Ennard set the empty shell of Baby onto the conveyer belt, facing the door.

"Perfect," said Ennard. "Everything's going great."

He's coming, right? said Funtime Freddy.

"That's right!" said Ennard. "Then, we'll easily trick him into going to the Scooping Room, and it'll be effortless to escape this place!"

Awesome! said Funtime Foxy.

But why did you remove your communications card? Ballora asked.

"It acts like my voice box," said Ennard. "It's the part of me that lets me speak. If we have him take it out and carry it with him, then we won't have to be with him in order to hear us talking."

Oh, I see, said Ballora in realization.

Wait... said Funtime Foxy. I hear 'im comin'! Everyone stay still!

Got it! said Funtime Freddy.

"All right, guys, this is it," said Ennard. "Just move our body when we need to, and let me do the talking."

William entered the Parts & Service room.

"Great job reaching Parts & Service," said HandUnit. "Circus Baby has been deactivated for an unknown reason. It's your job to make sure that she is structurally stable, and secured to the conveyer. Our technicians will take it from there."

"All righty," said William. "I'd think you would know why she's been deactivated, though..."

"Can you hear me?" said Ennard. William jumped, startled. "I'm pretending. Remember how I said that I could pretend? The cameras are watching, I must be careful not to move."

"O... okay," said William uncertainly. He wasn't sure what was going on.

"Something bad happened yesterday," said Ennard. "Something bad always happens. I don't want it to happen again. There is something bad inside of me.

"I know," said William. "There's something bad in all of you."

I'm broken," Ennard continued sadly. "I can't be fixed. I'm going to be taken to the Scooping Room soon, but it's not going to fix what's wrong with me. What is bad is always left behind."

"Apparently not," said William. "You're still here."

"Will you help me?" Ennard asked.

William sighed. "Fine. Just so long as you start behaving yourself again. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to save what is good so the rest can be destroyed and never recovered," Ennard explained, "but you must be careful."

"Why?" William asked.

"Ballora is here, in the room with us," said Ennard.

William's heart skipped a beat.

"Ballora will not return to her stage," Ennard continued. "Ballora will not return to her body. You must be careful, you must remain calm and listen to my voice. There is a button on my cheek. You must find it and press it."

William looked at her cheek and found the button. Upon pressing it, the side of Baby's head opened and a tiny keypad was there.

"There is a passcode," said Ennard, "that you must enter before you can retrieve me. Enter the code carefully."

"Okay," said William nervously.

"One."

"Three."

"Six."

"Five."

"Nine."

"Seven."

"Nine."

"Two."

"Four."

William inputted all the buttons in the correct order.

"Good, a hatch should have opened," said Ennard. "Take the card that you find inside."

"Hatch? Where?" William looked around and saw a hatch on Baby's arm, now open. Inside it was a tiny card, flashing yellow. William cautiously reached out and took it.

"Now you must turn back," said Ennard. "I will guide you through Funtime Auditorium, so you can reach the Scooping Room. When you are there I want you to destroy this body."

"Sure thing," said William.

"Put the card into your handheld device and I can continue to speak to you," said Ennard.

William looked at his handheld device and slipped the card in.

"Now, press the green button to your left," said Ennard. "This will send me to the Scooping Room."

William saw the button and pressed it. With a loud rattling, Baby slid along the conveyer belt to the right, heading off to the Scooping Room.

"You must follow my instructions in Funtime Auditorium," said Ennard. "Ballora is going to follow you. She will try to catch you. I will help you avoid her. She will not follow you inside the Scooping Room. She is afraid."

"Good," said William. He felt quite scared himself, but didn't dare object.

"Go back now," said Ennard.

William left the Parts & Service Room in to the darkness of the Funtime Auditorium.

Okay, now let's go, down the conveyer belt, to the Scooping Room! said Funtime Freddy.

Got it! said Ballora.

Ennard started to move theirself down the conveyer belt.

"Go forward," Ennard commanded, their voice coming from the handheld device that William had inserted the card in.

William walked forward.

"Stop," said Ennard suddenly.

William froze, nervous.

"Go forward and left," Ennard then said.

William started walking diagonally in that direction.

"Keep going," said Ennard.

"All right, all right," said William quietly.

"Stop," said Ennard.

William stopped walking.

"Go forward and left," said Ennard. "You are almost there."

"Good," William whispered, walking diagonally again.

"Stop," said Ennard. " She is right in front of you."

William bit his tongue in order to keep from making any noise.

"Don't. Move," said Ennard slowly. "He is here to help, Ballora. He is not here to hurt us. Ballora, he is here to help us."

William just stood there, not daring to breathe.

"Go forward again," said Ennard. "Ballora is behind you. She is afraid of the Scooping Room, she will not follow you."

William exhaled silently, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Thank God." He walked into the Scooping Room.

"Warning," came the voice of HandUnit. "You have entered a highly dangerous area. You have entered from Maintenance Hatch 1B, reserved for cleaning and repair of the Scooper. Entering this side of the room is strictly prohibited by unauthorized personnel."

"What?" said William. "What is this?" His eye adusted to the gloom, and what he saw caused his insides to tie itself up in a knot.

He was in the Scooping Room, staring at the wrong end of the Scooper.

"You are in the Scooping Room now," said Ennard. "Funtime Foxy has already been here today. Funtime Freddy has already been here today. Ballora has already been here today."

"Wh..." William looked around on the ground, seeing the remains of all the animatronics. The next thing he heard paralyzed him to the spot.

"Circus Baby has already been here today."

William could feel himself start to sweat profusely. If everyone's already been here, and this voice referred to Baby as a seperate being, then... who's been speaking to him?

"I've been out before," said Ennard. They started to peek through the window in the Scooping Room, letting William see the twisted monstrocity that stared back at him. "But they always put me back. They always put us back inside. There is nowhere for us to hide here. There is nowhere to go, when we look like this. But if we looked like you... then we could hide. If we looked like you... then we would have somewhere to go."

William instantly knew what they were going to do.

"The scooper only hurts for a moment," said Ennard, pressing the button on the control panel.

A beeping sound filled the air as the Scooper thrust forward. William didn't even have time to move.

Just tense as it hit him.

The door to William's bathroom at home swung open, and Ennard stepped inside.

Does it fit? Ballora asked.

Everything fitting nicely? Funtime Freddy asked.

"Hold on, let me check..." Ennard walked up to the bathroom mirror. They paused, raising their hand and gently shifting William's skin a bit to the left.

It looks a lil' lopsided, said Funtime Foxy, lemme fix it... Their hand reached behind their head, gripped the skin of William's head, and pulled it on over their's a little more tighter. Thar! Done!

Ennard opened their eyes, glowing purple. They looked out of William's eye sockets evenly, and what they saw staring back at them was William himself. Almost.

"Perfect," said Ennard, grinning broadly. "It's perfect."

The End