My Fair Lady
Lidiya Holland yawned and took another sip from her now-empty coffee. She checked the time. Nearly 12AM. Nobody in their right minds should be up at this ungodly time. She should be at home now, snuggled up with Lucas in bed. Granted, sleeping wasn't necessarily a guarantee, but it was much more preferable to this.
Still, she had to get on with it. The new bots had only just been put online, but they were experiencing some issues. Mainly to do with their pathing, making them wander into walls or trip over obvious obstacles or their motion sensors being too sensitive, sounding alerts for falling pieces of paper or random debris. Mr Hawthorne had asked her to stay back tonight to see about troubleshooting the problems while they were operational, but asking her in such a way that she didn't really have any choice in the matter.
So here she was, watching a series of monitors down in the testing area. Each one showed the point-of-view of a different bot, all patrolling separate parts of the factory. Her tablet showed a digital layout of all the floors and rooms, the bots indicated as white dots. She'd smoothed out a few of the problems already, but it was better to be safe than sorry. If necessary, she could tap the tablet and take direct control of the bot in question. So far, all was well.
Still, at least she wasn't completely alone. Her crackling radio reminded her of that.
"Hello? H-Hello, hello? Still alive down there, Lid?"
"No, Phil," she responded. "I'm afraid I've passed from this world and am now contacting you from beyond the grave."
"Oh no, n-not again," he chuckled. "Ah, gotta love the night shift, huh?"
"Yeah, I can't really say that I envy you. You'd think that looking after some new robots would be more exciting than this."
"That's what happens when the caffeine starts to wear off. S-Sorry I can't exactly come down there and get you another cup."
"It's fine, I don't need you to descend from your ivory tower. I've got my own coffee maker in here already and I think I'm due for a top-up."
"Yeah, believe me, you're uh gonna need it. Hold on, gonna check the cameras." Silence passed for a moment. "You'll never guess what I just saw."
"A whole lot of nothing?"
"You guessed it. Sooner this is over, the better, right?"
"You can say that again." She reached for some nearby papers. "Still, I have noticed something I want to report to Mr Hawthorne when I see him."
"Not another wayward coffee mug the bots picked up," joked Phil.
"No, we rounded all of those guys up. It's weird, but I've had a look at the maintenance log between troubleshoots. Every now and again, there's sudden dips in power flow in the factory systems. The same kind of voltage, every time. Totally random and they only last about a second or two, but still there. They get especially bad after a certain time at night."
Phil hummed thoughtfully. "Wow, that's weird. I-I wouldn't worry about it though. Some of this equipment was bought at a uh, steep discount. Shouldn't be too surprised if some of it is a little uh, fritzy."
"Yeah and we've had enough Fritz trouble as it is." She let out another yawn. "Right, I think it's time for that refill."
She walked over to her maker and poured herself a mug. When she'd first been approached for an offer about this position, she thought it was too good to be true. In a sense, it was. The chance to work with advanced robotic technology, the sort she didn't even know had existed until now, it was incredible. Not only robotics, but synthetic as well! Actual, living androids! Real walking and talking Commander Datas!
But then there was everything else. Almost getting mixed up in what happened to their business partner and what was discovered he'd done to those kids. Machines having personal issues, not to mention her own personal issues. She pinched the bridge of her nose at the thought of Mike Schmidt. She'd tried to be the mature one and offer him another chance, but if he was still stuck in the same mind set he'd been in for years, that wasn't her problem. Yes, she was willing to admit she had her own part in why things got… messy between them. But she'd moved on. Why couldn't he? Not to mention those ridiculous allegations he was levelling against her boss
She sighed again. Not her problem. The main concern she had was the nine synthetics, plus AI, that he had with him. How could Mr Hawthorne be so quick to simply discard them? All the work they'd put into the performers for the Fun Palace and they were gone, just like that? Not to mention the original four that Mr Hawthorne had worked on. No way to regulate them or monitor them, just letting them wander around like it was nothing. One of them already had documented evidence of causing harm to another person. Imagine what else could happen!
She knew it was partly her fault. She hadn't meant anything by meeting up with that Susie lady. Just food and some conversation, nothing other than that. Okay, there'd been a little flirting, but she hadn't meant for that to happen and nothing had come of it. Except it turned out she was some kind of mole and working with that other one, Jerry something, everything had come undone. Even worse, they seemed to have it out for her boss now, accusing him of being involved in what happened to the kids. It was ridiculous! At least they hadn't damaged the Monitor.
A shiver ran up her spine at the thought of it, nestled in its box only a few rooms from where she was. Why exactly it had been designed in the way it was, she had no idea. The robots were fine. They didn't have personality quirks or a tendency to play her own voice back at her. Brilliant technology yes, but did it have to be so creepy?
An alert sounded from her monitor station. She rolled her eyes and returned to her seat, taking a sip to prepare herself for whatever random thing had set it off. Motion sensor on one of the bots in the upper offices. Probably a file or something.
But when she played back the footage from a few seconds ago, she noticed something. It was very quick, but it was definitely there. The blurred outline of a person.
"Phil, are you picking anything up on the cameras?" He didn't reply. "Phil? Phil, come in, are you there?"
Still nothing. She hit the radio's base, tried again. Only static came through. Either his radio had broken or something had happened…
Panic rising, she took out her phone. No signal. Of course there was no signal and if there was an intruder in the factory, she couldn't risk going out there to get a better one.
But it was fine, she told herself. Even without Phil, she still had the security bots. They were all over the building and she could see what they saw down here. Whoever this intruder was, they would stop them. If they wouldn't, she'd just take direct control and do it herself.
Doing her best to stay calm, she returned back to the bot monitor she'd seen the movement on. She played back to the time she'd missed, watching it intently. The bot was moving in the direction the blur had been going. No sign of it so far. But these bots were designed to withstand punishment. There was no way a human could hope to damage them.
Unless the intruder wasn't human.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, there was another alert. This time from a bot near the building's rear on the west side. The audio sensors had picked up something. A consistent sound with regular beats. She played the audio through the monitor.
"Hello? Hello, is there anybody there? I think I'm lost. Could someone help me?"
Lidiya frowned. A woman. It wasn't a voice she recognised. But how had she gotten in? Unfortunately, there was no way for her to speak through the bot. But if it found the voice's source, maybe she could take control and escort the person out. It was already zeroing in on the location in the corner of the room.
She looked intently. She couldn't make out any kind of shape of a person, not even with the bot's eyes designed to see in the dark. But there was something there, tucked all the way in. It was stooping down to pick it up.
The bot held the source of the noise up to its face. It was a cupcake. Large, with pink icing and… eyeballs? The voice was coming from it. A decoy.
She took brief control, commanding the bot to destroy the cupcake. It crushed it into sparking electronic parts and shards of plastic. Was this the same intruder or was there more than one? Regardless, she sent out a yellow alert to the bots. They'd step up their patrols and had orders to detain any unauthorised personnel on sight.
The trigger sounded again on a motion detector. Another of the bots on the upper gallery. There were three on patrol, this one closer to the stairs down to the factory floor. But then another sounded in the vicinity. This one in the offices on the same floor. It was making its way across the walkways on the gallery, above a sheer drop down to the factory floor.
She watched the gallery bot monitors intently, referring back her tablet on occasion to verify their current positions. The one on the walkway was now in the office, scanning the area. So was the one nearer the stairs. Where were they hiding…?
Realisation struck. None of the bots were guarding the walkways and the stairs were exposed. She hurriedly sent a command to the nearest one to break off the search and return to its post. But when it got back, she saw the gate to the stairs was swinging. Like somebody had just quickly opened it and gone down.
Before she could do anything, one of the monitor images suddenly shuddered, flashing red. One of the bots patrolling the factory floor, just below the walkways. It was like something heavy had just dropped on top of it. The image suddenly yanked upward and flashed to black. The signal vanished from her tablet. She commanded another nearby bot to investigate. It came around the corner and Lidiya was struck dumb by the sight.
The shoulders had buckled completely. The head was no longer attached, like it had been completely torn off. There was no sign of whoever had done this. Or rather, whatever had done this.
Those synths. It had to be them. This was exactly what she was afraid of. This wasn't something she could handle. She slammed a hand on the button that would place the bots onto red alert and sound it through the whole factory.
But the alert wasn't working. She pressed the button several times, but no alarms were raised. The bots were still in their yellow alert status. They wouldn't be able to converge or respond quickly enough! She needed the Monitor to take control, like it'd been designed to do. She tried contacting it through the tablet, but there was no response. Why was nothing working?!
Another audio alert sounded. It was for the bot guarding the entrance to the maintenance door. The door that led down to the testing area. Right where she was. It was already responding to the source of the noise before she could take control, making its way towards it. It wasn't speech this time though. The sound that came through the speakers…
Lidiya frowned. Was that… music? Some kind of circus jingle. It sounded familiar. Something was flashing on the ground, near where the robot stood. She had commanded it to freeze in place. It was obviously another decoy, like the cupcake.
The image became clearer. She could make out what looked like the shape of a cartoon bear's head. The eyes and mouth were lighting up in time with the music. It didn't seem to do anything else, just sit there playing its tune.
The image suddenly buckled violently, like something had struck the bot on the side of the head. A second later and the feed went dark. She tried to re-establish a connection. Nothing. It wasn't there anymore.
She could feel her hands shaking. She knew those intruders were coming down here. There was no way she could try and leave the room now. There were five other bots on patrol down here, but how much could they be relied upon?
She focused on those five monitor screens. No, four. The one closest to the stairs had just been taken out. The bot only had time to capture the image of a booted foot flying towards its face before going dark. Was that their footsteps that she could hear, running around somewhere?
Her eyes darted from monitor to monitor. Maybe there was a chance she could slip out if she could just find out where they were. Spot them and sneak away before they noticed her. It was a long shot, but it was better than waiting here for them to reach her. Scrambling for her tool bag, she took out a lug wrench and tested its weight on her hand. Better than nothing.
She turned just as the door suddenly opened behind her. In it, four figures were silhouetted. She recognised the one that stepped into the light. The one she'd come across at the bowling alley, with a regretful look on his face.
"I'm terribly sorry about this, Miss Holland. We mean you no harm, but we just need you out of the way for a moment."
Two others approached, the one with red hair and the other with purple. He had a length of rope. She had duct tape. Lidiya managed a scream before she was cut off.
Freddy did feel bad about frightening the poor woman. Even if there was a chance she had been involved in the same nefarious deeds her paymaster was, the terror on her face at the sight of him and his fellows still invoked a kind of guilt. Even more so watching Foxy and Bonnie tie her up and muffle her with the tape.
Chica seemed to be of a similar mind, patting her sympathetically on the shoulder when the other two were done.
"We really are sorry about this," she said. "A-And for breaking those bots as well."
"Speak for yourself," said Bonnie. "It felt good to smash something of Hawthorne's and remember, this is the lady who was trying to get us under the Puppet's control." She leered over her. "Yeah, doesn't feel great being helpless, does it?"
"That's enough now, Bonnie," said Freddy. "Remember, we're not here for her."
"Oi, look at this." Foxy was examining a series of monitor screens. "Looks like these are all connected ta the bots. Reminds me-a the old setup in the security office."
"Let me see." Chica took the tablet from him and used the screens for reference. "If I'm reading this right, there's four other bots on patrol in this area. I wonder if… oh!" She tapped one of the dots on the screen and some commands flashed up. "It looks like you can take direct control of the robots from here, one at a time. I'll see if I can put them out of the way of our current path."
Freddy looked over her shoulder at the floor plan while she worked. Just like Goldie had shown them, there were six testing rooms arranged in a square grid, connected by corridors. They were at the very back, nearest to the staircase they'd just come down. One room in the centre was their destination. Chica was directing the four remaining bots to the top right testing room, nice and out of the way.
"Excellent work. Bring that with us, it'll be helpful to make our escape."
"Wha' about this?" asked Foxy, gesturing to the monitors. "Reckon there won't be much use fer it when we leave, other than ta give this one eyes and ears.
He indicated their captive. Lidiya's muffled yells sounded through the tape over her mouth, wriggling more fiercely against her bonds. That told Freddy all he needed to know.
"Then by all means, Foxy, kindly do away with it."
With a grin, Foxy raised both his hands into a combined fist and brought it smashing down on the desk. A few pummels later and it was little more than a sparking, broken mess.
"Aw come on! You didn't let me get in on it!" complained Bonnie.
"Aye and ye've taken down two-a these metal lubbers already. I'd say that makes us even," countered Foxy.
Leaving the broken monitor station and its attendant, still struggling against her bonds, they made their way through the testing area corridors. Now they knew where the bots were and that they wouldn't be in their way, they all strode together to their destination. They stationed themselves either side of the door. Freddy silently motioned to Foxy and Bonnie, the latter kicking in the door while the former rushed inside. Bonnie hurried in after him, taking positions around the room. Freddy and Chica did the same, ensuring they had what was in the middle surrounded.
There it was. It was the same kind of box from the Fun Palace. Blue with a purple ribbon, tied up in a bow. It seemed very out of place, in a room surrounded by a dozen different servers which the box was connected to with cables. It was even more bizarre when considering what lay within it.
Freddy looked around, making certain they were all ready. He could sense their nervous energy. He felt it too. But they were so close now. All they needed was this. Steeling himself, Freddy approached the box. He grasped the lid and tore it open.
Nothing. It was empty.
Before he could say anything, he sensed movement behind him. Just as he turned, something swept his legs out from under him and he hit the ground hard. Before he could recover, a weight pressed down on his back and locked his arm in place. He tried to pull it free, but a surge of pain shot through him as his assailant yanked. Any harder and it felt like his arm would be wrenched right from its socket.
He managed to turn his head to see a white, grinning mask fill his vision. Not the Puppet. It lacked the tear streaks and he could see one of the arms was much less thin.
The sounds of struggle and yelling met his ears. He could just make out that similar beings were attacking his friends. Bonnie was pinned to the wall, trying and failing to struggle against her captor. Chica had been caught in a headlock. Foxy was swiping, but his opponent seemed to move its limbs in unnatural ways before grabbing him from behind and body slamming him down. It all happened so quickly, Freddy barely had time to process it.
Then something drowned out the others. Laughter. A mingling, overlapping series of laughter, like it was being played from multiple sources. The lean figure of the Puppet descended from above, moving along the walls like a giant spider. His limbs contorted and twisted until he reached the ground in front of Freddy, still laughing.
"Just hold them," came a voice over the speakers. "We don't want them to experience any unnecessary damage."
Freddy jerked his head up at that. He knew that voice. He remembered it from hearing Phil's recording. It was harsh and had something of a croaking resonance to it that sent a chill down his spine.
A monitor above the door they had entered flashed on. Sat on the screen was a thin, pale man with a balding crown of dark hair and a pencil moustache. The eyes that regarded them were as cold and dispassionate as his voice.
"At long last," he murmured, an unpleasant smile growing on his face. "I finally have you."