Charlie and Michael were staying at the Green River for another night, despite Charlie's objections. She'd woken up with a migraine that left her unable to stand. She spent the day in bed, buried under the covers, only emerging when Michael enticed her to drink some water. She slept at random intervals, waking up at the slightest sound.
"Charlotte?" Even Michael's calm, subdued voice was jarring. Charlie groaned and poked her head out from under the covers. It was nighttime at last, and the darkened room was incredibly soothing to her stinging eyes.
"How is it?" Michael sat on the edge of the bed and extended a fresh cup of water to her. She didn't feel like throwing up anymore and the pain in her head was now a dull ache, but she was still nauseous.
"...Better." She sat up and took a sip of water. Michael pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
"Still no fever. That's good."
"I'm not sick. It's just a migraine."
The two sat in silence, listening to the ambiance of the motel. There was a passing conversation and footsteps followed by a door shutting out in the hallway. Michael cleared his throat and shattered the silence a few seconds later.
"...So I brought the letters with me. The letters from my mom."
"...Really?" Charlie looked at him quizzically.
"I reread a good chunk of them while you were sleeping, just to see if there was any information we could use… and I think I found something." Michael stood up and retrieved a letter from the cluttered desk by the TV. "There's another Freddy's."
"What?"
Michael cleared his throat again and sat down on the foot of the bed.
"Michael- it seems your father has taken on a new venture. He bought an old coal refinery aways out of town and he has hired a contractor and construction crew. He says that what he has in store will be a great thing for us, but I have my reservations. Elizabeth is much more excited than me, mainly because your father is promising her something extra special."
Michael shuffled the first letter behind another and started reading the next one.
"... I don't know how your father managed it, but he's created four robots. They're the star attractions of his new business venture, "Circus Baby's Rentals". Elizabeth and I were "introduced" today. There's a Fox ("Funtime Foxy"), a bear ("Funtime Freddy") a ballerina (Ballora; she's my least favorite by far), and Circus Baby herself, a clown girl. Circus Baby is the extra special thing your father promised Elizabeth. Obviously Funtime Freddy and Foxy are blatant ripoffs of Henry's creations.
But they aren't ordinary animatronics, Michael. There's something very off about each of them, but I can't put my finger on it. One thing I can put my finger on, however, is the stolen blueprint I found in your father's office. I've included it in this envelope- it was a big risk, sneaking it in, but I promised I'd give you any and all information. I don't know what this SCUP device does, but Henry designed it with good intentions and I'm certain your father will twist it somehow.
This isn't good, Michael. Something terrible is going to happen. I will gather whatever information I can, even if it means going to this place everyday." Michael sighed and refolded the letters.
"And? She went back, right? There's another letter with more information, right?" Charlie said urgently.
"Yes and no. The only other letter referring to this location includes the address and not much else. There were more stolen blueprints included with that letter, but I left them at the hospital. There was this small hole in the wall where I hid them and the SCUP blueprints. I thought I grabbed them all, but I was in such a hurry to get out of there… they probably slipped out of the folder I stuffed them all in." Michael chewed on his lower lip.
"Jesus…" Charlie groaned.
"But we have the address. We can go and check it out for ourselves."
"Great! I'll get dressed!" She threw the covers off.
"What? We can't go now. You're still sick."
"I told you, I'm not sick. It's a migraine and it's mostly gone."
"Charlotte-"
Charlie had already grabbed her clothes and darted to the bathroom. When she emerged Michael was still sitting on the foot of the bed, holding the large police flashlight.
"You're sure you want to-"
"Let's go." Charlie grabbed her car keys and headed out the balcony door. It was freezing outside- she put her hands deep in her sweatshirt's front pocket. Once in the car, she turned the heat on full blast. Fortunately, they only had to backtrack a little to find the refinery, which was one county over. The single, warehouse-like building stood alone in the middle of an overgrown field. There was a large sign above the main entrance of the building, but it was faded and illegible. There was a parking lot, but it was small and various plants grew out of the cracks in the asphalt.
"Who opens a place like this in the middle of nowhere?" Charlie wondered aloud as she stepped out of the car.
"My father had a very specific vision for this place- this was probably the only building that met his standards." Michael sighed, "It's inconspicuous, too."
Charlie walked up to the main entrance and tugged on the planks of wood nailed over the door.
"Wait. My mom mentioned a maintenance entrance. It'll probably be easier to go in that way." Michael gestured for her to follow him. She did so reluctantly, shining the flashlight on his back.
"Here. See?" He cleared some brambles away from a rusty door on the side of the building.
"There's no way that's unlocked. We'll have to pick the-"
The door creaked open and Charlie felt a sudden pang of apprehension.
"Come on, then." Michael ventured into the building.
"Wait." Charlie grabbed his shoulder. That was too easy.
"What?"
"It's a little weird that the door was just… open. What if someone else is in here?"
"They're not."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Over here." Michael gestured towards a set of rusted metal doors just a few feet away.
"There's a number pad. You need a code to activate the elevator."
"Did your mom give you the code?"
"No, but-"
"Wait, what's that? Above the number pad." Charlie shined the flashlight on a fabric pouch hanging off the wall. Michael tentatively reached up and retrieved the item in the pouch, which appeared to be a yellow tablet.
"It… it has my name on it. It's my mom's handwriting." He examined the tablet closely.
"Is there also a code on it?"
"No, but I have an idea." Michael turned to the number pad. Beep beep boop beep. Somewhere, in the deep recesses of the building, an engine roared to life.
"What was it?"
No response. The elevator doors creaked open a second later and the car sunk down slightly when Charlie and Michael stepped into it.
"...I hope this thing still works." Michael switched the tablet on.
"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career!" A voice boomed. "I'm a model 5 of the Handy Man's Robotic and Unit Repair System, but you can call me Hand Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities. Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so be careful." A virtual keyboard appeared on the tablet.
"Right…" Michael muttered. Beep beep boop boop boop boop! "Damn it, it won't stop shaking!"
"Here, let me-" Charlie reached for the tablet.
"It seems you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type and I will autocorrect it for you. One moment." The voice said helpfully.
"Welcome, Maya."
Charlie laughed, mostly due to her nerves. She stumbled forward when the elevator stopped abruptly seconds later.
"You can now open the door using that bright, red, and obvious button. Let's get to work!" The voice exclaimed.
"...What the hell was that about?" Michael stared at the tablet in bewilderment.
"Beats me, Maya." Charlie was once again using humor to calm herself. Michael hit the red button by the elevator door. They snapped open and revealed a tiny crawl space adorned with yellow caution tape. Charlie and Michael exchanged glances.
"...Well, this is the maintenance entrance." He muttered, kneeling down and clearing the yellow tape away from the opening. "..You first."
"What? Why me?" Charlie backed up. "You have the tablet!"
"You're more techy!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"There could be something you have to hack into or something."
"In the vent?"
"Could be! My father could have installed some kind of security system or-"
"Fine." Charlie sighed, holding out her hand. She slipped the tablet into the back pocket of her jeans and reluctantly entered the vent, pushing cobwebs away from her face in the process. Michael followed her after several seconds.
"Motion trigger; Entryway vent." A female voice echoed through the vent suddenly and Charlie gasped and froze in place.
"Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter." Hand Unit piped up seconds later. "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 parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning."
"Keep going." Michael hissed behind Charlie. The girl took a deep breath and focused on the light she could see at the end of the vent. Her relief was palpable when she crawled out and stood up. She was in a small, greenish-hued room with small control panels and vents on either side, as well as one straight ahead. A few small, white animatronic heads sat in a corner and instantly piqued her curiosity. They reminded her of a project she'd done during her one college semester.
"Charlotte?" Michael emerged from the vent and glanced around the room himself.
"Now what?" They said at the same time.
"You are now in the primary control module; it's actually a crawl space between the two front showrooms." Hand Unit said, "Now let's get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging children to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light to see if Ballora is onstage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left."
"Go for it, Techie." Michael said, nudging Charlie. She shot him a look before hitting the button. The light revealed nothing but an empty stage.
"Great! It looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery." Hand Unit commented.
"What? Am I missing something?" Charlie tried the light again. "Where's Ballora?"
"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!" Hand Unit continued nonchalantly.
Charlie hit the elevated keypad on the right and screamed. There, above Funtime Foxy's stage, were the silhouettes of two hanged men.
"Great! It looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium!"
Charlie and Michael stood in shocked silence.
"Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today's shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or not be skilled enough to perform. It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy's power module. However, they were unsuccessful." Hand Unit continued.
"No shit." Michael muttered under his breath, hitting the light switch again.
"Stop it!" Charlie hissed, snatching his wrist.
"...Allowing them to try again would be an insufficient path forward. You will need to reach the Parts and Service Room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium."
"Yeah, like that'll happen." Michael growled.
"We have to get out of here. There's something down here that killed those men-"
"Motion trigger; Entryway vent. Motion trigger;Entryway vent."
Charlie and Michael stared at the vent behind them in horror.
"Not exactly. Someone killed those men." William emerged from the vent, a large smirk situated on his face.
"Yeah! It was our new friend!" Elizabeth came up behind him. She wore a ruffled red skirt and a matching lace-up tank top. Her blonde pigtails were bouncy as usual and her green eyes glimmered even in the dim light of the control module.
"That was easier than I thought it would be. I have you right where I want you." William let out a raspy chuckle.
"We knew you had mommy's letters, Mike. We knew that you'd come here when you ran away!" Elizabeth chirped. She had a small lollipop in her mouth- Charlie could see the stick hanging out of it.
"Elizabeth…" Michael said his sister's name mournfully- Charlie had never heard such pain in his voice before.
"Now..." William stepped forward and tilted Charlie's chin up with his grimy fingers.
"Don't touch her!" Michael snapped and advanced on his father, but Elizabeth took hold of him. Charlie couldn't bring herself to move- all she could do was glare.
"Charlotte, my dear, I'll admit I was quite shocked when I found out you'd survived our encounter. I watched the life fade from those beautiful eyes when I dumped you in the alley. I was so sure that was the end of it. But, as usual, your father wouldn't stand for it. I know what he did, Charlotte, but he won't be able to do it again. I'll make sure of it." He shoved her and she hit the back of her head against an unseen blunt object as she fell.
"No!" Michael fought against Elizabeth to no avail. Spots erupted in front of Charlie's eyes and she groaned loudly. Her migraine was back and more painful than ever.
"As for you, Michael…."
Charlie didn't hear the rest of William's sentence. Once again, Elizabeth's shrill laughter accompanied her into darkness.
Click click click. Charlie. Click click click CLICK click. Charlie, open your eyes. She was somehow standing- she realized this when she opened her eyes. Click CLICK! The springlocks, Charlie. Springlocks? She gasped. Her peripheral vision revealed blinking red dots on either side of her head. She was in a suit- a suit complete with a head. Help is coming, Charlie. I am here with you. Charlie shook her head to get her mind moving and diligently wound the springlocks, remembering the pain of being caught in their confines.
"Where am I?" She cried out. No response from the voice. It was pitch black in the room except for a flashing red light in the distance. She whimpered in frustration- her arm was already getting tired and her head was throbbing.
"Dad!" She wailed out of the blue. She'd never wanted her father more. But she was going to die. She'd never see him again. She closed her eyes and waited for the springlocks to impale every limb, every organ. Click click click CLICK CLICK!
"Charlotte?" Michael's voice was distant. Michael? How had he- "Charlotte?" He entered the room.
"Here." She rasped. He's too late. Any second now… CLICK! She felt the locks by her right leg loosen. Suddenly a cold burst of air hit her chest- the suit was somehow opened from the front. She fell forward into Michael's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He embraced her tightly.
"How did you-"
"Charlotte..." The way he spoke was very off. She pulled away and studied him. His expression was relaxed and his eyes- his eyes. They were glowing. Not reflecting the dim red light in the room- they were glowing. They had a luminescence similar to Elizabeth's eyes. Unnatural. Unnerving.
"Michael…"
"Charlotte, it's okay." His voice was low and foreboding.
She backed up. But you're not.
"Michael." She repeated, hoping that he'd snap out of whatever daze he was in. He was in shock, much like she was. That was what she told herself in an attempt to shake the feeling of dread that now hung over her.
"Charlotte." He was staring right through her. Her first instinct was to run, but her feet wouldn't move. Nothing was making sense- William's threats had been empty. They were still alive. Michael lowered his head. Charlie couldn't be certain, but it sounded like he was sobbing softly. She lowered her own gaze and caught sight of his bloodied torso. She'd been so fixated on his eyes that she hadn't noticed it at first. He'd been stabbed. That was the only explanation, but it didn't make any sense. He was standing and not the least bit faint from the ensuing blood loss.
"Charlotte, I… I don't know… I don't understand…" Michael stammered. Charlie let out a sob of her own. She didn't understand either.