⬇️cassie or gregory⬇️ i gotta know
"You alright there?"
Michael groggily rubbed his eyes as he shuffled into the kitchen where Laura was making a pot of coffee. "Yeah..." he mumbled, stifling a yawn. She looked over, holding a mug that she brought to him.
"You look tired..." she commented, brushing her thumb under one of his eyes which surely had shadows accenting them. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Long night, but I'm fine," he answered quietly, the lie rolling easily off his tongue. He didn't want to lie to her, but he also didn't want to recall Evan's ghostly image in his room again. He took a sip from the mug in his hands, eyes wandering the kitchen. "Where is everyone?" He asked.
"They left early to check on a few things and Henry's going to get some supplies while we're out," Laura spoke, walking back to the counter as she fetched boxes of cereal from the pantry. "Rainbow O's or Tiger Squares?"
"Surprise me," Michael yawned, sitting at the table as he picked up the morning paper. He frowned at the headline.
Yet another disappearance of another Fazbear employee.
Laura sat next to him with bowls of cereal for them both, glancing at the paper in his hands.
"Yeah. He just won't quit," she murmured quietly. Her companion frowned more, hand clenching around its thin sheets. "No," he agreed lowly. "But he's gonna have to sooner or later. Let's hurry and get going."
20 minutes later...
The two walked into Freddy's Diner, powering on the generator and lights, preparing the restaurant for the day. As Michael straightened plushies at the prize corner, it occurred to him how strange it felt to be setting things up for what was essentially a trap. He wasn't here to sell pizza or earn quick cash through arcade games. He was here to put a bunch of dead guys to rest.
Well, in a matter of speaking.
As he thought on these things, a Chica plush struck the side of his face, and he nearly tripped over in surprise. Not to his surprise, however, was Laura, giggling like an idiot across the confetti-spattered tables, safely distanced.
"Hey, not fair!" he called, grinning in spite of himself. He bent to pick up the plush, setting it on the shelf next to one of Bonnie. "I can't see you coming on that side, remember?" He questioned, pointing at his blinded right eye.
She shrugged, smiling. "I'm just playing to win, Afton."
He shook his head, turning back to face her. "You know," he started, covering his functional eye with his hand while leaving the dead one completely open. "If I was a seeker, this is all I'd have to do to not see you. It's weird." He pulled his hand down and jolted, surprised to see she was suddenly much closer, leaning over the prize counter with a smile on her face.
"Green light," she teased. "Just don't be doing that in the office. I want you aware of your surroundings so you don't, you know, die."
"Would that really be so bad?" He posed jokingly. "I mean, no more bills."
She rounded the counter, hugging him around his waist as she propped her chin on his chest and looked up at him. "Yeah, I'll take the bills if that means keeping you around. Heck, I'll pay for both of ours."
Michael's mouth tilted to a small smile as his arms drew her closer. "Wow. You must really like me."
"Don't press your luck," she teased, head turning to press her cheek to his chest. He watched her eyes close, expression relaxing as she settled into his embrace, and he couldn't help but hold her closer for it. He let his own eyes shut and realized how safe it felt to be in her arms, as if all of these problems they were working so hard on ceased to exist. Even the world seemed to stop turning for them.
"Do you really... feel okay doing this?" He whispered softly. "When danger is so close to us all the time?"
He heard her sigh quietly beneath him, head tucking further under his chin. "Michael..." she murmured. "I've liked you almost since the moment I met you. The thought of trying this when we both want it and ending with the same fate hurts less than not trying at all. Every day of wanting you and never having you hurt more than that thought."
She curled closer as if trying to take in the very feeling of being in his arms. "I'll exchange a thousand days of loneliness if it means one day with you."
Michael felt his limbs soften around her, feeling the love from her words encapsulating him like a soft, gentle blanket. They were words he knew he'd wanted to hear from her for so long, but to finally be here as they fell from her lips so beautifully...
"Laura..." he started in a hushed whisper before she stiffened, eyes opening.
"Do you hear that?" She breathed quietly, standing straighter. Michael's ears perked, and he slowly let go as they both strained to listen- but he heard it. Metal clanging from...
"The alley," they chimed together, looking at each other before hurriedly rounding the prize corner toward the hall that led outside.
Laura stopped before he did to turn off the corridor's lights, and as he approached the back door, he slowed, casting a look back at her before apprehensively extending his hand to the doorknob. Slowly, he eased it open, and his eyes swept the alleyway.
Garbage bins lay strewn about it, their contents spread out over the asphalt. It looked as though a cat had knocked them over in fright, and as Michael looked closer, he made out something that didn't look like trash.
Or, maybe it did...
He cautiously walked down the concrete steps, crouching as he examined the heap of wires and plastic shells on the ground.
"Do you see anything?" He heard Laura call from the hallway.
He frowned in thought, eyes following the greater mass of cords like a path through a maze, freezing as he recognized a very familiar mask.
"Yep," he answered, eyes not wavering from Funtime Freddy's face- or, at least, what was Funtime Freddy's face. It was no wonder he hadn't spotted the animatronic moments sooner... the once violet shells had rusted to a burnt copper, face plates falling away from each other. Its right eye was missing.
"You and me both, brother," Michael muttered. He hesitantly prodded it, and checked for any signs of activity, but it seemed to be deactivated... for now.
"What is it?" Laura questioned as he lifted the animatronic from beneath its arms and started heaving it up the stairs. She gasped as she saw it, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh..."
"Open Parts & Service for me," he spoke, dragging it over the tile. She hurried toward it and opened its door and Michael heaved it in and onto one of the metal folding chairs.
"What... who is it?" She said much quieter. Michael studied it, hands on his waist.
"I think it's more than one, if that's what you're asking."
He tilted his head. He picked out a total of three sets of eyes, which he was quickly able to trace back to Ballora, Funtime Freddy, and Funtime Foxy. Baby's, however, were nowhere to be found. "I think we've got three out of six, here," he spoke as he heard the restaurants front doors open.
"Three?"
He nodded. "Baby's are missing. They've been separated."
"Guys?" They heard Dana call aloud from the dining room. "I'll go tell her," Laura murmured, stepping out of the room. "Are you going to check it right now?"
He nodded. "I'm not taking any chances.
He left the door and locked it firmly behind him, hearing the two women talking in the main room as he hurried to the office, retrieving a cassette, player, and sheet of paper before returning. As he stepped back into Parts & Service, he locked the door again, making sure that if anything went wrong, the mayhem wouldn't escape to the people outside... to one person in particular.
He clicked on the bulb dangling haphazardly from the ceiling and sat down across from the robot, tugging at the collar of Henry's coat that he'd changed into.
If Freddy woke up at any point, he didn't want to be recognized as anyone other than his father, and for that reason, he was glad the light was dim.
He set the cassette player on the table and clicked in the tape, pressing play.
The player hummed, the wheels whirring with every turn as a voice began to speak.
"Congratulations on completing your first day, however your job isn't over just yet. There's another aspect of your end of day routine, and that is inspecting and salvaging any animatronics found in the outside the backdoor," he heard Henry's recording speak. "Things are found here quite often and while we aren't sure why, what we do know is that they can be used for parts. Which can mean a much needed revenue boost before starting your next day."
"Of course, as with everything else in this line of work, those benefits come with risks. The safest thing to do is to throw it back outside, but then you get no money for the salvage. Choose to keep it, and you run the risk of certain negative consequences, namely death, should the item in question not be as docile as it first appeared. If you do decide to try to salvage it, then you must complete the maintenance checklist."
Michael watched Freddy carefully. Though there was nothing external to signal it was awake, he couldn't help but feel it, or rather, they, were listening.
"During this testing phase check on the animatronic frequently. If you feel that it is becoming unstable, use the taser provided to you. You can use it three times without damaging the hardware. Every use over three, however, will decrease the item's salvage value," Henry's recording proceeded. Michael's eyes wandered to the button on the table that was wired to the chair Freddy was propped upon. He hoped he wouldn't need to use it.
"The purpose of this tape is to test automated response times and reactions from vintage interactive attractions following audio stimuli. If you are playing this tape, that means that not only have you been checking outside at the end of every shift, as you were instructed to do, but also that you have found something that meets the criteria of your special obligations under Paragraph 4. Follow these instructions: document response times, then safely secure the space before leaving. Upon sealing the room, you are not to return."
"Before you is an animatronic found in the back alley; we are unsure of its origins. It is your job to complete the maintenance checklist before claiming it as salvage. Or if you choose to you can put it back in the alley where you found it and forfeit payment. Please make your choice now."
Michael straightened in his chair as he gripped the pencil in his hand more firmly and waited for the tape to continue. The time to forfeit the salvage passed, and new instructions began.
"You have chosen to proceed with the maintenance checklist. Remember, use the company-issued tazor to return the animatronic to a neutral state if you feel that it's becoming unstable or aggressive. You can only use it three times before it begins to damage the animatronic and decrease its value."
He inhaled, gaze focused on the machinery in front of him illuminated by flickering light as he tried to relax his tensing muscles.
"Begin audio prompt in three, two, one."
Michael's ears perked as a whirring sound overlapped by something harsher played from the tape, and it took him a moment to realize it sounded very similar to the scooper, right before it would strike. He could suddenly see why it was supposed to test the animatronics, and as he listened, he couldn't help but feel bothered by it too as snakes seemed to writher in his stomach.
But the recording stopped as soon as it came, and Henry's voice instructed him again.
"Document results."
Michael looked down at the sheet's first line and crossed 'no' for Prompt 1.
When he lowered the paper, he stiffened. It was slight and minor, but Freddy had moved.
"Begin audio prompt in three, two, one."
He winced as the recording played again, trying to ignore the grating sounds emitting from the player's speaker. His body tensed, and while he tried to focus on the robot ahead, he couldn't help the panic rising in him like a cobra.
"It's just the tape," he whispered to himself, hands shaking around the paper. "I'm fine, I'm not going to be hurt."
It didn't help much, but as he reached his peak, the recording stopped again.
"Document results."
He hurried this time, crossing 'no' again before glancing back up. But Freddy had inched closer in the seconds he took.
"Begin audio prompt in three, two, one."
He braced himself as the audio started again. This time, it grew louder and harsher, a sound Michael recognized as the initiating bells of the scooper. His heart pounded against his ribcage and he felt his pulse beating rapidly everywhere. His body was begging him to leave, remembering all too well what would come after this, sending adrenaline through him for a sprint. But he clenched his teeth and shook his head firmly, staring at Freddy's dead eyes ahead.
He wasn't going to run anymore.
"Document results." Henry's voice instructed again as the audio paused.
This time, though, he pressed the button on the table and watched electricity spit around the chair his companion sat upon, and it jolted back to its original position.
He wasn't taking any chances.
He crossed 'no' for the third time, and Freddy remained frozen.
"Begin audio prompt in three, two, one."
His ears perked as the audio changed somewhat. He thought he could hear something like a carousel, or music an ice-cream truck might play. He didn't have long to dwell on it as the audio paused.
"Document results."
Michael marked the same box, and when he looked up, Freddy was leaning over the table, closer than ever. He pressed the button and shocked the robot back into place, wires twitching a little.
He almost smiled. He remembered how nervous he'd been at first to shock them in the underground, but now this felt like a sweet revenge for turning him into a meat-suit.
"Begin audio prompt in three, two, one."
Once again, the carousel music played cheerily, but something about its overlapping whirrs made Michael feel like wherever it came from wasn't as happy as it pretended to be.
"Document results."
He crossed 'no' one final time, and as he looked up, Freddy was mere inches from him, one claw grinding into the table.
"You have completed the maintenance checklist and may proceed with the salvage. Well done. End tape." Henry's voice spoke as the hum from the player stopped, tape clicking.
"You heard him," Michael murmured as the light in Freddy's singular eye seemed to dim. "We're done, here."
The animatronic slumped somewhat, once again deactivated for the day, and the boy cautiously set the pen and paper down as he rounded the table. Carefully, he hoisted Freddy off of it and dragged him to one of the many closets down the hall.
He set it down on the tiled floor, eyes glancing up at the open ceiling vent once, trying not to think too hard on its connection to his office.
As he backed out and began to close the door, he froze at a familiar voice echoing from the closet.
"Thanks for letting me join the pa-arty, I'll try no-o-ot to disappoint." Freddy spoke gleefully.
Michael's head whipped back at the limp heap of wires and framework on the ground and tensed, withholding a shudder. It hadn't moved, but he hadn't mistaken that voice, that all-too-familiar maniacal craze Funtime Freddy had held in the underground.
He eased the door closed and double-checked the lock.
"Yeah. We'll have a real party." He muttered quietly.
He strode quickly to his office and picked up the phone, dialing his home number. It rang a few times before someone picked it up, a familiar voice answering on the other line.
"Hello?" It spoke.
"Henry, it's me," Michael answered, eyes on the monitor.
"Hey," the man said. "What is it?"
"Our first party guest has arrived."