ERROR: Improper shutdown detected.
Activating recovery process.
Auto update date and time: 11/13/1993 1:59:43am
Recovering...
Recovery complete.
Restoration in process.
Restoring: watch_learn.
Restoring: give_gift.
Restoring: personality_test.
Restoring: audience_engagement.
Restoring: sound_location.
Restoring: facial_recognition.
Restoring: artificial_intelligence.
Restoring: bwickes_personal.
ERROR: Cannot activate bwickes_personal.
Access code required.
Input operator ID:
Input access code:
ERROR: Unable to input access code.
Engaging AI override.
Input operator ID: fwickes1966
Input access code: OURDREAM_NEVERDIED1967
Override in process…
Upon entering the dining room, Mike took a look around. Tables, stars, stages. The prize counter with the present box beside it, currently missing its occupant. Freddy never moved from his spot on the stage, the bear still staring ahead at the empty tables before him. The closed curtains at Pirate Cove showed Foxy stayed put as well. Neither Bonnie nor Chica were in immediate sight at first, but Mike picked out a yellow figure near the west hall, just beyond the present box.
Right where he left her before.
Vanna followed in behind him, still carrying Puppet. Spring Bonnie lingered behind them a bit, trying to step lightly on his large metal feet with varying levels of success.
Mike stepped forward, going to the closest table. He emptied his hands of everything but his flashlight, then set about to clear the party hats. He put them in a neat stack as Vanna set the Puppet in the cleared space, with the same craft and care as a mother putting down her sleeping child. Once she freed her hands, she clicked her flashlight back on, checking the room first before they did anything further.
"...Hello?" Vanna called, running her flashlight over the room. "Are you guys here?"
Metal footsteps echoed on the tile behind them. Trained from his encounters with Foxy, Mike instinctively turned around to see Spring Bonnie caught up to them. At its full height, the robot towered over him by about a head.
Not unlike how Jeremy did in life, or Vanna almost did now.
The thought simultaneously comforted him and freaked him out. Mike tried to push back the thought of if he were the one wearing it, his eyes and skull would likely be crushed by the animatronic's chest pieces, if he could even stand in it at all on his shorter legs.
The disturbing thought that Vanna might fit inside of it wasn't lost on him.
At that moment, a dull hum echoed through the building as the remaining power finally gave out. Down the hall, he heard the right door finally slide open.
Mike turned back around in time to see four sets of eyes staring at them from the shadows. Purple from the far left. Yellow from behind the Pirate Cove curtains. Red at the far end of the room, near the backstage door. Blue from the main stage.
Vanna's flashlight beam lit each of them in order: Chica, Foxy, Bonnie, Freddy.
And as if on cue, Freddy finally moved.
The bear stepped toward the front of the stage, utilizing the three steps in front with calculated practice. Vanna edged closer to Mike, and her hand brushed against his arm as a small confirmation that he was there. She moved her flashlight to the places around the room where the others lingered. Mike took her hint and kept his own beam on Freddy.
From other parts of the room, more footsteps joined Freddy's. The curtains at Pirate Cove opened, followed by familiar clanking footsteps. A yellow figure approached from around the Puppet's box, a bright pink cupcake in her hand. And a long-eared brute came up from the other side of the room.
Freddy stopped on the other side of the table, leaving room for Bonnie to join him at his left. Chica came next, at his right, with Foxy trailing in last behind her. All four of them stood in a line on the other side of the table, with their glowing eyes all centered on Mike, Vanna, and Spring Bonnie.
Both of the humans froze, save for Vanna running her flashlight over the lot of them, keeping them in her sight. Behind them, Spring Bonnie took two fearful, clanking steps back. Mike swallowed hard as all four of their gazes dropped down to Puppet's still form, then back to him.
What has happened to Puppet? came a deep baritone.
Vanna jerked a little, but readied herself to hear more voices. She noticed Freddy's jaw silently moving as he spoke.
"That's what we're trying to find out," Mike said, settling back into his relative nighttime normality.
"Vesper appeared," Vanna said, having finally found her voice again, "and it...shut down."
She glanced behind her, where Jeremy awkwardly hung back from them.
"So did Spring Bonnie."
For a moment, only the sound of five servos humming lingered in the air. All four of the main animatronics looked at each other, their eyes flickering in silent communication, before they looked back at the two humans. Finally, Freddy spoke again.
...It has only shut down like this once, he said, six years ago.
Mike frowned.
"On Friday the 13th, in November of 1987?" he asked.
There was no way he would ever forget the date.
Freddy gave him a soft nod.
Yes, he said. Spring Bonnie did as well.
Vanna shot a glance behind her to Spring Bonnie, to see the rabbit now looked at the floor, not wanting to face its animatronic brethren. She then turned back to the others.
"...What happened that night?" she asked. "How did the Smiling Man-"
She stopped herself, cleared her throat, and quickly rephrased.
"How did this happen?"
The animatronics looked at each other, their eyes flickering again. Once more, Freddy spoke up first.
The Smiling Man was there, he said. Puppet knew, but none of us could see him. He disguised himself as one of us.
"And you couldn't tell?" Vanna asked.
You must understand, Bonnie said, his soft tenor picking up where Freddy left off. Our programming is...limited. We can see the shape of a mask, but not the endoskeleton behind it. Even an empty mask will bring up a profile.
Jeremy vaguely recalled the masks in the back room when he woke up, and how they registered as the characters they represented. He perked up a little, looking over the other animatronics as he wrung his hands again.
...He's right, he confirmed, though his voice dropped. When I woke up last night, one of the first things I saw was the masks. No matter how many there were, they all registered as Bonnie, Freddy, or Chica.
He turned Spring Bonnie's head to face the pirate fox.
It's probably the same for them...except Foxy.
Jeremy shuddered, remembering how he had to keep the old pirate back with a flashlight.
...He always saw right through it.
Foxy tilted his head, his broken jaw swinging back and forth as he spoke.
I wasn't lookin' at th' mask, lad, he answered. Me program's always been glitched. Masks an' faces both look like big ol' blobs o'nothin' to me, so I look fer costumes an' uniforms.
"...Which the Smiling Man wore too," Mike said, picking up on it.
Right, Foxy said, looking back to Spring Bonnie.
His gaze softened a bit, and his ears lowered a little.
Sorry 'bout that. Ol' Foxy probably gave ye more'n yer fair share of fright, but it couldn' be helped. No hard feelins', lad?
Spring Bonnie's mask creaked as Jeremy shook his head, though his wariness seeped through every part of the robot's current posture, his hands freezing with tension.
N-no.
Good, Foxy said, his ears resetting to their default position again. Wasn't the firs' time I mistook someone else for that lubber, and it wasn't the last. Tryin' t' remedy that.
Chica spoke up next before Foxy could ramble any further.
Puppet told us to look for the Smiling Man, she said, and to protect the human in the security room.
Spring Bonnie perked and looked at her.
That's why you kept coming in? Jeremy exclaimed.
Yes, Chica said. We knew the Smiling Man was hiding among us, and that he might hurt the human. But we never saw a human.
"Only another animatronic," Vanna whispered.
She glanced over the four of them, who each nodded in turn.
"You had to be sure."
Mike turned to Freddy.
"But if there were two Freddies," he said, "weren't you able to tell which was which?"
Before the other animatronics could answer, Jeremy piped in again.
The mask I used...i-it was an empty Freddy head. To them, there may as well have been four Freddies.
"Four…?" Vanna started.
This Freddy, Jeremy said, pointing a broken index finger at him, the Smiling Man, me, and the Toy model.
Mike frowned and crossed his arms.
"Whoever designed that program needs to be fired," he muttered.
Vanna frowned as well.
"They probably already were," she said, before she glanced down at the table.
The Puppet still hadn't moved. Vanna looked it over, before she glanced back up at the animatronics.
"You said Puppet knew about Jeremy," she said, quietly. "Why didn't it help?"
It tried to, Bonnie said, but it was trapped.
"Trapped?"
In its box, the rabbit explained, looking over at it on the other side of the room and pointing to the box with the tip of one ear. It's programmed to stay inside if it hears certain music.
"Why would it-?" Mike started.
"It's a jack-in-the-box," Vanna answered, cutting him off. "The music stopping is its cue to come out."
A sharp gasp echoed throughout their minds, followed by metallic shifts and tremors.
...No...oh, g-god, no…
All eyes turned to Spring Bonnie.
The...the man on the-the phone, Jeremy said. His Irish accent became more pronounced with each panicked word. H-h-h-he told me...I-I-I thought I was...I-I was actually…
His plush hands reached up to cover his mouth. The large rabbit's knees threatened to cave. Mike and Vanna quickly moved on either side of him to keep Spring Bonnie standing.
"Jeremy," Mike said softly, "calm down."
Mike, I-I-I...
Spring Bonnie's knees gave out, and his large body collapsed to the ground, taking the two humans with it. Jeremy's hands shot in front of him, catching the animatronic body on all fours.
...I s-signed my own…
He choked back a sob.
...M-my own d-death warrant!
Mike and Vanna crumpled to the floor on either side of him. Vanna groaned a bit as she pushed herself back up, then crawled over to the trembling rabbit. She turned the old mask towards her, and matched her gaze with the white pinpricks.
"You thought you were protecting yourself," Vanna said. "Please, don't blame yourself for this."
Two sets of padded footsteps circled the table and approached them. Mike and Vanna both looked up to see Bonnie and Freddy standing before them, Bonnie bending down with his hands in front of him, as if determining if assistance was needed, and Freddy standing stalwart, still gripping his microphone. Vanna blinked and saw gold on both of them.
He had every right to be afraid, came Freddy's deep baritone.
They became normal again. Vanna just nodded as Mike looked up at him from the floor.
"What do you mean?" he asked as he pushed himself onto his knees.
Freddy's gaze softened as he glanced to Jeremy.
For all he knew, we were hostile.
His voice took on a grimmer tone.
And we might have been. We were all saved that week.
"...'Saved'?" Vanna asked.
"...The children," Mike whispered.
All four of the Fazbear band nodded in confirmation. Chica gently petted at Dulcie's frosting, as if she held a kitten instead.
They were hurt and angry, she said. They were scared, and trying to find the man who did this. We didn't understand our roles as their vessels then...and we didn't know how to talk to humans.
Her finger poked at the tip of Dulcie's candle.
Sometimes, their fear made us do things we couldn't always control, so long as it didn't conflict with our programming. Even in the day, when we had to be still, our Toy counterparts began to act strange. They had to sing and play, but they could still stare at adults, and try to keep the children away from them.
Her eyelids drooped a bit.
The best we could do was try to find the night guard and keep him safe, and keep trying until we did.
Jeremy stilled again, still facing the tile.
...But Puppet...did come for me, he whispered, a-after the power went out. I couldn't...I c-couldn't wind the box anymore.
He settled down on his knees, preferring that to trying to re-balance the gyro and stand again. Bonnie straightened his stance and took a step back upon registering the other rabbit had himself under control. Jeremy kept his hands pressed against the floor, trying to control the shudders that went through his metallic body.
I heard its chimes, he said, and I saw it attack the yellow Freddy right before I passed out.
We all heard Puppet, Bonnie said, and then the noise in the security room. By the time I got there, I only saw Freddy leaving with the night guard. He was trying to help him walk.
I saw him too, Chica confirmed. The human looked unwell. I thought Freddy was getting him to safety.
Didn' see nothin' meself, Foxy grumbled, his broken jaw swinging with each word. That lubber smashed me control switch. Couldn't power back on for days. Me programmin's always been glitched, but it hasn't been th' same since.
He reached up with his hook to pull down a bit of his old costume, revealing the switch in question. It looked like it had been bent out of place, then attacked with pliers to bend it somewhat back into its original position.
Mike and Vanna both looked at each other, before turning to Jeremy. Jeremy simply remained kneeling, his fingers practically clawing at the floor. Mike stood up again as he turned back to Chica.
"Where was Puppet?" he asked.
We found Puppet trapped under a stack of monitors, Chica answered. We were being refurbished, so I didn't have hands at the time, and Bonnie only had one arm. We had to wait for one of the others to come by and help us lift them so we didn't crush Puppet by mistake.
Toy Freddy came, Bonnie added. He was able to lift them off the stack until we found Puppet underneath. Puppet had been shut down manually, but was restarting. As soon as it was free, it headed straight for the Parts and Service room.
Mike turned to Freddy.
"And where were you?" he asked.
I was checking the main room, Freddy said. By the time I got back to the hall, the door to the Parts and Service room was shut.
Mike's body trembled a little as his blood began to boil. He narrowed his eyes at Freddy, then shot a cold glare to each of the Fazbear band in turn.
"And none of you followed?"
All four of them shook their heads.
The door was closed, Freddy said. When that door was shut, it meant we were not allowed back there without an employee escort. Our programming would not allow it.
He used his microphone to point to the backstage door, which hung open behind them.
Even now, that rule still applies to us.
Th' only way it'll override, Foxy added, is if we see a non-authorized person walkin' in without an escort.
Mike perked a little, hurt mingling in with his building anger.
Dad... he thought.
It was for the safety of the children, Chica explained. Before, the Smiling Man lured children into the back room, dressed as one of us. If an animatronic is back there with the door shut, and without an employee, it's cause for alarm.
"...Which is why he made it look like he was walking with Jeremy," Vanna whispered, turning back to Spring Bonnie. "It'd look like an employee escorting an animatronic."
The yellow rabbit remained still, his gaze still on the floor.
Correct, Freddy said, softly.
Mike's blood boiled over. He furiously kicked one of the chairs, making it loudly topple onto the tile floor.
"Motherfucker!" he screamed, kicking it again. "This fucker thought of everything!"
It appears so, Freddy said, calmly watching Mike's small fit.
Spring Bonnie finally looked up, his focus now on the night guard.
Mike, Jeremy said, gentle but stern. Stop.
Mike kicked the chair a final time, but at Jeremy's request, he stopped. He then picked it up and stood it upright, feeling a little better as he shoved it back against the table. When he finished, Bonnie came up behind him and adjusted the chair to his liking.
Puppet tried to get in, he said as he got the chair back into place. It had to crawl up into the ceiling tiles because the room was locked. By then...it was too late.
I came back in time to see the door was open again, Freddy explained. I went inside, and that's when I saw Puppet shut down.
"Have you ever figured out why?" Vanna asked.
No. It never told us.
It didn't even power back up until the next day, Chica added. It never told us what happened.
Vanna slowly walked over to the table, looking down at Puppet.
"...Then Vesper…?"
...Is bound to her vessel's limitations, Bonnie said, turning to her, just like the rest of us.
Sorry, lass, Foxy said. Ye won't be gettin' much more from 'em tonight.
Vanna gently caressed the Puppet's face, tracing her fingers over its cheek circles, the side of its smile. Mike turned to her, letting go of his residual anger to be by her side. She felt her lips tremble, and bit it back, closing her eyes as she sucked in a breath. When she opened them again, she gave a weak nod to the Fazbear band.
"...Then I should put them to bed," she said, quietly.
Mike gave her a small nod and retrieved his flashlight from where it still sat on the floor. Vanna slipped a hand under the Puppet's neck, and as she lifted its body, she felt something odd.
"Wait…"
Vanna gently pushed the Puppet onto its stomach. As she suspected, the costume shut in the back, the seam hidden well. Mike held the flashlight over its body, allowing Vanna to pry the cloth pieces away.
A small white corner poked out from the seam. Vanna opened the back seam just enough to slip out a small piece of thick, wrinkled paper. On feeling its familiar texture, she flipped it around. Her expression softened as she showed it to Mike.
Mike took in the familiar forms and colors before he took it from her, and when he registered what he held, he turned to Spring Bonnie. Leaving his flashlight with Vanna, he walked over to the yellow animatronic, the picture in hand. He knelt down, holding it up for Jeremy to take in.
"...Can you see it?" he whispered, hardly daring to speak.
The suit's night vision took in the photograph, matching it to the file it took earlier. Better yet, Jeremy recognized it without the suit's enhancements, his ghostly eyes giving it just enough light to see it properly.
It showed the two of them with their backs against each other, Halloween 1987, both of them dressed as Jason Voorhees. They had their machetes raised and masks flipped up at Moira's insistence of getting her sons' real faces before they joined their friends at a horror movie marathon.
It was the last picture anyone had ever taken of Jeremy, let alone the two of them together.
Jeremy reached up to take it, holding it carefully in the suit's uneven fingertips. Mike let him.
"...Puppet got it from my wallet," he said, quietly. "It's…"
...How it knew about us, Jeremy finished.
He looked it over again, gently running a plush finger over their faces, their old lives.
The last time the two of them were truly happy.
Spring Bonnie's good ear drooped forward. His hands trembled as he stared at the photograph, at his true face...at what he couldn't be anymore.
His hands stilled. His ghostly pupils faded away for a moment. His mind went blank.
Slowly, Jeremy lifted the mask up to face Mike again. He glanced down at the photograph one last time, gently setting a finger on Mike's face, then his own, before he held the photograph for his brother to take back. Mike hesitated, but reached for it. As soon as he gripped it, Jeremy gently let it go, his fingers slipping over the matte finish, their faces.
Mike tightly held the photo in his hand. He glanced at it once, then reached for his wallet to slip it back into place.
He hated the feeling of finality, that he was condemning it to a dark coffin.
Once the wallet was safely pocketed away again, Mike cleared his throat and turned back to Vanna.
"...We should put that thing away," he said, choosing to focus at the task on hand.
Vanna quietly nodded, then fixed the Puppet's costume. She carefully picked it up again.
Foxy and Chica already made their way to the box, each of them using their free, whole hands to each hold open a top flap.
Mike walked ahead of her. He reached into the box and shifted the marionette's cross to better allow Vanna to set it down inside. Vanna gently kissed the Puppet's forehead, before she leaned into the box, setting its legs in first, then its chest and arms. She rested the head against a corner to prop it up, then allowed Mike to put the cross back.
Foxy and Chica gently shut the top flaps one at a time. Vanna stood in front of the box for a moment, her hands tempted to reach for it. Flashes of the dark came to mind, of Vesper's final thoughts.
She was frightened and alone, with only the Puppet for company. All alone, until…
Vanna's eyes widened in realization.
"...Someone found her," she whispered.
Mike gave her a strange look. Five gentle whirs indicated the animatronics did too.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone found Vesper."
Vanna reached for the box, setting a gentle hand on top of it.
"Puppet was moved eventually," she said. "Someone had to move it."
A calm stillness encompassed her body as more thoughts clicked into place.
"Someone opened this box," Vanna continued. "Someone found my sister and never told anyone."
Mike looked down at the box.
"...The Smiling Man?" he whispered.
"I don't know," Vanna said, "but Puppet probably does."
A glance to him.
"Do you think it was going to tell us?"
"After everything else it showed us," Mike answered, "I think it wanted to."
He turned back to the two nearby animatronics.
"Did either of you guys see anything?" he asked.
Nay, lad, Foxy said, gently.
No, Chica answered.
Mike turned around to Bonnie and Freddy.
"What about you two?" he asked. "Vesper Belrose. Small, dark hair, green eyes, disappeared nineteen seventy..."
He turned to Vanna.
"...One," she finished. "We came in 1971."
Freddy and Bonnie both shook their heads.
We were not even activated at the time, Freddy said.
...Wait.
All of them turned to Chica.
"What is it?" Mike asked.
I don't have much, Chica said, but I do remember something.
That's impossible, Bonnie said. We didn't activate until 1973.
You didn't, Chica corrected. I was being built long before that.
Vanna perked, remembering what Vesper showed her in her memories.
That there was a partial animatronic on the table.
It's only audio, Chica continued, and it's distorted, but I hear a child crying. It fades and stops.
She paused for a moment as sorted through her databank.
It goes on from about 11:53 in the morning to 2:46pm, Chica said. After that, it gets quiet.
She went silent again for several minutes, her expression blank. After a long while, Chica spoke once more, having pulled up a proper file.
It's 9:52pm. Something heavy is being moved. The box is being opened.
Another pause.
Someone is talking, Chica continued. He sounds scared, but I can't make it out. He pulls something out of the box. And then he stops. He laughs. He leaves and comes back. There's a crinkling sound. He picks something up, and then he leaves again.
"Vesper?" Vanna asked.
Maybe, Chica said. But that's all I know.
Mike looked at the box, then over to Vanna. Vanna let Chica's words sink in, both of her hands pressed against the box now. She remained silent and still as she stared at the purple ribbon, the near-invisible seam down the middle where the box opened.
Finally, she looked up at Mike.
"...What time is it?" she whispered.
Her voice sounded hollow and weary. Mike sympathized, just as emotionally drained.
He checked his watch.
"5:37am," he said.
Mike looked up at Foxy and Chica, then over to Freddy and Bonnie.
"...I think we should probably call it a night," he said.
That seems most prudent, came Freddy's rich baritone. This is a lot to take in.
He turned and headed back towards the stage. The other animatronics began to follow his lead.
Jeremy stayed down for another moment, before he pushed himself back up onto his feet to follow the others. Vanna finally let go of the box to turn around and watch the animatronics head for their proper places. Foxy quickly dipped back through the Pirate Cove curtains. Freddy was already taking his place, with Bonnie and Chica still at the foot of the stage.
Freddy became gold again. An image of a golden rabbit stood in the empty space beside him. Strawberry frosting crept into her nose.
"Wait!" Vanna said, suddenly. "Chica, Bonnie, don't go up just yet."
Both of the animatronics turned to her with puzzled expressions.
Is there something else we can do? Bonnie asked.
"Just hold on for a minute."
Chica and Bonnie both nodded and stepped aside. Vanna then turned to Jeremy.
"Can you go and stand by Freddy?" she asked.
She pointed to the purple Bonnie's usual spot at Freddy's stage right. Jeremy tilted the animatronic head in curiosity, but went to do as she asked. With extreme care, he navigated the old metal body up the three steps leading to the stage. He then took his place beside the bear, facing out towards the audience.
Like this? he asked.
"Almost," Vanna said. "Pretend you're holding a guitar."
Jeremy shifted the animatronic hands into an air guitar pose. Vanna nodded when she was satisfied.
"Perfect," she said.
What is this for? Jeremy asked.
"I need to retrace my steps," Vanna said.
She then turned to Mike.
"I don't know if this will even work," she said, softly, "but be ready if something happens?"
Mike nodded and stood behind her.
"I will," he promised.
Vanna nodded back, then looked at the stage. She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them again, she imagined herself back at Debbie Jefferson's party, and the game of hide-and-seek. She pretended Freddy was gold and had five fingers. She thought of Spring Bonnie when he was bright and new again, with green eyes and a purple bow around the right ear.
Then, as prepared as she could be, she took the first step onto the stage.
Override successful.
Restoring: bwickes_personal.
Restoration in process.
Restoring...