Mike stood in front of a deteriorated building. The letters on the sign faded long ago, yet the ex-guard could make out the words "Fredbear's Family Diner" and something else which could only be read as "Family ... fun... since 19...". The windows had been boarded up, and a dark liquid was oozing out of the eyes on the characters on the sign.
Not seeing other options, Mike entered the dimly lit building. Drawings on the wall were faded and torn. "Whoever sent me that note really needs to clean up." Pieces of broken glass clinked against his shoes. He reached the end of the hallway and saw a broken down dining area. The metal tables were snapped and bent, while the wooden chairs were left in pieces. The only thing left intact were some of the chairs in the booths, a stool that used to belong to a counter, and a single metal table, lit by the moonlight going through the gaping hole in the ceiling. Five chairs surrounded it, plus one high chair. The remaining table was clean unlike the rest of the dining area. Mike took note of this and just moved on to the next room. The kitchen was slightly messy, just some papers littered everywhere. A childish giggle echoed through the vents. A short animatronic who looked like BB stood in front of the now open vent. It looked more like a girl, considering the pink and purple color scheme and the exaggerated eyelashes.
"Balloon Girl?!"
"JJ! I'm JJ." Replied the small animatronic.
"Wait… you sent that note, didn't you?"
"Yep! I'm surprised you were able to get here so fast!"
JJ then proceeded to walk towards a different room. "Come on!" she motioned. Mike followed her and they arrived at an empty hallway. JJ went on to knock on the hallway. A whispery voice said: "What's the password?". JJ stopped for a few seconds before responding. "Spectre. I will murder you if you don't let us in." The voice went silent. A click was heard and the wall opened up to reveal a shadow version of Toy Bonnie. He grumbled about JJ getting aggressive and stared at Mike. He studied the guard and his gaze softened after a while.
"Mr. Schmidt, we've been expecting you. I take it that Gold has given you the "coffee", yeah?"
"Y-Yeah, what about it?" Mike stuttered.
Spectre chuckled. "That wasn't really 'coffee'. It lowered your mental defenses, which allowed us to easily manipulate what you saw and heard. And-" he paused for a second, then just looked at the guard with an uncaring gaze. "Look, let's just cut the crap. I hate formalities, so let's just get done with this sh-… this crap. Anyway, the boss wants you for something, blah blah blah."
"Who is the boss, exactly?" Mike asked.
"The boss doesn't want to be disclosed so I'll hide him under the name of "Space Poopet"."
"It's Marion, isn't it?" Mike inquired with the most deadpan tone he could do.
"No… okay yeah. It is. Anyway, Poopet wants you for it. Don't know why he'd choose a security guard, a scrawny one at that, but the boss's orders are the only reason why most of us here are even still alive."
Mike had processed what Spectre said. "Wait, what-"
"It's better if you don't know… besides, we need to get some crap done. Poopet said there was something you needed to do regarding… him. Anyway, Shadow will show you around this old dump and I'll go rot away in our safe room."
After Spectre entered the safe room, the shadow Fredbear from earlier came out. He seemed to be a bit nicer than Spectre. He rubbed the back of his head and gave the guard a nervous smile.
"S-Sorry about him. He's kinda a bit pessimistic at the moment, b-but he'll warm up to you. Eventually… hopefully. Anyway, follow me!"
Shadow took the guard's hand and walked him around the place. There weren't really any parts of the building that interested him except for the kitchen, which under close analysis showed burn marks on most of the walls and appliances. When Mike asked about it, Shadow just chuckled and said "Gold."
After the tour, Mike analyzed the office. The office seemed to have some of the props for the stage. Which is weird because those stuff should usually stay in the backstage area. But then again, everything in Freddy's is weird. Shadow sat down on a random crate in the office and offered Mike a seat. The guard sat on the swivel seat and asked a question.
"So, why did you bring me here?"
The shadow looked to the side. His cheerful vibe seemed to fade away. He looked at the guard with a gloomy look.
"We need you to find him. The killer. We've been receiving reports of lost spirits at our sister location. They say that the purple man is back. William Afton is reported to be the killer of these souls. The same person who killed the original five. The one who started the Missing Children Incident. Ever since then, there were many copy killers who studied his 'style'. All worked at the franchise."
"Why do you want me to find him? I'm just the security guard!"
"Well… we believe you have sources…"
Mike was confused. He didn't know anyone who had Afton in their name. He didn't think so anyway. He remembered someone who used to be close to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He decided not to ask why and just went with it.
"Well then, what do I do? Do I just automatically assume that someone I know is a reliable source to tell me where Afton is?"
Shadow paused for a bit. "W-We're working on it. The others are currently tracking Afton's whereabouts."
" Wait… don't people know about them? About the humanization?"
"Well…yes. B-But! We have been able to make disguises. Fake IDs and everything. Gold is currently in an apartment complex with a man who we presume is Afton himself. We've already learned information about the man who is presumed to be Afton."
"Hold on, before we move on, how do you even pay the bills?'
Shadow paused for quite a long while. He seemed to be nervous and looked like he was having conflict with himself. After a while he got another smile on his face and quickly replied.
"Alright, so Afton seems to be willing to look for any job with a decent pay. He has records of working as a security guard at mall as well as being the co-owner of Fredbear's Family Diner. He is also skilled in robotics, as he invented the Springlock suits. We presume that he took 'Dave Millers' as a cover to hide from the police."
Mike glared at Shadow. "You still haven't answered m-"
"Great news! I'll tell the Puppet Master that you'll be looking for Afton."
"I didn't-"
Shadow disappeared into the… shadows. Mike sighed in frustration. He took a few seconds before he went to talk with Marion. The former guard shivered due to an odd breeze. There were no vents in the room he was in, nor were there any windows or holes in the ceiling and walls. He brushed it off and continued walking. Yet he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. The security guard went back to the dining area to find all of the animatronics he had saw earlier. He wanted to ask them about what he was supposed to do but decided not to interrupt them.
"Gold, report."
"Afton hasn't made his move yet. Although during our conversations, I learned that he plans on applying for the day guard position once Freddy's reopens."
"Excellent. Shadow, Spectre? How is it doing?" The puppet asked.
"They are currently making the new suit. They don't have enough parts to complete it though. Spring's old body will be relocated to the backroom where it was found."
The puppet nodded. He looked over to JJ. "JJ, your report?"
The kid smiled and put her hands on the table. "Fazbear's is opening in about a few months. Most of the structure will be built in three weeks, and the construction crew is working day and night on the building. I've also asked for her allegiance. She said she would think about it as long as we give them a few guests every week."
"I'm thinking we all go. You know, even if it's just for one night." Golden suggested. The others agreed and they all planned their visit.
"It'll be nice to visit them once in a while. I'm sure it gets really lonely down there." Shadow said.
The puppet nodded. "Alright team, Operation Springlocked is a go." He ended their meeting and they all decided to go to their usual parts of the building. Mike immediately tried to process the information he had just gotten. But he just settled on going home for the night. He'd just have to ask Marion in the morning.
As soon as he got home he went back to his room. Thankfully, mostly everyone was asleep. He sat on his bed and pulled up the covers. The odd breeze was still there, bit it felt kinda nice. Mike fell asleep, and the night was what it always used to be- quiet.
A/N: Expect slow updates. School really isn't helping, and writer's block is always a pain. Anyway, thanks for reading the chapter, and hopefully the next chapter comes out soon.