April 6th, 2056

Hurricane, Utah

Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex.

3:30 P.M.

The Pizzaplex was never truly dark, Nixus discovered. Day In, Day Out, a constant headache bathed in Neon.

But he didn't care much. No, he was doing what he wanted to do the previous night. As Vanessa told him when their shift began tonight, Roxy had kept her curtain pulled for a week now, and he was currently crawling through the Mega Pizzaplex to find out why. Issue was, Roxy was about as easy to find as a nail clipping in a flood.

You'd think an 6 '5 foot tall, purple-gray wolf would be easier to find in a place like this, but either she was being sneaky on purpose, or Nixus had finally gone blind. However, it was the feeling of his ears popping that led him to Roxy's location, that being…

"Bonnie Bowl? How have I never seen this before?" Nixus mumbled. After riding the elevator down, Nixus found the giant gate to the meat of the bowling alley closed shut, but his STAFF Pass beeped and dragged it open.

The first thing to meet his eyes were dozens, upon dozens of arcade machines, all kept off and under a nice, dull orange light. For once, a room in this place didn't burn his eyes out. Walking past a few STAFF Bots doing their rounds, he found the Bowling Alley proper, the floor shining like a mirror. To his left, a Circus Baby themed Ice Cream parlor. To his left, Roxy.

She was sitting on a bench, staring at an out-of-order row. He slowly made his way over, eyes panning over the room.

"... You look like you're thinking about something, Roxy."

Roxy didn't even look at him, but her ear did perk up.

"Something eating you up?" Nixus slumped down onto the same bench as her.

It took Roxy many minutes to speak, let alone blink. "There's a hairline crack in my arm casing."

Nixus blinked a few times. "Huh?"

"There's a crack in my casing. Chipped paint on my legs, one of my finger joints isn't reading right, my left eye keeps flashing when trying to shift between Basic Vision and AR Vision, my inner Endo Legs won't stop grinding together."

"That sounds like someone made the driver joints in your knees too tight, and the eye flickering could be a flipped wire." Nixus's mechanical mind jumped to the forefront. "And cracks in the casing happen all the time due to you all being able to actually move around. Shouldn't the Engineers have fixed all that?"

Roxy simply leaned back. "We don't have engineers. We have Replacements."

That… ok, it made Nixus's mind grind to a halt. Violently. If his brain was visible, you'd see sparks fly from the hundreds of thoughts that ran through it at the sheer Stupidity of what he just heard.

"Wh… Wh… Wh…" His brain was actively stuttering.

Roxy got a chuckle out of his expression. "I know, right? We never asked, wouldn't get any answers anyways, but Vanessa always threatens us with Replacement. Strip us of our casing, wipe our Motherboards, and replace us with Ourselves." Her eyes dropped like anchors.

"It's our own little piece of Death. But we don't get to quit after it's all said and done."

Nixus never thought an automaton could sound so… Dead. How many times has this crossed her mind? Dots were connecting in his brain, just as fast as his eyes took in Everything.

Left Arm Casing, Minor Scratching. Cause: Self Harm.

H̷̛̟i̷͈̔s̸̗͌ ̶̧̈o̴̪͂w̴̠̔ņ̷͑ ̸̩͝s̷̗̔k̶̻̓ị̶̎n̶̞͌ ̸̫̑ḯ̶̱ţ̶͒c̴̨̊h̴̯͝e̴̼͘d̶̘̑.̵̜̏ ̵̪̓M̸̢̈́a̵̭͆r̸͚̕k̶͉̾ṣ̷͗ ̴̩̊ȍ̷̞f̶̻́ ̸̙̈a̸̠̽ ̵̳̐ḽ̸̽i̸͚̿f̸̹̈́ę̸͐ ̸̰̓ḷ̶͑i̸̍ͅv̴̠̒e̷̬͋d̸̥͆ ̶̺͌P̵̳͐o̶͉͑o̴̯͌r̵̤̈ĺ̸͇ÿ̴̫ ̴̞́o̶͚͊n̵̡̑ ̵̲̒h̵̻͝ỉ̵̟s̸̖̄ ̶̧̈́ǘ̷̜p̶̤͠p̴̢̚ȩ̶́ṙ̷̤ ̵̝̓l̵̜̑é̶̻f̴͔̑t̶͖̄ ̷͓͐ȃ̶̫ȓ̵̟m̸̝̍,̷̰̽ ̷̦̒w̸̟̌h̶͍́ȇ̵̤n̶̙͌ ̵̭̅h̶́ͅe̶͎̓ ̶͈̂r̵̘͗ḯ̶̲p̸͖̆ṕ̸̝e̷̢͌d̷̺̈́ ̷̤̇o̴͙̓u̴̖̾t̶̤͗ ̶̞͊t̷̳̀h̶̿͜e̸͔̅ ̴͔̇V̷̳͌e̸͙͘i̵̱̍n̶͔͛s̵̨͊-̶̮̕

Exposed Right Endo Knee Joint, Friction Cracks. Cause: Misrepair, Likely Self Made.

T̷̛̜w̵̪̅ǐ̷̲s̶̲̆t̴̢͘e̴̠̍d̷͔̽ ̶̫̿J̴̱͆o̸̖̓i̴̛̲n̵̰̈́ț̷͒s̸̛͔ ̴̳̓T̷̙̂ò̸͚ř̵̫e̷͚̿.̵̞̈́ ̶̨̀P̷͎̉e̴̹̔r̶͍͆f̶͍̄e̶̟͋c̴̢̾t̶̰͆e̵̻͐ḑ̸͌ ̷͕͊Ḿ̸͇a̸͉̓c̸͎̐ḥ̵̛i̴͇͆n̶̰̽í̸͈n̸̪̅g̶͖͆,̵̙̐ ̶͙̅T̸͓͊u̸͓͐ṙ̶̝n̸͈͋ï̸̳n̸͍͆g̶͕͛ ̵̨̈́B̷̗̆ă̶͙c̷̡͌k̶̤̈.̶͍̔ ̷͕͌H̶͕̒ì̶̠s̶͙̕ ̸̝͠L̶͈͒ė̴̲ģ̶̕,̸̢̀ ̵̯͂Ṱ̶́ȏ̵̳r̵̤͘n̵͕̈́ ̶̯̂F̶͎͒r̶̖͗ẻ̷͓e̵̻̾.̷̤̀ ̵̡͗H̵̩̑ḯ̵̬s̴̮͝ ̵̩̊S̷̼̕ċ̸͙ȑ̶̘e̶͕̾a̵̼̽m̸̪̀ṣ̷͑,̸̦̇ ̵̜̇B̶̥͐l̴̼͋ë̷͕́è̶͕ḍ̶̐i̵͖̓n̵̹̒g̸̗̈́ ̷̹͠T̵̯̔h̶̟̓ȇ̸̥ ̶̳͌T̷̪͌ẖ̶͆r̶͕͆ȏ̸̫a̴̬̿t̴̡͗ ̸̼͆D̵̝̍r̵̝̓ẙ̸̟-̵̳̓

Right Eye, Loose in Socket. Cause…

F̶̨̓l̴̊͜ȧ̸̲s̵͓̅h̵̨̍ȋ̶̖n̵̝̍g̴̟̏,̵̬͠ ̷̺͊T̴̻͂e̸̞̒a̶̡̽r̶̗̈́i̷̲͛n̸͔͛ǵ̷̦,̴͍̀ ̶̙̈R̵̢̋í̶̖p̴̛̮p̸̲̀i̸͇͐ṅ̶̡g̴̢̚,̷̛͜ ̶̯̒S̸̗̐č̸̻r̵̜͆ȩ̵̾ã̷͔m̵̱̓ĭ̷̪n̴̮͘g̶̲̃.̴̺̒ ̴̙̉Ț̵̀h̸̟̓e̴̼̿ ̷̰̀ś̵̟o̶͓͐u̷̱̇ň̵̥d̵̛̬s̷̛̹ ̷͔̔o̴̯̾f̴̣̽ ̷͇̓ḁ̵̎ ̵̹̓c̴̛̳a̴̜͛ŗ̸̃ ̶̞̉b̷̮̈e̸̺͘i̴͓͝n̵̞̾g̶͍̏ ̵̜̆r̷̯͘ụ̸͝n̴̩͐ ̵́͜o̸̢̓f̷̦̓f̶̱̀ ̷̝̾ṭ̶̆h̵͕͛e̷̬̊ ̸͔̂r̷͉̐ỏ̸̰ä̸̩́d̴͈̈́,̴̠͂ ̸̗͊b̴͔̔ơ̶͙d̷̩͗ḭ̷̆ĕ̵̡s̴͇̈́ ̸͚͋h̴̦͛i̶̱̿ṱ̵̔t̴̩͂ḭ̸͋n̷̘͝g̷̳̚ ̷͓͂t̸̨̓h̵͔͐ȩ̵́ ̶͖͌m̷̺͂e̸̼̔t̴͝ͅa̵͙̔l̷͕͋ ̶̩̅s̸̢̄h̷̦͘ê̴͙l̵͘͜l̷͇͒.̸̻̀ ̴̱̃S̴̀ͅk̷̛͔ư̷̯ĺ̷̯l̴̯̑ ̶͕́m̷̰̑e̶̺͛e̴̡͌t̸͔̏s̶̨̚ ̶̩̊d̶̗̀a̴̮͒s̶̡͋h̴̘̓b̸͚̋ô̶͜a̸̬͑r̵̪̊ḋ̶̖,̷̝͘ ̵̟̀ẹ̴̒y̷̯͑e̴͔͂ ̷͖̃ȋ̸̫s̸̛̝ ̷̣̚f̵̝̾o̸̬͠r̶̲͂c̸͍̃i̶̟͊b̸̛̖l̷͙͝ȳ̸͖ ̸̰̽ȓ̴̦e̸̱͝m̸̛̫ó̷̫v̸̘̊e̶̬̚d̸̥̈ ̷͈̌i̸̺͋n̵͉̒ ̶̅ͅï̴̥m̴̞̉p̵̛̥a̷̤͘c̶̟̀t̷͓̒-̵̬͠

Nixus swallowed bile.

Cause: Blunt Force Trauma.

He didn't notice his own nails digging into his skin, small trickles of blood pouring into his jeans. He stood, without warning, startling Roxy. She motioned to question him, to the blood on his hands, but he stopped her.

Nixus wiped his hands clean, and hugged Roxanne.

Roxy simply sat there, stunned. She'd… She was realizing, now, that she'd never actually been hugged. She'd hugged people, before, mostly just kids. And even then, only during birthdays. And standing here, Nixus's grasp iron-strong, she realized, despite not feeling Any real heat, or sensation, it felt like…

It felt like a Flame was before her, even if his skin was cold.

And with a shiver, and a sensation she couldn't describe, she returned the hug.

She didn't know that Nixus's mind began accelerating. His Mind's Eye narrowed at that broken alley way, and a single thought came to him.

'Do I have enough space in my car?'

He'd have to see.

Tomorrow Is Another Day.