Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.

"So, you got everything?"

Fritz stared at the tablet he was holding in his hands for a while before nodding. "Watch the cameras through the tablet, kitchen camera doesn't work, check Pirate Cove from time to time, use door lights to see if they're at the entrance, close doors only when they're there," he summarized. "Unless it's Freddy, in which case we close the door once he's at Cam 4B."

"Good," Mike praised. "It's a good thing you've faced off against the animatronics before, 'cause if I was explaining all of this to some new guy I wouldn't be surprised if he bailed on me."

"Yeah, but things are pretty different now," Fritz observed, switching through the camera views on the tablet attentively. "Back in 87, we had to check different screens, and we didn't have to worry about running out of power. I suppose the management doesn't have that much money now…"

Mike took his seat on the chair he had occupied for six nights in a row already. "Speaking of which, how did you keep the robots away back then?" he asked. "You said there were no doors…"

"We had a mask," Fritz said, pausing to observe Pirate Cove on the tablet. "Our head of security convinced the manager to get the night guards a mask just like the ones entertainers sometimes wore to trick the robots. Plus we had a flashlight."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "How did a flashlight help?"

"All the robots share a sensitivity to light," Fritz clarified, his voice sounding oddly professional again, as it always did whenever he spoke about some technical detail. "Both the original robots and the Toy Bots would suffer a system reset whenever light was flashed in their eyes. I don't know if that would still work…" he added, noticing how Mike was now staring at the flashlight that rested on the desk.

"Worth the shot." Mike picked up the flashlight, and held it like it was the most important object in the world. He sighed. "After seven days, they're gonna be even more aggressive… It amazes me how Phil managed to endure four months…"

Fritz looked up from the tablet. "Phil?"

"Yeah, the guy that worked here before me," Mike clarified, gesturing vaguely at the phone. "He left behind some messages to help the next guard out. I probably wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for him."

"His name wouldn't happen to be Phil Grayson, would it?" Fritz inquired, with a light smile.

"Yeah, why?"

Fritz chuckled. "Because that sounds a lot like him. He used to leave messages for the night guard back in 87 too. He was the head of security back then."

"Why would he be a night guard here then?" Mike wondered, confused. "As the head of security, he'd get more money, why would he…"

"He loved this place too much, I suppose," Fritz said. "Maybe he wanted to make sure that the place stayed open, and he might have wanted to check if things were really as bad as he heard they were during the night. You know where he is now?"

Mike thought for a while, considering whether or not he should tell him. He decided maybe it was best if he did – if they were going to help each other out with their investigations, they should be honest to each other.

"He's at the hospital," Mike said. "Got attacked on his last week on the job."

Fritz sighed, sounding relieved. "Ah that explains why he didn't answer my calls. I was actually considering the possibility of him being… you know."

Mike nodded. He had believed Phil Grayson to be dead too after hearing the message from the previous guard's fourth and final message. "So I suppose he's one of the people you tried contacting to help you out?"

"Yeah, I didn't bother to try and contact the other two people I was closest to at the pizzeria once Phil didn't answer," Fritz explained. "I already know what happened to them and they can't help me."

"What happened?" Mike wanted to know.

Fritz stared at the tablet for a while before clearing his throat to answer. "One's dead. The other one is at a mental hospital."

Damn. He was really out of options then. Just how many people involved with Freddy Fazbear's ended up having tragic ends to their lives anyway?

"I'm sorry to hear it. Well, fifteen minutes to midnight," Mike noticed, checking his watch. "We better get ready."

"Right. Hey, listen," Fritz said, tapping the tablet lightly. "I actually want to try something."

Mike looked at him with a frown. "What?"

"Remember how I was fired for 'tampering' with the animatronics?" Fritz emphasized the word "tampering" in a sneering tone. "I was trying to make them more docile, get them go back to how they were, you know?"

"Yeah?" Mike didn't know where Fritz was going with this.

"The thing is, since they had been tampered with in a pretty rudimentary manner, what I tried doing only made things worse…" He gulped. "But, these robots haven't been tampered with yet…"

"How were they tampered with?" Mike asked, still not understanding what the point of that conversation was.

"I think the one that killed the five kids back in 87 messed around with their facial recognition system so they would see all adults as threats," Fritz explained quickly. "That way the robots would just be aggressive towards any adult, and not just him, in case something happened."

"Right, and that concerns us how…?"

Fritz adjusted himself on the seat, seemingly a bit nervous. "Well, like I said, these robots haven't been tampered with yet… So, there is a chance that I can keep them docile…"

Mike finally understood what Fritz was going for. He raised a hand to stop him from carrying on. "No."

"I know it can backfire, but if it works…" Fritz insisted.

"That is one hell of a big 'if'," Mike retorted. "What if it makes them get even worse? Look, the reason why they attack the night guards isn't even their fault – they're being controlled!"

"By who?" Fritz inquired, raising an eyebrow in a skeptical expression.

"That I don't know, but if you're not sure that it will work, I don't think we should mess around with them," Mike stated. "If they break down, or get even more aggressive, we can end up dead, or worse – Lawrence finds out…"

"How can getting chewed on by our boss be worse than dying?" Fritz asked, doubtfully.

"Trust me. It would be worse."

Fritz didn't take this warning into consideration and waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, there are risks, but if things work, the reward will be worth it, right? I mean, the robots will be like, big, metallic lambs that just want to play!"

Mike glared at his new partner. Damn it, he was actually considering the possibility… What if it did work? Then they wouldn't have to be in a constant stress of trying to survive… But what if it failed?

"So, what do you say?" Fritz asked eagerly.

"I'm thinking!" Mike hissed. After a few seconds, he sighed heavily and nodded. "Alright, alright, we'll give it a shot… But if this fails, I'm blaming you," he warned.

Fritz put up his hands. "I'll take responsibility, no problem. Take a handheld radio, and I'll give you instructions…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Mike stood up angrily. "You'll give me instructions? I thought you were going to be the one to try and fix them or whatever, you're the ex-technician, not me!"

"The boss likes you, he won't mind. If it was me, though…" Fritz commented.

Mike had to laugh at that statement. "Lawrence likes me? Yeah, right – he wants to adopt me and everything, seriously…" he retorted, sarcastically. "I'm getting the feeling that you're trying to get me in trouble here."

"Nonsense, I told you I'd help you out and I will," Fritz assured. "But you understand, if they catch me messing with the animatronics for the second time, I'll never find work in this area again…"

Mike stared at Fritz angrily for a couple of seconds. He was starting to regret his decision to get Fritz to be his partner really fast. He understood his position, but he felt extremely uncomfortable with the thought of having to mess with robots' system.

"I don't like this. I really don't like this."

"It will all work out, promise." Fritz smiled, pleased that Mike agreed with his idea. "And like I said, if it fails I'll take the blame. If it works, we'll get an easy job, chilling in this office…"

"Yeah, chilling, sure…" He seized the handheld radio Fritz was showing him harshly. "This is a bad idea. This is a terrible idea."

"Have I mentioned this is a terrible idea?"

"Next, you have to type in what I tell you," Fritz told him through the radio, completely ignoring Mike's muttered complaints.

Mike was squatting in front of Foxy, who was, as usual, locked up in Pirate Cove. He had a programming computer in front of him, which he had found in the spare parts room, and was following Fritz' instructions attentively. He didn't know if things were going to work out for the best, but at least they were giving it a shot. Assuming Fritz was right, and things with the Toy Bots had only failed because someone had messed up their programming beforehand, then there was a chance they were actually doing some good there… Still, something told Mike that things were not going to go so smoothly.

"Alright, I typed in this… 'overwrite AI stabilizer' thing…" Mike grunted, looking at the screen of the computer, which was connected to Foxy via a cable that came out of the fox's skull. "What now?"

"What are you doing?"

Mike smiled, actually feeling happy to hear that familiar robotic voice. He looked over his shoulder to see Golden Freddy sitting behind him, staring at the computer apprehensively.

"What about my greeting, uh?" he asked, amused. "No 'it's me' warning this time?"

"What are you doing?" the ghostly bear insisted, punctuating the words this time.

"It's this thing that overwrites the program that keeps the animatronics' AI the same every day and allows us to change them to a minimum level," Mike replied, repeating what Fritz had told him.

"… What?"

Mike laughed. "Yeah, I don't understand it all that well myself…"

"Who are you talking to?" Fritz inquired from the handheld radio.

"Who's that?" asked Golden Freddy. "Is that Mr. Smith?"

"Wait, you know him? Hold on a sec." Mike turned to the radio. "Hey, Fritz, remember how Mira said that a friend of mine was waiting for me?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that," Fritz confessed. "There's no one here though…"

"That's because she shows up randomly," Mike explained. "She's here with me right now. Say 'hi'." He turned the radio on the bear's direction.

Golden Freddy looked down at the radio. "Hello. Is this Mr. Smith?"

There was a pause.

"… Is that Phil?" Fritz asked, sounding confused. "That's Phil's voice, what the hell…"

"Yeah, I don't know why she does that," Mike admitted. "So how do you know him?"

The bear frowned. "He was there in 1987… A guard"

"Who the hell is that, Mike?" Fritz asked, sounding nervous. "The voice sounds all messed-up… like a robot… Hey, what is that beeping noise?"

Mike turned back to the computer. There was a faint beep coming out of it, and there were words appearing on the screen that Mike was pretty sure he had not been responsible for typing.

"DIDN'T

YOUR

MOTHER

TEACH

YOU

NOT

TO

TOUCH

OTHER

PEOPLE'S

STUFF?"

Mike narrowed his eyes at the screen. What the hell? The words vanished, and a small box appeared, with "Yes" or "No" options.

"Um… Fritz?" the night guard called. "Something showed up on the screen…"

"Is it asking you what level you want to put the AI in?"

"No… It says…" Mike leaned forwards to read the ridiculously small words. "'Program animatronics' AI to 20…"

There was a sound of something slipping and stomping the floor coming from the office.

"What, no! How did that show up?" Fritz stammered. "That's not supposed to happen… J-just press 'No', 20 is the maximum a robot's AI can go to, not minimum like we want."

Mike clicked the "No" option promptly, but just as he did, the "No" changed to a "Yes." His eyes widened slightly.

"Uh… Fritz… I clicked 'Yes'," he muttered.

"You did WHAT?!"

"It wasn't me! The 'no' turned into a 'yes' just as I clicked it!" Mike defended himself, disconnecting the computer. He didn't know what else he could do to stop the program – usually if things didn't go as he wanted, he'd just turn the computer off…

"It's them" said Golden Freddy. "They won't let you get away that easily"

"Who's 'they'?" Mike demanded. "Who's controlling the robots? You know, right?"

"My friends…" the bear replied sadly. "You have to save them"

The bear vanished, leaving Mike alone with a programming computer in his hands and a robotic fox that was one minute away from activating with his AI turned up to maximum. Why was it, that whenever something could go wrong with him, it always did?!

"I'd like to save me first," Mike grunted, standing up hastily and leaving the computer at Pirate Cove. "Fritz, did any of the robots move yet?"

"N-no, they're still – it's not midnight yet, right?"

Right on cue, the clock announced the beginning of their shift. Mike looked at the show stage slowly, to see the lights in the animatronics' flicker. Their eyes illuminated, and immediately darted on his direction.

"Shit," was all he could say.

He bolted – almost flew – down the dining hall to head towards his office, but stopped once he saw Foxy emerging from Pirate Cove. The fox looked back at him and raised its hook.

Clearly he was not getting away from there. He ran on the other direction, towards the east hall, where he knew Chica usually went. He could hear Foxy running, but it didn't sound like he was following him.

"Fritz , Foxy's going your way!" he screamed at the radio.

"I see him, I see him," Fritz ranted, and the sound of a door being closed was heard in the distance. "Damn, he's fast…"

"Fritz, I just want you to know," Mike growled, as he reached the bathrooms. "That if I die, the robots will be the least of your problems."

"Noted," his partner said dully. "Just get back here, Chica's heading your way."

Mike looked back him, just in time to see the chicken emerge at the entrance of the hall, leering in his direction. He also spotted a room that he never noticed was there.

There was an entrance to another division, all boarded up with planks of wood.

"Fritz?"

"Yeah."

"What's that room on the east hall for?" he asked, hurrying his steps as he kept watch over the eerie female robot.

"Huh, you mean the bathrooms?" Fritz asked, confused, as the sound of a door of the office being open was heard.

"No, not those! A room that's all boarded up… I don't remember seeing it in the cameras…"

"Oh that's, uh, that's a backroom that was used to just… put things we didn't use and stuff," Fritz explained. "And a safe room, in case something went wrong…"

"Like robots trying to kill you because someone thought it was a good idea to crank up their AI?" Mike accused.

"Yeah, yeah, things went bad, but I'm not the one who clicked 'yes' to program their AI to maximum," Fritz retorted.

Mike huffed. "That wasn't me either! Ugh, whatever – we'll talk when I get to the office!"

"Okay, dad."

A couple of more dashes and he made it to the office, panting, but safe. He looked over his shoulder again, seeing Chica getting dangerously close to where he was, and got ready to enter the office. But the door was closed.

"What the – Fritz, open the door!"

The door went up, revealing a stressed-out Fritz feverishly switching through camera views on the tablet. Mike stomped angrily into the office, staring at his partner unimpressed.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Losing my shit, how about you?" Fritz said sarcastically, reaching to his left to close the door on Bonnie. "I thought I had things under control, but then I start seeing things…"

"What things, what did you see?" Mike questioned quickly, taking his seat next to Fritz and taking the tablet from his hands without asking.

Fritz ran fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself down. "The drawings on the walls changed… and then I see – you're not gonna believe this – Golden Freddy, in a poster, and that's impossible…!"

"It's not impossible, she's here to help," Mike informed, checking the show stage to find Freddy was gone. "Great, now they're all out…"

"Here to help?" Fritz repeated, incredulous.

"It's me"

The ghostly bear suddenly appeared on the office, sitting on the desk and looking at both guards. Mike glanced at Fritz, wondering how he'd react.

At first, the new guard simply blinked, possibly confused as to where that voice had come from. Then, he slowly turned his head on the direction of the desk, and saw Golden Freddy looking back at him. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Fritz screamed and fell off the chair.

The bear's hands moved slightly, as if he wanted to stop the guard from falling. "I greeted this time!"

Mike laughed. "Yeah you did – didn't help much, though."

Fritz stood back up quickly, staying as far away from the bear as the office's walls so permitted. "What is that doing here?!"

"First of all, it's not a 'that'," Mike sighed. "Second, Freddy's at the door."

Fritz turned around quickly and closed the right door.

"This is the friend Mira talked about," Mike explained. "Thanks to her I'm still alive."

"Golden Freddy is a 'he'," Fritz stated flatly, regaining his relaxed composure slowly. "He's destroyed, and he certainly didn't help me back when I was a night guard."

Mike looked at Golden Freddy, frowning. "What does he mean with that?"

The bear looked at Fritz apologetically. "I'm sorry – he made me do it, I didn't want to. I want to help"

"Who's he?" Mike asked quickly.

Golden Freddy looked at him. "The Puppet"

"What, that thing's here too?" Fritz hissed.

Mike took a second to verify the animatronics' positions before hushing Fritz with a gesture of his hand. "Is that the one controlling the robots?" he asked to the bear.

"In a way," the bear admitted. "But he's not the only one. There are four more. My friends"

Mike looked at the tablet, thoughts buzzing in his mind. He remembered that time when he saw Rika in the "haunted" TV – there were four children with her, celebrating her birthday. Four children, four animatronics…

"I'm sorry, but I feel very left out here," Fritz said bitterly. "Why are you acting like having a robot that's supposedly destroyed talking to you like you're long-time buddies is normal?"

The guard looked at Fritz. Well, now it was Fritz who felt like his answers weren't being answered. But Mike understood something now.

It was the kids. Whatever happened to those four kids – plus Rika – made them haunt the animatronics and attack night guards. Maybe they had been killed by that guard he saw, the Purple Man, and since they didn't know how he looks like, they just attack anyone who sports the same uniform as him. It wasn't fair, but they were just kids…

He just didn't know what that Puppet had to do with it. He had a pretty good idea of who Golden Freddy – well, Rika – was referring to. He remembered a tall, slender monochromatic robot appearing to him twice already. Fittingly, that seemed to be the one "pulling the strings". But how…?

Mike turned to Fritz, who looked slightly annoyed.

"Well?" The new guard crossed his arms, still avoiding looking at Golden Freddy.

It was time to tell him everything he had gone through on his week as a night guard, and also about the revelations he had in the hospital. Together, they were going to figure it out.

"Alright, Fritz, our investigation starts a little sooner than expected," Mike said, while he closed the right door by clicking the button with his foot. Foxy started knocking on it seconds after.

"Take a seat, this is gonna take a while to explain."

[A/N - Another arc finished! 8D Well, this one was more to include clues as to what is going on, not much action, but bear with me... Hehe, bear... Ahem, anyway!

Next arc will be a flashback arc, and one that will explore none other but the most discussed year ever in the story of FNAF - 1987. That will be the name of the arc, actually - "A Golden Opportunity - 1987". There will also be a flashback arc telling the story of Fredbear/Golden Freddy and Ralfbunny/Spring Bonnie/Springtrap, called "A Golden Opportunity - The Originals".

As for the sequel, it will be called "A Golden Opportunity - The Forgotten", finally revealing what exactly Mike has to remember and also some other reveals about our lovely Rika.

More will be announced soon! I hope you like my stories, and if you do, keep reading! Thank you for all the faves, follows and reviews. Love you all ~]