NOTES
Jesus Christ, alright. I've got a couple things.
I was overwhelmingly busy last week, to the point where whenever I got the chance to write, I wouldn't be in the mood, and would write something I inevitably ended up getting rid of.
Therefore, this chapter went through a LOT of rewritten bits. I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but this is the first time I've ever written something that wasn't school related and actually posted it to be read. Almost all of my shortcomings in making a section of a chapter work is due to being unable to properly portray the emotions I was trying to portray.
This chapter was a bit of a mess, it would be easier to count the amount of paragraphs that weren't rewritten.
During this chapter, there's a board game being played between Mike and whoever else, and I wanted to write a short summery of the rules of the board game so people who've never played wouldn't be completely lost. The result of which was originally a 1,500 explanation of just about the entire game. I spent a looot of time debating whether or not to keep it in, and eventually decided against it, 'cause it was just too much explaining for a portion of the chapter that was just as long as the explanation itself.
So, there were a lot of mistakes made, and all of them cost me time, which leads to now. About a week later again.
I sincerely apologize. I'm sure you're sick of hearing this from other fanfictions, but work and college is taking up a lot of my time and effort, which results in chapters coming out way less frequently than I'd like them to.
As for this chapter, I won't say anything for the quality, and let y'all decide whether it was decent or not.
Thank ya
Enjoy.
It was only halfway through the night by the time I finished all my 'duties'. Aside from being dragged around by Roxy to help with an extremely pointless task for 20 minutes, the shift went on without a hitch, and I was awarded with the comfort of my office chair and endless entertainment in the form of my laptop.
Scrolling through the cameras is enjoyable, and counts as doing my job, but I've never felt right doing it. No matter what I did, I always found myself watching one of the animatronics do whatever they do at night, since they're infinitely more interesting than the empty Pizzaplex halls. Which is fine and all, still part of my job, but I can't help but feel like I'm spying on them.
So, I try to rely on peeking at my motion detector from time to time and counting the amount of dots. If there are 4 dots that correspond roughly to where I expect each animatronic to be, I call it good. There are considerably more than 4 dots, of course, but all the endo's never care to leave their little corridor, and the music man doesn't tend to move around much either.
I avoid sun and moon as much as possible. Sun's fine, just a little to energetic to keep up with. Moon's a little peculiar.. I don't know what to think of the way he talks. It's like he's trying to both subtly threaten and flirt with me, and it gets tiring after a while.
Not that he's actually doing any of those two things, it's just the way he talks. I hope.
So, with all dots accounted for, I fulfill myself with my other nightly duties. Such as.. Writing the document, or playing video games.
Now that I think about it, I haven't been writing as much. Maybe I just got bored of it, or felt that venting there wasn't working. Tonight in particular is a night I want to avoid it, with the events of last morning in mind.
So by process of elimination, I found myself kicking my feet up and tapping away at a controller in my hands.
I used to be invested in video games as a child. I'm surprised I relapsed into that habit.
Well, maybe it's 'cause I rarely got the opportunity to play them. I didn't have a source of income as a 12 year old, and my father wasn't willing to buy me just about anything that wasn't a necessity, so maybe this affinity for video games came from being deprived of them as a child.
Or maybe I'm just making excuses. Both are equally possible.
Thankfully, I lose myself in the game too quickly to find myself thinking about my father any more than I already have.
...
Oooh, shit. What time is it?
...
4:45
Alright, that's not so bad. Thought I lost track of time.
There's still quite a while before my shift ends, but I should really take a little bit to do literally anything else.
That's code for 'I need to stretch my legs'. Don't let me fool you into thinking I have any self-control.
I unplug my controller, wrap it up, and stick it in a drawer nearby. Shortly followed by scooting my chair forward to close the game on my laptop.
As the program begins it's closing process, intuition causes me to scan the office behind me, as if I'm looking for something.
Welp. What I did find was a towering green gator sitting cross legged behind my chair.
"...Mont-?"
"Hey Mike!"
I wince, remembering Monty only has one volume.
I wasn't prepared to start an interaction this soon, so I find myself staring for a peculiarly long time before my brain is able to formulate a half-coherent sentence. I guess it's good it's Monty, since you can't make him feel awkward even if you tried.
"Hey.. Wh- How long have you been in here?"
"Oh, I was here.. when.."
Monty's really racking his brain for this one, even putting his fingers up to his chin.
" 'Bout when you came in here, actually. A couple minutes later, maybe..?"
"What?"
"I peeked outta my room and saw you walk in the door across the hall... I 'unno why I followed you. Looked fun."
...Wh-
"You've been in here the whole time?"
"Probably." He responds, putting his hands on his hips.
"I.. Didn't notice you, uh.. Did you need something?'
"Nope. I was bored. Maybe I was trying to scare you or somethin'." He shrugs.
"What are you still d-"
"Are ya done with that?"
Monty cuts me off and points at my laptop. That doesn't bode well for me.
"For now. I'm gonna take a break."
"What were ya playin'?"
"Just.. A game that I've been playing for a while."
"What's it called?"
"It's, uh-"
"I saw you fightin' a big dog or somethin'!"
"Oh. That was.. A monster."
"Monster!"
"Yeah, it's a game where you hunt.. monsters.."
"Can I play?"
"No."
I would rather hold an actual bomb in my hands than let Monty hold anything as precious and delicate as that thing.
"Aww.." His shoulders hunch, dejected.
"Sorry, I just.. I've been playing it for a while, and wanna do something else."
As if Monty wasn't pouting on the floor three seconds ago, he immediately hops to his feet, and then hops a couple more times.
"Whacha gon' do, can I come?"
"I'm.. not sure yet.."
He sure is energetic today. I feel like saying the wrong thing might make him explode.
"You do your job yet?"
"Yeah, first thing I did when I got here."
"Before ya went to see Roxy?"
"Oh. Second thing, I guess. You saw that?"
"You 'always' visit Roxy first thing." He playfully jabs my shoulder. "When's it gonna be my turn?"
Does that mean he sees me walk into Roxanne's room purple, and come out a different color? Does he even notice the difference?
"I'll see what I can do, I guess."
"She doesn't hate you anymore, huh?"
"I'm sure she'd say differently."
"Mm." He responds, immediately dismissing the topic the very moment he gets bored of it. "You decide whacha wanna do yet?"
He begins hopping again, like he's warming up for a race.
"No, I don't really have anything to do." I scratch the back of my head.
Oh boy. Here's an idea that'll get me killed.
"..Hey Monty."
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmhm?"
"You wanna choose what we do toni-"
Monty has already thrown me over his shoulder and sprinted out of the office before I'm able to finish my sentence.
We have board games, apparently. I wouldn't have guessed it, since it doesn't really fit the high-energy theme of this place, but what do I know.
Y'know, If Monty was excited enough to literally pick me up and charge through the hallways of the Pizzaplex, Settlers of Catan wouldn't be my first guess for what he has on mind.
Monty's winning.
Freddy's losing.
I don't even need to look at the board. Their body language is all the indication I need.
Y'know, I don't think I ever see Freddy frustrated or competitive in any conceivable way, UNLESS Monty's somehow involved. And every single time, Monty's always just obliterating Freddy in whatever game their playing.
I'm playing too, of course, but watching those two go at it makes this game more of a spectator sport.
The four of us are sitting on each side of the board, most of us sitting criss-cross.
'Four of us' meaning Roxanne was in Monty's flight path as we flew to Freddy's location. Monty didn't even slow down, he just swiped her over his shoulder before she knew what was going on.
I'm not ashamed to admit that watching Roxy be yoinked like a ragdoll made me go from 'choking on my shirt and barely in touch with reality' to 'laughing hysterically'.
Roxy's sitting to my right, looking bitchy as usual. Her majesty probably didn't enjoy the ride, but Monty was probably right in thinking that there's no way she'd agree to play otherwise.
It's Freddy's turn. It's BEEN Freddy's turn. He's done nothing but stare at the board fiercely for 10 minutes.
Monty speaks up
"Fred."
"What."
"I can give you the wheat if-"
"No."
"Fred."
"No."
"Fred."
"You're cheating."
"I'm not- You've been watching me play!"
"Not well enough, apparently." Freddy mumbles through his arms.
Monty looks at me with one of those 'can you believe this guy?' kinda glares. I shrug in response.
Freddy makes his move, not making much progress; instead relying on the dice to roll in his favor by the time his turn comes around again.
Full disclosure on behalf of Freddy, the offers Monty has been insisting on giving him would be incredibly beneficial to Freddy. But Freddy knows that by accepting the offer and making an incredible amount of progress, he'd be helping Monty make just a tiny amount of progress, and Freddy would never grant him that pleasure in a million years.
The dice roll, (Monty's turn. Moving clockwise, the turns go Freddy, Monty, Roxy, and myself,) and everyone takes their resources.
"Wh- You just took, like, 4 bricks!" Freddy angrily accuses. Monty being the target, of course.
"That's 'cause I GET 4 bricks if we get a 9!"
"You only have one city!"
"There's brick over here! I got two houses on this one!"
"They're 'settlements'!.. Why are both of the 9's on brick tiles-!? You set up the game! You did this on purpose!"
"We all set up the game, all I did was put the tiles down!"
Freddy 'hmph's', inciting further reaction from Monty.
I let my shoulders hunch a bit, realizing that this turn might take a while to end. My gaze shifts to the silver wolf, who's holding her head up with her hands.
"..Do you play board games with the children very often?" I whisper to Roxanne, half making conversation, half actually curious.
"No. 'Never' as far as I know." She groans, doing her best to sit up straight upon realizing that I'm watching her.
"You're pretty good at this for someone who 'never' plays."
"Probably 'cause I've got more brainpower than the three of you idiots combined."
Ah. There's the massive stroke of ego I've been waiting for.
"Monty's pretty good at this too, though. He's beating you just by a point or two."
Roxanne's brow twitches, despite her attempt to look calm and collected.
"Monty's been getting lucky with his chance cards, or whatever the hell they're called.."
"Mhm."
"What, don't believe me?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Didn't think so." Roxy arrogantly concludes, lightly batting me in the back of my head with her tail.
It takes some effort to stop myself from snickering.
"Roxanne!" Freddy's voice butts in. Rox absolutely jumped, but continues to pretend like she's calm and collected.
"Sheesh, Freddy. What?"
Freddy has his arms crossed and looks down at Roxanne like a disobedient child.
"You know that wasn't nice! Apologize to Micheal!"
It takes the two of us a moment to realize what Freddy's talking about. Roxanne and I exchanging short and meaningless blows is so common that it didn't occur to either of us that Freddy might think it was done with actual malicious intent.
Welp. I'm not passing this opportunity up.
"Yeah. That really hurt, y'know." I side glance towards Roxanne with the most obnoxious smirk I could muster.
"I-.. Mike!"
"Roxanne..!" Freddy interrupts before Roxanne continue.
"I'm..! Ugh, sorry! Or whatever!"
I chuckle to let her know I was just messing with her, but that ended peculiarly peacefully.
I know Freddy's name is the one plastered on the sign out front, but I thought that the animatronics were created equally in terms of 'rank'. If it had been Monty or Chica telling Roxy to apologize, she wouldn't even consider it. Maybe it's just due to Freddy's charisma, but the animatronics do seem to respect him like a leader.
Roxy swipes the dice from Monty, and the game continues.
"The 1900's era arcade machines stick out a little bit for how high-tech this place is otherwise." I contribute to the ongoing conversation, picking up my resources.
"Previous locations have all used arcade games that were made specifically for Freddy's." Freddy begins, once again demonstrating his encyclopedic knowledge of the franchise. "This location does the same, but there were very little game developers to make new games, so a majority of the games in the arcade are games that old locations would have had."
Freddy shifts, sorting through his cards.
"Modern game 'specs' are expensive, and we don't have any games that require them either." He summarizes.
Monty suddenly points at me.
"Mike has a game thing. I watched him play a game earlier."
"I'm not letting the children use it, if that's what you're insinuating."
The gears in Monty's head turn for a while before his arm drops back to his side.
"I know.."
I don't think he does.
"Weren't you supposed to be working or something?" Roxanne comments, not looking away from the game board.
"My job was finished, I wouldn't start wasting my time if I wasn't finished with all my work."
"Whatever you say." She leans forward to pick up a few game pieces. "Trade me."
"Trade you what?"
"These."
She takes the liberty of sorting through my cards and handing me some of her own. I don't have the energy to argue, it was a decent trade anyway.
Monty has the audacity to make a reasonable play, and Freddy's starting to nag at him again.
I've been subconsciously petting Roxanne's tail on my lap for the last 10 minutes, and Roxy's pretending not to enjoy it while disinterestedly watching the action play out. The both of us stare forward, watching hopelessly as the two slip into madness.
I take the time to get lost in some thoughts of my own, which reminds me of a question I meant to ask.
"..Hey Rox?"
"What?"
"Do you ever get tired of this place?"
"Depends, why?" Roxy leans back to support herself with her arms.
"I was just wondering. Are you trapped in here?"
"I can walk out the door whenever I want, if that's what you're asking."
"Have you walked out of here before?"
"I dunno, probably. Not that I can remember, though."
"How come?"
"Why 'would' I want to leave?"
I stare forward. I have answers to that question, but I'm not sure how many of them apply to an animatronic wolf.
"So.. You don't get tired of this place?"
She rubs her eye and yawns.
"Everything in here calls my name, and there's nowhere else I need to be. If I did leave, where would I go, and why?"
"I don't know, just going outside for the sake of being outside?"
She combines a scoff and a laugh, not really sure what to call the sound she just made.
"I do not feel the compulsion to go outside just to be outside, no."
"...So you never get tired of this place?"
Suddenly annoyed, she sharply glares at me from the side.
"What the hell did I 'just' tell you?"
"That you don't want to go outside."
"There's my answer."
"I didn't ask if you wanted to go outside. I asked if you ever get tired of this place."
I continue to stare forward and pet the tail. I await a response, and after a patiently won waiting game, I get one.
"I'm built for this place. I'm not 'supposed' to get tired of it."
I take a second to think.
"That's not true." I reply simply, vouching to let Roxanne carry this conversation, who's head is now fully turned and staring at me like I'm an idiot.
"So-, what, I 'am' supposed to get tired of this place?"
"I meant the first thing."
"The hell do you mean 'the first thing'?"
"You weren't built for this place. This place was built for you."
Roxanne stares blankly.
"That.. doesn't make any sense. If anything, it would have been both."
"It isn't. Your design and the plan to make this place were thought up by two entirely different people, who had nothing to do with each other."
She scoffs and turns away.
"Is this just your working conspiracy theory, then?"
"Nope. I'm surprised you didn't know this, actually. I learned most of that from Freddy."
She immediately turns to look at Freddy.
" 'Freddy' told you this?"
"Yeah. He wasn't making it up either; turns out I knew the person who made your plans, and Cooper was the one who inherited them."
'Inhereted' meaning 'found them in a basement'.
There's a silence between the two of us for a while, before Roxanne visibly forces herself to relax.
"I.. Was never told this.." She grumbles, a little annoyed.
"So do you ever get tired of this place?"
She continues to stay silent, followed by a deep sigh.
"Sometimes, yes.. But that doesn't mean I want to leave."
I nod.
"You've got a knot in your fur right here."
She rolls her eyes, settling on another glare.
"Way to change the topic. Get bored of that one?"
"I got my answer. And you've got a knot in your tail."
"Well fuckin-.. Get it out, then!"
"As you wish."
About an hour has passed since the game ended. To her credit, and much to Freddy's pleasure, Roxanne did manage to pull ahead with a couple lucky development cards.
I've found myself on the third floor and next to a window; the only window, as far as I know, that shows what's on the east side of the building, pointing to a nearby field that I like to look at from time to time. The sun has already risen a good amount in the sky, leaving only a little bit of that sunset color in it's wake.
The building opens up soon. A few staff have already arrived, but it's still early enough to be nearly barren aside from the gang.
I hear the door to the room slide open, and impatient footsteps march toward me.
"Mike, I have places to be." Roxanne reminds. I'd told her to come to this room after we put the puzzle away to see if we could catch the sunrise in time, but it looks like it's a little too late to get the full experience.
"Sorry. I was hoping we'd finish in time to see the sunrise, but there's not much left to enjoy."
Roxanne crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow.
"You called me up here to 'see the sunrise'?"
"Yep."
She scoffs at me with a smirk.
"What are you, trying to be romantic?"
"I was 'trying' to show you what's so good about the outside."
She continues to walk over next to me.
"All I said is that I didn't want to be outside for no reason. I don't hate it outside, if that's what you thought I meant."
"I wanted to know your opinion on it now, I guess." I turn to look back out the window, Roxy follows my gaze. "Now that you know you weren't built for this place, I was wondering if the outside appealed to you any more than it did before."
She tilts her head as she stares into the field, as if trying to crack her neck.
"Why would my opinion on it change at all?"
"You thought that you weren't 'supposed' to feel tired of the pizzaplex.. I guess I was wondering if that changed when you realized that it wasn't wrong to feel tired of this place."
An unexpected silence follows, only after a minute passes does Roxy respond.
"I guess I didn't.. I never thought about it like that before.." She speaks weakly, catching me a bit off guard.
I tilt my head to get a look at her.
"Think about it like what..?"
"If I wasn't built for this place then.. Then I don't 'have' to like it here.."
"Right, you can think whatever you want of this place."
...
"..Then should I not like it here?" She asks, as if expecting a response.
"..Are you asking me?"
"I.. dunno.. Do you think I should not like it here?"
"I don't know. 'You're' the one living here."
"..So I should like it here?"
..What?
"Rox, you can think whatever you want of this place. You don't need my opinion."
"Oh.."
...
"I 'unno.. I've never thought about it before.." She mutters, more to herself than to me.
She leans forward to support herself on the windowsill.
"..Rox, are you alright?"
"Yes! I'm fine.! I'm just.. Thinking." She responds quickly, suddenly more aware of the state she's in now that I've called her out on her abnormal behavior.
"Thinking about what?"
"I dunno, Mike. I dunno if I like this place or not.."
"It's alright, you can always decide later."
"Mm.."
I turn my head to stare back out of the window.
The sunrise may mostly be over, but there's just enough to fill the room with a warm orange. I feel like one of those characters in the background of a lofi-music radio.
I wonder if it was a good idea convincing her to think about this place, and what she thinks of it. She looked more comfortable convincing herself that she was fine with this place because she was made for it. Now she's staring reflectively out the window, into the outside she 'has no interest in'. Maybe leading her down this train of thought was more detrimental. Let's say she 'does' decide that she isn't happy here. So what? This is the only place she belongs, and the only place she'll be for.. I don't know how long.
"Do you like this place, Mike?"
Her voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Will my answer affect yours?"
"Mike."
"I like it here, but I have my personal reasons for doing so." I pause, shrugging after a few seconds. "I'm also free to come and go as I please, though; which could make a big difference."
She nods slowly, assimilating my thoughts into her own.
"I.. Like it, I think. I like it here too.." She decides, though with lacking confidence.
"I see. How'd you decide?"
She presses a little more of her weight onto the windowsill.
"I belong here, I think.. Even if I wasn't made for this place, this place was made for me, y'know?" She grumbles as she tries to form her thoughts into words. "Like, this is 'my' place. If I left the pizzaplex, I would feel outta place, and the pizzaplex would be missing something important."
I think I get it.
"You feel like you fit in here, and wouldn't fit in anywhere else."
"Yeah, I guess.. I dunno.. Godammit Mike." Roxy lays a hand on her head, as if to keep it in place
"Huh?"
"You've always gotta say some shit like this right before I gotta perform.."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Whatever.."
...
"Everyone has a place.." I mutter, out of nowhere.
"..I guess so?" Roxanne uncertainly agrees.
I shake my head and lift myself from where I was leaning. That probably sounded really weird. I didn't even realize I was saying it.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something."
"..Weirdo.."