Sadly, the contract which he had signed was accurate. It was the first of the many papers Michael had chosen to look over. Considering the contents of what was now his desk, it was no easy task to find. What was he going to do? If he really wanted to, then he supposed he could try and find someone more qualified for the job. After all, there was no shortage of people clearly willing to take up the role. Then he thought back to his concerns before being hired for the position of manager. His primary worry had been that the new boss would fire him, deciding to go with someone more normal. Now that everyone had seen him, a part of him worried that said concern would be all the more likely. He was no longer just a rumor to be shoved to the side, or dealt with as a ghost story. He was as real as they were now, and that was bound to make people uncomfortable. Perhaps it was just his pessimistic way of looking at the world, but Michael knew it was better to air on the side of caution.

Before he could wonder what it was he was even supposed to do next, there was a knock at the door. Michael looked up from the papers, not accustomed to people knocking.

"Um… enter?"

The door opened and in stepped a very meek man. He was short, wide, and very scruffy. Michael was unsure what it was, but there seemed to be something about the man which simply exuded a pathetic sadness.

"Excuse me sir," said the man, hunched and clutching his hat between his hands, "I do hope I am not being too much of a bother."

A bother? For as long as Michael had ever lived, he could never recall anyone wondering whether or not they were bothering him. As a child, he was something to be swept aside. As an adult, he was something to be kept in the shadows and ignored. This gentleman, however, had showed concern. Granted, it was only because Michael was his boss, but that did little to lessen the impact. The ex-security guard was unsure what to say. A part of him wanted to be honest and tell the man to leave because he had only just gotten the job and had no idea what it was he was doing.

Instead, he settled on, "No, not at all. Have a seat."

The man nodded and sat down, "I do beg your pardon for interrupting like this."

"It's no trouble, really," Michael lied, "how can I help you?"

"Well," the man wrung his hat, "I don't want to impose, but times have been getting a little tougher as you know, and… oh I do wish there was a more tactful way of putting this."

"You want a raise," Michael guessed.

The man nodded, "Just enough to get by mind you. I would really love it if I could afford a second meal per day."

Michael was genuinely unsure what to say. He felt bad for the man and wanted to help, but the simple fact of the matter was he genuinely did not know if he could. First and foremost, he hadn't the feintest idea whether the restaurant could even afford to give this guy a raise. Secondly, even if it could, there was no way for Michael to know. If he had any idea what to do with all these papers or where to look, then maybe. Unfortunately, he was out of luck in that department.

"Sir, I'm sorry but…" he paused, an idea suddenly coming to him.

/

Jessie was exhausted. While it was by no means the busiest the restaurant had ever been, they were still doing business better than usual, and it was taking a toll. The fact that they were under staffed that day, which meant she needed to pull double and clear away plates did not help. She sighed, dumping a bunch of paper plates and half eaten pizza slices into a garbage bag. She looked around at the dining area, realizing she would have to do it all again in a few minutes, no matter how quickly she disposed of it all this time.

"Wait to go Jessie!" said Freddy enthusiastically from on stage, "You got this! I believe in you!"

The waitress groaned. As much as she knew the animatronic meant well, she found his tone irritating. Not that she would ever say it to his face.

She was just about to move on to the next table when the bus boy Aiden came running up to her, "Jessie! Jessie! You're not going to believe this!"

"You're actually going to help me clean up this mess instead of running around like everyone else here?"

"No. I mean, well… yes," he began grabbing plates, "but aside from that, you won't believe what I just found out!"

"Just tell me already and get it over with."

"The new manager is the night time security guard!"

Jessie looked at him, more so confused than surprised, "I already knew that. We all heard it on the loud speaker."

"I know but… but…" he seemed to be taking a moment to process the words, "he's like… totally crazy looking."

"Aiden," Freddy interrupted, "it is rude to comment on someone's physical appearance in such a manner."

"Sorry, but it's true!"

"The kid has a point," said Monty. The rest of the animatronics looked to him, annoyed. "I'm not saying I disagree about the rudeness of it, I'm just saying it's true." Freddy shook his head in a "Why do I even bother?" sort of way.

"What I'm trying to say is," Aiden continued, "this guy is like, the actual dude! You know? The man, the myth, the legend. He's real!"

"Aiden, we have informed you on multiple occasions that Michael is indeed, real, and also nothing like the rumors would suggest," noted Freddy.

"I know," the bus boy said, collecting some plastic cups, "but there's a big difference between hearing about something and seeing something."

"Do you have a point to all of this?" Jessie asked, fed up with all the banter.

"Actually, I do. The new boss has just put out a request for 'anyone who is good with paperwork' to stop by his office."

"And?"
"And I'm going to go stop by!"

Jessie raised an eyebrow, "Are you good with paperwork?"

"I don't know," Aiden shrugged, "but I do my homework every night, so how different can this be?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks! Before you know it, I'll be assistant manager in no time!" he ran off with a smile on his face.

Jessie groaned, irritated that she had once again been left alone to take care of things, "He's going to be so disappointed when he gets back here."

"If he does, I will be prepared to be emotionally supportive," said Freddy.

"You do that."

/

"I'll be home around lunchtime, ok?" said Michael into the phone, "You can manage on your own til then?"

"I'll be fine," Gregory replied on the other end. Somehow Michael could feel the child rolling his eyes.

"Alright, heaven forbid I check in to see how you're doing," in truth, Michael had an ulterior motive for calling Gregory. He had absolute faith the boy would do just fine on his own, even all day. He glanced over to the table, where the teenager (Aiden?) was still looking through all of the papers on his desk. Michael had never considered himself a particularly intimidating guy. Back when he was younger, he mainly played up his bravado because he felt like he had to. As an adult, especially in his current form, he always felt so frail. The fact of the matter though, was that he was a horrifying zombie. Not the friendliest of sights. He had originally planned to just stand on the side and watch Aiden attempt to sort through the papers, but quickly realized that was a lot of pressure. Michael eventually decided to call Gregory as a way of seeming more casual, and not as menacing. Unfortunately, it had done little to help Aiden make his way through the papers. Even only half paying attention, Michael could tell he was mostly just making a mess. It was unfortunate that Aiden was the only one who had shown up to try and sort through the papers, since he gladly would have taken anyone else at this point. They were approaching the half hour mark, and things were looking dire.

Michael was just about to tell the boy to leave, when there was a knock at the door. Aiden looked up, ready to answer it himself, but Michael held up his hand. On the other side of the door was a young woman, early twenties if Michael were to have guessed, dressed in a waitress uniform. She seemed to shrink under his gaze. Based on her facial expression, he could tell she was ill equipped to see him. He did not recognize her as one of the employees who had swarmed by the office earlier. Her nametag read "Jessie".

"Um… sorry to bother you sir," she gave a nervous smile.

"Can I help you with something?" Michael asked in his best attempt at a friendly tone.

"It's been a while so… I just thought I would check in on Aiden… if you don't mind."

He stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in. She did so, though he could tell she was not particularly thrilled to do so. Aiden was still hopelessly looking through the papers. He did not bother looking up.

"How's it going in here?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, clearly distracted.

Michael tried to think of a dry joke to break the tension, but he couldn't think of anything. He still could not process the fact that these two were now technically his employees. The idea of anyone working for him just seemed odd. He felt very corporate and he was not sure how to feel about it.

"Well fine, be that way," Jessie looked over Aiden's shoulder, "Wait! This one's important, isn't it?" She picked up one of the papers, "This is the monthly income report, it should be filed somewhere important." She picked up another one, "And this! This is last months! And this one talks about our expenditures. Wow, pardon my saying so, but the old manager was really sloppy in terms of our spending." She took a seat at the desk without so much as thinking. Aiden shifted to the side.

"Uh…" was all he was able to manage.

Jessie looked up, apparently only just realizing what she was doing. She blushed, "Um… sorry." She stood up.

"Don't apologize!" Michael said in a tone which was much more demanding than he intended, "You sound like you know what you're doing, and I want you to keep doing it!"

"O-Ok sir," she said, burying her face back in the papers.

Before any of them knew it, everything was sorted and properly accounted for. Based on how old some of those papers were, Michael surmised that it had been several years at least since the manager's desk had been so empty. The fact that they were able to clear it all away in such a short space of time was good news in and of itself; even better, he found out that not only could he afford to give the gentleman who came in earlier a raise, but a substantial one at that. In fact, the same went for the entire staff, and so he did so. Ever since the renovation, the pizzeria had been making bank, and he was not going to let that money go to waste in some vault. Jessie warned him that the higher ups at corporate would probably not be too keen on his decision, which he had to admit was a fair point. At the same time, he was not particularly worried. The restaurant was doing more than fine, and he doubted some big wigs would even notice one restaurant making such choices.

Just as he was beginning to feel satisfied with himself, he noticed that it was nearing noon. If he wanted to make it back to his apartment by lunch time, as he had promised Gregory, then he would need to get a move on. Quickly, Michael got up and ran to the door, before realizing that it probably was not proper for the manager to leave without any notice or reason. He looked back. Jessie and Aiden were looking at him oddly.

"Do you know if we have an assistant manager or something here?" he asked.

"Not as far as I know," said Jessie.

"Right," Michael pointed to her, "in that case I'm appointing you as assistant manager. You're in charge til I get back."

"What?!"

"Sorry about this. It's just for an hour or two."

"B-But sir," the ex-waitress managed, "I don't know the first thing about running a restaurant!"

"Neither do I!" said Michael.

"I can take the job," offered Aiden enthusiastically.

"Nope, sorry kid. Maybe one day," with that, Michael closed the door, leaving the two behind. Hopefully the place would be able to survive at least for a little while without someone looking over it. He had faith it would. On the down side, he felt bad about leaving Jessie high and dry. After all, that was essentially what the last manager had done to him just that morning. He tried to convince himself that it was not the same. Unlike the other guy, Michael would be back. Besides, from what he had seen, Jessie had more than earned the job. She handled all that dull paper work better than he ever could. When it came time for him to retire, he knew exactly who it was he would pick. Unless someone else even better came along… of course.

Michael took the most discrete way through the back of the pizzeria and into the parking lot, doing his best to avoid any customers. Soon enough, he was on the road.

/

"So, what are we going to do?" Chica asked, taking a glance towards Freddy. They had just finished playing Talking in Your Sleep and would be moving into the next number in a few minutes, meaning they did not have much time to talk.

"In regards to what specifically?" Freddy said.

"You know. What are we going to do now that Michael is the manager instead of the security guard?"

Freddy was honestly unsure the best way to answer. When he had first heard the announcement over the speaker, he was certainly surprised, but not worried. Michael was a good man, and Freddy was certain that if anyone deserved a promotion, it was him. On the other hand, there was the undeniable fact that this would mark a change in regards to what life would be like for them after hours. The most logical assumption was that Vanessa would be the one acting as nightguard from now on. Freddy certainly respected her, though the truth was she was a far cry from the dedication Michael put into the job.

What worried him most, however, was the plain and simple fact that he would no longer get to see Michael on such a frequent basis. As much as the man would never admit it, Freddy was certain that the social interaction with the animatronics did Michael good. He would hate it if Michael began to spiral downwards due to loneliness. There was of course Gregory, but that was hardly the same.

Despite all these feelings, Freddy and the other members of the band did what good animatronics are programmed to do. They stayed on the stage, and played music. To leave the stage area during daylight hours was strictly against protocol (Unless it was to entertain or interact with a child, of course). Even if Freddy wanted to go to the main office simply to congratulate Michael, which he briefly considered, there was no chance of him doing so. Sheltering Gregory was one thing, but breaking the immersion while children were watching was another matter entirely.

He turned to the rest of the band, "We will have to discuss this later. For the time being, just focus on the performance."

They began the next number.

A/N: I can't believe that in the time I've been gone, not only have the trailers for Help Wanted 2 AND the Security Breach DLC, but also THE FREACKING FNAF MOVIE WHAT!

Anyway, I won't be updating super regularly. New chapters will come out when they come out.