'So, how was the first shift at Freddy's?' Jerome questioned his friend. 'Anything interesting happened?'

'Did you manage to get any leftover pizza out of the kitchen?' Brandon asked excitedly, seemingly much more interested in the food than the job.

Emma stepped in now. 'Guys, leave him alone. He's very important now, and can't answer all your dumb questions.' The group laughed, drawing some eyes from the surrounding lunch tables.

Ethan sighed. What would he actually tell them? 'The shift was a little odd. The animatronics have some sort of "night mode" that allows the things to wander around during the night. Something about their servos locking up.'

'Huh.' Jerome mused to himself for a second. 'Makes sense. Might cut down on maintenance costs if they don't have to oil them constantly.'

Ethan shrugged. 'Probably.'

Brandon chimed in. 'Wait, you mean they have free reign of the place? Like, they just wander around like zombies or something?'

Ethan nodded. 'Pretty much.'

Emma half laughed, half groaned. 'Sounds like a fun time.'

Ethan scoffed sarcastically. 'Totally. Especially when Bonnie comes and visits me in the night.'

The group froze when Ethan said this, all turning their heads toward him. 'What?'

Ethan shrugged. 'Bonnie came right up to my door to say hi. Luckily, the office comes equipped with these massive bloody blast doors that make it a complete safe room.'

Jerome laughed. 'Serious security right there.'

Ethan nodded. 'Tell me about it.'

Emma spoke. 'Why do you need blast doors to keep out a couple of animatronics? What could they do to you?'

Ethan shrugged again. 'Who said the doors were for the mascots.'

'You just said that you closed the door on Bonnie.'

'Yeah, because he freaked me out. What do you expect, me to wave back?'

Emma sighed in defeat. 'I don't know. Just seems a bit odd to have those doors there.'

Ethan inhaled the rest of his food. 'Well, regardless, I have them available. So I'll use them if need be.' The teen stood up. And plus, I have another shift tonight. Not like anything happens on the second night, right?'

Jerome and Tyler simply shrugged, while Emma shook her head. 'You say that, then it all goes to hell.'

Ethan laughed. 'Maybe. We'll see.'

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As it turned out, Emma was one hundred percent correct. Ethan laughed with pure dread and spite as the Phone Guy talked about the second night. "Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched."

'So Foxy comes into play tonight, huh?' Ethan chuckled dryly. 'Well damn.' Ethan had taken the advice of the phone guy and had been quickly cycling through the CCTV system and checking the whole place.

Bonnie had already moved, though Freddy and Chica had remained behind. Foxy had yet to show his face yet as well. Ethan figured that was probably a good thing. Not having a lot of problems all at once was a slight relief. He sipped at his energy drink, thinking about the rest of his shift.

A clatter of pots and pans snapped the teen out of his mind, and he realized that he needed to be fully focused on his job, else he might end up dead. That was a reassuring thought, he thought sarcastically. Ethan opened up the laptop, taking note that he had ninety percent power and the time was only one-thirty.

Ethan opened the camera at Pirate's Cove and froze. Foxy the Pirate Fox, still decked out in his newly refurbished pirate costume and sporting several gold teeth. 'Great.' Ethan grumbled. 'Now you're active.'

Ethan shut the laptop, his power draining every second he had it open. Ethan stood up and checked both of the doors, poking his head out into the hallway to look down them. Down the left hall, he saw Bonnie, standing there.

Ethan then had the bright idea of quoting his favorite childhood TV show; Spongebob Squarepants. 'He's just standing there, menacingly!' Ethan laughed loudly as he said the words down the hall, doing his best Patrick impression. Bonnie didn't seem to respond, causing Ethan's laughter to die fast. He swung back into the office and listened for movement.

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Bonnie stood there in the hallway, slightly confused as to what he just heard come from this new night guard. Most of the time, their reaction was "Oh God, he's there," or "Sweet Baby Jesus help me," or a very long string of curse words that usually ended in "I am quitting this godforsaken job the first chance I get this sucks damn damn damn-." Something like that.

Bonnie looked back down the hall, seeing that Foxy had now fully poke his head out of his curtain. Foxy shrugged at the rabbit, clearly not understanding the night guard's words either. Bonnie pointed down the hall, nonverbally asking Foxy if he wanted a shot at the guard. Foxy grinned as best as he could with his non moving jaw, instead lowering his eyelids, tilting his muzzle toward the ground, and looking up from there, giving off a more psychopathic killer vibe than a grin. Well, he was a killer. And probably more psycho than the rest of the gang.

Actually, now that Bonnie considered it, none of them could really portray a proper smile. They really just had to rely on their eyelid movement to get across emotion.

Foxy looked up at the camera overlooking his area, and then quickly moved to the start of the hallway. Bonnie moved out of the way, entering the supply closet. "This ought to be entertaining," the bunny thought.

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Ethan swore loudly. Now he had a new problem; Foxy had moved. His Cove was left wide open, and he swore he heard quick steps to his left. As a precaution, Ethan closed the door and figured that he could spare the power. It was only two fifteen, and he still had seventy nine percent power.

Ethan opened his laptop again, and checked the hallway camera.

Foxy started sprinting down the hallway at top speed toward the camera and thus the door, causing Ethan to jump back and swear, which intensified as Foxy then knocked on the door three times. Ethan swore loudly. 'Oh, so you run! Great!' Ethan yelled at the top of his lungs, making sure that it echoed through the restaurant. The teen rubbed his face and groaned. 'Christ, this sucks.'

Three AM hit, and the intensity suddenly kicked up a notch. Ethan was doing a quick cycle of the CCTV, when he heard a shuffling noise from the left hallway. Hitting the light, Ethan yelled in surprise as Bonnie stood there, staring at him. Slamming the door shut, Ethan then heard another noise in the right hallway. Chica stared at him from the window, and another door slammed. 'So now you show your face.' Ethan grumbled. 'Oversized KFC meal.' Chica wandered off after a few moments, allowing Ethan to open the door to conserve what power he had.

Fifty percent power now. 'I really have to be a lot more conservative with this shit,' Ethan thought aloud, realizing how much power he had consumed in that short period of time. The teen shook his head and groaned.

Four AM. Forty five percent power.

The hour had been relatively calm, the animatronics apparently done with their cheap scares now. Ethan finally breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing slightly, but still mostly on guard.

Ethan went over a mental checklist. 'Alright, Bonnie comes left, Chica right, Foxy runs down left of Pirates Cove.' The teen counted off the animatronics with his fingers. 'So that leaves the main attraction.' Ethan scoffed slightly. 'Freddy Fazbear.' He said the main dryly, as if the name held no meaning. Ethan opened up the laptop and did another quick cycle of the CCTV system, stopping on the bathroom camera.

Freddy, his pupils no more than white pinpricks, stuck his head out from the women's bathroom entrance, staring right at the camera. Ethan shuddered slightly before making another snarky comment. 'Ah, so the main man's a pervert. Fun fun.' Ethan shook his head before he checked Pirates Cove.

Foxy was gone again. 'Goddamnit all.' Ethan slammed the door shut before he checked the Left hall camera. Foxy came sprinting down like a madman on narcotics, knocking on the door thrice more before he returned to his hiding place. Ethan opened the door, checked his blind spot, and left the door open as he sat back down. 'Damn you, Foxy. I liked you, once.'

Five thirty. Thirty percent power.

Half hour to go. Ethan laughed as he heard Chica rummaging through the kitchen again. He called out. 'Hey Chica, don't go wasting ingredients now. The kitchen staff's gonna blame me for the missing stuff.'

'Great. Now I'm talking to the robot chicken and it's only night two. Thought I had a better check on my sanity.' Ethan shook his head and chuckled dryly. He checked his power gauge. Still at twenty nine percent power.

Six AM. Shift completed.

Once again, the clock on the desk chimed with a grandfather clock sound, signaling the end of Ethan's second shift. Ethan cheered quietly, quickly grabbing his backpack and heading for the door. However, he stopped, looking at the main stage of the pizzeria. The gang had all returned to their places, staring out into the empty dining area. Foxy had retreated to Pirates Cove, the curtains drawn tightly shut. Ethan couldn't help but wander over to the stage, eyeing each of the animatronics in turn.

Words came forth effortlessly, almost instinctively. 'Man and machine, locked in war. Machine, deadly to the core, Man, not like the ones before. Machine and Man, wondering what the other might think. Machine does slink, hidden in darkness and gone in a blink, Man, details left to link. Neither wins, neither loses, stalemate reached, never solved.'

Ethan shook his head and chuckled. 'Seriously, how the hell do I do that?' The teen continued to chuckle as he walked to the front door.

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Freddy silently listened to the night guard talking. He found the teen…odd, to say the least. Bonnie was right, this one wasn't like the others. It was like he was somehow afraid of them, yet also fond of them. Odd.

This one was certain to be full of surprises.