Mangled Meeting
The first thing Jeremy did, upon arriving in the security office, was check the monitor he'd been given. If there was something in Kid's Cove, this would show him. Only it didn't. When he brought up the camera where the Cove should have been, he was met with static. Flicking back and forth didn't work, nor did turning the monitor on and off.
They really didn't want to see what was in that Cove, which meant the only way to check would be in person. He just had to find a way to get in there without being noticed…
"Heeeeeeey Jeremy!" greeted Hermana as she skated up to meet him. "Hope you're ready to get your skates on again tonight."
"Actually, Hermana, I thought we might play something else tonight," said Jeremy. "How about a good old game of Hide and Seek?"
She squealed in delight. "That sounds like a great idea! I love Hide and Seek! I tried playing it with the others once and I was amazin' at it. They could never find me and I always found them super quickly. It's like they weren't even tryin'!"
"Then you should be pretty good. Okay, you start off in here and count while I go and hide," he said. "And you gotta give me plenty of time to hide, okay? I might not be as good as you and I don't know this place as well as you."
"Okay then, sounds fair! I'll give you a good thirty seconds and then I'll be comin' to getcha!" she sang.
She turned to face the wall and loudly started to count. Jeremy didn't waste any time and set off running down the corridor to the Games Room. He knew exactly where to go, but it wasn't to hide. He walked right up to the entrance of Kid's Cove.
Jeremy stopped only to look to his left when a familiar sound met his ears. A music box, playing its eerie tune. It was coming from the corner of the room, where the Prize Corner desk was. Alongside the desk itself and the many plushies on the shelf, there was a great big box against the wall. It was blue with a purple ribbon, large enough to contain a person. Briefly, Jeremy was curious about its contents but put it out of his mind. He was on a timer.
He slipped through the middle of the curtains and entered Kid's Cove. The brief burst of light from the Games Room served to illuminate his surroundings for a moment before plunging him into darkness again. They really didn't want him to see what was back here. He pulled the flashlight from his belt and shone it around the room.
What struck Jeremy about the colour of this room and the entire restaurant was for all of their talk of not wanting to be like Freddy's, they did a whole lot to evoke that imagery. The greyish white walls, the chequered floor tiles that were cleaned to a mirror shine. The pizza decorations and the balloons attached to the pile of presents in the corner, a table laden with party hats. But whereas Freddy's had real spirit and a sense of welcoming cosiness, the Fun Palace just felt like a hollow imitation.
He walked into the room's centre, noting the small soft play area with various arches and blocks for the toddlers to move and clamber over. Next to that was the ball pit. No sign of any other synth or anything like one of them but this had to be the place. If Vevina was going to be anywhere, she had to be in here.
Then he saw it. Right at the back of the room. From a distance, it looked like a weird modern art sculpture made of metal. A feeling of dread entered the pit of his stomach and only grew as he got closer.
Slowly, Jeremy approached the mass of metal and crouched to one knee, shining his light over it. He barely knew where to begin. It had a body, at least it looked like a body. It stretched and twisted in bizarre ways. He counted two legs. Wait no, three legs and one of them had an arm sprouting off it. Another arm had been attached to the neck, alongside a naked endoskeleton head with only one eye. A second head came off where it looked like an arm should be and even had a red bow-tie attached along its very long neck. The white fox head at the end of it had only one eye as well. There was no other way to put it: this thing really was a mangle of parts.
But it looked like it was just a robot. No synthetic flesh or sign that there was anything inside this thing. It was an animatronic. A very abused one, but even so. So where was the genuine article? Where was Vevina? He recalled Susie's words but he still refused to believe them. There had to be more to this.
Something caught his eye. Had it been a trick of the light or had the arm on the neck twitched? A click. The sound of metal parts moving or his shoes on the floor? Jeremy started to stand. Time to get out of here.
He cried out. Something had clamped onto his leg. His flashlight beam illuminated the head with the fox mask. It was looking right at him. Limbs were contorting and twitching. The yellow lights of their eyes pierced the dark. The Mangle was awake.
Jeremy kicked out with his foot, but it wasn't letting go. The other hand shot forward, grabbing his right arm and lifting him off the ground. It looked like all the different parts were still trying to work out how to move together. Jeremy didn't want to be here when they got it figured.
He tried again to wrench his arm out and managed to get his leg out when the original hand let go. But it just moved to grab his left arm instead.
"Get off me!" he yelled. "Let go of me!"
An odd, groaning noise came from one of the heads. It looked like it was shaking a lot more than the other parts. It was almost hard to tell over the clanking metal and grinding parts but Jeremy could hear it. A voice.
"No… no, he doesn't… I won't let you-!" The head let out a loud, piercing shriek and gazed up at him. "I'm… I'm sorry!"
"Oh good for you, great!" shouted Jeremy. "How about you show me how sorry you are and let me go!"
The voice didn't respond. The Mangle only gripped him more tightly, making Jeremy cry out from the pressure constricting his arms. He kept up his struggles. He wasn't going to die, not like this.
Light suddenly burst into the room as the curtains were thrown back again.
"Jeremy! Oh gawd, no!" cried Hermana.
"What was he thinking?! You get the right arm, I'll get the left!"
Jeremy was surprised. That was Clyde's voice. He almost didn't recognise it because it sounded like he gave a damn. He looked around to see the two of them jump up and grab a hold of the Mangle's arms, fighting against the pull.
"Don't worry, Jeremy! We'll get you down!" called Hermana.
Clyde didn't say anything but continued in his efforts. The head of the Mangle, the one the voice had come from, locked its eyes on him. Jeremy could see the 'eyelid' furrow in anger.
"You… you…!"
For a moment, Jeremy saw Clyde freeze. He could only just see a look of shock on his face. Shock, mingled with shame.
"Vev…" It was barely a whisper but Jeremy still heard it. "I…"
"YOU!" It directed one at Hermana as well, who shrieked in terror. "Cowards! Wretches! Traitors! You're DEAD!"
The mass of limbs writhed in fury as the white head screeched. It was a horrendous sound that added to the horrendous symphony of clanking and creaking.
Luckily, they didn't stick around long enough to see it. In that moment, the two synthetics managed to wrench him free from the Mangle's grasp and Hermana caught him in her arms. She hurriedly skated out. Jeremy looked back to see Clyde duck under a swipe from the Mangle as it scuttled after him like a bizarre crab. He dived through the curtain, landing flat on his face. He scrambled on the ground, putting as much distance between it and him as possible.
Jeremy's eyes locked on the curtain, waiting for the Mangle to follow them out. It had stopped just short of the curtain's border but didn't go beyond it. It was still roaring and writhing, making Jeremy tense in Hermana's arms.
"Relax, idiot," said Clyde. "It won't follow us past the curtain. It's not allowed to."
The Mangle's head alternated between Clyde and Hermana. When it tried to step beyond the curtain, it would flinch. The head would yell and the mass would back away. Eventually, it backed off. The endo head was looking at the corner they started from, directing the body to it but the fox head never stopped staring at Clyde.
Jeremy could hear the metal sounds gradually dying down and the two lights of the Mangle's mismatched eyes lowering back to the ground. All of them sighed with relief and Jeremy rubbed the spots on his arms it had a hold of him. Jeez, these things had a grip.
"That was close," he said. "Feel free to put me down now, Hermy."
"Huh? Oh, sorry Jeremy!" She planted him back on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"You mean aside from the fact I just got attacked by the robot baby Frankenstein didn't want?" he remarked. "Yeah sure, I'm doing great."
"It was your own fault," said Clyde. "No one made you go back there, you weren't supposed to be back there so what's the best idea? Go right on in there, why didn't I ever think of that?"
Jeremy folded his arms. "Yeah, sure, the night guard isn't allowed back there but toddlers that go right up to that thing and play with it? Seems legit."
"Don't call her that," snapped Clyde. "I don't have to take this. I'm gone." He stalked off towards the party rooms. "You're welcome, by the way!"
"Bye Clyde!" called Hermy. "Whew, that was a close one, huh Jeremy? Lucky you had us around to pull you outta there."
"Yeah, it was," murmured Jeremy absently.
"I mean, when I realised where you'd gone, I got scared. Like, really scared," she continued. "When you said we should play hide and seek, I didn't think you'd go and hide in there. You silly goose! I told you you're not supposed to go in there!" She laughed shrilly. "Well, I hope you found whatchu were lookin' for and we won't say no more about it. How about we play somethin' else instead?"
He nodded vaguely. "Uh huh. Look, Hermana, I'm gonna go and have a talk with Clyde. Are you okay looking after yourself tonight?"
"Awww, but Jeremyyyy," she whined.
"Come on, I already said last night that it wasn't fair if you're the only one who gets to spend time with me," he said, folding his arms.
"But Clyde's boooooring. All he ever does is complain and lounge around at night and act all mean whenever I try to get him to lighten up a little," she said with a pout.
"Well, maybe I can talk him into having a little bit more fun, like you do," he replied. "Just let me try, okay? I'll give you a hug before I go and we can do something tomorrow night."
Hermana frowned as she considered this offer. She sighed good naturedly and allowed Jeremy to hug her again.
"Good luck," she whispered and then louder. "Okay, Jeremy, but I don't know what you're gonna do. Like I said, Clyde's pretty cagey. Maybe if you can find somethin' interestin' to talk about, that might help."
"Interesting?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think he likes weird discussions about different things. But I can't really say, he never really did it with me. I'll see you later!"
"Alright. And Hermy?" He smiled at her. "Thanks."
Hermana looked genuinely surprised by this. She didn't respond verbally, but she did return his smile and nodded. She skated off elsewhere while Jeremy set off to find Clyde. Despite his brush with the Mangle, he finally felt like he was getting somewhere. To her credit, Hermana did seem like she was trying to help him along. First the hint about Kid's Cove, then the nudge about Clyde. Jeremy understood she couldn't be overtly helpful or else she'd get in trouble but it was still appreciated. He had gotten a lot already.
For one, even though it wasn't a synth, the Mangle was clearly Vevina in some form. He didn't know if she still had a body like the others or she'd become a disembodied AI like Goldie and shoved into the animatronic but it was definitely her. Something had gone down between them, given her reaction to Clyde and Hermana. But she hadn't been willing to hurt him. She was being forced to, no doubt by this rival AI that Jeremy still knew very little about. Maybe that would be something else Clyde could shine a light on.
Then there was Clyde himself. Despite being a guy who preferred to take it easy, he hadn't hesitated to save Jeremy from the Mangle. Even if he was a jerk, Jeremy did owe him that much. Bearing in mind what Hermana had told him, Jeremy thought of how best to approach this. So far, he'd only responded to Clyde by arguing with him, though he seemed to enjoy it as much as he was irritated by it. Probably because it gave him an excuse to act all mean, as Hermana described. Jeremy didn't have a problem with that. He could banter with the best of them. It was just about finding the right balance so as not to actually annoy him.
Jeremy found Clyde in one of the party rooms. The room was in a state of disorganisation. Chairs had been pulled out and left on the floor, party hats were either on their sides or on the ground and his performing suit was lying in pieces all over the place. The synth himself was reclined on a chair, teetering on two legs with his feet propped on the table.
He looked up lazily as Jeremy entered. "Oh, look who it is. Stepping into more places no one asked you or wanted you to enter in the first place. Can't fault you for being inconsistent, I guess."
"Too bad I can't say the same for you," said Jeremy. "You say you want less to do at night and yet you end up coming to save me. I thought it didn't matter what I thought of you?"
"It doesn't. It's just it'd be more of a hassle if you ended up in little bits than if you didn't," he retorted. "I was saving myself future work by doing something now so I would not have to do it later."
"Oh so you're still being lazy, it's just on a grander scale?" asked Jeremy.
"See? You're getting it now. It's all about seeing the big picture," he said, gesturing with his hand like he was marvelling at a canvas.
Jeremy nodded. "It's certainly a thing of beauty. Even so, you're right. You did save me back there, so thanks for that."
"No big deal," he shrugged. "You've got guts, kid. I'll give you that."
"Appreciated. Room for one more?" he asked.
"So long as you don't say anything about what just happened there, sure," he shrugged.
"Thanks," said Jeremy as he took a seat. That statement was a bit of a blow but maybe he could turn things around. "So, what do you do when you're like this?"
"You're looking at it," replied Clyde.
Jeremy arched an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Well, usually I'm napping too but it's a little difficult under the circumstances," said Clyde pointedly.
"That can't be all there is that you want to do. Come on, what else do you like to do?" He nodded to the guitar that had been left on the ground. "You play?"
"Not really. That's daytime stuff," he said dismissively. "Look, you don't have to be here, kid."
Jeremy was starting to get a little annoyed at the synth's apathy. He recalled what Hermana had advised him before. He racked his brains, trying to think of something interesting and thought again of his brother. He remembered the hypothetical discussions that they used to have about all sorts of weird subjects. It was worth a try.
"Okay," said Jeremy, "would you rather fight a hundred duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?"
That made him look up. "Huh. Not heard that one before."
"Yeah? So, horses or duck?" he repeated. "Me personally, I'd fight the duck. You get more street cred for something like that."
"Come on, man," he scoffed, "ducks are vicious enough in their current size. I'm not fighting a supersized one. I'd go for the horses. It's easier to squish them."
"True but there's a lotta them," noted Jeremy. "Horses can do some real damage with their legs and hooves. Imagine a hundred of those coming at you."
"Just get somewhere high, they can't do much if they can't reach me," countered Clyde. "Then I can just punt the little guys as far as I like."
"You know that each of those horses are something, like, ten pounds each right? That's a lot you need to punt, it's like a hundred bowling balls," said Jeremy.
"Maybe that's a lot for you. Not exactly human, in case you forgot," he said, waggling his rabbit ears for emphasis.
"Oh yeah, you're a twisted freak of nature, I forgot," said Jeremy.
"Excuse me. That's twisted, well-dressed freak of nature, thanks," he retorted. "So you're okay with taking on a giant duck?"
"I don't know if 'okay' is the right word but come on. Imagine if you managed to beat something like that," he said.
"You're assuming that you will beat it," said Clyde.
"I could do it. At least there's only one of them," said Jeremy.
"True, but I'm assuming we don't have weapons in this scenario," said Clyde. "So what are you going to fight it with, other than a plucky attitude and a can-do spirit?"
"I don't know but I'd figure something out."
"Wow. Good plan there, let me know how that works out." Despite the obvious sarcasm, Clyde was still smiling. Finally, a point of connection.
They continued their debate for a while, along with a few other ones. Picking between having a T-rex or a tank on your side in a war or where would they hide from zombies. Clyde's answers usually surprised Jeremy. Though they were arguably the easier choices in the scenarios, they also made practical sense. For example, when it came to zombies, he'd just go somewhere high like an attic and pull up the ladder or wreck the stairs.
Even though this was fun, Jeremy had to work out how to bring up the topic of what had just happened with the Mangle. Hermana had known the best way to approach Clyde. Perhaps that was something.
"You're getting pretty into these. I used to do this kind of thing with someone close to me," said Jeremy.
"Oh yeah, I had debates like this all the time with…" He trailed off and looked away sullenly. "Whatever, I haven't done it for a while is the thing."
"You mean you never did it with any of the others?" asked Jeremy.
Clyde made a noise with his lips in dismissal. "Yeah, I don't think so. Dear old Ted is too much of a stiff and Hermana just talks and talks and never lets a word in edgewise. Nice to know you're good for something, kid."
"Glowing praise. I guess the little kid with the balloons isn't much for it either and you're not exactly conversations with the Mangle, are you?" said Jeremy with a laugh.
At the mention of the Mangle, Clyde looked away again and muttered something in agreement. That was as good of an indicator as anything to Jeremy.
"I know what you said before but I have to say it, that thing really threw me through a loop. I'd have been a goner if it weren't for you and Hermana," said Jeremy.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," he said irritably.
"I know I'm not supposed to be in there but I couldn't really help myself. That was one hell of a surprise though," he said. "The only one of you that's an animatronic. That was surprising."
"Surprising yeah, now shut up about it," Clyde said.
"I thought I had you guys all figured out, but I guess not. It kind of sticks out that there's one of you that's actually just a robot. I'd have thought it'd be different, but I guess not," he shrugged.
Clyde whipped his head around to Jeremy. "What's that meant to mean?"
Jeremy kept his voice casual. "You know, that there's an animatronic. A busted up animatronic that came right out of a horror movie but still. Man, that thing was freaky though. All of those limbs sticking out everywhere and they let toddlers play with it? That really is something."
"Stop talking about her like that," growled Clyde.
"So it's a she? I wouldn't have thought to look at it. Sorry, her," he said as an afterthought. "I didn't know you gave genders to mixed-up Frankenbots."
"I said stop it!" Clyde was on his feet.
"Hey, calm down. No need to get so worked up about the only animatronic. It's just a robot, not like you guys are," he said.
"Don't tell me what to do, kid! You don't know a damn thing!" he shouted.
Jeremy stood up too, not looking away from his fierce gaze. "Okay, so what don't I know? Why does it matter so much to you?"
"Because that 'thing' is all that's left of my best friend so how about you quit talking about stuff you don't understand!"
"Best friend?" Jeremy arched his eyebrow now. "Is that a fact?"
Too late, Clyde seemed to have realised his mistake. He made a few attempts to cover it up, but trailed off every time. Jeremy pressed his advantage.
"I heard when you were talking. You called her Vev and she seemed pretty mad at you and Hermana when you came in. She didn't want to hurt me, but she seemed pretty intent on hurting you. So, are you going to tell me what's up?" he asked.
"Why should I?" Clyde didn't meet Jeremy's eyes. He alternated between them and a spot on the floor. "Not like it's going to make a difference."
"Try me," offered Jeremy.
Clyde finally made prolonged eye contact. Jeremy knew that look that was in them. It was the same one he'd been seeing in the mirror every day since his brother had gone.
"Vevina. Her name is… was Vevina," he began. "She was the best of all of us. Ted likes to think he's in charge but we all knew it was Vevina who really took that position by a longshot. She could actually command respect, but she also knew how to have fun. Never let anybody tell her what to do."
"What happened?" asked Jeremy.
"Like I said, she never let anybody tell her what to do. Let's just say… somebody else didn't like that." He looked away again. "You want my advice, kid? Keep your head down. Don't make a fuss. It's easier that way. Not like it would make any difference anyway."
"Do you really believe that?" Clyde didn't respond to Jeremy's question. "Look, I think I know what you're going through."
"Oh yeah?" he challenged.
"Yeah. I don't know what went down in the end, but it wasn't your fault, Clyde. Whatever happened, you can't blame yourself for it." Jeremy's voice shook a little but he managed to control it. "You can't change what's already happened, but you can try and do right for what will happen. The way somebody else told me, you can either keep beating yourself up and really make no difference or you can use those feelings to try and make one yourself."
Clyde's expression softened. "Who was it? For you?"
"My brother," said Jeremy quietly.
"Oh. I'm sorry…"
"He… he died and for the longest time, I blamed myself. I guess I still do, in a way," he added. "But I decided to try and do something about it because I know it's what he would want. I've never met Vevina but I bet she would be the same."
Clyde didn't say anything for the longest time. "She would be." He glanced around the room. "Look, what you need to understand is-"
"Clyde! There you are, you filthy layabout!" Theodore stormed into the room. "Lazing about, as usual. And how on earth did this party room get in such a state?!"
"Dunno what to tell you, Ted. I just came in here and before you know it, everything just ended up like this," he said, readopting his apathetic tone. "It's a real mystery."
"Hmph. I'll be expecting you to clean it up," Theodore said. "And for the last time, it's Theodore!"
"For the last time, I don't care and who's going to make me clean it up? You?"
"Don't try my patience!"
"Not like that takes a lot of effort."
"Why, you-!"
"Hey guys, guys, it's okay," said Jeremy. "I'll make sure this place is all cleaned up, don't worry."
"Will you now?" Theodore stared at Jeremy, before nodding his approval. "Good man, Jeremy. At least someone around here has an understanding of proper order."
"Well, I am the night guard. It's pretty much in the job description," he said.
"It's still a fine attitude to take anyway. You shouldn't be wasting time with this good-for-nothing lazybones. You should spend an evening with me. I can show you just how exemplary we can be," he boasted.
"Yeah, kid. Maybe you should hang around with Ted here. I bet he could tell you how things go around here." Jeremy frowned. Was it just a twitch or did Clyde wink at him when he said that?
"I think I'll take you up on that, Theodore," said Jeremy.
"Finally, somebody manages the necessary number of syllables!" Theodore cheered. "Sadly, I don't have the time tonight but tomorrow night, my boy, I'll show you what you've been missing out. Cheerio for now!"
He strode off with his already impressive chest puffed out and his head high. Clyde rolled his eyes at his retreating back.
"What a chump. Come on, I'll give you a hand here," he said.
"Doesn't mean exerting some effort?" teased Jeremy.
"Yeah, but then it means I don't have to do it later," returned Clyde.
"So, long term laziness?"
"You got it. Plus, it was my mess anyway." He glanced around again. "Do me a favour though. Whatever you wanted to know, save it for Ted huh? It's not easy talking about… her…"
"It's okay, man, I get it. I really do. So," he said, picking up a chair, "you're in a forest and find a briefcase with a million dollars and a bloody note that says 'don't'. What do you do?"
