"Why the hell is it so hard for you to give me a straight answer." I half shouted, half whispered. The Puppet tuned to face me. "Ever since I woke up here, I haven't gotten a single clear answer."

Something inside me knew I shouldn't be mad at this guy, but the frustration of missing memories overwhelmed it.

"I know, but I can't tell you." I couldn't read the look on his face, and his voice remained just as anonymous.

"Why not?" I swiped my claw angrily through the air.

"Knowledge is power. Power is dangerous."

"What the hell does that mean?" I stormed up to him. At my full height, I rose almost two feet higher than him. "Dangerous for who? You or me?"

"Both of us."

I shook my head. "Who was that guy? The janitor? How does he know me? What happened here? What did he mean when he called my damaged?"

The Puppet didn't move. I could hear him sigh, but there was no heave of his chest. "I will come for you tonight."

"What about the security guard?" I screamed down at him, ignoring his comment. "Who is that?"

In return, he ignored me. "We have one more night to learn the rules. I hope you learn quick." The shadows of the room converged on him, blocking out his form with darkness even I couldn't see in. When it cleared, he was gone.

I could feel an odd mix of rage and confusion in my head. Ideas buzzed around inside, only adding more fuel to the fire. Finally, I couldn't take it, and just sat myself down at the edge of the stage. I couldn't say how long I sat there.

Eventually, I gave up trying to figure out the Puppet's riddles. Sighing, I climbed backward up onto the stage. Outside, I could still hear the sounds of parties dying out as more people left. My estimates would put it around five or six o'clock. I tried to drown them out be focusing on my heavy, thudding footsteps.

The floor emitted a hollow ring as my metal foot crashed down on a loose plank. Stepping off to the side of the plank, I bent down and inspected the floor. A dug my hook under the plank and pulled. A hidden trap door flipped upward. Despite the obvious years of wear-and-tear, the door produced no sound. I dropped into the small opening, and into a dusty storeroom of sorts.

The room covered the entire space underneath the stage. Old wooden shelves covered with little more than a thick layer of dust lined every side of the room. My foot clanked agains the stone floor as I inspected my new discovery. The place had obviously been cleaned out years ago.

"We need to talk." I spun around as fast as I could. My legs stumbled and I crashed backward into the shelves. The Puppet stood at the edge of the room.

"You've got to stop appearing like that. You're going to give me a heart attack," I complained.

"I don't think that's actually possible." The Puppet corrected.

I waved my hook at him. "You know full well what I mean. Now, why are you here?"

"As I said, we need to talk."

"Oh, so now you feel like talking. Finally ready to answer my questions?"

"Shut up and listen." I couldn't hear anger in his voice, but I felt it must've been there somewhere. "The night guard is arriving earlier than expected. Turns out he'll be here tonight. Or more exactly, about half an hour from now. The place has closed down for the night, and the crew are cleaning up."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Simple. I need you to stay out of sight."

"You've kept me locked up back here all day. Why?" I stepped closer to the shadow.

"Foxy, you've been shut down for over a decade now." The shadow floated by me. "The other three are allowed to move around at night, but if the guard catches you, you'll be in trouble."

"Why was I-?"

"I said shut up and listen. Failsafes in your CPU won't allow you to be shut down for longer than twelve hours, as by then, your servos will lock, and your designers didn't want to deal with that." I had learned my lesson, and stayed quiet. "They don't know you're back up and running. If they find out, they might find another way to disable you."

"So, basically just stay back here like I've done all day?"

"Not quite. There is a camera in the Cove. No one watches them during the day, and the cameras don't record, so you're safe during the day. At night, though, the guard watches through the cameras."

"And he'll see me?" I suggested. The Puppet nodded quickly. "Good thing I found this place then." I said, motioning to the room around me."

"Yes. You will also find that I've closed the curtains on stage. The camera is over by the door, so if you stay behind the curtain, he can't see you."

"Well, that's just great." I said sarcastically. "So, now will you answer some of my questions?"

"Foxy? Who're your talking to?" I looked up at the trapdoor. Chica crouched at the edge of the drop.

I turned back to the Puppet, but he was already gone. "Nobody, I guess." Chica raised an eyebrow. "Hold on a second." She stepped back from the edge, and my hook embedded into the wood. I pulled myself up and out onto the stage.

"Sorry about that." I apologized, rubbing the back of my neck. "What's up?"

"Nothing. The cleaning crew just left, and I thought you might be lonely back here."

"Shouldn't you be back on stage before the guard gets here?" I asked, pushing through the newly closed curtains and sitting down at the edge of the stage with Chica.

"Me and the others are left in a 'free roam' at night, apparently. We're allowed to walk around. I would assume since the puppet talked up to you separately, you have different rules."

"You would assume correctly," I sighed. "I can't leave the stage." I nodded back at the curtains.

"That sucks." She whispered.

"Yeah." I agreed. "I heard you guys singing out there today."

"What'd you think?"

I thought for a moment. "You were pretty good."

"Aww . . . Thanks." She laid back on the stage, staring up at the ceiling. "Those songs are catchy, but they're so annoying."

"They're not that bad." I offered.

"They're dreadful. You don't have to sing them all day." She laughed.

"I suppose not." I leaned back, propping myself up with my arms.

"So, what have you been doing back here all day?" She asked.

"Not much to do. Usually just standing or laying around. I found that room back there, today." I thought it best to leave out the incident with the kid.

"That sounds . . . fun?"

"Not really. I did find out a few thing, though."

"Like what?"

"Watch this." She sat up and looked at me. Yeargh, matey. I'm Foxy the Pirate, the most feared on the seven seas." I could see her trying to hole back a laugh. "Awesome, right?"

She burst out laughing. "That's amazing."

I smiled and then I started laughing too. My laugh was interrupted by a high pitched yip. Chica stopped laughing and just stared at me wordlessly.

"What was that?" Another fit of laughter. I hadn't even noticed that I had made the noise until she pointed it out. "How did you do that?"

"I think it was supposed to be a fox. Didn't know I could do that."

"I didn't even know we could change our voice."

"Yeah." The laughter faded into silence. I looked wordlessly at my animatronic counterpart. She had her eyes close, humming a soft tune I didn't recognize. Something about her in the low light made me feel . . . strange.

"Chica, I-"

My words were interrupted by the ding of a bell as the front door burst open.