DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Chapter 21: Nuts, Bolts and Screws
Just like the note from his father said, Mike was instantly granted employment at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. No questions asked, just "be here at midnight." And so, just before midnight a few nights later, Mike arrived at the underground robotics lab.
Stepping into the elevator to take him down to the facility, Mike couldn't deny the feelings of dread and some deja vu that struck him as the elevator doors closed with a resounding thud. He made it out alive once after fighting off the animatronics; was a second time pushing his luck?
"How do I get myself into these situations?" he sighed as the elevator hummed as it began its descent.
"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career..."
Mike jumped at the silence suddenly being replaced by an artificial sounding voice. Popping out in front of him was a thick yellow handheld device. Mike's eyes were instantly drawn to the white label on the top left hand corner of the device's plastic outer casing. It read "Mike."
"Huh," Mike let out a small laugh. "Did you do this, Dad? Is this a small sign to tell me you're still alive somewhere?"
Knowing that William could not answer him, he pushed those thoughts aside and turned his attention back to the hand unit.
"...Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities."
"What, I guess being instructed to come and work here by your serial killer father to free the souls of the children he murdered and save the spirit of your sibling wasn't a common enough answer?" Mike snarkily murmured to himself in reply to the welcome message's list of methods in which the job was taken by the employee.
Hand Unit, however, continued forward with its programming.
"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful."
Attempting to enter his name, Mike encountered some difficulty as a result of the tremors and jolts from the elevator's movement causing unsteadiness.
"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict."
Despite the fact that Mike knew he was probably going to be referred to as a breakfast dish during his tenure in the facility, a smile appeared on his lips. Eggs benedict; that brought back some memories. It was a meal that his father enjoyed and he would make it special for Lukas and him on Sunday mornings. It was probably just a fluke that Hand Unit was referring to him by such a name but, nonetheless, it struck a familiar chord with Mike.
"You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let's get to work! "
Letting out a slow breath, Mike did as Hand Unit instructed and pressed the red button to open the elevator doors and grant him access into the facility. What lay before him was a small vent-like opening. Mike frowned.
"I'm supposed to crawl through that?!" he remarked.
It was a rather tight fight, making Mike thankful that he was not claustrophobic. The tunnel seemed endless, with no light at the end.
"Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter..." Hand Unit suddenly blurted out amidst the metallic pounding caused by Mike's knees and elbows hitting the metal of the tunnel as he progressed through the vent.
"Oh, this oughta be good," Mike muttered.
"Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children's entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning..."
Mike rolled his eyes. So, that was the story the company was feeding the world? What a bunch of bull. Then again, it was probably better than stating what really happened to cause the close of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
After crawling through the darkness for what seemed like ages, the darkness lightened up ever so slightly, indicating that Mike had reached the end of it. Stepping out into the room, Mike got to his feet and stretched his cramped muscles.
"You are now in the Primary Control Module. It's actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms," Hand Unit continued.
Mike glanced around the Primary Control Module. It wasn't anything entirely special or terrifying (Mike was grateful for the latter). The room was smaller than his bedroom and was bathed in a sick, greenish/yellowish light. To his left and to his right were several large picture windows, though he could not see out of them due to the darkness looking back at him on the other side of the walls. The room was obviously not very well maintained, with poor lighting and wires and machine parts scattered across the ground. There appeared to be three additional vent-like tunnels leading out of the Primary Control Module in addition to the one he entered through. Mike was sad to say that he almost kind of missed the security office from Freddy's.
"Now, lets get started with your daily tasks," Hand Unit's voice drew him back from his observations. "View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left."
"Keypad, keypad," Mike murmured, looking over to his left. "Ah, there it is."
Carefully stepping over some wires, he headed over to the elevated keypad and pressed the blue button. Doing so illuminated the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio. The stage where Mike assumed Ballora would be, however, was empty. He couldn't deny the chill that shot through his body at the thought of an animatronic on the loose in the facility. The scar on Mike's leg, courtesy of Foxy, began to throb in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"Uh-oh, it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step."
"Say what?" Mike asked aloud. "A controlled shock?"
His eyes drifted down from the blue button to the red one below it. It was marked with a simple yellow lightning bolt. Somewhat reluctantly, Mike pressed the button and a shock was delivered.
"Let's check the light again," Hand Unit told Mike, which he did. "Excellent. Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right. This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light, let's see what Funtime Foxy is up to."
Stepping away from the left elevated keypad, Mike couldn't help but feel a tinge of remorse at what, by all accounts, seemed to be a painful electric shock issued to Ballora. After carefully making his way over to the other side of the Primary Control Module, he threw a quick glance over his shoulder toward the Ballora Gallery and Party Room. Of course, without the light to illuminate the room, he couldn't see anything.
"They're just robots, Mike," he tried to remind himself. "Your father built them. He built them with nuts, bolts, screws, metal and plastic."
Shaking his head, Mike looked down at the elevated keypad and clicked the button to activate the Funtime Auditorium light. No Funtime Foxy in sight.
"Looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let's motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock."
Great. Another controlled shock. Wincing as he did so, Mike clicked the red button, followed by the blue one again.
"Let's try another controlled shock."
Mike let out an annoyed huff. Even though the animatronics at Freddy's had, essentially, tried to murder him, he still felt bad about causing them pain. Then again, he tried to remind himself yet again, they were only nuts, bolts, screws, metal and plastic.
"Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order, great job! In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module."
Circus Baby. Mike's heart began to flutter as he knew he was finally going to be face to face with the animatronic that murdered his sister. With shaky hands, he got down on his hands and knees and began traversing the vent toward the Circus Gallery.
"On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby's Auditorium. Let's check the light, and see what Baby is up to," Hand Unit announced when Mike finally reached the opposite end of the vent.
Just like before, he headed over to the elevated keypad and pressed the blue button. The lights on the opposite side of the glass seemed to short out, causing it to rain amber sparks. With what little light there was, Mike found no Baby in the auditorium.
"Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later. Let's encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock."
Though he felt bad about it before, Mike felt absolutely uncomfortable at this request. If his sister was really inside of Baby, then he would be issuing an electric shock, in essence, to her as well, wouldn't he?
"No..." he said quietly. "I...I can't do that..."
Having not sensed any movement, Hand Unit repeated its last request. Eyes glued shut, Mike reached out one finger and tapped the red button to deliver the shock. Nervously opening up one eye, he tried to turn on the light in the auditorium again but still saw nothing.
"Let's try another controlled shock."
A reluctant press of the red button.
"Let's try another controlled shock."
Another reluctant press of the red button.
"Great job Circus Baby, we knew we could count on you! That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don't want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we'll see you again tomorrow."
Though there was no Circus Baby on stage, Hand Unit seemed to think so and finished up with its programming. With Hand Unit seemingly offline, Mike took one last quick peek into the Circus Baby Auditorium.
"Where are you, Elyse?" he whispered.
Releasing the blue button, Mike made his way back through the vent.