"Begin recording: Sensory Experiments, Dr. Stein speaking."

This voice became Chris's bane, for it was what he always heard when brought into the experimental chamber. He prayed that once he gets discovered, the endless cycle of the night will end, and he will be free, as free as he could be in this form. But he never got an opportunity to see the sun…All he got was a denigration to a weaker body. This torture device was much like Fredbear. He could barely control it, only occasionally moving his arms or legs when his emotions were especially strong, but it wasn't enough. He was still powerless and unable to move most of the time, instead forced to sit in weakness and watch as the pesky scientists used him for their needs. But this wasn't the worst yet.

Chris couldn't talk. The device had no voice dynamic, and he was doomed to silence. It was humiliating, especially in moments like those, when he was confined to a small gray room with a merciless scientist overseeing him while he was in chains.

"Today, we will be testing how the subject is responding to stimuli. Currently, he is in the beginning stage of merging, but I am eager to ensure the process goes as quickly as possible this time. The first exemplar will include a voice module which was created to resemble the voice of the test subject's mother. Let's see how it holds…I am deactivating the restraints on the torture device."

Stein pressed a button, and Chris felt his chains letting go. Now, if he tries hard enough, he could get control of the animatronic and make a step…Maybe a few steps. He began getting used to how it worked. Suddenly, a soothing voice rang out from beyond the nearby wall.

"Chris…Is it you? Thank god, I was afraid I would lose you…Where are we? How is Will? Mike, Elizabeth? Are they okay?" Her voice sounded so pained and broken even though Chris knew it was fake. He couldn't resist the urges of his soul, one of the strongest being the desire for comfort.

Chris's mind was too weak to resist, as his soul yearned for her. He knew that it was foolish, it was exactly the same mistake that he made in the nightmarish scape of his mind, and yet the allure was absolutely undeniable…He would want to feel warmth, want to forever forget about ever suffering and dying, forget the hatred he felt towards Dad and Mike, pretends like this is just another dream, and they are all a very happy family. Just a small step, one more step, just a little…

"Yes, yes, he moves, good!"

Chris ignored Stein's excited voice; he was entirely focused on the manifestation of Clara. Like an infant learning to walk for the first time, trying to reach for his mother, that smiled as she saw her dear child walk for the first time. It was worth it…No, it was not. Chris felt his mind breaking its chains and snapping him back to the grim reality. He was just playing into Stein's hands. Those steps were exactly the result he wanted. Just like falling on his back and crying was the result Mike wanted, just like his shyness, reclusiveness, and social awkwardness were the result bullies wanted. Enough was enough.

Chris halted and made the skeletal animatronic descend on his knees. He won't make a move.

"Oh, he stopped? Strange, he was going so well…Well, another round, then."

"Chris, why aren't you coming? Help me, please…"

She wasn't his mother, she wasn't his mother…He had to fight those temptations and make all those monsters choke when they realized that they would never get what they wanted. He remained steady.

"Hm, he isn't reacting to the stimuli any longer; that's peculiar…If that won't harness a result, I'll move onto the second phase, administering a controlled shock."

He pressed another button and immediately made Chris feel the agony piercing his body. Electricity scorched him, wounding and paining him. Chris clenched his head, he couldn't let out any sound, but the pain made him squash his head in a futile attempt to somehow alleviate the hurt. Eventually, it became too much; the pain became a motivator for Chris, and his rage grew…He imagined breaking the glass and ripping Stein's head away from his flailing body as he looked into his terrified eyes and made him squeal.

Before Chris realized anything, he ran towards the glass. Not only did his legs move swifter than before, he was able to seize control of his hands and hit the glass a few times as he watched Stein smiling. Of course, there was no effect, it was too dense to break or even damage, but Chris tried nonetheless. Once again, did he feel this burning desire…A desire to weep with eyes that could not shed a single tear, to shout with a mouth that was unable to make a sound.

"Amazing…Those results are absolutely, absolutely amazing."

He was in the truest definition of hell.

…

Mike was immensely grateful that Lynda allowed him to stay and talk about her investigation. She would've never done so if she believed he wasn't worthy of trust at all. However, he didn't show excessive gratefulness just yet so as to not seem pathetic; Mike wasn't planning on groveling or showing his weakness. It was a deal, no more, no less, Lynda may have had her doubts for now, but Mike was certain that once she heard him out, she would have no question as to why they needed each other.

Lynda didn't hurry too much; she allowed Mike to have dinner on her table. He did so in silence as she waited for when he would be ready to discuss pressing issues.

At least the important business was enough to distract him from constant thoughts about Chris and this eerie feeling that he was still watching as some kind of ghost passed his judgment upon Mike…Somehow, a part of Mike always expected to see Chris every time he turned back. It looked paranoid, yet he couldn't shake his presence off ever since fully realizing the grievous nature of his crime.

Eventually, when Mike was ready, he and Lynda sat at the table. The woman looked at him with intrigue and anticipation.

"So? What do you know about Fazbear Inc?"

"Not gonna tell me what you know first?" Mike chuckled. "Might tell me which parts I should focus on."

"You came in here saying you know stuff, so it's on you."

"Oh well…It's a story that I heard from my sister, Elizabeth, and Chris told her."

"Continue."

"It seems my brother knew something about Lily and her death."

"Death?"

"Yeah…Apparently, he saw the Kitty animatronic claw her inside."

"Did you believe him?" Lynda wondered.

"Well, no," Mike said with regret.

"Seriously?!"

"I didn't make a connection between all the stories and stained reputations of Fazbear Inc…"

"So that's what I was bound to find…Do you believe it now?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright…Know anything else?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Enough to get me interested, I suppose."

"Chris also said that after Lily got captured…He saw father check on her or her corpse. He was behind this." He said with clenched teeth as if his father could fall even lower in Mike's eyes.

"I knew it!" Lynda exclaimed with pride and confidence. "He would always evade my questions and try to pretend like everything was alright, but I knew…Sorry, Mike, I shouldn't get so excited. I suspected him for a while, but it must have been a shock to you."

I'm still wrapping my head around it, I admit…" Mike stuttered. "They are getting children for something…I don't know what."

"I knew that." Lynda sighed with sadness. "From the moment that place opened, children started missing, usually homeless or from orphanages. And then everyone just forgets about them and pretends like they never existed, no one cares about those cases, as if someone is making sure everyone stays silent."

"Fazbear Inc is a big company, and that Alison guy must be rich."

"He is. And has some sworn enemies, as well." Lynda said.

"Like who?"

"I did more than just walk around restaurants during my investigation. I guess you should know it too. Have you heard of Lockjaw?"

"Lockjaw…Is that the monster in the night? Some creepy guy that some people claim to have seen?" Mike wondered. He heard about Lockjaw legends but never paid much attention to them."

"Lockjaw is real, and I saw people who work for him," Lynda said sternly and with emerging sadness in her voice.

"There are people that work for a monster?"

"He is not as monstrous as you might think. He isn't human, but he is as intelligent as the rest of us, and he has his own vendetta against Alison and Fazbear Inc, which he is ushering from the shadows."

"That's awfully specific…"

"I didn't believe it at first, but then I met a man who knew all of this and was in direct contact with Lockjaw, or so he claimed…He said that he lost someone dear to him to Fazbear Inc. Said his name was Henry, but not anything more."

"Hm…" Mike had a sudden thought. "Father told me about one Henry from his college, Henry Emily. A talented engineer said the two of them were rivals."

"Mike, you're not telling me that there are so few Henrys in this town that…"

"Wait, I didn't finish. One of the four children that went missing in 1985 was his son." This was clearly new information to Lynda as she stayed silent for a moment as her eyes fell to the floor.

"That…Explains a lot."

"Doesn't sound so wild now, does it?"

"Henry Emily, I'll have to remember it. That's the next lead I'll look into. As for Lockjaw…I have reasons to believe that he is…"

"Why so nervous?" Mike picked up on her uncertainty.

"Because it will sound ridiculous, but I still believe it. Believe that he is…Well, Gron."

"Uncle Gron?!" Mike let out in shock, remembering the days when Gron was still alive and a close friend of the Afton family. His bond with Mike was especially strong, he often helped William and Clara with babysitting, and Mike always found the eccentric jester funny and endearing. "But how?"

"He disappeared two years ago, and no one found him, as good of a guess as any."

"So…Are you saying he somehow morphed into a monster or just masquerading or…"

"I don't know yet." Lynda sighed. "What I do know is that he gave Henry orders to look out for a woman that explicitly looks like me. To keep me alive and maybe even say something about 'Lockjaw's' plan.

"Do the descriptions the witnesses gave a sound like Gron?"

"No, not really…If anything, they're more like animatronic, as are the paintings I saw."

"A rogue animatronic plotting revenge…" Mike chuckled, only now realizing how deep this rabbit hole went. "Well, I guess that's what I came here for, right? I can't go back home, especially when my dad is a fucking murderer in some way…"

"Is Elizabeth still with him?"

"Yeah, but I trust him not to hurt her…He's not that kind of man." Mike sighed, realizing that a few days ago, he would've said the same thing about someone claiming William to be a murderer. But he saw how much love and care he treated Liz. If that wasn't genuine, Mike wasn't sure if there was anything in this world worth believing.

"We can lay low if that's so. You didn't tell him where you're going?"

"No, of course not."

"Good…That means he won't be on our tails."

"Is that an agreement to let me help you?" Mike said with faint hope emerging in his voice.

"It is exactly that." Lynda nodded. "You single-handedly saved my research from potentially becoming a dead end, and you're a talented guy; I'll need you."

"Thanks, Lynda…I will do all I can to help you."

"That's all I ask for…Partner."

…

As always, William's only way to distract himself from a family falling apart was work, work, and more work. He still tried to maintain the delusion that he was doing it for his children and their safety. Maybe Mike was a little safer now that he had left him, though William had no doubt that Alison would keep him in sight if he ever needed William's complete obedience.

Today his shift was at Circus Baby Pizza World. The four Funtime animatronics would have to go into maintenance mode soon. It was a regular procedure where the restaurant closed for one weekend, and the animatronics would be taken down to the facility to replace their Viridium shards with newer ones, 'untainted' by souls of previously captured children. Then they would get taken to William's bunker, where he would run any necessary technical repairs and prepare them for a few more months of operation.

However, this time seeing the four robots sing and dance hardly helped William distract himself. He thought he was able to distance himself from the suffering of those children who fell victim to them and become indifferent, but after Chris's own painful death, all those feelings were reignited. He empathized with the suffering of his son, and the deaths of those children were no better. The methods differed slightly, but there was no difference; death inside an unforgiving machine was always horrific, no matter what.

And when William thought of Chris, he would inevitably end up thinking about Mike. Not with hatred this time, but a faint hope that he will not get himself into something dangerous, especially anything that has to do with Fazbear Inc. Trying to go against them, especially alone, was suicide, but it was something Mike might do in his youthful recklessness…He would have to look for him and soon.

"Mr. Afton!" A familiar voice distracted William, making him turn around and look behind him. A short man with dark hair and glasses was quick to approach. He wasn't wearing a white coat this time, but he was still easily recognizable.

"Dr. Stein…I don't think you ever told me your name." William greeted him without particular joy.

"It doesn't matter; just call me Doc. It would be easier for everyone."

"And why did you 'grace' this place with your visit?" William said in a tone of dry sarcasm. This wasn't Alison, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with any of his close advisors, either.

"Mostly to conduct an assessment on Viridium shards within Funtime animatronics after you've done your job. I won't distract you at all, have no worry."

"A separate Viridium assessment?" William raised an eyebrow. "Alison did not mention anything like that.

"He didn't?" At first, Stein's voice sounded surprised, but then he shook his head as if trying to deny his own feelings. "Ah, he is always secretive, even with me. Anyway, he requested that I run some additional analysis due to the new properties of Viridium that I've discovered earlier."

"Like what?"

"Hm…" Stein paused. "If Alison didn't warn you, I am not sure if I am qualified to tell."

"Not like I will try betraying him again after what Alison did last time," William said, pretending not to show any anger. "You're a scientist who specializes in this; surely you would like to share this knowledge with others."

"True…Well, fine, I'll tell you the basics of it." Stein sighed. "Better than waiting for a damn week until Alison gets his spare minute." He said, disgruntled. "So, you already know how Viridium shards can 'pin down' souls and hold them inside, correct?"

"Yes, I've seen more than enough of that." William nodded.

"There is more to it than that, as I've found. Viridium doesn't just serve as an anchor of souls but as a transformer!"

"What do you mean by that?" William's thoughts ranged from thinking of basic chemical functions and mechanical processes to a popular cartoon with the same name, nothing related to souls, though.

"They seem to change the structure of souls as well as their capabilities. How to explain…" Stein paused. "If a person dies without any connection to Viridium, their soul immediately moves on into what we presume to be an afterlife, but after it connects to Viridium…It can stay."

"Aren't you walking in circles with this explanation?"

"What? No, of course not! What I am saying is that usually, souls don't have any connection to the physical world once they leave their bodies, but it's different when it comes to Viridium. It allows souls to linger for some time even after they separate from those particular shards, making them like ghosts, essentially…They can move around freely. They can morph into other Viridium-infused objects." William finally began to understand what Stein meant; Viridium's influence was permanent and unchanging.

"What if they get trapped in something like a single block of Viridium?"

"We thought that this meant complete detachment from the physical world at; first, Alison said there were some ancient souls in the pillars they found in Japan, but apparently, even those had some influence upon those nearby. Researchers reported strange hallucinations and feelings of fear and pressure, no one made the connection before, but now it seems like the only plausible explanation…"

"Those souls were affecting them directly, perhaps trying to make them leave their land. Any soul can do that if they've been transformed like this; their emotions, especially strong ones, become material in a sense…They can destroy their surroundings if they are too angry, for example, or to take some object under their control…Honestly, there is so much to explore! I am grateful that Alison allowed me to spearhead the research…" Stein paused, noticing distress on William's face. "Oh, but of course, you would see it quite differently…Apologies. I'm getting into specifics. I don't want this to become a lecture, so we both better return to our tasks." Stein gave a smile and was about to leave, but William was still suspicious. If there were new discoveries within the realm of Viridium, this also meant that they were conducting new experiments, perhaps of an even more gruesome nature.

"And you know all of that…How?"

"Well…" Dr. Stein slowed down. "For now, it's all just theory, a scientific theory. But it's a very plausible one, to say the least. And whatever there is to be discovered, I look forward to unveiling the truth."

William could say the same. He will find out the dark truth, one way or another.