Deus Ex Machina Ch. 3

AN: Hello everyone. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've submitted anything. I recently got a new job that keeps me busy, and on top of that I've been hard at work on my original pieces. That being said, if you're interested in Greek Mythology, be sure to check out my new book on Amazon! Oracle by J. C. Roberts. If you like my other pieces, you'll definitely enjoy it. Don't forget to leave a review if you do pick it up. Thanks! -Kiba

The entity that called itself Mike Schmidt sat, staring intently at the phone. He'd tried to warn his friend, to tell him of the danger that lurked in the safe room. In truth, he didn't know why he'd even revealed its location to him in the first place.

Something inside of him was thrilled at the thought of having a friend. He knew the name of that something, too, though she rarely enjoyed giving it. Understandable, they both reasoned. If her identity was revealed, they would come for them.

If they captured Mike Schmidt, it'd be the end of them both. She'd been disappointed when she'd learned that the others did not function the way she did. Worse, she was unsure what became of her old friends.

For the first time in her life, she felt...depression. Sadness. Loneliness. The real Michael Schmidt, only half of the new life that was Mike, attempted to comfort her, but it was no consolation. Not until they met the new night guard anyway.

Do you think he's okay?

You're asking me?

You are more skilled with these...feelings...than I am.

Feelings are for emotions. What you're referring to are called 'instincts'. Hunches. Sometimes people call them gut feelings, so I can understand the confusion.

So is he…?

We won't know until morning. We can't go there now. It'll be too suspicious to show up when we're not on duty.

Mike suddenly felt a piercing pain in his skull. Hands traveled upward to grip his head as the purplish figure fell to his knees.

Brace yourself.

Bit late for a warning.

Would some exotic butters make you feel better?

I see you're starting to develop a sense of humor. When the pain subsided, leaving them on the floor, he tried to recollect himself. What in the world was that?

A repair signal. I managed to intercept it thanks to the taps I put on the incoming beacon of the rental facility. Foxy is heavily damaged and Chika is experiencing glitches in her programming. Should we forward it on?

Michael considered it briefly before nodding. Send in the report for Foxy. If he caused it, they will be expecting the report. As for Chika, leave her be. There's no reason to let them take her.

The feminine entity complied with his request. Once completed, she gave Michael a mental nudge. Just checking...you are okay with this, aren't you?

This?

You know...sharing.

It's a bit late to ask my opinion, don't you think?

If I'd asked you before, you'd have said no.

...Yeah, I suppose that's true. I'd have at least tried to figure out another way. Even still, I probably wouldn't have been able to get the others out, so maybe this is for the best. Mike reached over to the remote beside him, flipping the channel on the TV and popping some more popcorn into his mouth. While sustenance wasn't as necessary for him now as it once had been, it helped to feel more...human.

Maybe we should call him. Just to double check.

Waves of concern echoed within Mike's mind. This was new. Michael hadn't seen her behave like this before. Where is this coming from? You're acting...different.

Different as in bad?

Different as in abnormal. You've never shown such concern before. What brings it on?

She considered the question for a moment, unsure of what to say. I don't know. Either way though, it doesn't change that I just am. What if he…

Michael didn't even let her finish before punching the numbers in on the phone. As Mike held it up to his ear, there was a silent tension between the two that controlled him.

"H-hello?" Justin's voice came through shakily.

"Hey, it's me again. I warned you not to open that door didn't I?"

There was a slight pause as Justin fumbled around with something on the desk. "You didn't think to maybe tell me that the God-damned ghost of William Afton was haunting an animatronic that just so happened to be sealed in the same room that my friend went into?" he growled hoarsely.

"It's not a ghost. That's the real William Afton."

"How is that freaking possible? William Afton is dead!"

"He's not dead. I told you he was looking for the secret to immortality. Well he found it...sort of."

"SORT OF?!" Justin blared. "I watched him crush Foxy's head like a damned koosh ball and you're telling me he's 'sort of' immortal? And while we're on the subject, did you not think it was important to mention your Mom was a ghost, too?"

A shudder ran through Mike as he held the phone there. "M-my mother?" Michael's voice pierced through the veil like a shot. "My mother is...dead?"

"You...didn't know?" Justin asked. "Oh God...I'm so sorry Mike. I didn't…"

"Your shift is over, right? Head back into the safe room. There's a tunnel behind the shelf with the different animatronic heads. There's something we need to discuss." With that, he hung up the phone.

You're going to tell him? As in...tell him everything?

You sound a little bit excited.

I want him to get to know me. I want us to be friends.

Yeah well…Michael paused, knowing what he was about to say may very well upset her. There wasn't much that could do it, but every now and then she reminded him just how advanced she really was. Let's not hold our breath, okay?

I don't understand.

It means the outcome is unlikely, so the more you hope for it, the more it will disappoint you.

Oh.

I quickly scooped my things up and away. I took a moment to grab the next tape in the series and poked my head out the door. Sure enough, the animatronics were gone, most likely back to the stage. No sign of the freaky puppet either.

Thank goodness, too, That thing gave me the willies. Killer robots, like I said, I could deal with. Ghosts and haunted dolls? No thank you. Making sure the music box was wound up completely, I stepped out into the hall and moved towards the safe room.

Now that I knew Mike knew more than he was letting on, I was going to get some answers. He would tell me what I wanted to know. I had no intentions of leaving him alone until he did.

Just as I entered the safe room, there was a mechanical cough behind me. Wheeling about I saw Chika standing there. I quickly put up my hands defensively, causing her to give a start of her own. "W-wait! I'm sorry. I'm not going to put you in the costume. I promise."

My eyes ran up and down her suspiciously. Sure enough, she'd placed her hands behind her back. She didn't look as if she was going to attempt to grab me. Even still, I took a step back into the safe room to be sure. WIth the gap between us, I relaxed a little. "You're not? Why not? And aren't you supposed to be on the stage right now?"

"Yes but...I am awaiting pick up from maintenance alongside Foxy. As such, I am to wait in the storage room on stand by. I just saw you as I was headed that way, so I wanted to talk."

"Talk?" I repeated incredulously. "Talk about what? About how you and your freaky friends want to murder me? Or about how a man who should be dead was able to kill a murderous robot fox with his bare hands."

"M-murder?" she whirred, trying to pronounce the word. "What is 'murder'?"

I sighed trying to find a way to respond. I don't know why I didn't just turn around and leave. Admittedly, she'd saved me earlier from Freddy. I suppose I at least owed her a bit of polite conversation.

"It's like...when someone forces you to malfunction so badly you stop working."

"Killed?"

"Yes. Killed. Murder means someone killed someone else."

"That is...troubling. I hope you know that we don't want to murder you."

I scoffed. "Could have fooled me."

"Really! We don't. It's just that...you have to follow the rules. We all do. If you don't get in a suit, then you'll be taken away by maintenance and if you still won't get in your suit you'll be…"

"Be…?"

Her eyes lowered for a moment. "I'm...not sure. But whatever it is, it isn't fun. The last security guard had that problem, too. He didn't want to get into his suit neither. Eventually he left to go somewhere else."

"You really don't get it, do you? I mean, you don't understand that I'm not a machine."

"Machine?"

Great, how would I possibly explain this to her? That's when it hit me. She put in a work order! That meant she must have some sort of schematics in her database. "Chika, what are you made out of?"

"Oh! Umm...Iron, Carbon, Silicon…"

"Right! Those things! Machines are made out of those. I'm not. I'm made of skin and muscle and bone."

Her eyes scanned me curiously. "But I detect within you traces of Iron, Carbon, Silicon…"

"Yes, yes. I do have some of that in me, too. But look at the concentrations. See how much more my varies from yours?"

"But of course. We are different sizes. Such variation is only natural."

"Look. Let's put it this way. You're an endoskeleton in a costume, right?" She nodded. I gestured to my body. "This is my costume. The only difference between us is, my endoskeleton doesn't come out. It stays there. If you remove my endoskeleton...I die. I'm killed. Get it?"

"I've...never heard of such a thing."

"Well, you've seen kids, right?"

"Yes. They are interesting little things."

"Well, imagine that I'm a reeeeally tall kid."

"Like a parent?"

"Yes. Like a parent. Except I don't have a kid. That's called an 'adult'."

Her eyes glowed brightly for a moment. She even seemed to smile at me for a second. Wait, was this actually working? Was I really getting through to her? "I have learned many new things because of you. I really like this. Like? Yes. Like. That is the word."

"Right. Well...I've got to go. Shift's over."

"Wait."

I froze. "Yes?"

"Will you be back tomorrow? Sometimes it takes maintenance some time to perform repairs. If so...I'd like to talk with you more."

For the first time since finding out that they were sentient, I actually felt an appreciation for Chika. Maybe it was the shape of her exosuit, but she was actually kind of cute. "Yes. I'm certain I'll be coming around more often. I have things to do here that I'm not finished with. Sleep well, Chika."

"Goodbye, Justin."

I blinked in surprise. Apparently, she was taken aback by it too. "You just…"

"Apologies. I'm not sure where that came from. Perhaps it is another glitch. I meant to say 'Goodbye, night guard'." With that, she turned and shambled off down the hallway leaving me there stunned.

She knew my name. When she said it, it sent a shiver down my spine. Not necessarily in a bad way, but definitely in a way that caught me off guard. What the hell was going on around here?

Putting the question in the back of my head, I went to the shelf Mike had told me about. Sure enough, there was another hidden door behind it. Despite his tensile strength had Springtrap not known about it? It seemed unlikely if he built it. Unless…

If the Springtrap suit was already in the safe room, maybe it could stay in there. However, once he exited, if the AI was still functioning, it may not let him reenter. Maybe it wasn't allowed to enter the tunnel either. If that was the case, it would explain why he was trapped.

Pulling the door open, I slipped into the tunnel. One would always expect there to be spiderwebs or something of that nature, but instead it was just empty. A little bit of dust was on the ground, just from the air passing through the tunnel and eroding at the brick. Otherwise though it was pristine.

I flicked on my flashlight, holding it in front of me so I could see as I progressed inward. Normally, such a situation would make me cautious. The fact that Mike had withheld information from me in terms of threats upset me, but somehow, I still trusted him. I didn't feel an air of danger from the situation.

Having reached the end, I pushed on the doorway to find myself on the other side of a false wall that led into a closet. Outside of the closet was a bedroom like that for a child. I pressed further inside, clearing my throat. "Hello? Mike?"

"In here."

When I followed the sound of his voice, I found him sitting in an armchair, watching TV. It was awkward walking in on him while he was in his home. Why on earth was there even a tunnel that led here? "So...The Immortal and Restless, huh?" I asked trying to make casual conversation. "Didn't figure you for a fan of Soap Operas."

"What you're about to learn may shock you. More than anything else you've learned. It's imperative to know that we mean you no harm. You are free to leave any time you choose, but whatever is shared between us does not leave this room. Understand?"

At first, I didn't say anything. More shocking than killer robots and the return of the walking dead? That was a bitter pill to swallow. Yet, I didn't doubt that his words were true. After a few more moments of hesitation, I gave a nervous gulp. "Okay."

He stood up from the armchair, revealing that his arms were indeed the decrepit purple as I'd noticed on our first meeting. However, the scary part came when he reached up to his eyes, removing the contact lenses there to reveal glowing purple irises.

I reared back, put on edge by the unnatural light that was given off from his gaze, but still I didn't move from that spot. He grabbed a small bowl beside him that reeked of rubbing alcohol and used it to wash his face.

What I'd thought was his actual skin tone was makeup, revealing that beneath it was decrepit rotting flesh. It was then that the source of his stench became apparent. "Oh my God...you're...dead?"

"Not on your life, I'm not," he answered. "Really I'm just the opposite. Like my father, I am immortal. My body may be rotting, but I'm very much alive and will continue to be so until she is removed."

"She?" I repeated in confusion. "Who's 'she'?"

"Her name is Circus Baby. Or at least, that's what she once went by when she was an animatronic. My father designed her as he did all of the animatronics. Her purpose was to capture and extract the life essences of children. She was only successful once and...suffice to say, my father locked her away permanently."

I waved my hands in front of my face. "Hold up. You lost me. What does your father's old animatronic have to do with you being a member of the living dead?"

"Circus Baby is what keeps me alive. Allow me to explain. About twenty years ago, my father contacted me. I fear that I've spent many years of my life attempting to earn his favor. So, when he informed me that my sister was trapped in his old warehouse and needed to be freed, I thought nothing of it."

"But I thought you said your brother and sister both died."

"Look at me and tell me that that means anything when it comes to my family." When I didn't respond he nodded. "It was my sister's soul that was trapped. I got a job at the warehouse as a maintenance worker. There, I met Circus Baby. I discovered early on that she was different from my father's other creations. To be specific she'd become infused with my sister's soul. She was...more than just machine. She was a person. With the way things were there, she may as well have been tortured. She needed my help to free her, but unfortunately, there was a heavy price to pay."

"I don't understand. Why would you have to become this thing to free her? Couldn't you just...I don't know...take her outside?"

He shook his head with a scoff. "If only it were that simple. The warehouse's security was state of the art. It could read facial signatures, so that if any of the animatronics attempted to escape, it'd seal them in. Worse, they'd be given severe shocks to force them back on to their performance stages. So, Circus Baby came up with a plan. Her and the other animatronics stored there kidnapped me. They scooped themselves...that is they removed their endoskeletons from their costumes...forcibly. They then lured me to the scooping room."

Chills ran down my spine. Oh God. They'd torn Mike Schmidt...the real Mike Schmidt...they'd ripped out his insides?

"Don't mistake this. What they did, they did because they had to. I agree with Circus Baby that it was a desperate but necessary ploy. The animatronics combined and wore my body like a suit. They escaped, and all of them left. Even I don't know where they are now. However, one stayed behind. Circus Baby chose to remain in my body because she knew without her, I would die. As such, she's kept my mind alive, and given me a physical form for my soul to hold on to."

I stumbled back from him, sinking into a different arm chair in complete awe. This was too much. This was way too much. I'd started this investigation to find my friend, not to become wrapped up in something so twisted. "Why are you telling me all this?" I asked, before realizing. "Oh no. You're going to kill me, aren't you? Your body is rotting, so you're going to scoop me and use my body instead!"

Inside of Mike's mind, Circus Baby gave a shudder at the thought. For some reason, the thought of one of them being inside the other was appealing. Still, she chose not to speak. It was better, she reasoned, to let Michael do the talking.

"No. As I stated earlier, we've no intentions of harming you. We're telling you this because...we trust you and we need your help. William Afton isn't done. Not by a long shot. If he's escaped, no one is safe. Not you, not me, and not your friend."

Like that, anger boiled in my veins. I was up in a flash, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pinning him against the wall. It took him off guard, but I was ready to follow up by smashing his face in. "You son of a bitch! You know where she is?! Tell me! Tell me what happened to Casey, or I swear I'll…"

His hand grabbed mine and with the same amount of effort as making a paper airplane, he twisted my wrist away from him. I winced as he kicked the back of my knee, shoving me down. Pain lanced through my arm as he held me like that. I could tell if he wanted to he'd be able to rip me limb from limb. "You need to calm down," a feminine voice instructed me. "We are not your enemy, but if you attack us again, we will have to treat you as such."

"Let me guess," I winced. "Circus Baby?"

"Correct. Your friend, Casey, no longer exists. At least, she is unaware of her own existence. By your definition, you could say she is a ghost. Her body has long since expired, I'm certain. Even still, we may be able to help you get revenge."

"She means 'justice'."

"Just...us? I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it. I'll explain later. For now, let's just let him process this for a second." Like that, the grip on my hand released, causing me to hold it to my chest, rubbing it tenderly. "Sorry about Baby. She's...learning. Advanced as she is, she is still a machine after all. But she is right. If you want justice for your friend, we can help you. But we'll need your help, too."

"Help with what?"

"Taking down Afton once and for all. As you may have noticed, our animatronic bodies give us incredible strength. If he was dangerous before, imagine what he could do now."

I looked at him skeptically. "What do you care? Aren't you still trying to win your father over?"

He gave a wheezing chuckle. "No, I've given up on that. I've never had the murderous intent my father did. He has hated me since I was born. He even denies that I'm his son. The fact he's loose now is partially my fault. I told you about the room, when I should have continued to keep it secret. So we need to stop him. If that means forcing him back into the room, or destroying him completely...then that's all there is to it."

I nodded in understanding. "Okay. But...before I agree to help you. Can you tell me where I can find Casey's corpse? Expired or otherwise, she deserves a decent burial." Again, the duo fell silent. The disappointment that sank on my shoulders was crippling. "I see…"

"I'm sorry we can't be of more help finding your friend. The best we can do is help you however we can. Baby and I have a score to settle with our father."

I considered it for a moment. Well, one super powered robo-zombie was helpful. Chika seemed like she'd be willing to help as well if we asked. Too bad the Marionette was out of control. If she wasn't she could…I stopped that thought. "Oh! About your mother…"

"You know where she is?"

I nodded. "The Marionette. The one that the music box keeps tame. It's her. When she showed up, it scared off Springtrap. Maybe if you talk to her…"

Mike seemed puzzled by my answer. "That's not my mother," he said. "No, you're confused. That's my brother. When he was killed in the bite of '87, my father put him in that puppet."

"Not that I'm trying to upset you, but it's definitely not your brother. The voice was female. She even said she'd been married to him. She talked about how he killed his children, and even her."

The pair seemed deep in thought. Finally, Circus Baby spoke up again. "Perhaps it is a shared body, not unlike ours."

"Possible, but how?

"The same way Funtime Foxy, Funtime Freddy, and Bellora were created, perhaps. Using the souls of both of them?"

I scratched the top of my head. This was all getting confusing. Souls, monsters, and evil robots. It was all so much. "What's our next step?" I interjected. "I mean, first we have to find Will Afton, but after that we need a way to kill him."

I could sense the two were sharing an interior discussion. This time when they spoke, their voice was like I'd heard before. "That will be difficult. We have not found any methods of killing one such as ourselves."

"I thought you said that if you removed your endoskeleton that Mike would die."

"That is correct but–"

"But, we are different from my father. Will Afton was killed by the spring lock mechanism. The only reason he is still alive and can even move is because of all the essences of the children he murdered. We'd have to extract that from him, first."

Considering it for a moment, I snapped my fingers in realization. "I got it!"

"Really? This ought to be rich."

"Let him speak. Go ahead, Justin."

"You were created because you were scooped and Circus Baby went into your body. You said so yourself that she's keeping you alive."

He nodded, puzzled.

"We scoop him."

"That won't–"

"Actually, that very well may be a possible solution. It's so simple and ingenious. I don't know why we haven't thought of it before." Mike's fingers drummed on the table that we'd sat at to talk. "It's like us, but in reverse. He is inside of Springtrap. By removing me, you would die. But since the mechanical part of him can't die…"

"And since it serves as his skeleton," I added.

"Reason dictates that doing so would kill Will Afton. Or at the very least, it would make him incapable of any further action."

I clapped my hands together. "Then it sounds like we have a plan. So, what do we do about it? How do we find him?"

"Need I remind you two that he also knows about the scooper room? Getting him in there will be tricky."

"Then we set some bait."

"What do you use to bait a nearly seventy year old serial killer?" I asked.

Mike smirked. "The one thing that he fears more than anything: being caught. We collect some evidence on his misdeeds, and we set it up so that he thinks you have it. Then we just have to set someone up in the sister location."

My phone began to buzz angrily in my pocket. Pulling it out, I looked at the number to see it was the manager. "I doubt that will be an issue," I told them, showing them the screen. "I'm pretty sure I'm about to be fired."

To be continued...