NOTES
(New Reddit stuff, u/ParticularlyLargeRat.)
Hey, I'mma keep it short.
This chapter's already pretty long, and there's a bunch of stuff I still intended to put in, but simply ran out of space to do so.
Next chapter's gonna be a plot chapter, like I promised (Sorry for the wait!). Might take an extra second to complete.
(This part's in response to a review, thought I'd put it here in case anyone thought the same thing they thought.)
Hey Grimmideals!
So you're right, I've done some (very limited) stuff with just about all the bots other than the main cast like the DJ. The daycare attendant WAS mentioned (very, very briefly) on a couple different occasions, but he was never given more than like a sentence or two at a time, so it's completely understandable how someone might miss him.
Your review actually inspired me to put in an extra smaller portion here at the beginning of the chapter regarding the other bots! Nothing wild or crazy, basically just some monologue from Mike's viewpoint, but your review served as a much-needed reminder that I needed to acknowledge those other bots in some way. I'm already positive that, later on in the story, they'll all have their own few chapters (at LEAST).
Anyway, thanks for reading! And it's always a blast to hear from one of you!
Enjoy
Daycare attendant's.. 'out'.. I mean, he's just as free to go wherever he wants as the rest of the crew, but 'Moon's crawling around somewhere' isn't the most reassuring thought to keep tucked in the back of your head.
...
Deciding it's probably not great manners to be poking my head through the door, I carry myself a few steps inside the daycare.
I sure hope he's out, anyway.. All the lights are on, so Sun would be the one roaming around if he's in here. Sun isn't exactly 'quiet' either, so if I can't detect any trace of him, it either means he's 'out', or that he's hiding somewhere.
Dunno why he'd be 'hiding', but I sure as hell hope he isn't.
...
The animatronics outside of the gang are a curious bunch. Whether it's hyper-intelligent AI or full blown sentience, they're pretty damn good at adapting to situations and acting like humans would. Still, it's evident that they work a little differently than the main cast.
They don't appear to be built with the same organic approach Freddy and his crew were. I'm not sure to what extent, but the mechanical parts are considerably more noticeable. An example being the swarm of endoskeletons in the lower levels. Nothing about those guys suggest there's a speck of carbon in their entire bodies, but they still seem to 'think' like everyone else.
The DJ is another instance. He's obviously a bit more dressed up, but it's incredibly obvious that he's held together by metal rods and fibers. The daycare attendant wears so much flashy loosely-fitting clothes that it's pretty hard to tell what he's made of. His face's artificial though. He can bend and contort his face like anyone else can, but it's easy to tell that it's made from a different material. It looks like plastic, but the sheer flexibility leads me to believe otherwise.
Well.. More than just their physical appearance, however, is how they act.
Like I said, they can think logically, or at least do a very damn good job of pretending like it. Their attitude, mannerisms, preferences, and many other character-specific traits tell a bit of a different story.
I've worried about the DJ sometimes. Roxanne's shown some signs of getting bored living in the same walls she's known since 'birth'. I thought that if Rox, who's free to wander about the entire facility at any time, is susceptible to getting bored of the place, then what about the DJ? He's obviously too big to get very far, and rarely leaves that little hole he's in. Surely staring at the same wall your entire life would drive someone insane in a matter of weeks.
As far as I can tell.. DJ has no problems with it. Not a single one.. I've even mentioned this topic to him once during my rounds and he claimed he's never been happier. Thought he was just being polite, but I kept an eye on him for a while, and not once has his well-being shown any signs of deteriorating.
I've noticed a few of these 'quirks' in all the bots that aren't a part of the main cast. Where something should be 'getting' to them, but it never does. This leads me to believe that their 'sentience' is a little more limited than the gang's, or something like that.. They always act like they 'should' act, even when it makes sense for them not to. It's kind of hard to put into words, but it's like they think a little more artificially.
Weirdly enough, the only bots that appear to be an exception to this are the endoskeletons.
I'm not sure what it is about them, but they're significantly more mysterious than the rest. It might just be because they either can't or choose not to speak, since that means I can't determine their personalities through conversation. Even their actions and mannerisms seem a little more intricate, though.
They have hobbies; skills that they improve on. Sure, you could say Moon has a hobby of 'creeping around the Pizzaplex', but at least that hobby fits squarely into his personality. It's something you'd expect him to do.
Never in a million years would I have expected that endoskeleton to 'draw' something and hand it to me. It's like their personality is to seem robotic, likely due to their appearance, but every once in a while they'll blow that expectation of 'how they should act' into a million tiny pieces.
They are plain 'mysterious' too.. Like, not 'huh that's kind of weird' kind of mysterious, but actually anomalous.
I've thought about how it's possible that the endoskeletons knew where to take Chica when she was looking for me during the holidays, or how that one skeleton knew to find me in the lobby on Christmas.. I've thought of a couple reasons they might've known to do either of those things individually, but it's the fact they demonstrated this ability to me more than once that tickles my brain in a few spots.
Though mysterious, they don't appear to be malicious. I'll admit those things kind of worried me when I first started working here; back when I was scrounging the place, looking for any sign of something 'wrong'. Obviously, nothing came of it, and I eventually had to turn my attention elsewhere.
I'm aware that this could be a potentially dangerous habit, but I'm pretty fond of those things exclusively as a result of how mysterious they are. There's a mystery to be solved there, one that has something to do with my father, and it excites me. Tickles my 'purpose' sensors. Gives me the idea that there might still be a reason for me to be around.
Of course, I can already tell you that's not the case. If they really did have something to due with my father enough that was important enough for me to be involved, they probably wouldn't be as passive as they are.
Maybe my interest stems from their appearance. They aren't quite the same as the endoskeletons in previous locations, but they do resemble them. Plus they're the one of the few entities in the building that's made to be blatantly made of metal instead of.. Flesh..
...
There's a thought.. What's the gang made of?
They certainly seem to be made of flesh and muscle, but if that's the case, where did that flesh come from? William didn't create the gang, he only illustrated the plans. Cooper went through the effort of creating them, I think. Or he directed the whole thing and got someone else to do it for him.. Whatever they're made of, it's disconcertingly similar to the real deal.
..Maybe it's best I don't think about it too hard, at least for the time being. There's enough on my plate as it is. As far as I'm aware, I'm not bound by any time-constraint, so I reckon I'll do better work if I take things one at a time.
There are a million small things I want to look into about this place, but I doubt I'd ever get the chance to investigate them all. Don't think there's much to worry about though. Following my father's unpleasant demise, every absurdity I've encountered has leaned towards 'anomalous' instead of 'abomination'. As long as things stay that way, I'm gonna keep a cool head and-
- Bonk -
My foot clips one of the many lettered blocks as I turn around one of the play-structures, or whatever they're called. Causing the block to tumble a small distance. Probably wouldn't have walked so close to that thing if I knew there were a couple other blocks stacked on top of it.
Now I'm doomed to watch helplessly as the catastrophe of a knee-high block tower consistent of a whole three blocks tumbles gently to the floor.
What a horrific scene. May the guilt of my actions weigh down on my conscious forever.
...
Hehhe.. The blocks fell down and spelled the word 'wat'..
wat indeed, little blocks.
- Clean up! Clean uup! -
Perhaps now would be a good time for me to leave.
"Michael, how much longer do you believe your duties will take?"
I stop and twist over my shoulder in a couple different directions before I'm able to find who just called out to me.
Took me an embarrassingly long time to find the voice I've comfortably associated with the bear, but I'm using 'he was partially behind a doorway' as an excuse to make me feel better.
"No longer than fifteen minutes. Not that I don't have the entire night to get it done if you need something."
"I'd appreciate it.." Freddy crestfallenly admits. "Not hard work, just need an extra pair of hands."
"I can offer the hand I have left." I volunteer nonchalantly, turning the rest of me around and waltzing over to the bear poking his head out from one of the doors to the service tunnels.
"Any number greater than two should get the job done." He responds, retreating back into the doorway just as I grab a hold on the door myself.
"What's goin' on?"
"Nothing important. Need a couple containers moved a few feet over. Not strenuous in the slightest; It's simply something I can't do alone."
"Mm." I hum in acknowledgement, following the bear down a set of stairs. "Nice to see you out of your bunker."
"It isn't a bunker, there's simply nowhere else that has the utilities I need to work outside my greenroom."
"Your 'greenroom'?"
"The room I'm always in, Michael. In Rockstar Row."
"Greenrooms are where performers go to relax in a theater."
Freddy raises a finger as I trail behind him.
"Not exclusively a theater. Any building comparable to a studio of any sort."
"This building's, like, eighteen different things. A studio's just one of them."
"Our greenroom's connect to a route to the stage through our backdoors. Though only indirectly connected, it still makes our rooms the last area we stay in for any meaningful amount of time before we perform."
It's entertaining listen to Freddy start to talk like a Wikipedia article after explaining something for a long enough time.
"I know, it's just-. Calling it a greenroom makes it sound exclusively work-related. You live in there too."
"What would you call it?"
"A room."
"A greenroom is a room."
"I mean like.. 'Freddy's room' sounds more enjoyable to hang out in than 'Freddy's greenroom'."
"I understand, though we indisputably use it as a greenroom."
"How about it's a 'greenroom' before you perform, and a 'room' every time else?"
"What do you hope to gain in bargaining with me over how to properly reference my room?" Freddy amusedly tilts his head around as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.
"Call it what you want, Fazboy. Just saying it's probably easier to relax in a room that you don't exclusively associate with work." I defend, sarcastically shrugging as he turns to look at me.
"It's furnished the same no matter how we refer to it." Freddy continues, looking back forward to tell where we're supposed to be going.
"The placebo effect hits harder than you'd think." I rebut, sliding my hands into my pockets. "If you call that place a hellhole, you're gonna start thinking of it like one."
"I'm not entirely sure that's accurate."
"It's probably not."
"Compelling."
- Brr -
"It makes sense to me." I continue, bringing my arm up to read the message I received. "I bet you're the only one who calls it a greenroom, though."
"The other animatronics, maybe. I'm certain Arin would refer to my room as a greenroom. Perhaps even Cooper."
"..."
The playfulness starts to dissipate from my chest as I continue reading. Eventually, I start to slow my pace to a halt, and Freddy quickly takes notice of the lack of footsteps.
...
"Alright, Michael?"
"Yep. Some bad news though.." I bring my other hand up to mess with my watch. "Cooper's called me to a nearby drop-off."
"A 'drop-off'?"
"That's what he said. I think he just means the place where trucks can come inside and unload stuff."
"That's peculiar.. What is Cooper doing here so late?" Freddy mutters, slowly turns his body around to face me.
"Sorry, I was expecting this to happen at some point tonight. He got everything here awfully quick.." I begrudgingly elaborate, letting my arms fall to my side again. "If you're willing to wait, I can go do what he needs and message you when I'm ready to help you move those things."
Freddy pauses and scratches the back of his head.
"If you'll have me, I think I'd like to come with you.. I'm curious as to what they could be dropping off this late."
I look down and force back a grimace.
"..Sure. I could probably use a little extra help anyway." I begrudgingly accept Freddy's offer, knowing I'd likely have to explain this to him at some point anyway.. Might as well let him see for himself, and get a helping hand while I'm at it. "I bet you'll find this pretty interesting, too."
As I turn around and hear the pitter-patters of the bear jogging to follow me, I can't help but feel some apprehension.
...
Cooper got all the stuff he could find over here pretty damn quick. The fact he found it necessary to use a drop-off point instead of something like the front entrance doesn't bode incredibly well either.. That might mean he literally has a truckload of stuff to deposit and rummage through. I might be in for a lot of work I'm not really thrilled to do..
Can't afford not to go, though. I need to be there and judge what's 'important' of the stockpile of Freddy's artifacts they seem to have dug up.
With any luck, the places he found all this stuff from have been scrapped to high-hell already. There's at least a solid chance that a fair portion of what they managed to dig up was junk.
Still. They found enough stuff to warrant a truck storing and delivering everything. Whether that's due to the weight of what they found, or the sheer amount of it, it really doesn't make me feel very confident that there won't be a good portion of things that I'll have a hard time explaining around.
As much as I'd like to stay back and think of a plan, there really isn't anything I can do differently than dive headfirst into this pile of relics they've scrounged up.
Nothing to do now but bite the bullet. Here's hoping a good portion of what they found is worthless.
I push the final set of doors open, and the two of us file into the offloading area.
If nothing else, at least the room's nice.. Wide and spacious, and evidently sealed off pretty well when the garage doors aren't open. No colder in here than it is anywhere else in the building.
Of course, these pleasantries immediately go on the back-burner as I speed-walk my way over to where the only truck in the garage is visible.. I'm unsure what people think they're doing over there, but apparently they've decided to start offloading the cargo in the truck onto the floor, quite literally forming a mound.
Getting closer, I can make out the few people who are relevant to me in some way. Cooper and Arin, which isn't an uncommon duo. There are only two people I'm unfamiliar with, who I assume to be the truck driver and someone who tagged along to help unload.
..And Rox.. Huh..
As much as I'd like to go around greeting people, my attention begrudgingly latches onto the steadily growing mound. Maybe I can identify a few worrisome pieces and start forming excuses before they even realize I'm here.
...
My pace gradually slows to a stop as I reach the edge of the mound, a good few feet away from the wolf.
...
Wow..
That is a lot of junk..
I mean, that's good, and it explains why there's so much, but wow..
Might've gotten a little ahead of myself.. I know Cooper said to grab anything and everything, but I was expecting there to be at least a tiny filter as to what was should've been taken and what should've been left behind.. So much of the pile consists of useless scraps of torn paper from posters and drawings, as well as things that inherently have nothing to do with Freddy's, like screws and office supplies.
...
"What in the world is all this..?" Freddy mumbles behind me, baffled by the sheer amount of garbage on the floor in front of him. Freddy's voice was evidently enough to alert Rox to our existence, as I can see her ear twitch followed shortly by turning enough to see what Freddy's doing here.
"This is.. A little less spectacular than Cooper was building it up to be.." I mutter in response, right before the wolf finally acknowledges our existence.
"It shouldn't have even been possible for me to get here before you did." Roxanne announces as she approaches, declaring herself as 'part of the conversation'.
"Freddy and I were about as far as you could possibly get from this part of the Pizzaplex. What are you even doing here..?"
"Wanted to find you, and Cooper mentioned something about you while he ran by.." Roxy stops, turning around to face the mound behind her. "Does 'this' have something to do with you?"
"Yeah, it-"
"What the hell even is this?"
"Cooper had some people go and-"
"Michael!" Cooper's unnecessarily lively voice causes pierces our brains, causing everyone's heads to turn. "Like whatcha see?"
Sure would be nice if I could get a sentence out.
...
"Coop, I understand people worked hard to get this stuff, but almost all of this is garbage.." I articulate enough to prevent myself from being interrupted again, extending my arms towards the mountain of garbage on the floor.
"That's what I just-! Mnn.." Arin makes an attempt to concur, but chooses to cut himself off with a grumble.
"But it's your garbage!" Cooper enthusiastically replies, pointing to the same pile I am. "All this is stuff y'should know about, ain't it? Here, like- Look.."
Cooper takes a couple steps over to the pile and reaches out to grab something seemingly at random.
"It's all 'from' Freddy's, but that's all I can tell you about any of these things.. All of this could be from anywhere, I have no way of telling." I respond a bit exasperated, taking a couple steps closer to the pile as well.
"C'mon-, give it a go! Betcha you ain't givin' yourself enough credit." As Cooper finishes his sentence, he pulls a miscellaneous object from the pile. "Here, how 'bout tellin' me where this one's from?"
I open my mouth to reply, having some passive aggressive words to share, but getting a look at the item tells me I have to suck it up this time...
..I do know what that is.. But he that's just because he got lucky..
"That's.. Kids used those for arts 'n crafts. The streamers would be used as arms and legs for paper-plate dolls in the nearby pizzeria.." I begrudgingly mutter an explanation.
I catch a curious side-glance from both the animatronics, who reasonably didn't expect me to be able to provide a small history lesson about the random-ass torn colored streamer Cooper's holding up.
With a knowing chuckle, Coop tosses the streamer aside and holds up another just-as-random piece of scrap.
...
"That's, um.. a fake drawing that was made for Fazbear Fright's.. You can see 'cause of some of the wear and tear being made of the same material as whatever they were drawing with. Like crayon, or something.."
"Mikeyy~"
"Damn it, fine.."
I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm starting to realize that I'm a bit more familiar with these things than I thought.. Guess I should've figured as such, since I just recently reminded myself how hard these placed imprinted on me when I was in Freddy's pizzeria a few days ago..
"Aw, it'll be over before ya know it..! C'moon, it ain't at least a little fun lookin' through your old junk again?" Cooper both teases and attempts to reassure me, turning to look back at the pile.
"That's a lot of 'junk' for one night-guard to rummage through piece-by-piece.."
"Ya' got help! There's two helpin' hands right there!" He encourages, pointing at the two animatronics on either side of me with a different hand, causing the both of them to flinch slightly.
"They won't know what to do with this stuff anymore than you or Arin would." I respond in a meek attempt to alleviate the two who've just been 'assigned' to help me of their duties.
"Nahh, they'll help with the heavy liftin'! The un-fun bits!" Coop continues to coerce them, slapping a hand on my shoulder briefly as he walks past me. "There'll be a lil' more tomorrow, though. Save a bit of strength for then."
"..There's more?" I look over my shoulder to watch as Cooper leaves.
"Only a lil' bit. Had trouble gettin' into a couple places, but most of everythin' is here in front of ya'."
"Where are you going..? You're not sticking around to help?"
"I'll be back before too long, I promise." Cooper turns over his shoulder as well, placing a hand next to his mouth as if he's whispering to me from a distance. "Someone's boutta' lose their friggen' mind if I don't get a couple things done 'round here."
"You own this place, sociopath.. 'I'm' losing my mind..?!" Arin grumbles again before jogging up to continue arguing with owner.
"I'll come back as soon as I'm finished. Hopin' you'll have a couple interesting stories for me by then~!" Cooper finishes with a chuckle, turning his head back around and raising a hand up as goodbye.
...
Despite feeling the need to ask a million more things, all I do is stand there and watch as the duo eventually reaches the exit and leaves my line of sight.
...
After a few moments, the truck engine loudly roars to life and breaks me out of my trance. I turn to face the pile again just as the truck slowly starts to maneuver towards the garage door.
Sigh..
"You don't have to stick around if you don't want to.." I assure the two animatronics on either side of me. "There's hardly anything important here anyw-"
"That was weird, right?" Roxanne finally speaks up, uncrossing her arms. "Like, I'm not just making that up?"
"I'm not sure.. I don't believe I've ever witnessed either of them behaive like that before.." Freddy concurs, finally tearing his eyes off the doorway the duo left through.
"What the fuck was his deal? Mike, what was his deal?" Rox repeats, turning to face me as soon as she remembers that most absurdities that take place here usually have something to do with me.
"Language.." Fred mutters before I form my response.
"Arin's acting strange because Cooper's acting strange. It's a long story, but Cooper's just really excited right now.." I scratch the back of my head, lowing my gaze from the wolf to the pile. "Also obsessively passionate about all-things Freddy's related.."
"Is this a new interest?" Freddy asks uncertainly, intimidated by the sheer size of the mound.
"I don't think so, it was just inert for a while." I explain slowly, being cautious any information that might result in more questions. Beginning to sit on the floor to start picking out pieces of the pile. "He read something that re-ignited that passion, and now he's off in his own little world."
"I see.."
"So then what the hell's this about?" Roxanne continues, starting to sit next to me. Before I can reassure her that she really isn't obligated to help me with this, Freddy speaks up again.
"Your conversation with Cooper suggests these are all objects plucked from a past location..?"
"From all of the locations still standing. And not so much 'plucked' as 'scraped'.. Those old places had nothing important left in them, but Cooper decided to bring back literally everything that wasn't attached to the building itself, just in case previous scrappers missed something."
"What is he searching for in this mess?"
"Anything that has even a little information to be gleaned from it, like everyone else.." I mutter, a little sour that the turnout Cooper provided was significantly more worthless AND time-consuming that I could have ever imagined.
"Everyone else who'd 'scrapped' there?"
"Yeah."
"Then why does Cooper believe he'll find anything at all? Won't the previous scrappers have taken anything of interest?"
"They did. Cooper believes it's possible that the scrappers may have overlooked something that doesn't initially appear to have anything important strewn about it."
"..Well, even if we look through everything piece-by-piece, how would we expect to determine if something has hidden value?"
..Sighhhhh..
"Because of my history with Freddy's places.. He knows I've worked at just about every location in the past, so he believes that I'd have a better chance of finding the 'hidden value' in something."
"Ah.." There we go. That finally seems to have clicked something in Freddy's brain. "Which would explain why Cooper insisted you were the one to filter through everything.."
"Yep."
"This. Will take. Forever." Roxanne grumbles, reaching into the pile.
"Hopefully I can skip a large portion of these.. Even though I remember where most of this comes from, I still don't think I've seen anything that can even remotely be called 'important'.."
"Good. Then I'm throwing away all of the stupid colored paper."
I repurpose my hand that was approaching the pile to slip to my side and grab Rox's arm.
"You don't have to help, wolf. You still a full day of performing when the sun comes back up. I can go home and sleep for as long as I want after I'm done with this."
Interestingly, the only response I get to my efforts to prevent Roxy from tiring myself out is a shuffling and clunking on the other side of me as Freddy takes a seat as well.
"I'll sift through and see if I can't find anything potentially useful. I may need your input if I 'do' find something, though." Freddy chuckles skeptically.
Welp.
"Let go of me, shitlord." Roxanne continues before I can conjure a up a response for Freddy.
"Language."
"Tell Mike to stop grabbing me."
"I do not have the authority to make that happen."
"It's probably harassment or something."
"You taped him to a wall."
"I can do what I want to him." Roxanne twists her arm out of my grip. "What's he gonna do, huh? Call HR and listen to them tell him that the wolf's more important than his dumbass position?"
"I'll give you credit for both knowing what HR is and knowing how they think." I respond, deciding the robots aren't gonna be swayed by my ramblings.
"I was under the impression HR's purpose was to side with the employee's?" Freddy interjects, demonstrating for the first time that he doesn't know literally everything.
"Kind of. HR's end-goal is kinda like trying to lower the amount of complaints in a workplace, which usually means fitting to the employee's needs. Sometimes they'll find it easier to just silence or get rid of the employee who's complaining though."
"Sounds unpleasant.."
"Mhm."
"Are these worth anything?" Roxanne calls to me, holding up a handful of something.
"..No, not really. They used to hang them around Fazbear Frights, but they probably came from the old pizzeria.." I elaborate, taking the shaped streamers from her hands.
They're the ones that look like a bunch of tiny paper humans holding hands to make a streamer you can hang somewhere. I don't really remember seeing them in any of the standard pizzeria's , but I really doubt someone deliberately cut this out for the purpose of hanging it in the Frights.
"Was that place actually scary? Or was it just another place for parents to take their runts through?" Rox asks disinterestedly, returning to throwing away all the paper scraps in the pile.
"I'm not sure."
"Who else could possibly be sure if not for you? You 'worked' there, right? At night?"
"Yeah, but the place hadn't even opened yet, so much of the spooks were actively under construction. The place started to come together near the end of my time working there though."
"Place didn't even open.." Rox mumbles in contempt, as if she's comparing it to the success of the Pizzaplex. "How long did you work there?"
"Almost as soon as the people setting the place up had secured a building, which still isn't very long. Maybe a month."
"Fazbear Entertainment struggled to get a friggen building? After all the money they made?"
"It wasn't Fazbear Entertainment, just some guys. They got whatever props they could from auctions and set them up around the building for people to walk through."
"Not Fazbear-..?" Freddy mutters after a while, evidently finding that piece of information a little more intriguing than Rox did. "It wasn't the company?"
"No. Only a handful of people who got some money together, and were collectively interested in the rumors surrounding Freddy's at the time."
"Ah.. The 'frights' themselves must've been inspired by the rumors, then.."
"Yep."
"Did they expect their location to get any meaningful business off of the rumors alone?"
I huff.
"If they had managed to open, they might've had innumerable hoards lining up at their door." I shimmy a bit, crossing my legs to make it easier to reach into the pile. "The rumors were a big deal back then, especially since Freddy's was in a smaller town at the time. Everyone who lived there was so used to nothing interesting going on there that when something as interesting as the rumor's surrounding Freddy's surfaced, they were fascinated with it, and blew the whole deal way out of proportion. Their excitement proved contagious, and soon most of the state was obsessed with the place."
"Mm. I reckon you were no exception, then."
That's a pretty reasonable conclusion to make knowing my job history.
"Kind of. Though working there only proved that the 'rumors' weren't really anything people should be fascinated with."
"Disappointing?"
"Somewhat."
"Though you still insisted on applying at Freddy's locations? Even after getting disappointed by the rumors?"
"I've never been anything but a night-guard, honestly. Even if the rumors weren't what people made them out to be, night-guarding at Freddy's has always been the only job that both appeals to an interest of mine, and is something I know how to do."
"You're an interesting man, Michael."
"Not really."
"Mike."
"Fae."
"What's this thing about? Is it something - die, by the way. - Is it something we need to keep?"
"I doubt it." I croak under my breath, tossing aside some papers before going to grab what she's holding out. "..Um.."
"No?"
...
"I can't remember what that is.. Maybe it's just part of a toy someone left behind?"
I delicately take the beige piece of plastic out of Rox's hand, holding it up to the light.
This thing may be the first indiscernible piece of the scrap we've found so far.. It's shaped kind of like a cylinder, but increases in volume near the middle of the shape.
"But you can tell me what a piece of colored friggen' paper is? Including where it's from and what it's used for?"
"I know, but there weren't many colored pieces of wavy paper just hung around places. I've only ever seen them used as appendages for those paper doll things.."
"Then I'm tossing it. Gimmie."
...
Oh, hey..
'doll'.. 'appendage'..
...
"This was part of a minireena.." I mutter, cocking a brow.
"I don't know what that means."
"They were little robot dolls that followed a big robot doll around. This is just a piece of plastic that covered their endoskeleton, probably a segment of their arm.."
"..That thing is tiny."
"The minireena's were tiny.. Wow.."
"..What..?" Rox responds following some silence. "Is that finally something important?"
"No, I'm.. Just a little surprised we made it so far without finding something from Baby's.."
That's partially true.. Holding a piece of a minireena in my hand just put into perspective that, like.. Whatever was using this as a shell was inside me at one point. Like actually using the body I'd grown up with to that point as a flesh-puppet.
I mean, so were like 15 other bots, but still, this one was in there somewhere.. I guess it was just the endoskeletons though, so it's not like this piece of plastic was in there somewhere.
"You want to keep it?"
"No. Sorry, you can-"
"Then gimmie." Roxy repeats, snagging the plastic from my hand and tossing it back with the rest of the junk. "..Was there an animatronic really named Baby? You're not just calling it that?"
"Yeah. Circus Baby's.. Emporium.. Or something.." I explain, still a little lost in thought. After a few seconds of running our conversation back through my head, I can't help but snicker. "Did you think I was just addressing it endearingly?"
"That's a stupid name.."
Before I'm given the opportunity to make fun of her further, my voice gets caught in my throat when I register rapidly approaching footsteps from behind me.
Realizing I'm not gonna have enough time to turn around and look, I just kinda tense and hope for the best.
- Pompf -
Wh-?!
"Happy Birthdayyyyy!"
Chica's upside-down face suddenly takes up the entirety of my vision, which shocks me enough to want to jump back a bit, but am prevented from doing so on account of Chica deciding to use me to cancel all of her momentum instead of slowing down like any sane person would.
"I-, What..?!"
"How old are you now? How many candles do you want?" Chica asks in quick succession, before lifting her head and acknowledging the pile in front of her. "..Whussat?"
What in the world is-..?
"Chica, what?"
"What's all that?"
"It's my birthday?"
"Yep!"
"It absolutely is not- what day is it?" I turn quickly to the bear slowly scooting away from the sheer energy radiating off of Chica.
"The thirteenth..?" Freddy replies with lackluster confidence. Luckily, hearing the number reminded me that I had checked earlier, and I'm able to confirm with myself that it is, in fact, the thirteenth.
"No-, Then it's not my birthday, no. My birthday's on the-"
Oh.. My birthday.. I'd completely forgotten about that..
...
"..My birthday's tomorrow, actually.." I disclose slowly, moreso to myself than the surrounding animatronics.
"Oh, what? Really?" Roxy blusters in-
"Whuh- No!" Chica passionately refutes, as if this is at all a debatable topic. "Trudge said it's today! He looked at the schedule and said it was Tuesday!"
"My birthday is Tuesday."
"Then it's your-!"
"It's Monday, Chicken." Roxanne corrects for me. "Get off of Mike."
"Awwe! That's-.." Chica tries to argue, realizing soon after that there isn't anything she could possibly argue about. " 's dumb... Whussat?"
The bird appears to immediately lost all interest in the topic and stretches way over me to grab something random from the pile. Of course, I'm currently right in fricken' front of her, so this includes making me bend down a bit so she could reach.
"Stuff from the old places Mike used to work. We're trying to find anything interesting." Rox surmises.
"Ooh..!" Chica finally manages to grab something, pulling it toward her and apparently deciding I'm the perfect height sitting down for her to immediately transition to sitting on my shoulders. "Is this important?"
"Please get off me. Fred, do something.."
"Very little of the papers are worth anything, I'm afraid." Freddy responds, ignoring my plea for help. "If you'd like, we could use the help disposing of all the paper and sifting through the pile for anything noteworthy."
"Oh! Okay..! Can Trudge help?"
"Of course. I'm actually a little surprised he wasn't with you when he came in."
"We left together! I'm just faster." Chica replies with a giggle.
"Chica, I'm begging you, get off m-"
"mikeymikeymikeymikeyhappybirthdaymiiiiIIIIEEEEE-!"
As if on cue, Trudge can briefly be heard approaching behind me.
Unfortunately, the Trudge in question seems to have thought what Chica's doing looked 'fun', and decided to partake by attempting to jump on HER shoulders.
Trudge seemed to have realized mid-air, however, that Chica does not have the ability to stop his momentum like I did. So Trudge, flying over our heads, nearly upside down, and flailing his arms wildly is the last thing I'm able to see before the three of us are sent hurdling into the mountain of papers, and are engulfed in it like a pile of leaves.
...
"I-, Mike, did Freddy's always own this much shit?!"
"Myep."
"Roxanne." Freddy interjects before she can continue.
"Fine- crap. Did Freddy's always own this much crap?"
"Nyope."
"Changed your answer in the last three seconds?"
"No. It's my way of calling you stupid for asking the same question twice."
"Jesus, Fine.." She grumbles, brushing some papers away.
"That's not nearly as much violence as you tend to react to my insults with." I respond cockily, leaning over to take some of the papers she's brushing.
" 'Cause this damn chore could sap the life out of anybody.."
"You can leave. I actively encourage you to leave. Get rest before you perform tomorrow."
"No."
"Wolf."
"No."
"Why?"
Roxy side-eyes me before continuing her task with a grumble.
" 'Cause everyone else is doing it too.."
"Yeah but Freddy thrives doing tedious work like this, and TC both have an endless supply of energy."
...
"..Oh, Trudge Chica, how incredibly intelligent of you."
"It wasn't. I-"
"I know it wasn't. You're stupid."
"TC used to stand for Toy Chica anyway, so it wasn't even original."
Rox scoffs under her breath.
"Neither's the name 'Toy Chica'.."
"Mm."
"..."
...
"Rox, please go to bed."
"I don't need sleep."
"Then go somewhere else."
"Can't handle my bitching anymore, huh?"
"I'm glad you bitched when you did, so now I can tell you in confidence that you need relax tonight. Just for a little bit."
"No. We'll be done sooner if I'm here."
"You'll be done right away if you get up and get outta here, like I'm begging you to." I continue to insist, making an attempt to poke her nose.
"Mike, holy shit, listen to me."
"What problem could you possibly have with going to chill for a bit?"
"I don't want to 'chill for a bit'."
"You'd rather spend your night here doing this?"
"That's not what I'm saying.."
"You don't want to relax?"
"Of course Iwant to relax..! But-"
"Then why sit here and waste time?" I ask, purposefully being a bit annoying in hopes that'll motivate her to leave faster.
" 'Cause I, fricken-..!" Rox stops herself, and I catch her side-eyeing me again.
"..?"
The wolf only continues to glare at me for a bit, before eventually breaking eye-contact to get a peek at the rest of the gang to see if they're listening.
"..You're gonna make me sound like an idiot for saying this.."
"It's whatever, just tell me. Why not go and relax?"
" 'Cause I wanna relax with you, dumbfuck." Roxanne whisper-yells at me while the rest of the gang is preoccupied. "Can't do that if you're stuck here molesting a pile of friggen' junk.."
"Mm, mkay. I'll pick up the pace a bit." I hum in acknowledgement.
...
"..Don't act like you didn't just coerce me into saying something stupid..!
"What? No-, it wasn't stupid, I get it."
"What are you trying to do right now?"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"You made me say something stupid, and now you're playing it off like nothing."
"It wasn't st- What part of what you said was stupid?"
"I said I want to chill with you.. You made me say I want to chill with you..!" Roxy repeats, trying to get huffy with me, but failing due to refusing to raise her voice for the others to hear.
"So?"
"That's dumb!"
"Why is that dumb?"
"You're doing this on purpose..!"
"Rox, of course I want to chill with you."
"You-..!"
"People chill with each other all the time; what are you so flustered about?"
"Are you kidding me..?!"
"After we finish doing this, we'll relax together for a while, like we've been doing almost every night for the last month and a half."
"Mike..!"
"What..?! What are you losing your mind about?" I chide lightly with a chuckle. "Friends chill with one another, that's like one of the cornerstones of being friends with someone, we do it all the time."
"..."
"Here, throw this in the paper pile."
"Frickin' hate you.." Roxy mumbles, taking the crumpled ball of paper in my hand and tossing it aside.
"If we get a good rhythm going, we could be done by like 4, and we'll chill for the rest of the night. Deal?"
"Die."
"Dealio."
I expect Rox to have a bit more to say towards me making the deal for her, but it seems like she's finally chosen the smart option of letting me go along with my BS.
Did get a hefty sigh of exasperation from her though. I'll chalk that up as another victory.
...
Just as I decide this to be a sign to put in a tad bit extra effort towards getting this done, my hand brushes a larger object in the pile.
...
"Oh-, hey~!"
The unusual positive twist lining my voice catches the attention of both the bear and the wolf as they glance my way. Chica and Trudge are still nearby too, they're just off in their own world admiring all the relics they dig up in the pile with each other.
I brush off the papers clinging to the edges of the familiar shape, quickly filling me with one of the only positive bits of nostalgia I've ever felt towards a Freddy's location.
"..That thing is busted, Mike."
"I'm totally keeping this for myself. Don't tell Coop."
"..Is that supposed to be a phone..?" Freddy cautiously queries, looking at the misshapen receiver.
"Yep. Office phone, back at Freddy's." I explain proudly, lifting the object towards the light.
"Do you believe it works..?"
"Hell no, not at all. It's more of a sentimental thing."
"I was about to say.." Rox pokes at the side of the base. "That thing is fucked."
"Language."
Following Freddy's predictable comment, I lower the outdated phone model into my lap.
I've gotta say, this thing holds a special place in my heart. I can't say there's anything else from Freddy's I remember fondly other than the hunk of junk in my hands.
It really shouldn't be making me as happy as I am, but I can't help it. Even knowing the unfortunate fate of 'phone guy', he might be the only person who's ever been able to make me feel like there was a serious chance at success during my time chasing my father.
I got a couple calls during my nights at Fazbear Frights too, of course, but it wasn't the same..
The old security guard was one of the only people I ran into during my entire journey that wasn't completely oblivious to the absurdities going on. That in-and-of itself helped me feel less alone in the whole mess, which was finally starting to eat at me back then. More than that though: he was the only person who had an idea of what was going on, and actively encouraged me.
There were so many monsters, murderers, and abominations in my line of work, all trying make my already difficult task seem insurmountable, that finally running into that one guy who really did try to encourage and assist me with my tasks stuck pretty hard. Of course, he didn't know that much. As far as I'm aware, he really did believe the animatronics were just bugged at night. And it isn't like we ever hung out or even talked to each other, he just left me a couple messages.
Still, it was so jarring and unexpected the first time I heard him that it never really left me. Instead of going 'Hey, there's some horrifying monsters in here and you're in grave danger. There's no way out, wallow in despair and cower in fear in your final moments' like anyone else would've, he instead chose to be like.. 'Hey, there's some horrifying monsters in here and you're in grave danger. You know what though? It's perfectly fine. It's not so hard, and it ain't so bad. You'll survive to see the sun again, and I'll walk you through everything you need to know along the way.'
I know he wasn't really like that, and I know it's a huge exaggeration, but that's seriously what it felt like. Even if it was only for a couple days, listening to him talk with such positivity gave me hope that maybe things weren't as horrific as they seemed.
...
...
"Gonna tell me what your deal is?"
"Sorry." I respond quickly, shaking the monologue out of my head. "The guy who taught me how to do my job at Freddy's talked to me over this phone, and I guess it kinda stuck. Liked him quite a bit."
" 'Cause he 'talked' to you?"
"Not even, just sent me a few messages."
"Is that supposed to sound less pathetic?"
"Nope."
"Well I thought it was endearing." Freddy states matter-of-factly, sticking a finger in the air. "A good relationship with your co-workers is necessary for a healthy work environment."
"Did he even know your name?"
"I'm not sure, probably not. I never actually talked to him since I was taking his position as night-guard."
"Riveting relationship."
"Thanks."
"Are you certain you'd like to keep that thing..?" Freddy hesitantly questions as I set it off to the side.
"Well.." I mumble, looking the phone over as I come up with an answer. "Chances are I'm gonna lose interest in it before too long.. Until then I guess it couldn't hurt to keep around."
"Do you intend to repair it?"
"No. I doubt anyone could get this tin can back in working order.."
"I could give it a go." Freddy responds kindly, though I can tell he's more interested in dismantling and admiring it's parts rather than actually getting it working again.
"Nah. Even if it did start working again, there isn't much I could do with it. I could record a message, I guess, but I can do that on my current phone too."
"Perhaps you could use it as an audio-journal."
"I doubt it." Hate to crush your dreams, Fredboy, but I guarantee you that this thing is significantly less interesting than you'd expect. "Messages were a newer thing back when this was made. I'm almost positive it wouldn't let you save a message unless you sent it to someone, and I doubt you'd be able to hear the message again after you sent it."
"You were talking about that damn phone like it was the best thing you'd ever find a whole twenty seconds ago." Roxy inputs, continuing to sift through her part of the pile. "Do you want to get rid of it or not?"
I stare down at the device a little bit more.
"..I'll keep it until I get bored of looking at it, I guess.. Still have a couple fond memories of this thing."
"Do you want Freddy to repair it?"
"It'd be neat to see it in working order, but this thing looks beyond fixing.."
"That's all you had to say. Now shut up and help me."
"Fine." I take the hint and shove the phone off to the side, returning to sorting the pile. "Since when were you in a rush?"
"I'm not. This pile just sucks."
"Worse than it did ten minutes ago?"
"Y'know what- yes, actually. It was more tolerable when there wasn't shit all over the room."
"Mm.. I guess three adult-sized bodies hurdling into a pile of papers did do a number on the organization we had going on."
"Thanks, by the way."
"That was not my fault- You saw the whole thing, Trudge sent me flying."
Roxy just continues to work, cleaning up nearby litter around her.
...
"Fine, 'sorry'. We got it all organized again though, so it shouldn't take much longer with all of us working." I attempt to reassure her, digging my own hands into the pile.
"Unless one of you morons decide to leap head-first into the fricken' pile again.."
"We didn't leap, we fell."
"Trudge leaped."
"Fine, Trudge leaped, but he didn't mean to fly into the papers."
"Well he did, and it cost me twenty minutes of cleaning up his mess."
"Startin' to sound grumpy, wolf."
"I'm not.."
Said like a true 4 year old.
"Look. No one's gonna jump in the pile anymore, I swear, so we're almost done."
"You don't know that."
"I'd bet you literally anything. We didn't even do it on purpose the first time."
"It's not up to you whether or not someone messes up the pile again. I'm not gonna 'hold it up to you' if it's not in your control, dumbass."
"If someone jumps in the pile, I'll give you $400. Not even kidding."
"What the fuck am I supposed to do with money here? Buy 400 Nachos?"
"What do you want then? Give me literally anything, it's not gonna happen."
"What happens if people don't mess up the pile? Do I have to give you anything?"
"Nope. Entirely one sided."
"You do whatever I want for one night, I get to choose which night, and I get to keep your laptop if you fail."
"Deal."
Roxy drops her arms and rolls her eyes with enough force to move a planet.
"I was kidding- No fuckin' way did you just say deal to that, dipshit."
"It's not gonna happen."
"What if it did, huh? You're just gonna give me your laptop because someone jumped in a pile?"
"Doesn't matter, ain't gonna happen."
"How much did that thing cost you? I bet it was more than $400."
"Myep."
"And you're willing to give that up because you didn't think anyone here was stupid enough to do what Trudge just did?"
"Firstly, I'd have to fail the first part, and I'm pretty damn good at games like that. Secondly, it doesn't matter, because no one's gonna jump in that pile."
"How? How do you know?" Rox quips impatiently, putting down what she's holding to turn and face me, crossing her arms.
"Because no one wants to jump in the pile anymore."
"Trudge didn't want to the first time."
"He might've, but after doing it anyway, I know for sure he's gonna avoid it if at all possible."
"What if it isn't Trudge?"
"Chica's the same way, and Freddy doesn't want to jump in a pile of paper." I turn to start digging at the mound again.
"Someone could trip, that's all it'd have to be. Cooper could come back in here at any moment, drunk as balls, and slip into the pile."
"I'm pretty sure we'll be done by the time Coop comes back. Plus he said Arin's making him be useful, so I doubt he'd let Coop drink."
"Arin clearly doesn't have any influence over what Cooper does."
"I'm holding my claim. No one in here wants to jump in the pile, and Cooper is busy somewhere else."
"You're an idiot. Don't take bad deals."
"That wasn't a bad deal. It's one I'm guaranteed to win."
"You have nothing to gain and everything to lose."
"To witness your defeated face, that is my only desire." I recite slowly, like a horrible poet.
"Die."
"No."
...
"What if I fuck up the pile?"
"No, that doesn't count."
"It does, you already said 'deal'."
"It was insinuated. You can't- Rox!"
"The first thing I'll make you do is buy more fricken' clothes. These ones suck to wash every night."
"Don't touch the damn-, we're almost done!"
"Fuck you. You're mine."
"I am not counting it if you knock the pile around yoursel-!"
I've lunged to grab Roxy, and Roxy's lunged to mess up the pile.
However, as if the universe itself is taunting me, neither of us make it to our destinations, and the last thing I'm able to see is a mysteriously Monty-sized green blur falling straight down from the heavens at mach seventy-thousand, turning what used to be an unusually large pile of papers into a colorful explosion of biblical proportions.
Fuck.