Guests: I indeed have no plans of including…that stuff. However, that doesn't mean I won't include a special relationship. It won't be mentioned explicitly in the first installments, though. Maybe in (a) later one(s) (if at all).

PotatoManato: I appreciate the offer, but to be honest, I think I prefer doing this on my own. I hope you don't mind and I'm sorry if you're disappointed. However, if you want to, you can leave possible criticism and/or mention any errors I've made or will make in the reviews.

Hey, fellows!

That thing about the romance I mentioned in one of the previous author's notes; I'm getting second thoughts about it. I don't think it'll become a thing. Still, let me know in the reviews what you want. If you do want me to include romance, I may set up a poll on my page.

Last but not least, I'd like to reveal to you fellows that Douglas is nearly 2 meters (= approx. 6.56 feet), and has a somewhat slender build. The anime-tronics are still taller, though!

~F

Chapter ten: Old and gold

"He came by again!?" Douglas asked through the phone in disbelief. "Why!?"

"Asked me if I fired you already," Griffiths replied. "Don't worry: not only did I say no, I showed him the door before he himself even thought about leaving."

"T-thank you, s-sir," the guard said. "I-I just hope he doesn't come back."

"So do I. But if he does return, I'll call the police."

Douglas' eyes widened. "Th…the police, sir? Isn't that a little…over the top?"

"Maybe it is somewhat excessive, but they'll understand if I tell them that Maxwell had applied three times within less than a week along with his terrible behavior and had been committing defamation against you."

The guard swallowed. "I-if you say so, sir…"

11:59 pm

The guard had once again taken his seat in the office, anxiously waiting for the clock to strike midnight. He was well aware that his nervousness was unjustified; especially since he already met Golden. However, the golden she-bear had informed him that she wasn't the only one he was going to meet.

Douglas sighed inwardly. It was already weird enough to meet a bunch of sentient machines. That, combined with their apparent love for humans and Golden's supernatural powers really made the young man's life unique. He was pretty sure that he was one of the very few people to actually experience this kind of extraordinary stuff.

THUMP!

He jumped when he suddenly heard a noise. Blinking, he froze for a second before grabbing the tablet and switching through the camera, slightly scared. It was probably, like, Chica trying to scare him or something, but still…

The first feed the guard saw was of the stage. He saw Freddy, Bonnie and Chica stretching and talking. When the camera turned on, the trio turned their heads to it, slightly startled, before smiling and waving.

Douglas smiled as well, at first…

…until he realized why he was looking through the camera in the first place.

Evidently, Chica wasn't pranking him.

The young man's smile vanished in an instant and his glee was replaced by fear as he quickly selected Pirate Cove on the screen.

THUMP!

Foxy was standing just outside the purple curtains, giving Douglas a grin.

THUMP!

Mangle Cove. Mangle had her back to the camera, but turned her head when it activated. She shyly waved and a minor blush appeared on her face.

THUMP!

Sweat formed on Douglas' head as he selected a random camera, which was apparently placed right in front of his office. As a result, he saw the inside of an air vent, likely the one connected to the rectangular hole in the wall under his desk.

The guard suppressed a yelp as he noticed the individual in the vent looking at him.

It was yet another anime-tronic, with a simple black sweater with a hoodie and trousers of the same color. The color of her skin and hair was a compromise between gold and green – the latter of which likely originated from many years of neglect and accumulation of dust –, with tears and scars in it, similar to the damage Golden had. This anime-tronic's hair was longer, however, seeing how it pretty much reached her shoulders. The long ears on her head suggested she was a bunny. Lastly, her soft, relaxed eyes seemed to be something between gray and brown.

As soon as she saw the camera turn on, she smiled brightly and waved before crawling past it, causing several more thumps to be heard.

A sigh of relief escaped Douglas' throat as he put the tablet back on the desk and leaned back in his chair, waiting for his body to stop shaking.

He didn't have much time to do that, however, as the bunny girl appeared from under his desk and rose to her feet. She looked at the guard in curiosity.

"Hi!" she chirped. "I hope I didn't scare you."

Douglas looked back slightly, unable to fully meet her eyes (wouldn't be the first time for that to happen).

"N-no…" he reassured. "I-I'm okay."

The anime-tronic tilted her head slightly and gave the human a skeptic look. She retained her smile, however, which caused Douglas to blush and look away more.

"Hmm~…Goldie told me you were shy," she softly said.

"Did someone call me?"

Douglas looked back up to see Golden stand right in front of him, causing him to jump and back up a bit. The golden she-bear saw this and gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry," she regretfully said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"I-it's alright," the human replied.

It was weird to see Golden in real life. So far, Douglas had only talked to her through dreams. Sure, those dreams were vivid, but to be physically in the room with her felt…different.

He also barely realized that she just pretty much teleported into the office.

"I don't think you two have met yet," Golden said. She looked at the guard as she gestured towards the unidentified rabbit woman. "That there's Spring. She's pretty much Bonnie's predecessor."

Spring gave Douglas a wave. "Hi."

"H-hi…" the guard stuttered. "Uh…n-nice t-to meet you?"

The bunny girl smiled. "Likewise…Douglas, right?"

The young man nodded, right when Foxy entered the office from the door to his left. The red she-fox looked around the room as if she was on a federal rescue mission before looking at the confused trio.

"Everything alright?" she asked with uncertainty. "Me and the others were kinda worried."

"Worried?" Douglas asked. "Why?"

Foxy looked at him. "Ya don't really check the camera's a lot, do ya? So why'd they activate not two minutes ago? Were ya scared of somethin'?"

Oh, no Douglas thought. Now Spring's going to know I lied to her about the scaring part.

He stole a glance from the gold/green girl, who, to the guard's relief, wasn't giving him the death glares he expected. She didn't even have a disappointed look. Instead, she gave him that skeptic smile again.

"Eh…I think I might've been responsible for that," she intervened. "I made some noise when I went through the air vent."

Foxy put her hand and hook on her hips as she gave the rabbit woman a questioning look. "Didn't we have rules 'bout that whole vent thing? I thought you and Gold sorted that out."

"You thought right," Golden answered as she gave Spring an accusing look.

"Sorry," Spring said to pretty much everyone in the office. "Won't happen again."

Golden sighed tiredly. Foxy, on the other hand, grinned as she stepped back into the west hallway.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go back to my cove. See y'all later!"

And with that, she ran back down the hallway. Spring chuckled and turned back to Douglas, who suddenly had a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"H-hey Spring…" the night guard in question said. "I…th-think I m-might've heard y-your name before." He fell silent. The golden rabbit woman looked at him questioningly, until a giggle from Golden caught her attention.

"I think I know what you're talking about," she chuckled. "Remember your second night?"

That hint brought back the memories Douglas had been looking for.

During the second night, a certain chicken girl had commented on the guard's slender build. She added that he 'just might survive Spring's hugs' or something like that. Douglas, of course, didn't know who Spring was at the time, nor did he know any of the anime-tronics that well. He had only met Bonnie and Chica one night prior, and he found the latter's jokes fear-inducing. He was lucky that Bonnie was such a sweetheart, as the blue bunny had immediately reassured him.

"Right…" he muttered.

"And? How scared was he?" Chica mischievously smirked when Foxy got back. The crimson she-fox let out a chuckle and she shook her head.

"Sorry to disappoint ya, but I don't think I saw the best part," she responded.

Bonnie was sitting on the stage, practicing with her guitar. She smirked and rolled her eyes upon hearing the conversation between the two. Freddy, who had taken a seat at one of the tables nearby, noticed this and let out a silent chuckle.

"Eh," Chica replied indifferently. "She'll scare him more eventually. It's pretty much inevitable with her affinity for hugs."

That got a chuckle out of all the girls that were present in the room.

"Yeah…" Spring admitted with a slight blush. "I kinda like hugs."

Douglas' head got a pink color, too. "G-guess that explains what Chica said…"

Spring looked at him. "Don't worry, though. I won't invade your personal space too often," She giggled.

"Um…o-okay?" the guard stammered.

As the two continued their conversation, Golden stood in a corner, smiling silently. It wasn't mocking or teasing in any way; if anything, it was happy.

The she-bear was thinking about how lucky they were to finally get an actual human friend. And how lucky they were that the first guard they managed to catch was so nice. The other girls were in agreement with how likeable this guy was. He was fun to mess with, but he never got really angry or sad if they did. His shyness made him…cute. In addition, he was one of the few who understood how Mangle felt and how she found it so difficult to talk to others.

And to think they all only just met this boy.