Squeaky Clean

Amice

You know, it's amazing what you can do with so little sleep. For some reason I felt like I was buzzing with energy, able to do anything. I replaced the tablecloths, remembering how they had been stained red in my dream, then swept the stage, moving between the motionless animatronics without fear. Then I moved to Mangle and tried to clean up the grease around her for about a half an hour before realizing that it was hopeless. Mikey helped too. He brought me breakfast.

I glance over at him, leaning against the wall. He's sitting at a table, snoring away with his coffee beside him. I roll my eyes and glance at the clock, then walk over to shake him awake. "Wake up, fox cub. You've got to open the restaurant in ten minutes." Mikey looks up, blinking slowly in the sudden light. "Wha? Oh, right. Just… five more minutes then." I deadpan him as he thumps his head back onto his arms. Silently, I move so that my hand is positioned underneath his armpit, then attack. Mikey lets out a howl and immediately jumps up, snapping his arms to his sides as I continue to tickle him. I laugh evilly as he squirms, yelping for me to stop. "Alright, alright! I'm awake, godammit!" I let out a smirk and withdraw my hand. "Are you sure?" He nods frantically. "Yes, I'm sure! Jeez, woman!" I giggle and turn to walk away. Something runs into me from behind, grabbing my sides and squeezing. I let out a half-squawk half-scream and collapse with the thing on top of me, laughing. I wiggle around, trying to face my attacker. Mikey pins me down and continues to tickle my ribs, leaving me gasping for air. After about a minute he stops, and my laughter dies to a wheeze. A smug voice sounds from above me. "Revenge is mine! All hail the Tickle King!" I giggle a bit. "Yeah, yeah. Now get off me, fatass!" He chuckles and gets off me. I groan and roll over to face the ceiling. "Dammit, my guard was down! Not fair." Mikey leans over me with a childish grin. "That it was. And it was fair! I saw an opportunity and attacked!" I smile at him and roll my eyes. "Uh-huh. Help me up, cheater." I hold my arms straight up and Mikey grabs them, pulling me to my feet. I dust myself off and straighten my jumpsuit. "Time to open, I think." Mike sighs and looks outside at the cars pulling into the lot. I glance out the doors as well. "Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint them, huh? Let's open the gates of heaven!" I throw my arms out wide in a welcoming gesture and snort, then turn to grab my broom. "I'm gonna go see if the arcade needs straightening up."

I speedwalk to the arcade before Mikey opens the doors to the public. Honestly, they should shut his place down. They might not know what's going on at night. But I'm pretty sure this place violates several of the health and safety codes. Aw, well. I sigh and walk past Billy. Every inch of him seems shining and perfect. Actually, come to think of it, all the new animatronics look that way. With the exception of Mangle, of course. I stop and backtrack to observe the robot. Yup. Perfect proportions, Perfect clothes, Perfect 'skin'. Even the balloon and the sign, designed to look realistic, have a plastic look. I snort. At least the other Animatronics looked real enough to be moving. Seeing these perfect mannequins moving around is just unnerving. Sighing, I shift my grip on the broom and dust pan and begin sweeping up left-over napkins and trash from the previous day before anyone can get this far into the pizzeria.

Everything needs to be perfect, after all.