A/N: All right, everyone, I think it's time we wrapped up Special Delivery now. Mike's tenure as the head of the Special Delivery project is about to come to an end. The project might continue without him, but he's done all he can to ensure that the animatronics coming out of Fazbear Entertainment factories are safe and uncorrupted by Glitchtrap's influence.

I'm thinking about cross-posting this fic with AAOx3, which is where I write all of my other fics (including a Persona 5 fic I'm working on right now). I think it would be a good idea to have a backup website to upload this fic just in case things go to shit and my account gets deleted or something, but let me know what you guys think.

Guest: I'm not sure I agree with that theory, although I can't deny the possibility either.

Jack0Lanterns: Mike Schmidt pisses off Fazbear Entertainment personally and they're obviously suspicious of him, but they don't have anything to attack him with from a practical perspective. Actually, not only do they technically have no valid reason to go after him or suspect him, but as far as they know, Mike has been nothing but actively helpful to Fazbear Entertainment. It's only because of Mike Schmidt that they were able to get the VR game out in a timely manner thanks to Nightmare's help, and he also saved their reputation from completely going into the shithole by publicly becoming the head of the Special Delivery project. As far as Fazbear Entertainment are aware, Mike Schmidt has been far more of an asset to Fazbear Entertainment than a liability, albeit a particularly irritating one (obviously they don't know about things like Mike's ghost kids stirring up flame wars). Not only that, if they did go after Mike Schmidt, he would be able toretaliate in the most brutal way possible by painting Fazbear Entertainment as ungrateful backstabbers. This would be an extreme PR disaster that really would kill what's left of Fazbear Entertainment's reputation, something that they absolutely cannot afford. And all of this isn't even considering what Nightmare would do to them afterwards if he ever found out…

And on that pleasant thought, on with the chapter!

Chapter 181 – A Limited Victory, Part 2

"Hey guys!" Cassidy called to everyone. "Dad is on TV!"

Her brothers and sisters immediately abandoned everything they were doing to rush over to the living room, where the former Golden Freddy inhabitant's eyes were fixated on the TV. Sure enough, Mike was on the TV, sitting across an interviewer in a news studio just like he had back when he had first declared that he would be taking on the position as head of the Special Delivery project.

"Mr. Schmidt," the interviewer was talking to him, "good to see you back here after so many months. The last time you had joined us, you had volunteered to take on the position as head of Fazbear Entertainment's Special Delivery project. A position that you had taken without any payment, if I remember correctly."

"That's right," Mike confirmed with a genial smile on his lips. "I wanted to make it clear to everyone who saw me take the position that I was doing it out of principle to ensure that the animatronics would be safe for the public to use. I couldn't care less about the money."

"Well, you certainly made a good first impression right from the start. We've seen the published reports about how you handled a crisis on your very first day of work. Would you mind telling us more about what happened?"

"Indeed I can," Mike graciously answered. "The saboteur who had infiltrated the factory ordered 20 to 25 animatronics to attack the workforce, having already hacked them before I arrived. With proper coordination, teamwork, and the right tools to fight back, we were able to neutralize and dismantle every single animatronic that attacked us with no casualties. Afterwards, I reorganized the priorities of the factory and its workforce, stopping all production, and we thoroughly investigated the programming chips of every single animatronic that had already been created. The saboteur had managed to get their hands on a disturbingly high number of animatronics, but the malicious programming was removed, destroyed, and replaced with untainted programming."

"It sounds like you and your employees have been quite busy," the interviewer remarked.

"You've got that right, and that wasn't the only thing we were doing," Mike smoothly answered back. "I've completely overhauled the security system in the factory, which previously…well, let's just say that there were some significant weaknesses that needed to be patched up. Things like a whole new security camera system, a dedicated night team armed with stun guns to take down any intruders, more frequent usage of locked doors that were themselves improved. Even the very act of wrapping the completed animatronics in cardboard boxes and wrapping paper would make it practically impossible for an intruder to hack them without being spotted by the night team, or without the tampering being made blatantly obvious."

"I'm glad to hear that you've made such extensive changes to dramatically improve the security of the factory, and I'm sure that Fazbear Entertainment's prospective customers will be equally pleased to hear this news," the interviewer praised. "That being said, were you able to actually catch the saboteur?"

Mike sighed. "Unfortunately, no," he replied with regret clear in his voice. "Once it was clear I was completely overhauling the security and the development of the animatronics to thoroughly prevent another episode like the ones that happened to me or to the factory at large on the first day, the saboteur proceeded to lay low and stopped any and all attempts to maliciously program any further animatronics. I did consider the possibility that the saboteur might attempt to assault or subvert other workers, which was why I was accompanied by 2 bodyguards at all times during my tenure as head of the Special Delivery factory and why I arranged the employees in teams of 4 as a "buddy system" to minimize the chances of suspicious or concerning activity. My strategies proved to be unquestionably successful in maintain the security and integrity of the animatronics, as not a single major incident was reported or noted by the employees. But that success came with a price, as the saboteur remains at large at this time. Though I must emphasize once again that with the extensive security overhaul and protocols in place, it is all but impossible for them to get their hands on any of the animatronics we've made without getting caught in the act or making the tampering very obvious." He chuckled. "Judging from the lack of incidents, it seems the mystery saboteur is aware of it too."

"Well, there are many who would like to thank you for your service, Mr. Schmidt," the interviewer replied with a smile. "Fazbear Entertainment's reputation has certainly been rocky over the past couple of years, but there have been several posts online by prospective customers who have been much more receptive to the idea of buying an animatronic either for their families or their collections thanks to your leadership."

"I'm pleased to see here that people have so much confidence in me," Mike remarked gratefully, "and I'm sure Fazbear Entertainment will be pleased to hear it too. That being said, the real reason why I've come here is, once again, to ensure the safety and well-being of our customers who buy one of our new animatronics."

"What do you mean by that?" the interviewer asked curiously.

Mike chuckled. "Well, the first thing I want to emphasize is that the animatronics, while certainly much, much safer than they were previously, are not idiotproof and you shouldn't be doing things that violate basic common sense around them. The animatronics are not going to be attacking anyone thanks to our extensive testing, but you shouldn't be doing stupid things around them and endangering yourselves pointlessly. If you shove your head into an animatronic's mouth, or allow your kids to do something like that, then any injury that occurs afterwards is not the fault of the animatronic. It's the same basic principle as a fork or a pen. Both of these are basic tools that are part of our daily lives, nobody is going to argue that they're inherently dangerous weapons that need to be banned from daily life, but you can still severely injure yourselves or someone else with them if you use them in a stupid way."

"An animatronic is very different from a fork or a pen, but I can't argue with your logic," the interviewer acknowledged. "Was there anything else that you wanted to share with us?"

"Just this final warning and plea to anyone who buys an animatronic, speaking as the head of Special Delivery," Mike replied solemnly. "We have extensively tested the animatronics to ensure that they are free of malicious programming. We have also extensively tested them to make sure that there aren't any other glitches or faults that have nothing to do with our mystery saboteur. We have not seen any failures, but that doesn't mean any customer who buys an animatronic shouldn't approach our products with appropriate caution. If you notice that your animatronic is behaving erratically, or if it isn't working the way it's supposed to, do not ignore it. Shut the animatronic off immediately, contact Fazbear Entertainment's customer service, and do not turn the animatronic back on until the issue is fixed. And if somehow the impossible has occurred, if we somehow missed an animatronic that still has malicious programming within it, I urge everyone who faces that worst-case scenario to either flee the building immediately, call the police, and only try to fight back if you have the proper weapons that will give you the advantage you need to neutralize them."

The interviewer nodded in agreement. "It's a relief to see that you are taking the safety of these animatronics so seriously, Mr. Schmidt, given the controversies that has embroiled Fazbear Entertainment in the past and present. I take it that you will be providing these instructions in a written form through an accompanying manual?"

Mike smiled. "But of course."

"That's good to hear," the interviewer commented with clear relief in her voice.

"No point in only saying these warnings out in the open, where only people who watch this newscast will hear them and probably forget about them in a few days," Mike commented dryly. "And for the final part of this newscast, I would like to demonstrate how to defend yourself against an animatronic. It should be noted that while the animatronics themselves may be suitable for children, the defensive weapons that will be accompanying each animatronic most certainly are meant for responsible adults only."

The newscast proceeded to a segment where Mike brought in an inactive animatronic and a copy of each of the three tools that he and his workers had used to defend themselves against the animatronic onslaught of the first day of school. The children watched until the newscast was finished, and they were there to greet Mike when he came home about an hour later.

"Did you guys see the newscast?" Mike asked without preamble once the kids and their father had exchanged greetings.

"We did!" Susie eagerly replied. "You were great, Dad!"

"Yeah, you absolutely killed it," Jeremy commented with a grin. "Heck, the interviewer even said outright on TV that you were a great leader for the project, and that people are actually more willing to buy animatronics from Fazbear Entertainment now."

Liz wasn't quite that enthusiastic about that specific detail. "Doesn't the fact that more people are buying animatronics mean that more people are at risk of getting hurt?" she pointed out with a frown.

"It does," Mike acknowledged, "which is why I spent almost that entire newscast talking about safety and warning people to use the animatronics properly, Liz. We've done a ton over the past couple of months to raise this project up from a complete disaster up to something respectable, but we can't do everything. We can save people from the schemes of William Afton and Glitchtrap, but we can't save them from random unfortunate circumstances that we can't realistically predict, and we can't save them from themselves."

"Dad isn't wrong, Liz," Gabe agreed. "If some idiot decides that shoving his head into an animatronic's mouth is a good idea," Liz winced at the reminder of the Bite of 1983, but allowed Gabe to continue without comment, "then that's not the animatronic's fault any more than it's Dad's. Heck, we can't even blame Glitchtrap for that one. Adults have to be responsible for making sure their kids don't get hurt, and Dad's done his best to warn people on TV against doing something stupid."

"…I guess you're right," Liz admitted with a sigh. "We've done all we can to make the animatronics safe as possible from Glitchtrap and whoever he possessed. But there's no way we can stop people from being idiots without mass brainwashing or something just as messed up."

"The most important thing, and the main mission behind your redemption quest, was to stop innocent people from getting hurt by Glitchtrap," Mike reminded them, "and in that regard, we've all succeeded magnificently in that quest. We've neutralized Glitchtrap's capabilities so thoroughly that he was forced to lay low and give up his plans completely, and you guys played a big part in that. Even if we never managed to actually expose and catch Glitchtrap and his possession victim outright, you should all be proud of what we've accomplished."

The ghost kids all smiled gratefully at their father and gave him a group hug. "Thanks, Dad," Cassidy mumbled. "I really don't want what happened to us to happen to anyone else. That's really what matters."

"Yeah," Fritz added with a scowl. "And that goes for both kids and grown-ups. No more innocent people getting hurt, period."

"The only way we can know that for sure is to see what happens in the upcoming months," Mike replied as they separated from the hug. "I know I said earlier that Fazbear Entertainment is planning on releasing me after the project gets released the public, but I'm actually staying for a few more months to monitor how the release goes and if there are any more problems that need to be fixed before I wrap up my tenure as the head of the Special Delivery project." He sighed. "We've done all we can at this point. All we can do now is see how events play out, and correct any last-minute problems that decide to rear their ugly heads."

A Few Months Later…

Over the next few months, the success of the Special Delivery project could best be described as "modest." Some of these purchases were made by adults who had visited and enjoyed Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria as children and wanted to share that experience with their families, while others were by collectors who were fascinated by the history of Freddy Fazbear or by curious individuals who just had too much money on their hands than they knew what to do with.

Although Mike had largely won the goodwill of the public over his television broadcast, it wasn't enough to fully erase the months of controversies and terrible reputation that Fazbear Entertainment had suffered. The number of animatronics bought by the public since the release rested somewhere in the low hundreds, which while a decent number, certainly wasn't the groundbreaking profitability that Fazbear Entertainment had no doubt hoped for.

Fortunately for the Schmidt family, Fazbear Entertainment could not pin the blame on any of this for Mike. Mr. Averus had called for a meeting with Mike a few days ago, inquiring as to why the Special Delivery project wasn't selling more animatronics or demonstrating wider appeal to the public. Mike had expected a move like this, and had been quick to point out that he had been brought on as head of the Special Delivery project to focus on safety and quality improvement, and that it wasn't his responsibility to advertise the project itself to the public. Not only that, but Mike had plenty of evidence demonstrating that he was one of the big reasons why the project was selling at all in the first place. He presented Mr. Averus posts on several forums, which all uniformly agreed that Mike's candor on his newscast and his emphasis on safety and concern for the well-being of customers was one of the big reasons why many who had been on-the-fence over buying an animatronic had decided to go ahead with the purchase. This effectively defanged any offense Mr. Averus could have brought against him, who let him out of his office without any further criticism.

Besides, Mike didn't and hadn't ever cared about the profitability of the project. His first and only priority had been safety and quality improvement, and in that regard he and his family had most certainly succeeded. While a few minor bugs and errors were reported by various customers since the project's release, the project had remained completely devoid of major incidents. No serious malfunctions, no major crashes, no self-destructions that rendered the animatronics completely unusable. And most importantly, no reports of animatronics coming to life on their own, going crazy, and attacking or killing unsuspecting customers who had only wanted to listen to their animatronics perform.

With regards to every parameter that mattered for Mike Schmidt, his family's mission had been an unquestionable success. Mike and his family were of course delighted by this news, but he wasn't going to rest on his laurels and risk grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. Knowing that he would soon be "released" by Fazbear Entertainment from his obligations, Mike had spent those months meeting and cooperating with the loyal heads that he had carefully cultivated relationships with, making sure that they were fully committed to continuing his reforms after he was gone and coordinating ways to fight back against Fazbear Entertainment if they tried to shift the Special Delivery project back to the old ways that had allowed Glitchtrap's possession victim to freely cause so much havoc in the first place.

And with those preparations in place, Mike was ready when Mr. Averus brought him to his office for one final meeting.

"Well, Mr. Schmidt," Mr. Averus commented, forcing what he probably assumed was a friendly smile on his face, "you've done some good work over the past several months. We haven't had a single major incident report since the release of the project, and thanks to you we just might have gotten some of the public's trust back again." The smile disappeared and replaced with a sigh. "The profits certainly aren't what we were hoping for, though."

"Like I mentioned before," Mike replied smoothly to the attempted jab, "that's not my responsibility. You had your own separate advertising division for this project. They're the ones whose main job it is to sell the project to the public, not mine."

It was an effective way for Mike to shift the blame and Fazbear Entertainment's ire away from himself and to someone else…mainly because it was also completely correct. "I suppose you have a point," Mr. Averus grudgingly admitted. "That being said, we have reached the end of your tenure to our company as the head of the Special Delivery project, as we had previously arranged back before you started. We at Fazbear Entertainment thank you for the service you have provided to our business, but at this time we don't think that it is necessary for you to continue that service now that the project has been released to the public."

If he expected Mike to immediately protest, Mr. Averus was caught off-guard by the sudden smile that appeared on Mike's face. "Oh, I completely agree," he answered. "I feel confident that I've done all that I've can to improve the security and quality of the Special Delivery project as much as possible, and with the release of the project to the public and the complete lack of any major incidents or complaints, I feel as though I've succeeded in carrying out that duty. I had always intended for my job as the head of the Special Delivery project to be a temporary position, and now that we've released the project to the public, it's as good a time as any for me to retire and retreat back to my personal life."

Mr. Averus smiled, a smile that Mike could tell was more genuine. "I'm glad that you agree, Mr. Schmidt," he remarked, barely keeping the smugness out of his voice.

Mike grinned. "Indeed. Which is why I'm sure you and your fellow executives will be happy to hear that I've met several times with the heads of the various divisions at the animatronic factory, and all of them have fully committed to ensuring the continuation of the reforms I implemented as head of the Special Delivery project."

The smile didn't outright vanish from Averus' face, but the smugness immediately vanished and the smile itself became much rougher and more forced. "Pardon?" he asked monotonously.

"Over the past several months, I've been working with several key figures and employees in the factory who served as either unofficial or official leaders of the various components needed to make animatronic creation possible. After all, so far we've had absolutely no major incidents with the Special Delivery project, and it could only be a good thing for Fazbear Entertainment's reputation and the reputation of the project if that were to continue. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Quite," Mr. Averus forced the word out of his mouth, and Mike could tell that it took all of his self-control to not start grinding his teeth.

"After all," Mike continued blithely, noticing the executive's sudden frustration and not giving the slightest shit about it, "if I suddenly end up getting dismissed from my position right after the release of the project, it'll make it look like Fazbear Entertainment just tossed out an executive who's done nothing wrong and was a diligent and dedicated worker. You'll look like a bunch of ungrateful backstabbers, and that's the last thing you want your company to look like just when you've started to gain some ground after months of controversy."

This time, Averus couldn't resist the urge to grimace. Judging by his facial expression, it was clear that he (and likely the other Fazbear Entertainment executives) hadn't thought about this possibility.

Mike smiled, knowing that he had gotten Mr. Averus' full attention. "On the other hand," he continued, "if I make it public that I'll be retiring as head of the Special Delivery project so that I can take care of my personal life, and that there's a dedicated team of leaders still at the factory that are just as dedicated to safety and security as I am…" he shrugged, "then there's nothing wrong about that at all. Actually, if anything, it would be a good PR move since it would demonstrate to the public that Fazbear Entertainment doesn't need to have project heads working without pay to remain committed to the principles that I followed." His eyes narrowed so slightly and he allowed a slight edge to enter his voice. "That is, of course, assuming that Fazbear Entertainment does remain committed to those principles and properly cooperates with the team I'll be leaving behind to continue heading the Special Delivery project, of course."

No threat was uttered, but the implications of the consequences if Fazbear Entertainment didn't cooperate were clear to everyone in the room.

"I…see," Mr. Averus reluctantly acknowledged.

"I will, of course, remain in contact with the project's team leaders after I step down, of course," Mike continued. He gave Mr. Averus a virtuous smile. "After all, it would be irresponsible for me to simply leave the project behind me without being available for assistance if the new team needs my assistance, of course." The words were spoken in an innocent and reassuring tone, but Averus wasn't fooled. He knew that it was Mike's way of making sure that his "reforms" would stay in place…and there wasn't anything he could do about it without exposing himself and the company to much greater risks.

Mr. Averus forced his smile back on his face. "Of course, of course," he answered with a voice as thick as stone. "We're very grateful that you're willing to take the time to ensure a smooth transition to the new leadership you have already planned."

Mike grinned, and this the words he spoke were entirely sincere. "Of course, Mr. Averus. It's no trouble at all."

A few days later…

"It appears…" Glitchtrap hissed in her mind, "that Schmidt's departure from the factory will not lead to the decrease in security measures and caution that we had hoped for."

He and Vanny had silently observed the changes over the past few days after Schmidt had officially declared that he would be stepping down and retiring as head of the Special Delivery project so that he could take care of "private personal matters." The two of them cared nothing whatsoever for what Schmidt was doing in his own life, but Glitchtrap had seen a potential opening in the project's now-formidable defenses that he had hoped to potentially exploit if Schmidt's successor proved to be more weak-willed and lazier than his predecessor.

Alas, it was not to be. After only one or two days, it soon became apparent that the leaders of the various divisions and roles within the factory were fully committed to continuing and supporting the reforms that Schmidt had put into place, and that one of them would soon become the new head of the project to spearhead those reforms. Even the smaller but no less important reforms like the 4-man buddy system were in place and enforced with as much vigilance as ever, pretty much nullifying the possibility of Vanny being able to isolate and attack one of them without being placed under heavy suspicion at best, and caught in the act at worst.

"The sheer speed with which this leadership transition has been taking place leads me to only one conclusion," Glitchtrap mused. "Schmidt had already planned for this transition to take place, possibly months before he actually stepped down. Even in the moment of victory, he refused to rest on his laurels and remained diligent until the very end. As commendable as it is irritating," he snarled out the last word briefly, before forcing himself to calm down.

"So that's it, isn't it?" Vanny asked, ever the servile assistant that Glitchtrap's corruption had reduced her to. "Our plans for this project really have failed, haven't they?"

"They have," Glitchtrap acknowledged grudgingly. "Given his extreme caution so far, I would be very surprised if Schmidt did not have a plan in mind to at the very least monitor the project even after he has stepped down. It is time for us to depart from this worthless factory. There is no further purpose for us here."

"Should I quit my job now?" Vanny asked curiously.

"Not quite yet," Glitchtrap answered after a few seconds of pondering the answer to her question. "I would propose we wait about a month or two before departing, see if we cannot find one last opportunity to carry out our work once again. I do not expect that we will be able to, but it would be a pleasant surprise if we can. Then, assuming that we do not do anything significant as I believe we will be the case, you will send a request to Fazbear Entertainment asking to be reassigned to a different position. It will be an insignificant position in which we will lay low for the time being, while we continue to gather information."

"What are we going to do then?"

Glitchtrap allowed a sinister grin to spread across his invisible face, while Vanny could feel some of his malevolent excitement. "Before Schmidt took over this project, I came across some rather…interesting rumors. Rumors of Fazbear Entertainment's next big project, one that is meant to herald Fazbear Entertainment's return to prominence to an even greater degree than what this animatronic delivery project was meant to do."

Vanessa felt a rush of happiness at the knowledge that her master wasn't at all dissuaded by their defeat at the Special Delivery factory, and that there was another way she could serve him faithfully. "Soon, Vanny, we will unlock your potential to its fullest. And unlike with our failed attempts here, Schmidt will not be here to save the day a second time. Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha…"

/

A/N: And there you have it, folks. Special Delivery (at least all of its important plot components) has effectively been wrapped up. Mike has stepped down from his position as the Special Delivery project head, but he has a loyal team of division leaders and followers who will make sure that his security reforms will stay well into the future.

It was fun writing the various components of this arc, but like I said before, it's about time we properly conclude this part of the FNaF lore. I could feel that the Special Delivery arc was on the verge of overstaying its welcome if it hadn't already started doing so, and I knew that I had to wrap it up now before it started to drag on and on. Something nobody would enjoy, and something that I wanted to avoid at all costs.

I promised you guys the next filler chapter would be about the ghost kids celebrating Mike's birthday, and I have every intention to deliver on that promise. I don't know how many chapters it will be before I proceed to Security Breach, but I do want to take a break from some of the FNaF stuff at least for a few chapters.

That's all I have for now, and I hope you guys enjoyed!