What Comes After

When Mike opened his eyes, he could feel something soft and warm beneath him. He was grateful for that. His head felt… really funny. Had something happened? He wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it didn't matter right now, though. Right now, he was comfortable. He'd rest a few more minutes, then get in touch with someone. Perhaps Goldie would…

At the thought of her, it all came back to him. The battle in the town. Fighting Spring, then Hawthorne. He'd been with Jeremy and Hawthorne, he'd taken an axe and he had-

Mike shot up in his bed, feeling a jolt in his side. His hand went to touch where the axe had struck. But there was no injury. He pulled up his shirt. Nothing, not even a trace of any scarring or stitching or anything to indicate he'd even been hurt. But he remembered it. The impact, the pain, how hard it had been to think or even breathe…

He looked up, taking in his surroundings. He expected to be in a hospital with everyone clamoured around him. But this was his own bed, in his own room of his own apartment. There didn't seem to be any sign of anyone else. What had happened?

Mike frowned. Something didn't feel right. For one thing, he was feeling great. A little groggy perhaps, but other than he felt fine. No aches, not even any bruising. It was like the fight had all just been some horrible dream that he'd woken from. But it had happened, he was sure of that.

"Ah and so he wakes," came a familiar voice through his bedside clock. "Look at this man, thinking he just lie back and take it easy. Shameful, honestly."

"G-Goldie?" He turned to face the radio. "What happened? Where is everyone? Th-The battle, did we-?"

"Calm down, Mike. One thing at a time. Why don't you come into the living room and we'll talk there?"

He quickly got out of bed, then stopped before his hand touched the door handle. That feeling, that sense he had that not everything was as it should be, came back. He looked around the room again. This was his apartment, no question of that. But there was still… something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Determined to get some answers, he left the room. There was Goldie on his TV, her expression neutral. He hurriedly sat down on the couch to look at her.

"There we are. This does feel strange, doesn't it? Back to this, after all that's happened," she remarked.

"Yeah, it does. What did happen?"

"Straight to the point." She hesitated a moment. "Well, to answer your initial question: we won."

Mike had somewhat expected to hear that or else he probably wouldn't be talking to her. Even so, he still grinned.

"That's great!"

"Isn't it just?" She matched his smile. "To elaborate, Sid Hawthorne is dead. His mind has been completely erased from his body and in case that wasn't enough, his head has also been removed from said body. You can thank Jeremy for that. Tenacious to achieve immortal life as he was, I'm certain even he'll have trouble coming back from that."

Mike laughed a little. "Is Jeremy okay? Is everyone else? Chica, is she-?"

"They're all fine, Mike. A little bruised and battered, may need some therapy in a couple of cases but alive and well. They're currently helping to clear up after the attack. Assisting rescue services, gathering up bots to scrap, that sort of thing. With everything you've been through, I felt you'd earned some rest from all that."

He nodded in agreement. He went quiet. He knew what he wanted to ask next, but felt uncertain of how to do so. Goldie didn't press him. She just waited patiently.

"Goldie, I…" He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I-I… I was injured. Badly."

"Yes, you were," she replied after a long silence.

"It was Hawthorne. I remember. There was… h-he had an axe and I…" He shuddered at the memory. "But I don't feel anything. Not just that, but I-I took a beating. You were there. From Spring and Hawthorne, they… but I don't feel anything. How… how long have I been out?"

"Well," she said, "that's the big question, isn't it? Technically, you haven't been out for very long. Everybody's still dealing with the immediate aftermath."

"But what happened?" he asked. "How can that be possible? What are you not telling me?"

Goldie pursed her lips. Her silence did nothing to ease Mike's growing anxiety over the situation.

"I think," she said slowly, "it's best if I show you."

There was a knock at the door. He looked around in surprise, then back at Goldie. She nodded. Feeling a sense of apprehension, Mike rose to his feet and cautiously approached the door. Once again, before his hand touched the handle, he hesitated. He opened the door.

Stood there, towering over him by at least a foot was…

"Hello, Mike," said Goldie.

Mike stared. He looked back over his shoulder. She was gone from the screen. She was actually here, standing right in front of him.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

He didn't manage to speak. He jerked a nod and stood aside. She had to duck under the frame, hanging her hat and cane on a coat hook that hadn't been there when he passed.

"I… I don't…" His voice was little more than a croak. "How… how are you…?"

"Here? Well, again that's difficult to explain. Do you mind if I sit?" She did so after another jerky nod. "Thank you. Join me, please."

Like he was operating on automatic, Mike went back to the couch. He didn't sit. He stood and stared, his mind racing through the possibilities. She still had that patient expression, like she was waiting for him to work it out.

"You…" He gulped. "You don't have a body."

"No, I don't."

"Y-You… you only exist d-digitally. As an AI."

"Yes, I do."

"B-But I'm here. With you. Y-You're here, with me."

"You are and I am."

"D-Does… does that mean that…" Mike took another shuddering breath. "A-Am I an… an… a-an AI too?"

A beat.

"Yes, you are."

Mike felt his legs give out from under him. But they weren't really his legs. These weren't really his hands that Goldie was taking, leading him gently over to the couch. This wasn't even his couch or his apartment, none of this was-!

"Mike, Mike, look at me. Look at me! Breathe. Slowly. Focus on my voice." She squeezed his hand with one of her own. The other was wrapped around his shoulder. Or not his shoulder. "It's okay, it's alright. You're fine."

"How am I fine?!" he shrieked. "I-I'm an AI, how is that fine?! None of this is real, not even my body, it's just…!" Another realisation occurred. "What happened to my body?"

"Mike, please just-"

"Where is my body, Goldie?! Why am I not in my body, tell me!"

"I'll tell you, I promise. Just take a moment, please. This is a lot to process, I understand but I don't want you to be overwhelmed. Just take a moment and breathe, okay? Breathe."

His mind was still whirling with questions and realisations, but he did as she asked. He spent a minute or so breathing in deeply. But if he was an AI now, did he even need to breathe? By the end of it, he was far from completely calm but he was ready to hear the rest of what she had to say.

"Alright then," Goldie said. "So, in regards to your body… well, you remember what happened. The injury that Hawthorne dealt to you, there… there was nothing we could do. We wouldn't have been able to get aid to you in time and trying to move you would have made it worse. I'm afraid that, in a purely biological sense, your human body is… is dead. I'm sorry, Mike. I truly am."

"Jesus…" He pressed his head into his hands or what he thought felt like his hands. And his head. "Can't… you can't j-just put me back?"

Goldie shook her head. "Mike, you being here now is something I'm still comprehending and you know what methods Hawthorne went to transfer his own mind to a synthetic form. I don't even want to think about trying it the other way."

"But you did it though! I mean, look at me!" He gestured down to himself. "You used the fragments or something, y-you can just use them again!"

"That's the thing though, Mike. I didn't do anything. None of us did." She gestured to his TV. "Watch."

It flickered on. He recognised the scene. The interior of the truck they'd left Goldie and Charlie in. The latter was rising to his oddly pointed feet. But when he was addressed… the voice that replied definitely wasn't his. He watched as Charlie, or whatever was using his body, did what it had done. Mike almost looked away when he saw his own face, so pale and pained. Dying. He watched as the AI core that had once been Spring's was given a new mind. His mind. The TV turned off as the memory ended.

"Okay. Okay um," Mike said. "That was… that was something."

"You can say that again," murmured Goldie.

Silence fell between them again. Many questions fought to be asked first in Mike's head. One of them won out.

"Spring, he… he isn't still in here, is he?"

"No. The Purge virus wiped him out completely." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Thank you for trying to get through to him, Mike. For a moment, I thought he might…"

Mike tried to place an arm around her. When it failed to reach across to her shoulder, he just settled for putting his hand on the shoulder closest to him.

"I'm sorry, Goldie. I know that, even after everything, he was still your friend. I'm sorry…"

"It's alright." She sniffed and rested her hand atop his. "Look at you. Wrapping your head around a new existence and still making sure I'm okay."

"Yeah, well…" He felt his face grow warm and he smiled, despite himself. "So the fragments. Did they… I mean, were they ones who…?"

"Normally, I would have said yes. But when they were in that state, I tried to get a reading from them but… there was nothing. The Puppet's core registered as empty. And yet… there was something. It didn't feel like the fragments did. It was more like they were… were…" She pressed her fingers to her head. "I'm not even sure how to describe it. But whatever happened, it's the reason why you're here with me now, Mike."

"What do you think it was?"

"I think…" She considered his question. "I think that the world is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles."

Mike blinked. "You stole that from a show."

"Quoted, but regardless it still applies. You and I, Mike Schmidt, have been beholden to a miracle. You should be dead and yet here you are. Oh and since you mentioned that show, there's something else I'd like to say. I just wanted to say…" She held out her hand. "Hello. Hello, Mike Schmidt. It's very, very nice to meet you."

Mike felt his eyes start to well up. Here he was, caught up in everything going on, he'd overlooked this one thing. The person, this amazing person, who had been through so much with him, who had lived in the very existence he was just beginning to comprehend, she was here. She wasn't some voice coming out an animatronic head or a picture on a screen. She was here!

He clasped her hand, large enough to encompass his own. Her face split into a grin. So did his. They embraced each other, his hands only just being able to wrap around and touch the tips of his fingers.

"This is weird. I-I'm used to being able to just hold you in my hands o-or seeing you as an image on a screen. I never realised how…" He searched for the right word. "Well, how big you'd be."

"I know, I'm a whole lot of woman," she said proudly. "Looks like I'm going to have to start carrying around you for a change."

"I-I'm not sure Chica would let you," he chuckled. He let go of her, moving his fingers around. "I-I don't understand how this is working. I mean, I'm not in my body anymore. None of this is real but it still feels like it."

She tapped his forehead. "It is because your mind thinks it is. Without trying to dive too deep into the Matrix, I've basically limited what you can do as an AI. I created an environment I knew would be familiar to you so for all intents and purposes, you still feel human. You're physically grounded in the rules of this digital mindscape. Didn't want you accidentally firing off your signals into some poor soul's phone or the like."

"Thanks," he replied. He cast his eyes around his apartment again. Or rather, the space that looked like his apartment. "Am… am I stuck like this? I-I mean, not that I'm not happy to be alive and I don't mean to-"

"It's alright," she said gently. "For the moment, yes, this will have to be something you'll need to get used to. But you'll learn that time passes very differently for beings like us. I know it's a lot to take in, but I'll be here to help you through it. You never abandoned me, Mike. I'm certainly not going to leave you in the lurch. I promise."

"Okay. Thank you." He hugged her again. "But it's over, isn't it? It's finally over."

"Yes, it is," she replied. "All that's left now is to deal with what comes next. Luckily, we're not alone with that either. And I think those people will be coming to check on you, very soon."

The thought of that brought another smile to Mike's face.

The house that had once belonged to Fred Fitzbar once stood alone atop its hill. Surrounded by the glades of trees, it acted as the soul, it had been quiet for a very long time. Once again though, it served as a gathering place for a group of remarkable people. For a brief time, it served its purpose again as a home. As a refuge.

Today, however, it was the sight of something different. After all that had happened, one might expect these people to be in a time of celebration. Their age old enemy had been defeated. His plans had been unravelled. After so many years spent in hiding, they could finally emerge and live without fear of him descending upon them.

But there was no celebration. No revels or cheering. Not yet, anyway. First, they had to attend to something important.

The worst of the crisis had past. Emergency services had descended on the town to assess the damages. The synths had managed to slip away before that had happened, all of them making their own way back to the old house. Freddy, Foxy, Vevina and Chica had come ahead of them with the truck full of what they'd gathered in the back. They had answered all they could for now and Freddy had assured the local authorities they would be back later. Given their role in what they'd done, they were covering for them. It would give them some peace to do what would come next.

They had all gathered deep within the glade that surrounded the house. Two groups of synthetics, one created by Fred Fitzbar and the other by Sid Hawthorne, stood together around a deeply dug patch of earth. A number of humans stood with them too. Jeremy Fitzgerald, patched up and recovering. Lidiya Holland, her head bowed. Aaron Johnson, looking sombre. The only person not present was Mike Schmidt. Goldie, her image conveyed on a tablet, had informed them that he was well and was present with them, but that they could speak with him later. They had settled with this for now.

"My friends," Goldie began, "we are free. This is a day we have waited for a very long time to see. I'm pleased to say that the majority of us are here, to bear witness to this occasion. But not everybody." She was quiet for a moment, then continued. "By his own admission, Philip O'Neil didn't consider himself to be anything extraordinary. This was precisely what made him so. Despite great personal risk to himself, he was willing to delve deep into dangerous territory in a bid to keep us all safe. Even at the point he could have walked away, he chose to step into the breach with us. Sadly, he didn't step back out. Dead, at the hands of a being he helped create.

"You all knew Spring Bonnie as an unhinged, dangerous entity. We all knew the Puppet as a manipulative, deceitful thing. I do not wish to undermine or devalue the damage they have both caused. Scars that run so deep they may never heal. Lives taken cruelly from us. But at the end, the two of them shared one thing in common: they both showed a willingness to change themselves. Again, this does not mean we need to forgive or forget the things they've done. But they showed that they wanted to have a second chance to change for the better. A chance they will never get to have. A chance that, like five innocent souls before them, was taken from them."

She paused as some of the others approached. Freddy was on one side, carrying a body wrapped in cloth to the extent they couldn't be seen. Aaron stood with him, holding the mask from Spring Bonnie's old suit. The Hawthorne synthetics and Jeremy stood on the other, carrying the masks worn by the synthetics that had been the Nightmares. Jeremy held the Puppet's.

"It is here that we lay them to rest and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away. As the agony of every tragedy should. Philip O'Neil. Charlie. Spring Bonnie. Robert Fitzgerald. Max Boyle. William Davies. Martha Foreman. Katie O'Malley. We could not save you when you need us to and for that, I am sorry. For these souls, I believe there is peace and more waiting for them at the end of this. For them, it's time to rest. But for us, we carry on. We live for them. We never forget them and we always remember how, at the very end, it was them that saved us all."

Freddy stepped up and gently lowered the body into the grave. One by one, the masks were placed in its arms, which had been folded over in front of it. It looked like it was cradling them. Spring Bonnie's mask was placed at the feet, the eyelids having been closed. They all threw a handful of earth into the grave before Freddy and Foxy took up shovels to cover it completely.

The funeral party stayed until it was complete. They all gathered in the living room where drinks were poured. They raised a toast to the fallen and drank. Even Goldie had her own, depicted on the TV screen nearby.

"Poor Phil," murmured Aaron. "I always thought he'd be seeing this through to the end."

"He was the first to greet me when I came to work for Hawthorne," said Lidiya. "He really made me feel welcome. I'm just… sorry I didn't know him better."

"We all are," said Jeremy. "He didn't deserve to die the way he did. I get that maybe Spring regretted it in the end, but it would have been nice if he'd done it sooner."

Goldie nodded morosely. "I agree. We can't change what happened, but we can do right by them."

"There's something I don't understand though," said Lidiya. "The way he died, well, how do we have a body to bury? And you said Mike was here and that he's resting, but we still haven't seen him."

"Both of those questions have the same answer, in a way. You see, Mike is here. He's with me. He's just been quiet. He's had to process a… very big life change. But both he and I wanted to wait until after the ceremony, so we could give you some good news."

"What do you mean he's with you?" asked Aaron. "He's looking after your core or such?"

"In a manner of speaking. Lift off the cloth on the centre table there."

Lidiya did so. Beneath it were three AI cores. One was devoid of any activity. One was shining with golden light. The final one was a deep blue.

"Hold on…" Lidiya stared at Goldie. "You don't really mean that…?"

Goldie only smiled and stepped aside. Standing behind her was Mike Schmidt, looking a little embarrassed about being the centre of attention but still smiling.

"Hey everyone," he greeted. "You miss me much?"

There were various cries of his name. Everyone clamoured as close as possible to the TV, their exclamations and questions overlapping each other until Freddy called for quiet.

"Now, now, everyone," he said. "I'm sure we're all pleased to see Mike well, but let's not make him feel overwhelmed."

"I'm sorry, we're just… I'm just…" Chica's eyes were watering, but her smile was no less diminished. "Oh Mike, you're okay! I… I thought that…"

"You're not the only one. But yeah, I'm okay. Well, sort of." He looked down at his body and over at what was now his AI core. "This is uh, taken some getting used to."

"I'll say!" Lidiya's eyes roamed over the core. "You're telling me you actually managed to pull off a successful human-AI direct transfer? I mean, the methods Hawthorne used were horrible but still amazing that he did it and the fact it's happened again is just… oh you have to tell me how it happened!"

"Yes, I'd quite like to know as well," added Aaron. "I'm picking up everything after the fact. Am I to assume the body we just buried actually belonged to Mike?"

"You are correct," said Freddy. "It's a necessary part of what happened."

"Aye, good thing they didn't notice us leavin' with it and everythin' else in the truck," said Foxy. "With everythin' goin' on, it just made it easier fer us ta slip out with it 'fore the law showed up."

"What about Hawthorne's?" asked Jeremy.

Vevina answered with a grin. "His human one? Still in the factory. His synth one? Well, the first fire made a pretty decent start. Foxy and I made sure another one finished it. Nice Viking burial before you all got here."

"I was wondering about smell outside," said Theodore.

"We will explain what happened, or rather Goldie will," continued Freddy. "But the burial of Mike's body and her explanation come with an understandin' of what we are to do with that information. Sister?"

"Thank you, brother." Goldie stood next to Mike on the screen. "Listen to me very closely, all of you. As far as everyone else is concerned, Mike Schmidt is alive and well. He was injured during the fighting, but is recovering here and isn't to be disturbed. If anyone wants to speak with him after a few days, they can do so by video feed from his room but he is to be left alone to relax and recover. We've salvaged the synthetics from the Nightmare springlock suits before the authorities descended on the town. We're going to use one of them to transfer Mike's consciousness into a synthetic form, modelled after his body. Lidiya, can we ask for your assistance in that?"

She nodded. "Of course. Those synths are literally blank slates, that shouldn't be too difficult since we have the equipment we need here. But why? I mean, I know why, Mike will want his body back. But why all the rest?"

"Because if we don't do this, then we have to tell them the truth: a dead man was brought back to life. As far as Hawthorne is concerned, we can explain away that he was mad and he was a victim of his own hubris. With his human body still at the factory, they'll be able to confirm that and with his equipment used to transfer his mind destroyed, they won't know any better. But if somebody found out that Mike is a living example of what Hawthorne tried to do, he will never be left alone. They'll take him and they'll do whatever they feel they need to do to discover the secret. Even if it doesn't ultimately work. For his sake and possibly even our own, the truth does not leave this house and stays with us. Are we agreed?"

Everyone glanced around at each other, waiting for somebody to ask something or make an objection. Billy did.

"What about his parents?" he asked. "Shouldn't they know?"

"I've already spoken to them," said Mike. "Goldie helped me with it. They found out about what happened and they're on their way. They won't get here until tomorrow at the earliest, but I'll handle it when they do. You're right, Billy. They deserve to know, especially my mom."

"Yeah, she's never been our biggest fan," agreed Bonnie. "She's been better, but I don't imagine she's going to take this well."

"You let me worry about that," said Mike. "Besides, at least I'm not dead."

"And more'n that! Yer one of us now! Ye could join us, be part-a the show! Ye could really become me first mate!"

Mike looked embarrassed. "Uh, one step at a time, Foxy. Besides, I was never really one for the spotlight."

"Actually, Foxy does bring up a point. What do we do now?" asked Chica. "I mean, we can perform the way we were always meant to, but we don't have anywhere to do it. Our old place is still closed and the Fun Palace has burned down. Where do we go?"

Aaron chuckled. "Do you really think your father would want you all without a place to stay? I'd say this house is as good as yours."

"That's nice and all, but there's nine of us now and this place isn't exactly big. Plus, we can't exactly turn it into a restaurant," said Bonnie. "Unless you really think people are gonna want to eat in some kind of underground bunker."

"In a way, that brings us to another thing. You may have noticed the third AI core. This was formerly Charlie's aka the Puppet. Empty after the Purge virus did its work. Or so I thought. See, I had it removed just in case and it turns out we've been left a few things. One of those was a very comprehensive file."

"Containing what?" asked Aaron.

"Enough evidence of Hawthorne's crimes that were he still present with us, he'd be looking at the inside of iron bars for whatever remained of his miserable life. Meaning that, by the terms of that contract you signed with him, Aaron, everything of his now falls into your ownership. I can help you work out the legality of it all later, along with another individual I know who has a very good eye for this sort of thing."

"Yes, rather!" said Theodore proudly. "I shall be happy to help peruse any documents you have and verify whatever claims we need to make."

Aaron chuckled. "Sounds grand. And I do still have the original stipend he gave when I first signed our agreement, so we do have money. I've done some digging and found out that Mr Hawthorne liquidated all of the holdings of Fritz Smith after he was sent to prison and some lengthy legal proceedings, claiming their revenue for himself. Coupled with the money he made selling bog standard robotics equipment and there should be more than enough to keep us in the black for a while, at least until we can get new cash flows started again. We just need somewhere big enough to house you all."

"Ooh, ooh!" Billy hopped up and down. "What if we rebuilt the Fun Palace and bought the old place back. Then the Fun Palace could be a restaurant where we can put on our shows while the old place gets turned into an actual home for us. We could all live together, like a big family!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Hermana trilled. "And we can all perform together, puttin' on a great big show!"

"Yeah, well…" Clyde shifted awkwardly. "Look, that's something I've been thinking about. I don't know about anybody else but uh… yeah, I don't think I'm cut out for show business. Least, not performing."

"Huh?" Billy looked crushed. "B-But… we're meant to perform together."

"Billy…" He sighed. "Look, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. But let's face it, the only reason we were made to perform was for Hawthorne and Smith to get back at these guys." He jerked his thumb to the originals. "And I don't need to remind you about the stuff the Puppet put us through to have us put on a good show. I'm just saying that, me personally? I think I'm retiring from the stage."

"Yes, I rather agree," said Theodore. "I was far from the most engaging of performers. I'd rather find another way to be of service to the restaurant."

"Aye." Vevina was staring at the floor. "I'm… I'm not sure I want to be around kids again. Not for performing, not after…"

"After the Mangle," murmured Billy. He still looked sad, but he nodded. "I understand. But we're okay if we still want to, right?"

"Hey, if you want to, go right ahead," said Clyde. "We're not stopping you."

"Yay, then we're good!" Hermana looked at Chica. "You guys got room for two more in the show?"

"Of course we do." Chica pulled them both in for a hug. "Like we would ever turn you away."

"Well, so long as we're talking about taking a step back," said Aaron, clearing his throat. "As of now, I would like to announce my retirement as the manager of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It's not a reflection on any of you, but I think I've earned myself something of a rest and some time with my family."

"Of course, my friend." Freddy shook his hand. "We wish you all the best and only ask that you keep in touch."

"Yeah, just hope the next guy is up to snuff," said Bonnie.

"Actually, I had someone in mind for that." He looked at Hawthorne's synthetics. "How would you describe your chum, Theodore?"

"Chum's pushing it," said Clyde. "And as for himself, think how obsessed with detail a person could be and multiply it by ten. I mean, he sounded excited about reading a contract, what does that tell you? But hey, I guess that means he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah and he used to be really grumpy," added Hermana. "Always bossin' everyone around and stuff. But he's gotten better now. Like a few days ago, he actually made a joke. A joke! Can ya believe it?"

"And it was funny!" chimed in Billy. "He's still grumpy, but he's a lot nicer and really organised. He's good at spotting little details too, like a detective."

Theodore seemed caught between perplexed and pleased at hearing these opinions. But everyone was waiting to hear the opinion of the last person. Vevina's expression was neutral. Her single eye seemed to pierce right through Theodore. He gulped under her gaze but didn't shy away.

"If you'd asked me that a few months ago, I'd have called him a cowardly wretch, more eager to save his own skin than anybody else. But…" Vevina considered a moment. "I'd call him a man who tried to make the best of a bad decision that he was forced to make. Still got a stick up his arse, mind but… maybe not as much these days."

"Then I believe that settles it." Aaron walked over to him and held out a hand. "Theodore, I'd like you to take over management of Freddy Fazbear's. It's high time you were allowed to manage your own affairs."

Theodore stared at the hand. "You… really want me in charge? A-And this would be acceptable to you all?"

"I see no reason why not. Of course, Goldie and I shall be happy to lend our assistance as well," said Freddy. "But I do believe you to be very capable for the job, my friend."

"Then in that case, I shall happily accept this responsibility!" Theodore clasped Aaron's hand and shook it. "Never you fear, sir, I shall keep things shipshape and Bristol fashion!"

"Why do I get the feeling we're going to regret this?" muttered Clyde under his breath.

"Oi, you vouched for him too," replied Vevina. "Whatever happens is as much on you as it is him."

"You did too!"

"Aye, but I know how to scare the bejesus out of him if he tries anything." She tapped her nose. "We'll keep him in line."

"Hey Vev." Lidiya had come over to talk. "I was just thinking, you're the one who put together that Mangle harness, right? You ever thought about training as a mechanical engineer?"

Vevina frowned thoughtfully. "Not until you mentioned it. You reckon I'd be good at it?"

"If you can make something like that, I'd definitely say so! I'd be happy to start showing you some stuff I know and it'd be good to have someone with you guys who knows about synthetic upkeep. When I'm working on Mike's new body, I can get you started then."

"And hey, Clyde," said Jeremy. "If you're looking for a job that might have some action, but also involves a lot of kicking back, I can't think of anything better than a security guard."

"Hmm. I guess I do look good in blue," he shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Yay!" Billy cheered, hugging them both. "This is great! Everybody's going to be together!"

"Oh, that's not all." They all turned back to Goldie and Mike. "You see, I saved the best for last. It wasn't just the file I found in the Puppet's core. Look."

She snapped her fingers. The moment she did, the interior of the core glimmered. Six tiny lights appeared in it. They weren't as large, nor did they glow with the same vibrancy as Mike and Goldie. Five of them seemed to orbit around a slightly larger one.

"That's not what I think it is," Aaron whispered in amazement.

"It is, it is, it is!" Lidiya was immediately on them, holding it up. "Six new AI foundations! I can't believe it! Wait…" Her eyes widened. "These aren't-?"

"No," said Goldie at once. "The fragments are gone, no trace of them. These are completely new. The larger one has already started to come along, but the other five will still need some nurturing as they grow. We can convert the facilities downstairs to house them and they'll need their own cores too, but once they do start to form, they'll need some guidance and teaching."

"Oh my goodness…" Chica looked like all of her Christmases had come at once as she knelt down to look at them. "This… this is wonderful. Hello! Hello, little ones!"

She gasped when they flashed in response and let out a fit of delighted giggles.

"Six new lives," murmured Freddy. "I wonder who they will become?"

"I have no idea." Goldie smiled proudly. "Isn't that fantastic?"

Guest: In time, yes.

Fate-Be Changed: To say the least XD

I am the Voice: Yes they did :)

Arc of Carona: This whole chapter was sort of meant to be good vibes all around after the devastation of before. Glad it came across that way.

Yellowscar1: Not everybody makes it out, sadly. And no, there's this one and one more after.