Five Nights at Freddys: Agent Lloyd
Chapter 3: Dreams of Nowhere Land
Mike Schmidt walked into the darkened pizzeria, flashlight in one, keys twirling around the finger of his other, whistling a tune he'd heard on the radio. He'd always had a sense of uneasiness, the usually joyful place during the day giving him a sense of dread with its unnatural quiet tones and the dark atmosphere that fell upon the rooms come closing hour.
Of course, having gotten a call from his boss, Henry, about the murders that had taken place a little over twelve hours prior, that usual sense of uneasiness and dread only seemed to double. Henry had told him about remaining extra vigilant, to keep on his toes and make extra rounds through the place while Fritz stayed over night and fixed the security system.
Though it would be nice to have a second person around, especially considering the circumstances, with Fritz fixing the system and him on patrol, there wouldn't be much interaction between thew two.
"Hey! Mike!" Mike looked up, Fritz was standing down at the end of the hall ahead of him, practically cloaked in the shadows, giving him an ominous look as the dim lights overhead flickered.
"Fritz? What are you doing over there in the shadows?"
Fritz only laughed as he walked towards him and into the brighter light, it glinting off his rounded wire glasses which sat atop his nose. His dark brown, almost black hair seemed to pop in the light.
"Was just about to go into the server room before I noticed you." He laughed again, something that made Mike just the slightest bit uncomfortable. Considering the circumstances, how could he be laughing, Mike personally was feeling quite anxious, maybe even a little afraid of some killer who knew how to get in. Though, everyone did seem to handle fear differently, perhaps he just handled it by masking it with humor and laughing.
"Fair enough. So, you going to be fixing the system then?"
Fritz's cheerful smile seemed to fade as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah… whoever came through and, well… you know…" He made a small stabbing motion with his hands, then shrugged. "They sure did a number on the wires, going to take me practically all night to replace it."
He seemed to mumble something under his breath, a swear, as he gave Mike a worried look. "And considering what happened, I'm none to eager to be here with only the two of us… and those animatronics I suppose."
Mike had almost forgotten about them, his fear of a mysterious murderer and the fact he hadn't seen them since he came in, he'd almost forgotten they were here as well. "Hey, yeah… speaking of the animatronics, where are they anyway?"
"Patrolling the back entrances, at least some of them are. Leaving all that up to you, it'd be easy for someone else to sneak in. No offense, but you are just one guy."
Mike sighed in relief, at least security wasn't left completely up to him, he didn't know what he would do if someone actually snuck in, he was, just like Fritz had said, one guy. One guy with a security baton and a flashlight, what good could he do against a murderer, especially with how afraid he would be.
"Ah cool. Thanks. Good luck with the wires, Fritz." He turned to go back to the security office, maybe he would grab the extra walkie talkies and give them to the animatronics guarding the entrances, make It easier to communicate on the chance that someone did sneak in. Yeah, maybe he would do that, it was a sound idea.
As he walked down the hallway, he could hear Fritz enter the server room, leaving him almost completely alone in the dark, foreboding pizzeria.
After going to the office and grabbing the walkie talkies, he walked silently through the pizzeria for what felt like hours upon hours, the sound of his footsteps on the tiled floors bouncing off the walls, creating an echo all around him that seemed to fill the silent void that the building was.
Passing by each room, he'd grab his baton from his belt and peer around with his flashlight, always expecting a ghostly figure waiting to pounce, waiting to kill him. Yet each room was empty, void even of the animatronic mascots that roamed the building during the day. Fritz wasn't kidding when he said they must've been guarding the back entrances, the dark and empty halls and rooms sure seemed to point to that.
His patrol would lead him to those back entrances eventually, and when he got their, he would give whichever animatronic was guarding the door a walkie talkie to contact him, and then he would be on his marry way.
He reached the door to the kitchen, one of the rooms which had a back entrance for taking out the kitchen trash and grease from the fryers. Pressing against thew wall, he held his baton in one hand as he used his other elbow to open the door, and shined his light in.
His flashlight shone upon the many counters, the ovens, the fridge, and finally landed upon the door where a familiar yellow figure was stood. He lowed his nightstick as the animatronic, a motherly hen who went by the name of Chica, turned to look at him.
"Well, if it isn't Michael Schmidt, the night guard." She beckoned him inside with a feathered hand before putting her hands on her questionably wide hips for a children's mascot. "What are you doing here? Come to get some food Michael?"
"Well, n-no, I…" Truth be told, he'd always been a little uncomfortable around the animatronics. They were friendly and everything, but something about them just felt to… human. It felt like something straight out of the uncanny valley, though he supposed that it just made them more marketable to families. "I was just coming to give you this walkie talkie…"
He held it up for her to see, and the hen gave him a questioning look, as if to say, 'why on Earth would I need that thing?' "Y-you know, in case anyone managed to get in… then you could call me?"
She laughed, a hearty, genuine laugh that seemed to lighten the atmosphere of the room, even if it was just that tiny bit. "Oh Michael, no offense, but I think I could handle an intruder myself. What good would that do?"
"So I could call the police." The deadpan tone in his voice seemed to catch her off guard, or perhaps it was what he said, but she seemed to reconsider her last statement.
"Well, you got me there, Michael." She held out her hand for him to give her the walkie talkie. "It wouldn't hurt to call the police." As she grabbed it out of his hand, she held it up to examine it before gently placing it on the counter next to her. "Anything else you need, Michael?"
He opened his mouth to say no, but stopped himself. "Actually, yeah. Where are the other, ehm… animatronics at?" Perhaps knowing where they were would help to find them in the event that he needed them, though he hated to rely on them.
"Oh? Chi-Chi and Bon are in the freezer doing… well, I'm not really sure…" She paused as Mike looked over at the freezer, then back to her with a confused yet disgusted face. "Fazbear and the others are at the Parts and Service entrance, after all, that is where those poor children lost their lives… best to keep an eye over there."
"Ah, thanks Chica. I should get going over there then." He backed up against the door as he gave her a small wave.
"Bye Michael!" She called as he let the door fall shut behind him, once again the leaving him in the dark, silent and unironically spooky building. She had told him the others were in the parts and service room, so that was where he would go next. He set off down the hall, torch in one hand, baton in other.
He passed down the hallway and by the kids cove, where he could hear a low static. Apparently not all the animatronics were at the parts and service room, though he paid no mind to the noise as he continued down the hallway and near the heavy metal door. This time he didn't stop has he pushed open the door and shined the flashlight into the room.
Chica wasn't lying when she said almost everyone else was in here, they seemed to fill the room, the six remaining animatronics, even the marionette, who rarely left its box, was here, and they were all staring directly at him, six pairs of eyes in the dim room pointed in his direction. If he wasn't already nervous, which he was, it only seemed to make him more.
"Ehm… Hi." He started, sweat pouring down his face already, it was almost like a job interview with so many eyes, so many eyes. "I came here to-" He was cut off before he could finish his statement as his worst fears seemed to come to life.
Three heavy knocks against the metal door, three knocks from outside the building as all eyes turned to look at the door.
[…]
It was not long past one in the morning as Fuchsia drove from the hotel parking lot, heavy bags under her eyes, mind groggy and half asleep, and a black coffee in hand. She took a long sip from her coffee as she drove onto the empty street. There wasn't another soul in sight, whether in car or on sidewalks, it was almost lonely.
Setting her coffee down, she reached for her tape recorder. "Cheryl, I'm on my way over to the pizzeria now, and I am so tired. There isn't another soul in sight, it's almost unsettling. As Agent Johnson would say, we ain't in the city no more. If that isn't the truth…"
She passed by another driver on the road, the only one she'd seen since leaving the hotel, and she watched them curiously before diverting her attention back to the road. "I'm hoping that the night watch will let me in, in my haste to get out of the hotel room, I forgot to place a call and tell them my intentions. I'm sure it won't be a problem."
The pizzeria wasn't far from the hotel, seeing as it would be one of the central locations for her investigations, she'd chosen the closest hotel she could find so she could get their fast in the event of an emergency.
"Well, pulling into the parking lot…" The building was dark save for a few lights on here and there, and not a soul in sight could be seen. "It seems nobody is here to see me pulling up, and with the security system down… Hmm. Guess I should've placed that call."
She shut her car off and stepped out into the night. The sound of crickets quietly chirping away in the distance filled the air, and even the sound of distant howling, coyotes perhaps. "Ah, nothing beats the sound of wildlife in the night." She grabbed her coffee and walked to the pizzeria's main entrance.
The closer she got, the more she could tell that no one was near, at least not near enough to hear her banging on the door… but she would try anyway.
She knocked on the door, then leaned against the wall as she waited, sipping at the black coffee as she tried to nurse herself into being awake. The calming sound of the crickets and the light breeze that blew through her fur didn't help either, almost lulling her back into a deep sleep. She honestly wouldn't mind sleeping outside, especially with all the calming noise, it was so much quieter than the Boston.
Minutes passed without an answer, and she decided to try one of the back doors, she that the room where they had found the bodies, which was on the wall to her left, had a back door that she could try, perhaps someone would hear her then.
She set out on her small trek around the building, pulling out the small flashlight from her pocket and switching it on. It was a lot darker around back, especially without all the street lights to illuminate her way, and even though she was a fox and had decent night vision, the groggy feeling from waking up so late wasn't helping.
She held one hand to the wall to help keep her balance as she walked across the uneven terrain, trying hard to keep her balance in the heels she wore. "Curses, I knew I should've packed those boots I wore in Alberton… I'll ask Cheryl to send them." She mumbled to herself as she slowly trekked towards the door.
She took another step forward, and her hell kicked against something plastic, sending it flying across the dirt. She stopped, and looked down at the ground, darting the flashlight across the terrain in search of the object she had pushed.
There it was, on the ground about four or so feet away lying face up in the dirt, was a VHS tape, the same they used in the pizzeria to record the cameras. It was absolutely covered in dirt and dust, as if someone had tried to bury it in the ground, but had given up halfway through, leaving it here to be merely kicked into view by the Agent.
"Bingo."
She reached down and grabbed the tape, brushing the dirt off to reveal the title, written in pen on the top of the tape, 'Security footage, June 26th, 1997'. Yesterdays date, and the day of the murders.
"Not just Bingo… Jackpot!" She held the tape in the air triumphantly. "After I get inside, I'll call Officer Winston and get this evidence checked out!" Carefully, she placed the tape in her overcoat pocket and trekked the rest of the way to the door, which was a little over thirty feet away from where she had found the tape.
Not more than a day on the case, and she'd already gotten a lead, not too shabby.
Reaching the door, she pressed an ear to it, seeing if she could hear any noise on the other side. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to spend time banging on the door to be let in if no one heard her. Upon hearing what she assumed to be a voice, she pounded her fist on the door three times.
"Hey! Federal Bureau of Investigations! Special Agent Fuchsia Lloyd! Let me in!" She pounded on the door again before hearing an audible click from the lock, and she took a step back. The door open quickly, and shown the light inside to reveal a familiar looking face. Freddy Fazbear himself, the titular character whose face appeared on the sign, stood at the door.
However, what struck her more wasn't that the bear himself was opening the door for her, but rather the similarities to the golden bear she had seen in her dream, almost as if the golden bear was a twin sister to the masculine brown bear.
"What?" The bear asked in a gruff, deep voice that caught her off guard for just a moment, it didn't seem he was eager to have visitors, and after the visitor earlier yesterday, she didn't really blame him.
"Listen, it's hard to explain, but I need to come in." She tried to push past, but he put an arm up in the way, blocking her. He gave her an unamused look. "Right, right. Let me grab my Identification." She pulled out her badge and showed the bear, who gave a solumn nod as he lowered his arm.
"Come in, Agent. You can never be too careful, you know."
"Especially after yesterday's incident, of course." She held out her hand for the bear to take as the door closed behind her, and the bear took his paw in hers. "Special Agent Lloyd of the FBI."
"Freddy Fazbear, though I'm sure you already knew that." They shook hands and the bear tipped his hat at her as she looked around the room. There were five other animatronics in the room, another bear and a fox, as well as a boy holding a balloon and weird puppet thing, as well as a man who she assumed to be the security. All together, it was an odd welcoming party.
"So, tell me Agent, what brings you here at such a late hour? Couldn't this meeting have waited until the morning?"
"Oh, right!" She didn't know where to start, from the strange dream involving the golden bear, or the VHS she had found outside. "Perhaps it's best to start by calling Officer Winston over here. May I use the phone?" The bear gestured for her to follow as she passed the many staring animatronics and went to the door, where the he pushed past the bewildered looking security guard.
As Agent Lloyd stepped past the man, he put up a hand to stop her.
"Ms… What exactly is the meaning of this?"
"Oh, right. I'm going to need to speak with you Mr…" She read his name tag quickly, then looked back up at his face. "Schmidt. I'll also need to talk to your colleague, would you mind grabbing him?"
"Oh! Oh, of course! I'll meet you in the dining room, Ms. Agent!" The man took off down the hallway, towards where the kids cove was, and past that the server room where Mr. Smith was supposed to be working.
"Good…" She turned back to Freddy Fazbear, who was waiting for her a little ways down the opposite hallway, and, not wanting to keep him waiting, followed him down the hallway. Not much further, they stopped in the officer, where a phone sat on the desk.
"Oh, thank you!" She quickly called out as she dug into her pocket and withdrew the number that Officer Winston had given her before they parted ways, and dialed it into the phone. It rang a few times, and it didn't seem like the man was going to answer, before an audible click was heard, and the sound of a very tried man came through the phone.
"Hello?"
"Winston, it's me! Agent Lloyd, Fuchsia! I need you down here at the pizzeria, it's important! And call the sheriff to, will you?"
"Huh? Oh… okay." Fuchsia put down the phone without another word and turned back to the bear.
"Now, Mr. Fazbear, I need to come with me to the dining room, and after Officer Winston arrives, I'll tell you about the dream I had."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a confused look wash over the bears face, but he spoke no words of protest as he followed her into the dining room.
[…]
The server room was quiet, dark and still as Mike entered, carefully opening the door as to not make any loud noises. The only sound he could hear came from the other side of the room, the sound of keyboard keys taping away in the darkness, and a dull blue shone from where the noise was coming from.
That was strange, Fritz was supposed to be fixing the security system, no part of that, as far as Mike knew, involved the computer, at least not on this computer. What was he doing?
Mike slowly creeped between the large server consoles, small lights flashing everywhere on the big computers, as he neared around the edge and peered around the corner to where Fritz sat.
The man sat at the chair, typing away furiously at a line of what looked to be, from what Mike could tell, and he was no computer whiz, coding of some sort. What caught his attention, however, was the blue format that took up the other computer monitor that Fritz was using, it looked to be some sort of blueprint.
"Ah! Mike!" The computers switched off instantly as Fritz noticed his coworker creeping around the corner. "I didn't hear you come in! What are you doing?"
Mike narrowed his gaze at the man. "I was just coming to get you… the Agent is here, and she needs us."
"O-oh, great! Let's go meet her then!" The man seemed in a hurry to rush both him and Mike out of the room, but Mike turned to gaze one last time at monitors before shaking his head and following him out.
There was something strange going on with Fritz, and Mike didn't like it.
[…]
Agent Lloyd sat at one of the round tables near the show stage, her gaze fixed on the animatronic chicken who stood above her. Chi-Chi, or Toy Chica, as Freddy had introduced her, had offered to make her some food while she waited for Officer Winston to arrive.
"So, what can I get for ya, Agent~?" Agent Lloyd took a moment to register the question, her gaze fixed on the hen. Her wide hips and large breasts practically sticking out, barely covered by a bib and pair of pink panties. A small blush forming on her face as her mind raced to find a reason that such attire was appropriate in a kids restaurant.
"Uhm… uh… Well… Could I get two cups of coffee? For me and Officer Winston?" She gazed over at Freddy, who sat across from her at the table, who only seemed to give her a glance as he looked back out the window.
"Anything else, Agent~?"
"Could I get some griddle cakes and a slice of ham?"
"Griddle cakes and ham, coming right up Ms!" Agent Lloyd watched as the hen ran back to the kitchen, her gaze fixed on… no. She shook her head and looked over to the stage, her face warm and, if her fur wasn't already bright pink, she was sure her face would be more red than a tomato.
She hoped that the hen wouldn't come around during the investigation, because no matter how focused she was on solving the mystery, a beautiful woman standing over her was extremely distracting.
She coughed once as she kept her face to the stage, staring intently at the red curtains. It reminded her of high school, and playing in the orchestra. It made her wonder what performances were like, if the music was actually any good, or if it was just cheesy children's songs. Maybe she'd catch a show… preferably one without the hen in it.
The sound of footsteps from the entrance alerted her, and her mind was back to the job as she saw Officer Winston rushing towards her table.
"Agent Lloyd! I'm here!"
"Great!" She glanced behind him. "Where's the sheriff?"
He stopped at the table and took a seat next to her, leaving three seats left open for the two men working to join them. "About that… the sheriff said it could wait till morning."
"Tch." Of course, she'd figured that when she had called, but no matter. "Figured as much, I didn't need him for this first part anyways…"
"Now… Agent Lloyd…" Officer Winston leaned forwards in his chair just as Mike and Fritz walked into the room. "What is this all about?"
"Ah, yes. Of course." She gestured for the two men to sit down. "Gentlemen, let me tell you about the dream I had last night."
"Yo… your dream?" All of them seemed to exchange a look of confusion.
"Yes. Now Winston, my dream is a code waiting to be broken, break the code, solve the crime." Chi-Chi came out of the kitchen with the coffees, leaning down seductively as she set the coffee down in front of her and Officer Winston. She tried not to pay it any mind.
"I-In my dream, I was standing in a dark room, a deep booming voice echoing from seemingly all around me. The voice sang an old song, a jazz tune by Chet Baker, the Thrill is Gone, ever heard it?"
Everyone around the table, including Chi-Chi, shook their heads. "Well, anyways, as the song ended, I heard the voice of a small child, speaking of an eye, an eye who sees it all." She paused to take a breath, looking around at those sitting at the table. "Suddenly, I was sitting in an old diner with a stage much like this one, but purple curtains instead of red."
Freddy looked up at her in surprise, she had thought he wasn't listening, but whatever she had said, he seemed to recognize.
"Sitting on the table in front of me, there was a slice of cherry pie. A golden bear with empty eyes told me that the cherries from the garden make the best pie, and then the teenage boy who had been murdered in Alberton asked me if she seemed familiar."
The mention of the golden bear seemed to trigger Freddy, whose eyes seemed to bore holes into Fuchsia as she continued to speak. Whatever it was, he was waiting till the end to hear what she had to say.
"He's filled with secrets, the one eye. Where he goes, Music fills the air, and a familiar smell follows."
"Who?" Officer Winston spoke softly.
"The killer. He knows who I am… Then the golden bear leaned in to whisper in my ear the name of the killer."
"What? Who was it?" Everyone spoke at once, it seemed to cause an uproar among them.
"I… I couldn't hear what she said, I couldn't hear the name she had said."
"Damn…" Winston leaned back in his chair, as did Mike and Fritz, but Freddy remained where he was, standing over the table.
"How… How the hell do you know about Golden Freddy?" His tone had gone from calm and low, as it had been when she first came in, to angry, maybe even a little panicked. "Just who the hell are you, Agent?"
[Chapter End]