WARNING: EXAM WEEK IMMINENT.

Chapter three: Recruits

Midnight, five weeks after the events of episode 2

Douglas walked through the front door of Freddy's, shivering as he did. It was unexpectedly cold outside, and even walking the short distance from his car to the new-and-improved building had practically turned him into an icicle—though that was partly because his jacket was too thin for the current weather.

He sighed in relief when the warmth of Freddy's heating system welcomed him inside the building, prompting him to take off his jacket, revealing his guard uniform underneath. He continued walking deeper into the building and soon came across a larger room, which didn't look dissimilar to the dining area in Freddy's previous location.

On the stage sat a familiar figure with a red guitar in her hands.

Bonnie's sensitive ears had probably picked up Douglas entering the building, but she only stood up when the guard came into what seemed to be the new dining room. After gently putting her guitar on the corresponding stand, she walked towards Douglas with a grin.

"Hey, Douglas," she greeted. "How was your trip?" She then frowned. "Isn't that jacket a little too thin?"

Douglas showed an embarrassed smile and nodded. "Yeah…I kind of underestimated the weather man's predictions."

Bonnie chuckled to that. "Heh. Well, I'm glad you're here. You've got some friends to meet."

"Y-yeah, I know…" Douglas said, remembering the new anime-tronics. He gave Bonnie an inquisitive look. "Why aren't you with them now…?"

"I thought you'd want to see a familiar face first, so I thought I'd wait for you here."

"What? Y-you didn't have to do that for me…"

"But I did." She put a gentle hand on Douglas' shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Really, you should worry about how Chica and Foxy are corrupting our new members."

Douglas sighed. "Oh, no… As if those two alone weren't bad enough." He paused. "And Golden, of course."

"Exactly," Bonnie said, giggling. "Come on, let's meet them."

"U-uh, right…"

Sensing Douglas' discomfort, Bonnie gave him a reassuring look. "Don't worry," she softly said. "You'll be friends with them before you know it. They woke up a little over half an hour ago, but they're good people."

The two proceeded to walk deeper into the building, with Douglas soon marveling at how large the place was compared to the first location. This made him wonder just how much money Griffiths had invested for these upgrades.

"We've also got more merchandise than before, by the way," Bonnie said, as if she was reading his mind. "I think one of our recruits sells, like, plushies and stuff."

Douglas turned to her. "One of the new anime-tronics is in charge of selling merchandise?"

Bonnie smiled. "Well, I don't think she'll be doing the actual selling—that's probably going to be done by a human employee—but she kind of…watches over it, I suppose." She paused. "Unless Kyle does let her sell things. That'd be kind of fun."

"It would definitely be interesting. What are their names, by the way?"

"That's a good question. The others only just started thinking about names. I made a few suggestions myself, but I don't know if they've decided yet."

"I see." Douglas frowned. "I still don't understand why Griffiths didn't do that himself. It doesn't seem like him—he's usually all about planning things long before they can even happen."

"I guess he wanted to let his employees come up with names after showing them how the recruits look. I'd say that fits his MO—employees first, and all that."

Douglas smiled. "Power to the people. I suppose that does fit him."

"That reminds me." Bonnie stopped walking and turned to Douglas. "There's something we were curious about."

"What is it?"

"We've been hearing some rumors about…the past. Of Freddy's Restaurant, I mean."

"Go on," the guard said, intrigued.

"Well, while none of our sources are one hundred percent reliable, we overheard some people talking about…our predecessors."

"Golden and Spring?"

"No. Predecessors from before even they were created."

"I thought Golden and Spring were the first ones…?"

"So did we—until we heard that rumor." She put her hands up. "Again, it's probably nothing…but there might be some kind of truth to it, and it 'sparked our collective curiosity', as Freddy put it."

Douglas put a hand on his chin, looking at her. "You want me to do some investigating?"

"Only if you really want to! And if you've got the time."

Douglas shrugged. "I don't have much else to keep me busy lately—aside from doing my job here, that is. Besides, I'm kind of curious myself."

That made Bonnie smile again. "Alright. Thank you, Doug. Don't feel bad if you change your mind, though."

"Change his mind about what?" a familiar voice in front of them asked. The two looked over to see Chica peeking around the corner ahead. "The rumors?"

"Yeah," Bonnie affirmed.

"Ah." The chicken looked at Douglas, her eyes hopeful. "You're going to take a look at the restaurant's past, then?"

Douglas nodded. "That's the plan."

"Cool." She paused. "Anyway, how about you go ahead and meet our new recruits? Trust me, you're going to like them."

Douglas felt his nervousness strengthen again. "Uh…y-yeah. Okay."

Chica gave him a gentle slap on the back. "Don't worry—they're alright people. A little disoriented, but alright."

"I know," Douglas sighed. "I know…"

They walked through the building towards the room the girls called 'the Prize Corner'—which was apparently where the new merchandise was stored and sold. It was also where one of the new anime-tronics had her 'headquarters'. Douglas steeled himself for the upcoming meeting, but he couldn't erase his nervousness completely. He never could.

Along the way, he saw more additions Griffiths had purchased for the restaurant, and he soon realized that the place was even larger than he'd expected. He knew that the old location was small and needed an upgrade in size, but this was almost too much.

Finally, the three came across a seemingly random doorway in the wall. Douglas recognized Spring's voice coming from the room beyond, and Golden could be heard soon after; the third voice was unfamiliar.

"Here we are," Bonnie softly said. "The employees called this one 'the puppet'."

Chica scowled. "Which is not the name we're going to use."

Douglas looked at her and swallowed.

"You can do this," Chica encouraged. She gave a grin. "You're almost as tall as I am."

That was true; when Douglas had just met the anime-tronics, they looked so unbelievably tall to him. Of course, that was probably because he was still scared of them at the time. Now he saw that he was maybe a centimeter shorter—barely a difference.

"W-well…" Douglas said. "Bravery and height are n-not directly connected…"

"Not directly. Anyways, back to the matter at hand…"

"R-right." Douglas fell silent, searching for words.

The voices that had come from the Prize Corner were also gone.

"Hello?" Golden's voice suddenly exclaimed. "Is that our favorite guard I hear?"

Douglas gulped. "U-uh…y-yeah?"

That was not what he'd intended to say.

Golden giggled. "Heh. Newcomer, meet our night guard. You can't see him right now, 'cause he's right behind that wall."

"Stop messing with him," came Spring's voice. One moment later, the golden bunny poked her head out of the doorway. "Hi, Doug! How're you doing?"

"He's shaking in his boots," Chica grinned. Douglas gave her a brief glare.

Spring and Golden came out of the doorway. They were followed by a figure Douglas hadn't seen before—a slender woman with white skin and hair, dressed in black clothing. The new anime-tronic gave Douglas a curious eye. Douglas quietly gulped again as he did his best to hold her gaze.

"Hi," the new anime-tronic greeted. "You're the guard I've heard about."

Douglas quietly nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak; the chance that he was going to stutter was a little higher than he liked it to be.

"We'll let you two get acquainted," Golden said before literally disappearing into thin air. The other three left soon after that, leaving only Douglas and the newcomer.

Douglas wasn't sure what to say once the others were gone. Fortunately, the nameless anime-tronic spoke first.

She gave a smile. "This is where I'd introduce myself…but I don't really have a name yet. Your name's Douglas, right?"

"Y-yeah," Douglas affirmed. He mentally grimaced; of course he stuttered. It wouldn't be him if he didn't.

The newcomer didn't seem to mind it, fortunately. "Can you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Uh…well…where to start?" Douglas let out a sheepish chuckle. "I'm-I'm just a regular guy. N-not much worth telling."

"Your education…? Family, friends, how you got this job…"

"… Right." That was a good start, even if certain parts of his past made him a little uncomfortable. "Okay, well…just don't expect anything too amazing."