Hey everyone. I'm still on Hiatus but as a gift for Easter, have a preview of Mike's Side Story just below.
What are Side Stories?
Think of them as one-shot DLC to the main story. You don't need to read them to fully understand Dark Rebirth but it does provide some context to certain things (e.g. Why Mike and Charlie are friends and how they know each other)
They're the events I can't fit fully into the main story due to the lengthy content and the fact that Gregory lacks some of these memories and thus, cannot recall them entirely. That or they disrupted the flow of the narrative too much.
It's why I'm delegating them to side stories.
Side Story Titles [Not in Order]
Resentful Son (Mike's Story)
A recap of the events from Sister Location to Pizza Sim from the perspective of Mike.
Regretful Father (Henry's Story)
After Henry is fired from Fazbears due to accusations of murder, He begins a new life and starts a new family far from the tragedy at Hurricane Utah but unfortunately, the past eventually catches up with him.
Partners in Crime (Henry and William's Story)
A recap of the Missing Children's incident from the perspectives of Henry and William.
Purple Guy (Charlie's Story)
Charlie and the other children try to recall the appearance of the murderer. They agree on two things: That he was a security guard and he always had a purple item with him.
?
This will be a secret for now but it will involve William Afton and Vanny.
Preview of Mike's Side Story: Resentful Son
A shiny, metallic lift descended downwards, rocking slightly as it delivered the new employee to his workplace that was within the depths of the earth.
BUMP
Micheal Afton jolted a little in the confined space, gazing nervously at his cramped surroundings until he found himself greeted by a friendly, robotic voice halfway down.
"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career! Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad at Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities".
Ever since the deaths of Evan and Elizabeth, Mike had lived half a life. He was aimless, depressed and he had nothing grand he wanted to achieve in life. Any grand aspiration he had was moot and he felt like he would be more comfortable with getting menial, dead end jobs as a cashier or a librarian. He honestly didn't want or need much in life, he was just okay with...existing.
However, he did discover he had a knack for art and when his father asked him what he wanted to do as a job one day, he'd told William he wanted to work simple jobs or better yet, be a comic book artist. His father let out a scornful laugh and rubbed his temple in disappointment.
"As my only surviving child, the least you could do is something more profitable than the Arts. Why not get into engineering, learn how to fix and properly make machines?" his Father recommends, "As much as I hate you, I admit I do need someone to take over a few of my businesses in the future Mike and I don't have a lot of candidates. Who knows, if you take over, maybe you can atone for your sins, you useless murderer".
If Mike were in a bad mood, he would have struck back but he didn't want to prove his point about him being a murderer and so nodded, going ahead with his Father's plan for his life, graduating high school and after that, earning a diploma in Engineering from a decent college nearby.
Sure he had some happy moments in both High School and College but overall, he often felt like a zombie shambling through life or a slave to the whims of others. He hated it but well, what could he do? Run away? He needed more money before he could do that but it wasn't like his father was willing to give him what he needed without a good reason and worse, he'd made him mad some time ago when his father caught him stealing from his wallet. That was a huge mistake as the next thing he knew, he was locked in a closet overnight and his father kept a closer eye on his wallet from then on.
Meanwhile, as that all happened, William had been fired from his job at Fazbears due to accusations of being a murderer and, not long after, his Wife had divorced him. She tried to get custody of Mike of course but William wouldn't have that. He needed at least one person beside him, one person he could manipulate and so, if he couldn't keep his wife by his side, he'd have to at least try keep Mike, the very son he resented, as his final pawn.
Furthermore, keeping Mike was beneficial to him as it would be a means to hurt his wife emotionally. She would regret leaving him and he'd make sure of it by keeping custody of their only surviving son!
I'm sorry you can't come with me Micheal." Violet stroked his hair sadly, "but if you ever feel..threatened by your father, go see Uncle Henry or stay with one of your friends for a while alright?"
Shortly after she said that, Henry had left town to start a new life after being fired and Mike felt all alone. Almost. He had managed to make a few new friends in the form of Jeremy, Kevin and Harold and so, he often would crash at their places but did his best not to make them feel like he was taking advantage of them.
"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad." the voice disrupts his train of thought, "This cannot be changed later so please be careful".
Mike tried his best to enter the numbers on the digital keypad but frustratingly enough, the damn thing was malfunctioning!
"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome... Eggs Benedict.
Mike groaned. He hadn't wanted to be at this job but his Father had forced him into it and well, as long as he got paid, he didn't mind.
The lift shook and grinded to a halt.
"You can now open the using that bright, red and obvious button. Let's get to work!"
Mike pressed the button as instructed and walked into the basement.
—
A few days ago, Mike was watching the Loveless and the Damned when his father strode into the living room and tossed a card, a letter and a pair of keys on his lap.
"Mike, you have a new job as an engineer in Afton Robotics. Your first task is to go to the basement and find your sister."
Mike looked up. Despite his old age and the mysterious illness that was causing his body to deteriorate, there remained a sense of faded beauty to him. Mike thinks to himself he could kill him now easily by shoving him down the stairs but well, there was no way he was going to jail for murder. He doubts he could even cover up the evidence well...
"Dad, you drunk again?" Mike raises an eyebrow, "Or are you getting senile? Elizabeth is dead".
"No, I'm going on a vacation. Like right now." William tells him with no warning, "I'll be back in 2 weeks. Go find your sister."
With that, the old man hobbled away quickly.
"Hey you can't just dump..."
Mike turns around but his father is already out the door. He then hears the roar of a car engine.
Heading to the garage and switching on the lights. Mike realises his father had left in a rush.
Eventually, after a few days, he found out why. A few cops had been tracking and investigating William in secret, believing he was responsible for the vanishings at Fazbear's. They wanted to ask him questions but since he wasn't in town, some of the questions fell to Mike.
He answers all their questions casually.
"I don't know now if my Father is the culprit or not but I wouldn't be surprised if he was." Mike laughed darkly.
William wasn't as saintly as the community thought he was and he can't believe it took them this long to finally realise it.
With no more questions, the cops left and Mike opened the letter his Father left him: It was an animatronic instruction booklet and job contract which detailed his work responsibilities and all he had to do was sign it...
PREVIEW END
Mike's Side Story will be released after the next chapter coming next week. Stay tuned and thanks for supporting me.