NOTE

This chapter and the next were originally one combined chapter. However, since it was so unbelievably long, I decided to split them into two parts, the 'Roxanne' section and the 'Chica' section. All this really means is that, while most chapters are going to be one night each, this chapter and the next are one night together.

Additionally,

The last chapter was decent in my opinion, but rereading it a few times, it could use some work. The whole Chica section was supposed to be a wacky and stupid interaction that only really existed to 1: Make the conversations between the animatronics and Mike not be an incredible drag to read, while still taking up enough time to really get the point of "Mike spent time with them" across. And 2: To add a lighthearted section right before Roxanne's part, which is intentionally a drastic contrast from Chica's bit.

I'm not really the biggest fan of Chica's or Roxanne's part. I feel like the ideas where OK, but the wording, pacing, and overall execution could have been better. I've had the idea of Roxanne accidentally injuring Mike in mind for a long while, and love the idea of that action triggering events that would give purpose to Mike and Roxanne's future interactions. But it's just.. Roxanne got really mad out of nowhere, it didn't make much sense, I tried introducing a "Mike's favored by the day crew" bit, but in the heat of the argument, it felt like Roxanne was just blabbing about complete and utter nonsense until something happened; it's all just.. mmmmm...

I'm not gonna rewrite them or anything. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what the point of telling y'all this really is. I guess it's just something revolving around in my mind that I figured I'd share. Maybe if I can summon the motivation, I can make edits to make their parts make sense.

Anyway, I'll shut the fuck up now. Enjoy!

Trudge is here tonight, but it may be a little while before he makes his way here. Apparently, he knocked some juice-machine over, and is stuck cleaning it. Luckily, he's got Chica by his side helping him clean. Chica's been sticking to him like glue ever since yesterday, and Trudge has been gobbling it all up. For this reason, I can't imagine he's feeling all that down about the juice predicament. It takes more than that to get a Trudge down.

I got a few panicked questions about the patch on my cheek, which is reasonable. It stopped bleeding pretty quick, and stopped hurting shortly after, so the only real lasting effect is this thing taped to the side of my head.

I don't know how Roxanne is doing. She's the only one I couldn't cheer up yesterday, and it's starting to get to me. I haven't checked the cameras or the motion detector yet, so I don't really know where any of the animatronics are, with the exception of Chica. I think Monty is walking around somewhere, like he usually is. He hasn't heard what happened yet.

Oh.. Yeah, about what happened..

One of the day guards got curious as to what my 'accident' was, and saw the entire event on the camera. In shock, he kinda blurted what happened out, which ended up spreading the news all throughout the day crew. Even Trudge and Chica heard, but I was able to explain that it really wasn't a big deal. I'm glad they trust me so much, despite how unwarranted I think it is. I explained the details of what happened to the guard that saw the footage, and he apologized profusely for spreading the information. He's a good guy, I probably would have been shocked too.

Ha.. Who's ever heard of an animatronic attacking someone, right?

Monty is the only animatronic who hasn't been let in on what happened yet. I think it's best I keep it that way. Monty can get overly defensive, and I may not be able to convince him that it was no big deal as easily as I did the other guys.

The only one I'm truly worried about.. Is Roxanne. It feels weird to say.

It was no secret to her that the events of last night got spread. None of the customers were ever informed, so it only stayed between the staff, but even I caught a couple of the day guards looking at Roxanne with a disappointed or frightened expression. After hearing about how much Roxy tries to look good in front of her peers, she couldn't have taken it well.

I'm not saying she was right in hitting me, I should mention, but I also acknowledge that the 'hit' was supposed to be nothing more than a soft brush against the side of my face. She truly didn't intend to injure me, and for that reason, I don't believe she deserves the treatment she is receiving.

I slide through the door, into the animatronic's corridor, where I spent most of last night. I don't think I have anything to do here, so I continue walking.

Hopefully it will all blow over soon. It really isn't the biggest deal. Me talking about it makes it seem like it's the talk of the town, when truthfully it really is nothing more than a little bit of workplace-drama; which is the LAST thing I ever want to be a part of.

Someone's crying. It's coming from Roxanne's room.

Roxanne's crying.

Huh.

I stop dead in my tracks. This might be something you hear from Chica, but NEVER from Roxanne.

Is this because of the events from yesterday? And the day crew's reactions to her today? It it really eating her up that bad?

This doesn't seem right. She's crying quite something already, but I can tell it's taking serious restraint not to start absolutely wailing. Somethings wrong.

I really want to go in and help, but I remember what she said from yesterday. What do I expect to happen when I enter those doors? That I wish all of her problems away? Would I make it anything but worse?

I would just make it worse.

I couldn't hear the crying from any other part of the hallway. Despite it's looks, the hallway does an amazing job of absorbing noise. That's why it's really hard to hear anyone coming in here-

"Micheal."

Someone yelled after me from across the corridor. Apparently, Roxanne heard it too, since the crying immediately stopped.

I turned around and matched the voice with a face. It was Arin. My boss.

As I said before, Arin never comes to just chat, so something pretty notable must be wrong.

"Have you heard about the decision being made today?"

"I have not."

"It's.. About Roxanne.."

Uh oh.

"We've received some complaints in the last couple months, guests who are new to the pizzaplex are starting to get upset over Roxanne's perceived.. 'Arrogance'."

She's confident, no doubt about that, but I never interpreted it as arrogance.

"Alright."

"And so, uh.." Arin stops to think of the best way to word his next phrase, which is an unusual behaivor for him. He must not be too confident about how things are going himself.

"There's been a proposal to effectively rewrite Roxanne's personality.. They'd try to keep her as 'Roxanne' as possible while taking out anything that could possibly be interpreted as arrogant, or even overly confident."

I don't like the sound of that.. Roxanne can be a little cocky at times, I admit, but it's just part of who she is.

"What is your opinion?" I ask, interested to see where most people would likely be leaning.

"I vote against it, honestly, but I won't get into why." He tugs at his sleeve a little. "But I can't say the same for the day crew."

"What would happen to Roxanne if her personality is re-written?"

"Well, just about everything would be wiped. The only thing that would stay constant is that the new personality would be mildly similar to the original one. This, however, seriously would wipe 'everything'. Memories, friendships, most of the things she's learned.."

"Is the day crew approving of rewriting Roxanne?"

"Well, not entirely. They're pretty torn, and no one employee is confident about their answer. That's actually why I've come to you, at the day crew's request." He points at me matter-of-factly.

"The daycrew requested you talk to me?"

"They wish to leave the decision up with you."

"Huh?"

I can just barely hear Roxanne start to choke up again.

"Well- the logic is this.. You see Roxanne personally more than any other staff in the entire facility. You're more exposed to her true nature than anyone else, and.. The rumor around here is that Roxanne hasn't been treating you with utmost respect.." Arin isn't very happy with admitting this. He really is on the side of keeping our current Roxanne, and doesn't like admitting that I would have plenty of reason to ask to rewrite her.

Since when did I become a celebrity, by the way? I suppose their logic makes sense, but how many times does one person really consider the nightguard they never see when making big decisions?

"Now- before you make your choice, I want you to consider-"

"Don't rewrite Roxanne."

The crying stops, and so does Arin's brain processes.

"H-huh?"

"Don't rewrite Roxanne."

"But I thought she-!" I see him point at my cheek, so I don't bother letting him finish.

"She did, but that event in particular truly was an accident."

"..B-but I thought you and her didn't get along."

"We don't, not particularly, but that isn't a bad thing. There are plenty of people who don't get along with me, and people I don't get along with, but none of them are objectively bad."

I can think of one exception, however. Wonder how daddy-o is doing in hell.

"So, you don't think she's bad?"

"No. I understand that some people can view her as egotistical, but that's simply part of her personality, it doesn't mean it's a flaw. If you were to remove all her confidence, I believe we'd face a lot more backlash than profit."

"I.. I see.. Are you certain? I mean- I would love it if that's truly what you think, but I also want to make sure you're confident in your choice."

"I am certain."

"That's good to hear." Arin is visibly regaining his composure, I must have really thrown him for a loop. "I will inform the CEO and the day crew of your decision. Thank you for your time, Micheal."

I nod and watch him wander off from whence he came.

I'm glad they let me have a say. I don't know what the final decision would have been if the day crew had made the whole choice.

I do believe what I said. Roxanne and I don't click, but that doesn't make either of us a bad person. It's simply preference. I have most certainly met plenty of people/things that have not been the greatest fan of me. I'm surprised I managed to be liked at all by ANY of the people who-

My thought process is interrupted by a door slamming open.. All the doors slide, actually, what just happened?

Well whatever she did, Roxanne burst from her room and is now staring at me with an emotion that's hard to read. Anger is somewhere in that mix, though, as she is scowling at me from where she stands.

Roxanne's.. Not lookin' so hot. Her eye makeup has been obliterated by her tears, which also smudged everything in its path. It takes me a couple seconds to realize that the tears haven't stopped coming out yet.

"Why!?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you 'huh' me!" She stomps her way over, visibly trying to keep angry.

"It's like everything you do is decided by the flip of a coin! You don't make any damn sense! EVERYONE hated me, Micheal! They were all talking about how they wanted to rewrite me! You should want to most of all!"

She wants to hit something, but there's nothing around to hit, so she just vibrates like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"I don't think they hated you-"

"Of course they hated me, Micheal! After what I did to you, nobody would even look at me!"

She's crying again.

"They were just-"

"Oh shut. the. fuck. up. You always have an answer for everything, don't you?"

Jesus, I can't even get a sentence out.

"Every time anything happens, it always ends with you. Why!?"

"What?"

"You know! Like when-..Like- Ugh! Like right now!" She stomps her foot, words getting stuck in her throat

"You're always the knight in shining armor that comes to save the day! Everyone relies on you for everything, and its like you don't even try!"

"I do try. I want to be helpful."

"I get that already, dumbass! Why me, though!?"

"..What?"

"I hate you, Micheal! And you hate me! So why do you constantly go out of your way to fix-"

"I don't hate you."

Roxanne visibly recoils. I haven't seen her stunned into silence in as long as I've been working here.

"Y-you-! Yes you do! How couldn't you!? I don't hide the fact that I hate you Micheal, I know you know this!"

"That's fine."

"What do you mean 'that's fine'?" Roxanne continues to get more and more frustrated as the conversation continues.

"You don't need to like me. A lot of people don't."

Roxanne scoffs.

"Yeah? Like who?"

"You."

"Oh- shut the fuck up, Micheal, someone else!"

"My father."

She scoffs again.

"Shitty father doesn't count. Someone who doesn't like you because of an action you took!"

"My.. Brother."

I shouldn't have gone down this line of questioning. I didn't want to think about this today.

"Why!?"

"I.. Did something bad to him, a long time ago."

"'something bad', pff. Like what? Stepped on his toes once?"

"I do not hate you, Roxanne."

"Yes you do!"

"I do not."

"Ugh!-" She uses her arms to try and desperately wipe some of the tears. It takes a while. Longer than it should. Its been a few seconds, and the arms have yet to come down.

"Roxanne."

"What?" She mumbles behind her arms, barely holding herself together.

"You are not wrong for hating me."

She sniffles

"Yes I am." Roxanne barely manages to get the words out. Harder to understand them due to how badly her voice is wobbling and wavering.

"You aren't"

"Yes I am!"

Alright, this isn't working, time to try something else.

"Roxanne."

"What!?"

"Do you want me to start hating you?"

"..What?"

She peeks at me over her arms, not sure if she heard me correctly.

"Would you prefer I hated you?"

"I-I.."

"I can start hating you right now."

"Wait- I-!"

"I hate you, Roxanne."

I'd be lying if I knew where I was going with this. Of course, I don't actually hate her, but a part of me needs to see how she would react if I did.

Not well, apparently. She hasn't spoken in a while.

"P.."

"..?"

"P..Please don't.."

I see a few tears start to drop from her arms.

"I-I don't want anyone to h..hate me anymore."

I almost get stunned into silence myself. That took me off guard. Roxanne is so confident in everything she does, she never even gives the people that dislike her as much as a glance. I didn't think she cared at all, outside of being threatened to be scrapped. I fumbled for words, eventually deciding to just be honest, and scrap the 'I hate you' plan.

"No one hates you, Roxanne."

"B-but you just-"

"I don't. I tried, honestly. I do not hate you. There's nothing for me to hate about you."

"...H-huh?"

"A large portion of the decision of whether or not to rewrite your AI was to consider that, if they had gone through with it, way more people would have been upset with this change than happy with it."

"I.. Remember you saying that.." She sniffles.

"I meant it. I believe kids and adults alike would have been furious if they had lost the wolf they've known all this time. People do not hate you, Roxanne."

"You're just-"

"Roxanne, You are my favorite."

"Wh.. What?"

This finally managed to knock her out of her depression. I was starting to get desperate.

"N-no I'm n-.. Y-you-! I hate you! I told you not to lie to me!"

"I'm not lying."

"You hang out with Chica and Freddy way more than me!"

"I do."

Roxanne's fumbling over her words, completely unsure of what she's supposed to say. I think I've made progress though, the waterworks have stopped, and I can feel her sass coming back.

"I don't believe you-.. I can't think of one dumbass reason-.. When would you even had made that decision? When have I acknowledged you, ever?"

"About ten minutes ago."

"What?"

"Right now. We're talking right now."

"No- Now doesn't count! Back when I became your 'favorite'" She makes air quotes.

"That was 5 minutes ago."

"Mike, what the hell are you even talking about anymore?"

She's returning back to the old Roxanne that I know all too well. She's less absolutely devastated, and now just pissy, like usual.

Or at least she's trying to be. Her arms are down, the tears have stopped, and I can see her tail moving back and forth, ever so slightly. I take that as a sign of progress.

"I have to get back to work, Roxanne."

"Of course you do. Leaving me with more questions than answers again!" She dramatically waves her arms around. Roxanne finally looks like she's regained her composure, and I'm exhausted of this conversation. I think imma wrap this up.

"Are you alright?"

She raises an eyebrow.

"Yes I'm alri- what is that even supposed to mean?"

"You were losing your mind not even five minu-"

"Mike! Yes! I'm fine! Jeez! Not even a little restraint when it comes to talking sensitive topics, huh.."

"Nope."

"Rhetorical question, dumbass."

"Rhetorical answer."

"Get the hell outta here."

"Yes ma'am."

As instructed, I turn on my heel and walk towards the atrium. I don't think she expected me to comply so effortlessly.

"Where the hell are you going?"

" 'outta here' "

"Smartass."

"I have to work, Roxanne."

"Oh, right."

"Nice make-up, by the way."

She doesn't react, not sure what I meant, before finally putting together that wearing eye makeup and crying exhaustively don't mix wonderfully well.

"I..! W-Why you!

I award myself with a smirk, finally make it to the end of the corridor, and enter the auditorium.