Frank Faz's disappearance was the straw that had broken Fazbear Entertainment's back. They had been focusing on dealing with the media storm their previous night guard Mike Schmidt had unleashed on them, so when Frank went missing, they had an open spot that a blood-hungry media was happy to attack. There had simply been too many accidents, too many tragedies, and too many disappearances for Fazbear Entertainment to be able to both avoid police investigations and keep the store running. They chose the former. There were too many loose ends to reclaim anything from the store, so Fazbear Entertainment simply dropped it. The store was left to rot, along with everything in it.

…

Freddy didn't know what to do. He hadn't known what to do for years now. It had been a very long time since they had last fought the Purple Man, longer than any time they had been put into storage. This time at least, they hadn't been put into a box in some warehouse, but he wasn't sure that this was any better. He and his friends had been just forgotten. It wasn't like they ever enjoyed being forced in their movements, constantly singing the same songs, without having the pleasure that they once had of playing with the children, but at least then, they could see children being happy. Now, they were stuck in a dark, damp store, facing empty seats.

Wasn't there something that they were supposed to do? Why were they there in the first place? Freddy looked into his programming

-Directives:

-MAKE CHILDREN HAPPY-

-ENCOURAGE BUYING OF FAZBEAR PIZZA AND TOKENS-

-STAY IN THE STORE-

-OBEY FAZBEAR ENTERTAINMENT POLICY RULES-

These had been Freddy's goals in life for as long as he could remember. But…how was he supposed to do that now? He could stay in the store, and he could obey the rules downloaded into his head, but how could he make children happy and encourage them to eat pizza if they weren't here anymore? This bothered Freddy so much. But what bothered him more than his inability to fulfill his purpose was his unease that this wasn't all there was too it.

The Purple Man. Something to do with the Purple Man. Freddy knew this, even though he didn't really know how he knew it. He thought he used to. Maybe it had something to do with the rules, something about endoskeletons now being allowed to go without a suit on, but that didn't seem right. The rules…whatever Freddy was supposed to do, he didn't think it was in the rules.

Guys?

Yeah, Freddy?

I wanted to ask a question.

What is it Freddy, you old landlubber?

…What are we supposed to be doing?

No one answered immediately. Chica was the first to say anything.

You know what we're supposed to do Freddy. You know the rules.

Don't you think that there's something…I don't know, something outside of the rules?

…The rules are all there are Freddy. We don't have anything else.

But there's no kids here. That's half of the rules that don't matter anymore. And if you think about it, without kids, the other two directives don't make sense either. We're supposed to make kids happy. But how are we supposed to do that if we have to stay in the store?

We're waiting for the kids, Freddy.

But there aren't any kids here, Bonnie! Look at this place, there's no pizza, the games don't work anymore, it's dark, it's wet, it's scary! No kid wants to come in here!

…It's what this place was built for, Freddy. It's what we were built for.

But the store isn't doing what it's supposed to do! Yeah, the store is meant for kids. But that's something else. The store isn't doing what it's supposed to do, so what's the point of the rules at all?

Freddy, stop! We can't think of that. Listen, I know we don't have any kids to entertain. But the directives are all we have left. Look…kids will come back. Someone's going to get the store open again. It's going to happen.

You might be right. But if the store opens again, the Purple Man will come back.

Foxy, we don't know that…

He will come back. He always does.

Freddy hated to admit it, but Foxy was right. As long as he could remember, as long as the store was around, the Purple Man was there. Freddy could remember him as far back as he could remember working at the store. In fact, now that he thought about it, somehow Freddy could remember the Purple Man from even before he started performing.

Guys, do you remember anything from before we came here? Before we started to perform, I mean.

They couldn't answer.

Freddy…we've always performed. As long as there were kids, we performed. We made them happy.

I remember there were days when we had to stay in storage when we were replaced for a bit...

Freddy could feel Bonnie shudder. Those weren't good days.

And I remember when we got to play with the kids between performances. But before all that…well…I guess we were just made in a factory, or wherever animatronics like us come from.

Come on, guys! Isn't there anything at all? Don't you remember anything?

I…I might…

What? What is it Foxy?

I remember…back when there were still kids…and the Purple Man was still here…it was when he tricked you guys…and when my last body got broken…I remembered something.

What was it?

A name. I don't really remember what it was…but I remember that I remembered it.

That doesn't make any sense.

How do you know you remember a name at all if you don't remember what it is?

Because it wasn't Foxy. I wasn't always Foxy.

What?
I just know that. I know I wasn't always Foxy.

That makes even less sense. You've always been Foxy, for as long as I can remember.

Are you sure? How far back can you remember?

Well…why is that important anyway? What's so special about that other name?

I'm not so sure…but I think it had something to do with the Purple Man. The Purple Man did something.

What…you think the Purple Man did something to you when you had that other name?

…He…He did something…to that person…with the name…

I thought you said it was your name though?

My…that name…the person who had that name…

…

Foxy, are you sure about this?

Yes…I know it.

But you don't remember your name.

…No…but I know I had one.

Do you remember if we had other names?

I don't know…I think so…

Do you remember any of them?

…No…I'm sorry.

…

Freddy?

There's something…I know there is…

Freddy, where are you going?

I need to think.

Freddy, we've got limited power, we should save it for when we need something important!

…If you want to stop me, you can.

What? No! Freddy, this isn't fair! You don't get to decide this!

Freddy! C'mon, what do you think you're doing?

Walking. Anywhere. I need to think.

Darn it Foxy, look what you've made him do!

I'm…I'm sorry…

Freddy! Freddy!

Freddy walked off of the stage by himself. He wasn't sure about what Foxy had told him. He couldn't remember a time that he had ever been anything but Freddy. But there was something to what Foxy said to. Freddy let himself think. He retreated into himself.

There were others. There were others like them, at the newer store. They were animatronics, but they didn't understand that they were animatronics at first. They didn't even think of themselves as animatronics. Did Freddy ever think like that? He tried to remember them, but they didn't last long. They were only around for a few days before the bite of '87. There wasn't much to remember. Still though, there had been someone else with them that Freddy had known longer. It had been there for a long time…since Freddy could remember, since the Purple Man.

It was a Puppet. The Puppet was the first animatronic Freddy had met. But what had happened to the Puppet? It wasn't dismantled with the Toy animatronics (that's what they were called, Freddy remembered), but what had happened to it? Where was it now? Freddy tried as hard as he could, but he just couldn't remember. But there was someone else though, Freddy realized. There was someone else he had known along with the Puppet...before the Puppet…before even the Purple Man. There was a name. Freddy couldn't remember it, but not being able to remember it made him afraid. It made him very afraid. He couldn't move on if he couldn't remember. The name, what was it? Was it Freddy's? The one he had before? Freddy didn't think so. As he thought about it, it seemed so unimportant. But the name, the one that Freddy had forgotten, what was it? What was it? The struggle was hurting Freddy in a way that he had never been hurt before. He couldn't remember feeling pain before, even when he had been set on fire and re-stuffed into a suit. This…it was hurting his inner being, something Freddy couldn't possibly understand but knew was there. He hung his head, exhausted.

I'm sorry I can't remember you, I'm sorry…

I'm sorry…

I'm sorry…

Robbie.

The name just came to him. Robbie. That was the name. But what was important about Robbie? Freddy didn't know. He just knew that he was. His purpose was to help Robbie. That was why Freddy needed to kill the Purple Man. If he could do that, Robbie would be okay. But where was Robbie?

Freddy walked around a corner, and saw something. It wasn't a customer, an employee, the Purple Man, or anything that Freddy had ever seen before. What he saw he was certain wasn't Robbie, but it was too bizarre to ignore.

His shadow was standing in front of him. Freddy looked at the floor, wondering how his shadow was standing up, but saw that his shadow was still attached to him. Whatever this was, it wasn't his shadow…as far as Freddy could tell.

Follow me.

The Shadow Freddy began to walk away. Freddy ran after it. He had no idea what this was.

Who are you?

The Shadow simply continued to walk.

Follow me.

Freddy struggled to keep up with the figure.

Can you help me find Robbie?

It occurred to Freddy that since he only just now remembered the name Robbie, it was unlikely that anyone else would know him here, but the figure still didn't address him beyond what he continued to say.

Follow me.

Freddy followed the figure. He had walked around here before. He had walked around this entire store before. The figure wasn't showing him anything new.

What do you want?

Suddenly, Shadow Freddy vanished.

What? Where did you go? Where are you?

Freddy tried to continue on where he had last seen Shadow Freddy.

-ERROR-

Freddy couldn't move on. What he was looking at in front of him didn't make any sense. It wasn't a wall. It wasn't something that Freddy had bumped into. It was something that he couldn't interact with. It wasn't empty space either. Freddy just couldn't perceive or conceptualize it in any way.

-ERROR-

Freddy struggled to disengage himself with the anomaly.

-ERROR-

Freddy thought he heard something.

He saw a purple face with black eyes and mouth, and then nothing.