Chapter One

System Restart

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

Ratty shoes struck once-shiny tiles and crunched over carpet as a boy flew down a hallway choked with cobwebs and warped cartoon characters. The only light came from the beam of a flashlight trained on his back. While the door on the left wall at the end of the hallway jingled but stayed stuck, a set of shutters stuck a foot open took up quite a bit of the wall to his right.

The boy squirmed under the shutters, his fluttering heart pounding in his ears. The thumping of a second pair of footsteps rushing down the hall drowned his wheezy breaths. A female voice called, "Come on, just wait!"

He squeezed out into a dusty, cavernous hall.

Cracked, long-dead neon symbols decorated the high walls. Moth-eaten curtains hung before a small stage made of rotten wood and dusty lights. Faded cardboard cutouts were scattered near the walls. In the middle of his pathway were cases, some cracked, and others broken, and all covered in a fine layer of dust.

The footsteps grew louder in the hall behind him. "Little boy!" the female voice called. "Come back!"

His head whipped back and forth as he looked for an escape. A sturdy pair of metal doors sunk into the wall to his right. Before him, multiple rooms with the hall-facing walls made of glass lined the left side of the hall. The first glass pane was broken. There may have been other hiding spots, but the hall quickly sank into darkness.

The boy ran to the broken glass and, sucking in his breath, crawled through the hole left behind. A tiny hiss escaped him at the sting in his cheek.

He pushed himself through a set of dusty, moth-eaten curtains. He coughed and pulled them shut behind him. He hid in the corner and waited.

The shutters squealed, clicked, and then creaked again. A pair of footsteps crossed through the wide hall. "Come on, little boy! I'm here to help!"

Once her footsteps faded, he took a deep breath, coughed at the dust that invaded his lungs, and looked around. While the hallway itself had been lit only by the lady's flashlight, nothing here provided light. He squinted and blinked, but he couldn't adjust to the darkness.

The boy stepped forward and patted the dusty cushion to his right. Maybe there was a light switch on the wall, or a flashlight laying around, or a lantern like in the movies.

He stopped and gasped as a light dimly flickered to life. Two lights turned on.

Two circles glowed, dull at first but flickering to life until they were nearly as bright as flashlights. They shed baby blue light over the cramped room decorated with bears and Freddy Fazbear memorabilia as well as the thing in front of him.

He remembered Freddy, remembered seeing him once when he was a little kid. Well, little-r. However, for the most part, he'd seen Freddy on posters and ads. While the boy could entertain the thought of this hunk of metal and plastic being a bear, it looked anything but sturdy. The orange thing tainted with some blue and red designs lay propped against the wall, slumped over with its cracked head on its shoulder and knees half pulled up while its arms lay limp, palms up. He didn't even have a mic. His irises glowed. Faded designs of varying colors were drawn over his face and chest. Perhaps there was more, but with his dented shell in such a time-worn state, the boy couldn't tell.

Chhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrr-ch-ch-chhhh-chhhhhh-rrrrrrrrr

The boy nearly jumped out of his skin and took a few steps back as the thing made harsh grinding noises.

After a few seconds, the machine repeated the noises, though this time in a different string as if trying to speak but finding no ability.

The boy squeaked out, "Are you alive?"

Chhhhh-ch-ch-chhhhrrrrrrr

"Um… blink once for yes, twice for no?"

The bear didn't twitch.

"Can you move?"

After another bout of spitting out static, a new noise cracked the suffocating atmosphere. The bear's chest moved as the front plate slowly squealed open, exposing the bear's endoskeleton and fragile internal wiring. The plate under it jerked and creaked but did not move. Although the top plate blocked most of the light from the bear's eyes, the boy did catch a shape disconnected from the internal wiring.

The boy crept closer and craned his neck so he could look inside. A toy watch, its face cracked, lay within. He plucked the watch out of the bear and held it back. The bear's chest plate sunk back into place.

He wrapped the watch around his wrist and poked it. At first, nothing happened. So, he went around poking various buttons until finally, the screen flickered to life. He winced at the sudden, dim glow. Though the interface was blue, purple and green glitched on the screen, warping the letters and lines. A battery symbol at the top left showed a very small sliver of red color.

A voice hissed out. "Child, I am Freddy Fazbear. It seems I am unable to move or speak. I thought connecting with the Fazwatch might work. I am unable to reach the main network and thus do not know when I am. I do not recognize you. Who are you?"

"I-I… I'm Gregory," the boy managed to choke out.

"Gregory. It is nice to meet you, Gregory. I apologize, but I am very low on power. Communicating with you and using my eye lights are rapidly draining my remaining battery."

"So, do I need to charge you?"

"No, that will not work. My battery is corroded. Please find a new battery. If you are quick, I may be able to teach you how to replace it. There is a flashlight in my back room. A new battery should be in there."

"Your backroom?" Gregory echoed. He looked at the empty metal doorway beside Freddy. "You mean through that doorway?"

"Yes."

"Um… it's really dark in there…"

"Do not worry. You will be just fine. Just do not handle any of the machinery in there. Find a flashlight and my battery and then come back. I believe in you, Gregory."

"Okay."

Gregory pulled himself to his feet and crept into the darkness. He turned his Fazwatch back on. Although a dull glow went over the chain-link wall to one side and a giant metal cylinder to his left, he couldn't see a darn thing.

At the far right of the tiny room in the middle of a pile of boxes lay a flashlight. He picked it up and clicked the switch.

Nothing happened.

Well, duh. This thing was probably a million years old. Like Freddy, its batteries were probably bad. Thankfully, the box it sat upon was full of weird tech junk, including batteries. When he replaced them, the light flickered on.

He hissed in victory and swept his flashlight across the walls and floor. Next to the giant metal cylinder with a small porthole in the front sat a few giant batteries.

Gregory stuck the flashlight under his arm, picked up the battery, and strode back into the old room.

"Very good!" Freddy congratulated. His eye lights had dimmed so far that they glowed only bright enough to be seen. "I will be able to walk you through most of the steps. However, once you remove my battery, I will be unresponsive until you restart my system. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Got it."

"Good." His chest plate squeaked open again. "My internal wiring is very fragile. There should be a button on the little stick waving back and forth. Press that to reset and pause me. Do not worry, I can still communicate. I will be unable to move, which is no different than my current state, I am afraid."

Freddy managed to walk Gregory through quite a lot before declaring him at the final stages. He told Gregory the last few steps before powering himself down. Thankfully, Freddy's words also appeared on Gregory's Fazwatch and thus were recorded. Even after the bear's eye lights turned off and he stopped responding, Gregory still had his notes.

Freddy's eyes flickered back to life.

Gregory got to his feet and nudged the rusted and worn battery back.

Freddy's chest plate shut.

His body creaked as he forced himself up into a sit. His head snapped to the side like some possessed doll. He flexed his fingers and brought his jerky arms up. His head jerked as he tried to move it. Although one eyelid went down into a relaxed position, the other stayed up so his eye was open. Freddy's old joints wailed as he pushed himself up and flexed and stretched.

Freddy looked down at the boy. When the bear's mouth opened, printer noises came out. He shut his mouth. Instead, his voice sputtered out of Gregory's Fazwatch. "Thank you, Gregory. I must have been asleep longer than I originally expected. Many of my systems are broken or unresponsive. What is today's date?"

"Saturday. Er, March 20th, 2038."

"2038?" Freddy echoed. "Oh my. I was last responsive Friday, March 23rd, 2035, 8:05 PM. This cannot be good. Why did the staff not reboot me?"

Gregory hummed and nodded. "That makes sense. That's when the Mega Pizzaplex shut down."

Freddy sighed. "That is unfortunate. I was hoping… Wait, you are saying the Mega Pizzaplex has been inactive for three years. My room is in such terrible shape. What are you doing here? This is not a safe play area!"

"I didn't want to be here!" Gregory crossed. "I was… trying to find a way out. But then I got caught and I had to run. I ended up here. I think I lost her."

"'Her'?" Freddy echoed. "Who do you speak of?"

"That 'security guard' lady." Gregory put the title in air quotes. "No one's worked here in years! She must be insane or something. I really don't want to get caught by her so, I need to leave."

"Then I will help you. It is not safe here for you. I will guide you back outside to the best of my ability," Freddy promised. "First, could you open that door? I am unable to open it on my own."

"Sure." Gregory strode up to the time-worn door and yanked at the handle. It had one of those weird handles that sat flush to the door until pulled. When he tried to pull it, it stopped a few inches out and clicked. "Shouldn't I be able to open it from here?"

"Hmm. Yes. Perhaps you could leave and come back from the outside. To open the door, you will need a photo pass. I assume you do not have one."

Gregory shook his head. "Nope. Where can I get one?"

"There should be one in Rockstar Row–the hall adjacent to this one. This hall is called Rockstar Row, too. They are the same but separate. Do you believe you can do that?"

"Yeah. Seems simple enough." He thought for a moment. "And I think I saw a vent above all those boxes. Can I get out through there?"

"Yes! Just be careful. I am not sure what has happened these past few years, but I am certain that it was nothing good."

Gregory took a deep breath. "Okay. See you soon."

With that, he strode into the small room with a pile of boxes.

Gregory climbed up the boxes, sneezing as he squeezed into the inactive vent. The vent side was broken as it split and ended abruptly. He peered through the vent register into an alligator-themed room covered in green. Gashes ran down the walls above torn open toys and a mangled hunk of humanoid-shaped metal. A broken guitar lay in the mess. A green animatronic arm with a purple hand lay on the floor by the ripped couch. Torn curtains hung lifeless before the window blocked off by boards.

Gregory shook his head and continued moving. The next room to which the vent connected was purple and covered in wolves and go-karts. Weirdly, the dust in the room didn't touch the vanity. Had someone–or something–been in there recently?

The last room was pink and covered in Chica-themed stuff. A few discarded pizza boxes that were fuzzy with mold were scattered around a corner.

Gregory crawled to the very end of the vent not too far from where he was and pushed open the register. As he pulled himself out, intending to land on the pile of tarps and blankets on the ground, his arm scraped past a jagged edge of the vent.

He yelped and jerked his arm back.

He landed on the semi-soft pile below with a hard huff.

Gregory sat up and pulled his arm up. Little red beads swelled along a long, red scratch. "Fff–my arm," he hissed.

He got to his feet and, gingerly holding his arm close, walked to the other end of the hall.

The shutters stayed open about a foot off the ground. He had to flatten himself to the floor and wriggle his way underneath, but his skinny little body managed, and he got to his feet.

Near the locked door on the ground was a little present. A faded cardboard cutout of Freddy pointed down. Words were printed in the text bubble by his head. "ONE FREE PHOTO PASS" it boasted.

Indeed, there was one free photo pass in the box. Why was there one left? Did they not check this very obvious box? Or did they not care and just left? That would explain a few things.

Gregory turned back. He checked his arm after he crawled under the shutters again. Outside of the initial few drops, the wound did not get worse. His dirty arms were clear of dark streaks and, though his arm stung, it wasn't anything unbearable. Annoying, maybe, but he'd had worse.

Gregory got to his feet and approached the door. He held up the photo pass. A light turned a dull green and something clicked.

The boy pulled open the door.

"Way to go, superstar!" Freddy announced. The bear now stood in front of Gregory, having been directly behind the door. Had he been waiting behind the door this whole time?

Huh.

"The first exit I can imagine would be the front doors. The quickest way to get there would be through the Utility Tunnels. Unfortunately, you cannot go there on your own. Considering my current state, I would not be able to carry you. So, I will guide you. Follow me."

Freddy walked past Gregory and to the metal double doors on the opposite side of the hall in the slightly open area past the stage. Although his movements were jerky and his joints creaked, Freddy didn't complain.

Gregory followed close to heel, slipping in through one of the doors after Freddy opened it for him.

He kept his flashlight in his pocket. Freddy's eyes shed enough light forward that Gregory didn't need to waste any of its battery.

The animatronic lumbered down the concrete stairs spiraling downwards in a square. Though the boy feared he might fall, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the bear kept his balance, aided by the hand he used to hold the stair railing. Gregory took the railing, too.

He jumped as something skittered on the walls. Something black and bony scurried down the wall and out of sight. Weird?

The woman's voice echoed. "Hello? Little boy? If you're down here, say something!"

Gregory sucked in his breath. "She's down here! We have to go back."

Freddy's head squeaked as he glanced back. "Do not worry, Gregory. She will not suspect you are with me. Hide if you believe she is near. Though, we should not try to run into her. If she truly does not understand she no longer works here, she might believe I am not supposed to be here and will send me back to my room."

At the bottom, Freddy led him down to a set of huge shutters. When they approached, the shutters opened, revealing a long hall scattered with giant covered crates and boxes, machines, stacks of tied-down pipes, and what looked like huge, empty thread rolls. Doorways–most blocked by chain-link doors locked with rusted chains–peppered the walls.

Gregory puffed as he tripped over the uneven ground and bumped into Freddy.

The bear grabbed him by the arm to keep him upright. Something let out a warbled beep in the bear. "I detect a skin breach. You are injured."

"I'm fine," Gregory countered. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

"Your arm is cut badly. I will take you to the first aid station."

Then the bear was off, walking stiffly down a thinner hallway that branched off the main one. His paw loosely held Gregory's arm.

They stopped in a small room mostly occupied by a tall box with a red curtain. A lighter patch of silver touched the side, but Gregory couldn't make out any distinct shapes or words.

He pushed back the curtains and let them fall. The boy quickly found some antiseptic, water, bandages, and a few wipes.

Gregory had just cleaned off the cut on his arm–biting back another hiss of pain as if the now bandaged cut on his cheek hadn't been bad enough–when he heard footsteps.

The boy froze, hardly daring to breathe.

Light swept through the hall to his left as shoes descended the stairs close by.

Gregory peeked out from around the curtains.

A lady in a white shirt stained by time, black pants and a black baseball cap with "SECURITY" stitched in the front stood before Freddy. Now that she stood still, Gregory could see the tiny holes and tears in her outfit, most prominently in her left arm, which coincided with a few nasty scars. Her frazzled blonde hair spilled out the back of the cap as her ponytail threaded through it.

"Freddy!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? A kid is walking around backstage. A little boy. Have you seen him?"

Freddy made some weird printer noises.

"Oh, no. Your voice box isn't working. Ugh. A boy is walking around backstage. Keep a look out and tell me if you find him. Or tell one of the others, I guess. Just, go back to your room. You're not supposed to be out."

With that, she turned around and went back the way she came.

Gregory flinched as her flashlight roamed over the old red curtains.

Gregory pasted some bandages on his arms–not the wrap-around kind, thankfully–and walked back outside. "I told you she was after me."

"I said nothing! Let us go."

Gregory followed the bear as he hobbled out into the main hall and continued on their path.

"Where are we?" Gregory asked.

"We are now under the Pizzaplex. These utility tunnels connect all the attractions."

"We can go anywhere in the building?" Hmm. Good info, just in case. Hopefully, he wouldn't ever need it.

"Correct. Fazerblast. Monty Golf. Roxanne Raceway: they are all accessible to staff–with high enough clearance, of course." The hallway stayed blocked by a chain-link fence. More covered bots and some more dead or broken humanoid bots–S.T.A.F.F. bots, so he heard–lay on the other side.

They moved into a smaller branching tunnel with brick walls–the top half being pale and the bottom being only a shade darker.

"Guests are… never allowed down here, but yours is, eh, a special exception."

They climbed up another set of curly, squared stairs and into a wide hallway, blocked on the right by metal chain link fences. At one end was another metal cylinder with a porthole. He could see the blue design on the red metal more easily in the open.

They walked through a door into a hall with pinker trim rather than gray. An upturned table with paint cans long since dried and useless scattered over the floor blocked their path. They had to walk through a decrepit bathroom to get around it. Freddy stopped after opening the door.

Before them was a filthy, cluttered room dominated by a shelving unit. A couch sat on the very left end with a narrow walkway around to the other door.

Gregory asked, "Can you fit?"

"I do not know. I fear injuring myself further. But this is the only way forward."

The bear forced himself to move.

He creaked and the shelving unit wobbled and dropped small objects. Still, it stayed upright, even as he clipped it on occasion.

Gregory followed on his toes, eyeing the shelving unit and ready to sprint back in case it decided to fall.

Thankfully, they got out the other side unscathed.

They had to pass one more small, cluttered room before entering a black and gray hallway filled with technology. The long inactive screens, not one even glowing red to show it was just powered off, lined the walls. Behind him stood a chain link fence with chains and a lock coiled around the door.

A weird feeling crept up on him as Gregory stared out into the dark. His heart sped up. He could swear he saw big red eyes glinting in the dark. But, when he shut his eyes and shook his head, the red eyes vanished.

"Okay. Let's not go into total freakout mode and start hallucinating," Gregory muttered to himself before turning ahead and following Freddy. Looking into the light helped ease the creeping tension in his shoulders.

They left the electronics hallway into a wide cement room. Gregory bit back a groan upon seeing yet another set of stairs, these ones going straight up. Thankfully, despite the walk being slow, the stairs didn't go on for that long.

Freddy passed through two sets of empty metal doorways before looking back at the computer console in the tiny security room. A small, metal desk fan whirred. "Gregory, you may be able to access the camera feed in the Mega Pizzaplex from here. That is if the cameras are still working. Are they?"

A monitor before a keyboard and some other tech sat at a desk between two metal, magnetic doorways whose doors had long since stopped functioning and thus stayed up. A filing cabinet sat against the back corner. A window crisscrossed with black lines sat beside the doors–one on each side. A paint storage shelving unit with some cleaning supplies sat beneath the opposite window.

Gregory poked a few buttons on the keyboard to no avail, pressed the power button on the monitor a few times, and then poked the nose of a Freddy-head-shaped container with a security hat on. It slowly opened, revealed a card for him to take, and then shut again. A QR code was printed on one side so he could scan it with his Fazwatch.

After a few tries of moving the badge and watch at different angles, he received a confirmatory beep.

The camera screen showed static.

Although the cameras were there–he could flip between different cameras by touching different boxes on the cracked screen–none of them showed anything. What else did he expect? It would be a miracle if anything worked around here.

Gregory looked up at Freddy. "The camera system isn't working."

"The cameras are not powered," Freddy stated. "I was afraid of this. Hopefully, we do not encounter anything unpleasant or hazardous on the way out. Perhaps if the power was on, the cameras would function."

Gregory followed Freddy down a hall that split into a square walkway and converged again. "Do you think the power still works? Is there a switch I could flip or something?"

"There should be one in the lower basement levels. There is a control room specifically made for power distribution. As the mall runs on backup generators, I am sure you would be able to turn on some places on the grid, for limited amounts of time."

"Um, do you want to do that?" Gregory asked.

"I am… not quite certain I do. I have been asleep for so long. I fear what has happened in my absence."

They passed through another set of double doors into a dark front area. A few pillars stood in the entrance room with giant flat-screen TVs currently powered off. Plants, signs, and small stands popped up around the place. On the floor, some distance off was a S.T.A.F.F. bot laying on its side with a mop in its grasp.

The real attention grabber stood at the front of the entrance area.

"Oh no."

Where there should have been doors, metal shutters with faded cartoon faces of a winking Freddy barred his path.

"No, no, no! What are we going to do!"

Freddy stopped. "That is… unfortunate. If the mall was functioning properly, the doors would open at six AM. I am sure there is another way for you to escape. I will help you find it. I promise."