By the time afternoon had rolled around, the noise of the children had grown so loud that it was near impossible to hear the animatronics. To say word had spread about the makeover at Freddy Fazbear's pizza would have been an understatement, as the place was more packed than it had been in years. Of course, the animatronics took no notice, singing and entertaining the children without a care in the world, but for the employees, it was an unwelcome change of pace.
Jessie, a young woman who was working as one of the waitresses, scrambled to keep up with pizza orders, as Aiden, one of the bus boys, quickly followed behind, barely managing to keep up with the empty plates and glasses.
"I swear, if they keep going at this rate then my two options will be to either quit or die from exhaustion," she groaned.
"Still better than the night shift," Aiden joked. It was a common saying among the employees. People had been using it since before either of the two had worked there. Neither had bothered to check and see if it was all that accurate, but it seemed like the sort of thing which was better to avoid risking.
"I'm not so sure about that anymore," Jessi scoffed, "After all, with the newbies, everything's different around here." She jutted her head towards Freddy and the gang, who were just finishing up their cover of Don't Stop Me Now. Everything about the way they moved was so expressive and fluid. Before, the old animatronics would just stand in place for the most part, only moving in the most robotic fashion possible. These new ones on the other hand felt alive. Whether that was better or worse, no one working there really knew, but if nothing else, it meant business was booming.
It was not until much later that the chaos began to die down. Not everyone could eat pizza and watch the band all day. By the time the lunch rush had ended, most of the kids had either gone home or found themselves preoccupied with the arcade.
"You guys holding up alright?" Aiden asked the band, catching a breath as he leant against the stage. He was one of the younger employees, no older than about sixteen. "That was quite the performance."
"Thank you for your concern, Aiden," Freddy said with a nod of the head, "We have sufficient power for the rest of the day, I do not foresee any trouble 'holding up' as you put it."
"You got that right," Monty added, tuning his guitar.
"Would you stop talking to the animatronics," Jessie chided, "I swear, you're acting just like one of the kids."
"Hey, I can't help it! It's not every day you meet a robot with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence," the bus boy folded his arms, trying to look tough.
Jessie rolled her eyes, "Oh please, they're glorified kid's toys."
"Excuse me, but someone of my standing is far more than a toy," Roxy huffed, before quickly noting "but what if she's right?" to herself.
"I'm not normally one to agree with the dog, but in this case we're on the same page," Monty said, standing up. His full stature, along with the additional height the stage added, made him out to be far more intimidating that Jessie had expected.
"See! You even hurt their feelings," Aiden said.
"Ok, ok," she sighed, "Look, I'm sorry! I just wasn't thinking. All these kids today have me more on edge than usual."
"That is very mature of you to apologize," Freddy noted, sounding a little too much like a character on a PBS show.
"I guess it's better than nothing," Roxy said with a swish of her hair, taking out a mirror she had hidden behind one of the speakers. All Monty did was sit back down and resume tuning his guitar.
"Say, you never did finish telling us about the night guard," Aiden said, eager to move the conversation onto something else.
"Oh please, you're not going on about this again, are you?" Jessie rolled her eyes.
"How can I not? He's a zombie ghost guy who fights killer animatronics, and this is the place he works at! This is the first time anyone has really been able to give a firsthand account of what he's like. Well, anyone other than the manager I mean, we all know he's keeping his lips shut on the whole situation. But anyway, aren't you at all interested?"
Jessie took a seat at the edge of the stage, briefly pondering what had been said, "Not particularly. He's some creep I'll never meet, so what do I care?"
"That is not a polite thing to say Jessie, especially behind someone's back," Freddy said, stepping down onto the floor in order to face the two of them, "Even if you have not met him, then it is important to keep in mind that everyone has feelings that can be hurt."
"I know, I know, but it's not as if it matters. I mean, not unless you tell him," she paused, a sudden realization spreading across her face, "You didn't… you didn't tell him what I said yesterday, did you?"
"Well," Freddy began rather sheepishly, "I did… inform him on some of the rumors circulating amongst the staff."
"Oh god," Jessie leapt to her feet, pacing back and forth nervously, "He told the ghost guy about what we said! He knows about us oh god! He's gonna kill us, we're dead!"
"Jessie, relax," Aiden said with a slight crack to his voice, "Let's hear the details before jumping to conclusions."
"What other conclusions are there to jump to?" she shuttered, "Our names are probably on his list! You heard what people say about how he feeds right? The way he sucks out souls in order to sustain his life. Nancy, the one who works in the kitchens, says that's the reason those kids went missing. She says it was probably him!"
"Jessie please, you are being rather unreasonable," Freddy said, trying to get a word in edgewise only to be cut off.
"I'm telling you, we're going to be next!" the waitress continued, "They're going to find our bodies stuffed into the animatronics just like those poor kids!"
"Jessie, would you just cut it out! You've never even seen this guy," Aiden assured.
She stopped, whipping around to face the boy and the bear, "Then I better do some studying. Freddy, spill it. You've spent the most time with this guy, what's he like?"
"Oh sure, now you're interested," Aiden muttered under his breath.
"Please, I do not believe you have anything to worry about," Freddy said calmly, "Firstly, I did not mention anyone by name when informing him. All I did was tell him about some of the rumors, and what his reputation was like. He was no idea who any of you are."
Jessie let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Secondly," the bear continued, "even if he did know, he would not do anything to harm you, I am certain of it. From what I have seen, he is a kind man, and I do not think violence is a part of his nature."
"Ok, now you're stretching the suspension of disbelief," the waitress said.
"I am telling the truth," Freddy insisted, far more assertively than before, "from what I have seen he is simply a man who wants to do his job and be left alone. In fact, I would say he frightens quite easily."
"Well, that's ironic," Aiden smiled.
"I'm still dubious," Jessi shook her head, "I mean, no matter how much you make him out to be some big softie or whatever, you can't just ignore the fact that his reputation had to come from somewhere."
"I might not know the origin," Freddy admitted, "but I do know it is better to believe a direct source over simply hearsay."
Michael had not felt nauseous in a very long time, but he imagined that if he still had a stomach, then it would have been what he was feeling in that moment. For the past several hours, he had been pacing back and forth in his apartment, not quite sure what to do. The more he thought about the state of things, the more uneasy he felt. At this point, the old animatronics had been gone for a while, and in spite of this he was still doing the same old night guard job. He had no reason to stay, other than the fact that it was easy, and yet he did so in spite of this.
He had more important things to do. His father was still at large, but he had yet to make any progress in trying to find the man. The only thing he could think to do was to go and free the children's souls from those infernal machines, but even that was out of his hands now. They were most likely scrapped at this point. At least, he could only hope so. If the parts were being recycled, then there was always the chance that the souls would be split apart, forced to haunt machine after machine, but there was no way of knowing that for sure. He was a mechanic after all, the afterlife wasn't really his strong suit, though he did have more experience with it at this point than most people.
Maybe the best thing to do would be to ask Freddy about what to do next. He always seemed to have the best advice after all… wait a minute. Did he really just consider asking an animatronic for advice? Michael dismissed the thought. He was getting too used to these new animatronics, if he continued at this rate then there was the possibility that he would begin thinking of them as his friends. That settled it, if nothing else, he would have to quit, just so he could avoid any unnecessary attachments. Question was, what would he do after that?
There was always Henry. The old man was the one lead he had never bothered checking in on. Michael could not help but wonder what his reaction would be upon seeing him. Would he be happy to be reunited after all these years, or would he keel over on the spot, suffering from a heart attack at the mere sight of the decayed form? Either seemed likely, though Michael leaned more towards the latter. He had never been thrown a bone in life, and he wasn't about to begin counting on them now. If he had learned anything from his father, aside from the whole robotics thing, then it was best to always go in assuming the worst.
Still, it wasn't as if he had any other options. He glanced to the phone on his nightstand. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad to call, just to make sure the old man was alive at the very least.
He sat down on the bed, picking up the phone and pausing. If before he was a bundle of nerves, then now he was a full-on pile. What was he so nervous for? He had faced down killer animatronics, but a phone call was what made him freeze in fear?
Michael sighed, a rather difficult thing to do for someone without lungs, and raised his index finger to the key pad before pausing. He only just now realized something… he didn't know Henry Emily's phone number.
Damn it! What was it? What was it? He could have sworn he knew it, but now that he thought about it, he could never recall an occasion where he had called the man. Every time he had spoken to Henry, it had been in person. His father was the one who had always talked to Henry on the phone. If Michael was using it, then he was chatting with friends.
He slammed the phone down, more than a little frustrated with himself. Zipping to his feet, he frantically began searching around the apartment for a phone book, only to realize he didn't have one.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH! Why am I so bad at this!" Michael groaned to the empty room. If nothing else, he would have to go back now. He was already planning on finishing out another week or so before formally resigning, but now it was official. Freddy's had a phone book, which meant he would have to go back just to find out that damn phone number.
