Author's Note: Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews everyone! Unfortunately, Hunter and I have not been able to continue our rp, so for the time being enjoy some improvised scenes which I can guarantee you will not be superfluous in any way, but will become vital later on in the story! On another note, Chapter 5 will cut from the previous scene to give some insight on what happened to Phone Guy, but the reasons for which he is gone from the pizzeria will be revealed in a future chapter. Once again, thank you and don't forget to R&R!

Chapter 5

The light was faint in the room, its only source being the open doorway at the head of the stairs. The occasional clunk of metal hitting the wooden floorboards sounded several feet away from the back which caught a single blonde's attention. Daniel Atchison dropped half of an animatronic arm onto the table nearest to him and glanced back to see several other workers taking apart a newly brought robotic construct. The glow in its eyes had long since died out by the time it was dragged down to the basement of the factory, its limbs chained to its metallic torso as the factory employees tossed it onto the floor. Despite knowing that it was no longer "living", the blonde shuddered as a part of the animatronic's jaw fell open and its soulless black eyes stared into his own after one of the workers gave its head a hefty kick before starting up the rickety steps, leaving him alone with his new companion in the bleak darkness which fell upon the both of them as the basement door swung shut.

Daniel inched towards the animatronic as his eyes adjusted to the sudden absence of light, figuring it would be far better for him to reach it before its image became clearer and less opaque. The former night watchman cautiously knelt by its side, studying the patches of synthetic pink fur which once would have entirely covered its welded surface. Loose wires were strung haphazardly within its interior and the blunt objects inside of the suit pierced into and bent the spinal cord of its endoskeleton. He stood up a moment after and moved behind it before reaching down to drag it gingerly over to the corner where the other animatronics lay. Daniel had been luckier than most, the management had reassured him- but the blonde regretted signing the contract which ensured he would not disclose any information regarding his experiences at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and instead allowed him and his work detail to be transferred directly to the factory where the animatronics were produced before being shipped off to any paying customers. It didn't take a genius to figure out what would have been his other option, Daniel surmised. Retaining the information he knew was already a risk to the company. That much was evident when he had declared his resignation after nearly losing it on the fourth night of his work shift due to an extremely close call, but the manager wasn't so keen to let him go. The blonde agreed to work as a waiter for the pizzeria during the day but was blindfolded and thrown into the back of a van by several men after he exited Freddy's at 10:00 PM later on within the week.

The next few days had gone by in a blur, his memory only being able to recall sleepless nights spent in utter fear and confusion while numerous voices complete with the clanking of metal and static from audio animatronics melded into a stabbing cacophony of pain and terror. He could vaguely remember a blur of faces standing above him which strongly resembled that of his manager and what appeared to be those of the company's higher standing officials based on their confident stature and non-discriminating eye as they heeded the interrogations with absolute detachment to their captive victim and his plight which they had sovereignty over in terms of regulation. It was only after one of the sympathetic workers who had discovered him by chance had appealed in Daniel's stead that the management looked into his case and decided that he was a minor threat now that he was in the factory, resulting in them ceasing their interrogations and instead forced him to work there as a low level employee.

Despite the fortunate turn of events, this came as little comfort to the former night watchman since his new job deigns that he remains in contact with animatronics at all times, and after his dealings with the four animatrons back at the pizzeria ,the blonde was not so keen to comply. Having but denied his position only once with the department head he now labored under, Daniel was informed that he would either agree and go along with his occupation or face the grisly torture of being stuffed into an empty animatronic suit by the already programmed animatrons lingering in the darker recesses of the factory.

The blonde readily agreed to the former and went about meeting his work quota without fail each day, while still remaining under complete surveillance of his fellow co-workers as he did so. It had been about two months since then and he was finally given some lee-way, the reason behind this being that the management was satisfied with his compliance and figured he was "reformed" through the uniformity of the factory and their operations. Daniel hated to admit, but his new job was simpler than his night shift had been. He only needed to interact with broken and used down animatronics after they were considered to be in total disrepair or their programming was off and their actions went awry. Their sound boxes were almost always either disabled or smashed in by the time their metallic bodies were sent back to the factory, where they were immediately stripped for parts which could be salvaged or dissected for anything valuable within their core before being burned and melted down, some while still in commission.

Daniel had crossed paths with a recently sent back animatronic and found himself dismayed despite the chill which ran down his spine at the sight of the battered robotic construct. Its core was already pried open with what appeared to be by a crowbar which one of its handlers still held in hand. Its head was crushed in, and its eyes were wide, the cores filled with a distraught expression mixed with pain and fear. The blonde was frozen in place as the run down robotic construct seemed to fix his gaze on him, however the moment lasted but a few seconds which ended when the handlers shoved it impatiently, ignoring its wince as they roughly dragged it down the hall. The animatronic's head was lowered, terror brimming in its tired eyes as it tried to keep pace with the men, not wanting to give them any reason to lash out. "Shame it couldn't work." A factory workman tsked as he stood by, watching the metallic body being relentlessly hauled away. "What do you mean?" Daniel turned to him, surprised he hadn't noticed the other before he spoke. "They were experimenting on it downstairs. Mentioned something about synaptic connections, like they could install a real brain in place instead of their metal shells." The man shook his head, laughing. "As if that'll ever work! They're robots. Unknowing, unfeeling robots. It'll be like stuffing a beating heart into a dead corpse, yeah? Only a miracle could humanize 'em."

No…

Daniel dragged his eyes away from the now empty hallway and inwardly screamed.

You're wrong, they aren't unfeeling. They know what we're doing- what you're doing- to them. They are /alive/ and they can feel everything the same way we do!

But instead, he simply plastered on a genial smile and nodded in agreement.

"Yes." The blonde fixed his gaze at the end of the hall, as if the stark cold whiteness of the walls were moving and pulsing around him and the blinking LED light of the fire alarm was the only remaining substance in existence which rooted him in place, forcing his heels to sink through the reflective white and gray tiles and plant him firmly onto the ground. The image of the pained animatronic burned his vision, ingraining itself within the depths of his cellular memory and forever standing as a cold, glaring reminder of another crime which humanity has committed.

"Only a miracle."