No matter how hard William worked to ensure his children's safety, all he did only made them feel worse. This birthday was no exception, and William was consumed by utter shame soon after explaining it to Chris. The boy didn't talk to him ever since; they couldn't have a productive conversation without William confessing the truth to him, which he couldn't do.

And so, all that was left for him to do was more work, specifically preparation for the coming birthday. William arrived at Fredbear's to run all the necessary procedures. Once again, did he have to listen to the endless songs of the golden duo and watch their mechanical, unnatural movements. They lured the children, making sure everything was up to their standards and that this place was representative of their purest dreams, only to eventually prey on them and make it into their nightmare.

Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were the last springlock suits that remained operational, and every time William would set his eyes upon one of them, he would always think of Gron. The screams he let out as the metal skeleton pierced his body, the agony which William desperately tried to stop yet couldn't do it. Ever since then, he despised coming back to this place, yet would always find himself almost entranced by the ephemeral presence of those animatronics. It was so strange, knowing what lay underneath, how much pain and suffering now festered due to its operation. The land itself was poisoned, and it was getting worse; every second William spent watching the animatronics perform, it was growing worse. He felt as if they were watching him, all of them must have had some sort of cameras…Even the slithering Vigo would roam the restaurant freely.

"Mr. Afton!" A jolly voice echoed behind William, forcing the man to once again feel the chilly shiver going down his spine. He turned around to see Alison parading amidst the restaurant's halls, making his way toward his slave. "How wonderful it is to see you today. I trust you came here to see how the birthday preparations are going?"

"You could say that," William responded with unabashed disappointment. "You didn't leave me much choice, so I might as well oversee that it doesn't become a bloody mess."

"Still feeling anger over it? How disappointing, Mr. Afton; I thought we left that behind."

"Do you truly believe that I am simply 'leaving it all behind'? All you've done and still doing to my family…"

"I hope you do. For your own sake." Alison said sternly. "That said, I only care for the occasion itself, not its intricate details. I will invite some guests; we will make sure that this party is a wonderful day for all of them."

"None of this is what Chris wants."

"And what does he want?" Alison wondered. "To stay in the corner and cry in solitude along with the plushies? He can do that all he wants; I'm sure our guests would not care."

"As long as no one forces him to play with the animatronics."

"No, none of my men will do that, I promise."

"As if your word means anything." William crossed his hands.

"How rude of you. Unlike you, Mr. Afton, I held onto my part of the contract." There was nothing William could say to refute him. Alison operated under a very twisted sense of logic which was void of morals and cared for others, only a desire to uncover the secrets of immortality. "But come now, let's not linger for any longer. I wanted to discuss the plans for our new openings…After all, the children yearn for new faces to appear. Roxy, Vanny…Even Monty has quite a lot of fans. All of which is to say, you will have much to work on and soon!"

And so, the cycle continued.

…

Just when Chris felt that it was finally getting better and that he could control some of his fears, his own father forced him into a dreadful reality in which Chris got no say. His birthday, the day that was supposed to be his happiest, was now undercut by having to spend it in that dreadful place of Fredbear's. A place where he would once love to go with his family despite all the scary animatronics, a place where Elizabeth had her own birthday party and had a lot of fun during it.

But he could never have any fun there again. Chris knew it. Even the image of his beloved Fredbear was forever tarnished…Spending time with Lizzy almost made him stop repeating Lily's death in his mind, but having Dad demand him spend his birthday party at Fredbear's immediately re-awakened all of his deepest memories about this horror. Chris didn't want to sleep or even stay alone in fear that his thoughts would be too focused on Lily, but there was no one he could talk to but his sister, a person he didn't want to burden even though he had no choice. When Elizabeth came home, Chris sought her out to play a little. She was more than happy, of course, not letting Chris feel ashamed even for a single moment. And so it was; the boy hoped that he would be able to cheer up, but all throughout the game, he remained sour while thinking about his 'happy day.'

"You were a wonderful guest, Chrissy! "Elizabeth exclaimed as she held on to her plushie of Circus Baby, making her playfully wave a hand at her brother. They just finished a role play of a tea party with Chris being Baby's most welcome guest to whom she gave ice cream and tea. They also played dress-up together with other dolls, but Chris remained dreamy and distracted despite Lizzy's attempts to involve him. "And what did you think? You like my place?"

"Yeah, it's nice." The boy responded calmly and without much enthusiasm, which wasn't left unnoticed by the girl with strawberry blonde hair.

"Chris…Are you sure you're alright?" She reached out to him, dropping her Circus Baby act. "You seem really tired and…I don't know, kinda scared." She waited for a response, but Chris remained silent. He didn't want to lie anymore, but telling the truth would be too difficult.

"Yeah, it's just…" He could barely form words, forcing himself to look down at Elizabeth's blanket.

"Maybe my games are a bit too girly?" Lizzy chuckled. "We could run around if you want to."

"No, no… It's fine. I like playing with girls more."

"Really? I didn't hear any boys saying it before."

"Playing with boys is like playing with Mike… It's too rough for me."

"Then why are you so sad?"

"It's about my birthday." Chris sighed. "Dad says I have to have my party at Fredbear's…"

"It's great that you're having a party! We'll have…" Lizzy was excited but immediately stopped after realizing the problem. "Oh, it's the animatronics…Maybe you should tell Dad to go to another place?"

"He won't allow me! Says the company needs to have more parties… That's just stupid. He doesn't care about me."

"Don't say that! He cares about all of us." Lizzy said defensively.

"No, he doesn't!" Chris shouted as the memories of a metal claw sprang back to his mind. "He…He…" He felt tears falling down from his eyes, a crybaby once again, the one who cowers knew fear and shame.

"Chris…" Lizzy crawled towards him slowly, putting her hand on his. Chris looked up and saw that her eyes grew teary, too. "Please, tell me…I really, really want to help; I hate seeing you like this. I…I just don't want you to be alone!" She was begging for it, putting Chris in an unfortunate situation, but perhaps this push was exactly what he needed at this moment.

"It's… It's really bad."

"Then you shouldn't think about it alone!" Elizabeth spoke up. "We can deal with this together, I know! Daddy always said we should stand up for each other like you did with that bully."

"Alright…" Chris took a deep breath and wiped his tears after a quiet sniff. "Can you promise me that you'll believe me?"

"Of course." She was determined to get the answer, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. Perhaps now, when no one could distract them, was the best time.

"Alright… It's about Lily."

"That poor girl who went missing?"

"Yes, but…She didn't." Chris braced himself, trying not to collapse into tears.

"What do you mean?"

"Lily and I went to Circus Babies with Dad…He looked after us with other workers and showed us the animatronics…" Chris thought about her smile, her hopeful and gleaming eyes as she saw beloved characters, and how all of this was ripped from her the moment that claw emerged from Kitty's stomach. "He promised to show her her favorite, Kitty Fazcat…Away from other children."

"He always says that we shouldn't play with animatronics alone." Elizabeth pondered, immediately catching onto the thread of the story.

"He didn't say it to her…He waited until I got distracted and took her to see Kitty. I don't think I was supposed to be there…Dad tried to make sure that she was alone, but I sneaked in so we could see Kitty together. I hid away, and she went close, and then, then…" Chris began to cry once again; his lips quivered as he was unable to let out those words.

"W…What happened?" His sister sounded worried due to the endless suspense; he couldn't keep her waiting any longer.

"The claw!" Chris let out. "A big metal claw came out of Kitty and just…Just took Lily inside!"

"What?!"

"And then, and then…I couldn't do anything and hid; I saw Dad…" Chris looked away in shame.

"Daddy didn't help her?"

"He checked Kitty and looked inside, and then…He just left. And then he just…Pretended like it never happened! Like it was just another day, and Lily just went missing." Chris felt the rage in his heart emerge due to this grievous injustice. Why would he do this? Why would he kill her?

"But that…" Lizzy spoke quietly, likely still processing this story. "Daddy wouldn't do something like this; he's a good person!" She protested in disbelief as Chris refused to look up. As he expected, he made another attempt to open up, and once again, he was met with disbelief just because Lizzy loved their dad far too much to ever see any flaws in him. "He wouldn't do it, never, never, never! Never…" Elizabeth grew quieter with every moment.

"I can draw it for you…" Chris said in a final attempt to convince her there was some paper and pencils on the table. The boy rushed over and picked the tools up, trying to put down a hasty sketch. It was painful to remember; the more he thought about the claw, the more it looked like a slithering serpent that plunged its fangs into the flesh of its victims. The demonic feline robot with a grey scooping machine emerged from her stomach, all while Lily couldn't even understand what was going on.

"But daddy didn't want any of us playing with it and…Mr. Bairren told me to stay away from the animatronics." Lizzy pondered quietly as she looked to the floor; Chris could hear the faint echoes of realization in her voice. "If they have claws, this means…Oh my god…" Elizabeth pulled her hair with shaking hands as her eyes were in a constant running state.

"That's why he didn't want us to play with them." Chris put his drawing on the bed. "Him and Mr. Bairren…They want children to die, just not us."

"B…But…" Elizabeth sniffed. "Why?! Why would Daddy do this!" She didn't deny him any longer, and Chris did not know how to feel about it. Now her image of a loving father was forever tarnished, and there was no going back from this.

"I don't know… I'm sorry." Chris said, unsure if he had anything to apologize for. "I know you love Dad and don't think he would've done this, but I promise it is true…I swear. "He looked down in tears, preparing to hear about how he imagined things once again; maybe Elizabeth would even force him out of her room.

"It's… It's okay. I believe you." Lizzy spoke and immediately made Chris's heart pound out of his chest.

"R…Really?" He couldn't believe it.

"I…I don't think Daddy would do something as bad as this ever." Lizzy shook her head. "But I also know you wouldn't lie to me."

"Mike didn't believe me."

"I understand why, but…I promised, right?" The girl let out a faint and slightly awkward smile. "Maybe we can ask Daddy about this?"

"No!" Chris reflexively spoke up. "I…Pretended I didn't see anything when Mike told him. I don't want him to know, or…"

"I'm sure he wouldn't harm us."

"Did you think he would harm anyone else?" Chris wondered. "I didn't, either, and now it's all so strange…"

"It really is…." Elizabeth sighed. Both of them found themselves amidst a puzzle they couldn't yet solve. "But I believe you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Lizzy held his hand, and Chris could feel himself slowly relaxing. "We will figure something out, I know." There was no confidence in her voice whatsoever, but at least she tried to feign genuine hope.

"Thank you…" Chris's lips quivered as he finally looked into her green eyes. "Talking about this to Mike, it…It made me feel like I was going crazy and…"

"You're not crazy, don't say it! "Lizzy spoke up, not realizing how much those words meant to Chris at that moment.

"I know, it's just…Ah, it doesn't matter." Chris forced a smile out of himself. Finally, he didn't feel the ever-present dread. His sister was here, listening to him and offering as much comfort as she possibly could…Reminding him of what he saw on that day and that he didn't imagine it out of nowhere, there was no reason to believe it just because there was no explanation. Chris hugged Elizabeth once again; she always allowed for it.

Perhaps together…They will truly figure something out.

…

"Dad, can you show me what you've made today? I want to see it!"

A voice of an excited young boy echoed in Henry's mind as if it was yesterday, causing him to shake and clutch his heart at the footsteps to the abandoned warehouse. Those were the most painful moments out of them all; no matter how resilient Henry grew with time and how much focus he put into his new mission, sometimes those memories would strike again. They made him feel utterly powerless as if he could fall on his knees and have his tears overwhelm him at any coming moment. Oh, Liam, oh his sweet Liam…The boy he spent so much time caring for and protecting. After his mother left them, Henry and Liam shared their sorrow with each other, and this was what allowed them to persist and live as happily as possible.

All until Liam went missing two years ago, never to be found. He liked visiting the restaurant by the name of "Fredbear's family diner" along with his close friends. They were never found; no one knew if they were alive or dead, and police investigation led nowhere. Some gave up, but not Henry. His grief only drove him to action, to continue his investigation and to discover what happened to his son. Henry would not let his tears be for naught.

Eventually, this investigation led him toward darkness. He learned that Fazbear Inc had a lot of influence over the city and that his former acquaintance from the university, William Afton was a part of this company, a "rising star," as some called him. But this company had many dark secrets, and the darkest of them bore the name of Lockjaw. The creature that lurked Hurricane during the night and sought to hunt down everyone associated with the corporation. Many didn't believe its existence; Henry didn't either. People couldn't define whether this was a human or an animatronic, and this thought sounded absolutely absurd to Henry. At least at first…Eventually, he found him.

A being for which there was no logical explanation, a hybrid of man and machine, disgustIng with his rotten flesh, dried yellow color, and withered eyes, yet so alluring in his own way. When Henry is at Lockjaw's mercy for the first time, he believes this to be the end for him, but Lockjaw allows him to tell his story before revealing Henry. It was then that they knew that their paths were one. Lockjaw told of his knowledge of the underground facility with monstrous, inhumane experiments performed every day, a place where they have taken Liam and the other children under the command of a monstrous man by the name of Alison Bairren. He was the one that took Liam and many other people, including children, to their untimely demise. He wept on that very day, for he knew that his own beloved son was no more.

Now Henry Emily had nothing but his burning desire for vengeance left in his heart, and Lockjaw had much the same. This was how they became allies in this terrifying game, which they remain to this day, and tried to discover a way to end Fazbear Inc. It was a slow process, but it was worth it.

Most of the time, they worked separately, yet now Henry walked to one of Lockjaw's shadowy lairs to report directly; this one was near an old factory that was barely sustained; Lockjaw was nothing but a distant legend here. It was time to discuss his encounter with the woman he spoke of earlier, someone who was vital to his plan. When Henry followed the secret path to the lair, he finally saw his faint eyes emerge in the shadows.

"Henry…" His broken voice pierced his ears, causing the man to look away. It wasn't the first time, yet it was never easy to look upon something so deformed and broken. "You've returned."

"Yes, and I have something to tell you. I think you'll like it." Henry took a deep breath, wondering if Lockjaw still had any capacity to 'like' something, being the creature of death that he was.

"Then do not hesitate, as I have something to tell you, too," Lockjaw spoke calmly. "Can we count on any new agents joining our ranks, perhaps?"

"You could say that."

"Who?"

"Remember the time you described me as a woman?" Those words immediately caused the animatronic to raise his eyes once again. "The one that I should look out for."

"What about her?!" He jumped up with eagerness that could hardly be attributed to a corpse; Henry recoiled at the sight. "Did you see her? Did she come searching?"

"I guess you expected it…"

"I did not expect it; I knew it."

"She came to the criminal alley to search for you. To meet with you and 'get her answers,' as she would say." Henry explained as he witnessed Lockjaw listening extremely attentively; he could barely see the demonic robot be this mesmerized by a tale. "I found her there and took her away from prying eyes to have a little talk."

"I see…What did you tell her?" Lockjaw wondered.

"Only the basics about our cause said that if you wish, you will find her yourself."

"That I will." Lockjaw nodded.

"I let her go soon after; luckily, it didn't come to any violence."

"Did she ask anything else of importance?"

"Well, there was one question…" Henry sighed. "She asked if you were Gron Takaliken."

"Hah…" Lockjaw chuckled.

"She also said her husband has been missing for two years and that she desperately tried to find him."

"And her name?"

"Lynda."

"Of course…" Lockjaw sat down again, finally allowing himself to relax a little, or at least it looked like it.

"Sorry for the personal question, but…Is it true? Are you her husband? Or perhaps I should say 'were'?"

"Remember our agreement." Lockjaw scoffed. "I am not here to tell you of my past; all that matters is that I can help you avenge Liam…"

"Oh, I remember." Henry crossed his arms. "I also remember that you promised not to manipulate me with tales about my son. I know what we're here to do."

"Then we understand each other," Lockjaw concluded. "Lynda is a matter I will solve myself. Your responsibility is something else…Something I wished to talk about."

"A new plan?"

"Yes, the one that might just work, though it will take time. I will need to know what happens inside Fazbear Inc and get access to the underground facility and Alison…And for this, I will need an agent there."

"You want me to infiltrate their company?" Henry said in disbelief.

"From the bottom to the top," Lockjaw confirmed. "Alison is eager to recruit new employees, mostly as night guards or junior engineers, and eventually, some of them learn the truth and enter his inner circle, even if at a cost."

"This won't work." Henry shook his head. "William will recognize me; we knew each other in university."

"Appearance is temporary; you can change it."

"Do you want me to do plastic surgery or what?"

"Whatever is necessary."

"And then become a slave to Fazbear Inc all for a chance to give you access to our enemies…Sounds quite one-sided."

"Don't play those games with me, Emily." The monster shook his head. "You told me that your life without your son is broken, that you're nothing but a shell of your former self, and you would do everything to avenge him!" Henry looked down as he heard those words, for he knew that Lockjaw spoke the truth. The animatronic stood up, his shadow consuming Henry. "You are free to leave at any point if you want, but where will you go? What will you do? Continue inventing and live knowing that you live in a town poisoned by your son's murderers?!" He raised his hand and put it dangerously close to Henry as if he was about to grab the engineer's neck. "Answer me!"

"No…I will not." Henry sighed in defeat.

"Good." Lockjaw rose up. "Then listen well, Henry. We must leave them no chance."