Guarded

"So not much luck on info on your front then?" Susie asked Jeremy on the phone the following morning.

"Not really, aside from reinforcing what you told me at the start." The disappointment in Jeremy's voice was obvious. "They really don't want me going anywhere near Kid's Cove or Parts and Services. I don't even get a key for that one, someone else must have it. What was it you said, authorised engineers?"

"Yeah, but I don't know who they might be," she said. "There's no one among the regular staff that goes into that room, from what I know. I'll see if I can find out anything though."

"That'd be great," he said. "Next time I'm in there, I'm gonna check out Kid's Cove. At least that only has a curtain keeping me out. What's actually in there, do you know?"

"A few things. A ball pit, soft play area but the main thing in there is some kind of DIY construction thing for the toddlers to do. It's like parts from an old robot that they're allowed to mess around with. The employees all call it 'the Mangle' and parts of it look like a white, lady version of Foxy." She rolled her eyes. "Big eyelashes and lipstick because again, need to be sure people know it's a girl."

"But that can't be Vevina. These things have fluid running through them, they wouldn't just let them take her apart. That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"I know. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you but if Hermana is telling you there's only ever been four of them and this AI doesn't like people going against him, then it's possible that maybe…" She struggled to find the right words. "Maybe she isn't around anymore."

"No, that can't be. Hermana was giving me a hint about Kid's Cove, I'm sure of it. I'm looking into it tonight. I can't afford to spend another night messing around," he said.

"I know, I agree. Even so, it was a good thing what you did for her," said Susie.

"Thanks, Susie."

"No problem. Okay, I need to get going. You be careful, okay?" she told him.

"Yeah, same to you. Good luck, Susie."

"You too," she replied and hung up, taking a deep breath. This really wasn't an easy thing they were doing…

"Who was that?" Susie whirled around to see Wendy, watching her in the kitchen. "Who were you talking to?"

Susie mentally cursed herself. How long had she been listening for?

"Um, just someone from work," she said quickly. "He just started, got the night guard job."

"I see," Wendy said slowly. "He just joined and you already have his phone number?"

"Well, you know me. Social butterfly and all. Right, I need to be getting off to work. Have a nice day, Wendy!" she said quickly.

She grabbed her jacket and hurried out of the door before Wendy could say anything else. She waited until she was down the street before looking back and letting out a breath again. That had been a little too close for her liking. Hopefully, she hadn't overheard anything else.

On a normal day of work, Susie would usually be getting on with things. Greeting customers, dealing with complaints, chatting with other staff members. She came in, she did her thing and she finished up, trying to enjoy herself a little on the way.

Today was different. After having learned who they were, she was watching the five ex-guards as much as she could, leaning around the door into the Games Room when she had a moment of quiet. She'd done her homework from reading the articles about them, but she had to know their place in the restaurant so she could approach them more effectively. It had to be carefully considered.

Ernest and Stuart were both waiters and the two had a different way of doing things. Ernest was generally friendly, but not the best when it came to being under a lot of pressure. But she could tell he was trying to work as hard as he could. Stuart was the opposite. He seemed to leave Ernest to deal with the harder stuff and focus on the easier points. She didn't see much of Jenny, if at all. She must work somewhere else in the restaurant, off the floor.

Gordon was a rather isolated entity. He alternated between the security office and the Games Room, spending more time at the former than the latter. He also didn't interact much with the others beyond a friendly nod and a smile, with one exception: the group's supposed leader. She saw very little of Daniel. The times she did, he always came through the front door, dressed in his purple driver's uniform with a jacket and hat. He didn't look up at her and would make straight for the security office or the break room. If Gordon was on the Game Room floor, the two of them would briefly engage in what appeared to be conversation, although Gordon didn't seem to say anything. He would do the same with the others, but Gordon was always the first.

Not really enough to be going on yet. She had a couple of ideas as to whom she might need to keep an eye on, but she couldn't say anything for definite either. If she wanted to know more, she'd have to get it straight from the horse's mouth. Armed with all the information she had collected so far, Susie strode into the breakroom at lunchtime with purpose.

She spied Ernest and Stuart sitting in their usual seats. Susie took a breath and put on her best smile.

"Hey there!" she greeted. "Am I okay to sit with you guys?"

The two men were taken aback from this deviation in routine, but Stuart was the first to recover with a sleazy smile.

"Hey, you're the cutie on the front desk. Sure you can sit with us." He patted the spot next to him. "Here's comfy."

"Great!" Susie took one opposite the two instead, relishing the disappointment that flashed on Stuart's face. "I'm Susie, it's good to meet you."

"Well Susie, my name is Stuart and it's great to meet you." He gripped her hand and gave another smile. "So what are you doing after work?"

"Going home to my girlfriend," she said brightly.

Stuart raised his eyebrow. "Oh, so you walk both sides of the street then?"

"Nope," replied Susie. "And what's your name?"

Ernest jumped a little at being addressed. "Oh! I-I'm Waitest. I-I mean, I'm Earner. I-I mean… can I start over?"

"Sure you can," she said kindly. Not too dissimilar from Mike, she thought, though he was perhaps even more jittery.

"Thanks. I-I'm Ernest." He nervously shook her hand. "I'm a uh, a waiter. That's what I wanted to say before, I just got uh, got mixed up."

"Well, we got there eventually," remarked Stuart with a laugh. "Sorry about this guy, it usually takes a while for him to get anything out, if at all."

Ernest squirmed in his seat and clamped his mouth shut.

Susie just shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that. Better to take more time with what you want to say than to say it before you've really thought about it, right Stuart?"

Stuart frowned. "Not sure I get what you mean."

"Really? Oh well, never mind," she said.

"Hello boys, sorry I'm late," came a weary woman's voice. Jenny took the seat next to Ernest. "Hitting on another poor unfortunate, Stu? I thought what we had was special."

"Oh it is, Jen," he said quickly. "Does that mean you've reconsidered going out with me?"

"Not in the least. I just don't want anyone else being made to suffer the consequences," she returned. She gave Susie a sympathetic look. "Sorry you have to bear the weight of my actions."

"Don't worry, it's nothing to do with you. He's a big boy, I'm sure he can make his own decisions," said Susie.

Jenny laughed appreciatively. "I'm not sure I completely agree with that, but I'll take it."

"Hey, it's your loss, ladies," Stuart said casually. "There's plenty of others out there who'd be happy to have me."

"That's the spirit!" said Susie.

He gave her an easy grin. To his credit, Stuart didn't seem too put-down by their comments. Though Susie couldn't really say that was a good thing.

"I'm Jenny, by the way. What made you want to join the black sheep today?" she asked, offering her hand to Susie which she shook.

"Susie and I thought I should just make an effort. I need to get to know everybody here a little better and you guys are always sat here on your own. I figured I'd come over here and fix that," she said.

"That's really nice of you. I have to admit, I'm glad to have another lady to talk to, especially someone who can cope with this guy," she said, jerking a thumb at Stuart.

"I'm always happy to have another lady join us too, even if I have to be looking from the other side of the street," remarked Stuart.

"W-Wait a sec," said Ernest quietly. "I-I think I-I've met you before."

"Oh really?" Susie asked. This was promising. "Where do you think?"

"Ernie," said Jenny gently but with a faint hardness to her tone, "what are you talking about?"

"Um… I think it w-was when I-I was at-"

"Nah, I think you're getting a little mixed up there, buddy." Stuart clapped a hand on Ernest's back, almost making him fall off the chair. "I think you probably have one of those faces that just looks familiar. Right, Jen?"

"Yeah, that's what it is," she agreed quickly. "But it's good to meet you anyway, Susie."

"You too," she said, trying not to let her suspicion of their odd behaviour show. "Well, you all know what I do. You see my face every day you come in through the front door, but what do you guys do here? I know Ernest here is a waiter."

"Guilty as charged on that front too," said Stuart. "I basically help keep this place together."

"How, by having your ass keep the chairs fixed to the floor?" asked Jenny.

He pointed a finger at her. "Hey, I do plenty of work. It just takes it out of a guy, you know?"

"That doesn't stop Ernest from doing his best and then some," praised Jenny.

"I-I wouldn't s-say that," he mumbled, though Susie could see his smile.

"I would," said Jenny. "I can't claim the same prestige as these two though. My domain is the top floor, with our illustrious leader. I'm his office secretary."

"Gotta love how times have changed for us girls, eh?" said Susie, making mental note of that particular piece of information.

"Tell me about it. At least my boss isn't some disgusting jerk who makes every pass at his pretty, young secretary that he can. Oh wait," she deadpanned.

"Yeesh, Jen," said Susie sympathetically. "Where were you before that you have to put up with that now?"

"Hmm, nowhere special," she answered. "I've done a few different things, mostly just variations of desk work."

"Nothing else other than that?" asked Susie.

Jenny shook her head. "Not really. Why?"

"No reason, just curious. What about you two?" she asked the men.

"Yeah, same as Jen. Nothing really worth talking about. Work is work, it sucks whatever job it is you do," replied Stuart.

Ernest just mumbled something about working here and there. Susie suppressed her frustration. They really didn't want to discuss anything to do with Freddy's. But she had to get something from them, so she returned her attention back to Jenny.

"So you're the secretary?" Susie asked Jenny. "That means it's your voice I've been hearing whenever I need to buzz someone in. If I'd known you were as great as your voice makes you sound, I would have come up and met you sooner."

"As much as I would have loved that, you would have only been disappointed. Unless you know the door's code or you have a meeting with the big man, no one else is allowed upstairs other than me or the boss." She said the last word with evident disdain in her voice.

"That truly is a shame," agreed Susie. She glanced at the clock. Only about twenty minutes left. She had to steer this to more relevant waters. "Oh well, at least people like the new night guard get to have the privilege."

"Can't say I envy that guy," said Stuart. "I'd hate to be stuck in this place after dark with those… things."

"Stuart," said Jenny, "you know these performers aren't like the other ones at you-know-where. They're different."

He waved his hands. "I know, I know but they still give me the creeps. Like when we had to deal with the Freddy's ones when we-"

"Stuart!" hissed Jenny. She jerked her head at Susie but the damage had already been done.

Though an uncomfortable atmosphere had settled over them, internally Susie was grateful. She was worried she'd have to bring on the subject of that herself but Stuart had done it for her.

"So you guys worked at Freddy's? Hey, so did I!" she said. "I thought you looked familiar too but I couldn't quite place you. What did you do?"

All three of them exchanged awkward looks. Ernest stared at the floor. Stuart's eyes were darting around the room. Jenny was biting her lip. The tension was broken somewhat by the arrival of another member of their group. Jenny quickly took the opportunity to divert attention.

"Oh hey Gordon! All going well?" she asked.

The man nodded silently with a smile, then looked at Susie in confusion.

"Hey, I'm Susie. I was just talking to these guys. Nice to meet you, Gordon," she said and held out a hand.

He looked at it for a moment, then shook it with a nod. He tapped his throat once and shook his head.

"Not a talker? That's fine by me. Your friends were just telling me that they used to work at Freddy's, like I did. I was on the front desk there too. They were about to tell me what they did," she explained.

Gordon frowned at Susie, turning to glare at the other three. Only Jenny met his gaze.

"I know, I know but you can thank this blabbermouth for bringing it up," she indicated Stuart. She looked at Susie. "We're… not really supposed to talk about it but… we all used to be night guards."

"Oh yeah, the place always had trouble holding one down for a while before we got our regular guy. The ones before only stuck around for one night," she said.

"Yeah, well we weren't sticking around for any of that," muttered Stuart.

"How come? What happened?" asked Jenny.

"Why are you pretending like you don't know?" a harsher voice asked behind her.

She whipped around to see Daniel, arms folded and a very unpleasant look on his face. Susie flashed her best smile regardless.

"Oh sorry, didn't see you there. I'm-"

"Susie, front desk girl, I know," he said impatiently and batted away her outstretched hand. "Don't think I don't know what your game is. You know exactly who we are and what we did. You're just over here, trying to get some juicy gossip from us, the ex-guards of Freddy's."

Susie held up her hands defensively. "Hey, take it easy. I was just introducing myself and making conversation."

"And you just happened to pick the only people in this restaurant with known notoriety. That's pretty convenient," he retorted. "Jenny just told you how we don't talk about what happened there and you went and asked anyway."

"Hey, yeah!" Stuart was on his feet now and pointing accusingly at her. "You deliberately bought up the night guard thing to get it out of us. You tricked me!"

"No, that was all you but he's not wrong," agreed Jenny. "You do seem pretty keen on finding out about our past with Freddy's."

Neither Gordon, nor Ernest said anything. The latter was keeping eyes fixed on the floor, while the former was silently staring her down. Susie could have tried to placate them further but she had a feeling it wouldn't do her much good at this point.

"Okay then." She stood up to leave. "I'm sorry for bothering you all. You have a good day."

She walked away, ignoring the eyes that followed her who overheard Daniel's tirade and went to sit with Ken.

"What did I tell you?" Ken placed a hand on her shoulder, looking in the direction of the ex-guards. "Best thing is to keep out of their way."

She didn't respond to his words. She just quietly ate her lunch, feeling the hostile stares of the five of them behind her until she went back to the front desk.

Susie moaned as she leaned back in her chair. There was no way any of them would be willing to talk about their previous run-ins with Freddy's now or about anything really, they'd all be on lockdown. Jenny was probably her best bet at confirming the location of the tape. If she wanted to get the information she needed, she would have to go at it from a different angle. She needed more information.

To Susie, there was something to be gained by exploring more about their involvement at Freddy's and the fallout of recent events. It was clear that Ernest and Jenny, perhaps Stuart, seemed conflicted about the whole thing but she wouldn't be able to get it out of them and the newspapers didn't cover the whole story. She had to find out more about what happened at the initial break-in…

It came to her in that moment. An idea so great and so obvious that she both grinned and slapped her forehead at the same time. How had she not thought of this sooner? Someone else had been there that night and though it might be awkward to do, he would be able to tell her his side of the story.

She went to her supervisor and asked if she could have the day-off tomorrow. Though he was somewhat annoyed that this was short notice, he said to her that it wouldn't be a problem.

"Doing anything in particular?" he asked her.

"Oh, nothing much," she shrugged. "I just need to pay an old friend a visit."

He just shrugged. He hadn't really cared about her reason, he was just being polite but it didn't matter to Susie. She'd gotten what she needed and hopefully, this idea she had would do the same.

As she went back to the front desk, she happened to bear witness to something on the restaurant floor. A couple of kids were getting into a scuffle, parents nowhere to be found. From the look of it, it was a bigger kid picking on the little one.

"What's the matter?" the bigger one sneered. "You gonna cry cause I took your toy?"

"It's mine! Give it back!" he cried.

No one was stepping in. It wasn't Susie's job, but she had half a mind to do something herself. That is, until Gordon arrived. He came storming out of the security room corridor and yanked the toy from the older kid's hand.

"What the-? Hey what gives!" he demanded.

Gordon didn't say anything. He folded his arms and glared with a ferocity that surprised Susie. The bigger boy seemed to feel the same, as he took a step back from the man before running off.

The smaller boy was in awe. "Wow. Thanks, mist-"

But he didn't get to finish before Gordon shoved the toy back into his hands and walked away. Susie managed to catch up with him before he left.

"Hey," she said, "that was a good thing you did back there. Nice work."

Gordon only glanced back at her, then turned to look at her fully. His expression was unreadable, his gaze scrutinising. For a brief moment, Susie felt like this had been a bad idea. It was something in his eyes…

But then it passed. He gave her a brief smile and a nod. Now that she was close, she noticed he wore quite a high-collared shirt. Even so, she could make out something on his neck. A small patch of skin that was a lot redder than the rest.

She remembered herself and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I ended up staring there. I just happened to notice, well, your neck. I hope it's not too bad."

Gordon hurriedly pulled up his collar, gave her a glare and turned to leave. He paused to let a kid run past, who almost knocked into him. His body seemed to tense from the contact and he quickened his pace to get back. Susie watched him go, then returned back to her desk. It was probably nothing. He was the security guard after all, it probably got tiring dealing with that kind of thing and he obviously didn't like to have whatever was wrong with his neck talked about. Even so…

The rest of the day passed without too much incident. She continued to watch the ex-guards as much as she could but they were onto her now. If they caught her looking, they quickly break her line of sight and go off to do something else. She was itching for tomorrow now and was relieved when her shift was finally over. She sent Jeremy a good luck text as she left work and made her way back home.

Wendy didn't say much to her when she came in that night. Then again, that wasn't different to how she usually behaved these days. It could just be her being paranoid, but Susie felt like her partner was watching her with more scrutiny than usual. But if she had any suspicions, she didn't make them known.

It was only when she was going up to bed that Wendy actually said something to her beyond 'hello' and to tell her dinner was ready.

"Susie, is everything okay?" she asked.

Susie, who was on her laptop again, met her eyes. Under normal circumstances, Susie would have taken the question at face value but she couldn't. She felt like this was some kind of test. Had she overheard something from this morning and this was a way to determine the truth? Wendy had never really been direct about this kind of thing. She always quietly watched, determining in her mind the best thing to do before acting.

Even if that was the case, Susie couldn't tell her what she was doing. Not the whole truth anyway.

"Everything's fine. It's just work, you know? With what happened at Freddy's a while ago, it's just been hard getting back into the groove with this new place." She offered a smile. "But I'm okay. I think I'm managing."

Wendy appeared to consider before returning one of her own. "Okay. I understand." She paused. "I think sometime soon… we should have a talk about what happened a month ago. A proper one."

"I'd like that," Susie agreed. "Goodnight, Wendy."

"Goodnight, Susie. I love you," she said.

"I know."

Wendy sighed. "Just for once, can you not quote Star Wars at me when I do that?"

"Not today. But I love you too," she replied. "I'll be up in a bit."

Wendy nodded and went upstairs to their room.

Susie felt like scum. She hated having to lie to her. Well, it wasn't a complete lie but it was enough. She longed to involve her, to let her know she was fixing the mistake she'd made in Wendy's eyes. But she couldn't. Even though she'd never believe Susie if she did tell her.