Henry will remember his first night for years; there was no doubt about that.
He expected something to happen, something suspicious that would grant him more hints about Fazbear Inc.'s dark actions and their involvement in heinous crimes. That's what he hoped for, in fact. But to have to fend off animatronics wandering right into Henry's unprotected office through both halls, and the vent was on overkill. He didn't know what they would do if they saw him and definitely didn't want to test it out. Their eyes, usually lifeless, had a murderous glint shining in them on that night, especially the Fox. The mask helped, and it was left there for a reason; Alison and William must have known that something like this would happen. They knew that the animatronics could roam freely at night and even tried to hint at it without telling Henry directly.
This was a matter that Henry should've brought to Lockjaw. Soon after finishing his shift, the night guard headed for the hideout, hoping that Lockjaw would still be there. The animatronic told Henry to report after his first night. He was insistent on knowing the engineer's every step. As Henry walked through the abandoned hall, he realized that he'd been through this so many times that he no longer felt anything. No fear, no unease, no crippling sense of being watched, no poisonous distrust towards his chaotic benefactor…Only a sense of duty.
"Done already?" Henry heard the hoarse, unnatural voice coming from the shadows. It was followed by metallic steps and Lockjaw's silhouette emerging from the darkness. Henry noticed that his movements were different, almost too natural for his carcass. He strode like a human, which was a far cry from the irregular motion Henry had to observe the first time they met.
"Yes…Not going to congratulate me on my first successful shift?" Henry said with a sarcastic tone, noticing Lockjaw's unimpressed stare upon him.
"I want to know about anything you see there, anything even slightly out of the ordinary. That place is riddled with secrets that are begging to get out no matter how hard those degenerates try to contain them…" Lockjaw said with purest disdain.
"Judging by what I've seen tonight, they aren't trying very hard." Henry chuckled nervously, carefully bringing their discussion to the matter at hand.
"You found something?"
"More like they found me," Henry said as the image of a ravenous pirate flashed before his eyes, making him reflexively shiver. "The animatronics moved."
"Freely?"
"Yes, like they owned the place! Left the stage, walked in the halls, one of them even crawled in the vents." Henry felt cathartic being able to rant about his experiences at someone, even if it was another machine, no different from those he fended off.
"Those were the main four, correct? Freddy, Bonnie…" Lockjaw asked with curiosity.
"Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. Don't think I saw Freddy do anything, but the three was more than enough."
"How…Intriguing." Lockjaw's voice grew quieter, doubtful, even.
"And William knew about this. He left a mask for me, which I could put on when they get too close, and even hinted that I might have to use it. It all seems like a sick, twisted game he wanted me to play…"
"William has his reservations, but he will do anything he needs to protect his daughter and…Hm, it's been a while since I heard anything about Mike."
"More importantly, why are they even moving in the first place." Henry crossed his arms. "I didn't allow any of them to come close, but if I will risk getting killed every night…You know, that doesn't sound productive."
"You know what you agreed to," Lockjaw said coldly. "Do you think they're hostile?"
"That depends. Did they try to reach the office directly?"
"Eh…Foxy definitely did."
"Then yes, you won't be safe with them around. If William warned you, he must be aware of it, too. I wonder if this is just a matter of their programming or something…More?" Lockjaw seemed rather invested, but he avoided giving clear answers or even direct thoughts. Henry rarely saw him waver in confidence; this made moments like those stand out the most.
"You tell me." Henry directed the question back at him, hoping to force some clarity out of Lockjaw. "You're pretty much one of them."
"I am more than just an animatronic…The body inside of the carcass is dead, but my essence still persists. I suppose you could call it a soul." A revelation that would've shocked Henry a few years ago became nothing more than another step towards discerning the answer. He knew that souls and the supernatural existed the moment he saw Lockjaw.
"So, is it possible that those four are possessed, too? Maybe they have bodies inside them, or had at one point…"
"That's incredibly unlikely." Lockjaw scoffed, denying the assertion with the invigorated eagerness of a commanding predator. "All of their victims get taken underground into the facility; they wouldn't leave performing animatronics possessed."
"But what if they are?" Henry couldn't let go of his suspicion. "What if they've been underground and know more about what Alison's cronies do there?"
"Don't waste your time pursuing pointless leads," Lockjaw said sharply. "Instead, focus on earning their trust and search for the truth. Made it so that they allow you to descend into the depths, be it because they genuinely believe you are loyal or by accident, like…Like I once did. Then, you will see it all for yourself and realize that there was never any reason to doubt my words."
"Yes, alright…Just like we agreed." Henry sighed.
"Then return there next night. I will await more news and prepare for our finest hour."
…
There were times when William dreaded every time he had to talk to Alison. Every time, he had to listen to his boss's furious ranting, to watch him enjoy toying with William and his sanity, knowing that there was nothing he could do, no way he could object or defy this humiliation. To listen to him give William cruel tasks of killing children and bringing more souls into the fold of the facility was exhausting and outright infuriating.
But now, William changed his disposition towards Alison, and he wasn't quite sure why. Was it because he was so used to this routine that there was simply nothing to fear? Or perhaps seeing a vulnerable, more fearful side to Bairren made him less terrifying to behold. After business began to fall apart, Alison desperately clung to every opportunity to salvage what remained. First, Fredbear's had to be closed after Chris died, and then Circus Baby's met its technical end after Funtime animatronics got destroyed. Only Freddy's remained, and Alison would do everything in his power to keep it. William couldn't allow himself to laugh at him in the open, but there was genuinely something highly ironic about this. The criminal empire he builds begins to fall apart right before Alison's eyes…And William will have to be there to see it.
When he walked into Alison's office within the facility, William saw a shocking and rather peculiar image, all of which started with his quiet voice.
"Can you see how far we have gone, Mom?" He slowly walked across the room, gazing at his hand. He must have held something in its palm. "All thanks to you…To the blessing you gave to us. Each machine, every establishment…" He raised his hand, still unable to see William; his focus was somewhere else. After taking a closer look, the engineer noticed a photo Alison held with a few people with phantom smiles on their faces. "And now I am losing one after another…Tell me, Mother, is this your revenge? Is that your attempt to punish me for 'my sins'? You had the opportunity of a lifetime to do what you said you always wanted to do…To ensure that I have a glorious future, a glorious life! You wanted this, you dedicated your life to the family, and now…Now you turn your back on me? You…"
"Alison?" William couldn't wait any longer and decided to prompt him. The businessman immediately shook and turned around towards his employee. He did it incredibly swiftly, overtaken by an uncontrollable rush which.
"Aargh!" Alison let out a pained shout as William heard his body creak. His boss lost balance almost immediately, falling to the floor right on his knees. He looked down to the floor with shaking hands and the photograph of a family falling to the floor before him.
"You have quite the timing, Mr…Argh!" Alison coughed and wheezed, unable to finish talking. From this angle, he looked absolutely pathetic. William could've rushed to his aid and helped Alison get up, but he didn't, leaving the businessman to pick himself up, leaning onto his crutch.
"You seem like you could use a visit to the doctor." William made a crude remark.
"Oh, doctors…They will not help my condition." Bairren chuckled as he stood up. "My body is ailing, I don't have much time left…I will be bound to a wheelchair in a few years, and in a few more, I'll be gone…" And the world would be better for it. "I only people like you and Dr. Stein to rely on, the most loyal…And perhaps mother dearest." He said with rising spite. "You heard my little monologue over there, didn't you?"
"I wouldn't call it little…"
"I never told you about what happened to Mother, didn't I? Ah, poor Helena…" Alison said with a pained and slightly maniacal voice, the one that sent shivers down Will's spine.
"I'm not here to listen to your stories, not when we have Henry to discuss." He said sternly.
"Oh, there will be time for that, Mr. Afton. Alas, I need to speak of it to someone…I do rarely get the opportunity."
"Don't play the pity game with me. My children had a mother, too…You killed her without any mercy. What happened in your family doesn't concern me." He was sick of those manipulations, instead choosing to stand his ground. Alison needed William's expertise when dealing with Henry; he was no longer an expendable pawn.
"What happens in the family does concern you because you're a part of it now. A part of Fazbear Family."
"There is no Fazbear Family. Calling it a slave camp suits it better." William scoffed.
"No respect for family at all…My mother wouldn't approve. She was the glue that held our family together; every time Father and I would argue and fight, she tried to act as a peacemaker. She wasn't raised among the criminals; her father fell in for her as naturally as anyone does. We both loved her deeply…" Alison said with pained nostalgia in his voice. "She sought to support me as a leader of our business once father succumbed to the disease. I was naive enough to believe her at the time."
"She betrayed you?"
"You could say that, even if not intentionally. I wanted to transform our business, to make it into the company that you see today, to abandon my father's idiotic rules and restrictions in favor of reaching a glorious future, becoming more than we ever dreamed to be. But she…She wasn't ready to let the past die. She thought of her beloved Edward, always reminding me how 'he wouldn't approve,' how I 'betrayed the intent of last will.'" His nostalgia quickly turned to rage.
"She might have wanted a future which both of you would want."
"That's impossible!" Alison retorted with disgust. "Our visions were too different for that, and she couldn't see it due to her own foolishness! Father was dead, and I was alive…But she still chose him, even when she promised to always stay by my side and support me." Alison clenched his fist. "So, I decided to force her to prove that her words are genuine." This sounded malicious, and William wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that Alison hurt his own mother.
"Did you kill her?"
"I gave her a new life. Her soul was the first one I truly harvested in this facility."
"Beginning your path of madness with a matricide…Says a lot when I am not even surprised." William said with distaste.
"You saw the machine that creates new torture suits for our cause; allowing it to remain purely mechanics would've been a waste. That's why I imbued it with Mother's soul. Her love for our family is the dedication that keeps it going…She is confused and scared, yet she never stops. She became the beating heart of this family's future, just like she wanted." He said without an ounce of remorse, only a cold statement.
"Not only did you kill her, but you also rewarded her kindness by making her fuel for your machines…"
"All with good reason, Mr. Afton, all with good reason. Thank you. I feel a bit better having spoken about it and all…"
"How 'delightful'. Can we get to Henry now?"
"Yes, it's about time. How was his first night?"
"He didn't run away at the sight of moving animatronics."
"A dedicated worker, isn't he?"
"No, just someone who's very eager to get in." William crossed his arms. "I left him an animatronic mask to test another theorem on whether it would grant him safety from others…"
"And?" Alison asked with anticipation.
"It worked well with Bonnie and Chica but not so much with Foxy. He was the most aggressive of the bunch, and Henry had to fend him off with a flashlight."
"Interesting…" Alison pondered. "This is something for Dr. Stein to consider. Meanwhile, I conducted a more extensive background search on our mysterious Jeremy…"
"Found anything noteworthy?"
"Indeed!" Alison excited. "The results were quite eye-opening, if I may. It confirmed your suspicions, Mr. Afton; you'd be glad to hear that you have me sold on your theory about Henry Emily."
"Didn't even take a year."
"Your sarcasm is inappropriate." Alison shook his head. "You would not take claims like those for granted, would you? I found traces of a man who hit his description as having a connection to Hurricane's criminal underworld and not the organized kind. Regular visits, information gathering…There was another man who did the exact same just before Jeremy came into the picture. His description matches with that of Henry Emily…Who now disappeared under mysterious circumstances." It was a perfect match; Henry hoped he could sneak into their company undetected, but as Alison claimed before, he had many eyes and ears in places no one would ever expect. "And all the sparse contacts he made during this time all point to one shared detail. Lockjaw."
"I see…" William wasn't sure whether Henry worked independently with his vendetta against Fazbear Inc, but now he knew the truth. Gron was behind him, pulling strings from the shadows. Hardly surprising, they both had a good reason for sharing this purpose.
"This idiot will bring us to Lockjaw if only we do everything right…"
"How would you say we should proceed, then?"
"We use this against Henry and Lockjaw. You see, Mr. Afton…Nothing will be more powerful than the truth. And in this matter, the truth is on our side."