Happy Halloween everybody!
So, Security Breach is coming on 16.12., meaning that I'll be putting more focus on this story once we know the full story. For now, we're still going through Help Wanted.
Enjoy the chapter! X3
Night 6
Picking Up The Pieces
''You turn away, I'll be right beside you! You cut me off, but I'll always have another way to find you! My body's still mending, you're in for a sight! Another night but it doesn't get easy, because you're stuck picking up all the pieces that they salvaged! No matter what the ending, you won't last the night!''
– Salvaged by NateWantsToBattle
xXxXxXx
Sam took a deep breath as she found herself again in the Fazbear's Fright office. She was not looking forward to this, but she knew that she needed to get through this level. She looked around, the office not being that different from the office in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, with the most noticable thing being the huge air-vent right next to the table.
''Hey-Hey! Glad you came back for another night! I promise it'll be a lot more interesting this time…''
Sam ignored Phone Dude's commentary on finding new items for the horror attraction and searched the desk through for any Tapes and coins. Since it was the first night, she didn't have to worry about Springtrap and needed to just keep the systems working. Luckily for her, she managed to find a Tape behind the Maintenance Panel on the box, as well as a coin near the bobble heads on the left side of the monitor.
I wonder what kind of information is Tape Girl going to give me this time.
She stared intently at the window that allowed to see her the hallway, as if expecting an animatronic to jumpscare at her. Even though the night was peaceful, she could feel her heart rate going up. She felt anxious about the upcoming second night, the one where she would have to deal with Springtrap until 6 AM. She knew that he was just a game character, but all the memories associated with him felt overwhelming.
This is something I need to go through. I need to confront him, even if this is not the real Springtrap.
It didn't take too long for her to hear the familiar chime that signaled the end of the night. After taking her prize, she found herself back at the main hub and looked back, seeing Glitchtrap standing behind her, still waving at her.
''Hello? Can you hear me?''
''Unfortunately, I do,'' Sam replied, decided to give the Tape a listen before she continued playing Five Nights at Freddy's 3. After entering the Tape Room, she quickly put the Tape 5 into the recorder, holding her breath in anticipation as she heard Tape Girl's familiar voice.
''The drawers have been emptied out. Someone was here. I don't think it was spring cleaning either. No, there was plastic on the floor. Someone was definitely here during the night. It had to have been the client. I mean, they sent us that stuff in the first place with no explanation. Told us to scan it. Said it would expedite the process so we wouldn't need to program any path finding ourselves. It was a budget things, I guess. It was just junk- circuit boards and things like that. Looked pretty old. Somehow, though, there was usable code on some of it. It seemed to take hold by itself. Things started changing. But then, he started appearing. At least, that's what Jeremy said.''
''The client? What client?'' Sam's eyes narrowed. ''What do they mean by circuit boards?''
She remained silent for a moment as she processed the new information. The client they were talking about had to be a Fazbear Entertainment representative. It's the only thing that makes sense. She returned to the main hub, taking off her VR headset and started pacing through her room. Then, there are the circuit boards. Fazbear Entertainment used some kind of circuit boards to… scan the code for the game? Sam's eyes widened, her lips parting slightly as she stared back at her VR headset. No way… Why would they… Where did they even get those circuit boards?!
She suddenly felt chills flowing down her spine, shuddering.
''Where did they get those circuit boards?'' she whispered, slowly repeating the question. ''What kind of code did those circuit boards have? Why would Fazbear Entertainment take them away?''
She looked up, observing the Golden Freddy plushie on her bed. Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists, turning back to the VR headset and putting it on. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing, realizing that there was only one way to get the circuit boards – directly from the source. She didn't even want to think about it, not wanting to process the implications of that.
I need more evidence.
She found herself back at the main hub, with Glitchtrap waiting for her. She took a look at him, wondering if he too was the result of the scanned circuit boards.
''Who are you?'' she asked, but Glitchtrap remained silent, staring back, still with that cheery grin on his expression. She sighed and shook her head, focusing on the monitor.
Let's get this over with.
Returning back to the office, she tried to mentally prepare herself for her confrontation with Springtrap.
''Hey, man- okay, I have some awesome news for you!...''
Paying zero attention to Phone Dude, she started switching through the screens in search for Springtrap. She eventually found him on CAM 10. As long as he stays there, I should be peachy. The first few seconds were just her staring at Springtrap, when the monitor suddenly started to flicker, with Springtrap disappearing and appearing on CAM 09. Sam didn't panic though, simply switching instead back to CAM 10 and activating the Balloon Boy clip.
''Hi! Hello! Hahahahahah!''
''I shouldn't worry too much, since I already know this game inside out,'' Sam muttered, yawning. She knew that it was late in the night and wanted to complete Night 2 before going to sleep. Springtrap eventually returned back to CAM 10, staring at the camera as he idled. ''If you really think you can beat me, you're– agh!'' Sam was startled by Phantom BB, quickly trying to switch the cameras, only to get jumpscared, with Phantom BB screaming at her. As she recovered, she quickly turned to the maintenance panel to fix the ventilation error. She tapped with her food impatiently as she waited for it to be fixed. Once done, she turned back to the cameras, realizing that Springtrap was gone.
''Where are you?'' Sam muttered as she turned to CAM 09. He wasn't there. ''Damn it! Where did he go?''
To her chagrin, the cameras suddenly experienced a video error. Sam turned to the maintenance panel, aware that she needed to fix it as fast as possible if she didn't want Springtrap win this Night. As she turned towards the panel, she saw Phantom Foxy staring at her and quickly looked down.
''Com'n… Faster…'' Sam inhaled sharply as she looked back at the monitors, going through each and every camera in order to find Springtrap. ''Please, tell me he isn't in the vents…''
Suddenly, there was an audio error, forcing Sam to once again fix it without finding Springtrap. Frankly, she didn't remember Five Nights at Freddy's 3 to be this difficult, especially not on Night 2. It was also possible that her reaction was slower due to her being too tired to think clearly or see anything.
As she looked up, she almost let out a scream, freezing when Springtrap suddenly appeared right in front of her, staring at her through the window. ''Springtrap, what the hell?! How did you get here so fast?!''
Springtrap just stared back at her, with Sam being well aware that he was out for her blood. Sam frowned, turning to CAM 02 and pressing the Balloon Boy voice clip.
''Hello?''
''Springtrap, leave!'' Sam said in a firm tone. ''You are not welcome here.''
Springtrap seemed to ignore the Balloon Boy voice clip and instead kept staring at her. Sam pressed the distraction button again, looking back at the monitor and to her relief, Springtrap appeared on CAM 02. Sam realized that he probably had used the vent to travel quickly through the entire building, forcing her to return him back to CAM 10.
''You know, you're still just as sneaky as you used to be when you were still here,'' Sam said bitterly as she forced Springtrap to go to CAM 03. ''You're merciless, determined and you won't let anyone stop you.'' She was suddenly met by another video error. ''You don't care about anyone, but yourself, William.'' She frowned. ''Why should I even bother with you? Sure, there is the matter of closure, but at this point, is it worth it? While I have returned to Five Nights at Freddy's, why should I care about you?''
As the video feed cleared, Sam groaned when Springtrap vanished once again. She found him staring at her intently in the office hallway… again.
''You are not doing yourself a favour here, William,'' she said, glaring at Springtrap. ''You are an awful person, and you know it…'' She activated the Balloon Boy voice clip and looked up, her gaze filled with anger and her eyes watering. ''I was so bitter when you left without a word. If you had at least told me what you were planning to do… I guess, I would've gotten over it… Maybe we could've figured out something… Anything… You shouldn't have abandoned me…'' Suddenly, the lights faded and Springtrap vanished, appearing at the office door. Sam turned towards him, still glaring at the animatronic. ''You're an idiot!''
Then, she heard the familiar chime as the clock turned to 6 AM. Sam suddenly realized that she felt cold. Her heart was racing and there was a tingling feeling in her fingers as she grabbed her prize – Plushtrap jumpscaring her. Shaking him off, she returned to the main hub, staring at the monitor.
''He is gone. There is no reason for me to just yell at a video game character,'' she grumbled and faced Glitchtrap, glaring at the latter. Glitchtrap just waved cheerfully at her, but Sam felt unnerved. It didn't help that Glitchtrap was reminding her of William. ''I'm not done with you either,'' she told him, then exited the game.
Glitchtrap's grin widened.
xXx
''Tsk, tsk, tsk… Someone's angry…'' The voice echoed through the darkness, not caring whether anyone could hear him. ''Or worse… Disappointed.''
A dark purple light illuminated the void, revealing an empty stage with a pair of purple curtains covered in silver stars on the sides. The voice belonged to Glitchtrap, who appeared to be to talk to an invisible audience.
''I wonder, can someone really hold this much resentment?'' he asked in a sarcastic voice, then chuckled. ''Well, of course they can! It's really fun to see people getting riled up, especially if it's the person you love.'' He crossed his hands on his back and started pacing across the stage. ''Seeing her this upset should be something I'd be happy about, yet I'm more excited about the fact that she might slowly be realizing what our connection is.''
He tilted his head, eyeing the empty seats and seeing a humanoid figure sitting in one of the chairs. The figure was slumped over, with a dark red and black blood pool forming below him, as if someone knocked them out. Glitchtrap grinned, placing his hands on his hips and leaned forward.
''Sleeping, are we?'' He waved his finger, as if scolding a naughty child. ''That's fine. We, or rather, I have to still wait for all the right puzzle pieces to fall into place.'' He opened his arms, as if presenting something. ''Then, we can begin with the show!''
xXx
Sam yawned, walking with a tray in her hand to the corner of the cafeteria, Matt being right behind her. While she fortunately didn't have any nightmares, she was still mentally exhausted from playing through Help Wanted. She had figured that eating some food would wake her up properly, so at least she could last for the rest of the school day. She suddenly felt Matt gently nudging her, leaning forward to whisper into her ear.
''Someone's glaring at you,'' he said, walking past her and sitting on the opposite side of Sam. Sam sat on the other side and looked up, realizing that the one glaring at her was her ex-best friend Theresa Clover, aka Tessa. Sam rose an eyebrow, locking eyes with Tessa, who just gave her a hate-filled glare and sat down at an empty table a bit further away from the table where she would usually sit at. The table she was referring to was the one where Violet and her friends, that is, the popular crowd would sit at. Sam hummed, turning her attention to Matt. ''I thought she was friends with Violet. Why is she sitting alone?''
''You tell me,'' Matt replied. ''She was your friend.''
''Well, since Tessa basically used me in order to get closer to them by offering them to come to my place and use my stuff, like video games, I assume she ran out of stuff she could offer them,'' Sam replied.
''That's what happens when you become friends with people who just want stuff from you instead of liking you for who you are,'' Matt noted. Sam nodded and turned to her food, only to hear Matt add, ''So, anything new you want to talk about? You did show me around Ricky's and you said that you played Help Wanted last night.''
''Honestly, I don't know whether I want to talk about it,'' Sam replied. ''I've been processing a lot of things and I'm currently trying to make sense of them.''
''Do you think that talking with me would help you process that information easier?'' Matt asked. Sam remained silent for a moment, as an image of Springtrap flashed through her mind. She shivered, shaking her head.
''Not now,'' she replied. Matt gave her a sympathetic look.
''No problem,'' he said. ''Just give me a call whenever you're ready.''
''I will,'' Sam told him, then after a moment of pause added, ''You know, confronting my own past was a good idea. I haven't really had any nightmares and there were a lot of emotions I needed to deal with. It feels like a relief that I'm over some stuff, but this was the easy part. I haven't tackled the more difficult issues yet.''
''Do you think you'll need support with that?'' Matt asked.
''No, for now, I'll try go through it by myself,'' Sam replied, then smiled. ''You know, you should think of a career as a therapist considering how much you insist on helping me.''
''I'm not really interested in that,'' Matt said, shaking his head. ''I mean, sure, I don't mind listening to your problems because…''
''They're sounding crazy?'' Sam cut him off. Matt gave her a sheepish look, with Sam smirking. It didn't often happen that Matt would get nervous over something. Usually, he would always be calm, cool and collected, so it was unusual to see him freak out over something, even if it was something seemingly insignificant.
''Uh, that's not what I meant,'' he quickly replied. ''I don't think you're crazy at all.''
''Then you're one of the few people who think that,'' Sam told him, sighing. ''Sometimes, I think I'm crazy, only to remind myself that crazy stuff happened to me. Admittedly, I choose to participate in that, so it was my fault…''
''But, you haven't chosen to let a murderer roam free,'' Matt told her in a hushed tone. Sam blinked, staring at him for a moment as she realized that he was referring to Connor Davis.
''Of course not,'' she replied in a defensive tone. However, she had to admit that she did let a different kind of murdered roam free and regretted it.
Matt rose an eyebrow, adding, ''I know that there's a lot of stuff you haven't told me yet. I can still sense the agony attached to you. If you want to carry that burden alone, that's okay. Still, you shouldn't feel guilty over the things you have no control over.''
Sam remained silent, actually wanting to tell him that things were a bit more complicated than that, but then she realized that maybe, just maybe, she was the one who was overcomplicating everything in her mind. Sure, this wasn't what Matt wanted to tell her, but her attempts of outright blocking memories and emotions associated with them didn't help her with dealing with her past.
Still, she was determined to change that.
xXx
''Sam, are you done with your work yet?'' the manager, Kylie Anthelm, asked Sam, who was in the back room, working on the animatronics. Sam looked up, shaking her head.
''I still have some work to do on them,'' Sam replied, with Showtime Freddy sitting on the table in front of her. ''Don't worry, I'll close up.''
''Okay, but don't stay too late. It is a school night after all,'' Kylie replied, closing the door. Sam sighed and turned back to Showtime Freddy, having unbuttoned his vest and shirt to gain access to the hatch behind which his endoskeleton was. She reached inside Freddy's chest, carefully moving away some of the cables that were covering the circuit boards, exploring the already familiar wiring and mechanical parts.
''So far, everything's fine,'' she muttered, only to rise an eyebrow when she came across a particular circuit board. It was something that had always been there, having caught her and Springtrap's attention once, but they had no answer back then. However, now she was interested in finding out more about it.
''Give me a moment,'' she muttered, focusing on one particular circuit board, trying to figure out how to remove it, or at least getting a better look at it. She reached for it, but she couldn't take it out for closer analysis as it was attached to the endoskeleton via several wires. Don't I have some kind of document about this thing? She grabbed her flashlight and managed to turn the circuit board around, finding something carved on the plastic.
''HW: Freddy Fazbear (Copy),'' Sam muttered as she read the carving on the circuit board. She stepped back, leaning against the table. She hummed, ''HW… HW… HW…''
''…It was just junk- circuit boards and things like that. Looked pretty old. Somehow, though, there was usable code on some of it…''
It then hit her. Sam froze, her heart racing. She was shaken to the core.
''HW – Help Wanted.'' She turned to Showtime Freddy, staring at the animatronic. Showtime Freddy just looked back at her solemnly, as if understanding what was going through her mind. Sam's lips parted as she observed him in stunned silence. ''Freddy… I-Is this…'' Before she could finish her question, Freddy's eyes glowed briefly as he looked down at her, staring at her in silence. Sam gulped. ''T-That's how you know… That's how all of you know… That's why you guys acted as if you were possessed, but never were.'' She took a sharp inhale. ''You have the memories of the previous animatronics, as well as what is going on in the Help Wanted game. You know exactly what is going on.'' Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the animatronic, adding in an demanding tone, ''Am I right?''
''Is this what you believe to be the truth?'' Freddy asked her. Sam was caught off guard by the question. Admittedly, she wasn't completely sure about it. She lowered her head.
''Honestly, I'm not sure whether that's the case,'' Sam said. ''How would Fazbear Entertainment even be able to salvage circuit boards from the animatronics; that is, if they did that. I acknowledge it would be possible for them to perhaps find something, but it sounds so crazy.'' She frowned. ''However, Fazbear Entertainment isn't a stranger to using shortcuts. Not to mention, they wanted to make the game experience as authentic as possible, didn't they? So, what if they could re-use the old animatronic programming? What would they want to achieve with that?'' She stepped back. ''More importantly, what about the old Five Nights at Freddy's games. As much as I saw, Help Wanted kept re-using some segments.'' She shook her head and looked back at Freddy. ''Freddy, what exactly do you guys know?''
Freddy glanced down, looking at his open chest, with Sam realizing that he probably wanted her to close it in case she was done with checking on him. She quickly placed the circuit bord the way it was and closed the hatch, leaving Freddy to button his shirt up.
''So, what can you tell me?'' she asked him.
''Keep in mind, I cannot answer all of your questions,'' Freddy told her, patting the place next to him on the table. Sam sat next to him, curious about what Freddy would tell her. The Showtimes weren't really talkative about things that didn't concern their performances, usually remaining vague about everything else. ''I will tell you what I know, though.''
Sam nodded, staring intently at Freddy. It was strange to talking to the animatronic, but she was glad that there was someone who could answer some of her questions. Moreover, Freddy wasn't someone she feared, being kind and friendly towards her. He did have a protective side, as she saw him once leading away a girl who had been excluded by the other children and cheering her up.
''When I woke up for the first time, the stage I stood on was nothing like the one at this place,'' Freddy said, with Sam giving her a curious look. ''Then, all I saw was static. I did sense something… It was a rage unlike any other, as if I was trapped and I wanted to find the person who trapped me, and murder them.''
Sam felt goosebumps all across her body, with chills flowing down her spine. Despite Freddy's calm tone, she could sense the resentment in his voice.
''I didn't understand what was going on with me. I was convinced that I was malfunctioning,'' Freddy continued.
''What about the others?'' Sam asked.
''They experienced similar memories and thought the same,'' Freddy replied. ''However, when a technician would enter the room and attempt to repair us, we would black out. When we would wake up again, the technician would either be screaming in panic or unconscious.''
''So, you don't remember what you did to them?'' Sam asked.
''No,'' Freddy told her. ''We decided to put up an act, though. We thought that there was a good reason for scaring them and we didn't think much about it. For some reason, nothing happened when we were with you.''
''Maybe I'm not a threat?'' Sam suggested. ''I mean, there has to be a reason not to scare me to death or hurt me in some way.''
''Well, you certainly don't pose a threat to us,'' Freddy noted, his eyes narrowing. ''However, the bunny animatronic that would accompany you, Springtrap, did.''
''Freddy, could you tell me why exactly you felt that Springtrap was a threat to you guys?'' Sam asked.
''It's hard to explain, but whenever he was present, I and the rest would feel this unexplainable rage and resentment towards him. We could see the man behind the mask,'' Freddy told her, frowning as his voice turned into a growl. ''We knew he was the murderer.''
''I see…'' Sam muttered, shuddering. ''Could you tell me more about what you felt? As well as what you remembered?''
''What I felt… There were so many different emotions…'' Freddy said, closing his eyes and reminiscing. ''There was anger, depression and fear.'' He then gazed at Sam. ''At nights, we would also see a shadow-like figure standing at the back of the restaurant.''
''What?'' Sam was surprised, giving Freddy a look of concern. Freddy shook his head.
''The others and I don't believe that the figure was real,'' he added. ''It was probably a mix of those memories, which felt as if they belonged to someone else, and what we saw and knew.''
''This sounds quite creepy,'' Sam said.
''It was, but we knew that the figure couldn't hurt us. We wanted to know what was haunting us, though,'' Freddy said. Sam fell silent for a moment as she tried to process everything.
''Okay, I just need to think through the whole thing,'' she said. ''According to those Tapes, if whoever set them up is really telling the truth, Fazbear Entertainment may have collected a bunch of circuit boards, very possibly from the animatronics, even though I have no idea from which ones. They didn't use the code only in Help Wanted, but they also used the code in your programming so you would act similar to the previous animatronics.'' She took out her smartphone, finding the document with the files about the animatronics. ''Found it! 'It should be noted that some of the coding had been taken from an already pre-existing source in order to make the animatronics more authentic and their behavior closer to their predecessors. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any unpredictable action committed by the animatronics.' I knew that there was something!'' She turned to Freddy. ''So, you are remembering what the previous Freddy Fazbear had probably experienced. Or perhaps, the child that was trapped inside the animatronic.''
''It might not be everything, though,'' Freddy replied, with Sam giving him a curious look. ''Sometimes, we feel as if we're being watched. As if someone is with us constantly, in our minds, and it drives us crazy.''
''Do you have any idea what it is?'' Sam asked. Freddy gave her a serious look.
''It's evil,'' he said. ''We know it's evil and that it's broken. It's insanity incarnate.''
Sam was silent for a moment, biting her lip. ''You're referring to William, aren't you?'' Freddy stared at her for a moment, then nodded. ''Although, there is something else I've been wondering about.''
''What is it?'' Freddy asked her.
''In those memories, have you seen a bunny, different than Springtrap, with stitching all over the costume and wearing a purple vest?'' Sam asked him, holding her breath. Her expression was hopeful, yet fearful. She wanted to know the answer, yet she was afraid of knowing it. However, she needed to figure out what was going on in order to move on.
Freddy slowly nodded. Sam inhaled sharply.
''That person would stare at us, waving at times and asking 'Hello? Can you hear me?','' Freddy told her. Sam's eyes widened and she felt the chills running down her spine.
''He did…'' she whispered. What exactly have I contacted? What is inside that game?!
''Sam, are you okay?'' Freddy asked her worriedly. ''You are so pale.''
''No, I'm not okay,'' Sam said without even thinking. ''That thing… That bunny… I named him Glitchtrap and he is waving at me inside the game, asking the same question. If he was just a video game character, something the game developers added into the game, he shouldn't be part of your memories. He shouldn't be able to haunt you.''
''Yet, he is,'' Freddy said.
''At this point, I don't think he is a video game character,'' Sam said. ''Maybe, he is something that was brought over via the circuit boards.'' She shuddered. ''Honestly, I'm not sure whether I want to know what exactly he is.'' She then sighed, burying her head into her hands and groaning. ''God, I need to check the official version of the game to see whether I can find him there. This is so awful, but I have to do this.''
Freddy gave her a look of concern, tilting his head.
''You know, if you ever need a hug or comfort in some way, you're always welcome.''
Sam smiled and hugged him, burying her head into his chest. Freddy certainly lived up to his species of a teddy bear, being quite cuddly. As Freddy released her, Sam took a deep breath.
''Okay, I feel a bit better,'' she said. ''Thank you.''
''You're welcome,'' Freddy replied, getting off the table and turning to Sam, grinning at her. ''Now, don't forget, if you ever want to have some fun without a worry, you can always pay us a visit.''
''I'll keep that in mind,'' Sam replied, smiling.
xXx
Despite it being late in the night, Sam decided to play the official version of Help Wanted, trying to find the Tapes that were scattered across the game. She did find a few Tapes, as well as the Tape Room, but to her confusion, instead of warnings offered by Tape Girl, they contained Phone Guy's phone calls from the Five Nights at Freddy's games, like some kind of masterlist. Also, there was no trace of Glitchtrap.
''Damn it,'' Sam muttered as she took off the VR headset. ''This is not what I thought would happen. I hate this.''
She turned the game off, having realized that the official version of Help Wanted was completely useless to her. The only thing she could rely on was the beta version of the game if she wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. It felt like some kind of nightmare.
''Fine,'' Sam muttered, opening the beta version of Help Wanted. Once she found herself back into the main hub, she turned back to Glitchtrap, who was still waving at her, seemingly blissfully unaware of what she knew.
''Hello? Can you hear me?''
''Yeah, I can,'' Sam replied. ''Tell me, who are you?''
Glitchtrap remained quiet, staring back at her. Sam sat on her chair, crossing her legs and staring at Glitchtrap.
''What do you want me to do? Should I play through the entire game or should I quit? Are you trapped inside the game? I know you're not part of it,'' she asked. ''Where did you come from? Why are you here? What is your real name?''
''Hello? Can you hear me?''
Sam frowned, sighing. She was already sleep deprived and she needed to go to bed. Turning off the game and the lights, she crawled back into her bed, falling asleep soon. Her dreams were filled with darkness, illuminated by a strange, purple glitching.