The rest of Saphira's shift went by rather quickly. She and Freddy talked a lot more after he relaxed over his admittance to his feelings. But Saphira did wonder how it must feel to them to feel this way when they have never felt the feelings before. From what Freddy was saying, it sounded like he was concerned about his system given his confusion about the feelings. That was normal in a way, a lot of humans experience the feelings for the first time and often not understand them straight away. So Saphira could not be mad at Freddy feeling confused. She just hoped that whoever he had feelings for would not be too alarmed. Especially as he had refused to give a description of the person he had these feelings for. In the last thirty minutes, Saphira flipped through the cameras to ensure the place was still empty of any unwanted guests, and prepared her stuff so she could leave the pizzaplex. She did decide to go to Rockstar Row earlier than she had the night before. She wanted to farewell the animatronics, and to say some final words to Bonnie and Monty, even if they do not respond to her.
Upon reaching the hallway, Saphira walked past the glass windows of the animatronic rooms. She saw Chica munching on garbage in her room and she waved to Saphira with one hand while shoving garbage into her mouth with the other. Saphira chuckled a little and approached Freddy's room first, she decided to start from the top and make her way back. When she walked up to the window, she saw Freddy sitting on his couch, he was slumped back against it and rubbing his lower stomach, he seemed to be deep in thought and looked up when he noticed her movement. He smiled and stood up, walking towards the window excitedly. Saphira took an instinctive step backwards, but she only took a small step.
"I am surprised and pleased to see you here so soon Saphira," Freddy said through the Fazwatch. "You caught me while I was trying to figure out my new feelings." He rubbed his neck and glanced away from her, he seemed very embarrassed to talk about it. "It was a tad embarrassing for me."
"Sorry, I did not know. But you can get back to it when I leave." Saphira winked at Freddy and his smile seemed to widen by how his lips open slightly. "Wednesday…I wonder what today will be like for you. I don't think I've asked what your days are like."
"Today will be busy. We usually get primary school students in today after nine to about two, that is what I expect for today. There are a couple scheduled birthdays again, and I will be bringing a birthday cake." He placed a hand on his stomach for a moment as he thought about some things. "Bringing birthday cakes and pinatas to kids and teens in my stomach hatch is a joyful thing to me. It always makes me happy seeing them so happy."
"I bet. Birthdays…they sound fun…" Saphira shrugged a little and noticed Freddy frowning at her. "Don't worry about that. My birthday isn't for another few months."
"Super star…you have never celebrated your birthday have you?" Freddy asked in a slow, cautious tone.
She shrugs again and looked away from him. "Maybe I used to, but I don't remember. But than again…Easter, Christmas, Halloween…I don't really know how to celebrate those either. I just sit back and watch everyone else have fun." She breathed in deeply and smiled at Freddy, he was looked at her with a shocked expression as he hears her talk about the celebrations she has missed in her life. "Sorry for making my end of shift depressing. Don't think about what I said."
"I don't think I will forget that at all Saphira, no one deserves to miss out. Even you super star. Tell me the date of your birthday, we might be able to do something for you." Saphira shakes her head, she felt awkward that he was wanting to let her celebrate her birthday. "Why not?"
"It's not important Freddy…it never has been. But thank you for trying…" Saphira turned to walk away from the window and she saw him move suddenly. "Anyway, I had better go…" She paused when she heard his door opening and him running out of the room. She gasped and turned, her heart jolting in fear and she backed away from him as he approached her. "Freddy! What are you doing?! Get back in your room!"
"The more I hear about you Saphira, the sadder I get," Freddy said as he stopped in front of her as Saphira pressed her back on the wall by the window. "I am having a hard time understanding it all. I have never come across someone with a life like yours. I do not know what goes on outside the pizzaplex…but…my own assumptions about the world has changed." Huh? That meant Freddy thought everything was good and bright outside the pizzaplex before she came. Saphira felt bad she destroyed that for him unintentionally. "But in here, you have friends. I might not be a human…but I think that is what makes it better right? I know humans who don't like other humans often surround themselves around animals. I am no animal, but I am not human either."
Saphira could see where Freddy was going with that and she smiled at him slightly. "I am sorry for ruining your assumption for the world outside of the pizzaplex Freddy. But thanks for trying to be my friend. And you are right, I prefer you over people. I just need to stop being so scared of you all the time."
His eyes lit up slightly when she told him she preferred them over humans. That made him happy to know that. "Yes, we do need to work on that. If you would allow me, I could give you hug right now." Saphira widened her eyes and visibly tensed when he told her that. "Please super star, I know you will feel better for it."
Saphira did not know if she should. Chica did hug her earlier, but that was because she had not expected it, and she did find herself relaxing in Chica's arms, so this should be the same. But it wasn't. Freddy was slightly bigger than Chica, and he was likely stronger than her too. She felt herself shaking and realized she was still terrified of him.
"Sorry Freddy…I…I-I want to let you…but…I…" Saphira could not really finish the sentence as she looked away from Freddy with tears in her eyes. "I'm still scared."
Freddy could see Saphira's body shaking, he looked down and stepped back, he realized how much he towered over her. He has never really taken notice of his height before, but now he understood how intimidating he might be. Roxy, Chica and Foxy were not large animatronics like Freddy, Bonnie and Monty are, he has seen Saphira seemed less scared of them, and it was likely because they were not intimidating. Even though Roxy was intimidating with her personality and attitude.
Saphira turned her head slightly to see Freddy looking down at himself and she noticed he seemed to come to a realisation about himself. All these interactions were really making her question her own mind about these bots. They were acting alive, and she found herself not being able to ignore it for much longer. She could keep reminding herself, but Freddy was taking steps to be less frightening to her, and his boldness of wanting to hug her right now before she was comfortable really told her he was a good friend. Her heart hurt knowing that. And she was hurting him by being this way.
"I am sorry Freddy…but I will be back tonight," Saphira said with a small smile. He looked at her and saw she had stopped shaking, that was good. "There is general maintenance on tonight right?"
"Correct. Myself, Chica and Foxy are up for general maintenance…I hope that you will get to assist with that. In fact, I insist, so you can improve on your skills and be more comfortable around me." Saphira nodded, of course she would do it. At least Monty was not listed for general maintenance, she figured Thursday night he would be. He won't let her help she was sure. "I'll make sure Cliff knows to let you help. I refuse to begin my maintenance without you."
She giggled a little at him and rolled her eyes. "You're funny." She glanced her watch and widened her eyes when she saw the time. "Oh shit! I need to say farewell the others, I only have ten minutes left."
"Oh sorry, I did not realize I was holding you up for too long." He turned and walked towards his room, allowing Saphira to relax a lot more. "I will see you tonight super star. I look forward to it, and hopefully I won't be as scary to you afterwards."
Saphira was not as confident about that as he was, but she appreciated it. "I will see you later," She said to him before Freddy entered his room and turned to make her way to Roxy's room. The animatronic was standing at the glass of her room with her hands on hips, but she smile slightly at Saphira when she saw her and Saphira used her Fazwatch to speak to her. "Sorry Roxy, Freddy held me up."
"I noticed, I was about to run out of my room to scare him back to his room. There was no way I was letting him have your whole attention and not say farewell to me. I am the best, and everybody knows it." Saphira chuckled softly at Roxy, the wolf bot still thought of herself that way. That was fine, she doubts it was personality that could be changed. "And don't worry, I will be good. The technicians will probably check on my later when they turn up. I won't say anything to them about it."
"Thanks Roxy…but they won't be that stupid to not know who helped you." That was the main thing Saphira was worried about right now. She hoped she will not lose her job for it. "I wish I had your confidence."
The bot snorted and ran her hand through her hair dramatically. "Of course you do, everybody does. At least you would not be a wimp and run away like a coward. You and Freddy might just be good friends already if that was the case."
"And you and I could be friends too." Saphira sighed deeply, Roxy's tail wagged slightly at the notion of being friends. "Wait…you want to be my friend?"
The tail stops and Roxy acted all offended. "Huh? Me? A friend to a twerp like you?" She tilts her head slightly and shrugged. "Hmm, well, you are not that bad. So I suppose we could be acquaintences at least. Being a friend is crossing a line."
Saphira chuckled at Roxy, she was now teasing Saphira it seemed, despite Roxy still being full of herself. "Good, I at least got on your good side."
"Ha, ha, I doubt that. Well…you better get out of here. I am done talking to you." Roxy turned around and walked over to the mirror to look into. "Ah, there's that beautiful face."
Saphira waved at Roxy as she stood in view of the mirror and saw the bot rolling her eyes. She smiled and walked away from Roxy's room and glanced at Monty's room. That was the next room to stop by, the curtains were drawn shut as she had expected and she could hear the guitar being played inside. She stopped and listened to the tune, it was a gentle tune and it sounded like Monty was playing his own song. But after a few seconds of listening, she picked up the keys and realized he was playing Can't Help Falling In Love. It sounded beautiful to Saphira's ears, she smiled and turned on her Fazwatch to connect with Monty.
"Monty…I…I really am sorry about earlier," Saphira said to him gently. She hears him stop playing the guitar and that made her sad. "I hope you and Bonnie do make up. You both seem very happy with each other. And that was a beautiful song you were playing…you're very talented with the guitar."
Monty does not respond to her and Saphira walked towards Chica's room next. The animatronic stood at the window, her hands and beak were covered in food remains, and it was quite disgusting. Saphira was just glad she was not in the room, because she would probably feel sick from it.
"You should get yourself cleaned up Chica," Saphira said to her through the Fazwatch. The bot looked at her hands in surprise and giggled. "That is less than desirable."
"Don't worry, I always clean myself up before guests show up," Chica responded cheerfully. "I am not that silly about it. Anyway, I look forward to the maintenance tonight. I am sure Cliff will have you helping out and I know Freddy will want you to help too."
"I know, he told me. And I understand there are schools coming today is that right?" Chica nodded excitedly. "Do you have any parties to attend to as well?"
"Yep! Foxy and Bonnie do too, I think Monty has a party in Gator Golf too so he'll be attending that later. I am so excited! I feel bad for Roxy, she has to miss out on that. I think she was booked out for parties today too…but there is not much we can do. Anyway, I better not hold you up for long. The time is ticking."
Chica was not wrong and Saphira waved to the animatronic, walking to Bonnie's room. Unlike Monty, he had his curtain open. He was sitting on his couch, looking at Saphira. He smiled and waved at her. Saphira was about to say something to him through the Fazwatch, but he shakes his head quickly to tell her not to talk to him. She sighed and nodded, understanding he wanted some alone time.
"Argh! Darn, Saphira!" Foxy said through the Fazwatch suddenly, startling her at the sound of his voice. "Me hook's spinnin' and I can't control it!" Huh? What does he mean by that? Saphira ran to Foxy's room and he was standing at the window with worry, and sure enough, his hook was spinning. "I don't know what happened! I was practicin' on my piano and the hook began to spin suddenly. It's never happened before!"
Damn! Saphira ran to the door and jumped a little when it opened automatically. She stepped inside and Foxy held out his arm with a worried expression. This was risky since they were not in Parts and Service, but Saphira walked over to figure out how to open the arm casing without the cylinder. She took a moment to open it and looked at it. She noticed a rotor for his hand spinning constantly, a wire had come loose.
"Can you grab your hook with your hand Foxy?" Saphira asked, glancing up at him for a moment. "This should be a quick fix, but I can't while it's spinning."
"Okay, I will hold it as steady as I can." Foxy grabbed the hook with his hand and there was a screech coming as the rotor tried to keep spinning. "Hurry, you don't have much time!"
Saphira knew that. She reached into his arm and grabbed the wire carefully, she held onto the other side of the arm as she pushed the wire back into the rotor properly. She felt Foxy twitching as the action must have hurt a little bit, but once it was back in, the rotor stopped squealing and he let go of the hook.
"Ah! Much better!" Foxy exclaimed and turned the hook himself to get it back into it's resting position. "Thank you lass! I owe you."
"It is okay," Saphira smiled as she put the casing back on and made sure it was tight so it would not fall off. "Like I said, it was an easy fix. Try not to do that again until it gets looked at properly tonight."
"You can count on me lass!" Foxy said confidently before holding up his hook, causing her to flinch back from him once the casing was on properly. "Argh! You can count on me to be careful! Especially with the parties for the lass and lads today!"
Saphira chuckled at him before walking towards his door. "I will be very mad at you if I come in to find out you damaged the hook again. Have a good day Foxy!"
Saphira left Rockstar Row quickly to get back to her office to clock out. She had just a few minutes left, but she made it with just seconds to spare. She was relieved and clocked out, smiling at herself as she had achieved it on time. She gathered her things to leave the pizzaplex for the day. She was tired. All the emotions of the shift had made her exhausted, she just hoped that it would not be like that again tonight. The other problem was she knew Cliff would not be stupid, he would know Roxy was mended by her and he might be upset about it. Especially since Saphira did it without supervision and deleted the log about it too. But all she wanted to do now was get home and have a good sleep, she needed it.
However, her thoughts about the bots were plaguing her mind. All of her interactions with them, observing how they behave and listening to what they say…was this really an advanced AI system they had? Because they seemed a lot more sentient than what an AI system would even allow. They all were also so innocent about the world too, especially since Freddy was learning how cruel the human world could be through her. She did not meant to taint what he thought about the world, but he did not spend a lot of time with a human one-on-one and she knew that. And then there was his love interest. With Bonnie and Monty in a relationship, it seemed it was possible for them to love a human too. And Freddy seemed to be showing it. Although, at this stage, it seemed to be just a crush. And who is this person? Saphira did consider going through the camera system to see if she could figure out the person, but that would be wrong. If Freddy wanted to keep it a secret, he had the right to. But she did wonder what it would be like to fall in love with a robot. Robots don't have the usual attractive features to catch a person's eye, although if she was honest, the animatronics did have some of those qualities. Chica and Roxy had the obvious features with their slim, curvy bodies, and she knew there were workers at the pizzaplex that got off looking at them. So, they definitely had those attractive features. Foxy wasn't quite the same, him being slender compared to Freddy still made him cute in appearance. His wild personality as well was attractive, and his attentiveness to keep his guests entertained, he could attract someone. But as he spent most of his time in Kids Cove, it was unlikely. Whereas Freddy, Bonnie and Monty, they had broad, strong shoulders and thick limbs. There definitely was something about them that was attractive and frightening at the same time. If Saphira was to draw them, she could definitely picture them with abs, and that thought alone was enough to cause a blush on Saphira's face while she lays in her bed thinking about it.
And she realized there could be a chance Freddy was talking about her. She did not know how recent his crush had started, but if it was when she started, then she did not know how to feel about that. She liked Freddy a lot, but to take it further beyond friendship sounded foolish to her. Even though she told Freddy she did not think it was wrong. Saphira was conflicted about it all. These animatronics were more than just advanced robots. And she was starting to admit it that they were special, there was something more about them. She wanted to know about their system to understand it. Or try to understand it. She felt like searching for an answer would help her conclude they were just robots. But it was hard when they were genuine like any other person. She did not want to start looking at them like people, but she was slowly starting to see that. And it goes against what she knew about robots in the first place. And that alone still scared her.
