Author's Note: Welcome to Sister Location! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
The week flew by as Michael and Charlie doubled down and trained hard. Sure, they still enjoyed each other's company and joked around with Henry occasionally while they worked, but Michael was more determined than ever and didn't once slack off on his work. Even if William gave him this job, it wasn't a guarantee that Michael could keep it. If he failed, he could be fired for what felt like the hundredth time. This job was different than the others. He had to work there, not just for the money, to discover the secrets his father and those mysterious voices kept hidden.
On the night before the job, Michael and Charlie sat in the car silently together as he drove her back to her apartment. They held light conversation earlier, but had since gone quiet.
"So, uh, my car's going to be ready for me by tomorrow," she said, finally speaking up. "You won't have to pick me up for work." She rolled her eyes. "It took so long because the mechanics were being money-obsessed jerks about the bills."
"Ew," said Michael, his voice vague.
Charlie sent him a sidelong glance. "Zoned out again?"
"Hmm?" His eyes briefly flitted to her, then back to the road. "Oh, yes. Sorry. Just thinking."
"Hmm." She nodded. "I'm sure the job won't be as terrible or demanding as we think. Your father even said all this training could've been unnecessary, we'll mostly be checking up on the animatronics."
"And possibly making repairs," Michael added.
"Sure." She shrugged. "But still. If you're stressed, don't worry about it."
He gave a bitter laugh. "It's a little hard not to be stressed. How are you not?"
"I sort of am," she said, "but mostly excited, honestly. I've waited for a proper job like this for a long time." She smiled. "And plus, we're getting a shift together on the first night."
"Yes, I heard." He relaxed, turning onto another street. "There are two other technicians too, I think, but they have different duties. Don't think they're going to be there tomorrow night."
"Mhm," Charlie said, then fell silent. Neither of them spoke another word, till they pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. As they exited the vehicle, Charlie said, "We're meeting up in front of the building, right?"
"Uh...yes," Michael replied as they strolled towards the entrance. "Try not to get lost on the way there."
She chuckled. "I won't, don't worry." They entered the apartments, chatting while they made their way down the halls. "I'm not completely sure what to expect with the animatronics. I've only seen pictures of some of them, but they look a lot different than usual."
"Yes." He narrowed his eyes. "They do. Hopefully, that won't mess up our work."
"Yeah," she said. "Hopefully." She cleared her throat. "Also, sorry we can't do something tomorrow afternoon, like we thought we would. A few of my friends are insistent I come with them to some sort of event out of town." She laughed and shook her head. "It's a ridiculous fair, I think. Carlton is especially excited for it, the doofus. You can come if you like."
"No, no." He waved a hand. "I'm probably going to sleep through the afternoon. Enjoy yourself, but...make sure you get back in time."
"I will." She stopped outside her door, sending him another smile. "See you tomorrow, Mike."
"Yeah..." He forced a smile back. It faltered as he glanced down. "See you."
"Hey." She took his chin and turned his face back to her. "Don't worry. You've got this!"
"I know." He brushed her hand away, smiling again, slightly more genuine. "We're both gonna do great. Especially you."
"Pfft nah." She poked him. "Especially you."
"No, you." He poked her back.
"No, you!" she said.
"Okay, yes, me." He sent her a teasing grin and motioned to himself. "I'm amazing."
She burst out laughing, playfully shoving him away from the door. "Oh, just leave already, dummy."
"Fine." He chuckled. "See you at the job."
"Yep! Bye!" Charlie called from behind as he treaded away. His happy expression vanished; he took a deep breath, picking up his pace when he neared the exit.
"Alright." He looked ahead, his jaw set. "She's right. I can do this." He made it outside and got into the car, repeating, "I can do this." Still, though, he silently fretted over what tomorrow night might hold...
True to his word, Michael slept through most of the day, and after a few hours of waiting for the hour to come, he set out for Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. He examined his surroundings as he pulled into the parking lot. The building looked surprisingly small, made of grey bricks, and containing a few glass windows. It dawned a metal sign, with brightly colored words spelling out: Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. A banner hung from it, advertising how "cheap" it was to rent out the animatronics. Michael had already seen the prices, and it proved to be quite the opposite of cheap. With an interested hum, he climbed out of his car and strolled towards the double doors of the entrance.
He peered inside, examining the room within. All he saw was a desk, four chairs, and two doors on either side of the room. He narrowed his eyes, just barely able to read the signs on the doors. One said offices, and the other merely held the words "employees only". That second door was the one Michael and Charlie would pass through. In the call they received the day before, the person told them some facts about their work. If these facts of their job were correct, then after entering they would take an elevator below, where the company kept the animatronics.
Drawing away from the window, Michael leaned against the wall and waited. It wasn't long before Charlie's car pulled in. She exited it, then rushed over to Michael, dressed in the technician uniform, like he was.
"Ready?" she said.
He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. "Ready."
"Let's go then." She opened the entrance and stepped in. He followed her across the room and to the proper door. As soon as it swung open, they were met by a large grey room with flickering lights, two tables with tools, a clothing rack of technician uniforms, and a metal elevator in the center. Neither of them spoke at first, gazing at the elevator curiously.
"Well," Michael said, "this is it."
Charlie drew in a breath and let it out, nodding. "Yes, it is."
"You nervous?" He went to the elevator and hit the red button. The doors slid open.
"Who wouldn't be?" She came up beside him. "This room is a little...um..."
"Creepy?" he supplied. "Suspicious? Ominous?"
"Exactly." She entered the elevator, Michael following. As soon as they did, the doors slammed shut and the elevator jolted to a start. Charlie nearly lost her balance, grabbing Michael's arm as she wobbled. He helped her steady herself, then glanced around. The elevator looked a bit smaller on the inside than the outside, but bigger than an average elevator. It held the shape of a cylinder, its silver walls covered with stray pipes and controls of some sort. Two flags hung on either side of the door, each of which depicted an odd-looking humanoid animatronic upon it. He recognized one as Circus Baby, whom Elizabeth used to adore, but the other was unfamiliar to him. The flags blew and wiggled while the elevator went down, a large fan on the ceiling sending a faint wind through the area as its shadow moved across the mesh floor.
"Weird elevator," Charlie commented.
"My thoughts exactly," he said. "I wonder if it's—" He cut himself off with a startled cry as a new voice boomed through the area.
"Welcome to your exciting new career," it said, "whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you." Michael and Charlie exchanged glances, listening to the odd voice's words. "I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I am a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities."
"Wow." Michael's voice was flat. "I'm so excited." A sudden, tiny metal table of some sort popped out of the wall beside him, with an odd device lying up on it. The action made Michael cry out and jump again.
Charlie laughed as he picked up the device. "Somebody's a little jumpy."
He rolled his eyes, then examined what he had retrieved. Colored in yellow with a dark touchscreen, the device looked strange, almost like a toy a child might use. Michael's nickname "Mike" was taped to the upper right corner, probably a mocking joke arranged by his father, as if Michael couldn't remember his own name.
"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad," Hand-Unit said. "This cannot be changed later, so please be careful." A green keypad appeared on the screen, its letters glitching and fazing across the screen. Michael couldn't tell if it was caused by the constant jolting and bumping of the elevator or if the thing was glitched, but either way, he could barely type on it.
"Uh..." He hit a few keys, hoping he had spelled out his name. A noise emanated from the device, and an error message appeared.
"It seems you had some trouble with the keypad," Hand-Unit said. "I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. One moment." He sighed, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.
"Hopefully this thing has a good autocorrect system." Charlie peered over his shoulder.
"Mm." He hummed in agreement.
"Welcome," Hand-Unit continued, "Eggs Benedict." Michael blinked repeatedly, staring at the name upon the screen blankly. He sent Charlie a baffled look; it immediately changed to one of annoyance when he noticed that she struggled not to laugh, her hand covering her mouth, eyes tearing up, and muffled snickers slipping through.
"It's not funny," he said.
She nodded.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't do it. You better not do it." It was too late. Charlie burst out laughing, leaning over herself as she did.
"Eggs Benedict?" She spoke between guffaws. "I'm...I'm questioning how Hand-Unit even ended up with it. What the heck did you type?"
"I have no idea." He sighed, then chuckled. "Guess I'm Eggs now."
She laughed harder, and he shook his head at her.
"Please hand the keypad over to your coworker," Hand-Unit spoke up. "It is their turn to enter their name."
"Alright, Charlie." Michael held it out to her. "Good luck."
She nodded, taking it as she tried to calm from her laugh attack. Still snickering, she typed her name the best she could. The same error occurred. After saying the exact error message, Hand-Unit announced, "Welcome...Cheerios."
Charlie lowered the keypad. "Cheerios?"
"Guess Hand-Unit wants breakfast." Michael gave a laugh. "At least it's more similar to your actual name, than Eggs Benedict is to mine." He tilted his head, taking the handheld device back. "Hey, you know, Cheerios is actually a cute nickname for you."
"Oh, no, no, no." She shook her head. "Don't you dare call me that."
He sent her a smirk. "Whatever you say, Cheerios."
"Okay then, Eggs," she shot back, returning the smirk.
"Cheerios."
"Eggs."
"Cheerios!"
"Eggs!"
"Cheeri—" Michael began, but his words cut off, for the elevator slammed to a halt and a cheery tune entered the area.
Shortly following it came Hand-Unit's voice, saying, "You can now open the elevator using that bright, red, and obvious button. Let's get to work!"
"Obvious red button?" Charlie repeated. "Found it!" She booped Michael's nose. "Shoot, why didn't the elevator open?"
He laughed and pressed the real button. "Alright, enough messing around." He set his jaw, growing more solemn. "It's time for work." He looked ahead, examining the dark room before them. A few strands of caution tape covered the wall, and below it was a vent, just big enough for him. "Don't tell me we have to go through that."
"Looks like it," she said. "After you." She motioned towards it.
He sent her an unamused look.
She merely smiled, gesturing to the vent again.
"Ugh fine." He got down and crawled into it, feeling trapped already. Charlie entered after him, and together they climbed through it, the long, darkened passage closing in around them.
"Can you see the end?" Charlie asked.
"No," he said, "it's probably pretty long." He gave a brief laugh. "Maybe you shouldn't have climbed in second, you're stuck staring at my butt. Probably not a good view, hmm?"
"Oh, uh—" Charlie sounded nervous— "yes, um, totally not."
"Allow me to fill this frightening silence with some light-hearted banter." Hand-Unit's voice boomed out, making Charlie gasp and startle.
"Who's jumpy now?" Michael said with a smug smile.
Charlie shot a sassy reply right back at him, but her voice was drowned out by Hand-Unit. "Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set—no pun intended—for another contender in children's entertainment."
Michael nodded, remembering that this location began shortly after the original pizzeria closed. That was also around the time it happened...Elizabeth's death. He slowed in his crawling, holding back a heavy sigh.
"Unlike most entertainment venues," Hand-Unit went on, "our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning." The duo climbed out of the vent, exiting into an eerie room, decorated with odd objects. Two windows stretched across either wall and a vent stood beneath both. At the front, a large fan blew cool air into the room, above which hung an animatronic clown mask. In front of either window stood a contraption of some sort, with two buttons, both of which were grey but with different symbols. The top held a sun, and the bottom a lightning bolt.
Michael examined all this while Hand-Unit instructed them. "You are now in the Primary Control Module. It's actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now, let's get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left." Both Michael and Charlie stepped towards it. "This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left." Michael did just that, hitting the proper button. A glitchy electricity sound came as a light lit up in the darkened room behind the left window, flickering across a round black stage with a light-lined arch above it. Nothing stood there. As the light flicked back off, Hand-Unit said, "Uh oh, it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step."
"A what now?" Michael said.
"We have to shock an animatronic?" Charlie glanced between the keypad and window. "That doesn't seem right. Wouldn't that damage it?"
"Hmm. Well, if they're having us do it, maybe it won't..." He hesitantly pressed the red button. Immediately, a shock sparked around the stage of Ballora Gallery. The buttons turned grey for a moment, then went back to their usual glow.
"Let's check the light again," said Hand-Unit. Exchanging a glance with Charlie, Michael turned the light back on. There on the stage spun Ballora, surrounded by small, wooden ballerinas. The sight made Michael shudder.
"Excellent." Hand-Unit's voice came. "Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right. This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light; let's see what Funtime Foxy is up to." Michael turned to the right room, Charlie doing the same. She pressed the button, lighting up the room and revealing the animatronic's absence. "It looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let's motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock."
"Say Funtime Foxy one more time." Michael rolled his eyes and shocked the animatronic. When he tried the light again, still Foxy was not there. Hand-Unit had them shock him again, and sure enough, Foxy appeared, the light glinting off his white exterior as he performed on the stage.
"Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order," Hand-Unit said. "Great job! In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module." Michael and Charlie hesitated, turning to each other.
"This isn't really what I expected so far," she said.
"No, it isn't." He shook his head. "But at least it isn't difficult. Perhaps this job is easier than we thought."
"Yeah," said she, then chuckled a bit. "You know, Funtime Foxy looks sort of feminine, kind of like the Mangle. I could never figure out the gender. Do you know?"
"Maybe." He shrugged.
"Then what is it?" she asked.
Michael paused, blinking a few times. Not sure what to actually reply with, all he said was, "Yes." He turned and entered the vent. Charlie laughed, following close behind. The crawl there felt about as long as the entrance. When they reached the end, they found themselves in an even darker room, one with a massive window and a control panel before it. The same elevated keypad stood beside the desk.
"On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby's Auditorium," Hand-Unit said. "Let's check the light, and see what Baby is up to." Charlie stepped over and lit up the room. A small amount of light shone through the shadows of the auditorium. Not a thing could be seen.
"Huh." Michael put a hand over his eyes, peering closer. "I can't even see the stage."
"Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later," said Hand-Unit.
"Guess that explains how dark it is." Charlie shrugged.
"Let's encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock," Hand-Unit said.
With a sigh, she pressed the shock button. A light and a few sparks flashed through the room, then darkness consumed it again. She turned on the light. No Circus Baby. "Let's try another controlled shock." Charlie did. Still no Circus Baby. "Let's try another controlled shock." She sent Michael an anxious glance, then did as she was told. After the electricity stopped, she turned the dim light back on.
"No Circus Baby." She breathed a sigh.
"Great job, Circus Baby. We knew we could count on you!" Hand-Unit said.
"Oh, um..." Charlie blinked in surprise. "So she really is there?"
"Guess so." Michael nodded, struggling to see through the darkness. The animatronic was not visible, but he assumed she stood on her stage now...wherever that was.
"That concludes your duties for your first night on the job," said Hand-Unit. "We don't want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we'll see you again tomorrow."
Michael and Charlie exchanged a relieved smile.
"That was super easy," she said. "Maybe a little too easy, but eh, we'll probably have more to do tomorrow."
"Probably," he said. "It felt sort of good zapping those things, if I'm being honest."
"Mike!" She gently smacked his arm.
"What?" He rubbed at the vaguely sore area. "I'm just...not the biggest fan of them, sometimes."
"I know." She patted his shoulder. "I was only joking. Now let's get out of here."
"Right." He slipped into the vent. "Glad the shift was so short. Don't wanna miss the newest episode of The Immortal and the Restless."
"You and your soap operas." She laughed.
"Want to join?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied, amusement in her voice. "You'll have to catch me up on the story, but I'm alright with it."
"Trust me, you're going to love the drama between Vlad and Clara." Michael exited the vent, then headed for the next. He paused outside it, sending her a pleasant look. "But anyway, thanks for joining me."
"Oh, it's nothing." She waved a hand. "You know I like things like this."
"Even so." He smiled. "It means a lot. Thank you."
She smiled back, warmth entering her brown eyes. "You're welcome. What else are friends for?"
"Right..." His smile wavered. "Friends." They held each other's gaze for a moment, then crawled through the final vent, chatting as they did. They jested with each other all the way from the elevator to the car, thoroughly relaxed after a night of light work. Though they both knew their next nights of work may not be so simple, both of them were satisfied and more than ready to tackle whatever the job held next.