Can't Leave

by Chironex27

Prequel to Don't Leave the Office. In the games, the player sees through the perspective of the night guards, but this focuses on the perspectives of the spirits in the animatronics throughout the years. Big thanks to Reading a Pulse for help in characterization (especially with the Mangle) and advice on story. Rated T for implied violence against children.

5. What will we do?

The software from the Fredbear animatronic in Fredbear's Diner required intense patching; it wouldn't have been good for business if the animatronics malfunctioned like that again. However, basic software remained the same, and had been copied in all of the new animatronics along with Freddy. There were some updates such as new phrases, the ability to sing, enhanced facial recognition, etc., though the basic directives remained the same; the animatronics were to entertain children and make them happy and remain in the store.

These were the directives that the Foxy animatronic was fulfilling that night. In between pre-programmed times for performances given in the Pirate's Cove, Foxy would move around the store, interacting with the children. One of the new updates made to the animatronics was linking them to the reservation list, allowing them to know the store's occupancy and the table numbers of the customers. Additionally, the animatronics were linked to the store security cameras, allowing them to track the movements of any child in the restaurant. On the night of Will's birthday, Foxy navigated through the store two times, interacting with the children as it passed by their table or whenever it detected a child in its proximity roaming the store. Foxy was able to detect positive levels of cheerfulness from the children at table 14 whenever it interacted with them, using preprogrammed phrases ranging from "Argh!", "Welcome to Foxy's Pirate crew!" to "Don't be runnin' in Freddy's, you hear? Otherwise you'll have to walk the plank!"

However, as closing time approached, Foxy was unable to detect the children at table 14. According to the store occupancy database, the party of table 14 had not yet checked out of the restaurant. Foxy accessed the security footage to identify when the children were last at the table. Identifying the time, Foxy followed the past progress of the children as they walked through the store into a back room. As these children were the last in the store, and the animatronics were programmed to be constantly entertaining the customers whenever they were in free-roam mode, Foxy navigated towards where the children were to monitor, and if necessary, improve their happiness levels.

On the way to the back room, the Foxy animatronic identified a store employee giving positive happiness levels.

"Hey Foxy, what's new on the plank?"

The animatronic processed the comment and responded:

"Yar! You be an important part of the crew!"

"That's great Foxy."

The employee laughed and continued on his way.

Foxy continued towards his destination and entered the backroom.

However, when it arrived, Foxy encountered a problem. It was able to recognize the faces of the five children from table 14, but it couldn't fully register them. It had difficulty ranking their happiness levels. Their behavior was off. The children were all slumped on the floor, not moving, and their body heat was rapidly dropping. When Foxy was able to scan them and rank their happiness levels though, it found them to be at critical low levels.

"Argh! What's with the long faces, crew? Your captain's here!"

There was no response.

"What say we have ourselves a little sea-shanty, eh?"

No change.

"Ooohhh, What will we do with a drunken sailor?

What will we do with a drunken sailor?
What will we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning."

-CHILD UNHAPPY-

"Come on, crew! Sing along!

Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Early in the morning!"

-CHILD UNHAPPY-

There was still no response, either positive or negative. As Foxy sang, it identified something else moving in the room. It was not one of the children, or a store employee. One of the boxes opened up, and an object that Foxy identified as Store Property rose out. The Puppet stared at Foxy. It was not a customer or employee, so Foxy ignored it and continued to sing.

"Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Early in the morning"

The Puppet hovered out in front of Foxy, preventing it from attempting to make the children happy. Foxy looked up at the Puppet to better analyze the situation. However, looking up, it did not identify the Puppet as Store Property anymore. The expression on its face showed too much of a negative happiness response for Foxy to identify it as anything other than a crying child.

-CHILD UNHAPPY-

"Hey there, matey? Come to join in?"

The Puppet extended its arm towards Foxy's face. Foxy, like the other animatronics, was programmed to allow children to touch it, but only for a few seconds to prevent damage.

"What's that matey? You want a hug?"

The Puppet touched Foxy between his eyes. Immediately, Foxy began to accumulate errors.

-CHILD UNHAPPY-CHILD UNHAPPY-CHILD UNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPY-CHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILD-CHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPYCHILDUNHAPPY-