Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.
4th November, 1987
"There you go – all set."
A blue robotic bunny looked at his left arm apprehensively and flexed it. "Alright… I guess this will do." He then looked at the brown-haired man that was squatting in front of him. "Why are ya taking care of this? Where's the mechanic?"
The technician shrugged. "He's trying to fix up Toy Foxy. The kids are at it again," he informed. "I'm just as qualified as the guy is though, so trust me. Your arm will be just fine."
Toy Bonnie sniffed. It didn't look like he trusted the technician too much. He said nothing, however, and simply stood up, making his way back to the ever-busy dining area.
Just as the robot left, a member of the staff appeared at the door. "Fritz," he called. "The camera for the kitchen is down again."
Fritz sighed. That was the third time that week. What the hell was wrong with that camera? Out of all the security cameras installed in the building, the kitchen camera caused more problems than all the others combined. For the life of him, he did not understand why the damn thing was always malfunctioning – the video feed would cut off at random times, staying down for a whole day if he didn't take a look at it.
"I'll go check it out," the technician sighed. "But I'm telling you, it would be easier if they just got it replaced."
The other man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, try telling that to Jack. He already spent a shit load of cash on these robots; if you told him he had to replace the cameras he'd go berserk."
The technician silently made a mental note to avoid bothering the owner of Fazbear Entertainment as he headed towards the stubbornly defective camera. Maybe they should just let it break down – who needed a security camera on the kitchen anyway? It's not like there was any secret recipe worth protecting there…
"Oh, once you're done, the mechanic asked if you could go help him with Foxy," the man added. "The kids have gone full out on tearing her apart this time."
Not again… Fritz was getting tired of fixing Toy Foxy only for him to find her, the next day, as horribly mangled as she was before. Why did those kids torment her so much? Was it because of how gentle she was? Probably they thought it was easier to take advantage of her kindness…
Once he got to the kitchen, he looked up at the camera that insisted on shutting down for no reason in regular intervals. The red light that indicated the camera was recording was on, so, in theory, the camera should be working just fine. He reached for his handheld radio.
"Will?" he called once he pressed the button that allowed him to call the day guard. "Will, are you there?"
Within a couple of seconds, a click was heard. "Always and forever," the security guard, named Will Truman, sighed. "You know what this office could use? A change in décor. These posters of the animatronics are everywhere, man – I say, lose those ones, and get some nice supermodels in here."
"Well, we don't want you getting too comfortable in there, do we?" Fritz chuckled. "Or neither you nor Matt will ever want to leave."
He heard the day guard snort on the other side. "Matt doesn't have time to look at the posters on night shift, man," Will reminded. "Too busy fending off crazy robots. And don't you act like you don't enjoy looking at a nice hourglass shape. I saw that girl you were 'showing around' two nights ago… Does she have a twin sister?"
"Yeah, met her too," Fritz admitted, shamelessly.
"You sly dog," hissed the day guard. "Well, what did you call me for? I hope it wasn't to rub your sex life on my face…"
Deciding to ignore how wrong that sounded in his head, he waved at the camera. "Just tell me something – take a look at the kitchen camera. Do you see me?"
"Wait a sec… No, it's all pitch black in here. The damn thing's down again."
Figured. "Yeah, I thought so. I don't get it, the lights are on; the video feed should be operative."
He heard Will huff. "Well, it's not. I can hear someone talking – I'm guessing it's you. But it's all muffled," he explained. "Hey, is someone else there with you?"
Fritz looked around. The cooks weren't there – probably out helping the entertainers as usual. There were never enough eyes looking over the excessively rebellious kids that visited their pizzeria. Asides from the technician, there was no one in the kitchen.
"Nope, just me here," he replied. "Why?"
"Uh, that's weird. I could have sworn I heard someone say 'hello'… You sure Balloon Boy's not there? It sounded like a kid…" Will insisted.
"I'm sure. I think those daydreams of supermodels on bikinis is messing with your head," Fritz teased.
"Who says it's just daydreams, you ass? You're not the only one who gets some around here," Will retorted. "Just get that stupid camera fixed, like they pay you to."
Fritz snorted as he put down the handheld radio. He checked his phone before going to work, just to make sure there were no missed calls or messages before he went into full-on "work mode". He hated being interrupted while working.
His phone was in silent mode, so he didn't notice the alarm ringing. On the screen it read "Blaze's Birthday".
Fritz narrowed his eyes at the screen. He shoved his phone back in his pocket harshly. He had no time for Blaze, just like Blaze had no time for him. It's not like he would pay any attention to his birthday. He should just delete that alarm for once.
His relationship with his family had always been strained, at best. His parents – Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a horribly common last name they dreaded for sure – weren't what you could call nurturing, preferring to take a stern and cold approach on raising their children. Their youngest had, as far as their standards went, turned out quite well – Blaze was, in all senses of the word, perfect in the eyes of their parents. That meant, of course, that he was just another snob who thought he had all the rights to do whatever he damned pleased just because he was born with a golden spoon up his ass. The oldest, however, ended up being a disappointment. Fritz Smith didn't really care for expensive luxuries. It felt like a prison to live in that house, always under countless restrictions and being forced to get along with only a "certain kind" of people.
His parents stopped caring about him once they realized how differently he thought for them, deeming him a lost cause. If he wanted to live like a "peasant", then they would treat him like a peasant. He hated that life. And so, when he turned 18, he left that life. For good.
He was currently working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a place that, while extremely popular with the children, made most adults a bit uneasy. Something about some incident that took place many years ago. Not that he cared; he actually liked working there, and wasn't about to quit because of some rumors he wasn't even sure were true. His pay wasn't too high but it didn't matter to him – he was doing what he loved. Ever since he was young, he loved tearing up his toys and trying to put them back together; that habit then advanced to CD players, radios and computers. Now it was highly-advanced robots and malfunctioning security cameras – except he was getting paid to do it this time.
"Why aren't you working?" he wondered aloud, looking bewildered at the wires that connected the camera to the system.
"Hello!"
Fritz jumped, startled by the sudden greeting. "Shit – Balloon Boy, don't do that," he scolded, sighing as he turned his head to see the balloon-wielding robot smiling at him from the ground.
The robot tilted his head, looking confused. "What does 'shit' mean?"
"Nothing," the technician replied quickly. "Aren't you supposed to be with the kids?"
"Most of them left. It's almost closing time," Balloon Boy said promptly. "What are you doing up there?"
Fritz sighed. Once Balloon Boy started asking about something, it would take forever for him to fully satisfied with the explanation. He could be a real pain with his constant questioning sometimes.
"I'm trying to fix the camera," Fritz explained grudgingly.
"It isn't working?"
"Obviously."
"Why?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out…"
"How are you gonna do that?"
The technician made a herculean effort to not glare at the small robot. "It would be really complicated to explain it all to you now," he lied.
"Hm. That's what the others usually say when I ask them something."
Great. Now he felt guilty.
"Are you gonna help Mr. Mechanic fix Foxy when you're done?" the robot asked. "I think he was asking for you."
"Yes, I am," Fritz confirmed, still trying to spot anything on the wires of servos of the camera that would explain why it was always shutting down. "But it will take a while…"
"I think they are getting tired of fixing her," Balloon Boy commented, unexpectedly. "They always groan 'not again' whenever they see her broken. They say the same when they see me getting near them though, so maybe it's just something they say often…"
Fritz looked at Balloon Boy. The robot didn't look upset at all, despite the things he was saying. Did he not realize that the staff reacted like that towards him because they thought he was annoying? Or was he just putting up a cheerful demeanor to hide how he really felt…? No, a robot couldn't act in such a complex manner… That was too… human.
"Well, good luck on fixing the camera, Mr. Technician." Balloon Boy turned to leave. "I wonder where sis is…"
Fritz frowned. "Sis? Who's 'sis'?"
Balloon Boy probably didn't hear him, because he left without answering his question. The technician shrugged. Ah well. Maybe he was talking about Toy Chica. The robots did treat each other like family, so maybe he heard a kid calling their older sister 'sis' and he copied that behavior.
He turned back to the camera, committed to finally fix the damn thing once and for all, even it took hours.
11th November
Fritz was not having a good day.
The eleventh of November started on a rather negative tone, which got him on a bad mood early on in the morning: his dear brother paid him an unexpected and unwanted visit.
"What do you want?" was Fritz' reaction to his brother's arrival at his door.
His brother Blaze, so similar to him in appearance and yet so different in personality, allowed a smirk to grace his face. "Now, now, Fritz, is that a way to treat your younger brother? Have mother and father not teach you to show respect?"
"Not by giving the example, no," Fritz retorted. He sounded calm, which was a surprise even to himself. Seeing a member of his family usually brought the worst in him, at best. "Can you get to the point, Blaze? Unlike you, I have a job and schedules to keep up with."
"Oh I'm sure you do," Blaze sneered, walking into his house without an invitation. "Technician at a family pizzeria, right? Ah, the glamour of screaming and puking children, burnt fingers and minimum wage – surely a job that most of us can only dream of having."
Fritz didn't react to the taunt with annoyance. Showing that he was upset would only make his brother happy, something he had been preventing for years. So, he simply blinked lazily and crossed his arms. "What about you? Still leeching off of mommy and daddy's money or are you ready to put on your big boy pants and face off the big scary world on your own?"
Blaze's eye twitched, but he composed his expression quickly. Certainly a skill that he learned from the master of deception, Mr. Smith himself. "Is that jealousy, brother? You know, if you hadn't run away from home like some bratty teenager you could be much better off than you are now," he spat.
"Sure," Fritz chuckled, bitterly. "I'd be cruising around in a Lamborghini, making connections with the best lawyers on the State just in case my 'secret' business went sour…"
"It's accusations like those, brother," Blaze started, failing to conceal his growing annoyance this time. "That will get you in trouble."
Finally, they got to what this visit was all about. "Oh I see what this is now… Daddy sent you to threaten me?"
"Father simply wishes to get his family back together again," Blaze said. "He's not the heartless scum you make him sound to be."
Fritz sniffed. "He sure makes an effort to play the part. If that's all, I'd appreciate it if you made your leave. I have to go to work."
His brother took a couple of seconds to look at him and down with a deeply aggravated and insulted stare. Without even bothering to bid goodbyes, he looked at his house disdainfully and then left. Fritz didn't feel sorry to watch him leave. Hopefully his family would get the hint and leave him alone for good.
Once he got to the pizzeria, his mood didn't improve at all.
First thing he heard when he entered the building was his name being called.
"Fritz!" called a stressed-looking chubby man; the manager of the pizzeria, Francis Anderson. "Finally, you're here..."
The technician frowned. "What's the matter, Francis? Did the kitchen camera break down again?"
Francis shook his head. "No, no… Worse," he said. "It's the robots. Someone tampered with their facial recognition systems."
Fritz allowed an expression of absolute shock to emerge in his features. Why on earth would anyone want to mess with the robots? It was already bad enough that there were rumors going around of children having gone missing at the pizzeria…
"Wh… when did that happen?" he inquired, already guessing how badly it would be for the staff if the robots couldn't recognize them anymore.
"Must have happened yesterday before closing time…" Francis explained. "I just know that as soon as Phil and Matt got here, they realized the robots were acting suspicious towards them, treating them like intruders."
Fritz nodded. "They don't recognize them… Are you sure the system isn't just malfunctioning?"
Francis sighed. "The mechanic had to shut them down to take a look, but he'll be wanting your opinion," the manager informed. "He said it had all the looks of someone having tampered with their system so that they see all adults as threats. Their ability to recognize children wasn't compromised though. We have to fix it while they're active though, but the way they were now that's not going to happen…"
The technician nodded, looking at the floor. It was obvious that there was someone in the pizzeria that saw the robots' facial recognition system as a threat. They couldn't be up to nothing good.
"Damn… Well, does the night guard know?"
It was Francis' turn to nod. "Phil records him a message every day; he'll warn him about it on this one," he affirmed. "In a way, he's the one that will have it worse. I mean, he's all alone, facing all of them at once…"
Yeah, no doubt. Fritz could only imagine how it felt to be alone in the security office at night, helplessly watching as the mischievous robots made their way towards him…
When Fritz started working at the pizzeria, Mattheus O'Vancey – simply called Matt – was the working night guard, while Will Truman was the day guard. Eventually, Matt decided that he no longer wanted to take over the night shift, and since Will was getting ready to take on another job opportunity someplace else, Matt was switched to day shift. As far as Fritz knew, Phil Grayson, the head of security, found someone to take on the position of night guard fairly quickly. A son of a friend of his, he believed.
He was aware that the robots tended to move around during the nights – mostly to just wander around, play and talk with each other. Now, however, with their facial recognition system tampered with, there was a high chance that the animatronics wouldn't see him as the night guard anymore; as far as they could tell, he was an intruder. Hopefully with the mask that Phil provided for him he'd be able to ward them off.
In any case, that day was not going very well. And it would only get worse the following days…
14th November
In just three days, the prospect of working for many happy years at the pizzeria was completely destroyed. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza would most certainly close its doors soon, if things didn't get better.
Just two days after someone tampered with the robots' system, the investigation regarding the disappearance of five children revealed that they pizzeria was, sadly, involved. The police found five corpses hidden within the building. That, and Matt the day guard vanished.
Fritz, along with the other members of the staff, were being pressured into keeping quiet about the whole thing. He had run away from home to escape the oppression of living with his family's overbearing and fascist rules, but it turned out he was working for a man who bared many similarities to his father – Jack Anderson. He had never seen the owner of Fazbear Entertainment, but from all he had heard about the man, that was one person he didn't care too much about meeting. Anyone who didn't mind covering up the death of children just to keep his business running was someone Fritz couldn't imagine himself liking.
And then, that day, the fourteenth of November, something else happened. A costumer was bit by a robot. Fritz knew the issue with their facial recognition system was worrisome, but he never thought that it would get that bad. He never, for a minute, believed that the robots would be capable of actually attacking someone. But it happened.
The whole event was harsh on everyone, but it seemed that the night guard, Jeremy Fitzgerald, had it worse. He went into a panic after the attack, ranting about someone following him around, and something about a "Gift Girl"? Fritz had no idea who Gift Girl was, but, then again, the only other time where he had seen the night guard he had immediately spotted a certain level of "weirdness" in him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about this Jeremy Fitzgerald… like he could see a presence that no one else could…
Due to the event that was, rather quickly, named "The Bite", the pizzeria was now facing its eminent end. It was clear to everyone that they wouldn't be able to recover from this. Plus, since Jeremy had been moved to day shift upon Matt's disappearance, there was no one to work the night shift. But Fritz couldn't let the pizzeria close. Despite all the bad things that had happened there, God help him he liked working there. He liked the staff, and – to an extent – he liked the robots.
And so, he volunteered to work the night shift for that night. He had a plan to solve things. He would try to fix the animatronics' facial recognition system, and set things straight. He could not fail.
Midnight
The office looked even smaller from the inside. Now Fritz knew why the guard didn't like being there. That, coupled with the mysterious lack of doors made him a very uneasy feeling about being in that division for six hours.
He looked around, at the walls covered in children-made drawings and posters of the animatronics. If his plan had succeeded, then he would have a very peaceful night despite the eerie environment.
Before he headed towards the office, Fritz first directed himself towards the stage, where three of the animatronics were. He ran a program that allowed him to set their AI to 0, which made them act based only on the rule of "protecting the children" and nothing else. As there were no children at the pizzeria, that should keep them bound to the stage mostly. He repeated the procedure on Mangle, Balloon Boy and even the withered old animatronics from the first pizzeria, which were locked on the spare parts room. This last action was merely as a safety precaution, since Phil mentioned to him that there was a chance that the old robots would move around as well. Jeremy, the night guard, also said to Phil that Golden Freddy had moved around on his last night on the job. Fritz doubted that could happen, considering they removed the endoskeleton from the Golden Freddy suit once the pizzeria closed for the day, but, just to be on the safe side, he set the AI of his endoskeleton to 0 as well.
Since the Puppet had no AI, Fritz could do nothing about that particular robot. In a way, that was the robot he was worried about the most. The thing was creepy enough during the day: imagine how it would be during the night. All he could really do was wind up the music box and pray that it would be enough.
With their AI set to 0, Fritz was hoping that it would be easier for him and the mechanic to fix their facial recognition system the next day. With their AI as high as it was before, the robots didn't let them anywhere near them.
Once the clock announced the beginning of his shift, Fritz cleared his throat and picked up the remote that would allow him to watch the monitors.
Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica were still on stage, naturally. There was an eerie glow in their eyes that didn't make him feel too comfortable, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. It was probably just the creepy atmosphere getting to him. Yeah.
The Mangle was on Kid's Cove, dragging herself across the floor. She noticed that she was being watched fairly quickly.
"M-m-m-m-MistEEEER Jeremy?" the fox called.
So the robots knew the name of the previous night guard. That should be a good sign. Maybe they would recognize him as the technician they saw during the day.
Fritz then checked the Prize Counter to wind up the music box. Everything was quiet on that division, and the Puppet was out of sight, hiding away inside its box.
Then he checked the Game Area, just to see what Balloon Boy was doing. Hopefully nothing. Once he switched to that camera view, he was surprised to see the short robot sulking in a corner. His expression was darkened. He looked absolutely depressed.
Why did he look like that? It seemed like Balloon Boy was the most emotionally unstable out of all the animatronics, for some reason.
In the beginning, when the pizzeria first opened, Balloon Boy was a bundle of curiosity and cheerfulness, who tended to get on people's nerves due to his constant questioning and following around. Then, around the same time the staff gave up on trying to fix Mangle, his attitude did a complete 180. He started being an absolute prick, insulting the staff at every given opportunity, teaching kids cuss words and playing nasty pranks on unsuspecting costumers. The staff almost wished he would go back to his old self. Now, it looked like the robot had just… given up.
"I can't believe this…" the technician sighed, as he reached for the speaker in his office. He actually felt bad for the robot. He pressed the button that would allow his voice to be heard across the pizzeria and took a deep breath. "Hey, Balloon Boy… You alright in there?"
The small robot looked up immediately. He frowned. "… Are you the technician?"
Well, at least he recognized his voice. "Yeah. I'm taking over the night shift now," he clarified. "The name is Fritz, by t…"
Balloon Boy didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. He stood up and disappeared into the darkness, taking the balloon he always carried with him.
Fritz frowned. Where was he going?
He had no time to worry about the whereabouts of the small robot. The sound of something banging on metal made him jump. He checked the security cameras in quick succession, finding that he no longer had the option to check the kitchen camera, as Will and Matt could in the early days. Perhaps that was for the best. Considering it was always shutting down, there was no point to it being there anyway.
He quickly discovered that the robots were not where they were supposed to be anymore.
The Show Stage was empty. No Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie or Toy Chica… They were all gone. The Mangle was not on Kid's Cove either, and he had just seen Balloon Boy leave his usual location at the Game Area.
"Shit," he hissed under his breath.
Things were not going as he planned. The robots were not frozen in place, as he thought they would. By switching through the cameras, he could see them scattered all over the pizzeria, and they all had something in common – they were all glaring at the camera, as if they knew someone was watching them, and did not appreciate it at all. The only one that seemed to be somehow able to avoid the cameras was Balloon Boy. Fritz couldn't find him anywhere.
It wasn't even one AM yet… What could have gone wrong?
3 AM
Fritz removed the mask and exhaled. Damn, wearing that thing wasn't comfortable at all, especially if he kept putting it on and taking it off, like he was forced to.
In the first three hours of his shift, it was clear to the technician turned night guard that whatever he did to try and reset the animatronics' AI to zero had failed. How, or why, he wasn't sure. He had done everything right… or so he thought.
The robots were clearly not acting like one whose AI was at the minimum. If Fritz didn't know any better, he'd say their AI was at the maximum, which would be 20.
Toy Freddy and Toy Chica appeared on the open hallway heading towards his office several times. For some reason, the chubby bear's eyes were pitch black, and the chicken was missing her beak and eyes. Maybe they were making an effort to be scary… If that was their goal, then they were succeeding. Luckily they didn't enter his office.
The electric blue bunny known as Toy Bonnie was not like them, unfortunately.
He was always climbing into the air vent and entering his office without being invited. Once he found himself face to face with the robotic guitarist, there was no other option other than to put on that stupid mask.
The first time the bunny managed to get inside his office, an odd conversation took place.
"Jerry," the bunny sighed, once he saw Fritz wearing the mask. "I already told ya, ya don't need to tell the guard to leave when we get here anymore. The intruder is here again!"
Fritz had no idea what Toy Bonnie was talking about. Why was he calling him Jerry? And what did he mean, "you don't need to tell the guard to leave"? In any case, it seemed like the mask served its purpose as a means to trick the robots into thinking he was a robot himself. At least Phil got that right…
Afraid that he would say something that would blow his cover, Fritz simply muttered a meek "Sorry".
The bunny narrowed his eyes. "Your voice sounds weird," he commented. "Did they change your voice bank?"
Fritz nodded quickly. 'Sure, whatever you say, Bonnie.'
The bunny wasn't the only one called him Jerry, though. The Mangle got inside his office a couple of times, and she too greeted him by the name.
"Hi J-J-J-JEEEEERRY," she said, her voice continuously interrupted by static. "Bo-OOOO-nnie said t-t-they channnnnnnnnnnnnged your VOICE."
"Uh, yeah… They wanted someone who sounded more, uh… mature," the guard lied, not even sure how this "Jerry" character was supposed to sound like before.
Mangle nodded. "I s-see… If yOu SPO-O-O-OT an inTRUUUU-der warn US, o-okay?"
That was never going to happen, but Fritz agreed to appease the robotic fox.
The withered robots also paid him several unwanted visitations. Those didn't talk at all, though, simply staring at him menacingly and trying to reach him.
This last time, he had put on the mask to trick the withered Bonnie. From the stories he head from Phil, the purple bunny was a gentle giant, enjoying nothing more than to give out hugs and help people – now, he was merely a mindless robot walking around through some unknown means and looking creepy as hell.
Once Fritz removed the mask, he noticed something strange.
On the wall, right next to the gap that gave way to the open hallway that the robots liked to take over on their way towards the office, there was something that the guard was pretty sure wasn't there before. A doll made of paper plates and other plastic materials glued together. It had the drawing of what was supposed to be a human face, smiling.
Fritz stared at it. When did that get there? And more importantly – how did it get there? He looked at the hallway, thinking. Did one of the robots place it there…?
Almost 6 AM
The shift was almost over. Now Fritz was fully aware of what the night guards truly went through during their time on the pizzeria. It was hell. He had to put on the mask every time he looked away from the monitors, because there was a high chance of a robot already being in your office, staring at you – either that, or they were at the entrance of the air vent, about to get in. He had to check the hallway to make sure the withered Foxy wasn't there, and if he was, he had to use the flashlight to make him go away. He had to wind up the music box on regular intervals so the Puppet wouldn't come out. He barely had time to think about his next move – he just had to do it. It all become muscle memory unbelievably fast. There was no other option if he wanted to make it out; if anything, that experience made him realize why both Matt and Jeremy were so eager to leave the night shift. He felt like his life was in danger.
Amongst the robots, Balloon Boy continued to be the most elusive of the bunch. Fritz could spot the others on the cameras, but for some reason he had no idea where the short child-like animatronic was – except when he made his presence known by saying "Hello" and taking over the left air vent.
On the one occasion where the robot actually got inside his office, he somehow managed to get Fritz more worried than he was before.
"Hello," was the usual greeting that alerted the guard.
Fritz immediately put on his mask, just in time to see Balloon Boy enter his office. The robot looked at him with an empty stare.
"Bonnie said your voice changed," he said. His voice was inexpressive, so it was hard to tell if he cared at all about what was going on. "You're not the same night guard that was here for the last six days, are you?"
The technician was surprised. It seemed that Balloon Boy was the only one that could tell that Fritz wasn't an intruder.
"No," Fritz confirmed. "Jeremy was moved the day shift, but he's not coming back. I'm Fritz."
"Yeah. The technician." Balloon Boy looked at the flashlight Fritz was holding in his hands. "I used to ask Jeremy for the battery of his flashlight. I guess there's no need for that anymore…"
Fritz had no idea what the robot was talking about, but he didn't think the robot would share his thoughts with him if he asked, so he decided to ignore it. "How can you tell I'm not an intruder? The others can't recognize anyone."
Balloon Boy sighed in annoyance. "If you were Jeremy, I wouldn't have to explain this again," he grunted. "I can tell who you are by your voice. The others just trust their eyes, and their eyes tell them you are a stranger."
So Jeremy talked with the robots, apparently. At least with Balloon Boy, if he was to be believed.
"Your shift is almost over, so I guess there's no need to worry about you," the robot said. He snorted. "I bet Jeremy would be losing his shit if it was him dealing with us with our AI set to max."
Fritz looked at the robot. So his experiment had failed!
Balloon Boy read his expression of shock correctly. "Yeah, it was a nice try; too bad it failed," he commented. "As soon as you turned your back that zero you programmed became a twenty."
"How the hell did that happen?!"
The robot shrugged. "No idea. At least you have some company to share your misery with." He pointed at the paper doll on the wall.
Fritz followed Balloon Boy's gaze. "Did one of the robots bring that here?"
"You're the one that's been sitting in this office," the robot reminded. "You tell me. That thing was supposed to be back at Party Room 4. I dunno how it could have gotten here."
Fritz kept watching the paper doll closely, as if he was expecting it to grow legs and get out of there at any minute. Balloon Boy left without another word, so the technician was back to being all alone again.
Despite all his stress and worries, he managed to make it through the night. Once the clock announced the end of his shift, Fritz couldn't help a deep sense of relief. In the end, his experiment had backfired horribly – if anything, it made the robots even more active. He could only hope it wouldn't make their interactions with the staff during the day any worse.
Before he left the building, he checked the cameras one last time. The robots were all back to their respective rooms, including Balloon Boy.
He ended up going through the night without seeing Golden Freddy. He had the impression that he did spot something golden in the darkness of the hallway, but since he had his mask on out of a quickly attained habit, he wasn't sure if it was the supposedly inactive suit.
Just as he was about to leave the office, he heard a light giggle.
He looked back, eyebrows furrowed, and noticed that the paper doll was not on his wall anymore. That was creepy. When did that thing disappear? And how did it disappear?
He shook his head. Maybe he was just imagining things…
It wouldn't be until five years later that he'd find out that he wasn't, in fact, imagining things. There was something very strange going on at the pizzeria – something supernatural – that haunted the staff, specifically the night guards.
Fritz didn't get the chance to revert the situation he accidentally created. The next day, he was fired for tampering with the animatronics. The owner of the company took the chance to blame him for the animatronics' behavior before he took over the night shift, of course. He should have seen that much coming.
But something haunted him even after he was fired from Freddy Fazbear's. Not always, but some nights, before he went to sleep, he could swear he heard a voice talking to him. A soft voice, he didn't recognize. A voice that, in his dreams, often told him:
"SAVE THEM"
[A/N - Aaaand there! Man, it took me way too long to get this chapter done...
That's it for the story of the pizzeria from 1987. If you want to know what happened to Fritz and Jeremy after this, check out my other stories that are part of "A Golden Opportunity" series.
Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and followers - you give me the motivation to keep writing :3]