Back in her office with a slice of cheese pizza, a chocolate cupcake and another cup full of soda, Saphira was going through the cameras again. While no one might be here except her and the animatronics, there was something else going on if there were bots in the facility that had their faces painted and were behaving differently to the rest of the bots. She thought about reporting it, but she did not know if that would do anything. Freddy felt something would be done, but she had no real evidence to prove what she had seen and experienced, even with Freddy being a witness of it as well. Seeing Saphira determined to find the cause made him worry. He stood in the office as Saphira looked through the cameras to find evidence, and as much as he understood how strange it was, he did not know if she should be trying to find the answer. It could get her into more trouble.
"Saphira, why don't we just leave this for tonight?" Freddy asked her calmly, she did not even flinch hearing him speak to her as she was so focused. "If someone has truly tampered with the bots, they will be found out. There is a chance it was one of the day staff too."
She stopped and realized he could be right. It was just was too much of coincidence. "Maybe you are right…I don't know. I just worry if I go down there again, I am going to be attacked again by one of those bots."
"It didn't hurt you though."
"No, but it looked like it attacked. And now that I think of it, it might have caused that gas leak too." Saphira picked up the pizza to take a bite from it, Freddy watched as he hoped the pizza was good to eat so she could feel full and satisfied. "I am so glad I am not as nervous around you as I used to be."
"Yes, me too. It makes me glad, and knowing you a little more makes it even more special to me." Saphira turned away from the monitors, finally, and she smiled at him while she ate the pizza. "It will be great tomorrow night. You get to help with our maintenance…after twelve of course. I will make sure I wait for you. I'll insist on it."
"You really like it when I do the maintenance huh? Can I ask why?" Saphira was curious about his insistence she helps, the others don't insist while most enjoy having her help. Freddy was still insisting. "I suppose you're doing it so I have trust from Cliff to do it without him and the other technicians hovering over me right?"
Freddy nodded slowly, not wanting to give her to true answer right now. "Yes, yes that is correct. Normally, I do not help with new night guards if they are not nice and respectful. You are the first I believe who is, so I want to help you."
"You are so nice Freddy." She bit into the pizza again and turned towards the computer, she knew she would have to write an end of week report on her next shift and she was not looking forward to it. "Friday…everyone loves to talk about it."
"Yes, I hear it all the time from guests. I personally do not understand…but I do not do anything but entertain guests and not feel the need to sleep or eat like you. I hardly have days where I am stuck in my room all day. It has happened only…twice if I am honest." That was a good record, after all, Freddy was meant to be in tip top shape. "Hmmm, how is that pizza by the way?"
"It's pretty good, I don't have pizza very much. So it is a treat to have it for free while I am here." She glanced at the monitors again and thought about trying to get evidence, but Freddy was right. She was stressing herself over something that might resolve itself. She hoped for that anyway. "So, where would the best place for me to be when you put on your show?"
"Ooh…that is a good question. There are many different places on the floor that are great." Freddy turned and walked out of the room to think, glancing around the atrium which made Saphira giggle as he thought about it. "Right up near the stage is good."
"Nah, I feel like I'd be stealing a place from someone."
Freddy wanted to see Saphira when he was on stage, so he looked around for somewhere he could easily see her. "Well…maybe on the balconies overlooking the stage. You won't be in the way of that many people. But, you are also not very tall, so it will be perfect for you."
That sounded like a perfect place, she would be up high, and it was the perfect vantage point. Plus, Saphira would be out of the way and she could enjoy the show while the guests could have the better view. She nodded as she thought about it, biting into the crust and enjoying the crunchy feeling between her teeth as it was her favorite part of the pizza.
"I think that is settled. I will be on one of the balconies. But I don't expect you to look for me Freddy. I am just one of many people who will be in the atrium dancing to your song." Freddy knew she would not expect it, but he felt it was important to him and seeing her enjoying the moment would make him extremely happy. Especially how he saw how happy she was witnessing the rehearsal. "I imagine you will be cranking out some moves that you didn't show in the rehearsal."
"You can bet I will." Freddy walked back into the office, he saw Saphira eating the last few bites of the pizza and he was extremely happy. "Do you think you can share more about your life with me?" She looked at him curiously at his question. "It interests me. A lot."
"I am trying to work out the reason for that Freddy, my life isn't that great. Or, it wasn't until the last few years honestly." She placed the plate aside and looked at the cupcake for a moment, deciding whether or not she will eat it now or later. "I really don't want to ruin your idea of the world outside of the pizzaplex."
"I know. I know it must seem strange, especially since I don't ask anyone else about it. I guess because…being a good friend, means listening to the good, the bad, the strange…yeah, that is what a good friend is. And we stick by that friend through that too." He was not wrong, but Saphira still was on the fence about being close friends with the animatronics. After all, if they were deactivated today and replaced with a new endo, she would have to start all over again. That actually sounded horrible. "However, I will not force you to tell me anything you don't want to. Especially regarding your family. I will not tell any of the others anything you have shared with me."
"You won't?" Saphira was surprised, she thought he would tell them as she thought they shared everything. But then, that would be super weird if Bonnie and Monty shared their intimate life…that is, if they were even intimate. "Well…I thought you would."
He shakes his head. "No. It is not my place to tell. Just as it is not my place to tell about Foxette, it is not my place to tell the others about your past. It is your task."
"Thank you…I really appreciate that." Saphira was tempted to jump up and hug him, but she decided not too. She glanced at her Fazwatch, it was four-thirty, she only had an hour and half to go. This night was going very slowly to her. "You know, despite the fact that I nearly had a heart attack, I kind of wish my shifts were longer and we had more time alone."
Alone. That thought made Freddy excited and the strange emotion in him grow even more. Yes, alone. It has been so great that they were alone. Freddy opened his mouth to agree as the lights go out again and he looked around in surprise while Saphira straightened up in her chair.
"Speaking of alone…we really need to do something about Moon," Saphira said nervously as she heard the squealing of the animatronic's legs outside the office. "At least…you're here."
Freddy nodded and turned to stand in the doorway, his arms stiffen slightly to block the animatronic from getting into the office. Saphira has already had enough of tonight, he knew it and the last thing she needed was for Moon to get close enough to her. The bot was laughing coldly as he dance on a seat by a gold palm tree.
"What do you want now Moon?" Freddy asked the clown animatronic. "You are not going to trick Saphira into Hide and Seek tonight. Your little game has ended." The bot doesn't respond, he simply laughed and jumped forward, tumbling forward and crouching, dancing his feet around his body. "I have no idea what you think you are trying to pull…"
"Oh, don't be such a party pooper Freddy," Moon jeers at Freddy, making the bot harden his frown at him. "I merely want to invite Saphira to the daycare. She wanted to see the ball pit, so now is the best time to dive in and have fun!"
That was just bait. "With Sun! Not you!" Saphira snapped from inside the office, making the bot tilt his head slightly and laugh loudly again. "Oh, ha, ha, ha to you too! Bitch…" She grumbled as she hated being afraid of the bot, but she couldn't help it.
"You heard her Moon. She will play with Sun, not you."
"Oh, but she now needs to be punished! She said a bad wooorrrd!" Moon mocks, standing up and holding his hands out, twitching his fingers creepily. "Are you going to let her be bad? You know the rules of the pizzaplex."
"They do not apply to staff!" Freddy retorted, he glanced up at the lights wondering why they were still off. "Have you tampered with the lights Moon?! You know you are not supposed to!"
"Who? Me? Oh, na!" Moon laughed again and somersaults forward, landing a few feet in front of Freddy. "I have not touched the lights! Not for many weeks! But…I am pleased..."
Saphira was on the computer right now looking to see how she could access the pizzaplex mainframe to turn the lights back on. She managed to find it, she looked through the mainframe and found the light panel, but she was shocked there was a password locking her out. And someone was active, keeping the lights off. Externally.
"Oh shit!" Saphira gasped, she grabbed her flashlight to turn on and shines it towards Freddy and Moon, they both glance at Saphira briefly. She looked at Moon with a frown. "You creepy clown! Are you not even curious about why the lights are out longer?"
"Nope! It means more time to play Hide and Seek, dive in the ballpit and throw darts at the target!" Darts? What did he mean by that? "Move away Freddy, and let me show you…"
"Not a chance!" Freddy snapped back at Moon. "There is a system error! Go back to the daycare Moon! You need to stop trying to scare and hurt Saphira."
"Oh, oh…okay…" Moon lowered his arms and head, acting all sad and pitiful, turning away to walk slowly from Freddy. "I just wanted to have some fun." Freddy watched Moon carefully, he did not fully believe he would walk away, and he was right. "Oh! I forgot!" He turned as he held up on finger like a lightbulb had gone off. "Bullseye!" He seemed to grab out something from his pants to prepare to launch just as the lights suddenly come on.
Saphira relaxed as she watched Moon's face turn and it appeared a mask covered his face and hat with Sun's, same with his body. He grumbled and held his face for a moment, glancing around. "Oh no…not again…" Sun seemed to panic as he realized he tried to throw something at Saphira. "Darn! He nearly threw it!"
"What is this dart he spoke of?" Saphira asked in a nervous, yet curious tone. She did not get up to get closer to Sun or Freddy right now as she was too nervous. "Is it…an actual dart?"
"No…" Sun groaned and pressed his hands into his forehead in frustration for a moment before sighing and looking at Saphira. "The darts are…tiny, little balls…metal balls, they're full of little pins, needles and paint…I don't know where Moon finds or makes them…I don't even know. But they hurt…and partly the reason why Hide and Seek is dangerous." He definitely did not want to tell Saphira and Freddy about it. Freddy looked shocked upon hearing about these darts, he definitely did not know about these. "You are lucky the lights came on where they did."
"Yeah…" Suspiciously. Saphira glanced at her computer to see that the lights were back on and not password locked now. She looked back at Sun with a frown. "If you can try to get right of the darts Sun, they are not part of the show. Do you know when he started making them?"
"Ummm…oohh, that is a good question. I don't even know." Sun rubbed his chin as he thought about when Moon began making or finding these darts. "Oh! It might have been around the same time Monty…well…you know."
"That night guard never did anything with you though," Freddy said, not knowing what else could be causing Moon to be like this. "What he's making are tiny bullets. We cannot have that here! It is too dangerous! I hope he never throws them at the children."
"No, he does not. He's only targeted the night guards with them. AAARRGGH!" Sun shakes his head and dropped to his knee, and to Saphira's surprise, began to cry. There were no tears, but hearing him crying was a surprise, and it also made her sad seeing him like that. "I am so sorry! I-I d-d-don't want to hurt anyone."
"It is not your fault. There must be a reason. We have encountered a strange thing tonight as well, they cannot just be coincidences." They could be, but there was likely a connection. Finding them out was now a side mission for Saphira. If it was Dave, or someone else causing this, she would find out. "Now, get yourself to the daycare. I need to recharge, my system is getting low."
"Wow…good timing on the lights…" Saphira said outloud as she did not know what would have happened if Freddy's battery ran out. He turned to look at her and she smiled at him. "Go and recharge Freddy. If you stay, I will have to deal with you on the ground." She waved her hands for him to go. "It is okay. I will be okay. And Sun…" The bot was still on the ground sobbing and he looked up at her when she addressed him. "Go back to the daycare. I intend to find what is going on."
"Thank you…thank you!" Sun responded, he sounded relieved and nervous at the same time. Freddy seemed satisfied and began to walk away from the office. "Ummm…" Saphira watched as Sun clasped his hands together for a moment before stepping closer to the door, making her tense back slightly. "Just…be careful with your snooping. I don't want to see you in any further danger."
"What does that mean?" Saphira frowned at him, she knew there was more to those words than what he said. Sun hesitated for a moment, glancing away for a moment. "Tell me!"
"Argh! I…look, check on the computer…" He points to the computer on the desk and she rose an eyebrow at him curiously. "You will find files of every employee who has worked here. That is your first clue. The next, you will also find files about different guests…that is another clue." Saphira had no idea what Sun was trying to tell her, but she felt nervous now as she worried this could lead to something more dangerous than she thought it would. "And…I think you are already onto something regarding one individual who might be behind this."
Dave
Was he really behind all that? She wondered how long he has been here for. Before she asked more questions, Sun left Saphira with them for her to ponder on. She almost felt like she going into unchartered territory and she closed the door, making herself feel safer in some way as she began to look up employee files. As this place has been open for eight years at least, she had to see who was here from the start. She clicked Dave's file and she was surprise to see he's been here since the start. He did not start as a technician, he started as a day security guard before he qualified as a technician two years in. She hummed as she saw most employees have left, but there was a file labelled Disappearances. She opened it and there were at least a dozen employee profiles here. She clicked on them and noticed the dates of these disappearances began shortly after Dave became a technician. Strange…it seemed their files mentioned them reporting strange staff bot activity, much like what Saphira and Freddy witnessed. Saphira knew now to keep what she had seen to herself for now, otherwise she might end up on this list too. A few of these employees were night guards too, not all of them. Some were technicians, one was a customer service employee and two were admin staff, so it was an odd mixture of staff who have disappeared.
But why?
That was the question. Saphira clicked out of the file and she clicked into the guest file, knowing she would find a long list of guests. However, there was also a file in here labelled Disappearances, and she could not help but shudder. She clicked into the file and there was a lot more in here than the employee file. Twice as many, and the dates were again after Dave became an employee. Many of these were children. Did Freddy know about the disappearances? Do any of them know? Saphira couldn't help but grind her teeth together thoughtfully and click out of the files, she didn't want to see more and she was becoming very stressed. The fact she got Dave a final warning might be what he needed to do something to her. What it was, she did not know.
"Ahh!" Saphira gasped as the door opened suddenly as Freddy walked into the office and she glared at him. "Freddy! Knock please!"
"Sorry…I did not think you would mind…" Freddy remained in the doorway, with an extremely apologetic expression on his face. "I did not mean to scare you. But I finished my recharge, and I wanted to come right back."
She sighed deeply as she tried to relax and calm her racing heart. "Just knock next time please!"
"Okay…I will remember." Freddy glanced out of the door briefly before looking back at her. "What did Sun wanted to talk to you about?" She shrugged at him and looked at the monitors, resting her elbows on the desk and clasping her hands together. "Are you sure?"
"He…he elaborated on something, and I am just trying to put pieces together now. Although…I am not sure if I should." Freddy tilts his head slightly, he was curious as to what she meant by that. "Do you know anything about the disappearances?"
He widened his eyes in shock, she turned her head slightly to look at him. "Umm…how…how did you find out about that?"
"Answer the question."
Freddy hesitated for a moment, his expression changing to a deep sadness. "Yes. I am aware. We all are. However, if you are looking for answers, I am uncertain about it. My friends and I have tried to find an answer already. From what we know, these people end up in places of the pizzaplex where there are no cameras, and disappear." He looked away from Saphira, hoping she was not mad at him. "We have had nothing to do with it. Please don't think we are monsters…we are not capable of harming guests."
The fact Freddy knew about it and probably would not have told her made Saphira lose a little trust in Freddy. "And…what would happen if I end up on the list?"
He shakes his head, the idea of that made him upset. "I…I would try all I can to find the truth. But if it is someone in the facility we do not suspect, or someone from the outside…like the owner…I might end up deactivated. Although, I would hope that will never happen."
"It could Freddy…I've looked at those files, and that bot tonight…strange bot behaviour was reported by those employees." He nodded, he was trying to protect Saphira from a terrible fate. "And you said it has never happened before too. You should have admitted to me the true reason for it Freddy. I don't want you to lie to me."
"I am sorry. I did not want to lie to you…I just…" He grimaced, his eyes lower slightly as he was very embarrassed and sad about how he had to go about this. "My system…it would not allow me to tell you…I do not know why. But it is a secret we are forced to hide."
That made sense if this business was hiding some shady shit. And that would also mean keeping the animatronics' mouths shut. But now that she knew, Freddy had no reason not to tell her about it now. But she did not know if she believed him. She guessed perhaps knowing about these disappearances would make her afraid to work here. And she was, but…she had no where else to turn for work.
Freddy watched Saphira, trying to read her face. He worried that she would return to being afraid of him, after all, these disappearances happened while he and the other animatronics were in the building. He knew it would seem suspicious that they did not know, and in truth, if they did know that memory has been wiped from their system. "Saphira…does this mean…" He turned away from her sadly. "I suppose our friendship…it should stop right?"
"Why?" Saphira frowned at Freddy at his question. She shakes her head quickly and softened her expression. "Don't feel like that. I want to stay as your friend Freddy. But you should understand that whatever has happened to these people is not your fault. Someone is pulling the strings here, and you are just as much of a piece in it as the employees and guests. And you would be considered a victim in this."
"Perhaps…I do not know if were ever involved…we have no memory of that if we were." That was also true, while the animatronics were not capable of harmings guests, they could still be tampered with and it was possible they have and were not even awake with their current system. "I just hope that we were never part of it."
"Me too. I could never imagine you doing anything to hurt someone. You are too kind for that." Saphira looked away from Freddy, glancing at the monitors and began to do her security round again. She picked up the muffin to eat while she did so. "I am going to try and get through the rest of the night without feeling the need to think about anything but my job."
"Yes. That is the most important thing." Freddy agreed, he thought about stepping closer, but he did not know if he should. "Do you still want my company?"
"Of course." Saphira looked at him with a frowning smirk. "Do you think I am going to run away from you now huh? Mmm…you never know, but I don't think it will be because I am scared."
He hoped that was the truth, but he accepted her answer anyway. He closed the door behind him and pondered on the missing employees and guests. He stopped trying to work that out years ago, even if it was a horrible thing to think about. In all essence, yes he has looked at the world as a good place, and these disappearances are just accidents. But if they were not, then he has been lying to himself as well. He did hope his friendship with Saphira would not diminish, same with her friendship with the other bots. But as Saphira relaxed and began to talk with him again until the end of the night and she pays a farewell visit to the other animatronics, it seemed that would not be the case. Saphira enjoyed their friendship, and he hoped nothing would get between them now. But while Freddy has never had it in him to hurt a human, if another human does try to hurt Saphira, that may just change.
