Her name was Lyra Otinashi. Her code name was Lilly Xanders. Why that stupid, blue, animatronic rabbit insisted on calling her Inspector Gadget was a mystery. No matter how much she objected to it and used her logical reasoning to suade him, he simply refused to address her in any other manner. She was somewhat glad that he had enough sense not to use the term around the others; that would definitely cause a big ruckus.
Lyra was twenty-five years old, finishing her last year of college. She was majoring in criminology and planned to work under the executive branch, just as her brother did and her parents before them. She missed her parents greatly, but she knew she was going to make them proud. She was working undercover, the family occupation; she wasn't really working for OSHA, it was merely a cover-up she had so cleverly put together before hand in case someone, in this case the toy remake of Bonnie, had gotten a little too nosey for their own good. She applauded herself for such a sneaky plan; it had earned her a spy inside.
And boy had he delivered.
Not only did she have confirmation that the murders had indeed happened, but she knew exactly where the bodies had ended up, and it even coincided with the old newspaper articles she had managed to find (Fazbear Entertainment sure loved to bury the past, but boy did she love to dig it up). She had even gotten an explanation on the whereabouts of the ex-security guard Mike Schmidt, who had been reported missing after a supposed break-in had occurred; according to Toy Bonnie, the man had been stuffed inside one of the suits and killed, however this couldn't yet be confirmed by her as she couldn't seem to find the suit of mention.
Lyra stared at her portfolio with pride.
Child Found Dead Outside Family Diner
Five Children Now Reported Missing. Suspect Convicted
Child Attacked by Animatronic Mascot. Critical Condition
Night Guard at Local Pizzeria Declared Missing after Break-In
It was marvelous. So well collected; her report was turning out great. There was no way she wouldn't graduated without flying colors. That is… All it was missing was the actual killer…
Lyra sighed and adjusted her red bowtie.
She hoped she looked nice… She hadn't gone on a date in a while; this whole night was important, and the turnout would mean she could get some serious detail and information for her case. Lyra hoped that Toy Bonnie was right about this Jeremy character… She had heard plenty of good things about him from her friend Dana when they were roommates, however… She didn't quite ever imagine herself going on a date with the guy.
Oh well.
The world was a mysterious place; full of coincidences.
And patterns…
Lyra raised an eyebrow slightly and grabbed one of the articles, the one about the first incident. It was the second most troubling for her; how was someone able to stab a kid five times in the back in broad daylight in front of a restaurant packed with children and adults? Surely the security team should have been able to do something… The event had happened some thirty or so years ago, and the majority of the witnesses were either in nursing homes or were too young at the time to even remember it. Even the key-witness, the child's mother, was gone; suicide. The only other viable witness would be the animatronic that had been running at that time; originally she had thought it would have been Freddy, but now… It seemed that he had a predecessor who was MIA.
Next she examined the paper on the five missing children, her gold mine; by far the most confusing and unusual. Forget one kid getting killed; how about five, ages twelve thru nine? At a birthday party? One of the kids had even been the daughter of someone who had worked there! All of them, gone; missing; no bodies had ever been found. Someone had been convicted, yes; someone from security, however he had been released early for lack of evidence. Lyra would have found a way of interrogating him, but, just like the other key-witness, he was gone. No one knew where he had went.
Child Attacked by Animatronic Mascot
A child attending a birthday party at the local pizzeria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, was attacked by the widely popular animatronic Foxy the Pirate Fox. Doctors report the child lost the entire frontal lobe of their brain, and do not expect him to survive the night. The security on shift wished to remain anonymous and declined to comment.
Scott Cawthon, manager, has said that along with moving to a new location, they plan to discontinue the Foxy models, as well as the newly made Toy models.
Lyra remembered hearing about this one on the news; it wasn't there for much long. The kid died, the old animatronics were brought back, and the green grass grew all around. With all of her scrounging and searching, she did not once ever get a name for the guard, but she did uncover the name of the child. Mike Schmidt. Twelve years old. Died and returned; considered a walking and talking medical mystery.
Mike Schmidt was also the name of the guard that had disappeared just only a year or so ago. Well, not disappeared… Most likely stuffed into an animatronic suit. Dead. And she couldn't find him. Oh well; if Dana was right (which rarely she ever was now-a-days; she regularly attended therapy for her night terrors, and even though she said the medicine she was on was helping her, the chick was definitely losing her marbles), then with some intense moves and flirting, Jeremy would melt like butter in her hands and show her where Mike was.
That was all she needed.
Mike.
Her missing link. Her final puzzle piece. The thing that would tie it all together.
Sure he was probably dead, though she could only rely on Dana's insanity that insisted that he was still around, pouncing around as a robot. If he was still here, he could tell her something; anything. He had to know something. It wasn't even just Dana that believed this, but it was Toy Bonnie as well; he had not verbally stated that Mike was still present in spirit, but he had heavily implied it.
Lyra's thoughts were interrupted at the ringing of her doorbell. Immediately she felt blush flood to her cheeks; she was suddenly not as bold or courageous as she had once been, but more or less as frightened as a newborn kitten. She really hadn't dated in a very long time; the latest she could recall was her sophomore year of high school. She fixed the cuffs on her tuxedo and fluffed her hair up slightly. It was make it or break it time.
"Hi, Jeremy! I'm ready for our date!" she quickly greeted as she yanked the door open with a brittle smile painted on her face. She was thankful for her tanned skin; she would have been embarrassed beyond reason if he could have seen her blushing so hard. She had never acted this way before…
"H-hi..!" Jeremy replied; he was apparently attempting to stifle his butterflies as well. "Eh… So… Um… Y-you look… great!" he burst out, smiling anxiously; sweat was visibly forming on his frightened face.
"Thanks," Lyra replied with a slight giggle. "Are we wearing the same brand..?"
"I… Uh…" Jeremy quickly looked his own tuxedo over before laughing nervously once more. "I-it looks like it, ha ha…"
"Well, if I had to, I'd say you wore it best!" Lyra giggled cutely, stepping outside as she closed the door. She teasingly brushed his cheek with her hand as she passed by. "C'mon; let's get this night on a role before I have to go to work, huh?"
"Oh- right! Yeah!" Jeremy stammered, quickly following after her.
Lyra approached his beaming, silver car; she was astonished at how nice it was for someone like him, it must have been extremely expensive… She opened the door, met with a pleasant, fresh whiff of peaches. The interior was of black leather and very pristine; the only misplaced things were a ton of papers tossed in the back, but even though it was messy, it was in an orderly fashion.
Toy Bonnie was right about this guy… He's very organized…
She got inside and placed her duffel bag on her lap before putting her seatbelt on. She couldn't help but to fluff her hair again; she wanted to look her absolute best for him-
For the information!
Jeremy got in as well, trembling horribly as he put his belt on and tried to start his car up. As fate would have it, the thing refused to start up immediately, and led to Jeremy blushing darkly and laughing again as he struggled to get it to cooperate. The sweat was practically pouring from his face.
"Are you alright..?" Lyra asked with a snicker of worry, eyebrows raised.
"F-fine..!" Jeremy replied almost instantaneously, making her jump slightly in her seat. The car finally purred to life and Jeremy eased slightly in his seat. Lyra giggled once more at him.
"I'm not going to bite, Jeremy; calm down, huh?" she sighed, blinking warmly at him. "They never told me what a Nervous Nellie you were," Lyra joked in an attempt to break the ice.
"A-ah… Um… Well," Jeremy started, biting his lower lip. They were on the road, headed for an unnamed destination. "What did they tell you about me? Bonbon is quite the gossiper… I hope you don't rely on him too much as your main informant, ha ha…"
Lyra knew he was only joking with her, but she couldn't help but to tense slightly in her seat. There was no way he could know about her operations, and if he did, there was no way he would be this relaxed about it; her snooping would get the place shut down. For good. Well… The place was already set to be demolished soon anyways, but she would ultimately just me moving the date up- Who would want to get laid-off sooner than they had to?
"Well… They told me what a softie you were; Toy Freddy called you a 'pansy' I believe…" Lyra replied with a forced smile, gazing out the car window. "They also said something about you being very… safe..? Protective I think?"
"Oh, yeah, well… You can never be too careful…" Jeremy replied. His nervous demeanor quickly grew into one of discomfort, as if there was a story to go along with his response, but he was too reluctant to tell it.
"You okay? Something wrong?" Lyra asked curiously; maybe the subject would get her some backstory on Jeremy. She knew relatively nothing about him, and there was always the possibility of there being multiple killers.
"Oh, yeah… I'm fine…" Jeremy sighed, smiling at her the best he could manage. "Just… Nothing, nevermind, forget it; Um… Where do you want to eat, huh?"
"C'mon, Jeremy; tell me something about yourself!" Lyra insisted, tugging his arm in a playful manner. She even did her best puppy eyes look at him. She knew she was adorable; there was no way he'd be able to say no to her.
Jeremy glanced at her and found himself struggling to get his eyes back on the road. He really was a major softie.
"W-well… Yeah; you really can never be too careful… I've been working at Freddy's since 87', and I'm sure you've heard that whole story… I mean, who hasn't? You can have the best security crew known to man, but if you aren't focused on keeping safe… Well… Things happen that could have been prevented," Jeremy explained, flexing his fingers on the steering wheel. "Alright; there's your answer. You won't be getting anymore out of me; now, seriously, where do you want to eat?"
"Well… You know… I've heard of this really great pizza place that does private shows at night-"
"No," Jeremy stated, blush forming on his face.
"I have this really nice coupon; I wonder what it's good for-"
"Lilly, no; We're not eating there!" Jeremy urged, his smile wavering slightly. "Do you have any idea what a disaster that will be-"
"Let's see… Ah, yes, 'Jer-bear, you take good care of this girl tonight, you hear? You bring her to a quality restaurant, for example, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Only that's not an example. If you don't show up expect something unpleasant in your hat at work tomorrow. Love Chi,'" Lyra read from a crumpled up napkin, smirking slightly. "And then Toy Freddy wrote 'keep your hands to yourself.'"
"I hate them sometimes…" Jeremy grumbled tensely. "Fine. We'll eat at the pizzeria… But I need to stop somewhere real quick, if you don't mind; Before you desperately threw yourself at me this morning, I did have some plans."
"Okay, okay; be quick, alright?" Lyra conceded happily. She felt that maybe perhaps Jeremy was close to the robots. It made sense, since he had of course been working at the place for almost eight years.
There was a bit of silence for the short majority of the ride. It was intensely awkward in terms of atmosphere, however the two guards didn't seem to be disliking each others company in the slightest, though… They didn't necessarily seem to be liking each other either. Lyra couldn't help but to smile slightly; she could practically visualize those toys trying to force them to interact with one another. For robots, they were extremely human like.
The car pulled up into the driveway of a two-story home; only one car was present in the small driveway. The yard was in small and in good upkeep, occupied with a few trees and flowers here and there. One of the trees had a swing on its branch, though it looked as though it hadn't been touched in years.
"I just need to go in real quick and drop this off," Jeremy explained, pulling a small envelope out of the pocket between the two seats. "You can come with me if you want; this guy's name is Vincent. He retired about a week or two ago; just giving him his last paycheck."
Lyra quirked an eyebrow before shrugging and nodding. It was a minor turn off- not that this date was going to get him anywhere with her; it was harsh, but she really was just using him for her own personal gain- but maybe this Vincent guy knew something? If he had retired, then obviously he had some experience and age under his belt.
"C'mon, then; I'll try and make it quick, but sometimes he likes to.. talk. A lot. Especially to new guards," Jeremy snickered, unbuckling himself as he hopped out of the car.
"Oh, boy!" Lyra cheered sarcastically, following him out and up to the house.
Jeremy knocked several times and waited patiently for the door to open. After a few moments there was the sound of something collapsing inside followed by some abrupt profanity. The door opened a crack to reveal the face of a middle-aged man, probably in his fifties or sixties. His sunken, violet eyes scanned the duo over a moment before he grumbled loudly.
"Well shit…" he huffed, throwing the door open all the way. "What, you here to read me my Miranda Rights or something?"
"What..? No; Vincent, it's me," Jeremy chuckled slightly. The man cocked his head to the side in confusion. Jeremy sighed before reiterating, "Jeremy Fitzgerald; took over your shift has head of security; here to drop off your final earnings?"
"Oh! Jeremy!" Vincent exclaimed, his eyes widening with joy. It was subtle, though Lyra could tell it was false; Jeremy seemed to buy into it though. "Come in, boy; I couldn't tell who you were at first; the hell are you wearing a suit for..? Thought you were the police or something…"
"No; no police here," Jeremy snickered, ushering Lyra inside. "Why would you be worried about police for, anyways? You stealing someone's cable or something?"
"What? No- don't be absurd, boy," Vincent replied. "Newspapers. Neighbor's haven't had the paper in two months now," he explained jokingly. His attention flicked to Lyra, looking her over slightly with a raised eyebrow. "You going to tell me who your Dapper Dan is over here?"
"Oh! Right- Uh, this is Lilly, our new nightshift… Also my, uh… My date tonight…" Jeremy explained with blush presenting itself once more on his face as he glanced away from her.
"It's nice to meet you, Vincent," Lyra quickly greeted, extending a hand out to him. He stared at her hand a moment before crossing his arms. Lyra quickly retracted it in slight embarrassment, stuffing her hand into her pocket.
"You sure are the lady-killer, huh, boy? Takin' tuxedo girls to old mens' houses…" Vincent grumbled with a frown. "Whatever happened to that other chick? The one who almost snapped Scott's wrist in half- What's she doin' these days?"
"Oh, Dana? She's… Uh… Last I heard from her she was at college. She's majoring in musical science," Jeremy replied nervously as he rubbed his hands together.
"Excuse me; Um… Do you- Do you have a bathroom I could use real quick..?" Lyra quickly cut in. This was getting a little too boring, and she knew herself well enough to know that if they were talking about Dana, she wouldn't be able to help herself from joining in. In that scenario, it could lead to a blown cover and the promise of her degree fizzling away into nothingness.
Vincent gave her an eye before pointing towards the set of stairs near the doorway.
"Go right and it's the first door on the left," he mumbled in response.
Lyra didn't bother to thank him; it was obvious he didn't like her all that much, and to be honest, she wasn't picking up a good attraction towards him either. The guy was weird. Perhaps some snooping around would give some backstory on him?
Right and then left? Let's try left and then right, huh?
Lyra smirked as she grabbed the handle. It was locked. She frowned before digging around in her pocket for a pick to use. A grin returned to her face as she squatted down and easily unlocked the door. She peeked around the corner to hear downstairs; Jeremy was still distracting Vincent with petty conversation it seemed. Lyra quickly cracked the door open, peeking inside before walking in.
The room appeared to be a bedroom for a little girl. Since Vincent was old and obviously single, Lyra couldn't help but wonder why exactly this room was here. It was a light shade of purple inside, painted; some drawings, obviously made by the hands of a child, were adorned about the room, framed. The bed was small and covered in rabbit plushies, some of which looked extremely old, while others Lyra could recall seeing from earlier in Easter; one was even a Fazbear Entertainment copyrighted plush of Bonnie.
Maybe he has a daughter? Probably moved out or something…
There was nothing of particular interest in the bedroom, so Lyra decided to make her way out. She didn't want to get caught lurking where she wasn't supposed to be. She gingerly shut the door before looking down the hall; there was another room, one with the door left slightly ajar.
Peering inside, it too appeared to be a bedroom, probably Vincent's. Unlike the little girl's bedroom, which had been light and inviting, this room was… Unnerving… It was dark, the only thing illuminating it being a tv that was left on the news. The windows had black curtains that shut out the dwindling daylight (which probably explained why Vincent's eyes were so sunken). Newspapers littered the floor, which he had already explained he had stolen them from his neighbors… Mounted on the wall was apparently his old security uniform, a raggedy purple suit that could really use a visit to the tailor's. Beside it were some framed articles and ones that were merely held up with push-pins and Scotch tape; only one seemed to be worth noting.
Girl Disappears at Family Diner
Fred Bear's Family Diner, a popular eatery due to it's hi-tech child-entertaining animatronic characters, has been shut down temporarily as police investigate an apparent disappearance of a five year old girl. No leads or motives have been discovered as of late.
"We can only hope for the best, but we're prepared for the worst," - Manager
Lyra mentally cataloged the article, promising herself that she would check out the library for the full newspaper on the story. She had never seen, nor heard of this event ever having happened. Oh well. Just more to the puzzle. Lyra lightly waltzed out of the room and headed towards the bathroom, where she flushed the toilet (hey, she said she needed to use it; might as well flush to make the fib more believeable), washed her hands, and headed back downstairs.
"Did you find everything okay..?" Vincent questioned as she came tromping back down the stairs to rejoin the two men.
"Oh yeah," Lyra replied with a small grin.
^xx..oo..xx^
"This is stupid!" Chi hissed to Chica. "They're not even talking!"
"I know, but remember what Freddy said; we can't interfere," Chica whispered with a frown. "You think they like the pizza we made for them..?"
"No doubts; Jeremy always loved my cooking," Chi replied happily. Ah, she loved him as though he were her own son… How badly she wanted to treat him as such so she could smack him for the way he was staring at that poor Lilly girl.
"If yer' complainin' about how quiet it is, why not give'em some ambiance, huh?" Vixen suggested with a wink. "Yer' the only one of us that knows how teh' play the piano, yeh' know…"
"It's not a piano, it's a keyboard," Chi fumed as she crossed her arms. She lightened slightly and shrugged. "It's not a bad idea though… We just need to push them in the right direction is all; I'm sure Freddy wouldn't have a cow over that."
"Have a cow?" Chica repeated with confusion.
"Throw a fit," Chi reiterated. Geez… The Originals needed to get with the times; get their lingo straight.
"O-oh… Right," Chica mumbled embarrassedly. "Well, we can't just have you on the keyboard; oh! See if Frederick will sing with you!"
"Chica!" Chi barked, smacking a hand acrossed her older counterpart's mouth. "Bite your tongue! That's a terrible idea! I'd rather try to get with Mike again than ask that abusive sexualizing mutt to sing with me!"
"But he has such a nice voice-"
"No. Forget it. If they want some music for their downward-spiraling date, then you can give it to them. I'll just… watch…" Chi explained, glancing to the ground. She huffed and crossed her arms upsetly. She didn't like to talk about Frederick; the only time she would even tolerate being around him was at Freddy's numerous meetings and when she had no other choice when they performed during the day.
SERVORS CHAT: The Love Boat
Frederick: You should really watch what you say, some people might be able to hear you, especially when it's dead silent throughout the entire facility
ToyChica: :^ I can say what I want when I want to, especially if it's all true
Frederick: I know you only use that emote when you're talking to me
ToyChica: :^ Yeah, so?
Frederick: You do realize how annoying and immature that is, right?
ToyChica: Look's like someone's sobered up tonight, huh? :^ :^ :^ :^
Frederick: Stop changing the subject : ( And enough with those f_cking emotes; I've already said I was sorry
ToyChica: Yeah, but you've never really ever meant it, now have you? You don't think I notice you staring at me? Or hear what you're crying about Backstage? You don't miss me at all, and you're not sorry for the way you treated me, let alone the others. :^
Frederick: What am I supposed to do then? I am sorry
ToyChica: Sorry my pizza-loving _ss :^
Frederick: Why do you always have to fight with me? Why can't we have a decent conversation?
ToyChica: Because only mature, grown-up, civilized beings have decent conversations. When you're talking to a child, they can be uncultured, ignorant, irrational swines :^
Frederick: Rude
ToyChica: :^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^ :^ :^ :^:^
Frederick banned himself from this chat
Chi clenched her hands tightly into fists before poking her head out of the Kitchen.
"Jeremy! Can I see you real quick?" she called out to the startled guard. She was trying her best to withhold her oily tears, forcing a grin of confidence on her face as he approached. She slapped an arm around his neck and pulled him inside.
"What's up, Chi?" Jeremy asked, eyebrows raised.
"I'm going to teach you how to treat your woman right," she replied, handing him a pen and a stack of napkins.
Author's Note: Gross. This chapter is gross. I'm sorry you had to read it; I just wanted it to be out of the way so I could write the next one please forgive me hopefully something this atrocious will never happened again...
Also, sorry for late update I've been volunteering and seeing the chiropractor about my back issues (WHICH HAS DEFINITELY IMPROVED).
~Admin LP