A/N: I apologize for making you all wait for this next chapter! However, summer is quickly coming to an end and conventions and school are beginning to take over my life once again... I will definitely continue this story, but I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out. For now, enjoy Night 4! :D
It's Been So Long-Night 4
Riley walked into Fazbear's Fright clutching his backpack tightly with one hand and brandishing his flashlight in front of him with the other. It was his fourth night at the horror attraction, and he had resolved not to take any crap from the animatronics, whether they be hallucinations or Springtrap peering around the doorframe. Rounding the corner that revealed the long window looking into his office, Riley noted that, once again, Springtrap was no longer where it had fallen the night before. However, due to his conversation with the surprisingly outspoken animatronic the night before, he had a feeling that it had moved itself out of the way...
To his relief, Riley made it to his office with no incident. He knew that he didn't necessarily need to rush around the corner so fast that he lost traction on the floor for a split-second and nearly slammed into the empty Freddy suit hanging in the hallway, but he wanted to be at that desk well before twelve am.
It was, in fact, eleven-fifty when Riley was fully settled in his chair. He quickly wolfed down his sandwich and a cup of coffee, knowing that he would probably not have time to eat and didn't want to risk spilling a beverage all over the electronic monitors. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he fried the REBOOT function...
Just as he was throwing the empty cup into the trash can by his side, the phone on the desk began to ring; it was now twelve am.
"Uh, hello? Hello, hello?" the familiar voice said as the pre-recorded message began to play on speaker.
"Yo," Riley responded absently, since there was nothing better to do at the moment than talk to a voice from decades ago.
"Uh, there's a slight change of policy concerning the use of the suit! Um...don't."
Riley frowned; the guy sounded very...stressed at the moment.
"After learning of an unfortunate incident at the central location involving multiple and simultaneous spring lock failures, the company has seen the suits temporarily unfit for our employees. Safety is top priority at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which is why the classic suits will be retired to an appropriate location while being looked at by our technicians."
"W...what?" Riley questioned, staring wide-eyed at the phone. "You mean the death-trap suits actually did hurt somebody?!" Of course, the phone guy couldn't answer his question and continued to speak on his own train of thoughts.
"Until replacements arrive, you will be expected to wear the temporary costumes provided to you. Keep in mind that they were found on very short notice, so questions based on appropriateness/relevance should be deflected.
"I repeat, the classic suits should not be touched, activated, or worn. That being said, we are free of liabilities- do as you wish.
"As always, remember to smile; you are the face of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!"
"I highly doubt the poor guy in the 'spring lock failure' suit cares about that," Riley muttered at the phone call disconnected. He pressed the AUDIO button and let the child's laughter sound in the far-away party room. "They were just asking for a lawsuit with those things...I mean- aww, crap, you're already here?!"
The withered child was staring back at Riley through the monitor. As he placed the tablet on the desk and rebooted the ventilation system, only jumping slightly when the thing lunged at him, Riley recalled that the child was actually named "Balloon Boy," and it was one of the mascots at the early Pizzeria locations.
During the extended research that he had done before his shift that night, he found that there were actually "newer" versions of the main animatronics in the third official Pizzeria site. For some reason, the management of the restaurant chain had decided that the animatronics needed a new look, and set to work creating an alternate brand, using the old animatronics for spare parts.
While Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica had been largely unchanged with regards to their placement on stage and their robotic personalities, management had brought out a very old animatronic known as "The Marionette" that reportedly only responded to a certain music box. Additionally, they had added "Balloon Boy" and good old Foxy had been unceremoniously replaced with a newer fox animatronic that could be taken apart and put back together by the children visiting the Pizzeria. Because of how disheveled it would be at the end of every day, the employees referred to it as "The Mangle."
However... for some reason, management thought it would be a good idea to leave Mangle on as the children were playing with it, and, as Riley had correctly guessed right before he read the corresponding article, Mangle had in fact been the one responsible for biting someone on the head in 1987, causing severe brain damage.
Things at that particular location had quickly gone downhill after that, and that Pizzeria was shut down. When it was re-opened in a new location a few months later, management had done away with everyone except the original Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy: the crew that was now haunting Riley's delusions throughout his six-hour shift.
"Shit!" Riley exclaimed when Foxy managed to catch him by surprise. Angrily slamming the REBOOT ALL button, Riley glanced at the clock and groaned; it was only three-thirty. He didn't know how much longer he could last- despite only having six hour shifts, the disturbing hallucinations and the creepy Springtrap had been keeping Riley awake anytime he tried to get some rest outside of work.
Suddenly, Riley heard an unfamiliar noise. He paused mid-swivel as he was turning his chair back to the tablet and remained still, listening intently. The noise appeared to be coming from...the ceiling?
"Oh, hell no!" Riley yelled, looking up at the vent situated almost directly over his head. Grabbing the tablet and moving out of the way, he remembered that there was in fact a camera in each of the vents; he flipped the tablet screen to the closest vent and saw none other than Springtrap staring right back at him, a grin plastered across its rotting face.
Horrified, Riley slammed his hand on the button that would seal off the vent. He knew that this would only make the ventilation systems fail faster, but there was no way he was going to let that rabbit drop right on top of him. Holding his breath, Riley listened again. There was silence for a moment, and then he heard the animatronic retreat away from the room.
"T-this is not okay...," Riley muttered, releasing his breath and sitting back in his chair. Not only was Springtrap too smart for the era it was made in, but it was surprisingly aggressive; the thing must really want some attention if it was going to crawl through the vents just to get to him.
The fact that Springtrap could now reach him from every angle unnerved Riley enough that he slipped up once again and played the audio too late. Luckily, this happened towards the end of his shift and, even more important, Springtrap was running towards the doorway instead of through the vent, which meant that the false security guard would be able to see it coming.
This time, to Riley's surprise, the animatronic decided to come from the other direction, and therefore passed by the long window at the front of the office. Riley saw him appear and tried to stare the rotting rabbit down as long as he could, but the failing ventilation forced him to look away and he saw the streak of gold run past the window out of the corner of his eye.
"H-Hello again," Riley said, quickly placing the monitor back down as Springtrap appeared in the doorway. The rabbit animatronic's grin widened, and Riley could swear that something was behind those faded teeth...but he assumed it must just be the robot's endoskeleton.
"Hello, young one," Springtrap responded, once again in that non-robotic voice. Riley frowned.
"Why do you sound like that? ...Er, can you actually answer that question?" He scratched the back of his head absently. "That might be beyond your programming..."
"Is there something wrong with my voice?" Apparently, this question was not beyond the animatronic's programming. Riley found this ability to respond to every question he posed increasingly concerning.
"It's just-oh, crap." Riley heard the aggravating beeping noise of a system failure. He knew that taking his eyes off of Springtrap was probably a bad idea, but he'd rather look away for a second than pass out for much longer because of a lack of air. Glancing at the systems, he saw that it was in fact the cameras that were going berserk. He quickly jammed the REBOOT CAMERA button and looked back up at the golden rabbit in the doorway. To Riley's relief, the only way that Springtrap had moved was to stand up straight and tilt the one fully-formed ear downwards slightly, as if confused.
"It's a lot of work being the security guard here, heh heh," Riley said, chuckling nervously. While the animatronic's voice put him on edge, Riley felt even more uncomfortable if it was silent; the false security guard always felt as if the rabbit was analyzing him...or sizing him up.
"Is it, now?" Springtrap's tone seemed strangely condescending. The ear raised up straight again and the rabbit tilted its head slightly.
"Yes...?" Riley responded, though it sounded like a question. The robot could certainly put a lot of emotion in its voice.
"You've only been here for...three nights before this, yes?"
Frowning, Riley nodded.
"...Then you certainly have no idea of what being the guard is really like."
Riley simply stared at the animatronic, trying to understand the meaning behind those words. When the rabbit failed to elaborate, Riley sighed and said:
"Look, I'm...pretty busy. Is there...something that you want? I could...I could play that laugh again; you seem to like that-"
"I hate that incessantly aggravating laughter!" Springtrap quickly snapped back. He flexed a rotting hand, as if demonstrating that his extreme dislike of the child's laugh could cause physical repercussions. Riley gulped and, without taking his eyes off of the rabbit, felt around the systems log until his hand landed on the REBOOT AUDIO button, which he pressed forcefully.
"Oh, well...I have to test it out, you know," Riley said, his tone a bit desperate. He didn't like the way that the rabbit was glaring at him. "I have to make sure it works in all of the rooms, and...such..."
"...Of course you do." Springtrap narrowed his eyes and took a step towards the guard, making Riley quickly grasp the tablet and wheel his chair backwards a few inches.
"Hey, whoa...why don't you, uh, stay over there?" Frantically, he gestured with one hand to the open doorway, using the other arm to tightly clutch the precious tablet to his chest.
"It's been so long since I've been able to walk around, let alone speak to someone that wasn't a voice inside my head...and now you want me to simply leave?" Springtrap let out a dark sort of chuckle. "You're such...interesting company, Night Guard. I've never seen a human tremble so much."
"'H-Human?!'" Riley repeated, trying unsuccessfully to control the terrified tremors that were beginning to wrack his body. The closer proximity of the animatronic was setting off alarm bells in his mind, but there was nothing he could do to get away; it was still blocking the door, and, curse his parents' unfortunate genes, Riley was too short to reach the vent above him, even if he stood on the desk.
The animatronic paused mid-step, as if realizing that it had said something unusual. Slowly placing its foot back on the ground, one ear twitched as it said:
"...Malfunction. I meant to say 'friend.'"
Riley couldn't hold back the barking, terrified laugh that bubbled up and escaped his throat. That last sentence had been the final straw; he wasn't sure how, but Riley knew that this animatronic obviously had some sort of...special personality that was able to respond to anything that he said.
"Malfunction, huh?" He looked the robot dead in the eyes, and stood up, still gripping his tablet. "...That's complete bullshit."
This time, both of the rabbit's ears twitched.
"Now, now, that isn't the sort of language we use here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza...," it said, softly, keeping its gaze level with the guard's. Riley heard a beeping noise and mentally cursed; this was not the time for a system to fail...
"Oh, cut the crap," he said to the animatronic, trying to put up a tough front despite the new set of tremors preparing to overtake his body. "Your voice is...wrong. It sounds too...human."
"You must be mistaken." The tone of Springtrap's voice had changed; it now sounded like it was trying to make it's scarily human-like voice sound robotic. "I am your favorite friendly bunny; would you like to be friends?"
"Not after you tried to crawl through the freakin' vent!" The beeping was getting louder, and the emergency lights began to flash red. Speaking of vents, Riley realized that he had never re-opened the one that the animatronic had tried to crawl through earlier that night.
Shit, the false security guard thought, his vision beginning to haze over. He felt an increasing desire to close his eyes and take a little nap...
"That was simply another malfunction," Springtrap responded in that same fake robotic, almost mocking tone. Riley could swear that its eyes flashed.
"It was not!" the guard argued. He didn't know how long he could keep this up. He had the tablet in his hands, but in the commotion of being startled he had accidentally changed it to one of the camera screens instead of the system control panel. There was no way he could switch it without looking down, as he was not quite familiar with the placement of that particular setting enough to find it simply by touch, and he was hesitant to let even a second pass with his attention diverted from the creepy animatronic.
Springtrap was silent for a few seconds, before its mouth opened in a wide grin. It said, back to its normal, low voice:
"...You're right. It was completely intentional."
And with that, it lunged for the guard.
Letting out an embarrassingly high-pitched scream, Riley dashed around to the other side of the desk. He lost traction on the slick, tile floor and there was a split second of complete terror in which he pitched forward, almost falling onto the tablet. However, he quickly managed to right himself and position his body so that it was at the opposite corner from the rabbit.
The lack of ventilation was making his breathing extremely labored. Quickly, oh so quickly, Riley glanced down at the tablet and jammed the SYSTEMS button, then hit the REBOOT VENTILATION one when it appeared.
While the guard was doing this, Springtrap was slowly making its way around the desk. It was taking slow, deliberate steps, as if it were trying to play some perverse game of two-person tag.
"Don't you want to play, young one?" it asked in an almost eerily soothing tone, as if it were talking to a scared child. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"That is one of the biggest lies I've ever- get the hell away from me!" Riley screeched the last part of his sentence as the rabbit made another sudden lunge. Logically, Riley thought that it would be very slow and lumbering due to its side and lack of maintenance. However, the animatronic was surprisingly fast, and the guard was barely able to move out of the way before it tried to grasp the fabric of his uniform.
Clutching the tablet tightly to his chest, Riley dashed out of the room, his heart beating fast. He knew that all of his stuff was still in the office, but at the moment, he was more concerned about not getting caught by the crazed animatronic. As he rounded the corner, past the empty Freddy suit, he took a second to glance through the long window into the office.
Springtrap saw him staring back through the window and rushed up to it, slamming its hands on the glass and letting out a horrifyingly in-human screech. Riley attempted to cover his ears to the best of his ability; it sounded like a cross between a human and a robotic scream, similar to the sound the hallucinations made when they jumped at him... only this was much more intense.
What the hell is it, what is it, what IS it?! Riley mentally repeated as he took off down the hallway, heading for the party room. If the fact that it could respond instantly to whatever he said, and with its own personality no less, wasn't enough to convince Riley that Springtrap was not a friendly animatronic, that screeching noise was. It was obviously something completely different that Riley didn't understand...nor did he necessarily want to.
He and the animatronic played a terrifying, one-sided game of tag for the next hour. Riley realized that, though he could hide for a short amount of time, eventually the rabbit would wander into the room that he was in, attracted by the shuffling of feet or Riley's increasingly-labored breathing. However, the guard could lead the aggravated animatronic away by playing the child's laughter in another room; he had to be careful, though, for if he played it in a room too far away from their current location, Springtrap wouldn't respond to the audio cue and continue his search for the guard.
At five forty-five, Riley finally decided to give up and leave early. He cautiously made his way towards the nearest emergency exit and, thankful that the automatic alarm system hadn't been hooked up yet, pushed open the door as quietly as he could. Just as he did so, an inhuman screech sounded from a hallway to the right; Springtrap's thundering footsteps were heading right for the guard. Yelping, Riley rushed out the door.
"Aw, crap!" he exclaimed after he was a good twenty feet away from the building; he had forgotten to close the door behind him! Now Springtrap was loose in the streets, free to frighten any unfortunate passerby that might come across it. Turning back towards the doorway, Riley mentally debated his odds of survival if he went back to close the door.
To his surprise, instead of being right on his tail, Springtrap was simply standing in the doorway, staring after the frightened guard. It was almost as if he was...stuck; there seemed to be an invisible barrier that prevented the animatronic from leaving the attraction.
"Well, at least they got one thing right with the robots' programming...," Riley muttered to himself. Grinning with relief, he gave the sneering Springtrap a salute, turned on his heel, and headed home, beginning the mental debate of whether it was worth his life to spend another shift at Fazbear's Fright.