zoe is such a shithead i'm sorry for this extremely bad character but i can't get rid of her so i guess we're stuck with her

she's going to have a sad backstory though (because that's the only way i can do any kind of character development i'm sOrRy)

Chapter 31

*Two days later*

Fritz and Zoe had asked Vincent for a couple more days to work on the animatronics programming and any upgrades they might be able to make. Of course, that was just an excuse so that they would both be there on the same day and be able to carry out Fritz's original idea if Scott didn't tell them anything. She was the one who was going to ask Scott about Vincent, but she wished Fritz could do it.

"I've known Scott for quite a while, and our relationship has always been pretty rocky," Fritz had said the day before. "We've never really trusted each other at all. Also, I'm not really the best at talking to people. I wouldn't know where to start. You seem more confident than I am. I think you should be the one to ask him."

So there Zoe was at 8 o'clock that morning. Vincent hadn't left his room yet, so she had some time.

She found Scott in the dining room, wiping down the tables and replacing the dirty tablecloths with clean ones. She wasn't one-hundred percent sure how start. Should she be subtle and somehow work it into a conversation? Or should she be up front about it and directly ask him?

She decided to go with the second option.

Zoe marched into the room, grabbed Scott's shoulders, and spun him around to face her. "Scott, I want you to tell me how Vincent got all those scars."

The tablecloths in Scott's hand fell to the floor. "What?"

She took a deep breath. "Scott, I asked Vincent about those scars that I saw on him, and he said something about an accident. He also mentioned that you saved his life. But he didn't elaborate at all, and I've been curious. I want to know what he was talking about."

Scott blinked at her, processing this. Then he grabbed Zoe's wrists and removed her hands from his shoulders. "Look, Zoe," he sighed, "I would love to tell you. I would love to tell anyone. But I can't. Sorry."

"But-"

"Zoe." He tightened his grip on her wrists. "I can't tell you anything. I can't even tell you why I can't tell you. I'm sorry. It'll be much less dangerous for you, for everyone, if you just let it go. Forget you saw anything. Please."

Zoe was taken aback by this response. She had expected him to protest, of course, but this was slightly surprising. Why would telling her be dangerous? Why couldn't he tell her?

He let go of her and picked up the tablecloths. "Sorry, Zoe." He went back to working, as though she wasn't even there.

Zoe turned and started walking back to Parts and Service, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She sent a quick text to Fritz:

We're going with your idea.

xXx

Springtrap sighed as her internal alarm clock beeped in her head. She subconciously shut it off and sat up in bed as her software automatically switched from Night Mode to Day Mode.

Chica and Goldie were already up and dressed in their work clothes, sitting on the floor and talking. Their conversation stopped abruptly as the other three they shared the room with woke up. Spring was curious about this, but Mari and Freddy were already getting dressed for work, so she figured she should too if she didn't want to be late (again).

She sighed once again and started getting ready.

xXx

An hour later, all the animatronics were at the pizzeria and doing their designated jobs, though Springtrap was doing it rather reluctantly. Not that she didn't like her job, of course. It was just that she would rather be drawing. She never really kept her drawings as she had no where to keep them, but she enjoyed it anyway. She hadn't had any time to draw the day before, and her mind (or rather, software) was just swimming with ideas.

She plastered on a smile as she approached a family of four sitting at a table. "Hello. What can I get you?"

As the family placed their order, Springtrap's thoughts turned to her drawings. She couldn't wait for their 3 o'clock break, when she'd be free to draw again.

She looked up and saw one of the parents staring at her expectedly. She gave them an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"We would like a family-size cheese pizza and some water, please."

Spring nodded and sent the order off to Tia. "Coming right up," she said, turning and walking towards another waiting family.

xXx

At 3 o'clock, Springtrap shucked off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves. She slapped a piece of paper onto the table in front of her and set a bucket of pencil crayons next to it. Poising a pencil over the paper, she thought for a moment, unsure of where to start. She barely noticed everyone else bustling about, some cleaning up for their afternoon shift, others leaving the restaurant to take a walk, and in Tonnie's case, eating cookies on a table while Mangle swung from light fixtures and climbed up walls like Spiderman. She finally decided on an idea and let her pencil fly across the paper, creating curved lines and sharp corners, gradually bringing all the lines together into one big picture. Then she switched out her pencil for the coloured pencils and started colouring, expertly shading in shadows and blending colours. Within thirty minutes, she had finished.

She looked down at her drawing with pride. This one was of a tall humanoid animatronic. It had faceplates, like them, but its face was stuck in only one expression, with closed eyes and an open, smiling mouth. It had a pink skirt and a purple crop top kind of thing with purple ballet slippers.

"What are you drawing?"

Springtrap whirled around in surprise to see Scott standing behind her, staring down at her drawing. She shrugged. "Dunno. A ballerina, I guess." She picked up the paper and handed it to him to see.

He studied the picture for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Does she have a name?"

"Ballora," Spring blurted automatically, though she wan't sure why. The name just felt right to her.

"Have you shown your drawings to anyone else?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Not yet. Why?"

He studied the picture for a few more seconds, then handed it back to her. "You're really good at this, but you might not want to show these to anyone."

Springtrap was confused now. If he thought her drawings were good, why didn't he want her to show anyone? "What? Why not?"

Scott glanced around cautiously, as though making sure no one was listening. "Well, knowing these guys, word will spread, and it'll get to Vincent. I don't think he should see these."

"Why not?" she asked curiously. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing's wrong with them, really," Scott said. "I just- please, just promise me you won't show this to anyone else." He looked at her imploringly.

She hesitated. She really enjoyed drawing, and she wanted to be able to share her talent with her friends. But a moment later, she found herself agreeing. "Alright. I don't know why, but okay. I won't tell a soul."