William meets up with Henry unexpectedly, arrival dubious enough to anger the Marionette.


See to the one who smiles unnerving.

The days moved on, settling into a snug routine, never a quiet moment in the Emily household with Mari keeping the kids entertained. After the summer vacation began, visits from the social workers had become less frequent, happening only once a week, a far cry from the constant interviews that would take place a few months ago. Since Fredbear's, Henry spent more time working on the wearable costumes in-between work and the unknown "meetings" he'd get called to every now and then. The man didn't say where he was going, the only clue offered being the grey suit he'd put on before leaving. Perhaps it concerned the restaurant, the boy couldn't tell, but he did notice that the adult would always return a little more hopeful every time after one of those outings. Charlie picked up on it too, neither of them questioning it however knowing they'd receive no answer.

Even Miss Davis seemed hopeful whenever she talked to them, no longer hinting at the possibility of Matthew being sent away. It was assuring to know he could have a future here if he played his cards right when the moment came. He'd gotten better about his displacement with the help of his found family. He still had nightmares, he still woke up tired with a knot in his chest and a storm of hectic thoughts flowing around his head, but the pain had dissipated. The weight on his shoulders wasn't as heavy. It was there and it would remain there but it wasn't as distracting. He could focus on the small things and smile with more authenticity as opposed to a defense mechanism.

After the trip to Henry's upcoming establishment, he had made some alterations to the timeline in his notebook. Following the man's explanation of where the prize counter would be, Charlie's death would have to occur at Fredbear's. Since the Puppet's box would be right near the entrance as seen in Pizza Sim as well as the fact that the location was smaller than Freddy's would be, something that was even pointed out in the Freddy Files. An honest mistake on his part, but he never said to be perfect. Of course, that raised the question of how the Marionette would be present at Freddy's in order to give life to the dead children and why it wasn't there in FNaF 4, but it could all be explained by assuming Henry simply moved the Puppet to Freddy's after his daughter's death, with her being able to revive the kids from there.

Another thing was that the house near Fredbear's would belong to the Aftons sometime in the future. He'd asked the man if there were people living in it but he had responded with a negative, confirming that the Aftons would purchase it at some point. The games showed two different houses that seemingly belonged to the Afton family, the one on the hilltop in the middle of the forest and the one in town right next to the restaurant that was for sale at present. Because of the FNaF 4 menu showing the nightmares coming to the hill house coupled with his own personal witnessing of Evan's room, the Sister Location living room in front of which he had played with Elizabeth and Charlie and the Fun with Plushtrap hallway, he knew Evan's night terrors would happen at the hill house before the family moved into town near Fredbear's, meaning the gameplay of FNaF 4 would happen before the bite of 83', not during Evan's coma- except for the eighth night- or the days leading up to the party due to the two houses' completely different layouts. Of course, Evan wouldn't be the only one to have nightmares, whether they were real or fabricated by his father.

Since Scott had said that FNaF 4 wasn't filled with random easter eggs, that meant that the distorted FNaF 1 phone call you'd hear in the fourth game's ambience wasn't just for increasing the atmosphere and instead proved that Michael would also experience those same nightmares a while after the events of the first game. To further prove that theory, in the logbook Michael had drawn a perfect sketch of Nightmare Fredbear in the section talking about recent dreams, something he wouldn't be able to do unless he had seen the animatronic himself. Most likely, after FNaF 1 Evan would plague his older brother's dreams, forcing him to experience the same things he had gone through as revenge, which would lead to Mike sketching Fredbear in his logbook.

Of course, that still left the bunker beneath the diner. In Sister Location it was shown that William kept tabs on his son in those so-called observatories, the rooms connected to the map of SL on the breaker room panel. Among those, the FNaF 4 minigame map was also shown, including Fredbear's, but that house didn't match the two other additional chambers, Evan's and the Plushtrap hallway. Matthew's conclusion was simple, while the bunker was beneath an Afton house, it wasn't beneath the one in the forest and instead the one in Hurricane. Those observatories were mere underground recreations made by William to keep his son terrified of the animatronics after his sister's death at the hands of Circus Baby. What did that all tell Matt? The FNaF 4 gameplay happened on at least 4 separate occasions. Once before the Aftons moved to Hurricane- presumably a way to make Evan afraid of the robots, once after they did so but now underground, once during Evan's coma as but only the nights Nightmare appeared in, and once after FNaF 1 where Michael would live through the same torment curtesy of his younger bro.

So that was what the boy had been up to since they had explored the restaurant, racking his brain to piece together lore. He had to if he wanted to help the youngest Afton through his godawful dreams once they began. Then again, if he saved Elizabeth, William might never have to cause said dreams in the first place seeing as how his children would be unaffected by his kidnapping robots. The man would lack the fear of losing more of his family and may deem it unnecessary to scare his youngest away from his creations, who knew? Although, because it wasn't a guarantee that'd be the case, Matt would nevertheless have to craft contingencies for that eventuality.

He was getting sick of the nonstop back and forth going on in his mind. If he was forced to just theorize all day, he would've gone mad by now for sure. He admitted that at least for him more than half of the franchise's enjoyment came from the theorizing, but why did Scott have to make everything so damn complicated? Suddenly, the thought of every detail being just thrown out there and left for the fans to pick apart/create a linear narrative out of was very amusing, as absurd as it was. Thankfully, he could do other things, like drawing a portrait of Mari along with said animatronic and Charlie. The outline was done, all that was left was to color it. A tune he wasn't familiar with was playing lightly from the Puppet as it liked to do almost every waking moment they spent time together, sounding close to a lullaby.

Two hours ago, a truck had arrived with a package of fiberglass for Henry and a bit later William had come by out of nowhere carrying a box of something. The man hadn't paid them much heed, instead going into the shed with Henry to help him with the springlock suits no doubt. He did however exhibit an interest in Mari, which made Matthew uncomfortable for a multitude of reasons. Oddly enough, the Puppet had stared at William for three seconds before deciding the man wasn't worth its time and had turned back to their playing. He couldn't say he didn't approve of its behavior, actually, one could even call Matt proud of the Marionette for recognizing the potential danger William posed. It did seem a little stiff following their interaction, but who wouldn't be after meeting that creep.

o0o

"Will, you're just in time! The fiberglass arrived twenty minutes ago; I was setting it up. Come in, old friend!" its creator ushered his friend inside. The man was carrying a carton box and was dressed in nothing but purple. Its systems automatically completed the man's designation, only giving back a Positive Value of 1. Zooming in on the man's features, it analyzed everything from his eyes to the shape of his mouth.

Error.

Current Expression Does Not Match Previous Data.

Extrapolating…

Posture Suggests Reserved State

Features Syncing – False

Grin Extended Beyond Necessity

Eyebrows Lowered Beyond Proper Position

Eyes Focused

Result: Emotion Conveyed – False

Detection Of Distress=0

Conclusion: Subject Demeanor=Lie

Negative Value=60

Saved.

"Is it the right amount? I swear, if they shipped us the wrong number again…" he trailed off in a deep, reverberating voice.

"Heh, yes, it's the right number of plates, they didn't screw it up."

"Good. That's good." he nodded. Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by young Charlotte as she rose from her seat on the carpet, rushing over to hug the man's leg. "Hello there." his tone stilted. Something in his eyes had changed, remaining unseen by anyone but the Marionette. It also observed the sudden change in integrity on the man's visage at the girl's action, as if he was straining. The differences were too small for a human to recognize, but for an animatronic who was built to perceive even the slightest changes in emotions on children's faces it was a piece of cake.

"Uncle Will! I missed you!"

"Ah, but you saw me four days ago, did you not?" he handed the box to Mr. Emily, bending over to pat the girl's hair. "That's hardly enough time to miss someone, dear, even me." Mari did not like how the man's fingers came especially close to little Charlotte's neck before settling on her shoulder. Or the way the man's grin stretched out, splitting his cheeks in two. It was an illogical action that did not need to happen to that extent. The Marionette didn't understand why the man was doing this, what his end goal for his irrational conduct was. It disliked not knowing. The tune produced from its music box had ceased abruptly.

"But it's true, I really missed you!" he simply chuckled, the sound alone signaling another Negative Value to be processed.

"I'm glad, Charlotte." his attention shifted to itself and the small boy next to it. "Hello, Matthew. How are you?" The Puppet's green optics glanced at the boy, noticing the slightest shift in his posture. It put a comforting hand on his back that appeared to have been ignored unintentionally.

"I'm alright, thank you, sir." the hesitant smile on the boy's face had been replaced with a line, eyes warry and focused in a careful look. Grey irises now watched the animatronic directly, squinting. It leaned its upper body forward a little so as to shield the boy. A tense silence of three seconds followed in which no one spoke. Mari's maker was watching the interaction obliviously.

"I enjoyed seeing the two of you again, but me and your father have work to do. I shall see you later. Lead the way, old sport." the man was the one to break their stare down, refusing to address it or even acknowledge its existence in a meaningful way, though clearly being intrigued. The Puppet was fine with that.

"Follow me." he made to turn around but was stopped.

"First give me the box, Henry."

"I can handle it, Will, it's not that heavy." Mr. Emily assured his partner, continuing his path.

"Suit yourself then." Afton shrugged.

"Mari, you make sure the kids behave, okay? Me and Will are going to be busy for the next couple of hours so you're in charge. Feel free to come to us only if you need anything at all, got it?" his voice rang out from the backyard doorway. The Puppet gave a short yet audible chime in affirmation at its mission. "Alright then, have fun, you guys!" its maker encouraged.

And with that the door was closed, leaving the Marionette thinking as it always did.

Mr. Emily hadn't returned from his workshop in the two hours that passed. It hadn't had a reason to go bother its creator, nor did it want to as it understood the work he was doing was of great importance, creating its siblings. The children had gone back to their usual activities, uninterested with the other man's presence. Or perhaps it was better to say that Charlotte wasn't anxious about it, as Matthew on the other hand would thoughtfully gaze every so often at the door that led to the garden. That action combined with his prior apprehension suggested he did not trust the man its maker considered a friend. Neither did the Puppet.

Afton's contradicting comportment was suspicious to the point where its systems flagged it as malicious and because of that the Marionette had the desire to go check on its creator. There was a possibility of 62% that everything was fine but the other 38% was just too large a number to neglect. It would not interrupt Mr. Emily in the case that he was fine, but leaving him alone in a room full of equipment with a dubious individual that only claimed to be his friend and partner was foolish. It would remain in the shadows so to speak, observing, and would only intervene if the situation demanded it.

The Puppet had been built with the primary focus of caring for and guarding children, more specifically the first two kids it had seen when it came online, but that didn't mean its maker was excluded from its protection. Unable to merely leave the kids' presence at any moment just to satiate its curiosity, the animatronic waited for the perfect opportunity, its music box gradually intensifying every fifteen minutes.

Finally, it had found its window when the boy had excused himself to use the bathroom, after which Charlotte had gone into the kitchen to grab herself a snack. The Marionette had tacitly slipped through the backdoor, making its way to the shed. It peeked inside without making any noise, optics zoomed and microphones pricked for any signs of trouble. Mr. Emily and Afton were standing before the frames of Fredbear and Springbonnie, who were now featuring gleaming plates of gray that covered most of their internal components, the only parts visible being the points of articulation around the joints, waist and neck areas. Their eyes were a bright green, but save for that no other cosmetic changes were present.

"So, what do you think?" asked its maker, rubbing the sweat off his forehead.

"I'm thinking I didn't expect us to finish them so soon. People's mouths are going to drop when they see our creations. Can you imagine, Henry? I for one cannot wait to open Fredbear's."

"It certainly seemed like a farfetched dream two years ago, but now I can barely believe it's happening. All that's left is to refurbish the diner, put on the fur on these two and we'll be golden." the smile was clear in Mr. Emily's voice. The Puppet was relieved to see that he was okay. Afton crackled in response.

"What did I tell you? We can make anything into a reality. Forget your ShowBiz Pizza and whatnot, everyone's going to want to come to Fredbear's Family Diner. Our hard work will be repaid tenfold, you'll see. And to think we feared our competitors would beat us, how naïve could we have been? I would slap the thought out of our younger selves if I could."

"I get what you mean, Will. Kids are going to love it. I never even expected Mari to get along so well with Charlotte and Matthew. I always thought it'd have some difficulty but I'm glad to have been wrong." Its systems pinged at the praise of exceeding its creator's expectations, but why did he assume it would fail its tasks when he was to one to design it?

"Mari? Is that what you've named the Puppet?" Afton questioned.

"Matthew was the one to come up with the name. It fits. I haven't thanked him yet for taking care of our marketing problem on that front. Fredbear's and Springbonnie's names came naturally but I had no idea what to name him. I think it's better this way though, more friendly and inviting than just the Puppet, you know?"

"Indeed…" the man hummed. "Children are more creative when it comes to those sorts of things. The name does have the potential appeal for a grander audience. And the clown aesthetic works better than I'd have thought."

"The kids came up with that too, actually. I was hesitant to let them paint on his mask since it was porcelain but they didn't do a bad job. They said a plain white face was lame, or something along those lines. Can't say I regret it."

"Did they now…" Afton stroked his chin. "Hm, but what about its performance, how's it been?"

"Oh, those two adore him. I've haven't seen Charlotte smile for so long every day. She even said she thinks of Mari as her guardian angel. We could bring him too next time they have a sleepover. They haven't had one of those in a while now, and it's the perfect time."

"Is it that good with them?" the man raised a brow.

"Let's just say we won't have to worry about keeping children entertained if they get bored of the show."

Positive Value=800

Saved.

"Perhaps then, you could bring it over. You've made me curious to see what it can do."

"He won't disappoint you."

"Alright. Well… wait…"

"What is it?" Afton pointed at Fredbear's mouth.

"Take a look at his jaw. Don't you see what's wrong with it?"

"I- no." he blinked, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The pistons, they're not strong enough to close it properly with the additional weight of both the fiberglass and the teeth." Mr. Emily tried to refute the claim but stopped when he took a closer look.

"Huh… Yeah, I guess you're right. But it shouldn't really affect the movement much besides some jitteriness. We could just remove a couple of side teeth to take the load off if it becomes a problem."

"No, we're not having our main mascot be toothless, Henry. I propose we switch those pistons for bigger ones."

"Why, so we can have a health hazard? That much power in the jaw could snap the springlocks if someone's wearing the suit and we haven't even tested them yet. We don't know if there's something that needs improving. And what if someone puts their hand in there? We'd be"

"-Henry, no one is dumb enough to put their hand in a machine and the only thing that needs improving are those pistons. They won't snap because the jaw won't work while in costume mode." He patted the man's shoulder. "Listen, we can't cut corners on this. Everything has to be perfect, even Fredbear's design. We can't have him looking like a buffoon just because we didn't want to upgrade those damned pistons." the two fell silent.

"The springlocks are plenty dangerous as it is, do we really need something that could increase the potential risk of operating them?"

"Don't stress over nothing, Henry. If we are careful and follow the procedure nothing bad will happen. Think about it. We've taken all the necessary precautions; stronger pistons are insignificant when compared to the rest of the suit in terms of risk. It'll be fine so long as we don't tamper with the locks." the two fell silent. Mr. Emily sighed.

"Okay- alright. But if something happens it's going to be on you, William."

"Nothing will happen, trust me." the way those words were uttered almost caused the Puppet to let out a low chime, but the animatronic cancelled the action before it could process it.

Unknown Memory File Found

Error.

File Date Missing

Attempting Restoration/Decryption…

Failed.

4 Hours, 47 Minutes, 18 Seconds Unavailable

2 Minutes, 16 Seconds Available

Extracting To Subfile Format…

Extracted.

Accessing…

Subfile_[DATA MISSING] Playing…

Sitting underneath a table, the Marionette stood near a podium watching the two golden figures singing on top of it. It recognized them as the completed versions of Fredbear and Springbonnie. Stage lights lit up their fur, accentuating the warm atmosphere of the establishment. The body out of which the Puppet was viewing the File was not its own, rather it was plush merchandize of Fredbear. It didn't have time to observe the restaurant's beauty as four people came into frame, three boys and one girl, dragging a smaller child towards the stage. The older children were all wearing masks identical to the heads the Marionette's counterpart had put on the still phantoms. The littlest one, dressed in a black stripped shirt had tears streaming down his cheeks as he struggled against the other children, kicking and begging to be let go, they however, found his suffering amusing, laughing at his expense.

"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!" taunted the one with a Fox mask. The child's whole body shook, his face portraying even more horror than it had previously. The boy fought harder, screamed louder to be let go, his eyes red from the crying. His breathing was ragged and his skin deathly pale. "On three! One…" the Fox and Rabbit climbed the stage, holding the trembling child while the remaining kids cheered them on. "Two…" they reached upwards, putting the boy in Fredbear's mouth before jumping down, crackling with laughter as if what they had done was the funniest thing ever. Fredbear's mouth closed, lower jaw pressing on the boy's small head. He attempted to pry his head out but couldn't as he was hanging sideways, his small arms too weak to help.

The golden bear continued his song as if nothing was wrong, his jaw stuck in the previous animation trying to complete it so it could move on to the next set of actions, making its pistons apply even more pressure. The bear did not remove the child from his mouth as it should have, his glassy eyes being focused elsewhere. Springbonnie ignored everything, continuing his song indifferent about the whole thing. The Puppet's body stayed motionless in its place, refusing to intervene. No staff member approached the stage to save the boy. No one came to his rescue. The child's cries for mercy went unanswered. The four bullies were grinning behind their masks. He let out a final desperate yell of pain that was suddenly cut off by a loud crunch.

The little one went limp. The bullies froze and so did Fredbear. Red drenched the golden jaws, staining the faux fur as it dripped down onto the floor in droplets. Springbonnie happily sang without her bandmate, intentionally oblivious. A few seconds of relative silence passed after which someone screamed in the background.

End Of Memory Subfile

Warning – Secondary Systems Overload

Unable To Calibrate

Negative Value Exceeding Operational Parameters

Cannot Adapt – Insufficient Memory

Commencing Automated Shutdown… the green lights in the Marionette's eyes disappeared as Pop Goes the Weasel rang from its music box before coming to a halt.

o0o

Alarmed, both men exited the shed after hearing the music only to come face to ceramic face with the Puppet, standing rigidly outside in a hunched position, somehow balancing itself on both tipped legs while its eyes were lacking their pacifying emerald dots.

"What's it doing out here? Shouldn't it be with the kids?"

"He might've needed something. I told him he could come get me if it wanted." the man reasoned.

"Then what was it doing just standing there frozen? Did it run out of battery?"

"Uh, well, I don't think so. Um, it could be a bug. It did something similar when we went to the diner." William remained silent for a moment, crossing his arms as he watched his partner.

"You're not inspiring much confidence, old sport."

"Don't be like that, Will. No new system is without its kinks, you know that. I'm sure it's nothing important and even if it is, Mari can fix any software issues by himself."

"It should've done so the first time it happened." Afton mumbled. "Fine." he said at last. Henry walked in front of the animatronic and gave it a gentle shake. No reaction.

"So maybe it's not a bug." he pressed the top button on its chest three times. Green optics blinked to life after a second. The Marionette looked up at its master cautiously. It produced no sound as it stared into Henry's eyes. There was something different behind the smooth veil that was its face. A chill ran down his spine, making the man gulp nervously. Was it more… aware? Did it go through an update and wanted to let him know? "Hey, good afternoon. You kind of went to sleep for a moment. Did you need anything?" the Puppet backed away, regarding him before shaking its head.

"Nice job, Henry. You've made an animatronic that can waste your time." Afton sarcastically remarked. Mari's head snapped in his direction faster than it should have been able to. Its cameras shined brighter. It formed its fingers into a fist as Pop Goes the Weasel started playing. The perpetual frown on mask seemed to deepen, but that was impossible. The anger it radiated made even William take a step back. Both men were too stunned to speak. In a flash, the Marionette lunged at Afton, arms outstretched with sharp fingers going for his neck. If they could see it, it would've looked as if it was flying. The man didn't even register it move as tens of pounds of metal crashed into him, throwing him onto the cold grass.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Henry, but the Puppet paid him no mind. It clenched its hands tightly around William's throat, squeezing as hard as its motors allowed.

"Argh!" Afton gasped for air, trying to free himself from the Marionette's grasp, his face already going red. Henry finally got out of his shock and pulled his creation off of his friend. Mari glared hatefully at him, making his heartrate skyrocket, but did not struggle against his grip, letting the man deactivate it by another press of the top button. The animatronic went limp in his hands, allowing Henry breathed a sigh of relief. His business partner coughed besides him as he slowly got up.

"What the bloody- hell was that?! Is that what you call a- a bug!? That thing almost fucking killed me, you imbecile! And you want to- put it in our restaurant so it can endanger all our customers? You're delusional!" Afton shouted in-between coughs.

"I- I don't understand how, I mean, that shouldn't have been possible. I d- didn't make it do that. It shouldn't have been c- capable of hurting" he stuttered.

"-I don't care what the hell it's capable of. You want that thing in our restaurant, well you better fix whatever the fuck is wrong with it! Heh, you even suggested I let you bring that near my children!"

"William, I'm sorry"

"-Forget it. Fix your toys before talking to me about health hazards, Emily." grunting, he turned around and stormed off.

"Please wait, Will, I- we can"

"Shut up." the door to the house opened, out of which came the two kids came, both appearing disturbed.

"We were looking for Mari when we heard shouting. Uncle Will, are you alright? What happened?" asked Charlie worried. Afton walked past them, not saying a word. He went into the house and slammed the door shut, making the children flinch.

"What's going on?" asked Matt as he glanced at where William had left and then at Henry. "And what's wrong with Mari?"

"He tried to str- uh, he… attacked William."

"She did what?!" the girl's frightful outrage was evident in her tone.

"…Why?" the boy was more composed for his part.

"I- I don't know." the adult admitted. "Did it act weird around you two?"

"No, she was just like she usually is. Why would she attack uncle Will, dad?"

"The only reason would be because he perceived William as a threat, but even then, it shouldn't have had such a strong reaction and… I don't know what could have caused that. I've taken him offline until I can figure out what went wrong. I'm sorry, but it's not safe for you two to be in his presence. But I promise I'll fix him." the children looked at each other.

"It's fine, we understand." Matthew spoke for the both of them.

"Thank you. C'mon, let's go inside." Henry rose, carrying the unconscious Puppet as the kids trailed behind him. He had no idea how it had come to this. Did he mess something up when he programmed the animatronic that was only now showing the consequences of his failure. It hadn't been just a simple glitch. No. If the Marionette had mistook his friend for a threat, then he should've been attacked as well. His creation hadn't attempted to remove a danger, it had been downright aggressive, something that went against every line of code he had written into it. He couldn't bare the thought of his children being put in danger because of his incompetence. He was half tempted to scrap the robot for what it had done, but he couldn't do that to Charlotte and Matthew when they had gotten so attached to it. On top of that, the Marionette was not just a bunch of cleverly designed parts assembled together. He had made him so he could think on his own, and scrapping him would've been the equivalent of killing a person, even if that person's level of awareness was debatable up until this point.

Henry wouldn't call his creation sentient; it was more akin to an animal than a human. A trained, smart animal that could solve problems, understand its surroundings and realistically interact with those around it but an animal nonetheless that couldn't quite comprehend the world it resided in in its entirety.

The bottom line was that he'd do anything to protect his children. If that meant taking apart and rewriting the code of his creation then he'd do it for as many times as it took to fix it. He'd break and put it back together until it was functioning seamlessly.

He wouldn't let them down. He wouldn't let his best friend down. Mari was his flawed masterpiece, that was clear to the man, and because of that he owed it to make it as perfect as humanly feasible so his own mistakes would not reflect on it. It deserved the effort for how well it had treated his kids thus far.

With steeled resolve, Henry swore to mend the Puppet.


Chapter title from "Music Box Remix/Cover" by Dheusta.