Jackson walked up to a very colorful building; one that seemed familiar to him for reasons unknown. As he pushed open the double doors, he saw sets of children running across the large room in front of him, with confetti all over the floor. Just as soon as he saw those children, his vision warped and he suddenly found himself standing in the dark, backstage area of the building. The children, however, were still in his sight, but the image before him was deeply unsettling.

They were lying in a bloody heap in the middle of the floor, the lifeless animatronics sitting in their rightful place behind them. He looked to the floor and found a small knife, but as he reached down to pick it up, he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He was sure it was that of a human, but it felt almost animal in nature. He slowly turned to face the mysterious person.

"-ckson. Jackson! JACKSON!"

Jackson darted awake immediately, looking for the voice that had intruded his dream just as it was getting interesting. As he looked across the bed, he saw his older brother, Nick, was there. Nick looked about like Jackson, but better looking in every way.

"Nick...? What are you doing here?"

"I got a break from work, so I thought I'd come down and visit, see how Mom and Dad are doing, and most importantly, I wanted to find out if you'd gotten a job yet. A little birdie told me that the answer is no." Nick responded.

Jackson slowly slid out of bed, scratching his head in dismay.

"Look, for the last time. I really want to move out. I know it'd be better on everyone if I wasn't living in my mom's basement for my entire life, but I've told you this so many times. Everyone around here knows the rumors. I may not have a criminal record, but I almost wish I did. It'd make everything those employers say to me feel justified."

"Right, right. Everyone's convinced that you killed those kids at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza because you were one of two suspects, and you were the last person seen with them before they were murdered." Nick sighed. "They didn't have sufficient evidence that either of you were responsible, so you're lucky that you're standing here right now and not in a jail cell."

"I wish I could say something to prove I'm innocent, but you know I can't. I went into that coma the same night and I can't remember much of anything from that time period. I remember a purple car, but I don't think that's really related to the murders. I just want a shot at life, man, but it seems like that's something I'm not destined to have." Jackson said, slumping onto the floor in dismay.

Nick walked over and grabbed Jackson's hand, pulling him up.

"Look, you're only 23. You have plenty of time to turn your life around, I wouldn't stress so much about it. For what it's worth, I believe you. That you didn't kill those kids. I mean, I know you can't remember whether you did or not, but I know you wouldn't do something like that. Plus, you were only 15. There's no way you'd have been capable of something like that..."

"Thanks..." Jackson muttered.

Nick walked out of the room, but came back only a few minutes later, holding something in his hand.

"Let's start from ground zero, yeah? Here's today's newspaper. Flip through it and see if anything interests you." he says, tossing the newspaper onto Jackson's desk.

As he walked up to the desk and looked at the front of the newspaper, he saw something. A picture of a large, animatronic bear, next to a job posting. "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is looking for a new nighttime security guard to look after the various appliances, animatronics, and other equipment. Work hours are 12 AM to 6 AM. Are you ready to join the family?"

"Well, speak of the devil, Nick. Look who's on the front page."

"You know, it surprises me that they're even still in business. I know I wouldn't bring my kids there after your little incident. But hey, they must be desperate for workers, because this definitely isn't the first time I've seen this in the newspaper. In that case, you might have a shot there, but are you sure you would really want to, given your... circumstances?" he responded.

"I mean, I know I used to love the place when I was a kid. I still have all the old plushies and stuff in my closet. I'll give it a shot. Maybe it'll get me closer to remembering all that stuff from the incident. With how much it impedes my progress elsewhere, I really want to know what actually happened to all those missing kids." Jackson said, with a slight smile on his face.

"If you insist, but maybe some things are best left forgotten..." Nick says quietly, before leaving the room.

Jackson shut the door and quickly ran over to the telephone, newspaper in hand. He entered the phone number listed on the newspaper, excited by the prospect of finally scoring a job.

"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, Alyssa speaking, may I take your order?"

"Oh, no, I- wait, you guys do takeout? But doesn't that kind of defeat the whole point of your restaurant? Like, isn't the appeal supposed to be the animatronics?" Jackson asks, puzzled.

"Look, I'm just the cashier, dude. Don't ask me, I just do what I'm told."

"Fair enough, fair enough. Anyway, I'm calling about the job position that was in the newspaper this morning, the security guard one?"

"Ohhh, that's right, I forgot about that. Well, I guess you're in luck, because you're the only person all day who's called about it. I can't imagine it being too much of a hassle to get the job, so how about you come in Monday morning and we'll see what we can do. Our manager's been kind of busy lately, but he'll be back that day, so you'll be able to speak with him then!" the girl on the phone responds.

"Alright, that sounds great! Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you in a few days then!"

And with that, only two short days later, Jackson once again found himself standing in front of a colorful building. He looked up and saw the flickering neon sign that said "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza," accompanied by an image of a brown bear with a bow and top hat. Jackson took a deep breath, and pushed open the double doors to the building that was so deeply rooted in his past.

As he stepped into the building, the sounds of children playing suddenly rushed into his ears, something he thought was quite abnormal, considering the restaurant was supposedly on the brink of closing. Directly in front of him was a terminal where it seemed you were supposed to order your food, although the buffet option was crossed out in red marker. A cost saving measure, perhaps?

There was an employee sitting in a chair in front of the menu, but it seemed she was fast asleep. She had long blonde hair, and was wearing a company-themed outfit that Jackson thought must be very uncomfortable. He slowly gazed past the terminal to see what kind of world he was about to enter. Immediately past the terminal was a large party room, where kids were running around, seemingly unsupervised. Behind them and to the left was a set of double doors that, judging by the steam exiting through the cracks, led to the kitchen. In the middle of the dining room were two hallways, separated by a wall and a prize corner in the middle. Jackson recalled that he had many of the same plushies on the shelves in his closet back at home. Suspiciously, though, he couldn't see the animatronics. Surely they were on the other side of the building, at the wall that he couldn't see yet, but maybe they'd finally gotten rid of them to save money?

"So, you gonna order something or not?"

Jackson startled at the sudden voice coming out of nowhere, and noticed that the girl had finally woken up.

"Oh, sorry, it just seemed like you were sleeping so peacefully. I didn't really want to interrupt you. Can't say I blame you, since from the sounds of things, you don't get too many customers." Jackson stuttered.

"Yep, there's not many kids here these days. There's a few in there right now, but that's all we usually get. It seems they're a really rowdy bunch though, so it sounds like we have a full house. Regardless, I can't imagine why someone your age would be showing up here, so I take it you're the dude from the phone the other day?" the girl sighed. It didn't seem like she was too enthusiastic about her job, which didn't surprise Jackson. The amount of money promised for him in the newspaper wasn't much, so it wouldn't surprise him if it was similar for the other positions.

"You guys get so few phone calls that you knew it was me specifically, huh?"

"Bingo. Not many people show up here these days, and they certainly don't call us for anything. People are just a bit unsettled by a restaurant chain where several kids went missing, and I can't say I blame them. The people that do show up also complain that the animatronics smell bad, but I don't get close enough to them to really know. Not my job, not my problem." the girl responded a bit more cheerfully, slightly enthused by actually having someone to talk to who isn't a 5-year old with tomato sauce plastered on their face.

"Well, if I land this job, I shouldn't have to worry about too much of that. I'd be really surprised if I was responsible for any missing kids when I'm working the night shift. I mean, it's nice chatting with you and all, you're a very pleasant person, but I'm sorta here for that job offer from the newspaper." Jackson responded, a bit puzzled about the fact that instead of getting a job, he was having a full-on conversation with a random employee.

"Well, you're in luck then, young man."

Jackson was once again startled by an unfamiliar voice, and turned around to see the front doors swinging shut behind someone. He looked up and saw a man who he could only assume to be the manager of the place. He had slick, ginger hair and was wearing a business suit.

"The name's Henry Emily, and I'm the manager of this fine establishment." the man said, reaching out to shake Jackson's hand. "Alyssa here told me you were coming, so I thought I'd make sure you could get this job."

"Yes, Mr. Emily, sir-"

"Henry is fine, son."

"Er, alright. I don't mean to be too forward with this, but I'd like to know what requirements I need to get this job. The newspaper didn't really say much, just that I'm supposed to watch over the equipment here and make sure nothing gets damaged." Jackson said.

Henry began walking into the main portion of the building, and waved for Jackson to follow him. As they entered the very center of the building, Jackson found that his original assumption was correct. Directly in front of him was a show stage. The curtain was currently drawn, but he just knew the animatronics from his childhood had to be back there. As he directed his gaze elsewhere in the building, he noticed a smaller stage that was separate from the main stage, with a sign stating that it was out of order.

Henry stopped over by the prize counter, and sighed.

"Now, I've looked into you. I know the reputation you have regarding my business. It's kind of hard not to, considering it's directly related to something that's been slowing down the amount of business I've gotten. But you're a good kid, I feel certain about that. I know what it's like to be in your position." Henry explains, running his hand through his hair.

"Something you may not know is that the other suspect of the murders was an old business partner of mine, William Afton. Now, I trust that man with my life. Together, he and I created a restaurant together, Fredbear's Family Diner. He was good at the business side of things, but I loved creating those animatronics, and clearly other people loved them too. But that's besides the point. Will is my dear friend, and I've done my best to stand up for him when people accuse him."

"Considering you and him were in the same situation, I feel like I owe it to myself to look past the rumors and give you this job. I know it's been hard finding work because of your past, and I'm sure you certainly didn't expect to get a job at the place that started all those problems for you, but I trust you, kid." Henry finishes. He had clearly been giving a lot of thought to what he wanted to say to Jackson.

"Really? Thank you so much, sir! You have no idea how much this means to me." Jackson exclaims. "I have a question, though. Where's Mr. Afton now? Is he still a manager here as well? You probably know this already, but after the incident, I was stuck in a coma for a year or so. I have no clue what could have happened to me that day, but it was clearly bad enough to induce amnesia that I'm honestly still recovering from. So, if Mr. Afton is still around, I'd like to speak with him to see if he has any sort of insight about that day, since he was a fellow suspect and all."

"So, you're missing that much of your memory? Do you even remember my daughter..." Henry muttered.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, it's nothing, don't mind me. As for William, we continued working together after Fredbear's. We opened up the very first Freddy Fazbear's together, but then the incident happened, and he decided he wanted to do his own thing. He opened up his own restaurant with his own animatronics. It was truly fascinating what he was able to accomplish!" Henry said, a large smile on his face. He was clearly well invested in the world of robotics.

"We still chat from time to time, but he's not currently a part of this company. In fact, I don't actually own this company anymore. I sold it off to a business which later became Fazbear Entertainment, and I don't really have much control in the grand scheme of things. I wanted to stay a part of the business somehow, though, so they gave me this manager position. I'm really sorry that you can't talk to William, but you should really get accustomed to your new workspace. I'll show you around a bit!"

Henry took Jackson over to a room next to the out of order area, a room that was almost pitch black in comparison to the rest of the building.

"I don't imagine you'll need to venture out here during the night, but if one of the animatronics was somehow damaged, there are some spare parts here you can use to repair them."

"Wait, shouldn't that be a repairman's job?" Jackson inquired.

"Well... yes, that's what I'd think too, but our budget is really low these days, so we may end up training you for that position as well. With higher pay, of course! So, these are mostly just spare animatronic heads. We have this spare endoskeleton as well, so if one of the robots were damaged on the inside, we can just slap the outside onto this guy and we're good to go!" Henry responded.

The pair walked out of the room and made their way toward the opposite side of the building. Henry pushed open the set of double doors in front of him and led Jackson into the kitchen. The area was pretty cramped for the amount of utilities that were present.

"As you can see, this is the kitchen. It's not the largest in the world, but I think our cooks find it cozy." Henry said.

"Yeah, something like that…" a gruff voice muttered from behind Jackson. Startled, he turned around and saw a large, middle-aged man walking through the doors.

"Ah, well, I suppose it would be good for you to meet some of your co-workers, even if you won't be seeing them all that often…" Henry sighed. "This is James, he's sort of the head cook here. He's even the mastermind behind our pizza's secret formula, but you'll never get it out of him, the man's like a brick wall."

"So, you're the new kid, huh? For a security guard, you sure don't have a lot of meat on your bones. What do you actually think you could do if an armed intruder entered the building and it was your responsibility to make sure nothing gets damaged? Huh?" James says, slowly walking closer and closer to Jackson until he was practically right against the wall.

"Jim, let's be a little more welcoming to-" Henry started, but James didn't care. He wanted an answer to his question.

"I was the suspect in the Missing Children's Incident, yeah? If they really thought I would have been capable of such a crime, I'd imagine I must be pretty dangerous." Jackson calmly said, staring dead into James' eyes.

"Is that supposed to be a threat? For someone who was supposedly cleared of all charges, you sure seem to have some bloodlust."

"Now, now. Just because I'm hiring you doesn't mean you can go around saying things like that, Jackson. That makes it kind of hard to defend you from your reputation-" Henry started speaking, but this time it was Jackson who interrupted.

"Look, I've had this sinking feeling for ages now. Put yourself in my shoes; I have amnesia and the first thing I remember is being put on trial for a crime I didn't commit. Or did I? How do I know I'm not a murderer? That's what I'm here to find out. This is the place where it all went down all those years ago, so if there's anywhere I'll find the truth, it's here. I'm here to prove to myself and the entire world that I'm not who they say I am, and I'll do it no matter what it takes."

The kitchen was in complete silence for what felt like minutes. It seemed as if nobody knew what to say to such a statement, until finally, James broke the tension.

"...well, that's quite the motivation, kid. That takes some serious will power. I don't think you'd be here if you didn't think you could defend yourself."

He walked over and grabbed Jackson on the shoulder. "Kid, I'm trusting you to protect my sacred kitchen with your life. If I see a single scratch on any of my precious equipment, you're dead."

"Is this guy being serious right now? It's just a kitchen!"

"Well, that might not be the easiest thing in the world. You see, we sort of got sidetracked here, but the entire reason I brought you here was because you probably won't be seeing this place too much on your shift. That camera up there? Well, it doesn't actually work…" Henry chuckles nervously.

"Am I going to have to fix that at some point?" Jackson sighed.

"Yes, we'll probably have you on that soon… Regardless, we should probably continue the tour. Keep up the good word, Jim!"

Henry guided Jackson down one of the two hallways next to the prize counter until they reached a small office in the back of the building. It seemed very unorganized; paper balls and confetti were strewn all about the floor, the wall was lined by what appeared to be childrens' drawings of the animatronic characters, and the only thing keeping the room semi-cool was a tiny fan on the desk.

In the center of the room, there was a young man sitting in a chair, watching the cameras. He was wearing what appeared to be a security uniform, but it was barely visible under his purple jacket.

"Well, Jackson, this is going to be your office during the night! It's not the most brilliant thing, that's for sure, but it's sort of cozy, isn't that right, Mike? Oh, that's right! You probably won't be seeing him too often, but this is our daytime security guard, Michael Afton." Henry says.

Michael looked up from the cameras slowly. He had bags under his eyes and clearly hadn't slept in a while.

"So, you're the new guard, huh? About time. I've been working at night too, since our last night guard quit and we haven't had a replacement until now. I am getting overtime for that, right?"

"Yes, of course, my boy." Henry sighed.

"Wait, you said Afton? So, he's related to your old work partner?" Jackson asked.

"That he is!"

"My dad's animatronics are impressive from a technical standpoint, sure, but something about the original gang is... special to me..." Michael muttered.

"Oh, speaking of... I think it's almost showtime! Why don't we go see the misfits you're going to be responsible for tonight, Jackson." Henry says, ushering him out the door.

Jackson walked into the dining area, and as soon as he did, the curtains on the main stage opened. It felt like those few short seconds in between open and closed were going on forever, but at last, they were there. The three, iconic members of the Fazbear band: Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica.

A wave of nostalgia rushed over Jackson. They weren't exactly the same as they were back in the day, but the central ideas were still there. Brown bear, blue bunny, yellow chicken- or was it a duck? He could never seem to remember. Suddenly, the band burst into song. It was slightly amusing, but clearly meant for children. Jackson seemed to remember them being more lifelike, but of course, that was just the view of robots from a child's perspective. Upon further inspection, the joints were rather stiff, and it was clear the technology of the future wasn't quite here yet.

After a few minutes, the song was over. The curtains began to close, and just as Jackson was starting to feel underwhelmed, as if the performance didn't live up to his childish expectations, something odd occurred. He could've sworn he saw Freddy's head jolt in a way unlike what he had been seeing the past few minutes. His head turned toward Jackson in a way that was almost... human. He could feel the robot's gaze piercing straight through him, but once the curtain finally closed, he was reminded that they were just that: robots. Whatever that was had certainly changed his view from a few minutes ago; maybe they were as lifelike as he remembered...

"Well, son, that's the gang! Get used to seeing them, because they'll be in the same spot every night. Your change of clothes is in one of the lockers in the office. Get changed in the bathroom and we'll get you started on your first night!" Henry said, clearly proud of what he'd created.

Jackson gave one last glance toward the show stage before he returned to the office. He could no longer see the animatronics that were now basking in darkness behind the stage, and yet, he swore he could feel someone watching him. He gave a quick shrug and grabbed his change of clothes.
_

I've been thinking about writing this story for years at this point, and I finally decided to bite the bullet and start it before the lore can get any more complicated than it already is... I feel like this goes without saying, but while this is certainly influenced by and based on the Five Nights at Freddy's series by Scott Cawthon, this is ultimately my own story. There will be plenty of similarities to the actual story and the overarching narrative will have similar threads, but I'm also putting my own spin on this. Think of it as an alternate universe where similar events happened, with plenty of differences that should hopefully flesh out the world of FNAF a little more, because god knows there's very little storytelling on the surface of these games.

As much as I want to, I don't write all that often, so let me know what you think about my writing! I have no clue how long this story will go on for, but hopefully I'll stay motivated enough to see it through to the end. There are several parts planned, each roughly pertaining to a game in the series because there's just so many now... Let's just say that Jackson has a very long ride ahead of him if I allow the story to make it that far. I've also never written anything with horror elements, so I'll do my best, but luckily that's not what I'm trying to accomplish here. Like I said, I want to flesh out this world. We'll delve into the mechanics of souls possessing robots (remnant, agony), the fact that Fazbear Entertainment is a terrible company, etc. I'll stop while I'm ahead as to not spoil too much. Anyway, sorry for talking so long, I just wanted to give some backstory to this project. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer!

- Wyatt