5 Days Later…

Saphira had mostly recovered after two days from the incident. She managed to fix Mr Hippo's stomach hatch, and do some other maintenance on Orville, Chica and Roxy during this time. She was really glad she was able to do that because she worried that the animatronics would be in poor condition while she was down. That did not happen, thankfully. She remained in the pizzaplex even though she was able to drive safely after day three, however she refused. Her fear of not being with Freddy changed each day. It seemed somedays it was worse, others it was neutral and they only had one day where she was mostly okay without his presence. It worried Darren and the animatronics. Especially when she was nearly caught sitting in Freddy's room during the day. Darren definitely concluded it was whatever was injected into her that was making her brain react that way. It has manipulated Saphira into believing he will disappear when she wasn't looking, and that was not healthy.

Darren did buy her a couple pregnancy tests as she requested in case she could be. Both came back negative, and she was relieved by that. However, no one knew what was injected into her. Especially as she was certain the needle either penetrated her womb, or even her ovary, that was how far it felt within her when she looked back. The wound of the injection site itself was healed, but the pain came back occasionally and Saphira hated it. She did try to ask Darren if he knew what this was, and he sincerely responded that he did not know. She wanted to believe him, but she also knew he would be punished if he told her something he shouldn't. Her distrust of Mr Miller only grew.

And tonight, was the night they would officially meet Vanessa. Saphira was not looking forward to that at all. She had been paranoid about this woman showing up, she watched the cameras to see when she would arrive as Saphira expected to see the woman walk through the door. Although, Saphira didn't know what she even looked like. And that bothered her. Tonight, she was more concerned about Vanessa than not being with Freddy, which the animatronic was relieved as her insistance of being with him all the time was exhausting. He knew it wasn't genuine, if she genuinely wanted to be with him all the time he would feel it. But it was the fear and manipulation from the injection that creating this personality in her.

"Evening Saphira," Darren spoke through the Fazwatch as she stared intently at the monitors. "Can you come down to the lobby? I would like to introduce you to Vanessa."

Saphira frowned a little as she looked at the camera view of the lobby. "I don't see you in the lobby, where are you right now?"

"In my office, we are heading to the lobby now." Saphira didn't even see Darren at all, this was so strange! "I figured you would want to show Vanessa the ropes…or at least, a little bit so she knows what her duties are as a night guard."

Saphira grumbled a little before responding. "Very well. It is just strange I did not see you greet her in the lobby. You'll have to explain that one to me."

Darren did not respond as Saphira fixed her hair and outfit before walking to the elevator to go down to the hallway to the atrium. She was not looking forward to it, but she would remain professional because if Vanessa has direct contact with Mr Miller, it did mean she had to be careful with what she did and said around her. Being professional was as far as Saphira would go. She had no intention of being friendly to the woman.

She walked through the atrium to the elevators and hummed the theme song as she stood in the elevator, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited to get to the lobby. Once the doors open, she stepped out onto the lobby and walked to the railing to look down. She spotted Darren wearing a lavender suit with a black tie, he was speaking with a woman who had blonde hair tied into a ponytail by the golden Freddy statue. Saphira huffed a little and made her way down the stairs to greet them.

Darren spotted her first and smiled at her. "Ah, and here is our finest security guard…" He gestured to Saphira and the woman turned around with a smile on her face. "Vanessa, this Saphira Dawn, the woman who I was talking to you about. She's out longest standing night guard to this day."

Saphira widened her eyes a little when she saw Vanessa. This woman appeared to be older than her, maybe by a few years, but she had a curvier body than her, her skin was as pale as Saphira's skin and her eyes…well, they were green! That is what peaked Freddy's interest in her in the first place. Saphira felt her skin crawling once she saw this woman, especially as Vanessa was taller than her.

"Nice to meet you, Saphira," Vanessa said, extending her hand politely to shake while flashing her white teeth while her lips curled upward with matte, red lipstick. Saphira takes it to shake back politely. "I have heard many wonderful things about you. I look forward to working here."

"I wish I could say the same about you, I hardly know anything about you." Saphira pulled her hand back and rests it at her side. "I only know that Mr Miller decided you should work here as a night guard. Though, I never saw you entering the facility through the front."

"Oh, yeah, I entered the building through a different entrance," Vanessa responded as she kept smiling, Saphira raised an eyebrow as she was curious by what she meant by that. "Don't worry about it though, I'll use the lobby entrance afterwards. I heard that the side entrances are more for the utility and day technician staff."

Saphira never heard that one, but she made no comment on it. "So, do you have any night guard experience? I was told you had none…"

"You are correct, this is my first security job," Vanessa said in a cheerful voice. "But I really needed something to pay bills. I am sure you know that feels like." Saphira did know that, but she didn't buy that is why Vanessa was here. "Although, my previous job as an IT worker was great until the business went bankrupted."

"IT?" Saphira did not like the sound of that. "How experienced are you with IT?"

"I used to work with complex systems to constantly change passwords, the firewalls and deal with viruses in the system," Vanessa responded, Saphira did not know if she was telling her this for a reason or not. "I am not great with robotics, though. I got told by Mr Miller I won't be learning the general maintenance for a while until he feels I should. You have that part covered, he said. But if there is an issue with the staff bots, the pizzaplex system or even the animatronic system…"

"I will be handling the animatronic system," Saphira interrupted Vanessa with a calm voice, surprising the woman. "Besides, you can only access it through my office. Same with the staff bots. I have them covered. You probably don't need to worry about your IT expertise here."

"Oh, well…that is what he said, I can help with that. I believe he will order you to allow it otherwise." Vanessa smiled at her, though Saphira could see there was a slight smugness there and she couldn't help but get annoyed by it. "I understand you know the systems well, but I am here to help when there is an issue."

"Thanks for the offer." Saphira looked at Darren and forced a smile. "I suppose we should she her where her office is. I am assuming it will be my old office, of course." Saphira still was salty about that, but she was grateful for the larger office because she's turned it in a home at the moment.

Darren nodded. "It is. You're lucky that being a night guard here, we never have anyone break into the pizzaplex. They're not stupid enough to do that."

"That is good. Mr Miller told me I just have to watch night guests mostly, so it doesn't sound like a hard job," Vanessa said cheerfully. "Please, lead the way."

Saphira really wanted to just walk back to her office and stay there. But she couldn't. She turned around and walked up the stairs with Darren behind her. Vanessa walked behind them, but Saphira had no interest in small talk.

"At least Mondays are a quiet night, you won't have to do much Vanessa," Darren said, he clearly was okay with making small talk. "Saphira will perform general maintenance with the animatronics tonight, so your job will be to keep watch of the rest of the pizzaplex while she is in Parts and Service."

"Oh, that is good. I guess I will be checking out the places like the utility tunnels too?" Darren nodded as they step into the elevator, and he noticed Saphira lean against the wall with her arms folded. Vanessa didn't seem to care about that as it didn't bother her. "I'll make sure to be a good team player. Ooh, this music is nice. I haven't been here before, even though Mr Miller is a good friend of mine."

"Yeah, how did you meet?" Saphira asked curiously, that was something she really wanted to know.

"Oh, uhh…" Vanessa giggled a little and shrugged. "This might sound silly, but we met in an adult's chatroom. And we kind of went from there…"

Gross…

"Have you met him physically, by any chance?"

Vanessa seemed to think on that question as the elevator dings and opens out onto the second balcony. "Not exactly. Umm, mostly through Zoom honestly." That sounds pretty familiar. "But, he seems really nice and he wanted to help me out. I might get to meet him."

"No body has ever seen him, we just know he is the owner of the pizzaplex." Saphira walked out of the elevator ahead of Darren and Vanessa.

"Oh, that is….AHHHHH!" Vanessa jumped back as the Map Bot rushes at her with a map.

"Please take this map."

Darren looked at the Map Bot in shock and looked back at Saphira who was smirking slightly. "I thought you said you got the aggression out of these bots."

"Hmm…I did, looks like I need to rewrite the program for it again to keep it that way." Saphira kept herself from chuckling as she had gone in earlier into the Map Bot system to deliberately target Vanessa that way. She looked at Vanessa who held the map while trying to calm down. "Don't worry, I had the exact same welcome from these bots as well."

"If the Map Bot is aggressive, maybe I should take a look." Vanessa walked away briskly as she followed Saphira towards the stairs.

"That won't be necessary, it hasn't been aggressive all day. Funny how it only became aggressive when you showed up." Saphira kept her smug expression forward and she spotted Happy Frog dancing for a group of kids at a table while they eat pizza. "When you clock in, in about forty-five minutes' time, the place will be pretty much empty. So, don't expect much to do other than learning the rules and how to get around this place."

"You won't show me around?" Vanessa asked Saphira curiously.

Saphira glanced at the woman and shakes her head. "I had no one to show me around, and I have to do general maintenance tonight anyway. I have no time to show you around, this place takes a few days to get used to getting around."

Vanessa seemed to accept that, so she said nothing more as they reached the bottom floor of the atrium. Saphira could see the door to her old office from there and she felt a pang in her heart about it. She did miss that small office, even if it would have been uncomfortable to stay in for several days like she had been doing. But, Saphira still refused to leave. She knew she should leave, but she was too scared to. It was like she wasn't just scared of leaving Freddy or that he would disappear, but that she would never get back to the pizzaplex. She hated the feeling, Mr Hippo's been trying to help her unravel this new personality, but it has been frustrating for the both of them.

Saphira reached the blue door and stepped aside, gesturing for Vanessa to open it. "This is your office. It is small, but nice and cosy."

The woman opened the door and smiled as she stepped inside, feeling the carpent under her shoes and glancing at the monitors, coffee machine and mini fridge. "This is really nice. I could get used to this."

Oh sure, rub it in! "Yep, it is a nice little office. I am sure you will find it grows on you. It grew on me, I did not want to leave it."

"Oh well, at least you still have somewhere to put your feet up," Vanessa said with a smile. "Can you show me the controls please?"

Saphira nearly groaned outloud. But she gritted her teeth and stepped into the office, she didn't want to step in because she literally felt like throwing this stranger out of the room. But, she showed Vanessa the controls of the monitors, cameras and what the computer was for. It didn't take too long, but it felt longer than it did.

"I hope I won't be needing to repeat myself," Saphira said with her hands on her hips as she watched Vanessa get acquainted with the camera system.

"No, you won't. I can promise you. Thanks Saphira, I think I can take it from here." The woman smiled at her and Saphira just nodded, turning to leave. "It will be a pleasure working with you."

Saphira said nothing as she closed the door behind her, she noticed her heart was racing and she just felt like she was talking to someone dangerous. She sighed deeply, walking away from the office to head towards her office.

"Saphira, we should talk…" Darren began as he followed Saphira quickly so he could walk beside her. "I can tell you don't like Vanessa. She is a kind woman, and I don't think she will cause any trouble for you or the animatronics." She just rolled her eyes and said nothing to him for a moment. "However, you need to be careful. Mr Miller wants nothing bad to happen to Vanessa. I know how they met is weird and all…but he offered her the job anyway. So, remain as friendly as you possibly can. Can you do that?" Saphira nodded with a slight shrug, that would really depend on how things go between her and the animatronics. "Alright, well…I trust you won't strangle her to death on the first night."

"I am not going to make a promise that I won't," Saphira responded with a slight smirk.

Darren rolled his eyes at her. "I am serious, Saphira. If Vanessa does do something, I would completely understand. But right now, she's a new employee…"

"And yet, things are already strange!" Saphira snapped at him, opening the door to the long hallway to the elevator to her office. She pulled Darren in to speak with him as there were no cameras in the hallway. "I never saw her walk in Darren! Where did she come from?"

"Um…I didn't greet her in the lobby, so I am not sure…" Darren seemed worried as he too didn't know if she went into the side entrances or not. "And, she is not wrong about the side entrances. Though…I did tell her to come through the front entrance of the pizzaplex. She must not have listened. But you didn't know what she looked like…"

"It would have been obvious by how her body language would be," Saphira interrupts Darren. "I never saw her. The fact you didn't greet her tells me she knew where your office was. She knows how to get around the pizzaplex without a guide."

"Maybe…" Darren shrugged, he did not seem to know if that was true or not. "But you cannot judge her before you get to know her Saphira. I know Mr Miller isn't someone to trust, but you really should understand that Vanessa could be trapped like you and I. Dave was, even if he was a puppet. So you should be aware of that."

That might be true, but Saphira didn't know if she should feel sympathetic to the woman or not. "Even if that is true, I will say it right now Darren. I do not trust that woman. It will take a lot for me to trust her, but I don't think I will ever trust her."

"I can tell," Darren said with a sad smile. "There isn't anything I can do to change your mind on that one, and I know it. Oh well…"

He turned around as they reach the elevator. "I'll be keeping a close eye on her Darren. Even if she is somehow innocent in this, I can't just let this go and act like everything is fine. Not especially with everything that has happened to me already."

"I completely understand," Darren said to her gently. "Just…be careful. You don't need to be hurt anymore than you already have. It is honestly amazing you have resilience in you to keep going. Most people don't do that."

Saphira shrugged as she stepped into the elevator and turned to look at Darren. "I've been fighting for my life for as long as I can remember Darren. Until things actually become peaceful, that is just it will be. I am a fighter, not a coward."

The man smiled and walked away as the elevators closed. Saphira huffed, she was relieved that meeting this Vanessa was over. But now she had to keep a close eye on her. She did not trust her one bit. She disliked that the woman was attractive, and the way she seemed to be acting was innocent. That combination was not going to work in her favour, and Saphira was certain of that.

Once she back in her office, she made herself a mocha and she ordered nachos from El Chip's as she was feeling hungry, at least a staff bot would deliver it while it is hot and fresh. Saphira sat at the monitors, she looked at the different screens to locate the animatronics. She knew where Happy Frog was, so she was covered. Mr Hippo was in his room currently, as was Pigpatch. The other rooms in Glam Corner were open as well, it took a while day to get them ready for the animatronics and they were thrilled with that. Foxy was telling stories at Kid's Cove while Foxette was in one of the party rooms. Orville was finishing up a magic show at the theater, it was really nice to see them enjoying themselves. Roxy was at the raceway, Bonnie was heading back to his room, Monty was finishing off a challenge with a family at the Driving Range and Chica had just arrived in her room. Saphira did not see Freddy, and she almost began to panic.

However, the door to Rockstar Row from her office opened and Saphira sighed in relief when she saw Freddy. "You had me worried, I couldn't see you Freddy."

Freddy smiled at her as he approached her. "I had only just finished a Meet and Greet, Saphira," He said to her gently as she stood up and walked up to him to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her protectively. "I am not going to let you down, don't worry. Vanessa has arrived today. How did that go?"

Saphira tensed when he spoke about Vanessa and grumbled a little. "It went fine…but I don't like her."

"Saphira, I know you made up your mind before you met her, you should give her a chance." She groaned and pulled away from Freddy with a huff. He watched her take a seat and sip her coffee, he could tell she was not happy with what he had said. "Look, I am not sure if Vanessa will be good or not. I just think we are being too harsh in our judgement of her. At least, you are. But…I will admit…" She looked at Freddy curiously to hear the rest of what he wanted to say. "I am unsure of her too. After what happened to you, I remembered that you said someone was coming to either take your place or that they would be here anyway. I can't help but be cautious too."

"I told you that it is fishy," Saphira said with a smile. "But, Darren did warn me to be careful. So, I guess that is just something we have to do."

Freddy nodded as he looked at the monitors curiously. They knew Vanessa was in her office right now, so there was no point looking for her. "I agree. You are still recovering, so being careful is a good thing. You nearly crashed the kart last night from dizziness during the tests…so we definitely know you need to be careful."

"Which also shows I shouldn't even be trying to drive home too," Saphira responded with a smile. Freddy chuckled softly, he could not help but agree. "Darren thinks I can…but…I don't want to leave. I am scared of leaving."

He was worried by that fear, if Saphira decided to stay here all the time, he didn't know what would happen with her apartment. "In my opinion, you should leave when you are not still feeling some of the affects of that incident."

"Yeah…that is the idea…" Saphira knew that was not entirely true, she felt like leaving would literally be the worst thing in her life at the moment. "Anyway…does anyone need a routine maintenance check tonight?"

"I know I do." She looked at him in surprise and nearly was overexcited for it as she wouldn't feel anxious working on an animatronic. For some reason, she has been feeling that lately. "Don't worry, it is just to clear out confitti pieces in my stomach hatch."

"Oh? That simple huh?" Saphira chuckled softly and glanced towards the elevator when it dinged. "Oh, the nachos are here already."

Freddy turned to see the staff bot rolling in, carrying a tray with a bowl of nachos. He watched the staff bot place it on the table before bowing politely and turning to leave so it could return to another job. He grabbed the bowl for Saphira and gave it to her.

"I think Pigpatch also said something about his eye twitching, that could be an issue with the wiring," Freddy said as Saphira began to eat the cornchips, they were covered in tasty, guacamole and sour cream. She listened to Freddy as he listed the animatronics who might need maintenance. "And…Roxy said her tail feels stiff, she's very concerned about that. I think that is it for now, I am sure the others will tell you if they need maintenance. At least general security is something you don't need to worry about right now."

Saphira rolled her eyes at that, she was not worried about the security of the pizzaplex when she had control of the staff bots anyway. "At least it does not sound like hard jobs for me to do. I certainly look forward to working on you."

"Yeah, I will be there with you for each one too in case you are feeling anxious again. It is strange that you're feeling that…but at least we make sure that you are calm enough." He placed a hand on her shoulder to rub gently while Saphira continued to eat her food. "However…we do need to be introduced to Vanessa tonight. Should that happen before, or after the maintenance."

Saphira knew that it had to happen, but she had not thought about when. "Well…maybe after. I'll be able to start the maintenance before twelve…so I think that will be fine. But…I still don't feel comfortable about it."

"We don't have a choice Saphira, you know that. Plus, we are still getting used to the idea of two night guards. It will be fine." He knew his words were not comforting her much, but Freddy was doing his best for her.

Saphira knew there was no choice, Vanessa had to meet the animatronics. She probably could see them through the cameras…well, most of them. She also knew she had to come up with an alibi as to why the animatronics spend time with her a lot. She didn't need to tell them they were like her family. But, the most reasonable reason was simply she has been longer and built good, hard, relationships with each other them. That should work, anything else might seem weird. But, Saphira had a feeling that Vanessa already knew about her relationship with the animatronics, and more specifically, Freddy. She was going to have a very hard time with this woman in the pizzaplex. She had zero trust for her.