A few years ago
Everything around him was crumbling.
The Empire his parents, built, the connections and bonds they all 5forged, the resources, allies, reputation…Everything Alison believed to be at his disposal only a few years ago, all of this grew more distant. Every wound, every accident, every closed restaurant, every destroyed animatronic felt like a devastating blow. At first, he believed he could sustain it, that he could make a criminal Empire superior to his father's, and that he could defeat the illness that plagued his family for generations. But he was wrong.
Lockjaw exposed Alison's weakness and arrogance. His infiltration cost him a lot of good guards and Dr. Stein, one of the key figures in their ongoing research. But more importantly, it cost Alison dignity. Lockjaw made him crawl, beg, and scream in fear as his entire body was drenched in blood; he caused Alison to have nightmares and visions every time he closed his eyes. Wherever he was alone in the darkness, he felt that Lockjaw was watching him from the darkness. He talked sometimes, though his words were very limited.
"Tick-tock…Tick-tock."
The countdown to the day illness would kill Alison. It was already showing his wounds took a very long time to heal, and permanent scars left on his body made it hard to move, even with the cane. Alison was just past his prime, yet he already felt like an old, dribbling man who could die any day. He became an epitome of weakness, and he couldn't hide it anymore. He didn't wish to show himself in public, yet he had to when his business partners came to Hurricane for another meeting. Usually, Alison looked forward to them; they were a perfect way to celebrate and show off his progress to others, but this time, it was different. Nothing to show but failure.
They were behind the door…And Alison was still confined to his wheelchair. He could've entered and showed himself at any moment, yet to let them see him in this state would be pathetic…He had to endure more than his share of humiliation to allow his supposed allies and friends to partake in it.
He needed to stand up. Alison clenched his teeth and grabbed his cane, slowly forcing himself to get up. It was painful, agonizing even. He felt his legs shake as the scars were consumed by pain. They could be torn apart and open old wounds at any moment. The doctors warned him about that, yet Alison didn't care. This wasn't the first risk he was willing to take, and it wouldn't be the last. He could do it, just a few more steps. As Alison approached the door, he felt a pain in his leg, as if someone was slowly cutting it with a knife.
"Aargh…" He moaned quietly, barely holding himself back from falling on his knees. He couldn't delay this any longer; it was time to face them. Alison took a deep breath and opened the door. They were already in their places, sitting and waiting for his report. He could see the disgust in their eyes; those bastards must have already thought about overthrowing him. As he tried to hide his own disdain, Alison moved to his designated seat.
"Welcome, Mr. Bairren…" A young woman by the name of Angela said without a shred of enthusiasm. She only recently took control of her part of the Empire after he father died of disease. At first, she was very supportive of Alison, but even she must have doubted him by this point. All Alison had to do was to play along.
"Greetings, ladies, and gentlemen; thank you all for coming…" He took a deep breath and attempted to make himself look as dignified as possible, looking over the room with his only remaining eye. "There is much we need to discuss. As you know, the company and research are going through…Turbulent times. We will get it back on track, of course, but we will need to work together to make effective strides. I'm sure you all understand."
"Turbulent times, eh? "Jason, one of the oldest people at the table, sounded incredibly disgruntled. "A nice way to sugarcoat it. Every single restaurant you promised to sustain closed down! Most of the animatronics are broken and in complete shambles."
"Rest assured, I'll compensate…"
"Oh, I've heard that before." Jason undercut him without showing a shade of respect. "Just like you promised us that New Harmony business will 'compensate' us, do you want me to remind you how that ended?"
There is no need for bickering." Alison said sternly. "Yes, we have lost much and more, but we can learn from those mistakes and restore it, just like our predecessors did…"
"I wouldn't be so sure." Thomas, another man, spoke up. "With all due respect, our financial losses are greater than at any point in the history of our business chain. We are on the verge of bankruptcy."
"Hear that?" Jason said as his voice got even more confrontational. "Imagine if your father saw this…"
"Do not mention him!" Alison suddenly shouted and overexerted himself, which made his shout devolve into a pained wheeze and made his hands shake. All his attempts to look dignified were shattered at once. He thought he couldn't look more pathetic, yet the thought of Edward sitting among them, saying that he was right all along and his son was never fit to be his heir…Perhaps he did. Now that Alison knew souls existed, so must have the afterlife. His father was watching him, no doubt, gloating at his every single mistake.
"Or what? Going to throw a tantrum?" Jason chuckled.
"Please, don't do it." Angela tried to calm him down. "We are all trying to make it better, so how about we don't make it worse?"
"I… I'm sorry." Alison took a deep breath. "She's right, we…We must work together to make the best of it. I know it may look dire, but I ask you to give me one last chance. Just two years or so, and I…I will bring back our stability. I will have more resources and workers, I will…I will get it back on track."
"Excuses, excuses, excuses." Jason shook his head. "If you knew anything about business, you'd understand that only an idiot would trust someone who repeatedly failed. Your father did not fail." Jason continued to taunt him, making Alison clench his fist in anger, desperately trying to hold back his fury and rage. "Ever since you took over, we've been becoming more unstable, losing far more than we were gaining. And now we've reached a point where this partnership no longer holds any value to us… It's meaningless. And I'm not the only one who thinks this way."
" What…What do you mean?" Alison said cautiously.
"We discussed the prospects between ourselves and made a unanimous decision," Jason said sternly, as Alison saw Thomas nod confidently and Angela look down in shame. He was right; they had been plotting behind his back all along, not even afraid to hide it any longer!
"Yes, that's true," Thomas said. "We decided to withdraw our financial support for the time being."
"How…" Alison looked at Angela. "Even you?!"
"I'm sorry…I need to take care of my father's legacy, and relying on you isn't safe or secure any longer. We will resume our partnership when you will actually show us that your words mean business." She was the most sympathetic of the group, yet even so, Alison felt the cold sight of disappointment on her face.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Jason said bitterly. "As you see, we know the cost of a true, beneficial partnership. You said you can surpass your father…I will be honest, I don't believe you can. But I'll gladly admit I was wrong if you prove it."
"You…After all my family, after all I have done for you, this is how you repay? By stabbing me in the back!? You promised to aid me, to support our Empire, to…"
"We promised to support a partner, not pamper a delusional man-child."
"You…I will prove that you're wrong! You will regret ever doubting me." Alison could barely hold himself from shouting. "When I rise, no one would even remember Father and his minuscule achievements; they will pale before me! And you will be the first to know!"
"I hope so…" Jason sighed. "And now sit down, Alison. We have to discuss a withdrawal process."
Once again, he felt powerless as his remaining network abandoned him all in one go. Even they lost hope in him. He wasn't even a shadow of his father at this point…He was a freak, a failure unworthy of being Bairren's family heir. 'Delusional man-child'…He could've killed them here and now, made them pay for those stinging words of betrayal. Instead, he just sat down like an obedient dog, unable to think of anything but the cycle of shame he found himself in. There was only one way to defeat his weakness: to stop his world from completely crumbling.
He needed to kill his illness. He needed a cure.
…
And there was the only place where Alison had even the smallest chance to discover a cure, Japan. The country of RADSLA's origin and now the graveyard of Alei Gilbert's dreams. There is no cure for any terminal disease, no key to immortality, just remnants and nothing more. Alison believed that this was the past he long put to rest, but he was wrong. The past now caught up with him, as his own body crumbled and succumbed to illness while people who once venerated his father pushed him away like some kind of parasite. A failure.
As Alison traveled to Japan, a part of him hoped that he could take a break. A break from all the judgment and mockery, a break from living in the shadow of his own deteriorating facility and seeing one twisted torture suit come out of the mother machine after another. But he was wrong in even pretending this was possible. The corruption ran too deep. It made Alison's every living moment an agonizing fight against impending death. If he stopped this fight even for a second, Alison feared that he would never get up.
And so his desperate search for traces of salvation began. Alison would take anything, even the most incomplete, dangerous formula that he could find in Alei's vaults. Alison knew much about RADSLA; he knew where to look for answers. Contacting his envoys in Japan, scouring countless archives, finding the few surviving members of RADSLA initiative and interrogating them…Alison even returned to the place where the clinic once stood, the place that he torched to the ground. Now, all traces of it were exterminated, with a shopping mall towering at the place. The country forgot Alei's noble mission as life returned to the graveyard. Life for others, but not Alison. For him, this was a dead end, just like the rest. Eventually, Alison was confronted with two dreadful realities.
One was that there was nothing he could find in Japan to slow down the corrosion, much less actually cure him. The other being that there already was a solution, as radical as it was…And there was never any need to travel far to find it.
…
"Come in, my friends, come in!"
As Alison watched Thomas, Angela, and Jason walk through the doors of the Fazbear Inc. building in Hurricane, he finally found the strength to smile. Once he decided on his course of action, he finally felt powerful, even while still crumbling from the disease. It took time for him to realize that there would be no simple, no painless way out of this ordeal. He just needed time to prepare and break this cycle himself. His past might have been destroyed by Takaliken, Afton, and their likes, but this didn't mean that he was without a future. In fact, he was almost ready to open the door to a new age.
But first, he needed to destroy the remnants of his shameful past. To prove that his former partners were wrong.
"You look chipper today…" Jason said with suspicion as Alison led them to the upper floor, leaning on his cane to help him walk.
"That's because I finally did what you thought I couldn't. I have resources, money, and workers that will lead us to another age. A new age." Alison said with pride, barely holding back a joyous smile that was about to appear on his face.
"I knew you'd come around." Angela smiled. "We all have our moments of shame. Dad had plenty despite all of his success."
"Shouldn't have doubted me in the first place," Alison responded snappily without looking back.
"So, where are you leading us?" Thomas wondered. "You want to show us your new possessions?"
"Sort of…Well, exactly that, actually. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Mr. Lord."
Eventually, the four of them reached an elevator, usually restricted for anyone except Alison and his inner circle, but today was an exception. Alison activated the elevator and welcomed his 'friends' inside. He could see reluctance on their faces, but they still came inside. Then, the descent followed.
"Oh, if only I could say how excited I am for it…" Alison giggled as the other three stood in silence. "For our renewed partnership, of course." He said before giggling again.
"Do you keep your new findings at the facility?" Thomas asked. "Speaking of, it's been a while since you allowed anyone inside…I hope you put the place to good use. You had it built on our money."
"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Lord, I have kept everything in line with the highest possible standard…" Alison chuckled once again and tried to hide his smile. "You won't be disappointed."
"Mr. Bairren, are you alright?" Angela asked with some concern. "You seem a little...More emotional than usual." Alison could hear that she was a little unsettled. "Do you need any help, perhaps? Those last days have been tiring for all of us." Help. Now, she dared to speak of help after abandoning him in this broken, disgraced state.
"Oh, I got all the help I need…"
"Enough of this talk." Jason interrupted. "We came here to see your new offerings and resources, so don't waste our time."
"Don't worry, we're nearly…Ah, we're here." Alison announced as the elevator finally reached the underground and opened its doors. They found themselves in a small, dimly lit room inside the facility with a number of gateways to multiple halls. "Welcome, my honored guests. Have a seat at the table."
"Have a seat…What?" Jason crossed his arms. "Come on, show us the way to the main rooms."
"No need. I already brought you where I needed you." Alison smiled and pointed at one of the walls. There was three animatronics lying there, three grotesque and demonic creatures that Alison had his remaining engineers create using advanced springlock technology. Two rabbits, one larger and colored dirty yellow, and a smaller black one with red eyes. The third was a wolf-like animatronic with dark brown colors. "Take a look."
"More animatronics?" Thomas wondered.
"These look a bit too creepy for kids, don't you think?" Angela shook her head.
"And that's all you've got to show us?!" Jason said with rage. "Three fucking animatronics?"
"It's not so much animatronics themselves, it's what they represent…Tell me, colleagues, if you have watched 'Freddy and Friends'? You know, the show that gave us so much money in the first place? Those three characters were a team, just like Freddy and his band…They were villains who opposed the main characters. Every story needs its villains, doesn't it? Especially this yellow rabbit here." He pointed at the biggest one. "They called her the beast because of how ruthless she was. Tried to bully others and squander their potential. Downright terrifying…She was also very arrogant, and even though kind heroes tried to warn her about the youth fountain and the damage it could do to her, she did not listen and decided she knew better. Do you know how her story ended?"
"She died," Thomas said.
"Exactly! And do you know why she died, Mr. Lord? Because she deserved it. Just like you." He saw the horror emerging in their eyes, but by this point, it was too late. Alison took a remote controller and pressed a button, which locked down the elevator.
"What is the meaning of this? Are you fucking insane!?" Jason said before taking out his firearm and pointing it at Alison.
"Oh, I wouldn't recommend doing that…I found means to control the animatronics of this facility. A microchip directly connected to my brain. If I die, they will lose control and kill everyone in here."
"What do you want from us?!"
After those words, another gate opened, and three more animatronics walked in. Those were replicas of the main trio. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, but once again, they were the latest designs. It was filled with sharp metal parts and inspired by the drawings Chris Afton made in the pizzeria after his nightmares. Sharp teeth, bloodthirsty eyes, dirty colors, razor claws. They quickly encircled the trio as Freddy grabbed Jason's hand.
"What the…Let me go!" He tried to resist, but the animatronic tore the gun away and tossed it to the wall, leaving the trio completely defenseless.
"You know what's funny…I lied about the microchip." Alison chuckled. "That one's still in development. But you bought it, didn't you? If any brilliant mind can create such an invention, it is mine!" A sardonic grin emerged on Alison's face as he looked over his victims. They cowered in a circle that the animatronics created; there was nowhere to run.
"You…You are insane!" Jason shouted, trying to hold back the fear in his voice. "Let us go, now!"
"I don't think I will."
"Mr. Bairren, please!" Angela begged as a few tears fell down her eyes, but Alison ignored her.
"You gave me an ultimatum, and I considered it…I came to the conclusion that I don't need you anymore. My father's work, this crumbling criminal Empire, all of this business…This is all temporary, and it doesn't matter. I am more than happy to let it all burn."
"How could you?!" Angela continued.
"Whatever father wanted for me is meaningless…He was right in that we are different men with different goals and methods. He achieved his goal, and I will achieve mine, too. I will become immortal." He said with confidence and pride. "And I'll even let you bear witness to it…But that is all you are good for. Be grateful. I'm not discarding you entirely; I'm just giving you a place at the table."
He gave another command via remote controllers as the animatronics turned towards the trio.
"No…Please…" Thomas cowered and begged as tears fell down his eyes; Bonnie was the one to grab him and carry him towards the suit.
"You fucker… You'll pay for this!" Jason screamed and attempted to run towards Alison, but Torture Freddy grabbed him tightly. "Let me go, you fucker, LET ME GO!"
The animatronic had to drag him away on the floor as he desperately resisted while Chica grabbed Angela.
"Please…I told them they should've been more understanding to you; I…" She begged one last time, but Alison shook his head.
"Don't lie to me! You agreed with them. You were just too afraid to tell it to my face! Now, you shared their end." Alison said with spite as Chica carried the sobbing woman to the animatronics. In a few moments, all of them were confined in the torture suits. Jason in Buster, Thomas in Saber, and Angela in the Beast.
"Be proud, my friends! You will become the hearts of my favorite creations so far! In children's cartoons, they were just 'bullies' and 'pirates,' but I decided to give them a more fitting name. The Slaughter Crew…"
"Please, let us go!" Thomas begged as tears streamed down his eyes. "I promise I'll give you everything, all the money, and support; I swear on my life!"
"Just your life? It's very cheap when we know that death is only a beginning! "Alison said before finally activating the three suits. "Now, relish in the joy of creation, and enjoy freedom from all your burdens! You are mine now, and we will share the same glorious future!" A myriad of crushed bones and organs at the same time.
Alison relished in their screams.
…
It wasn't long before the facility grew…Quiet. There weren't many people Alison allowed to see his secrets, only a couple of crucial engineers, but even those were displaced, one after another. It became a very quiet, barren place, as was to be expected during the transition period. Alison began his project of reformation and redecoration to change this place to fit the new era he envisioned. This wasn't a simple facility anymore. It was an extension of Alison. All of his hopes, dreams, and aspirations were now confined to this place; they were the symbol of this future. The walls allowed Alison to feel some calm as he was on the verge of surrendering to pure despair. And around him, countless mechanical servants possessed by the souls of those who either served him faithfully or attempted to defy him at some point. A flawless, obedient family, each will play a role in creating a new body for him, an android indistinguishable from a human, the one that can persist forever. But it would take time.
The time Alison didn't have. If he didn't do something immediately, he would die long before he got a chance at rebirth. After all this desperate search for a cure, after burning bridges, there was only one person left to talk to. Alison descended into one of the deepest, most well-guarded sections of the facility, the one that could rival the conveyor chamber. He was ready to face his nightmare once again.
The rotting nightmare that slumbered in his chains, locked away for years now, yet still clinging on to the shreds of his sanity, fueled by hatred and vengeance.
"Mr. Takaliken… It's time to wake up." Alison said sternly as he pressed the button that administered a controlled shock. After letting out a pained shout, Lockjaw finally awakened.
"You again?" He said without a shred of fear or concern at all, instead allowing his voice to brim with spite.
"Always the charmer…"
"Always a little cockroach that I will soon crush." His voice was cold and spiteful, enough to send shivers down Alison's spine, and this horrified him. Even though Lockjaw was chained and couldn't do anything to harm him, his unbound rage was still enough to make Alison want to look away and cower. Worst of all, he definitely felt this fear and enjoyed it.
"I need to ask you something, Mr. Takaliken, and if you will answer, you can go back to your dreams." Alison attempted to sound commanding, but his voice simply had no power left for that.
"After all that went on between us…You come for me to advice, looking more pathetic than ever? "It's been rare that Lockjaw showed emotions other than pure rage, and it was one of those cases. This time, it was genuine joy at Alison's suffering.
"No need for spitting bile; it won't help you break free."
"As if I care. You will not let me free…But you will not destroy me, either. Because you want me to see you win, don't you? You want to rub it in my face, even if this means I get the joy of seeing you become this withered…Thing. I'll gladly take this offer!" There was no point in negotiating with him; Lockjaw would not budge, one way or another.
"Out of all people I subjected to torment and experiments, out of all souls that I tried to fuse with the animatronics…" Alison's lips quivered. "Over all these years, no one came closer to perfection than you, a man who didn't even try to ascend."
"Getting jealous?"
"I suppose…All I want to ask is 'how'?" Alison finally let it out. "How was it possible…Why did you succeed where I failed? It defies all logic and reason. It makes no fucking sense! I calculated our every single move, and you just wanted to off yourself! This isn't right; it is nonsense! There must be an underlying reason. There must be! "He felt his rage steer up again, and he was barely able to hold it back. Of course, Lockjaw would notice it and take utmost pleasure in it, too…
"Do you think there is some secret technique that I used when trying to kill myself? You're even crazier than I thought." Lockjaw said dismissively. "All I can say is…I felt agonizing pain. I thought I was ready for it, ready to have those metal parts crush my bones, pierce my lungs, push my eyes out, ready to drown in my own blood. But I was wrong; no one can be ready for that, not really…After the pain hit, I couldn't think of anything at all. I was getting crushed from all sides, drowning and unable to move. You must be disappointed you never installed a camera in that room; otherwise, you could've seen it all yourself…But there were moments of clarity."
"Clarity?"
"Yes…The seconds when I felt like I understood something, could think of something but the pain. And do you know what my thoughts were? They were about how unjust this is…How agonizing it is that I will forever become a maniac who died a gruesome death and will not be remembered, while you, a mass murderer, will continue to walk free and get all the respect you want! I hated you, hated Will, hated myself for making all those stupid mistakes…And most of all, I wanted to live. I wanted to come back from the dead and strike back at you. To tear you apart and bring you to the most painful justice you deserved…This was the only thought that stopped me from breaking completely and gave me the will to live!" He said with confidence and spite.
"Is this it? All those years, and you say…That it was a simple will to live?" Alison tried to keep calm, but he could already feel his fists clenching. To think that all of his work was for nothing…It was suffocating, agonizing, pathetic.
"Perhaps your calculations aren't worth shit, Alison." Gron chuckled. "Ever thought about that? Maybe all there is to it is a genuine desire to live. Maybe it makes viridium stronger…And looking at you, I'd say that you don't have this will. You aren't strong enough. Do you know what this means? It means I won. You will die alone and forgotten, and there's nothing you can do about it…Ha…Ha…Ha-ha-ha!" Lockjaw let out a surge of maniacal laughter, unable to hide his satisfaction. Alison had never felt so small and powerless before, yet for some reason, this allowed him to think of something different. Something much older, wounds that Alison was never able to heal. This was a challenge, a dare, a mockery of the man Lockjaw saw as powerless. It was to Alison to disprove him.
"No, Gron." He said coldly. "I haven't lost. You simply underestimate what I'm ready to sacrifice for immortality. I am ready to give absolutely everything…And I will. God knows I will."
"Then prove it."
For the first time, Alison was grateful to Lockjaw. There was no need to hesitate or delay the moment. It was time to do what he had to.
…
He made his decision, and everything was prepared. Alison came down to a remote room, one of the storage places that had been isolated from the rest of the facility. The kind of place where no one would hear anyone's screams. It was just him and the golden suit before him, abandoned and forgotten ever since accidentally taking a child's life, hidden beneath the surface and away from the light.
Now, Fredbear could serve him again. The last of the original animatronics that was still intact and void of a soul ever since Chris left it. He will be Alison's key to rebirth through pain, fire, and suffering. This was the fate of all martyrs, after all, and who was Alison if not a martyr? A man who failed to defeat his illness yet defeated death itself. Discovered the secret no one else could ever dream of immortality itself. He could not leave this wondrous event without an audience, either. All the torture animatronics he created were watching from behind the glass. Silent servants would be his first sight after awakening. The most loyal and faithful of them all.
"It's been a while, my friend…" Alison gently touched Fredbear's head to feel the animatronic carcass. His new body. "Now you will shine again, as will I." He took a deep breath and grabbed the crank, finally unveiling the suit in its entirety. An open springlock suit, his new vessel, and source of strength. Alison got inside slowly, putting his legs and arms into the positions. It was hard to equip himself in a suit without any outside help, but he knew enough about those suits to make it. It wasn't long before he was fully engrossed in this suit. It was the first time Alison ever got into it and looked at the world through the animatronic's eyes. It was a limited, restricted, and dark place…And he was entirely confined to it. Like a performer on stage watching the eyes of dozens of excited children, only this time, those were his own creations. Everything was ready; all that was left was to release the crank.
Why did he still hesitate?
Couldn't help but chuckle as he reflexively shivered. His mind desperately looked for excuses to not consign himself to rebirth just yet. Perhaps there were some business partners he still needed to communicate with personally, some engineers whose work he needed to supervise…Perhaps it was still too early? No, it couldn't be that…That he was still afraid of pain? After all, he's been through, to think that something banal like this would even slow him down was insane and delusional…It simply couldn't be true. He wasn't this weak, he wasn't that cowardly, he wasn't…
Alison could see their faces before him and hear the echoes of their voices. His parents, William Gron, and all his business partners abandoned him. They did not hold back as they ruthlessly mocked him, combining their words into a chaotic whirlwind out of which Alison could only make out one recurring word.
Coward.
The stinging blade in his back.
Coward.
The shame that he deserved yet would never accept.
Coward.
A single inaction that proved all of them right.
Coward.
A fear that made Alison shake, letting out stains of sweat, a few of which reached the old and rusty springlocks.
Coward.
It all began with the locks that pierced Alison's skin, causing countless blood stains to emerge over his aching body.
"AAARGH!" The man screamed for a moment before nothing was there to hold the other parts back. They plunged his limbs and shattered his bones, immediately making Alison cripple far more powerless than he ever was. He fell on his knees as blood began to come out in buckets, forming a puddle of blood around him. "H…Hel…AAARGHA!" Once more, the parts tore his body, this time taking his neck and stomach. The tortured animatronics stood outside, watching without motion and waiting for their master to arise from beyond. It was too late to call for help or think of anything at all, not when Alison's brain was torn apart by the metal parts. When his lungs and neck got crushed, he couldn't let out a single sound any longer. Every part of his body was dead. It would just take a few moments for the soul to follow. He attempted to reach out, but it was too late. All that could keep him going was the subconscious desire for revenge and immortality…A desire to never see Hell's depths.
Today, Alison Bairren died, only to be reborn.