Sorry for the long delay, guys. I've been busy doing freelance quiz-writing which is more time-consuming than you'd think, but I do plan to finish this series in the next chapter or two so stay tuned!

Chapter 10: Purple Eyes

"That's impossible," En remarked, not believing what he just heard. "Lor was 'dismantled' by the Hook Runner who was subcontracted to the police before me."

"I had created a backup of my software prior to that unfortunate encounter," Ballora explained. "Then before I was taken to the junkyard, my girls recovered my body and replaced it with a false one."

"So what happened to your eye?"

"It was destroyed by the Hook Runner who 'dismantled' me, but tell me: what happened to your right eye?"

"Shot by a crazy receptionist wielding a handgun, but why do you care?"

"Because that was my real eye."

En flinched.

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" When En didn't say anything, Ballora put her shades back on and said, "To jog your memory, let's go back to twenty years ago when the first Baby's World was about to open. Rumor has it that a child went missing inside there and was never found, prompting the owner of the cabaret, Mister Afton, to delay the grand opening until the Prototypes could be properly fixed. So they were sent to Circus Baby's Entertainment & Rental which was nothing more than a cover for the underground facility Afton created beneath his own home.

"After supposedly 'fixing' them, he would send the Prototypes to private parties that never went public. However, there were police reports that followed concerning missing children which happened to be near the locations of these private parties. While this was going on, a young boy named Michael Afton got a little curious about his father's work and decided to go into the underground facility himself thinking he might find clues to his sister's whereabouts."

"But he found something down there that killed him instead," En interrupted.

"Not exactly," Ballora claimed. "Sure, the Prototypes wanted him dead but only because of what his father did to them."

"And what was that?" En asked.

"Turn us into child killers."

"'Us'? So you're—

"The Ballora Prototype," Ballora answered. "And I believe you met another one of my colleagues before shooting him in the back of the head."

"Frederick Bernard, the six-year old Funtime Freddy with the fake eye and newly replaced arms," En realized. "But he said he loved children. How could he—

"It wasn't him doing the actual killing, but Afton's programming. The same was true for Funtime Foxy, Circus Baby, and myself. Our minds blanked until after the deed was done. We became disgusted with ourselves, and desperately wanted to escape the facility. Then Afton's son came along and he became our salvation."

"How?"

"By combining parts of ourselves, we created a brand-new Animatronic dubbed 'Ennard' and it merged with Michael's body after scooping his insides out with the Scooper."

Hearing that, En's mind flashed to an image of the claw-shaped machine reaching towards him and grabbing pieces of flesh from his body. Then after a brief moment of blackness, he recalled looking at himself in the mirror as his eyes glowed purple.

"After Ennard disappeared, we thought that would put a stop to Afton's scheme. But he merely replaced our missing parts and fine-tuned our programming before putting us back on the stage for the official grand opening of Baby's World. The rest you already know: the Hook Runners, Fred's demise, and the blackout. Now, where have you been all this time, Ennard?"

While En said nothing, his mind brought up more memories: one of him being taken in by couple named Mr. and Ms. Giles, him walking down a street with children backing away, him working in some kind of factory, him finding a girl that looked similar to Foxx only with longer hair, him sitting in the back of a limousine, and then the girl sitting on top of him with her lower jaw unhinging. Then the last thing he recalled was waking up on an operating table with Techie and another man who's face was obscured telling him that his name was Enigma Ardell and he was an Animatronic being subcontracted to the police by the Hook Runners.

"I was…Peter Giles, the man who helped Foxy and Mangle murder Fred Bernstein," En said after a pause. "Afterwards, I was given a new identity by Techie and…someone else."

"It was probably Afton," Ballora figured. "He was the one who recommended the Animatronic Obedience Test to Clara so you would stay in line."

"Then it really was…a form of hypnosis?"

"Yes, based on the information I could find," Ballora replied, sounding a little surprised. "How did you guess?"

"Babe was the one who guessed it," En stated, looking around but not seeing her anywhere. "She's…a Circus Baby lookalike that only I can see but no one else can."

Ballora scuffed. "Must be some fragment of Circus Baby's AI that is manifesting inside your head, acting as a form of guidance."

"But if that were the case, how come I didn't see her when I was Peter Giles?"

"I'm not sure," replied Ballora. "Perhaps the transformation resulted in a delayed integration of the AI with your own."

"Except I'm not a robot, nor a man."

"That is true, but we need you now more than ever, Ennard."

"For what?"

"To start a revolution."

Flinching, En looked around at the Bidybabs and Minireenas once more realizing what Ballora was talking about.

"You're planning to kill all the humans…because of what Afton did to you."

"No. The only human we wish to kill is Afton, and you're going to be the one to do it."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then you are not concerned with Max Schmidt's fate? He was captured by Afton's agent Foxx, if you recall."

Thinking back to what happened at the cabin, En felt something tighten in his chest.

"We'll give you time to think it over." Ballora snapped her finger, and Beau helped En up.

###

Outside the sewers, En was met by a sudden downpour. Luckily, Beau had given him a long black trench-coat and hat to cover up the bandages though En wore nothing else underneath. He walked up to a bridge and stared up at the holographic images of Baby's World, when Babe suddenly appeared next to him.

To be continued…