Facial recognition engaged.
Auto update date and time: 11/13/1993 1:54:24am
Uploading known database.
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1 file found.
06/09/1971 11:28:49am
Open-
She blinked, and for a moment, she took in the room around her. Sinks filled with broken glass. More of it winking at her from the floor. Up ahead, the other occupants blurred into one continuous shape. She picked out ears and white eyes, purple blotches that barely stood out from the shadows, pale faces staring back at her.
Then, a tall figure reached for her, with a hand with the same olive-gold tone as hers shifting in and out of view.
"Vesper," it whispered, its voice soft and feminine, "I promise, we will get you home."
Their fingers barely touched. For a brief moment, a forgotten warmth grazed against her small fingertips.
The glimmers of light faded from the winks of glass. The blurs of the figures before her disappeared into the shadows, though the rabbit's eyes no longer shone.
And in that moment, the darkness pulled her back in.
ERROR: Improper shutdown detected.
Activating recovery process.
Auto update date and time: 11/13/1993 1:57:56am
Recovering...
For a long while, no one moved. Neither human dared to even breathe. Mike's flashlight still rested on the floor, shining on the Puppet's still body. Some of its light still bounced off the piles of glass. Even the old creaks and groans from Spring Bonnie's metal body had stopped.
Slowly, Vanna lowered her hand from where Vesper stood before, then shifted her flashlight to the thin black body in front of them.
"...Vesper?"
No answer.
Vanna took in a slow, hesitant breath, then crept towards the fallen Puppet. Pieces of glass winked around her, settling only when she crouched down by the marionette. Her fingers gently caressed the smooth head, a black sphere under the mask.
The marionette still didn't move. As if in a trance, Vanna set her flashlight down beside her and pushed the Puppet onto its back, looking over its face, its buttons, its striped limbs and long fingers for any trace of life.
Mike carefully pushed himself up, taking small, quiet steps to follow Vanna. He retrieved his flashlight as he made his way over, hanging back with uncertainty. Vanna's fingers traced the edge of the Puppet's mask, circling its red cheek.
"Vesper?"
Again, it didn't answer her.
Vanna slipped her fingers under the Puppet's head, gently lifting it up. She took one of its long-fingered hands into her own.
"Vesper, please," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Answer me."
The eyes remained blank and empty, the body a lifeless shell. Mike started to put a hand on her shoulder, when he noticed how quiet the room still was. He shone his flashlight over to Spring Bonnie, who sat just as lifelessly, slumped back against the wall. Even the white pinpricks no longer shone.
"Jeremy?"
He listened for that familiar echo of a voice in his mind, and for once felt unnerved that he heard nothing.
Mike ran over to the suit and knelt down beside it, picking up one of its hands and lifting it, before he moved to tilt the mask into an upright position.
The mask's sockets were empty.
"Jeremy!"
No answer.
Recovery complete.
Opening files…
Finally, after another long moment, he heard something: a sputter at first, then a long robotic whine, not unlike a TV set before the audio caught up to the picture. The whine sputtered, then segwayed into a continuous deep, jarring note. Mike reached up to cover his ears, but the sound came from no external source.
Like the voices he heard before, it rang in his mind. A soft gasp behind him told him Vanna heard it too. Both of them shuddered, and tried to get it to stop.
The noise continually droned on.
The file segments came in brief spouts, with only a few seconds of fleeting footage. All of them contained indecipherable words and clips of speech, none of which could be heard clearly.
His feet were in front of him, twitching over the red oil and black and white tiles, staining the yellow feet as a pair of legs in dark pants cautiously avoided the growing pool.
The stage stretched before him, with an empty dining room save for a tall woman in a red polo, with a shiny red headband keeping her straight black hair out of her face as she argued with a slightly taller man, his face hidden under his baseball cap.
A frightened little girl with green eyes and dark pigtails backed away from him, soon followed by the haunting sound of her screams. Something pink covered her dress.
Mike leading Jamie towards the alcove to keep him away from Brian.
The tall woman looked down at him from above, marked only by her silhouette and hints of her red polo caused from the light behind her. She held up a screwdriver as she prepared to make an adjustment.
A dark room with a child crying out of sight, the horrible sounds slowly fading away.
The click of a wrench and a man muttering something under his breath.
A child's body on the floor, with a panicked voice nearby.
The back room where he sat in the dark, facing the work table that sported an unfinished animatronic. A tall figure entered the room and approached him.
An old man dragging away something large and heavy, tightly wrapped in tarp.
The Puppet staring at him with glowing eyes, right before a forced restart cut off the clip.
After a long while, the noise stopped just as suddenly as it started. Mike still felt his head spin, but when he gave it a gentle shake to clear the residual racket from his mind, he noticed the bathroom was quiet again. He glanced over to Vanna, who came out of a similar stupor, before the gentle hum of servos powering back on got both of their attention.
The two humans sat motionless as Spring Bonnie gently moved his head. From behind the silver discs, the little pinpricks of life flickered back on.
Slowly, one golden hand reached towards them. A broken voice called out, its robotic stuttering making it difficult to recognize.
M...st-st…
Mike edged away from the animatronic.
"...Jeremy?"
I-I-I...m...st-st...still…
The old voice box crackled from inside the animatronic. Occasionally, part of a word came from it, instead of inside their minds.
"..Mm...h-h…st-sti...here..."
Vanna abandoned the Puppet for a moment to pull herself a little closer to Mike. She once more readied herself to grab his arm and lead him away from here.
The crackling stopped as Spring Bonnie suddenly slumped forward, a powering down sound hanging in the air. A moment later, the old robot creaked as it moved. One large, plush hand found the mask's forehead, the uneven fingers stroking it in confusion. The old eyelids stalled again, the pinpricks struggling to retain their flame.
Mike…
Jeremy tilted the mask up to better face his companions. His ghostly pupils stabilized, then flickered in a blink. Mike stayed back, but pushed himself up onto his toes to make it easier to face the animatronic. Vanna stayed just behind him, on one knee so she was better prepared to stand and run.
"What happened?" she whispered.
The yellow face twitched a bit, the one good ear shifting nervously. Spring Bonnie's face shifted into a more neutral expression, and a low creak echoed in the bathroom as it shook its head.
I don't...know, Jeremy's voice whispered. When that...that little girl appeared, I...I-I'm not sure what happened, ex...exactly. But I went away for a moment.
"I think you shut down," Mike said, softly.
God, that felt so weird to say.
No, Jeremy said. It wasn't...I saw code, Mike. Code, and...flickers of video.
He ran his plush hand over his forehead.
I couldn't make much sense of any of it, but it was like...like a dream. A dream where you see pieces of different memories.
Mike turned back to Vanna. She blinked at him, trying to keep her expression blank. Small twitches at her eyes and lips gave her away.
"What sort of things did you see?" she asked.
Um…
Jeremy tilted his head in thought.
I kept seeing this strange woman. The little girl...and I think this suit being worked on. They all happened so fast, I barely caught any of it.
Vanna nodded.
"Maybe it remembers something."
Mike looked between her and Spring Bonnie.
"What, the suit?"
"Remember what the old man said?" Vanna asked. "It turns up whenever some sort of tragedy happens."
She could be right.
Both Mike and Vanna turned to Jeremy.
...I was able to see some complete files earlier, he said, quietly. I saw an old man...
Jeremy hesitated for a moment, having to compose himself. One plush hand moved to clutch the other arm as he spoke again.
...He...f-found my...my body. Then I saw this suit being moved from the place I worked to here, and a few...fragments of other things.
Vanna perked a little, honing in on what he just said.
"What did the old man look like?" she asked.
Um…
Spring Bonnie's eyelids stalled in an attempt to close them, and for a moment, Jeremy's pupils faded away as he tried to picture him clearly.
It was dark...hard to tell. He was tall, and had a salt and pepper beard...brown eyes...dark skin. I couldn't tell if it was a shadow or not.
The ghostly pinpricks came back.
I remember his voice more clearly. He spoke with some kind of accent. Deep, maybe Southern, but I'm not sure. If you give me a moment, I can try to find the video again.
Mike and Vanna looked at each other, knowing there was no need.
"The janitor," they whispered together.
What? Jeremy asked.
"Jeremy," Mike said, hesitantly.
Was that man on their side?
"Did that man...did he…?"
He made a gesture to the Spring Bonnie suit, not wanting to say it aloud. It took Jeremy a moment to piece together what he meant. When he did, Spring Bonnie's good ear straightened, before the mask shook its head.
No, Jeremy answered. He found me, and he said...
His plush hand nervously rubbed his arm.
...He said he'd try to find who did.
Mike visibly looked relieved.
"Then he's not the Smiling Man."
"Which means…" Vanna started.
She turned back to Jeremy.
"...Did you see him?" she whispered. "The one who killed you?"
The entire suit jolted at her bluntness. Jeremy went quiet in hesitation. He didn't want to think of that man, or of what happened. Already, his mind brought forth flashes of pain and gold, of a purple uniform and a mocking laugh. Both arms crossed over his chest as he trembled and looked away.
I don't…
"Jeremy," Mike said, softly. "Please. You might…"
He glanced towards the exit, where the others were likely lurking and waiting for them.
"...You might be the only one who can help," he whispered.
He looked back to Jeremy.
"He did something to their programming," Mike explained. "They don't know his face. All they know is he wore a security uniform, and the only reason they haven't chased me off or worse is because I can hear them and talk to them."
Spring Bonnie curled in tighter. The rattling metal grew louder as he shook his head, his hands reaching up to grip the bases of his ears.
I-I don't want to think about it, he whispered. I can hear him m-mocking me, I f-feel…
Jeremy cut off for a moment as he buried his face in his hands again. Mike felt his heart sink, but moved closer to him, setting a hand on the rabbit's shoulder.
"We can't help you, or them, if we don't have something to go on."
Vanna inched closer as well, until she was on his other side.
"Jeremy," she whispered, "I know it's...probably still fresh. It's literally the last thing you remember. But that's exactly why it's important to think about it now, before you can forget."
For a long while, only the metallic tremors and soft creaks of rusted joints echoed around the bathroom. Mike shifted so he was more comfortably sitting beside the Spring Bonnie suit. Vanna did the same on the other side, both of them giving Jeremy time to better process his thoughts. Slowly, the suit stilled until it became completely silent.
...I mostly saw his smile, Jeremy whispered at last, lowering his hands, and his skin. No joke, it was about the same peach color as Ma's roses.
"That doesn't narrow it down much," Mike muttered.
Vanna shot him a quick glare before turning back to Jeremy.
"Did he have a scar?" she asked. "Freckles...stubble?"
Jeremy went quiet for a moment.
He pictured it clearly, that view through the mask: the purple shirt, the badge, the grin...his murderer's careful stance to ensure his victim never got a full look at his face. Jeremy winced a few times, the pain still as fresh in his mind as if it happened only a few hours ago. But the longer he focused on the face…
...His chin shone, he whispered, a sort of jagged shine...maybe stubble. And there were strands of hair by his jaw. Fair...a light brown, or possibly blond. There wasn't much light to see it with.
He glanced up at his companions.
That's really all I can remember about his face, Jeremy said, other than his wide smile. He made sure I couldn't see much.
Mike nodded.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" he asked. "Was he tall, or…?"
He was tall, Jeremy confirmed with a shudder, and strong. He had to be, to wear that suit and fight me in it.
"What suit?" Vanna asked.
Freddy, Jeremy answered. A yellow Freddy.
"There isn't a yellow Freddy," Mike said.
"Yes, there is," Vanna retorted. "Fredbear."
She gestured to the Spring Bonnie suit.
"If they kept Bonnie, then they probably kept Fredbear too. The question is where that suit went."
It doesn't matter, Jeremy said. Whatever he did with it, that suit is probably long gone.
"He's right," Mike said, quietly. "Even if it was sitting in the back room right now, there's not really anything we could do with it."
He looked over his shoulder to the glass pile, where the Puppet still lied motionless.
Strange, he figured it would have powered back on by now.
Mike shot a glance to the partition leading out of the bathroom.
"...Maybe we should check on the others," he said.
"If they don't kill us first," Vanna muttered.
"We've both been wandering the building, and none of them touched us," Mike pointed out, "and in the time we've been in here, any of them could have slipped in."
He aimed his flashlight back at the exit.
"If they were going to hurt us, they would have already."
Vanna conceded with a nod, before she pushed herself back onto her feet.
"Fine," she said. "I'll get Puppet."
She walked over to the fallen marionette and bent down just long enough to scoop it into her arms. She noticed soft vibrations as she lifted its body, and faintly heard a soft hum.
Maybe it was in still in the process of powering back on.
Vanna carefully propped the Puppet's head over her shoulder, cradling its chest as she held up a hand. She hooked her elbow under Puppet's legs, turning off her flashlight for the time being. Behind her, Mike stood as well. He carefully draped the Puppet's arms in its lap so they wouldn't tangle in Vanna's legs as she walked.
He then turned back Jeremy.
"Are you coming?" he asked.
The rabbit nodded.
Just...give me a moment, he said.
He shot a quick glance at the glass on the floor.
I don't know how much control I have over this thing.
Mike nodded and stayed back. He watched the metal hands move to the floor, pressing against it. The metal joints groaned as the weight shifted and the knees bent, granting him a little leverage. Spring Bonnie's hands crawled behind him, now pressing against the wall as he slid his back up against it. The internal gyro recalibrated as Jeremy got the suit to stand upright again. He remained against the wall for a moment before he dared to take a step.
"You got it?" Vanna asked, watching him carefully.
I think so, Jeremy answered. I was walking fine before. Just...all of this, remembering all of this - it shook me.
He took another small step forward, and then another with a bit more confidence. Mike readied himself in case the animatronic toppled over, but Jeremy's walk steadied as he better slipped into remembered balance and movement. Even the joints seemed to creak less as they moved.
Nearby, Dulcie still peered up from the floor with one large, blue eye. Mike quickly scooped up the resin cupcake, though he winced a bit at the glass scattered around the sinks and floor. Already, he heard Waylon screaming in his ears.
"...I am not cleaning this up," he muttered.
The sound of rusty hinges got his attention as he turned back to Jeremy. The hands curled into the yellow chest, the broken fingers wringing over each other in a hesitant pattern. One metal foot guiltily toed at the floor.
...I'm sorry, Jeremy whispered. I didn't mean-
"Don't worry about it," Mike said. He bent down to retrieve his uniform pieces, then forced up a smile. "I'll figure something out."
Vanna nodded in agreement.
"We'll worry about it later," she said.
Mike brandished his flashlight, holding Dulcie and his personal items under one arm. With a quick, cleansing breath, he led the three of them out of the bathroom. He stole a quick glance to his watch.
It was just after 3:30am.