As Jackson left the restrooms, he glanced toward the entrance of the building. He could no longer see the shining sun in the distance that had been there when he arrived, but that was to be expected, considering it was already 11:30. He gave a deep sigh, partly regretting taking a night job, but as he turned to walk back to the office, he heard a voice call out behind him.

"Hey, new guy!"

Jackson turned around and saw the receptionist he met earlier walking toward him, finally free of that company mandated uniform.

"Oh, hi! Alyssa, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute about your job. Nothing too serious, but I thought you deserved to know before you jumped straight into it." she said, clearly conflicted about whether or not she should really divulge this information.

"Uh, alright then. I mean, what could be so bad about it? I just have to stay cooped up in an office for six hours and watch the cameras, there's not that much to it, right?"

"I suppose not, but I think that cramped room will be the least of your issues. I've been here for about half a year now, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who has noticed this, but even so, keep this off the radar, just in case."

Jackson found her words very puzzling. He envisioned the worst part of the job being the terrible paycheck he'd get at the end of the week, since it's not like any burglars would want to break into a dying out pizza restaurant, but he decided to give her the time of day. It wasn't like he had any complaints, since living in his mother's basement meant he wasn't seeing any attractive women very often.

"I don't know if you've heard or not, but there's something up with the night shift. I don't know what, so don't bother asking, but it's a little too suspicious to be a coincidence, if you ask me. I've seen so many security guards come and go in the time I've been working here. Almost none of them have finished their first work week, save for the guy before you. They come into work, and then they don't come back, sometimes as early as their second night."

"...You're serious about that? I mean, I can see this place seeming a little cold and empty at night, but I don't see what could be so bad that they'd quit on the first night." Jackson responded sarcastically. He looked over his shoulder toward the security office, where Henry was surely waiting for him. "Have you asked the boss about it?"

"Yeah, of course. He didn't seem to have any idea, his best guess was that halfway through the night, the fact that they were getting paid so little for such a boring job really set in, so they decided to quit and find somewhere else. I don't buy that one bit." Alyssa responded, clearly very intrigued by this strange coincidence, if it could be called that.

"Hell, I even tried calling the last guy before you, but I could never get a hold of him. That part strikes me as odd more than anything else. He was a valued employee of this company, someone who had been with them for almost ten years, and then he just quits out of nowhere? You don't find that suspicious?"

Jackson was deep in thought. Were these occurrences just one big coincidence, or was there something bigger at play here?

"Well… I'm no detective, but I'm not just here for the paycheck. There are some things I need to look into here, and I won't stop until I get answers. Considering that, I don't expect to be quitting anytime soon. I guess that means I just have one more mystery on my hands. You seem pretty intrigued by this mystery, so I tell you what; if I find anything out, I'll let you know."

Alyssa nodded with a slight smile on her face, and walked up to shake Jackson's hand. "I guess that makes us partners in mythbusting then." Jackson already had one mystery on his mind when he got the job and certainly didn't expect to add another to the pile, but with his curiosity piqued, finally shook her hand.

"Why are you so worried about me, anyway? Clearly you didn't care enough about the other guys to warn them, so what's so special about me?"

"Well, most of the other guys were kind of grumpy and getting up in age, so I figured if something bad was going to happen to them, they'd probably be kicking the bucket sooner or later anyway, and even if I did warn them, I doubt they'd listen."

"That's… morbid, but fair enough, I guess. I definitely know what you mean about old people refusing to listen to reason." Jackson replied, a little shocked by the bluntness of her remark.

"You, on the other hand? You're a young guy with a long life ahead of him, and you're probably a good kid. I just thought you deserved to know what you're getting yourself into. You're probably in some deep shit if you're taking a job like this, but I'm also working in this dump, so I guess we're one and the same." Alyssa said.

Jackson sighs before looking back at the girl. She was probably around the same age as him, and she had hit the nail on the hammer about him being in deep shit. "After all that effort to warn me, I guess I'm stuck here in the end, huh?"

"You shook my hand, you can't chicken out now!"

"Alright, alright. It's almost twelve, so I should head back and get on my shift. I'll let you know if anything happens when I see you tomorrow." Jackson responds, laughing at the mess he'd found himself caught up in.

After seeing her out the door, Jackson looked down at his watch. 11:59 PM. He dashed across the building to make his way back to his office, realizing that if he waited too long, he could technically be considered late to work. When he finally made his way to the office, he saw Henry standing on the other side of the room, arms crossed.

"Finally, I thought you'd never show up! I know I told you to become familiar with your co-workers, but I didn't mean that familiar…" Henry sighed, staring at the various drawings on the wall. They seemed to depict the restaurant's animatronics, but they weren't very good. They were drawn by kids, after all.

"W-what do you mean?" Jackson stammers, panting from the intense running. On second thought, maybe a pizza restaurant wasn't the best place for such an unathletic person to work at.

"I'm not an idiot, kid. Even through these fuzzy cameras, I can see that glint in your eye. You remind me of myself from back in the day…"

"Alright, I get it. God, I wish humans didn't have such expressive faces… Just don't say anything, okay?" Jackson stutters. He hadn't realized it himself, but Henry was probably onto something. Regardless, that was the least of his worries. He was now in the prime position to figure out the mystery of the missing night guards.

"She won't hear a peep out of me. You have nothing to worry about, my boy." Henry chuckles. "Anyway, it's about time we get you settled into your job, eh? This right here is going to be your most essential tool." he says, pointing to the camera monitor in front of him.

"Well, I'd imagine it's pretty self-explanatory. I just click on the camera I want to look at, give it a once over and move on?"

"That's the gist of it, yes. The one issue is the kitchen camera, since, like I said, there's no video. We just walked in one day and it was busted with no explanation. The audio does work, however, so that might be helpful." Henry responds, seeming genuinely confused about what could have happened to smash a camera so thoroughly.

"Wait, the one issue? I'm looking at these cameras, and you don't seem to have one for the entrance. I don't mean to be rude, sir, but I'd think that would be the most important camera in the building!" Jackson exclaims.

"Ah… Well, in the nicest way possible, the guys who installed the cameras… aren't very smart. They didn't have enough cameras and they didn't realize that when they started. For some god awful reason, they decided to do the entrance last, but by that point, they were out of cameras. I'm guessing that must not have been their last terrible job, since they went bankrupt shortly after that…" Henry responded, with a nervous smile on his face.

"And you're telling me not a single security guard has complained about this before now? You know what, it's fine. You're already having me fix the kitchen camera, so I could probably get one installed while I'm at it." Jackson sighed. It was only the first day on the job, and yet so much work was already piling onto him.

"That'd be much appreciated, my boy. Here to your left and right are light buttons to briefly turn on the lights right outside your doors. I'm sure you're aware of our state of affairs, so we can't afford to keep the building lit up for you at night. As such, very few lights are on at night save for the one inside this office, so you can't keep those lights on forever."

"Similarly, you also have two buttons on these sides to activate the doors. To be honest, I have no clue who decided we needed huge iron doors in your office, but I suppose if someone was inside the building, you'd probably be safe in here. However, just like the lights, you don't want to keep the doors closed all night. They pull a lot of power, and I'm sure you don't want to be sitting in the dark for the rest of the night when you run out of power." Henry finished. It certainly seemed that he was unaware of the reasoning behind most of the technology in the room, which Jackson found odd, considering he was the manager.

"Wait, that's it? This is my entire job?" Jackson asked.

"Pretty much! I suppose you could go out on a patrol or something if you really wanted to, but you have your cameras here, so you shouldn't really need to at all." Henry responded.

"Anyway, that should be everything you need to know! You won't be alone tonight, since I have a huge stack of paperwork I need to work through, but don't expect me to keep you company after this! If you need anything, my office is in the east hallway. Good luck on your first night, son!"

As Jackson watched Henry walk out the east door to head to his office, he started to think that maybe Henry's theory about the missing guards wasn't so far-fetched. A job like this was bound to get boring and monotonous after a while. Even so, surely they could have found something to do during their six hours?

"Well, since Henry's over there with his door closed, I'll take this opportunity to play some Link's Awakening!" Jackson mutters under his breath. He scrounges through his backpack full of various supplies he thought he might need for a night shift, and finally pulls out his Game Boy.

Jackson was checking the cameras periodically, but his main focus was finally beating the Zelda dungeon he'd been stuck on for so long. Barely ten minutes had passed since he started the shift when the phone on the desk started ringing.

"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute, the boss is almost dead…"

RRRRIIIIINNNGGGG

"I said give me a minute! Who even calls a pizzeria this late at night anyways?"

RRRRIIIIINNNGGGG

"Alright, fine!" Jackson yells, finally putting down his game and answering the phone.

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact." the voice on the phone rang out. He sounded a bit enthusiastic, but also slightly nervous.

"Hey, Henry!"

Henry peeked his head into the room from around the corner. "You need something?"

"Yeah, there's a recorded message coming through on the phone right now. Seems like the guy was an old employee or something, but it sounds like he's just going through a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and what my job is about. Should I keep listening?"

"Hmm…" Henry stares at the phone, clearly thinking deeply about something. "That sounds like Daniel, the guy who had this job before you. I never knew he left messages like this while he was working, but he's always loved the Fazbear brand. He's been here since the very first Freddy Fazbear's, actually. It definitely couldn't hurt to listen to him, since he arguably knows the company better than I do, but it's up to you. I mean, I taught you everything I think you should know."

As Henry walked back down the hallway to return to his office, Jackson took another glance at the phone. Part of him was intrigued by the prospect of listening to such a valued face in the pizza industry. This guy did work the night shift, after all. Maybe he'd have the answers to the mystery Jackson and Alyssa were researching?

"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to- BEEEP"

Just before the man on the phone can finish his sentence, Jackson pushes a button and ends the call prematurely.

"Whatever, I think I know how to do my job well enough. Sorry, Phone Guy. I just want to play Zelda."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jackson saw the time change to 1 AM on his watch. Only five more hours to go! How hard could this job be? Sure, he already signed up to unravel a huge mystery, but that could wait. He had a whole week ahead of him to do his investigation, and as far as he was concerned, the mystery was solved as long as he was still alive by the end of the night!

As he was conquering the dungeon in his video game, Jackson's eyelids started to feel heavy. He knew ahead of time that the job he signed up for was a night shift, and yet he didn't mentally prepare for the toll a lack of sleep would bring upon him. He gave one more glance toward the cameras to make sure everything was in order.

"...Was… was Freddy always… facing the camera? Eh… it doesn't matter… it doesn't…"

With a resounding thud, Jackson's head fell onto the desk in front of him as he finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Jackson walked up to a colorful building yet again. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The neon sign wasn't flickering, the sounds of a room full of children could be heard up ahead, and most importantly, there was a buffet! He thought it was unfortunate how much Freddy's had gone downhill since then… Then? When was then? He knew he was in a dream, but whether or not it came from a deep part of his memories, he didn't know.

He pushed open the double doors and ran into a room reminiscent of the one he was supposed to be looking over right now. Confetti lined the floors, children were running around the tables at an unfathomable speed, but something seemed out of place. The animatronics weren't on the stage. Jackson felt like he had seen this dream before, but he wasn't sure.

Something he noticed that he'd never seen in the modern-day pizzeria was a large gift box in the corner of the restaurant. It was surrounded by various plushies on shelves, so he assumed he was looking at the prize counter. His curiosity piqued, he decided to walk over to the box. He figured there was no harm in opening it; this was a dream, after all. Nothing dangerous could be inside, and he'd probably like whatever was inside. He'd always liked Freddy's merch, so if he was about to find a giant plushie inside, he had no complaints whatsoever.

He reached out to touch the box, but before he could, he heard screaming. The screams of a child, or more accurately, children, who were in danger. As he looked around, he saw that none of the restaurant's other patrons seemed to have noticed the commotion. Classic dream logic… Suddenly, in a flash of awareness, he remembered. This was the same dream he had the morning he applied for his new job, the one his brother had so rudely awakened him from. Maybe this time he could finally reach the conclusion.

Last time, if I remember correctly, the dream automatically put me in the backstage area… But this time, it hasn't done that. I have more control this time! Does this mean there's somewhere else I should be going?

Jackson surveyed the room, looking for any sign of a missing child. If I were a screaming child, where would I most likely be? The bathrooms? That would make sense… that's a private area, so if a kid's in trouble…

Jackson bolted toward the restrooms at a speed he had never ran before. He didn't know when he would wake up. He knew this was just a dream and nothing more, and yet he felt a sense of importance. He had to know what this dream was trying to tell him, as if it had some sort of pertinence on the real world.

He found his way to the restrooms, but as soon as he thought to enter and search the stalls, he felt a tingling sensation in his neck. He was close, but that's not where he needed to go. He knew he was close, but if it wasn't here, then where did he need to go? As if someone was answering his call, he suddenly felt a force pushing him in a direction he never would have thought to look.

But wait, that's just a wall… There's nothing behind there… right?

Without warning, Jackson was thrown at full force through the wall, bursting through like that one famous character he had seen in a commercial for a drink mix. He couldn't help but cough at the amount of dust on the floor. This room clearly hadn't been used for a while, or at least not the way it was meant to be used. There was a few extra arcade cabinets and assorted boxes, but the thing that caught his eye most didn't surprise him.

Five children. They felt familiar to him somehow, but he had no clue why. He gagged at the sight of the pooling blood, and then saw the familiar animatronics towering behind them. In the blink of an eye, the kids vanished, but the animatronics stayed put. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.

Wait, what… what is that fifth one… Something about it feels different… and wrong…

He had completely failed to notice the knife in his hand as he looked at the gruesome sight before him.

Did I do it? Are these my actual memories? No.. this can't be right… this isn't how that other dream ended, there has to be more here…

Before he had a chance to think, while he was still staring at the animatronic he found most disturbing, his vision distorted into a golden blur as he felt something heavy hit him in the back of the neck. He didn't just feel it, though. He heard it. A resounding thud sound as it expelled him from his terrifying dream and back into reality.

Jackson quickly rose his head from the desk as he woke up from the nightmare he found himself in, sweat dripping from his forehead. He couldn't remove the gruesome scene from his head, no matter how hard he tried. That was the least of his concerns, however.

"That noise… that loud thud… that was too real. That's the sound that woke me up, but if I was in a dream, it would have sounded very clear. And yet… it was muffled? Wait…"

He glanced at the cameras and saw something that shook him to his core. On the left side of the show stage, where Bonnie should have been standing… the rabbit was gone.

If you were hoping to jump straight into the action, I'm afraid that will have to wait until next time! I thought the previous chapter was perfect as is, and I really wanted to end this one with the Bonnie cliffhanger, so that's just the way it has to be. I wanted to use part of the chapter to really introduce Alyssa; I want to spend time fleshing out the supporting characters a fair bit, with many of them working for Freddy Fazbear's! As I said last chapter, I want to focus on how Fazbear Entertainment is a terrible company, but I also want to show that there's a sliver of light; there are some genuine decent people working for this company who want nothing to do with it's corrupt nature and are willing to take a stand against them. Alyssa, Henry, and James from the last chapter are just some of the side characters who will hold some importance. The actual night shift sections are important as well, of course, since that's the basis of the entire game, but something the games never dwell on is characterization, so that's something I really want to focus on. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and next time we'll get into some actual horror segments!