Tuesday, July 28, 1987

The morning began the same way as it had the previous day. Mangle would patiently wait for Evan to wake up while pretending to sleep, and once he did, she went downstairs to watch TV in order to give him some privacy while he did his morning routine. Evan then joined her on the sofa to eat breakfast.

Once he had finished his cereal, Evan took his dishes to the kitchen while Mangle followed close behind.

"Are we go-go-go-go-going to draw me as a real fox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox girl now?" Mangle asked eagerly.

Evan looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Um, sure. Just lemme put this away first."

After the boy had placed the spoon and bowl in the dishwasher, the two made their way upstairs to his room. Mangle could barely contain her excitement as she watched him bring out blank sheets of paper and coloring pencils. He placed them on the floor and laid down, with Mangle laying down beside him.

Pencil in hand, Evan turned to Mangle and asked, "Do you wanna draw or should I?"

Mangle looked at one of her hands and lowered her ears. "My hands-ands-ands-ands-ands aren't really able to do stu-stu-stu-stu-stuff like drawing…"

Evan thought for a moment and then asked, "Would you like to be able to draw?"

Mangle nodded and hummed a reply.

"Okay then, so how about we also make a list of stuff you want to be able to do?" Evan suggested. He then grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote it down. "What else?"

"I wa-wa-wa-wa-wanna have a working voi-voi-voi-voi-voice box!" Mangle said.

Evan wrote it down. "What else?"

Mangle thought for a moment, and then said, "I wanna be-be-be-be-be able to eat food-ood-ood-ood-ood!"

Evan gave her a look of surprise that quickly turned into one of sympathy. He nodded and then wrote it down as well. "Anything else you want?"

Mangle paused to think again. "Maybe I ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-can think about it while you dra-dra-dra-dra-draw?"

"Sure!" Evan replied with a smile. He grabbed another blank sheet of paper. "So, um… you want to look like that girl fox from Robin Hood?"

Mangle nodded. "Yeah, but-ut-ut-ut-ut white with a pink belly, pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pink snout, red cheeks, and lipsti-sti-sti-sti-sti-stick!"

Evan nodded along and began to draw as Mangle described what she wanted to look like. He followed her directions as best he could as he drew, all the while she watched intently, gradually becoming more and more excited as the image took form.

"Yes! Yes, exact-act-act-act-act-actly like that!" Mangle exclaimed.

Evan finished up the drawing and smiled at Mangle as he handed it to her so that she could get a better look at it. "What do you think?"

She stared at it as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "It's perfe-fe-fe-fe-fect!" Mangle then gave him a sheepish look and asked, "Could you dra-dra-dra-dra-draw me in a dress too-too-too-too-too?"

"Sure!" Evan replied and was about to grab another blank piece of paper when he suddenly heard the familiar sound of a car pulling up into the driveway.

He got up and ran out of his room to look out the window, with Mangle following close behind.

Upon spotting his father's purple 1973 Chrysler New Yorker, Evan smiled and exclaimed, "Father's home!"

Mangle immediately perked up upon hearing that. "He is?"

"Mm-hm!" Evan replied and was about to run downstairs when he stopped himself. He thought for a moment and then turned to Mangle. "Hey, Mangle? I have no idea how Father will react to you being here, so you should probably stay in my room while I talk to him."

"O-o-o-oh… Okay," Mangle replied, lowering her ears. "Do-do-do-do-do-do you think he'll be mad-ad-ad-ad-ad-ad?"

"I dunno…" Evan said with an earnest expression on his face. "But at the very least, I'm sure I can convince him to let you stay."

"But… what-at-at-at-at-at if you can't?" Mangle asked, her eyes filled with concern.

Evan let out a sigh. "I—"

They both then heard the front door open downstairs.

"Michael? Evan?" William called out. "I'm home!"

With a look of panic, Evan said, "Look, just go back into my room and hide. Everything will be fine, I promise."

Mangle hesitated, but then did as he asked. She crawled back into the boy's room and closed the doors. Evan, meanwhile, ran downstairs to the hall and met his father, who looked like he'd been through a huge ordeal—he was more gaunt and sallow than usual, and his face was unshaven.

"Um… hi, Father," Evan said with a sheepish smile.

"Hey there, sport," William replied with a weary smile and ruffled Evan's hair, eliciting a brief giggle from the boy. "Sorry for being gone for so long."

"It's… um… it's okay," Evan replied.

William then looked around and asked, "Where's Michael?"

"Um…" Evan began to fidget with his hands. "He's… at the hospital."

William was completely taken aback by this revelation. "The hospital?! Why the hell is he in the hospital?!"

"So… you know Mangle from Freddy's?" Evan asked as he kept fidgeting.

A look of horror began to spread across William's face as his son continued.

"They were gonna scrap her, so I… um… snuck her home with me," Evan admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Evan, what did she do?" William asked, his body tense as he kept looking around.

"She… um…" Evan trailed off as he shuffled his feet. "... bit him."

William's face went pale, and without a word he went back outside.

Evan followed him, and as he did he quickly added, "B-b-b-but she didn't mean to! She just got really mad when she saw Michael hurting me!"

William didn't respond, and instead just rounded the corner of the house and went into the garage.

"Father?" Evan asked confusedly as he followed him into the garage.

With a look of grim determination, William grabbed a heavy crowbar from the tool rack.

Evan's eyes went wide upon realizing what his father was about to do. "Nonononono! Father, please don't hurt her!"

"I'm sorry, Evan, but that thing is far too dangerous to keep around," William replied as he left the garage, not even looking at Evan. "She's already put three people in the hospital, including Michael, and I'm not going to risk her attacking me or you."

"She won't! She won't, I promise!" Evan said as tears began to trickle down his cheeks.

"I'm not taking that risk!" William growled as he rounded the corner of the house.

Sobbing, Evan ran ahead of William, turned around, and blocked his path. "Father, please! Please! I'll do anything!"

"Get out of my way, Evan!" William shouted angrily as he forcefully pushed the boy over, making him fall to the ground as he walked past him.

Getting up, Evan sobbed uncontrollably and wrapped his arms around William's waist, clinging to him to weigh him down. "Please, Father! I can't lose her! She's my only friend in the whole world!"

Gritting his teeth in exasperation, William turned around and raised his hand to strike the boy, but what he said next made him stay his hand.

"I already lost Mother and Elizabeth! I don't wanna lose her too! I can't!" Evan sobbed as he buried his face into William's shirt.

William's hand trembled, his lips quivered, and his face twisted from one of anger and determination, to one of guilt, then to one of regret, and finally to one of remorse. He lowered his hand and dropped the crowbar onto the lawn as he let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, sport," he finally said as he gently stroked Evan's hair. "Alright. I won't hurt her."

Evan sniffled and looked up at his father. "R-really…? You mean it?"

William nodded.

Evan hiccuped and gave William a tight hug. "Thank you, Father! Thank you! You're the best dad ever!"

William couldn't help but to cringe upon hearing that statement. "You're… You're quite welcome, sport." He then knelt down to the boy's level. "But I need you to understand why I'm reacting like this," he said with a serious look on his face. He paused to think, and then continued, "All of the new animatronics at Freddy's, including Mangle, have a deeply embedded bug in their programming—something that cannot be fixed. They are all programmed with a database that allows them to recognize and differentiate between adults, children, members of staff, and criminals in order to protect guests and the restaurant. But because of the bug, the animatronics became more aggressive, especially towards adults, and even outright hostile towards the staff. And after Sunday's incident, they were deemed too dangerous to keep around and were scheduled to be decommissioned."

"Um… what incident?" Evan asked. He remembered the horrific scene he found when he snuck into the restaurant last Sunday, but he never learned about what had happened.

William let out a sigh. "Your friend Mangle attacked a security guard for no reason and bit down on his head, nearly killing him."

Evan's eyes went wide. "B-b-but Mangle wouldn't do that!"

"That's the thing, sport. She can't control herself when that part of her programming kicks in," William said.

Evan's gaze drifted down to the ground as he recalled how Mangle had described the way she had felt whenever she attacked someone. He couldn't deny that this would explain her behavior.

"And since I worked at Freddy's and was thus designated as a member of staff in her internal database, she's more than likely going to try to kill me too if she ever sees me," William explained.

Evan opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped himself.

"So, if you really want to keep her around, there are a few rules that you must follow to the letter," William continued. "Firstly, you have to make sure that she never sees me. Not even a photograph."

Evan considered his father's words. "But… wouldn't that mean that she would have to stay locked up in my room or something?"

William shook his head. "No, that's too small of a space for her, and I'd rather not have her in the house at all." His eyes were then drawn towards the barn. "How about this, we'll keep her in the barn. Just help me empty it out of some things first. Given that it has served as one of my workshops, it's the perfect place for you to maintain her, and that leads to the second rule," he explained. "You're going to have to be responsible for cleaning, maintaining, and repairing her."

Evan looked distressed. "B-b-but I don't even know how to—"

William held up a hand to silence the boy and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, sport. I'll teach you everything you need to know." He then added. "Thirdly, you have to keep her secret, which means that she can never leave the barn, and you can never mention her to anyone outside of this family. If people find out about her, we're going to get into trouble, and Fazbear Entertainment is going to take her away," he continued with a very grave expression on his face. "And finally, if she ever hurts you, me, or Michael again, or if she makes you feel unsafe in any way, then I'm going to have to put her down. Understood?"

Evan nodded.

"And you agree to follow all of the rules to the letter?"

Evan nodded again.

"Very well. In that case, I want you to go to Mangle and tell her to stay in your room until you come to get her. Once you have, you'll help me empty out the barn." William instructed.

"Got it!" Evan replied and then ran back into the house.

He went up the stairs, down the hallway, and returned to his room, where he found Mangle lying on top of his bed.

Upon seeing him, she immediately perked up and excitedly crawled up to him. "What-at-at-at-at-at did he say? Can he ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-make me a real fox girl?"

"Oh, uh…" Evan cringed slightly. "Sorry, Mangle. I didn't get a chance to ask him."

Mangle's ears drooped as she lowered her head. "O-o-o-oh…"

"But, um… Father told me some stuff about you," Evan said as he fidgeted with his hands.

Mangle looked at him with concerned eyes. "What ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-kind of stuff?"

"He said that, um, there's some bug in your programming that made you attack the staff over at Freddy's," Evan explained.

Mangle's eyes went wide and she looked away in shame.

"He… he said that you bit down on a security guard's head," Evan added with a worried expression.

Mangle covered her eyes and began to sob. "I di-di-di-di-di-didn't mean to! I didn't! I thou-thou-thou-thou-thought he was the bad man-an-an-an-an-an!"

Evan raised an eyebrow. "The bad man?"

Mangle nodded. "Someone amo-mo-mo-mo-mong the staff was hurting ki-ki-ki-ki-kids. Killing them."

Evan was very taken aback by this. But then he thought about it and asked, "Are you sure? I haven't heard anything about that."

"That's jus-jus-jus-jus-just because everyone else thinks that they only went-ent-ent-ent-ent-ent-ent missing," Mangle replied, sounding a bit frustrated.

"But… Mangle, how do you know that this really happened?" Evan asked. "And how do you know that this 'bad man' is even real?"

"I dunno, I just… know," Mangle replied, avoiding eye contact.

Evan swallowed and stepped closer to her. "What if the 'bad man' isn't real? What if none of it is?"

"No, it-it-it-it-it-it is! I'm su-su-su-su-sure of it!" Mangle replied.

"But you just said that you bit that security guard because you thought he was the 'bad man', and then you realized that he wasn't," Evan pointed out. "What if it's this bug that's playing tricks on you?"

Mangle let out a long, glitched sigh as she finally relented. "May-may-may-may-may-maybe… I dunno…"

"The thing is, Father worked for Freddy's, and he said that if you ever see him, the bug is going to make you try to kill him too," Evan said with a worried look on his face.

Mangle was surprised to hear that, and before long a look of distress crossed her face. "Doe-doe-doe-doe-doe-does that mean that I'm not allow-low-low-low-low-lowed to stay?"

Evan held up his hands to calm her down. "No, no, you can stay! It's just that… you're going to have to stay in the barn."

Mangle looked even more distressed. "But I wanna-na-na-na-na stay with you!"

Evan gave her a rueful smile, reached out, and stroked her head. "Mangle, the barn's just outside. I'll be with you whenever I can, I promise."

"But what-at-at-at-at-at-at about when you ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-can't?! I don't wanna be left-eft-eft-eft-eft-eft-eft out there on my own!"

"It'll be fine, Mangle," Evan reassured her.

Mangle let out a defeated whimper as she just looked away, lowering her ears and hanging her head low.

Evan regarded her with a look of sympathy. Finally, he said, "Look, I need to go help Father prepare the barn for you. Can you stay here until I come get you?"

Mangle continued to sulk, but then nodded and hummed a reply.

Evan frowned. He stepped a bit closer and hugged her. "Don't worry, Mangle. Everything's gonna be okay."