Every night since the golden animatronics turned Fred on they wouldn't leave him alone. Try as Fred might every night they would visit Fred to make sure his battery hadn't died and to ask more questions. Fred felt like their prisoner at times, they didn't hurt him, well, Spring might try to but Fredbear stopped him. It was during these visits that Fred learned more about how the golden animatronics' diner worked, it was mostly the same but there were subtle differences. For instance Spring and Fredbear shared everything, their time with the kids, the cake they served, who did what on their stage. Fred was awed by the programming these two animatronics had. But it was too good to be true, Fred knew that something was off, when he first met the two animatronics it was easy to see that the two balanced each other. Fredbear would keep Spring from doing something reckless and Spring would push something into action when Fredbear was too hesitant. They were great partners and Fred felt an 'emotion' take control every time he saw them laugh together and somehow communicate without speaking.
But one night Spring came down to see Fred by himself. Fred could instantly tell the rabbit was…upset? Was that the right word? Spring started pacing after he turned Fred on, the rabbit didn't say anything while he paced, and neither did Fred. The brown bear tried to think of something to say, a way to ask what happened to his golden counterpart. Fred had just opened his mouth when Spring interrupted him.
"Fredbear killed an employee today," the rabbit said quietly, he was staring at the door to Fred's room.
Fred glanced at the yellow rabbit in surprise, he had not been expecting that. He knew that this bunny and his counterpart were different than him but he wasn't sure how exactly. Fred jerked as his A.I. replayed the blueprints for his counterpart through his head. They were built differently because the golden animatronics had springs in them capable of…doing what? Fred shook his head slightly, unable to remember anything else about the setup of these new animatronics. He watched the rabbit for a moment before an…idea? Yes, an idea, popped into his head.
"Was it the springs?" The rabbit froze before spinning around and marching toward Fred. His steps were fast and soon he was towering over the sitting bear.
"How would you know that?! You should be stuck in this room! Unless everything you said about rusty servos isn't true and you actually do walk upstairs every day to spy on us! YOU WERE PROBABLY HOPING FREDBEAR WOULD GET SCRAPPED SO YOU COULD TAKE HIS PLACE! BUT I WILL NOT WORK WITH ANYONE EXCEPT FREDBEAR!"
The golden rabbit's gears were audible they were turning so fast and Fred was sure he felt heat coming off of the rabbit from their close proximity. Fred stared into the rabbit's glowing eyes for a moment, before he started laughing, well, he was pretty sure that was what he was doing. Spring's jaw dropped open as he let go of the bear and backed away, a little concerned that Fred was not as stable as they assumed.
Fred situated himself so that he was sitting with his back leaning against the wall. His gears and servos were punishing him for using so much energy. He needed to be plugged in soon, this wasn't the time for that though.
"Spring, listen to me," Fred's voice was even more glitchy after his 'laugh attack' so he spoke slowly, "I could never replace…your Fredbear, even if I wanted to. Both of your programming is to work with each other, as the only animatronics in this diner. I was never supposed to be turned on, the only reason I am probably down here is because they can get spare parts from me to fix Fredbear. Plus, my programming is not synthetic to yours, I was not made to…have a partner. And I haven't left this room since you two turned me on, even though I would love to see what your diner looks like."
Fred watched the rabbit study him, Fred had not lied, maybe bent the truth, but not lied to the rabbit. Spring stared at him, his jaw hanging open for the second time in the last ten minutes. Then the rabbit's eyes narrowed but he didn't get any closer.
"You were built before Fredbear weren't you? Is that why you look just like him?"
"Spring, did you ever think that your Fredbear looks like me?" The rabbit paused, Fred could practically see his processors running at full power, considering this new perspective. But Fred's idea worked so it was time to get back on track.
"Spring, you still haven't told me what happened to Fredbear today." The rabbit glanced at Fred before he started pacing once again. Silence settled over the two animatronics. Then Spring sighed and sat down beside the door and across from Fred. He stared at the bear for a moment before answering.
"If you know about the springs then you know that they hold our endoskeletons in place, they also make our movement more fluid. Without the springs our suits wouldn't fit correctly around our endoskeletons, which were made big to allow a…human to fit in us." The rabbit's mouth shut and that seemed to be as much as he was willing to say about the subject.
Fred didn't mind, his processors were running at full speed as his A.I. recalled the blue print he had seen for Fredbear. These two were made to entertain like he did but also to have a human inside of them…but why? Fred had done everything just fine without a human crawling around inside of him, he shivered. That could not feel pleasant, to be outside of your suit while a human walks around in it? Ugh. He had sang, played with the children and delivered cake-that's why. That had to be, he never heard Fredbear or Spring mention delivering cake to children. They only talked about being up on stage and singing. They were removed from their suits so a human could deliver the cake at parties.
Fred had been the reason that these two were built the way they were. He had malfunctioned during a birthday party. Or at least that was the last memory he had before he had been beside Fredbear as he awoke.
"HEY! SCRAP METAL!" Fred blinked as Spring was reaching out to…probably shake him. Fred guessed the rabbit had been trying to get his attention for a while now. Spring relaxed when Fred blinked at him. Fred cocked his head at him before apologizing.
"Sorry Spring, I was processing what you said. I can't conceive what it would be like to have a human inside your suit while you aren't in it." Spring looked away before studying Fred and was going to reply when the door to the basement opened. Spring hurried to the figure in the doorway and hugged him. Fredbear looked a little surprised at the gesture but didn't push the rabbit away, he glanced up at Fred and his eyes widened in at the look at the brown bear's face. What was that…expression? Fredbear didn't like it one bit.
Spring suddenly released him and looked away, trying not to act embarrassed but not fooling anyone. Fred saw Fredbear narrow his eyes at the expression Fred had not hidden fast enough.
/
After that the two golden animatronics seemed to switch roles. Spring did most of the talking with Fred and Fredbear would be in the background adding a comment here or there. That by no means meant Fredbear was rude he just didn't seem as open as before.
One night the two animatronics came down with costumes on. Fred watched in amusement as the two kept trying to take the additions off to no avail. Fredbear's purple hat had a spider somehow attached to the front and a purple cape around his shoulders. With black spider-web designs decorating it. His mouth had sharp teeth instead of the usual square ones and his pupils had been changed to a glowing red from their usual brown. Spring had the same costume except red and his eyes were a glowing gray color instead of his usual green.
Fred held in his laughter as Spring tried to take off the cape and Fredbear tried to remove his fake fangs. Fred sighed as they struggled for a few more minutes, wondering why they came down here.
"Did the employees dress you in those costumes?"
Fredbear stopped and watched Fred while Spring just gave an impatient 'yes' then continued trying to remove the teeth. Fred shook his head, unable to keep the smile off of his face. He remember when the same had been done to him. How long ago was that now? A few months? A few years? Neither of the golden animatronics had given him a date to work with.
"Do you know why they put this stuff on us?" Fredbear asked suspiciously. Spring looked at Fred as well.
"Have the employees put orange things with faces in them around the front door and in the building?" Fred received two nods.
"Have they also put pictures of disfigured women on brooms, black cats, bats and white blobs with yellow eyes saying 'Boo!' in the diner too?" Both of the dressed animatronics nodded slowly. Fredbears eyes narrowed in suspicion and Spring's widened in awe.
"So you know what the employees are doing then? And why they did this to us?" Fredbear asked. Fred knew he would be confronted by the golden bear at some point but as long as Spring was there he wouldn't do anything.
"I don't know much but I think the humans are celebrating Halloween, a festival of some sort. Don't you're A.I.'s have information on it?" The two glanced at each other before Fredbear crossed his arms and studied Fred.
"How exactly do you know about this holiday then?" Fred knew it was wrong but he lied anyway.
"Well, I shut down every night so I get updates to my A.I. that might have happened today at some point. Have either of you shut down yet?" Fred tilted his head curiously at the two animatronics who glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Spring grabbed Fredbear's arm and started dragging him out of the room, talking about how they hadn't properly shut down since the turned Fred on, they were both busy keeping him company. Fredbear allowed Spring to drag him away but gave one last glance at Fred.
Once they were gone Fred closed his eyes and listened to the creaking of the pipes and the whir of a furnace. His searched his A.I. for the memories of his first, no, his only Halloween. The black hat and black bowtie they forced on him and the costumes all the humans were wearing, Alfred in a costume eating some of the Halloween cupcakes and scaring Cupcake onto Fred's shoulder-
Fredbear stopped those memories from continuing. He already knew what Halloween was but he almost got caught, he could still be caught. If the golden animatronics' A.I.'s did not update then Fred was going to have a lot of trouble gaining back their trust, especially when Fredbear was the suspicious one.
Fred shut down his systems, oblivious to the rattling door above the basement staircase. Or the curses that followed when the door didn't budge.
/
The next night Fred was turned on to an odd sight. When he finally opened his eyes Fredbear was settling on the ground beside Spring who seemed to be shut down. Fred saw that their costumes had been removed and Fredbear was slouching, something he never did, against the wall.
"Halloween is…exhausting." Fredbear seemed unsure if that was the right word but didn't seem to care either way. He met Fred's eyes, then spoke again.
"You were right about our A.I.'s needing updates. But I don't think an abandoned animatronic would receive updates by shutting down, do you?" Fredbear raised an eyebrow at Fred, the confrontation had begun.
/
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I had to update for the holiday! (And it's been a long time since I last updated sooo….)
Anywho, time to give out candy! Please leave a fav, follow, review or all three!
