Making her way back to her office, Saphira stopped by at one of the soda refills in the atrium to fill a cup with coke. She felt the need for some sugar at the moment. Especially after dealing with the general maintenance. She did wonder if the technicians would be here all night though. She was not told if they would be. Or she might have forgotten, she was not sure. She hummed softly and placed the lid on her cup, sticking a straw through the slot and sipped her soda, walking along the carpat as she glanced around to make sure it truly was empty. It seemed that way, and Saphira was satisfied. She did not really want to be out here in case the animatronics came and bothered her…but she knew they could do that in her office too. She shakes her head, she needed to figure out a way to relax around them. It probably was going to take a long time, but she intended sticking out for as long as she could. She was not going to make up her mind on the first night, that would be foolish.
Upon arriving in her office, Saphira closed the door and took a seat, relaxing in the chair and checking all the cameras of the pizzaplex. She scrolled through the cameras slowly, mindful of the fact there were blindspots in case people were hiding. So far, she saw nothing. She did see Jack and Mason in the atrium, they had grabbed drinks and a box of pizza, and that was not something she was very concerned about at all. They might as well take advantage while the pizzaplex was empty. She continued to scroll and paused a little when she checked the cameras in Rockstar Row. This area seemed less bright compared to the atrium, and it was also a bit like a museum with cases of animatronic parts, the walls were decorated with drawings and even the older animatronic pictures. It was a nicely laid out area, there were six rooms that catered to each animatronic. She was lucky there was a camera in each room. While Monty did not want her checking on him, she could do that through the camera at least. Though as she flipped through the cameras, she stopped when she saw something that caught her eye. She flipped back to a camera just out Monty's room. He was standing just outside his door, holding hands with Bonnie. They both seemed to be talking with each other and were rather happy being in each other's presence. But…the way he was holding Monty's hand was a little strange. He held them up together with his hands like a partner usually does with their loved one. Then it happened. They lean in and press their lips together.
They just kissed! Wait…why are they kissing? Is that part of their program?
Saphira's mouth hung open in disbelief. She actually never would have guessed the two had a very close relationship. She glanced away from the monitor for a moment and pinched herself, robots can't have relationships. That was impossible! Unless the AI was programmed that way…which seemed obvious. She glanced back at the screen to see the gator nuzzling Bonnie's chin and their eyes held a seductive expression. She has seen enough. She quickly switched camera views, her cheeks felt incredibly warm as she felt embarrassed she just spied on the robots having an intimate moment. She had to ask Cliff about it because she did not quite understand why or how it was possible. Unless the facility wanted to show support for same sex relationships, she did not know if Monty and Bonnie had seminars talking about it or not. That made her wonder if the other four had close relationships. She checked Roxy's room, and to her surprise she was able to see the dimly lit room very well. Roxy was standing in front of her mirror, she was speaking to herself in the mirror and gesturing towards the mirror. She could not hear what was being said, but Roxy did give off the personality of confidence, narcissism and judgemental. That kind of personality did seem odd for an animatronic designed to entertain kids as not everyone would welcome it. She smiled and checked Foxy next, she widened her eyes to his bright room. It was red with his face and hook on the walls, lots of merchandise around and an electric keyboard on the small stage. He was playing it right now and bobbing his head. He seemed to be able to play it with his hook and hand just fine. Especially since it could spin, making it easier to play the keys. Next was Chica and Freddy, their rooms were like Foxy's with their own characteristics and merchandise, although Chica's room was full of garbage as well. But neither were present. She wondered if they were still in Parts and Service, she had not seen them anywhere else in the cameras yet.
"AAAHHHH!"
Saphira leaned back in her chair and held her hand to her chest to calm herself after hearing big, heavy, excited knocks on the door. "Saphira! It's just me, Chica!" Came the excited, cheery voice of Glamrock Chica. "I figured might want to have something sweet and chocolaty to get over the first night. So…I went into the Bakery and brought you a slice of the delicious, triple choc cake."
This animatronic had so much innocent confidence that it was cute, and frightening at the same time. Saphira did perk up about the cake however. She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and stepping back when she saw Chica smiling at her and holding her hands out with the cake on a plate. "Umm…thanks…" Saphira reached out for a moment before retracting her hand for a moment. "But please do not knock on the door again. You might give me a heart attack."
"I only tapped lightly," Chica said with a surprised expression. She shrugged and moved her hips to the side slightly. "Well…I guess I can try a lighter approach. Maybe you should tell me when you take the cake. Close the door and we will practice."
That was a first. Practice knocking. Saphira could not think of a crazier idea. "You know, no ever asks to practice that." Saphira extended her hands to take the cake from Chica and pulled it towards her quickly. "But thanks for the cake. I definitely needed it."
"But you got scared when I knocked, so that is why I should practice to ensure that you do not get scared. I think that is a good reason." She giggled as she pressed her beak closed for a smile, she seemed unfazed by Saphira's fear of them. And yet…she wanted to help. "We can practice while you eat."
"Ummm…I don't know." Saphira looked away from Chica, glancing at the carpet of the office. "I am…struggling to understand…why do you even care? I mean…don't get me wrong, I am glad for the offer, but…I don't know." She shakes her head and looked at Chica who was still smiling at her. "Nothing seems to phase you does it?"
"Not really…except when somebody interrupts me eating, ha, ha." She made a deep gasp sound in her voice box. "But seriously, we should practice. I will be sad if we don't…or…you plan on never coming back when you leave in the morning."
"No, I am staying, I need to work here. Don't make assumptions Chica." Saphira rolls her eyes a little and moved towards her desk. "Well…if you want to practice, we can. At least this time I will be alert and not paying attention to the cameras."
Chica's eyes light up with excitement and she jumped up and down again. Saphira tensed, this overexcited animatronic really was going to give her a heart attack unintentionally. "Yay! Alright, let's close the door and begin!" She closed the door with her hand and waited a few seconds before knocking. This time, it was a lot lighter than before and not extremely heavy. "How is this?"
"Not bad. It might still startle me, but it is not bad," Saphira said, using her Fazwatch to talk with her directly.
"Sooo…lighter than?"
"A little." The knocking lightens and Saphira smiled, this was a perfect sound on the door that would not frighten her. "That's better. I think that is the one. As long as you don't forget of course."
"Yay! That did not take long!" Chica said excitedly, Saphira could hear the bot dancing around outside her office. "See? I told you practicing was a good thing. You should listen to me when I get good ideas."
Saphira began to chuckle, she had not expected for one of the animatronics to get her to laugh genuinely so quickly. "Yeah…yeah…I guess I should. Thanks Chica. You can go now. I'll finish the cake and keep watching."
"Aww…it'll be lonely when the technicians go home in two hours, can't I join you?" Chica asked in a sweet, pleading tone. "I promise I will not do anything to scare you. In fact, I am the least scary here. I could even bring my guitar and show you my skills. I shred that guitar and I love it!"
She grimaced and quickly shakes her head to herself. No way was an animatronic staying with her. And the technicians were leaving soon…oh sweet! Three hours alone with the animatronics! What could possibly go wrong?
"Sorry Chica…I think I need space for the moment…go back to your room." Saphira breathed deeply and took her first bite of the cake, widening her eyes at how fluffy and delicious it was. "Holy…this cake is delicious! Great choice on the slice. I did not know I could get something from the Bakery."
"Of course you can! El Chip's too, and when the new section above the lobby is finished, there will be Chica Chowder, Bonnie Candyman and Roxy Beautician, heh, I think that will be super, dooper fun! I don't know what new attraction will be up there…but it has something to do with virtual reality or something. Oh well!" Saphira heard Chica began to walk away from the door and she felt herself relaxing, relieved that the animatronic leaving. "I hope you and I become great friends Saphira, I can tell we will get along. It is meant to be!"
"I…" Saphira was used to not having friends. Most people seemed to not get on with her or want to get close enough, and she did not really know why. "Don't hold your breath Chica…" The bot does not respond, Saphira did not want to give them the confidence of being her friend.
But she realized that this was just part of her programming. She was not truly wanting to be her friend. She probably wanted to be friends with everybody! This was just her following her AI. She probably did it too every night guard on their first shift. At least, that is what Saphira thought of the previous night guards. She was left alone again and Saphira felt a lot better, she finished the cake and sipped more of her drink. There was nothing more to do but pass the time. She pulled out her phone, connected it with a charger and placed one earphone into her ear to listen to some music. This was not unusual for her to do since nights were not always eventful and she did not know who would be stupid enough to break into such a huge facility boasting money and a tone of robots. She found herself reading more the manual as well. She was surprised there was a section about the bots, not the animatronics. It seemed they could be ordered to do something with a press of a particular remote. This remote was kept somewhere safe to prevent anyone from using it for the wrong reasons, as these bots will do as they are told and have no feelings or thoughts like the animatronics do. They were actual robots compared to the animatronics. In someways, the animatronics seemed human rather than robots. It made sense though, given they interacted with the kids and put on a big show twice a week.
"Hey Saphira." Cliffton's voice echoed through the Fazwatch, there was a little bit of static cutting his voice off a little and Saphira glanced at the time, realizing an hour had past already. "We are going to head off soon. I was not sure if Darren told you. But we do not work all night, so you will have the rest of the night to yourself until six when some of the customer service staff arrive."
"Thanks for letting me know Cliff. Chica did let me know about it…" Saphira sighed deeply and stretched her arms out. "Is it very common for her to come to this particular security office when a new guard is present?"
"Uhh…no, she has never done that. The night guards we have had previously were not exactly great at their connection with the animatronics. Ahem!" She winced a little as the cough was a tad loud through the speaker. "I don't blame the animatronics never visiting the guards once. So, Chica coming to you means they like you. You are the first night guard we have had who seems to treat them well."
"It is only the first night Cliff…I feel like I haven't been nice to them. Especially given how frightened I am of them." She did not know if riding on the first night like this really was necessary. She appreciated that they were happy, but she also did not know if she believed them. "I also am trying to understand their system. I mean…I saw Monty and Bonnie on the camera…are they meant to be a couple that guests can see?"
"Oh, you found that out already huh?" Cliff chuckled gently, amused Saphira did not believe their relationship was real. "Nah, they got close on their own. The AI they have is very complex, they're able to feel pretty much any feeling that we have. That includes love and lust. Although, they do not exhibit these when there are guests around because they want to keep it private."
"But…how is that possible?" Saphira asked with a frown. "I have never known any bot just falling in love with another bot and kissing them without be programmed to do that. You make it seem like they have their own consciousness."
"Wellll…they do." She shuddered a little, that made her even more frightened of them. "They do run on the main system of not harming guests, taking people to first aid when needed, entertaining people, never leave the facility and following human instruction…although Monty and Roxy tend to be difficult at times, but everything else they have free reign over." That meant the AI system the animatronics had was extremely high tech if these bots had almost full free will to their thoughts and feelings. Saphira did wonder if that was possible to find how that was possible. "They are practically human in a sense."
That meant Chica's extending her interest in being friends was genuine! Saphira just could not bring herself to believe it. Cliff might believe it because he has worked here a long time, and he has gotten to a point where he could believe these animatronics were like people. So, she decided not to take everything he said to be true. She would figure it out on her own, so that way she would not cause arguments.
"I must say, all of that is amazing…quite the AI system they have," Saphira said with a slight chuckle. "Anyway, I won't hold you back from finishing up. I can imagine you cannot wait to get home and get to bed."
"Ugh! Yeah…I am so tired! Try not to doze off either." She giggled a little at his slight tease. "That coffee machine was put there for a reason, so do not waste it. I'll speak to you again soon when we are ready to leave."
Coffee sounded good. But she still had her coke to finish so she sipped some more and looked back at the manual to keep reading. It was her best timewaster for tonight to get through the first night with ease. She glanced up when she heard the sound of power being shut off, the camera screens change to night vision and she noticed the animatronics running to the cylinders in their rooms. This must be their recharge. She flipped through the manual to read about the hourly recharges. Apparently, at night, the lights go out for most of the building to charge the animatronics faster. The rest of the building remains operational though, so employees can still get through the facility without being stuck. However, something at the bottom of the end of the description made her widen her eyes slightly in worry.
Beware of Moon, he wanders the facility at the end of each hour at the hourly recharge. He can be very unpredictable and has been known to pull terrible pranks. But if you play along with him, you will find he is a nice fellow.
The daycare attendent can roam during this time?! Oh hell no! Saphira locked her door and checked through the cameras to check the daycare. She saw something that made her shudder, the humanoid animatronic that was extremely thin and appeared to be like a clown with his baggy, starry pants. He did have a pajama hat on as well with a creepy smile. He was looking at the camera and his face was slowly turning around. Scratch visiting daycare!
"Saphira." She yelped when she heard Freddy's voice through the Fazwatch. She at first did not realize it as she looked at the door with wide eyes until he kept speaking to her. "I apologize for startling you Saphira. But I want to have the opportunity to talk with you." She sighed deeply and heard the sound of the power coming back on, the lights return to normal and that was good. "I understand you being afraid of me means sitting next to you might not be an option. But communicating this way is a lot easier and less frightening. I am in my room now, I was given the pleasure of seeing the specs for Monty's new claws to help him play his guitar better. You can see me waving at the camera." She looked at the screens and switched the camera view to Freddy's room, and sure enough, he was waving his right arm at the camera. "I hope you do not mind…"
This animatronic was talking to her this way to prevent himself from scaring her! No way! No way was this happening! But she had to admit, it was pretty sweet of him to think of that. "It is a bit easier to talk to you this way. I…I hope you are not mad…"
"It is not uncommon for people to be afraid of us Saphira. We have seen our fair share of adults, teenagers and children keeping their distance from us, even if they like us. I suppose us towering over most of you does not help." Nope. It definitely did not help at all! "However…we have never had a night guard who actually tried."
"What do you mean?"
"Previous night guards have often not listen to Darren or Cliff, or even the instructions over the intercom to do things properly. Especially the maintenance. Although night guards only do it when technicians are busy, they still failed. A night guard last year had his arm broken." Saphira did not know if she wanted to hear how that happened. "There was something jamming in Roxy's right arm last year, so Cliff had the night guard to help him check. While they were checking, the man stupidly pulled a wire that causes the arm to move and her fist slammed into his shoulder, popping it out and dislocating a couple fingers." Oh! So it was not their fault! "I was there when it happened. Cliff told him many times not to pull it, and he did. Roxy…well, she was not guilty about it because she felt he deserved it. I suppose she was right…but that does not make it better."
"Even I know not to do that," Saphira said in an unimpressed tone. "I have not seen the wiring and parts of your arms just yet, but if I had to do that, I would shut down that part of the body or deactivate the robot to ensure safety. After all, you are a lot stronger than we are."
"Hmmph…deactivation is something we hate and fear the most. We do understand your need to be safe, but we worry about it a lot." They had fear too?! And it was of deactivation? Or maybe it was the fear of being deactivated forever…Saphira almost felt like she should be guilty for mentioning it. But it truly would be for safety to do that. "Sorry, you won't have to worry about that. The technicians know how to deactivate us, so you don't need to worry about doing it yourself. But I just thought you should know how we feel about it."
"I understand. Going dark is not as fun as it seems." Saphira placed the straw on her lips and sipped it for a moment and placed the cup down. "Is this what you guys do at night when guests leave anyway? Maintenance, then stay in your room?"
"Most of the time. But we are allowed to roam as long as we do not cause property damage or bother the cleaner and security bots. Chica tends to roam and eat the garbage. It probably sounds rather uninteresting to you. I know humans have lives outside the pizzaplex, so your life is probably more interesting." She did not really want to discuss it to the animatronic. It was rather boring and sad if she was honest. "But your comment about not having friends or parents earlier…was that really true?"
"Yeah…people seem to just keep me as someone they know, rather than a friend. As for my parents…they are alive, but I haven't spoken to them since I left home." Freddy seemed speechless, maybe he was not used to knowing humans who do not have contact with their parents. "I suppose you want to know. Well…the short, easy version of that was because my parents kept doting on my younger sister, praising her for the smallest things and not even giving me the time of day for passing my grades and mistreating me at times, so I had enough and I left…I left to save my own life and here I am."
"Ooh…I had no idea humans can be like that. I am truly sorry you have had to live with that Saphira. That explains the guests who come here acting fearful of their parents." She smiled, she doubted all of those kids were being mistreated, but Freddy was naïve about the world being stuck inside the facility, so she let that slide. "I do not understand how people cannot like you. You are a nice girl, you seem focused and kind, so it makes no sense to me."
"It makes no sense to me either." Saphira shrugged and leaned back in her chair, lifting her feet and rested them on the desk. That was better, she could stretch out a bit and enjoy herself. "But I have come to be okay with it. Not having friends and family isn't all bad."
"I would not know, not having my friends around would be very lonely. I hope you will change your mind about not having friends. Especially as I want to be your friend. I feel you need a friend in your life." Him too?! Saphira felt her brain spinning at the idea of being friends with robots. It was a crazy idea to her! "Even if I must communicate with you like this, I want to be your friend. I hope, in time, you will open up to that idea. I know Chica is excited to be your friend."
Saphira almost wanted to cut the contact between her and Freddy. This was getting a bit deep for her, this bear animatronic was talking with her like they were already friends. Again, it was his design! It was part of his programming! There was no simpler way to believe it. He is the star of the show, making it completely reasonable that he wants to be everyone's friend. Him and Chica extending their interest in being her friends were just part of their programming. Saphira did not know if she should even tempt that idea or not, because that would mean breaking her belief they were nothing more than robots.
