When I returned with a few books and folders under my arm, I climbed on to the stage and reached down for Baby's power button. I looked up at her before I pressed it, and her eyes looked into mine ... for a moment, before she casually turned her head to the left and nodded, wiggling her pigtails.

"Goodnight, Baby." I said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Come back soon! Our pizza will still be great tomorrow!" Baby replied, moving her arms up and down. After pressing the button on her leg, Baby slowly ceased moving, staying in place as I stood up and hopped off the stage. I walked towards the front door, turning the locks as I stepped out. I froze in place, however, when I heard something from behind me.

"Goodbye, Anon." It was a whisper. It sounded like Baby's voice. I turned around, thinking maybe I had pressed her button in for too long and she turned on again. She stayed perfectly still. I shrugged and left Freddy's, locking the doors behind me. I'm probably just thinking with my dick. Again.

If this was one of the rumored horror stories about Freddy's, this is the part where I would think "Eh, it's probably nothing!" and return the next day blissfully unaware that my powered-off robot spoke to me by name. Instead, I reached into my pocket for my phone, with intent to tell Anondos what happened; if Baby showed any signs of being sentient, she's gone. Cute or not. I'm NOT going to be the next water cooler story for Fazbear's corporate suits.

As I stepped into my house, I continued to argue with a disbelieving Anondos over the phone.

"I'm telling you the truth!" I protested. "Baby said my name and then talked while she was turned off. She said my NAME, dude." I said. "Why the hell would I lie to you about this? You know how I felt about those damn things to start with!"

"Yeah, I know. Calm down." Anondos replied. "If you're that worried about it, find some kind of overnight movers and get rid of her now. Call your bosses or something, maybe she's supposed to do this. You keep comparing her to shit from the 80's. You know it's not the 80's anymore, right?"

"I know." I groaned, shaking my head. "I'm just ... well, I'm fucking scared, all right?" Surprisingly, Anondos didn't snicker at this. I was very grateful for that. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I sure as fuck don't want to get hurt myself. If she's dangerous, I don't care how hot she is."

"I thought you said cute. Like, innocent cute." Anondos reminded me. I went wide-eyed as I realized what I said. "The robot is hot now, is it? Maybe you really DO need to look up some robot porn. I'm sure it's out there somewhere."

"Shut up!" I snapped at him. "Whatever! I just want to figure out what to do before this turns into a shitty horror movie!"

"Calm down and call your bosses." Anondos said, sounding calmer than he should've after being yelled at. "Call me back later after you get off the phone with them, and again, calm down. I'll help you, man."

"Thanks, dude." I replied. "See ya later." With that, I hung up. With a few taps, I scrolled through my contacts until I found the number for the sweaty, nervous bald guy that I kept meeting up with from corporate. I checked the time-it was approaching eleven o'clock, but I couldn't wait until morning. With another tap, I called him.

He better have a really, really good explanation for this. After a few rings, he finally picked up.

"Uh, hello?" He answered. "Mr. Anon?"

"Yeah, sorry for calling so late." I apologized. "I have a big problem, and I need your help."

"Of course, certainly." He replied, followed by a big yawn. "Is everything okay?"

"Well, no." I said. "You're going to think this is insane, but I'm going to tell you anyway."

"She's talking to you, right?" He asked. I paused before I could answer-I didn't expect him to be correct.

"W-Well, yeah!" I replied. "Does that mean this is normal?"

"Yes, it's totally fine." He sounded very reassuring. "Circus Baby and the Funtime line are much more advanced than our original group of animatronic characters. I believe you were sent material explaining this, right?"

"Yeah, but none of the books mentioned her being able to know names." I replied. "She knows me by name. It was kind of cool at first, but it makes me a little nervous."

"I understand that, Mr. Anon." The man said. "After all, you've practically been against all of this from the start. It wouldn't surprise me if you're looking for a way out. Anywho, Circus Baby knowing someone's name isn't unusual. She has a song databank in her head, can remember a child's face, and is one of the most advanced animatronic entertainers of her time."

"'Not unusual' isn't an answer." I replied. "Is this something she's supposed to do, or not?" I asked. "If this is new, send someone here to figure it out."

"Has Circus Baby interacted with a child yet, Mr. Anon?" He asked.

"Stop changing the subject." I argued. "Answer me. Is she supposed to know names or not? If you're not going to tell me what I want to know, I'm having her removed within the next few hours. On your dime."

"Probably! I don't know the intimate details of every single character!" He protested. "I don't build them, I just help get them in the public's eye!" He sounded more angry as he spoke. "If it ends up being a problem, get rid of her! Corporate wants you to use a Rock Star animatronic, anyway!"

"A what?" I raised an eyebrow. "You insisted on a Freddy band set. What's this about a Rock Star thing, now?"

"The Rock Star character set, Mr. Anon. Rock Star Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and Lefty. I don't have the time to go into this right now." He explained. "Listen, it's almost midnight and I have to work in the morning. Circus Baby probably should know a person's name after she hears it enough times. Is there anything else you need?"

"Yeah, a number for a corporate credit card." I snapped at him. "Because she's out of here tonight." He groaned at this.

"Fine, Mr. Anon! Fine!" He finally gave in. "We'll have one of the engineers waste hours of his valuable time to come down to your store and tell you in person what I've just told you! Will that make you happy?!"

"Very happy, thank you." I replied. I knew I sounded smug, but I didn't care. "I'll be happy to let Baby hang out a while longer, then. I'll see the person tomorrow."

"Fine." He groaned in frustration. "After this, please open your store. Corporate has been wondering why there's no profit coming from you yet. I had to lie and say your uncle is a perfectionist, but apparently that's been passed on to you." I didn't like his attitude. "Now may I go to sleep, your highness Mr. Anon, or would you rather I drive down there and pat your ass for a while?"

I hung up. I walked into my room and lay down in bed as I prepared to call Anondos once more with tomorrow's plans and corporate's answer. I just hope that someone, somewhere down the line, tells me that this robot isn't planning to kill me.