p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"A machine shouldn't have been able to feel fear./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But Puppet was different. Beyond the limits of their programming, they could think, intuit, feel things they shouldn't have been able to./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Slowly, their emotions had developed, from vague tuggings at their code to things they could put names to. Joy at watching the children play. Pride in their role as a protector. A kind of familial bond towards the twins and Mr Emily./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Now, as they struggled out of their box, they felt something they couldn't name. The irrational yet overwhelming sense that, after tonight, nothing would be the same./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"They didn't have instructions for this. They weren't supposed to leave the diner, and weather like this was bad news. Their waterproofing was only good enough for soda spills – a raging storm would almost certainly short-circuit them./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But Charlie was stuck out there, and Mr Emily wasn't here right now. They probably just needed to open the door, anyway. Even if they needed to leave, she couldn't have gone far. It would only take a second./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Or so they thought, logically. But as they walked over and unlocked the diner's doors, they couldn't shake the feeling that this was important. Turning the key, they felt a sense of gravity that, in their admittedly very limited experience, was reserved for turning points. Being activated for the first time. Meeting the twins. Their first shift in the diner and the first present they gave./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Puppet pushed open the doors, and nearly fell over in the gale. The storm beat violently on the town, torrential rain drowning the streets and powerful winds whipping it into windows with force that almost seemed enough to crack the glass. Lightning flashed intermittently and without warning, followed immediately by the inexorable rumble of thunder./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"The water soaking through their cloth covering and into their endoskeleton was a new and unpleasant sensation. Puppet couldn't feel things in the same way people could – at least, they assumed not – but this was probably what they meant by "numb with cold"./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Puppet swiped at their eyeholes, wiping drops of moisture from their cameras, but there was no sign of her. Their fear began to solidify; if she had run off crying, she could be anywhere, stuck in the merciless rain, cold and alone./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Under the roar of the storm, Puppet caught something. A snatch of conversation, coming from around the corner./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"em"Un- W- -iam?"/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"em"Wh- doi- - -lie?"/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Charlie's voice, and another Puppet couldn't place. Something about it made them feel strange. Uncomfortable. It sounded like an adult, so she was probably okay./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They stepped out into the rain anyway./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"It didn't make sense, but they were growing too quickly to keep up with themself, and right now /spanemsomething was wrong/emspan style="font-style: normal;". Something was very wrong, and they knew that if they didn't go to her now, they would regret it forever./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The rain seeped remorselessly into their skeleton, soaking the joints and splashing across delicate mechanisms. It only took a few steps for Puppet to feel the first fusing wires, a tiny flare of something comparable to pain and an involuntary twitch of the right leg. Like a bag of popcorn in a microwave, things started to break, starting with a few small flashes and picking up speed./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Walking jerkily through the rain, Puppet felt it all, but didn't quite care enough to stop./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They pulled themself around the corner, and saw her in the alley. Charlie, soaked through and shivering, her normally wild brown hair flattened down and matted to her face. Standing next to her, leaning down to speak, was a tall man in a purple suit./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Puppet never really liked Mr Afton. A sharp contrast to Mr Emily's warm, friendly aura, he was always shady, suspicious of everything in the kind of way people are when they have something to hide themselves, and never seemed to make a genuine smile. He was clearly put on edge by Puppet, a mutual feeling. Others didn't seem to think so – in fact, from what they could understand, people seemed to think Mr Afton was the amicable one, as opposed to Mr Emily's reclusiveness./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"When Puppet saw him there, next to Charlie, something shot through them. In that moment, they lost all doubts over whether their emotions were real, because only a being with the irrational instincts of pure humanity would be able to feel the malevolence radiating from that alley./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They felt the knife before they saw it. He pulled it from his jacket, and it gleamed in the rain, and /spanemthis was it/emspan style="font-style: normal;", this was the vital moment, and two more wires fused, and suddenly Puppet was stumbling, and they couldn't do anything but watch as he raised it up, and up, and up -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"emNO/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Metal bones shrieked in protest. Electricity arced unbound across circuit boards. The lights in Puppet's mask overheated, threatening to burn out in their intensity./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They /spanemleapt/emspan style="font-style: normal;"./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The knife sank into their arm, and the padding under the cloth, put there so they wouldn't accidentally hurt small children with their hugs, gripped it tightly in place./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Puppet reached up and yanked it out, and let it clatter to the ground, in defiance of a lot of things, but mostly the sudden urge to turn it on him. They settled instead for a punch to the face, knocking him off balance with a yell, followed by a kick to the stomach that pushed him into the opposite wall and down to the ground./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"So far beyond protocol it was almost funny, Puppet lurched forward, grabbed him by the head, and, worryingly enough, relished the sound of skull against brick. He slumped unconscious to the ground, and things sped up again./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The rush of emotion drained away, leaving the thousand little fires in their limbs and their mind. They dropped to their knees, feeling important things snap and fizzle out./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;""P-Puppy?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Charlie's voice was soft and shaky. It didn't fit the energetic child at all. Puppet looked over at her. She was shuddering in terror, pinprick gaze fluttering between the half-disintegrated machine and the drops of blood on the wall, never touching the man on the ground./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"She backed away and slid down into a ball, curling around herself like she was trying to hide. With the last of their strength, Puppet dragged themself closer, and gently put an arm around her, tugging themself into a protective position, shielding her from the rain./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"There was a lot to do now. They had to get her out of the storm, to make sure she was okay. Then, to get someone to properly restrain Mr Afton and call the police. And to call in Mr Emily, so he could take care of his child. Both of his children,/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"But for now, they were going to rest./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"strongspan style="font-style: normal;"A/N Consider this payment for all the terrible things I'm going to do later. If William Afton can't die by my hand, this is the next best thing./span/strong/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But Puppet was different. Beyond the limits of their programming, they could think, intuit, feel things they shouldn't have been able to./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Slowly, their emotions had developed, from vague tuggings at their code to things they could put names to. Joy at watching the children play. Pride in their role as a protector. A kind of familial bond towards the twins and Mr Emily./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Now, as they struggled out of their box, they felt something they couldn't name. The irrational yet overwhelming sense that, after tonight, nothing would be the same./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"They didn't have instructions for this. They weren't supposed to leave the diner, and weather like this was bad news. Their waterproofing was only good enough for soda spills – a raging storm would almost certainly short-circuit them./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"But Charlie was stuck out there, and Mr Emily wasn't here right now. They probably just needed to open the door, anyway. Even if they needed to leave, she couldn't have gone far. It would only take a second./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Or so they thought, logically. But as they walked over and unlocked the diner's doors, they couldn't shake the feeling that this was important. Turning the key, they felt a sense of gravity that, in their admittedly very limited experience, was reserved for turning points. Being activated for the first time. Meeting the twins. Their first shift in the diner and the first present they gave./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Puppet pushed open the doors, and nearly fell over in the gale. The storm beat violently on the town, torrential rain drowning the streets and powerful winds whipping it into windows with force that almost seemed enough to crack the glass. Lightning flashed intermittently and without warning, followed immediately by the inexorable rumble of thunder./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"The water soaking through their cloth covering and into their endoskeleton was a new and unpleasant sensation. Puppet couldn't feel things in the same way people could – at least, they assumed not – but this was probably what they meant by "numb with cold"./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Puppet swiped at their eyeholes, wiping drops of moisture from their cameras, but there was no sign of her. Their fear began to solidify; if she had run off crying, she could be anywhere, stuck in the merciless rain, cold and alone./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"Under the roar of the storm, Puppet caught something. A snatch of conversation, coming from around the corner./p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"em"Un- W- -iam?"/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"em"Wh- doi- - -lie?"/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Charlie's voice, and another Puppet couldn't place. Something about it made them feel strange. Uncomfortable. It sounded like an adult, so she was probably okay./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They stepped out into the rain anyway./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"It didn't make sense, but they were growing too quickly to keep up with themself, and right now /spanemsomething was wrong/emspan style="font-style: normal;". Something was very wrong, and they knew that if they didn't go to her now, they would regret it forever./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The rain seeped remorselessly into their skeleton, soaking the joints and splashing across delicate mechanisms. It only took a few steps for Puppet to feel the first fusing wires, a tiny flare of something comparable to pain and an involuntary twitch of the right leg. Like a bag of popcorn in a microwave, things started to break, starting with a few small flashes and picking up speed./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Walking jerkily through the rain, Puppet felt it all, but didn't quite care enough to stop./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They pulled themself around the corner, and saw her in the alley. Charlie, soaked through and shivering, her normally wild brown hair flattened down and matted to her face. Standing next to her, leaning down to speak, was a tall man in a purple suit./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Puppet never really liked Mr Afton. A sharp contrast to Mr Emily's warm, friendly aura, he was always shady, suspicious of everything in the kind of way people are when they have something to hide themselves, and never seemed to make a genuine smile. He was clearly put on edge by Puppet, a mutual feeling. Others didn't seem to think so – in fact, from what they could understand, people seemed to think Mr Afton was the amicable one, as opposed to Mr Emily's reclusiveness./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"When Puppet saw him there, next to Charlie, something shot through them. In that moment, they lost all doubts over whether their emotions were real, because only a being with the irrational instincts of pure humanity would be able to feel the malevolence radiating from that alley./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They felt the knife before they saw it. He pulled it from his jacket, and it gleamed in the rain, and /spanemthis was it/emspan style="font-style: normal;", this was the vital moment, and two more wires fused, and suddenly Puppet was stumbling, and they couldn't do anything but watch as he raised it up, and up, and up -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"emNO/em/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Metal bones shrieked in protest. Electricity arced unbound across circuit boards. The lights in Puppet's mask overheated, threatening to burn out in their intensity./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"They /spanemleapt/emspan style="font-style: normal;"./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The knife sank into their arm, and the padding under the cloth, put there so they wouldn't accidentally hurt small children with their hugs, gripped it tightly in place./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Puppet reached up and yanked it out, and let it clatter to the ground, in defiance of a lot of things, but mostly the sudden urge to turn it on him. They settled instead for a punch to the face, knocking him off balance with a yell, followed by a kick to the stomach that pushed him into the opposite wall and down to the ground./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"So far beyond protocol it was almost funny, Puppet lurched forward, grabbed him by the head, and, worryingly enough, relished the sound of skull against brick. He slumped unconscious to the ground, and things sped up again./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"The rush of emotion drained away, leaving the thousand little fires in their limbs and their mind. They dropped to their knees, feeling important things snap and fizzle out./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;""P-Puppy?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"Charlie's voice was soft and shaky. It didn't fit the energetic child at all. Puppet looked over at her. She was shuddering in terror, pinprick gaze fluttering between the half-disintegrated machine and the drops of blood on the wall, never touching the man on the ground./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"She backed away and slid down into a ball, curling around herself like she was trying to hide. With the last of their strength, Puppet dragged themself closer, and gently put an arm around her, tugging themself into a protective position, shielding her from the rain./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"There was a lot to do now. They had to get her out of the storm, to make sure she was okay. Then, to get someone to properly restrain Mr Afton and call the police. And to call in Mr Emily, so he could take care of his child. Both of his children,/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-style: normal;"But for now, they were going to rest./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"strongspan style="font-style: normal;"A/N Consider this payment for all the terrible things I'm going to do later. If William Afton can't die by my hand, this is the next best thing./span/strong/p