Freddy

The first thing I noticed upon reboot was a shrill, girlish laughter in my ear, and a partial impediment of my vision. With my one unobstructed eye I focused on what was on my face; a small, mannequin-like doll, with empty black space were it's eyes and mouth should have been. It giggled at me again, doing nothing otherwise.

The next thing was the sound of rummaging movement in the room. I lifted my head and took in my surroundings, observing a space littered with tools, parts of many machines, and more of these strange dolls. There was a work desk against the wall to my left, and standing there, humming to herself, was a woman I didn't recognize.

I attempted to sit upright but was met with near immediate resistance, and when I looked down to see why, I discovered metal shackles pinning my arms to the surface beneath me.

The jostling knocked the doll from my face, and as soon as it hit the floor it scrambled in the woman's direction, climbing up her clothing and clinging to the back of her neck. Rather than the sensation of that creature invading her personal space, it was the sound of my struggle that caught the woman's attention. When she turned in my direction, surprise was apparent in her expression.

"Ohhh my god you're actually up!" She stated excitedly, walking up to me and removing something from my ears. "That's a huge relief, I was starting to think I had some debugging to do."

The room we were in had no windows, and the only way out seemed to be a steep flight of stairs leading to a dead-bolted doorway.

That's when the memory of the ride here returned to me, at least the first few minutes of it, and I was overwhelmed with a dreadful, sinking feeling.

"You know it was a pain in my ass trying to get you out of the car." She continued, walking back over to her desk and tossing some jumper cables haphazardly onto its surface. "Of course your battery had to die on the way. But at least you aren't as heavy as the older models..."

I tried to sit up again, but this time it was more to test the security of my restraints. The material was strong, but their construction was weak.

"Where is Gregory?" I asked, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt before any rash actions were taken. "What have you done with him?"

"He's fine, you don't have to worry about it." She replied vaguely, returning to rifling through her belongings. "Right now we're making sure you're working properly. It's a safety hazard otherwise."

This was not an answer I was willing to accept. I pried my arms away from the surface behind me, the bolts on the shackles sheared and they fell to the floor, clanging loudly.

"God damnit." She cursed, reaching for something in her tool belt. I had only taken a couple steps in her direction before the sharp crack of a taser pierced the room and stopped me in my tracks. The doll on her shoulder was startled, and it quickly jumped down from its perch to flee from the sound.

"You better not try anything funny." The woman muttered sternly, her weapon pointed at my chest. "Don't think for a second that I won't put you down."

Now that I was no longer restricted I was able to get a good look at her. She was five foot nine, stocky in build, with a pale complexion and ginger hair. Her stance was prepared for offense, and while she stared up at me with unwavering opposition, it was clear that she was afraid. Her hands were shaking.

"I don't want to hurt you." I assured, raising my arms in surrender. "I just want to know where Gregory is."

There was a slight shift in her body language, though she remained ready to stun me at a moments notice. "He's upstairs, sleeping on the couch." She finally said. "He wanted to come down here with you, but I told him it wasn't safe." A flicker of sympathy crossed her features. "He looked really tired anyway, I made him some lavender tea and he passed right out."

An instant of awkward silence passed between us. "Are you...going to let me see him?" I finally questioned.

Now she appeared bewildered, dropping her guard as if she'd flipped a switch. "Of course I'll let you see him." She answered, exasperated. "What, did you think I was gonna keep you down here and torture you or something?"

Thoughts of Vanessa leaving me with my head detached flashed through my mind. "I wouldn't put it past you." I admitted. "You had me in restraints after all."

She folded her arms in front of her crossly. "I had to do that, safety measures are disabled when performing maintenance on animatronics." Was her argument. "How else could I make sure you didn't kill me when you woke up?"

After witnessing what my friends were capable of last night, I couldn't say that I blamed her for thinking that way.

"If you had given me a couple minutes I would have unlocked you myself, but you had to go and break my examination table." She grumbled moodily. "Un-freakin-believable."

Another uneasy moment passed. I felt guilty, but wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "I...apologize miss-" It was then that I realized I didn't know her name yet. "What should I call you?"

Finally she chose to put her taser back into its holster, much to my relief. "My name is Grace." She said curtly.

"It is nice to meet you, Grace." I replied. "Though I do wish it were under more...pleasant circumstances."

"Right, whatever." She gestured with her head toward the stairs, one hand resting on her tool belt. "You can go up to see Gregory now." She told me, instantly flooding me with a sense of relief. "But if you pull anything suspicious I will not hesitate to dismantle you, am I very clear?"

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, I understand." Then, as an afterthought, I offered her my gratitude. A short, to-the-point: "Thank you."