Chapter 11:

Adjust and Discuss

A/N:

A lot of swearing and profanities because there's an adult (children do curse as well but less often). Also, future chapters will definitely contain even more swear words, so be prepared.

Also also, school is catching up, so it might take me a week or more to finish another chapter.

Strange things happened every day around the world. These peculiar events, as one might call it paranormal or miraculous depended on how they affected the environment. For example, one would call it a paranormal event when an object on a table moved without the help of an external force; one would call it a miracle when a sick person on the brink of their death somehow managed to regain their healthy self… if they decided to ignore the hard work done by the doctors that was. These bizarre occasions, we might not notice them for how accidental they occurred without our acknowledgement. Perhaps, we did witness them happening, yet they weren't "unusual" enough for us to be called one.

And then, there were exceptions - events that could not be categorized in any sort as for how random and unnaturally out of the ordinary they seemed. They were not frightening enough to be called paranormal nor magical enough to be called miraculous. For example: encountering a nearly seven-foot-tall animatronic bear in a middle of a forest while going camping.

The sound of silence. None to be heard, none to be seen. Hollow words rang with an abnormal sense of quietude, while tree branches dangled solemnly as they hung above. There was not a sound of life around them; Not the rustling of the canopies, the murmuring of voices… it wasn't any of those, nor was it a norm. The damp soil ground seemed to move as all eyes drifted along, head throbbing as migraine hindered their sights, dizziness striking like a five-ton mallet. Cold beads of sweat trickled down their jaws, chills running down as blue breezes blew past their bare back, and the solemn serenity rang through the void, filling them with utmost unease. Something was amiss, and silence was the verdict.

Three people – one adult and two children – and an… animatronic bear, all silently sat on the dirt as none dared to turn their gaze to look at each other.

Gregory wouldn't stop blaming himself for not being careful enough. Everything could have gone so well had he hidden the van better. Despite his best effort in concealing it between the bushes, in which, chances of someone accidentally stumbled upon the van was significantly unlikely, yet, for some unbelievable reasons, one managed to find it too effortlessly. If one could read what his mind what thinking about, they might be able to hear streams of curse words yelling, shouting, screaming, shrieking, roaring, bawling, hollering in utter chaos and absolute turmoil. Someone gets this boy a paper bag to calm him down.

Freddy, who sat next to the boy, wouldn't stop staring at the ground, twirling his fingers, ears drooped. When he turned to look at the humans sitting in front of him, they would immediately switch their gaze without hesitation, especially the girl. At first, he wondered why as it was common for children to know his notable appearance and that they would hurl at him just like what would happen whenever he appeared at their birthday party. Soon, he understood the reason for those panicking reactions. Frankly, those reactions were what he would also imagine if one were to spot him wandering in a middle of a forest instead of inside the Pizzaplex.

Lily was probably the most unstable out of all, she wouldn't stop shaking and trembling. Sometimes, she would furtively move her eyes to look at Gregory and then the bear, only for the robot to look back at her. At which point, faster than the speed of sound, she brought her gaze back at the ground. She felt as if parts of her soul had escaped through her ears, nose and mouth, releasing the intense heat which was uncontrollably produced by her pounding heartbeat and irrepressible sweet glances around her neck. "Holy shit!", she would say under her breath, either being absolutely terrified or seemingly embarrassed because of the fact that the animatronic bear was none other than the mascot of Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex - Freddy Fazbear himself.

Someone gives this girl a paper bag as well.

And then, there was Daniel, the only adult of this out-of-the-blue mess, who had been trying his best to keep up with his cool and carefree composure. He was truly glad that he had answered nature's call before stumbling upon the animatronic bear out of nowhere else he would definitely have a heart attack and wet himself in pure shock and total shame. Who would have thought of beholding such a sight in this forest, let alone the fact that the mascot of an entertainment company was on the loose which he had not yet to see any related news on the Internet or the social media? No one was prepared for this, even him. He wished that he had gone peeing in another part of the woods or not coming to this place at all.

It was quiet, too quiet. Someone ought to break the silence, or all were going to slowly succumb in awkwardness. Fortunately, Daniel had come to save the day.

"So…", he said, hands tightly clasped together while hovering them near his nose, "Because you weren't allowed to go the Pizzaplex, you snuck in by yourself. Then, Freddy glitched while performing, so the show was halted. Then, you got left behind when it was closing time. Then, you hid inside his tummy while being chased by the security lady… Okay? Then, Freddy helped you to get out of the building. Then, you managed to get out. But instead of going back to the orphanage, you stole their car and ran away with their mascot…"

Then, he took a deep breath. "Haha… Y-Yeah. I mean… Holy shit… This is… This is so… fucked up."

Everyone, including the bear, was slightly taken aback by the bad words spoken by him.

Freddy had the urge to tell the brother not to say profanities in front of children as he could feel his family-friendly programming slowly kicking in. Though something told him that this was not the moment to do such thing as lecturing. For some reason, it sounded… awkward to him.

Everyone still had their mouth shut. Danial felt as if he ought to keep the conversation alive. And that he definitely should because an idea had just popped up in his mind.

"So… Um… Freddy Fazbear, right?", he asked, causing the bear to look at him, which made him frightened a bit. Man, I have to get used to this. He mumbled, before continuing: "Yeah, you really are something, huh? Like… you're even more popular than an actual celebrity. Pretty cool, right?"

The bear stared at him; eyes blinked. Everyone was staring at him.

Damn… This is so fucking awkward. Okay, relax, Daniel. Breath. It's just a robot bear. You have seen him on TV before. He's not going to bite your head off like those stupid rumours… He muttered.

To Daniel, talking to strangers on the sidewalk was no big deal, considering how much of an outgoing and sociable the guy was. You could say he was an animal at the party who would join in all sorts of activities and daring challenges which were only the stupid and the drunk would do. But then, this was Freddy Fazbear he was confronting - a nearly seven-foot-tall animatronic bear and the mascot of a well-known entertainment franchise that was sitting right in front of him, clear and apparent in broad daylight. In no way that thing was similar to that of a human person, just no. He had never talked to a robot before, let alone meeting it in a middle of a forest. Who knew what the bear was capable of without any professionals to look after it? The thing was like a wild animal on the loose!

On second thought, wasn't Freddy with the Gregory kid, who was a friend of Lily? Having heard the boy talk about how nice and good-natured the bear was, he was somewhat relieved and eager to talk to the robot as well. It was common for people to be fascinated by new technologies, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence. As this was the beginning of the fourth decade of the year 2000, programming and developing Androids was on the rise and booming with numerous potentials. And soon enough, having robots doing your housework would soon be a dream come true. Perhaps, he could be able to see how advanced the bear was in terms of self-awareness and communication.

"You know…", he continued, eyes diverted at Lily, who was firmly sitting next to him with her eyes locked on the ground. A smirk could be seen on his face. "My little sister here is a big fan of you."

Upon hearing that, the girl shot her head straight up, seemingly caught unprepared. "W-What…"

The bear turned his gaze at the girl.

"See? She even wears a Freddy wristband.", he said as he grabbed her arms while holding back the giggles. "She wouldn't stop telling me about how Gregory was able to have a Novelty Fazwatch and a Fazcam. Don't mind her, she's probably jealous."

"D-Daniel! What the hell?!", the girl exclaimed, her face turned red.

"Come on! I thought you were a fan of his?", he pushed further. The guy was definitely enjoying the moment. "Look! He's right in front of you. Go say hello or something. Make sure to ask him for an autograph. Oh, and don't forget to take a selfie!"

"For God's sake, s-stop!", she shouted, hands covering her face. "You're embarrassing me!"

While the siblings were having a typical family quarrel, Gregory decided it was enough for his and the bear's silence. He lightly tapped Freddy with his ankle, signalling the bear to bend down so that he could whisper something for him to hear. Daniel noticed it, while Lily was still having a breakdown from the overwhelming embarrassment. After that, the bear straightened his back, his eyes darted at the boy again as if looking for confirmation. Eyes rolled, Gregory nodded again.

Then, he finally spoke up. "H-Hello, Lily."

The girl stopped wincing; her body froze within seconds. As much as she wanted to say hello back, the fact that she somehow managed to come across her biggest idol in a middle of a forest wouldn't stop bugging and melting the last bit of her brain. Things happened too fast for her to keep up, and her annoying brother wouldn't stop embarrassing her.

Holy shit! Her mind screamed in both panic and excitement. I can't believe this is happening right now! Holy shit!

A panic attack came when the brain kept sending messages of fear to the upper brain. It could render one upon the floor, the brain on overload. Thoughts became so scattered that normal functioning was impossible. Hence, a person who was loving, kind and calm could have such a powerful healing effect at these times. But in this situation, it wasn't for fear that caused the panicking. How could one be in fear when their idol was sitting right in front of them? Then again, it was from her perspective. Even she didn't know why her body was trembling uncontrollably.

Using all her might, she took a deep breath, before turning to look at the bear, eye to eye. "Um… H-Hi, Freddy…"

Wake up. Wake up. This is just a dream. She thought to herself. You are just dreaming. Yeah. Just… pinch yourself, and you should wake up…

While Lily was calming herself, Freddy hesitated to speak again, he turned to look at Gregory, who nodded with slight irritation.

"Gregory, are you sure about this?", whispered the bear nervously as he leaned down.

"Why are you so worried?", the boy whispered back. "Don't you do this like every day when you were still at the Pizzaplex?"

"That is true but…", he stuttered, "for some reason, I found this very awkward!"

"Well, I don't blame you. But she's a huge fan of yours! This is her first time seeing you in person. And probably the last time seeing you as well because… you know…"

The bear stared at the boy for a few more moments. He had this strange feeling of being trapped within an awkward situation, which he had mostly been through whenever he saw his friend being lectured by Vanessa or any mechanic while he was sitting in the corner, waiting to be the next one. Sure, he had no difficulties meeting his devoted fans as he had been doing the job for years now. But meeting one inside the forest was what he had never experienced before. Everything became incredibly new and significantly different when he stepped into the outside world, which would somewhat explain why he didn't get used to doing these kinds of things.

"I am truly sorry, Gregory.", he remorsefully apologized, "I do not think I can do this. This is too much for me, I can feel my circuit is heating up!"

"Fine.", declared the boy. "But you'll have to do it sooner or later. Else you would be forced to do it the hard way."

The last sentence made him uncomfortable, oddly enough.

Then the conversation died down, again.

Freddy resumed twirling his fingers repentantly. Gregory hid his face under his palms. Lily wanted to bury her head into the ground. Daniel, well, he sighed again. Perhaps, it was time to get serious. As a literal animatronic bear was on the loose, how could one be joking when being caught in such a situation?

"Okay.", he said, voice becoming stern. "Let's just get to the point."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Kid, you know that you have just committed a crime by stealing a property of a company, right?", he asked. "What are you going to do now?"

The boy was about to speak up when the bear interrupted him. "No, I can guarantee that Gregory did not commit such crimes."

"What do you mean?", he asked again.

The bear hesitated for a while, eyes glancing down before returning at him. "It was I who had voluntarily left the building."

Daniel shot his greatly perplexed eyes, he could see his sister was doing the same. "Okay… but why, though?"

Freddy's ears drooped down, the bear turned to look at Gregory, who said nothing, only exchanged him a quiet stare. Then, he looked at Daniel again.

"All my life used to revolve around performing on stage, celebrating birthday parties, meeting the children and taking photos with them. There were times when I pondered what the outside world would look like, as I had never been able to step outside the Pizzaplex before. Then, when I helped Gregory escape the building, the chance came, I could not help but… be tempted by it. When I was finally able to step into the outside world, I realized how small and significant I was compared to everything around me. At the same time, I realized that I have been living in solitary confinement, unable to leave, unable to do things I wanted. Had all of this never happened, I fear that when the time comes, soon everyone would forget about us, a-and we would be no longer needed… T-Then, the company would scrap me and my friends…"

And he just stopped.

Unavoidable nothingness. A quiet that was deafening. Silence was the void; broken by the noise that shattered it like glass. The lack of life to break the deafness with ragged breaths and the beating of a human heart. Silence was noise, but quite unlike the one we were accustomed to. It was the deafening lack of noise that was noise, the loudest of noises one could hear, as they were no other competing sounds to disperse what was perceived as silence. True silence, it was said, was golden. And though this might be true; silence was also lonely, a constant companion nonetheless of one's innermost thoughts. The sound of silence was not the lack of noise; but the misinterpretation, the misconception of what sound is.

Daniel was speechless, yet, his mind was flooded with utter confusion mixed with a bit of horror. Something was amiss, something was not right. He knew what the reason was, but he dared not to jump to the conclusion. He turned to look at Lily, the girl had been listening to the bear attentively with her hands clasped together. He could see it as well, the uncanny confusion, the bewildering puzzlement behind those wide eyes.

Holy fuck! This is just like those Terminator movies! His mind screamed. Okay, stay cool, Daniel. Freddy is still nice, it's not like he's going to take over the world or something… They are just science fiction stuff.

"D-Damn…", he remarked, then decided to change the subject as something told him that he shouldn't be probing further. "Although I haven't seen the news yet, the company must be looking for you two, especially you, Freddy. Have you planned anything yet?"

"W-Well, I was thinking about returning back on the road tomorrow.", said Gregory. "I don't have any clear destination yet. But I know that I have to get Freddy's battery problem fixed first, else we wouldn't be able to get anywhere soon."

"How did you charge him then?", he probed. "Didn't you say that he needed a charging station in order to be fully recharged?"

"I used the van's battery and the jumper cables.", replied the boy. "Although it didn't give much power, it's the only way to charge him. After each charge, I have to turn on the engine so that the battery' power can be replenished. Then, I can use it again. But it consumes gas, so I don't know how to get more when the van runs out of fuel because we don't have any money."

Daniel blinked in awe, either by the fact that a child could drive a car or use its battery to recharge an animatronic bear. He couldn't believe the boy at such small age had already developed life skills quicker than ninety percent of children around the world and probably most adults like him since he didn't know the bear could be charging using a pair of jumper cables as well. Taking about being young, he couldn't help but wonder how old the boy was.

"Dude, you're a kid but you can drive a car and know how to use the jumper cables.", he said in disbelief. "How old are you really?"

Upon hearing that, Freddy quickly diverted his gaze at Gregory, implying that he hadn't known about the boy's age as well. Actually, everyone landed their gaze on him.

"I'm ten.", declared the boy.

"Ten?!", exclaimed everyone in union, including the bear. This made Gregory startled.

"I thought you have the same age as me.", said Lily.

"How old are you?", he asked.

"Eleven."

"Oh…"

"W-Wait, if you guys don't have any money, how are you going to get some food?", asked Daniel. "Shouldn't you be starving right now?"

"W-Well, there's canned food in the back of the van. But they are all expired.", replied the boy. "So, I ate the fish from the river by grilling them using fire."

Well, that would explain why there was an extinguished campfire by a brook. But there was something he wasn't able to grasp. "What?! How did you even manage to catch them?"

"I used the pocketknife to sharpen the tree branches so that I could use it to catch the fishes. But since it was so hard to catch one, I taught Freddy how to do it."

What the fuck?! This kid is crazy!

Daniel felt like he was going to have his brain melted down just like his sister. The boy even had better survival skills than his uncle, not to mention being capable of teaching an animatronic bear who was built for performing onstage how to fish using a wooden spear. He didn't know whether he should feel shameful for letting a ten-year-old child effortlessly surpass him in both life and survival skills or not. And the fact that he was literally talking to Freddy Fazbear in a middle of a forest… Freddy fucking Fazbear! It was something he and Lily would never be able to get accustomed to.

"So… Uh… What now?", he said. "You guys got busted by us. So, what are you two going to do now? Sitting here staring at each other? Relax, we're not going to call the cops.", he chuckled. "Well, I mean, not until Lily gets an autograph and a selfie with Freddy that is."

Lily groaned; her ears wouldn't stop turning red.

"I… I don't know.", replied the boy. "I don't really know. We were about to go to the lake, then you showed up…"

"What are you going to do by the lake?", he asked, then shook his head. "No, no. What have you two been doing in this place?"

The boy took a deep breath before starting to tell him everything that had happened since yesterday morning. From their first arrival at the camping site and the discovery of an old shack to accidentally stumbled upon him and his sister while exploring the forest.

To Daniel, everything sounded fascinating to him, especially the part where Freddy would constantly ask the boy about trivial and common things that he encountered in everyday life. He also found it amusing whenever a machine learnt and reacted to specific aspects of the environment such as nature, animals, culture, science, philosophy and much more. Hence, having known that the bear knew nothing about the outside world or even a speck of common sense, he was a bit surprised as to why wouldn't the company include those data in the bear's programming and felt somewhat sympathetic as well. But there was something else that caught his attention as well: the old shack.

According to the boy, the place was very foul and dirty, seemingly left abandoned. Yet, he told him that there were signs of someone having stayed there recently, as there was a presence of a generator whose fuel was half drained, which meant there was still fuel left. But the fact that its clean and polished exteriors indicated that it could have been newly bought while the rest of the house was old and beyond reparations had been bugging him for a while. Also, there seemed to be strange carvings on the door, bizarre-looking symbols and intelligible handwriting found on some papers. These details greatly interested him.

"That's odd.", said his sister, who spoke loud enough for the guy to hear. She was holding the map of the camping site, fingers searching for a spot that would fit the boy's description. "I found no shack on the map." Then, she turned to look at Gregory. "Are you sure it is somewhere near your campfire spot?"

"Y-Yeah.", replied the boy. "What's wrong?"

"Well, the map showed that there isn't any shacks or shelters of sorts like you have said."

"That's… weird.", he remarked. "Check if any bridges were nearby."

Lily did as she was told. "Bridges, bridges, bridges…", she mumbled the words repeatedly while looking for one. "Ah! Here it is!"

She then spread the map on the ground for everyone to see while keeping her finger right next to the location she had found. "This must be the one you are talking about."

Daniel stared at the spot, he did see a bridge. It was pretty far away from his campground, around it was coloured in green and light yellow, which showed that there were only the surrounding trees and a dirt trail along with it. If what the boy said was true, then why would there be no specific indication of a shack or a shelter nearby? What was the reason for not choosing to show it on the map? Most important of all, why would there be an old shack on a camping site?

"Huh… Do you think they have removed it from the map?", he assumed. "Probably because of the fact that it was so old and dirty, and nobody came to that place anymore."

"Then shouldn't they take the place down and build a new one already?", reasoned the girl.

"Well, there're clear signs of someone is living there, or at least use it to work on something.", added the boy. "It could be the reason why they still keep it there."

The more they discussed, the more eerie and illogical it became. Everyone all had their own reasonable assumptions, yet all lacked something to help back up those unstable claims. While trying to come up with another theory, Daniel remembered something important, something which was also worth discussing: Weren't there also a picture of a strange-looking stick figure of sort hanging on a tree branch in the middle of the forest as well? Maybe it could somehow create a clearer connection?

"Hey, Lily,", he called out, "didn't Gregory ask you to help him study the weird stick figure thingy?"

Upon hearing that, the girl widened her eyes. "Oh, right! I almost forgot!" She then took out her notebook from the backpack, hands quickly flipping the pages until it reached the near end. "Okay… I have been looking for an appropriate explanation. But so far, most of the answers given by many sources I looked up were all… uh… pretty nonsense and silly: Some said it was just an ordinary mark, some said it was a sign made by a tribe, some said it was a warning sign of Bigfoot… "

"Yeah, as if witchcraft is a very scientific and logical explanation.", he snorted.

"Shut up!"

"Hm… I have been thinking it was witchcraft as well.", said Gregory, who was scratching his shaggy hair.

"You too, kid?!"

"I'm not saying it's the most suitable explanation, though.", the boy added. "I don't believe in any supernatural stuff, or anything related to dark rituals. But… after seeing those strange symbols and writings back in the shack, I think whoever was working on it was actually being serious."

"Damn, kid. You're giving me chills.", he remarked, somewhat thrilled, somewhat terrified. "Should we go to that place? Maybe we can get more clues."

"Are you crazy?!", exclaimed Lily, who was taken aback by the outrageous idea of her brother. "What if someone was there when we came? We might get in trouble!"

"Okay, princess. Whatever you say.", he laughed, his hand lightly patting her back.

Freddy had been paying deep attention to the conversation, mindfully processing each word spoken by everyone. Judging from the tone of each, he could see Daniel as a carefree and easygoing grown man in his early adulthood, though sometimes the guy would freak out whenever he noticed he was looking at him with his attentive blue eyes, he could see Lily as an independent and energetic young girl with sharp thinking and keen eyes, though sometimes her face would turn red whenever she noticed he was staring at her. Having been told she was an admirer of his, he found it not surprising for the girl to have such reactions. Oddly enough, he even found it sweet and comical.

But then, he wished he could do something to contribute to the interesting debate. Strange-looking stick figure? Witchcraft? Supernatural? Dark rituals? Hearing the topic which he had no idea what it was about, he couldn't help but feel… left out. It was the same as isolation, but with a slight difference, that was, isolation was physical, while the feeling of being left out was emotional.

Nothing lasted forever, soon, the conversation died out. It was then the awkwardness reclaimed its dominion. He hated it, he hated the so-called awkwardness. He despised it with a sizzling passion, so much that he wished it to be forever erased from this world.

"So… uh… What now?", said Daniel.

No one replied.

Fuck. Not again…

"Witnessing a paranormal activity versus meeting an animatronic bear in a middle of a forest. Were one to choose which situation was more unlikely and horrific, they would remain stuck in a dilemma."