A/N: All right, everyone. It's finally time for the Pizzaplex to make an appearance for the first time! Granted, it certainly isn't the Pizzaplex as presented in its final and complete form in Security Breach, not even close to it, but the Schmidts can at the very least be introduced to the building for the first time.

Also, I just want to remind everyone that while "A Legacy Laid to Rest" was the preliminary fic that inspired this one, it is NOT actually a canonical prequel to "Mike's New Ghostly Family." Thus, if things in this fic seem disjointed compared to my previous fic, just keep in mind that technically there's no direct connection between the two stories. That should've been obvious considering the complete lack of Jeremy Fitzgerald for one thing, but I just wanted to make that abundantly clear.

Chapter 193 – Fire Exit Inspection

It wasn't until three months later that Mike finally got another email from Fazbear Entertainment. The moment he realized what the email was about and who it was from, he had dropped the game he had been playing and gathered all of the ghost kids to the study to read the email together.

"Dear Mr. Schmidt,

We are pleased to inform you that we have completed construction of our greatest project to date, Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. We spent an additional few weeks to accommodate the changes that you requested to our blueprints, and are pleased to report that these changes were incorporated relatively seamlessly and without significant difficulties."

Fritz snorted. "I mean, they only took away a few walls," he commented dryly, "it can't be THAT hard."

Susie shrugged. "I don't know anything about construction, but yeah, we already knew they were gonna change as little as possible to meet what Dad wanted."

"As of now, the construction of the Pizzaplex as well as basic utilities, amenities, and furnishings have been incorporated. We have not yet fully developed the animatronics, rides and features that will transform the Pizzaplex into the modern wonder of children's entertainment unlike anything that has ever been seen or done before."

Jeremy glanced down at Mike from where he had been floating in the air to read the e-mail. "Do you really think it's going to be a modern wonder of children's entertainment?" the former Bonnie inhabitant asked, repeating the phrase word-for-word.

Mike snorted. "Yeah right," he answered with a scoff. "Even if we assume that Fazbear Entertainment pulls this off nearly flawlessly and make no major mistakes, something that's a VERY big if given how they've already fucked up with the fire exits, it's incredibly likely that they probably just copied a bunch of other ideas that already exist in other entertainment complexes and changed them to fit the Freddy Fazbear theme instead of coming up with original ideas themselves."

"Sounds about right," Cassidy deadpanned.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Gabe agreed, looking completely unimpressed. "Hard to get excited about this email already knowing that I'm probably going to be disappointed in some way."

"It doesn't have to be groundbreaking," Charlie reminded them. "It just has to be functional."

"As you requested in our prior communications, we would like to invite you on a guided tour through this initial stage-completed Pizzaplex and demonstrate to you that our commitment to safety and the well-being of our customers is our utmost priority."

"In other words, we want to invite you to and show you that, no, our fire exits, a basic security, aren't locked behind VIP passes and high security clearance anymore," Liz sarcastically translated. "Like, seriously, who the hell thought that was a good idea to begin with?"

Mike sighed. "I don't even care anymore," he drawled. "If the person who was actually responsible for it gets fired, that's great. But at this point, the only thing I really care about now is that the problem got solved."

"We would like to arrange this tour at some point this month, ideally on a weekend since most of our employees will be off instead of trying to develop the exhibitions and rides. Please send us a reply so we can prepare appropriately to guide you through the building.

Faithfully yours,

Fazbear Entertainment."

"I'm kinda surprised they're being so polite," Susie remarked with mild surprise. "You'd think with how many problems you've caused them, Fazbear Entertainment wouldn't like you very much."

"I'm sure they don't know anyway, but you have to keep something in mind. Even if we ignore the fact that Fazbear Entertainment's problems are either their own fault's or Glitchtrap's to begin with, they don't actually know that we're the ones stirring the pot and causing them controversy over the Internet," Mike reminded her. "Actually, from both their perspective and being the truth in general, we're the ones that have been SOLVING their problems, not causing them. We saved their VR game and we dealt with all their security issues in the Special Delivery project. If it wasn't for us, Fazbear Entertainment would've been completely ruined by all the disasters and lawsuits falling on their heads. Heck, even us challenging their extremely stupid fire exit plan could be interpreted as us identifying a major problem for them and giving them a chance to fix it without bringing around another PR disaster. Yeah, I might annoy the hell out of them. But as long as I continue to fix major problems for them, they're not gonna piss me off or cut ties with me for no reason."

His smile took on a dark edge. "Besides," he added with just a hint of menace in his tone, "they can't afford to piss me off. Because if they well and truly push me over the edge, then that's the last mistake they're going to ever make. And they know it."

The ghosts barely resisted the urge to shudder. "Anyways, Dad…are we going to go to the Pizzaplex soon?" Cassidy asked, wanting to change the subject. "And are you going to go alone?"

"I'm definitely going to go soon, but I'm gonna be bringing Colm and Hector with me if they can spare the time," Mike decided after a few seconds of thought. "There shouldn't be a lot of danger since the animatronics aren't in yet and Fazbear Entertainment don't strike me as the murderous type for all their many flaws. But it couldn't hurt to have more eyes around…as well as people who can point out threats if they do show up so that Fazbear Entertainment doesn't have suspiciously supernatural instincts." He glanced back at the email. "I think…two weeks should do it. This'll also give me time to reach out to my old guards and see if they can spare a day…which I'm obviously going to compensate them nicely for."

"And we'll be watching your back too!" Fritz cheerfully pointed out. "Can't forget us, after all?"

"Of course not," Mike chuckled. "The best bodyguard is one that the attacker can't even see."

"It would be nice if Glitchtrap screwed up and exposed himself super early," Charlie commented. "I don't think we'll be that lucky though," she added with a sigh.

"Probably not," Liz agreed unenthusiastically. "The best we can do is make sure that Fazbear Entertainment actually followed through with their agreement to fix the fire exit issue."

"They better," Mike agreed, his eyes narrowing. "I meant what I said to Averus. This is where I draw the line, and if I'm not satisfied that they're going to hold to their agreement, then I'm going to shut them down right then and there.

Two weeks later…

"Well, I'm glad you were able to come here with me," Mike amicably told Colm as they drove in Mike's van to the Pizzaplex site. He had been able to secure Colm's services for a day's worth of healthy pay, but Hector had unfortunately not been able to come as he had already made plans for the month and had given his apologies. On the plus side, since Colm was already aware of the ghost kids' existence, he could freely communicate with them without any problems.

Colm shrugged. "Always happy to help. Especially since your pay's a hell of a lot better than most employers. I even brought the old tools we had back at that factory if we need them."

"Good thinking," Charlie commented approvingly, before adding with a frown, "although I don't think most of the animatronics in the Pizzaplex have been brought in or even build yet. I wish we could see them ourselves so we could figure out if something was wrong with them."

"We probably won't get the chance to take a close look at them until the grand opening of the Pizzaplex," Jeremy muttered. "Which isn't great, but I don't think we have any better options."

"Well, let me know what you think when you finally get there," Colm replied as Mike drove down the last few streets leading to the Pizzaplex. "If I ever have kids with my wife, I want to make sure that I'm taking them to a place that's safe."

"Honestly, the absolute safest call you could make is just to avoid anything Fazbear Entertainment-related, period," Gabe admitted. "They don't exactly have a great track record, and the only reason why they've even gotten this far is because we've been fixing their mistakes."

Colm already knew about one of those mistakes, but before he could ask about any more, the Pizzaplex suddenly came into view. Everyone's eyes widened as they beheld the building that was Fazbear Entertainment's latest and greatest attempt to win back the minds and hearts of the public. Though there weren't any major decorations or defining features of the building yet, it was clear to everyone that the building itself was larger than any Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria had ever been by a massive margin, and even larger than most of the malls that the ghost kids had visited while Mike had gone out shopping.

The Schmidt family could call Fazbear Entertainment negative things for days, but none of them could deny that they were certainly ambitious where this project was concerned.

Cassidy voiced what everyone was thinking. "That's the biggest building I think I've ever seen Fazbear Entertainment make!"

"Makes me really wanna know what's inside the building, if this is how big it is from the outside," Fritz remarked, not even trying to hide his curiosity.

They drove up to the parking lot in front of the Pizzaplex, which as predicted was almost completely deserted. There were only a few other scattered cards in the parking lot, enough that Mike could count how many there were on both hands. "I guess there are still a few people around to work on the building, even on a weekday," he commented as he, Colm, and the ghost kids got out of the car. The ghost kids, unsurprisingly, had entered full "stealth mode" and were completely invisible and inaudible, communing only with Mike and Colm through telepathy.

As they approached the entrance to the Pizzaples, one set of doors suddenly opened and a man wearing a business suit stepped out to greet them. "Good afternoon, Mr. Schmidt," the man politely greeted him. His gaze fell upon Colm and he frowned slightly. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Mr. Duessel," Colm replied curtly. "Mike asked me to accompany him as his bodyguard."

"I see," the man's frown deepened ever so slightly. It was clear to both Mike and Colm that he didn't exactly approve of Colm's presence.

"You didn't specify I couldn't bring a bodyguard with me to the facility if I thought it was necessary," Mike interrupted, keeping his voice polite but firm. "And the last time I entered a facility owned by Fazbear Entertainment, I was attacked by multiple animatronics. I wasn't going to take any chances this time around."

To his credit, the man recovered swiftly. "Of course, of course," he quickly reassured him, "that's no trouble whatsoever. My name is Mr. Grimus, and I have been given the honor of escorting you through the building that will become our glorious Pizzaplex."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "It's safe to assume that the Pizzaplex isn't completed yet? Because all I see here is just a big building."

"You are correct, Mr. Schmidt," Grimus confirmed as they walked through the front doors of the Pizzaplex together. "We have not yet begun proper decorations and furnishings, except for a few articles here and there. Our teams focused primarily on the construction and development of the building itself. Everything else will come later."

"Fair enough," Mike acknowledged. As they walked into the entrance area of the Pizzaplex, they found themselves in a large empty space. There were two passageways leading to areas unknown to the left and right, while in the front of them was a much larger entrance flanked by two sets of staircases, one on each side, leading up to another passageway that lead to the second floor.

None of this would've been strictly out of the ordinary for any mall or large shopping center. What REALLY caught everyone's attention, however, was the giant golden statue of Freddy in the middle of the entrance hall. And it wasn't just any Freddy, either. The Freddy in front of them had a much more muscular appearance, almost like a superhero or bodybuilder. He was dressed in much more modern if not outright futuristic gear, and was holding a gigantic microphone up to his mouth while singing a silent and eternal song. Charlie immediately recognized this Freddy as the Glamrock Freddy that she and her siblings had seen earlier when they had been going through her files.

"And who might this be?" Mike asked, feigning ignorance. He might've known about the blueprints, but there was no reason for him to know about Glamrock Freddy as far as Fazbear Entertainment was concerned.

"This, Mr. Schmidt, is Glamrock Freddy," Mr. Grimus declared with genuine excitement. "The leader and main singer of the new Glamrock animatronic band. A new group of animatronics that will bring the Freddy Fazbear franchise to an era of glory in the future!"

Mike wasn't as optimistic about Fazbear Entertainment's chances, but even he had to admit that the golden statue of Glamrock Freddy was impressive in its own right.

His children apparently had similar thoughts. "Holy crap!" Gabe whistled appreciatively. "Is that really what the new Freddy's gonna look like? That's so cool!"

"Definitely a lot fancier than anything I've ever seen in any other Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, that's for sure," Jeremy acknowledged.

"Maybe they actually have a point about bringing the Freddy Fazbear franchise into the future," Charlie was forced to admit. "The question is if they can do it without stumbling into or causing any problems along the way."

"It's kind of weird seeing this fancy golden statue in this empty hall without any decorations," Liz commented dryly.

"We don't have the actual Glamrock Freddy in the facility, of course," Mr. Grimus continued as he guided them past the golden Glamrock Freddy statue. "All of our animatronics are currently still being built in a separate factory. Allow me to escort you into the Atrium, which is the main area of the Pizzaplex itself."

Mr. Grimus led Mike, Colm, and (unknowingly) the ghost kids into the atrium, and this time not even Mike could hide his surprise. The atrium was a vast empty space in the heart of the Pizzaplex, a gigantic expanse that put the Dining Hall of Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria to deep and everlasting shame. On the opposite side from where they had come in, the Schmidt family could see a large stage that covered over half of the entire wall. The ground of the Atrium was large enough that it could fit multiple dining halls' worth of party tables and chairs with plenty of room to spare, such was its enormous size. Such a large space wouldn't have been out of place in a convention center or concert hall, which Mike supposed only made sense given that this was very likely the main place where the animatronics would perform.

The Atrium wasn't just large horizontally, but also vertically as well. There as a set of escalators that led up to a second and even a third floor, which led to balconies that circled almost the entire circumference of the room (stopping only at the stage where the animatronics would be performing). The Schmidt family could see more passageways leading off to unknown areas on all the floors, which they could only assume led to the various attractions within the Pizzaplex.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this," Mike was forced to admit.

"I didn't think the main stage was going to be THIS big!" Fritz exclaimed. "The last time I saw something like this was back at Lotte World, and that was way back in Korea!"

"Well Lotte World was bigger, but I can definitely see where you're coming from," Gabe acknowledged. "For better or for worse, Fazbear Entertainment's really going big here."

"Can you imagine what this place is going to look like once they finish everything?" Cassidy asked excitedly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this could actually be really cool!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself too much, Cass," Charlie reigned her enthusiasm in with a warning. "Remember that Fazbear Entertainment will probably find some way to screw things up, and even if they don't, Glitchtrap and whoever they're possessing definitely will."

Mike seemed to have more or less the same thought process as his oldest daughter. "Well, as impressive as all this might be, why don't we get to the point of this meeting?" The words were phrased as a question, but his tone made it clear that compliance was not optional. "Show me all fire exits in this building. I want to make damn sure that you've actually fixed that massive issue. And let me remind you and Fazbear Entertainment that I came to this meeting fully expecting the issue to be solved right now."

"Of course," Mr. Grimus quickly reassured him. "I don't believe you'll have any complaints on that front."

"We'll see about that," Mike replied, his voice dripping skepticism. "Show me these fire exits, then."

"Very well. While most of the rooms that will house our future rides and entertainment features are largely empty, the overall structure of these rooms is complete for the most part. Which room would you like to see first?"

"You should just see everything clockwise or counterclockwise," Gabe advised. "It'll make things simpler and be easier to keep track of where things are."

Mike didn't see anything wrong with that logic, and when he voiced Gabe's suggestion out to Colm and Mr. Grimus they both easily agreed. Their tour guide guided them up a fully functioning escalator, confirming that while the Pizzaplex itself might've been devoid of furnishings or decorations, the basic utilities needed to run any building were operational.

The first place that the group visited was the Prize Corner, a circular room with a large column in the very center that had a counter surrounding it similar to a bar. It was clear that this was where most of the prizes were meant to be given out and exchanged in most entertainment complexes. There were two smaller hallways that led to different attractions, one on each side of the prize column.

But what caught Mike's interest was the area directly behind the prize column. There was another wider area behind the prize column that seemed almost…disjointed from the prize corner as a whole. As though it had been meant to be its own separate area, but at the last minute had been made into a part of the prize corner instead.

And in the back wall was a set of large double-doors that were colored red with a checkerboard stripe of white and black at the bottom, with an EMERGENCY EXIT sign attached to the wall above them.

"Hey, that's one of the fire escapes!" Jeremy pointed out what everyone had noticed. "And it's not blocked off or cut off from anyone!"

"The way this area's designed, it almost feels like there used to be a wall here," Mike commented out loud to their guide. "In fact, I think I remember a wall separating the Prize Corner and this area in the old set of blueprints that was removed in the set."

"You have a good memory, Mr. Schmidt," Mr. Grimus complimented politely. Mike had to give him credit; if he had the same contemptuous, self-centered attitude that the Fazbear Entertainment leadership had in general, he was hiding it well. "This area was originally meant to be a VIP lounge. However, after you raised your complaint, this wall was removed and it is simply a lounge for any customer of the Pizzaplex to relax in. Obviously, we won't be providing as much decorations or services in this lounge since it'll be available to the general public instead of a dedicated VIP area. And as you can see, the emergency exit is now available for anyone to access."

"Wait," Colm interrupted for the first time, a look of disbelief on his face. "So you're telling me that a fire exit, a basic part of any building, used to be completely blocked off to everyone who wasn't a VIP? What the fuck! What is wrong with you people?"

"I can assure you, this is no longer the case," Mr. Grimus answered quickly. He approached the double doors and pushed them up. Mike and the ghost kids half-expected for fire alarms to begin blaring loudly, but the doors instead simply opened to a hallway that branched off in two directions. Both of them led to sets of stairways that ultimately lead to single doors leading to the outside of the building, which were blocked by a typical fire escape emergency lock. Mike pushed the door open after Grimus assured them all that the fire alarm triggers had been temporarily deactivated for the purposes of the tour guide, exposing himself to open air as the door opened to the outside. "We originally designed these emergency exit locks to be VIP only," Mr. Grimus explained. "However, after your criticisms, Mr. Schmidt, we've changed them to be the standard emergency exit lock that anyone can open. A decision turned out for the best in the long run anyway, since trying to design fire exit locks that read and respond to VIP cards only is an unnecessary and wasteful expense."

"Of course THAT'S the part you're worried about," Susie commented with a scowl, even though she knew the guide couldn't hear her. "Not the fact that those locks could've killed hundreds if not thousands of people. Mr. Duessel is right, what the hell is wrong with you people?"

Liz sighed. "With how bad their track record is, I'll take them doing the right thing for the wrong reasons over them not doing the right thing at all. Cause at this point, I think it's the best we're going to get."

"I can't say I'm pleased that it took you this long to figure it out, but better late than never," Mike commented as he crossed his arms. "I'd like to take a look at the other emergency exit here to confirm it, and then we can move on to the next part of the building."

Mr. Grimus guided them over to the other side, which true to his words had the exact same kind of exit with the exact same lock. With both emergency exits now viewed and confirmed to be accessible to the public by Mike, they made their way back to the Prize Corner and Mr. Grimus proceeded to guide them through the different rooms in the Pizzaplex in a clockwise manner.

As they went through the rooms, Grimus proceeded to name the attractions that would be displayed inside them and what their fundamental purpose would be. The Schmidts quickly discovered that although Fazbear Entertainment clearly hadn't prepared any of the major attractions yet, it didn't mean they were completely devoid of materials.

The Fazcade, for example, had a few scattered arcade machines here and there, as well as a large empty stage that reminded the Schmidts of the one that the animatronics would perform on in the atrium, albeit smaller in scale. There were also a series of three empty square-like rooms in the middle of the Fazcade, which Mr. Grimus labeled as private karaoke rooms. What the Schmidts were primarily concerned about was the Fire Escape on the first floor of the Fazcade, which was only a single gray door instead of the large red double-doors they had seen in the Prize Corner. Mike tested the exit, and this time it led straight outside instead of leading to another hallway like the one in the Prize Corner had. "This door leads straight out of the building," Mr. Grimus explained. "It used to not be here completely, but it was incorporated into the wall as part of our new blueprints."

"Wow, they actually bothered to make more fire escapes?" Fritz asked incredulously. "I'm honestly surprised they even bothered."

"Probably not more than one in each area, though," Gabe guessed. "Assuming that an area didn't have it already. I honestly don't remember which areas had fire escapes and which didn't in the old blueprints."

"Well, it's here now," Susie replied, before frowning. "Although this would've been almost completely useless if they'd gone with that dumb VIP lock idea."

"I did want to inform you about something regarding the fire escapes, and all the exits in general," Mr. Grimus spoke again, interrupting any further conversation. "While the exits themselves are no longer restricted to any VIP or high security clearance, there is a security protocol that locks down the entire building at night."

Mike instantly gave him his full attention, and so did the ghost kids. "Explain."

"The building completely locks down at midnight," Mr. Grimus explained. "Every door in this building, whether it be the main entrance that I met you in front of, or the various fire escapes scattered throughout the building, will be fully locked down and unable to be opened. This security protocol is necessary to prevent anyone from sneaking into the building and potentially stealing our valuable animatronics and devices. The doors are locked from both sides so that nobody can go in or out."

"Wait…but what if somebody's trapped in the building?" Jeremy asked, immediately pointing out the obvious problem. "And what if there's somebody who couldn't get out in time before the building closes? And what if there's a security guard at night and a fire breaks out? If the fire exits are locked shut, then they'll be trapped in and burn to death!"

Mike vocalized his son's thoughts to Grimus, presenting them as his idea. "The lockdown protocol does not begin until midnight," the tour guide reassured them. "And the Pizzaplex officially closes at 9 PM, with the employees beginning to guide customers out of the Pizzaplex as early as 8:30 PM. Even if there are some stragglers still present after the facility closes, the employees who are present between 9 PM and midnight will have plenty of time to find any remaining individuals and escort them out of the Pizzaplex."

"And what about the night guard?" Colm asked. "How do they get out of here?"

"Quite simple," Mr. Grimus replied smoothly. "They will be in possession of a key that will allow them to manually unlock a fire escape and leave the building at any time should the need arise. As the night security guard is the only person who has any right to even be in the building from midnight to 6 AM, which is when the lockdown protocol is lifted, nobody else will have access to or from the building for the simple reason that nobody else should be in the building."

Mike took a closer look at the fire escape lock, and discovered that there was indeed a keyhole in the lock that he hadn't noticed before. In the meantime, the ghosts started discussing the protocol itself.

"I really don't like the idea of the entire Pizzaplex being locked down like this," Susie was the first to vocalize a complaint. "There's always the danger that somebody will be trapped inside it for 6 whole hours. That could be terrifying even if Glitchtrap doesn't find a way to make things worse."

"That protocol doesn't happen until midnight, though," Fritz pointed out. "Even if somebody is stuck in here after closing hours, they've got 3 whole hours to find them and get them out of there. That's a lot of time, nobody's THAT dumb!"

"It's Fazbear Entertainment," Cassidy pointed out. "They're going to find a way to screw it up."

"Yeah, but do we actually have a valid argument AGAINST the lockdown protocol?" Gabe questioned. "Yeah, we're against it because Fazbear Entertainment are a bunch of stupid morons who can't do anything right, but that's an argument based on bad faith. If it was anybody else running the Pizzaplex besides Fazbear Entertainment, I'd honestly be fine with them locking down the Pizzaplex from midnight to 6 AM. Especially if there are high-tech animatronics or other valuable things that are going to be locked in here. That golden Rockstar Freddy statue WAS pretty cool, you can't deny."

Liz grimaced. "We can't make an argument against the protocol based on the idea that Fazbear Entertainment would screw things up," she reluctantly admitted. "We'd just look like a bunch of jerks instead of reasonable people with valid arguments. Fazbear Entertainment would just think we were insulting them…and they wouldn't even be wrong."

"I think…we have to let this slide for now," Charlie finally decided as Mike rejoined them. "We don't have a reasonable argument against a lockdown protocol that starts three hours after the mall closes…and honestly, this isn't the worst idea I've seen from Fazbear Entertainment by a long shot."

Mike wasn't thrilled about the late-night lockdown protocol either, but his kids were right. He didn't have a valid argument against it that didn't revolve around Fazbear Entertainment's previous history of incompetence. He could make a much stronger argument if someone was trapped in the building that wasn't the night guard…but it would be too little, too late by that point anyway. "I don't have any complaints about the lockdown protocol…as long as there actually are valuable things in here that need to be protected, and as long as your employees are actually diligent about getting people out of the facility before midnight."

"Three hours is more than enough time to escort everyone off the premises," Mr. Grimus confidently replied. Mike could only wish that he shared the same amount of confidence as his guide as the group continued to move on to the next room that would house a different Pizzaplex attraction.

And so the tour continued, with Grimus pointing out different fire escapes and emergency exits that had once been blocked off to either a VIP or a high security clearance worker, now freely accessible to the general public. Mike diligently checked each and every fire escape that he came across, making sure that it opened properly and that it appropriately led to outside.

It soon became clear to everyone in the group that Fazbear Entertainment had indeed kept its word about making freeing up the fire exits and making them freely accessible to the general public, although there was little doubt to anyone that they had only done it out of self-preservation rather than genuine dedication or ethics. More than one of the ghost kids voiced the concern that there might not be enough fire exits for the building as a whole, but Mike didn't know enough about building design to argue one way or another. He was already surprised that Fazbear Entertainment had actually bothered to put in more fire exits to begin with, and he wasn't going to start an argument when he didn't have enough expertise or evidence to back it up.

"I really wish the attractions were already set up," Susie commented with a sigh as they passed through the area that Mr. Grimus stated would one day become Monty's Gator Golf. "It would be really cool to see what they'd look like in the Pizzaplex. And if there were any other problems we found, we could point them out and try to get them fixed."

"I bet part of the reason why they invited Dad to tour the Pizzaplex in this super early stage was exactly because they didn't want him to point out flaws and problems with the attractions," Jeremy grumbled cynically.

"Either that, or they were paranoid because if they waited too long, Dad might think that they were trying to cheat their agreement and go ahead with destroying the Pizzaplex's reputation," Gabe suggested.

"It's probably a bit of both," Cassidy mumbled, to general nods of agreement from the other ghosts.

After several more minutes, the group found themselves back in the entrance area. "Are you satisfied that we've fulfilled our agreement, Mr. Schmidt?" Mr. Grimus asked.

"I'm satisfied, at least where the fire exits are concerned," Mike answered after a few seconds of silence. His kids had raised a good point; if the attractions in the Pizzaplex had already been set up, it would've been an excellent opportunity to look for and correct further design flaws. He might've even been able to take a look at the new animatronics of the Pizzaplex itself if he could get particularly lucky.

Still, he wasn't unsatisfied with what he'd seen in the building. Fazbear Entertainment had indeed fulfilled their end of the bargain, changing the fire escapes and emergency exits so that they were easily accessible to the public. And while he couldn't judge the quality or safety of the attractions since they hadn't been built yet, he hadn't seen any egregious or blatant design flaws in the building itself now that the fire escape problem had been corrected.

"You followed your end of the bargain, so I won't push the issue of the fire exits further as long as the problem remains solved," Mike declared. It was both reassurance and a subtle threat in a single statement, meant to warn Mr. Grimus and his superiors that if they were ever tempted to re-instate the VIP and high-security gatekeeping for the fire escapes, Mike would bring the hammer down upon them without mercy.

Mr. Grimus chuckled humorlessly. "I can assure you, Mr. Schmidt, that we have zero interest in un-fixing a problem for no good reason," he answered dryly. "With that, our business has been concluded. However, might I suggest you bring your family to our wonderful Pizzaplex once it is completed?" He suggested, clearly unable to resist the temptation to advertise on Fazbear Entertainment's behalf even in a serious business meeting. "It would only be right for you to see our work once all the decorations and features we plan on bringing into the Pizzaplex are fully established."

He held out a hand towards Mike, who accepted it with a smile. "Oh, don't you worry about that, Mr. Grimus," Mike answered with a tone of voice that was both incredibly earnest and revealed nothing. "I fully intend to come back when I get the chance."

/

A/N: And thus, the initial tour of the Pizzaplex has come to a close. Fazbear Entertainment actually did the right thing and fixed the problem with the fire exits…even if it was a problem they caused in the first place and only bothered fixing because Mike shoved it in their faces. And you can bet that Mike diligently checked every single fire escape in the building to make sure it actually worked properly.

This seems like a major win for the Schmidt family, and to be fair, it is. But just because they've solved one major problem, doesn't mean it's the only one lurking underneath the surface. As the ghost kids themselves realized, they're only seeing the bare-bones structure of the building itself with none of the completed attractions. For example, the Fazcade, for example, doesn't have the holes for DJ Music Man to crawl into yet, and someone would've DEFINITELY pointed them out if they had been there. The Schmidt family, as proactive as they might try to be, don't have a complete picture of the Pizzaplex and its potential problems, especially with Glitchtrap and Vanny out there waiting to ruin everything they touch.

And lastly, the building still has a midnight lockdown security protocol, one in which the fire escapes are all still locked down whether they're VIP-exclusive or available to the general public. And while three hours to find any stragglers and get them out of the Pizzaplex sounds like more than enough time…we already know from the canon Security Breach game that it's possible for people to still get trapped in the building despite this…

I know I said before that I would be jumping right into Security Breach, but plans have an annoying tendency to change. Since it'll be another few months before the Pizzaplex will be completed and opened to the public, and because I'll be having 2 of the more intense months of hospital residency work back-to-back coming soon, there's the distinct possibility that I'll write a filler chapter or two before I have the Schmidt family revisit a completed Pizzaplex that's open to the general public. Just letting you know, as writing the Security Breach chapters might be a lot of work and research and filler chapters allow me to keep a somewhat consistent upload schedule without busting my balls to do so.

That's all I have for now. I hope you guys enjoyed!