'm sorry."

"It's probably better that I don't know…" the bird admitted. "It probably wouldn't help." She paused. "Do you think he had a family?"

"He might have," Mike replied, knowing he wasn't helping, but knowing that lying to her could only make things worse.

"It's all our fault, Mike," she said softly. "We killed all those people… all those nice people who just wanted a job. And we… we murdered them."

"There's a difference between murder and killing, Chica," Mike found himself saying.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"Murdering someone is with the intent to kill. Just killing someone… It could be an accident."

"But we didn't accidentally stuff them," she argued.

"But you didn't mean to kill them, either," he replied. "It was a mistake. You didn't realize they were human. Now, I'm not saying that mistake was okay, but…" He took a deep breath, trying to convince both Chica and himself. "It was in the past. What's done is done. You realize what happened, and it won't happen again, right?"

"Definitely," she replied immediately. "We'd never hurt you, Mike. Or any other human, ever again."

Mike found himself smiling. "Good." He looked out the other door. "How are the others doing?"

"None of them have moved," the chicken answered. "They're still thinking about what happened…" Her voice got quieter. "How we found out… Are you still afraid of us, Mike?"

The man shook his head. "Somehow, no. I feel awful for saying this, but… The way you guys are reacting… It's a good thing. It means that you feel really bad about what happened. You can't fake that." He smiled. "I know you guys won't stuff me into a suit." He stood from his chair.

"Now, come on. Let's help the others."

A lot shorter, considering more than half was the phone calls, but each of the following chapters is going to center around Bonnie, then Foxy, and then Freddy, regarding their reactions and feelings on what they found out, as well as Mike's attempt to help them move past it. Chica isn't completely over it, but the fact that Mike didn't scream when he saw her at the door spoke volumes to her, after seeing his reaction in Parts and Services. She knows he isn't afraid anymore, and sees that there's a chance for redemption.

Now, Mike just has to tell that to the others.