Standing in Parts and Service waiting for Pigpatch and Roxy felt like a long time. Saphira had requested that Freddy be the last of the animatronics to go through maintenance, mainly because she wanted to try and work on her new anxiety that she felt while working on the animatronics. She hated that she felt anxious, she knew how to work on them and that was no problem. She has been trying to pinpoint exactly why she was feeling anxious. She highlly doubted it had anything to do with the endos in the warehouse or she would have been feeling anxious before the incident.
Freddy stood by Saphira as she sat on a chair, he was rubbing her shoulders gently to help comfort her. He has already opted to go into the cylinder with her to ensure that she remains as calm as possible, even though she had considered going in alone. But with him there, it would make things a lot easier. At least, she hoped for that because the previous maintenance routines she went into the cylinder alone. And she had shown to hate it because of her new anxiety. She knew she need to battle it on her own, but the comfort of Freddy's presence definitely would help.
"Finally!" Roxy's voice filled the room as she walked in. "That was such an intense race, it was so fun!" She chuckled as she walked down the stairs from the platform and approached the cylinder. "I hope you won't have any anxiety attacks tonight, Saphira, because my tail feels stiff when I move it." She showed Saphira by moving her tail, and it definitely looked stiff. "It hasn't felt this way for over a year, so hopefully it will be a quick fix."
"It should be," Saphira responded, standing from her chair with a smile. "I doubt anything else will show up on the monitor after scanning for errors." She approached the computer to start the maintenance log. "Pigpatch will join us shortly, he's having issue with a twitching eye or something."
"Hmm…I guess probably because those eyes haven't been used for a while they might not be at peak performance," Roxy said thoughtfully as Saphira started the log. She looked at the cylinder as the door opened. "Anyway, remember to take your time. Oh, I think I saw that new night guard too. She has blonde hair, right?" Saphira nodded with a frown. "She really could use make up. Her face looks so dry, her lips look cracked beneath that lipstick and I swear she's wearing contacts."
Saphira giggled a little, she did not know where Roxy saw Vanessa, but she was not surprised Roxy went straight to talking about how she looked. "I haven't noticed…too busy about other thoughts. Let's get that tail fixed."
Roxy walked into the cylinder to sit down. Freddy followed Saphira into the cylinder, the wolf looked at him in surprise at first before she realized he was there to help keep Saphira from being so anxious. Saphira was already feeling the anxiety just by standing in the cylinder. It wasn't as bad, but it was still there. Saphira grabbed down the console to begin the scan, humming softly to herself as she waited for the results of the scan. She already noticed her hands were shaking slightly, she sighed and shook her arms a little to relax them. Once the scan was finished and showed it was just the tail showing errors, she pressed buttons to remove the casing for the tail and backside before she turned her flashlight on and crouched down to peer at the joints connecting to the tail. She touch the endo tail and moved it to find where it was most stiff, and it was at the tailbone area where it was stiff. It appeared to be missing a joint somehow. She huffed and stood up briefly to get the correct tools and joint piece to attach.
"I assume you are okay?" Freddy asked as Saphira crouched again, resting on her knees to work on the tail.
She glanced up at Freddy and shrugged. "Yeah, I am fine."
Freddy could tell she was anxious, but she at least was not making a mistake. He stayed close to her as best as he could while Saphira worked on the tail. He didn't want to make this feel awkward for Roxy as well, but the wolf did understand as she has seen Saphira's quick personality change. After all, Saphira had a complete panic, meltdown the previous day when Freddy had to recharge the day before. It wasn't pleasant to witness at all. Saphira did apologize for it already, but there was nothing that could be done about that. Especially as Saphira's fear of losing Freddy was extremely high the day before.
"At least your tail didn't fall off when a single joint fell," Saphira said as she attached the new joint piece. "I assume it might have happened while you were racing sometime today. It probably doesn't happen much, but overtime it does."
"Thankfully, it was embarrassing that my beautiful tail couldn't move fluidly like it should," Roxy said with a slight huff. "At least I am more beautiful than that new Vanessa."
"Yep, I totally agree," Saphira responded with a chuckle. "Curious, how do I stack up against her in your eyes?"
"Pfft, you are definitely more beautiful than her," Roxy responded quickly and glanced at Freddy. "I just hope that woman does not get your attention. We don't need anymore damage done here."
Freddy frowned at Roxanne. "Please don't put that doubt in her mind."
"She probably has that doubt already, Freddy. You just need to remain loyal." The wolf knew that the woman was attractive after seeing her, so Roxy was concerned by that. However, they had yet to meet Vanessa properly. "Just for the record, if anyone does not take Saphira's side, I will drag you to the trash compactor myself and send you down into the trash pit below the pizzaplex."
"Thanks for the warning," Freddy said softly and rolled his eyes. "I don't see that happening to myself. I'll always be on her side. I love her too much, Roxy. Letting her down would mean I let myself down."
"You got that right." Saphira sighed as she was satisfied with her work and moved the tail gently to feel it was no longer stiff. "Alright, I am finished." She moved from under Roxy and stood up, she gasped and held her head. "Oop, got up too fast."
"Are you okay?" Freddy asked in concern as he placed his hands on her shoulders to support her.
"Yeah, nothing like a little blood rushing to the head to keep you awake," She responded sarcastically and grabbed down the console to put the casing back on. "Thanks for being here Freddy, I feel much better with your presence in here."
"Of course you do," Roxy said with a chuckle. "Considering how nervous you are about losing him, I think your anxiety is somehow linked to that. I don't know, I am only guessing on that."
Saphira did not think that was the case, but it was a good theory. She goes through the diagnostic process successfully and smiled. She was happy it was over and turned to leave, only to be slightly startled when she saw Pigpatch watching through the window. She sighed in relief when she it was just him.
"I hate that I am more jumpy than I was," Saphira said as she walked out of the cylinder to finish the log.
"You should not be surprised. I mean, you were chased by a freaky Music Man." Freddy placed his hands on her shoulders to rub gently as she finished the log on the computer and began the maintenance log for Pigpatch. "I don't expect nothing less if I am honest."
"I guess…" Saphira shrugged a little and glanced at Roxy with a smile. "How does that tail feel?"
"Beautiful." She wagged her tail gently with a grin on her face. "I am the best! I am beautiful!" She twirled around and paused, glancing at Pigpatch. "How is the eye? I hear it feels like it is twitching or something."
Pigpatch shrugged at her. "Yeah, my right eye has been. The vision in it has been blurry, so…yeah, might need a new one or there is a damaged wire somewhere."
"We won't know until I check," Saphira said as the door of the cylinder opened and she smiled at him. "If you would please step into the protective cylinder so I may begin."
Pigpatch chuckled and walked into the cylinder to sit down. "At least tonight is a good, quiet night." He tilts his head as he saw Freddy walking into the cylinder behind Saphira. "Ooh, I guess him being here makes you less anxious huh?"
Saphira nodded, grabbing down the console again to begin the scan. "Yeah…I guess also my mind is on other things, so I have no time to worry about Freddy not being here or being anxious when working on you. We have a few hours before you officially meet Vanessa."
"I am not looking forward to it. I imagine she'll just be another puppet…I expect disappearances to start happening again." Saphira did not like the sound of that and gave Pigpatch a frown of disapproval. "I get it, you don't want to hear it. But…if I am right, you will not be able to complain. All we can do is try to prove who it is."
Saphira doubted that would be easy. She didn't even consider disappearances would happen again because Vanessa was here. But she was only here at night…although…Saphira never saw her enter the pizzaplex through the entrance. She still found that a mystery. She decided not to focus on that as the scan returned with a yellow warning for Pigpatch's right eye. She had the face casing removed and walked over over to take a closer look at the wiring to the eye.
She felt Freddy's hand rub her back and she definitely enjoyed that feeling. Thankfully, it did not distract her as she looked closely at the wirings. She could not see anything that was damaged, so she assumed the eye was faulty. She sighed and grabbed the console to get a pair of replacement eyes. She figured if one was twitching, the other would follow shortly. Plus, removing the old eyes would reveal exactly what was wrong.
"Alright, I can't see what is wrong with the wiring, so I am going to replace both of your eyes," Saphira said, pushing the console up and grabbing tools to remove the eyes. "I know it is only one eye, but I think the other would end up doing the same thing. So it will be better to replace both of them."
"Very well," Pigpatch responded calmly. "At least I know it is not the wiring."
Saphira had yet to confirm that until she removed the eyes. She was careful to shut off the pain wires before she removed the eyes carefully. She detached the wiring that needed to be and looked at the right eye closely. She saw there was some damage closest to the eye, it wouldn't be fixable anyway. She removed the left eye and saw minor, similar damage. Good, another easy fix. She carefully attached the new eyes, she was surprised that she almost felt no anxiety right now. She didn't know if it really was because of Freddy's presence or not. But she was glad she did not feel any anxiety.
Once the eyes were attached, she turned the pain wires back on and watched Pigpatch blink his eyes. "That feels a lot better! And my sight is a lot bright too! Thanks." Pigpatch smiled at her as she stepped back to run the diagnostics.
"You are welcome. You made my job too easy tonight." Saphira chuckled a little as she put the face casing back on and went through the diagnostics. "It felt good that I was able to fix your eyes for you."
"You did very well, super star," Freddy said to her cheerfully. "I only have confetti in my stomach hatch to deal with. So…you and Roxy had actual reasons for maintenance."
"Confetti is still horrible, but yes, you're right." Pigpatch also knew Saphira would not be anxious working on Freddy. "So…how do you plan on us meeting Vanessa anyway? In the atrium?"
"I suppose, she's in my old office anyway." Saphira shrugged, she didn't really want to think about it, but she also had to. "Look, wait until I am finished and if I am done before twelve I will tell you what we can do. Personally, I'm quite happy to give as little as possible to Vanessa."
"You really have made up your mind about her, huh?" Pigpatch said with a sigh. Saphira just shrugged, Pigpatch knew what the real answer is. "Understandable. Mr Hippo has filled myself and the others in with what has happened. So…my suspicion is up too."
Saphira knew that would be the case, though some of the animatronics were open to giving Vanessa a chance. That was fine too, but Saphira doubted that it would take long for cracks to show. But, she would wait to see when that would happen, of course. She finished the diagnostic and stepped away with a smile.
"All finished for a while," Saphira announced cheerfully, smiling at Pigpatch and turned away to leave the cylinder again. "You should not feel any kind of twitching now Pigpatch."
"Thanks Saphira." Pigpatch walked out of the cylinder and looked at her as she finished the log. "Shall I stay, or head back to my room?"
"Probably go to your room. We're pushing it already with Vanessa looking at the cameras." Saphira glanced slightly towards the camera in the corner of the room, she didn't know if the woman was watching, but she could be. "I am sure she think it is strange I am letting Freddy come into the cylinder with me when other animatronics are not supposed to."
"She wouldn't know that rule," Freddy said softly. "I doubt she would anyway. Only technicians know that rule. So, I think we are safe on that one."
Saphira knew that technicians were the only ones to know that rule along with Darren, but Saphira was sure that Vanessa knew that rule too. She wasn't going to argue about that one. She began the maintenance log for Freddy next.
"I think I will still go back to my room…well, actually I might stop by and see Mr Hippo first," Pigpatch said with a grin. "He said he had something important to show me. But it is a surprise apparently, so I better go and see what it is about."
Saphira chuckled softly. "Okay, sounds like it might be a very sweet gift for you."
"I can only hope." Pigpatch chuckled as he made his way to the doors to head to the lift. "I will see you again soon to meet this Vanessa for the first time."
Saphira just nodded and looked up at the cylinder as the door reopened. "Alright, time for your confetti clean up." She smiled at Freddy as he chuckled at her joke and walked into the cylinder. "I don't know why confetti is still allowed anyway. I wish it was something Darren just said no too. It would make life easier honestly."
"Does that mean no confetti on your birthday?" Freddy asked curiously, Saphira looked at him in surprise as he laid down. "That is the next big event, your birthday."
"No it isn't, the Fourth of July is," Saphira responded with a smile. "My birthday is after that date. Besides, I heard from Darren fireworks are set off not far from the pizzaplex. It will be empty before nine apparently."
"He is not wrong, that day is strange to me. But I am curious, what is fireworks?" She blinked in surprise, he had never seen fireworks. "Is it something we could see?"
"Sure, we can watch them on the roof," Saphira responded with a smile. She liked the idea of watching fireworks with Freddy. "Sadly, we won't be alone when that happens. We will have to have everyone on the roof."
"We can always do something to make a private canopy for us," Freddy suggests and chuckled softly, making her chuckle back at him.
"Oh, I better make a start. You're really good at distracting me." Saphira pulled down the console to scan his body. "However, you are making me think back to that night. It was magical…" Saphira sighed dreamily as she thought about that night. It was only a week ago, but she still thought about it. "If only we could do it all over again."
"I mean, we could, but…maybe next year as an anniversary," Freddy responded with a chuckle. "I think doing it now would probably be unwise. I imagine being intimate would cause more damage to you right now anyway."
Saphira shrugged, he was probably right. But she still enjoyed that night. She hummed as she waited for for the scan to finish. Being intimate with Freddy still sounded like a nice thing, however…her mind went to the injection. She wondered what was possibly injected into her. She wasn't pregnant, but the injection was definitely in her womb area. It was definitely a deliberate target. However, if the virus's goal was to ensure she could get pregnant, she didn't really think it would work. Freddy didn't have fertile seed, so it made no sense to her that it would work. So, Saphira didn't really think that was a plan that would work. At least, that is what she hoped for.
The scan came back green, which surprised her, but she shrugged and opened the stomach hatch to clear out the confetti. "You know, since I am here all the time now, do you think I should just move in?"
"Huh? Why would you think that? You have a place to call home." Freddy was surprised she would ask that question. "I know it doesn't matter if you are the apartment or not, but you need somewhere to escape from the danger for a little while."
"Maybe…but it feels a bit unnecessary now to have an apartment…or a car." Saphira knew it sounded foolish, but she really just wanted to stop renting the apartment and sell her car. "At least, being here all the time, I am here with you. And I can do things during the day when I am not on the clock."
"I don't think it is a good idea…I know it is offered, but…the virus wants you to stay. I think…" Freddy shakes his head, looking at Saphira as she scooped out handfuls of confetti. "You might be afraid of losing me, but I too fear losing you. If you cut off everything to the world outside the pizzaplex, you might be trapped for good. Darren already told us you both are trapped, I think you should not box yourself in."
Saphira listened to him. She knew in her heart he was right, but her mind was pressuring her that she should stay and get rid of both her apartment and car. She didn't need them. Everything she needed was right here in the pizzaplex. Freddy won't disappear if she stayed all the time. She also could figure out Vanessa a bit more too.
"It is not your decision to make Freddy," Saphira responded calmly without looking at him. "I know I will be happy to stay here all the time. Especially since our relationship was taken to the next level. I think we should definitely ensure we are close all the time."
Freddy said nothing more. He could not convince her that was a bad idea. This change in personality was not the only thing that has happened. Her way of thinking has changed too. She seemed to be acting a little too relaxed than she should be. It worried Freddy that something would happen to her because of it. And the way she spoke about their first intimate night together, it definitely sounded like she wanted to be intimate again soon. Freddy definitely would refuse that, not while he knew she could be damaged by him. He blinked and grimaced slightly when she began to remove the confetti stuck in the corners and gaps of his stomach hatch.
"Gee, you really got this stuff stuck," Saphira commented, she grabbed some tweezers to help her get the confetti out. "I am so glad I don't know what this feels like."
"Yeah, it goes everywhere. I wish it didn't." Freddy watched Saphira quickly, he noticed a light layer of sweat on her forehead and he realized she was feeling anxious. She was not showing it. "Hey, if you need to stop and take a deep breath, you should."
"I am fine," She retorted quickly, frowning slightly knowing that Freddy picked up her anxiety. "I am just…my brain is all over the place."
"It most definitely is…" Freddy glanced away for a moment before glancing back and saw her glaring back at him. "You know it is, Saphira. Don't be mad at me for it."
Saphira stared at him with the glare before she suddenly broke down crying. The animatronic was surprised, he reached his hand out to her to rub her arm and she quickly buried her head into his chest. He wrapped his arm around her to comfort her.
"Hey, it is okay. I know you're struggling…I probably should have chosen better words, so I apologize." He rubbed her back gently as she sobbed, she tried to calm herself because she felt stupid for crying. She wiped away the tears as she remained against him. "If you keep crying, I don't know what will happen to the confetti left in my stomach hatch. I guess it just has to stay there."
She laughed gently at his sarcasm. She leaned away and wiped her cheeks as she slowly calmed down. "I can't believe I cried over that…I guess my brain is all over the place."
"You know I did not mean that in a bad way," Freddy said gently, looking at her kindly with his blue eyes. "I am sorry if it hurt you."
"I know. I wasn't hurt…just, annoyed you would bring it up. I…cannot explain why I got emotional all of a sudden." She shakes her head and sighed, shuffling back to the hatch to finish her job. "Now I am behind on this."
Saphira only had a little bit to go so that was a good thing. She hummed to herself again as she removed the last of the confetti. She made sure there was no more in areas where she could not see properly before she closed the hatch and finished the maintenance with the diagnostic tool. She was glad she didn't cry for long or she would still be crying. She was annoyed at herself and Freddy for it. But he was right, her brain was all over the place. She just hated to admit it to herself given with what has been happening.
"All done…" Saphira glanced at the Fazwatch to check the time as she pushed the console up. "Eleven. That did not take long at all. I suppose I should see if anyone else needs maintenance first before we head to my office."
"Sure, though it might not be necessary. I suppose you just want to prolong us meeting Vanessa." Freddy moved to stand up as Saphira turned to walk out and finish the log. "It has to happen tonight. Otherwise…it would just be weird on the second night."
Saphira wasn't going to argue on that. She just didn't like it at all. She finished the log and took a deep breath, turning to Freddy with a smile. "Alright, I could use another coffee I think."
"You are addicted it aren't you?" Freddy asked curiously as he tilts his head.
She shrugged and walked towards the door to go to the office. "Maybe I am…but I know you're more addictive than anything I know."
He frowned curiously at her comment. "I had no idea I was like that to anyone. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing…oh well." He shrugged as he followed her through the door to head back to the office.
Once they returned, Saphira made herself another mocha to drink. She knew she did not need the caffeine hit as she already had coffee, but another would not hurt. Saphira communicated with the other animatronics that they should meet the woman in the atrium, which was far. She would simply go to the office, invite Vanessa out to meet them and they would leave her alone to her duties. Saphira did see Vanessa scouting the utility tunnels at the moment. Luckily Saphira did not have to do that right now. She had almost completely avoided that part of the pizzaplex now, her fear of being stuck somewhere cold and dark like she had been was a little too high for her to want to go back there willingly.
