As an FYI/response to a question: The reason the spirits of the kids aren't acting out toward the night guard is because their sprits can manifest in Fazbear's Fright and see the night guard as just a person. Plus this is my take on things, so it is a bit different than canon. The other reason they are helping is a spoiler for later on in the fic.
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The audacity of the night guard to strike at him with a blunt object had been a miscalculation on Springtrap's part. But even as inconvenient as being struck was, the action by the guard against an animatronic body had been rather amusing.
It was...different.
Springtrap hadn't anticipated that the night guard would be bold enough to face him in any capacity. He had expected the guard to keep well away of him, and to run aimlessly around in the halls of this place in a poor attempt to avoid an animatronic rabbit that was in motion of its own volition. Instead, the guard had hidden and been smart to attempt to incapacitate Springtrap. Not that the smack would do any good in the end, being merely an inconvenience when one without knowledge of how the animatronic worked tried to dismantle or break a suit.
That being said...the attack really hadn't caused any actual damage, as it had been more of a surprise than anything. But what Springtrap didn't realize was that the animatronic's body would actually buckle from the smack the guard had given the back of the left knee, where there was no protective casing. All that had been back there was a joint to bend and some faux fur between it on either side. The entire animatronic pitched forward from that single misstep from the strike, causing Springtrap to collapse onto the floor.
The guard had used the fall to run out of the office to make themselves scarce.
Springtrap couldn't be bother to worry about where that night guard got to in that moment, because it hurt, falling to the floor in an ungainly and rather large animatronic body.
The pain was difficult to comprehend.
Springtrap could do nothing to prevent the metal and plastic that pierced his flesh from driving even further into his dead body. The agony he experienced from the sudden pain caused Springtrap to temporarily hold completely still, or as best he could manage, until the pain began to fade away to a bearable ache. Springtrap, when he was satisfied that he would be able to move around again, maneuvered the animatronic body up to its hands and knees. He took a short break to reorient himself before Springtrap began to go about the arduous task of rising to his feet. It was as difficult an endeavor as it had been before, when one was in an animatronic suit that was bulkier than a human.
It was going to take a little longer to stand, which caused Springtrap to clench a fist against the floor. His eyes glowed briefly in empty sockets, before going back to a dim glow as he looked out the window that showed the hallway. Springtrap clenched both his own jaw and the animatronic's hard.
The night guard...
Springtrap had expected uncertainty and fear. Hesitation and dread. Springtrap reflected briefly on the situation, and eventually decided that the attack against him had been fair, in a way. Especially when considering what it would have looked like to have a large animatronic approach a human swiftly and without any explanation.
The guard was cautious.
Good.
That meant that they may actually be competent in their job, unlike their terrible patch job of Spring Bonnie's exterior.
The cautiousness was a problem for Springtrap, however. He wanted answers and he would only get a few attempts before the guard thought it best to not return. Springtrap would then be forced to wait until someone else came along. The only way to not have to wait around would be if he was able to get out of this place on his own, and that would prove difficult. Springtrap was still working on overriding those codes in Spring Bonnie's programming, and those particular ones were much more intricate to break down than the free roaming programming had been.
The ventilation alarm went off, many lights in the building flashing.
Springtrap wore a grim smile beneath Spring Bonnie's mask.
The guard would have to return to the office to do something about that alarm.
Springtrap was positive they would be back, so all he would have to do is wait, and in the meantime, get back to his feet to be ready for the guard.
The whispers returned, louder than before.
We won't let you hurt them.
We can see more clearly here.
We aren't fooled by your appearance.
Springtrap's head cocked to one side, and then the other.
Was someone else there, or was he imagining things?
"Echoes...of the past." Springtrap eventually muttered to himself. The sound of someone attempting to tiptoe caught his attention, and Springtrap raised his head to look up. Outside the long window, the guard had frozen in place as the two of them made eye contact. Springtrap lifted the hand not bracing himself against the floor to give the night guard a little wave. Springtrap let out a raspy laugh over the way the guard ducked out of sight.
Foolish.
Just because the guard was out of his line of vision didn't mean that Springtrap forgot that there was someone there.
Leave them alone.
"No one...will tell me what I can and cannot do." Springtrap wheezed out, as he finally got to his feet. There was a chill in the air, but he dismissed it, and turned toward the open doorway to wait for the guard to come into the office.
You can't do anything here.
Springtrap's vision suddenly wavered, before blinking out briefly before it reset itself. Spring Bonnie's animatronic's body automatically reached out to the side to steady itself with a hand on the office desk.
We will do everything in our power to delay you, until the others can help us.
Springtrap gave a tiny wiggle of his head, the pain bringing clarity to his vision.
What had...what had just happened?
Springtrap held still as the ventilation alarm suddenly went silent, before he roughly turned and glanced down at the desk he had braced himself against.
The device that was used to reset the ventilation.
It was gone.
Springtrap ground the animatronic teeth together. Where had it gone? He had just seen it there not a minute ago. So why... why was it gone without him seeing it be taken? Springtrap wondered if the animatronic had briefly shut down without his notice when the vision had blinked out.
You will suffer.
You won't get away with what you did to us.
We are a family now but you aren't apart of it.
Springtrap bit back a curse as he sensed Spring Bonnie's AI sputter to life briefly at the term 'family' and there was nothing to do but ride it out. Words were forced out of the animatronic, while the dead man within it had to wait to take back control.
Spring Bonnie's voice was a mixture of William's voice and the AI, despite the damage that the animatronic's voice box had taken from disuse and being sealed away in a dark, damp room for a long while.
"One big...happy family." Springtrap heard himself and the animatronic say as one in a mockery of a song. "...but where have they...all gone?"
The animatronic swung its head back and forth slowly as of expecting to see someone nearby.
'Dead. They are all dead, but are they really gone? Could they be...like me?' Springtrap thought to himself, unable to prevent the animatronic's body from taking a few steps toward the open office doorway. Spring Bonnie's AI was still on and obviously confused in some way with its surroundings and the lack of anyone to entertain.
"There needs to be someone...to see the show." Spring Bonnie's AI rasped out, though it was fainter than before. "Need a birthday to celebrate...its too quiet here. They must be elsewhere."
Springtrap wondered if Spring Bonnie's AI understood that the silence and lack of people meant the building was more or less abandoned, apart from the night guard.
"Need to find...another room. Too quiet here." Spring Bonnie's AI shut down after that, finished for the time being.
Spring Bonnie's speech patterns had apparently been mixed with terms from the dead body inside of the animatronic.
Springtrap gave his head a little shake, careful to not jostle the metal that pierced his neck. Now that that little distraction was over and done with, Springtrap would focus on the task at hand.
Track down the night guard. Wherever they were in this building, Springtrap would find them.
"Nowhere...to hide and nowhere to...run to. No escape." Springtrap he let out an ugly laugh from within Spring Bonnie. "So familiar and yet...so different, this place. How very...interesting."
Springtrap exited the office in a slow lurch. He stood in place for only a brief moment before he went in the direction that he assumed the guard would head to.
The exit.
Was it not a flight or fight nature the night guard was experiencing? Clearly they had to have known that flesh and blood couldn't possibly fight an animatronic with a metal endoskeleton.
'And a little something...more.' Springtrap thought to himself wryly.
"Delaying the...inevitable." The dead man coughed out with an amused lilt as the animatronic slowly made its way down the hall.
Being unable to actually fight off an animatronic for an extended period of time would cause the night guard to come up with a new plan. Therefore, Springtrap felt that the next logical step for the night guard would be to get out of the situation by leaving the building as fast as was possible. Springtrap's dead lips curled beneath the mask in a sadistic-looking grin.
The night guard would find no escape.
Springtrap made certain that the guard would not be able to leave the building for many hours yet. The dead man had tampered with the door locks earlier in the day, both the entrance and the exit. Springtrap had made it so that the doors would only open at six in the morning, before locking down once more a little past midnight.
"Try and...hide." Springtrap peered into a room, animatronic eyes flicking over the space before withdrawing and continuing on to the next room. "I will find you." The animatronic slowed as the head turned to one side to study the entrance. A brief flash of ire went through Springtrap.
What a shame he couldn't just walk out.
Springtrap had considered it when he had been working on the electronic locks all those hours ago. How infuriating that he couldn't just let himself out.
Spring Bonnie's AI refused to get too close to the door.
Springtrap let out a weary, unnecessary sigh as he turned his head away and resumed hunting for the night guard. Springtrap knew that he had a ways to go to convince the animatronic's AI that it could leave the building no problem. But with him trapped inside of Spring Bonnie, he didn't dare try to hard to get too close to the doors. Springtrap didn't want to chance being short-circuited. Springtrap also did not want to risk having his consciousness knocked out for however long it may take the animatronic to reboot its internal system.
No, Springtrap would take his time testing Spring Bonnie's boundaries, and fight the programming every second he could find to focus on sifting through and making changes to the coding. Springtrap knew that he was making progress toward being able to move around whenever he felt like it. Surely it only be a matter of time before Springtrap could leave this building altogether.
But where could he really go, trapped within an animatronic body as he was?
Of course, Springtrap didn't really want to leave until he had more information, such as where exactly he was. Did he know the city or town, or was it unfamiliar? What year was it? Were there still Freddy Fazbear's Pizza places around? What was the state of his body and the animatronic? He could guess from sensation but Springtrap wanted to know just how long he had been sealed in that room. It had to have been for a very long time, based off how...wrong his corpse within the animatronic felt. Springtrap figured that he could get some of the answers he wanted from the guard with some...convincing. He only needed to corner the night guard, and get them to see reason.
It wouldn't take long to track them down and get the night guard to cooperate. If they had nothing to defend themselves with, Springtrap could manhandle them and hold them long enough to restrain them. Surely being held firmly by an animatronic rabbit would be unnerving enough for just about anyone to give Springtrap the answers he desired..
At least, Springtrap thought this was how the rest of the night would go That he would be able to catch the guard and have a little q and a. Most unfortunately, the night guard was somehow able to avoid him the rest of their shift. Because no matter how often Springtrap attempted to cut the guard off from a room, he was unable to get to them. It was almost as if the guard had been able to know exactly what room Springtrap had been in, despite not having any access to the camera system the whole time.
There were flashes, occasionally, out of the corner of his eyes that had almost resembled animatronics. But whenever he looked, Springtrap had found nothing. But he did continue to hear whispers, and the way they jeered and taunted him, too far away to properly hear all the words but hearing enough to know the whispers were being cruel and uncaring.
Not that that bothered Springtrap, but it did make it difficult at times to properly make out where the guard was over those whispers that trailed along after him at a distance.
How annoying.
Springtrap let out a long wheeze of a sigh when he heard the sound of the doors unlocking.
Oh well.
It appeared that Springtrap had failed that night but there was always tomorrow. Springtrap stopped within a doorway and carefully leaned up against the doorframe as he raised his right hand to give the night guard a small wave good-bye.
Might as well unnerve them.
The guard slipped out of the door without looking back.
Springtrap clenched both his jaw and the animatronic's. Unfortunate that he was unable to question the guard but at the same time, this would give Springtrap some time to himself to work on Spring Bonnie's programming. Springtrap would also give himself enough time to prepare for the night guard's return.
It was a very long wait from morning until late evening, when Springtrap was unable to move the animatronic body any longer. But the inconvenience would be worth it in the end when Springtrap could move freely. Until then, he was patient, and once he made it to six PM, Springtrap found that he could move, and went right to the office to inspect the night guard's setup. Springtrap looked over the electronics in the room, and studied their functions.
The static of the monitors was a disgrace, but the cameras did show quite a few places in the building. This meant that the guard would be able to know where he was at at all times. Springtrap rummaged through the drawers of the desk, before pulling out a packet of what appeared to be orientation materials from the guard's presumed training. The papers looked like they had been thrown haphazardly together. Springtrap paged through, taking in information about the devices.
Interesting.
It appeared that most of the electronics in the office were either vintage, or at least, not up to date with the times. Like someone had cut corners in order to meet a time frame as well as give this place a more authentic feel of the past.
"This wouldn't...have been allowed. Henry would have...insisted it was too dangerous." Springtrap murmured to himself as he frowned at the ventilation system's notes.
It was a mess, and dangerous, if it was unable to be reset. Were this ventilation system to die without being reset, it would be a fire danger for sure. With the shape the building was in, what was contained within it that was flammable, and just how many of the vent ducts were throughout the building...
This place would go up in flames and people would be hard pressed to stop it until it had all been burned down to nothing.
Springtrap took note of where there were doors that could be closed within the vent system, wondering if he could use those to his advantage. Or how the guard might use those vent doors against him. Springtrap put the materials back where he had found them in the drawer. The dead man entertained himself by thinking that someone was pulling strings from the shadows. Of someone giving a big payout to whoever had okayed this place and had believed that it was acceptable to open to the public. Not that Springtrap had the best track record when it came to the buildings he had been involved with in the past, and the way they did not remain open for long after he had...
There was suddenly a nagging at the back of Springtrap's mind that had to do with Spring Bonnie's exterior that dashed all current thoughts away.
It should have disturbed him how easily swayed he was from his train of thought but at the time, it did not bother him.
Springtrap slowly exited the office and found himself automatically headed back to the storage room where he had found the tattered puerple bow. Was it his own will that led him there, or was it Spring Bonnie's AI?
It didn't matter.
He was soon back to rummaging around in the boxes in the storage room. Springtrap figured that he may as well follow through with that nagging he was sensing, either from himself or the animatronic he was trapped within. Springtrap produced two black buttons of an adequate size.
The dead man's lips twitched into a sardonic smile at the sight.
Of course.
Springtrap might as well complete Spring Bonnie's look. The vest and bow were already on, so all that remained were the buttons. Springtrap secured the buttons one after the other vertically beneath the purple bow, though it took longer than he would have liked, with his fumbling animatronic fingers and thread. But the action of sewing was…soothing, in a way. That Springtrap had found a little something to do to pass the time while he waited for the night guard to return. The focus on Spring Bonnie's exterior allowed Springtrap to temporarily forget about the dull ache that was his dead body.
"Is it your birthday...why, there is a cake just for you..." Springtrap was the one singing softly this time, though it almost seemed as if the AI was aware and lending its words to him. "Songs and smiles are all around...one big happy family here...why don't you stay for awhile?" Springtrap broke off as he let out an unsettling laugh that echoed in the storage room before finishing. "...there's so much fun to be had..."
A chill seemed to manifest in the room, and if he listened closely, he might have heard the way many somethings appeared to have shivered at his singing.
"Come again soon, unless you don't really want to leave." His voice was getting stronger the longer he was aware, though there were still instances of hesitation as he worked to get his words out. Springtrap continued to hum and sing under his breath as he swayed a little. "Come follow me, don't be shy, if you want to experience...all that Freddy's has to offer." The pain Springtrap experienced since becoming aware was nothing when he focused on the memories of what had once been and what had since been lost. The many times he had suited up as Spring Bonnie and danced around, delighting the children who came to see the show. To celebrate their happiest day.
"One big happy family, always and forever." Springtrap uttered as he capered slowly over to the mirror in the room to look at Spring Bonnie's appearance. "Want to join in all the fun..." Springtrap grinned terribly beneath the mask. "...for all eternity?"
Why do you sing, when you're mocking the pain and terror you put us through?
None of us would want to be with you forever.
We want to be free.
We didn't ask for this.
"No one...asked for your opinion." Springtrap heard the whispers of those voices this time. The nostalgia of a time before he had died began to fade as Springtrap's thoughts began to stray too close to his own demise for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because of the whispers of the unseen. Springtrap dismissed the unwanted memories that had begun to encroach on his mind, and left the storage room with a shake of his head. Springtrap had again forgotten the fact that the motion would drive the metal of the springlocks into his dead skin.
It hurt.
Springtrap carefully rested a hand over his neck, animatronic jaw clenched down hard. Pain was something for the living to experience, not the dead.
So why?
Why did he still experience such agony?
Springtrap leaned against a wall as the sharp pain made its way through his neck, the hand resting over the fabric twitching. He did not currently have the luxury to experience an existential crisis over being dead, and yet still remaining in this world while experiencing pain. Springtrap couldn't stop to think about how he was unable to move on, trapped within one of his own mascot costumes that he had worn many times in the past. Questions trickled in one after another but some Springtrap would have to wait to ask. Other answers could be explained easily if only Springtrap could get the night guard to be cooperative.
Memories began to surface again, even if many of them were scattered that Springtrap was unable to grasp. The threads of many memories were just out of his reach. Springtrap knew enough to be confident in who he was, but how he had died, apart from dying within this suit? Springtrap's memory from right before his demise was foggy and untouchable at present, as if his subconscious didn't want to remember.
Springtrap managed to let out a derisive snort.
Memories that were perfectly clear were the deaths of those children. But even then, there were large chunks missing from his mind, such as where the bodies had gotten to, and where Springtrap had gone after commiting the murders.
It was like a jagged, poorly fit together puzzle that was missing the obvious pieces for a complete picture.
Perhaps if Springtrap had those he would have a better understaning of why he was still there and functioning as a corpse within an animatronic. Springtrap reminded himself that answers would come in time. Springtrap located a clock, and then slowly made his way down the hall, wheezing out a laugh over just how much it hurt to move. But he had things to do before the security guard returned, and if Springtrap wanted to finish in time, he had to get started now.
Tampering with electronics was a…hobby of his, he supposed.
Springtrap smiled unpleasantly. Wouldn't the guard be surprised when the cameras and the ventilation malfunctioned even more often than they had before? It had been such a long time since Springtrap had gotten to tamper with electronics, apart from those door locks he had reset yesterday.
This would be...fun.
"Come and stay awhile...we're all family here, so come enjoy the show." Springtrap rasped out in a vague sing-song way, getting distracted as he settled in on sabotaging the camera and ventilation systems. Springtrap's voice suddenly became light and friendly, detached, almost, as if subconsciously masking the monster that lurked beneath Spring Bonnie's eternal smile. "Soon you will be one of us...never going to be lonely again...now isn't that a happy thought?"