Travis, Shannon, and Olly began wrapping up their final song, glancing around to get a quick count of the children before they finished. As the curtain closed, they waved to the cheering crowd, promising they would sing again soon.
The cheerful faces on the animatronics soon disappeared, replaced by looks of confusion and worry. Something was off about today. The place seemed...quieter than it had a while ago.
"Olly, how many children did you see today?" Travis asked worriedly.
"I saw sixty two in total. How many did you see by the stage?" Olly replied.
"Five. Thirteen were at the farther end of it. What about you, Shannon?"
"Ten by the arcades and four by the Coloring Corner," Shannon said.
"How many did you see in the dining area, Olly?"
"There were seventeen at the tables. Ten of them were up doing something else,"
Travis winced. There was a difference of three children. Not really wanting to hear the answer, he asked,
"Where did they go? Are they in the restrooms? Did they just leave?"
"No. I haven't seen them since our last check. And I didn't see them leave either," Olly answered.
"How many adults did you count?"
"Fifty, including staff,"
"Last time I checked I saw twenty five. How many did you see, Shannon?"
"...Twenty four..." she whispered.
Their faces froze as they examined the unbalanced numbers. Unless the missing people turned up before closing, they were officially considered lost. What's worse, the missing children could have been taken.
Before they could worry any further, the animatronics' curtain opened and playtime had officially begun. They smiled bigger than usual, trying to keep the evident worry out of their faces.
Much to Garrett's delight, he got the job. He had gotten an email confirming his position. He had gotten the hours and the amount of days he was supposed to work, but he hadn't gotten any materials or even a uniform. He figured he'd get those once he got to Travis Turtle's. Garrett headed out to his garage and hopped in his car, excited to start his new job.
When he arrived, he noticed that all the lights were off. He knew he was supposed to work in the dark, but he didn't think that meant pitch black darkness.
Maybe I'm too early. Mr. Derren isn't even here yet, I didn't see his car Garrett reasoned with himself.
As he reached the back door, however, he noticed a note indicating that he was indeed supposed to be there. The note read:
Your uniform, flashlight and list of rooms to clean are inside. There are supply closets in every room for you as well. -Mr. Derren
Garrett shrugged and began to head inside. He tugged at the door, but the door refused to let him in. Frustrated that the door was locked, he quickly looked around for a key. Unable to find one on the ground, he grabbed the note to see if it offered any hints. It made a jingle as he tore it off the door, so he turned it around. There was a key on the back, which he rapidly removed. Once he removed it, he noticed a bit of writing on the back of the note as well. He glanced at it and read:
WARNING! Don't shine your light at the animatronics, they'll think you're an intruder!
Garrett held the note back in shock. They'd think he was a intruder? He couldn't imagine a bunch of machines having that level of intelligence, let alone such a high sensitivity to light. Looking back at the building, though, drove fear through him as he realized why it was kept so dark.
I hope they're just power cheapskates he thought to himself.
Garrett went inside and found his flashlight after feeling around for it in the dark for a while. He was sure this was some sort of safety hazard but he decided to ignore that and find his uniform. Once he turned the flashlight on, he found it with ease and headed to the restroom to put it on.
Once he returned, he searched for his checklist, which was hanging on the wall where the rest of his things were. He could barely make it out in the dark, but the rooms were simple enough to remember. Each room had a label and all of the rooms were in a linear pattern.
He headed to the First Party Room, which was on his left. He waved the flashlight around a bit so he could analyze his surroundings. However, just before he could head inside, his body grew cold. Garrett could feel an unfamiliar presence behind him. He felt it standing overtop of him, encompassing all of his personal space. Slowly, the thing began to move, circling around Garrett like an army surrounding a fort. From what he could make out, it was a large green...turtle?
The flashlight! Garrett mentally screamed. He hurriedly turned off the light and froze. The thing, or animatronic, Garrett corrected to himself, continued to tiptoe around him. The tiptoes grew louder, louder, until the animatronic was standing so close they almost touched. The animatronic stood there for a while, lingering, then its footsteps sounded again, growing quieter and more distant the more it walked.
Finally! Ha, Mr. Derren was real serious about these guys! Can't believe he wouldn't program my face in their systems or something though! he thought. Afraid of making any sounds, Garrett shuffled to the room. When he felt the door, he nudged it open and slid inside.
He exhaled, relieved he was safe in the little room. He turned on his light and observed his surroundings. The mess in the First Party Room wasn't terrible, but there was a rather large spill in the corner. As he waved the light around, he noticed a little switch on the wall.
Yes, a light! Now I can actually see!
He flipped on the switch and blinked a couple of times, getting used to the no longer dim room. He could see everything now. There were a few tables, chairs, and even a few benches. Other than a few wall decorations and a couple of speakers, the room wasn't much different from other party rooms. However, there was a supply closet, which Garrett promptly went to.
Garrett got out all of his tools and began his work. He began mopping a few spots on the floor, then he moved on to the sweeping. He realized after he began sweeping that it was probably a bad idea to sweep while the floor was still wet, but it was too late to change that. Once every piece of trash was swept into the dustpan, he dumped it in the little trash can by the supply closet. Garrett then walked over to the little spray bottle he set out and brought it over to the tables.
Before he began spraying, he could hear a tiny creek just outside the room. Garrett stood stock-still, waiting for another noise. No noises came, so he slowly pivoted his head as if he were an owl observing the ground for a mouse. Through the small slit in the door, he could make out what appeared to be a pink jellyfish. Its eyes were large and searching. In a panic, Garrett ran over to the light and flicked it off. He darted around for a place to hide and crawled beneath one of the tables.
The jellyfish creaked the door open a bit more, just enough so she could squeeze through. She quietly stepped in, glancing around for anything visible. Disappointed in her findings, she walked off to another area of the restaurant.
Why did that work? Garrett thought, dumbfounded.
Once Garrett got the animatronics' tactics down, his job was much simpler. Stay still in the halls, hide in the rooms. There were only two characters to deal with anyways, but sometimes, he thought he saw others, but they turned out to be just posters.
Maybe they discontinued the other two Garrett considered.
He decided to let that go and finish up the last room. The last room had chairs scattered all across the floor as if a tornado swept in. Rolling his eyes, Garrett picked them all up and spent quite a while restoring them to their original positions.
When he was satisfied with his work, Garrett moved towards the halls, quickly scanning the floor with his light just in case. He didn't see anything besides the floor, so he relaxed a bit and strutted towards the exit. While he walked, he lifted his flashlight a bit to turn it off. Before he could, however, a tall green figure stood right where the light pointed.
Screaming, Garrett flicked the light off as fast as he could and booked it towards the nearest room. He sprinted to the left in a blind panic for anything resembling a door. He found a knob, but found difficulty in pushing the door open. Looking back, he realized it was too late to choose another one. Shoving as hard as he could, Garrett forced the door open with all his weight. The door lightly budged at first, then let go of its will to cling to the doorframe and allowed him inside. Garrett flopped in, the door swinging heavily beside him.
Garrett slammed the door shut, finding it much easier to shut it than open it. Panting, Garrett fought to collect himself. Coming to his senses, he felt for the light and switched it on. Once he was stabilized, he found himself in a room he didn't remember cleaning. He checked his list to see if he had missed it, but he had cleared every room.
Observing his surroundings, he realized this was unlike any party room he had seen previously. This room was bleak and barren with only one table in the center. A plethora of drawers encompassed the back end of the room. On top of the drawers, a small stack of drawings littered the countertop. They appeared to be sketches. Curiously, Garrett went over and looked at them. They appeared to be bipedal turtle drawings. Alongside one of them, words engulfed the page. Picking it up, Garrett inspected the writing.
Dark blue.
Leatherback.
Lena.
She's beautiful.
I can't draw that well.
I can still make her.
Garrett stared at the sketches in confusion. Was this a design for another animatronic? If it was, it didn't belong in here.
Mr. Derren probably left all these in here. I'll just give them back in the morning.
He pocketed the drawings and slowly exited the room, shoving hard against the heavy door. Surveying the halls once more, Garrett made sure he was actually safe this time and scurried quickly and quietly to the exit.
