Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Eighty-Seven
After last night, Natalie was surprised she was awake at all. It had been a rough one. No disasters, but there were flags all over the building that Natalie had to jog to. She caught Vanny's glitchiness on the cams twice but was never able to truly narrow it down to being her. Yet she knew it was her.
So, Natalie was in the middle of making breakfast for herself at lunch when her cellphone rang. She hadn't woken up to see Fritz off that morning- save the vague recollection of him kissing her before he left- so she fully expected it to be him. Without even looking, she answered.
"Yo."
"Hey, Nat!"
Somehow, she never anticipated that it could be Ness.
If there was any doubt in her mind that Ness was Vanny, it would be right here, right now. Because there was no humanly way that Ness had stayed up all night skipping around and sounded this chipper.
Natalie tried to cover up any hesitation. "Oh, hi! Sorry about that, I'm half-awake right now."
"No, you're cool. And if this is a bad time just say the word and we'll do a raincheck, but I don't know if you've heard, but the Pizzaplex is closed today for repairs and they're letting employees come in and do all the stuff that's not getting worked on for half. Off. I thought, I don't know, we could have another girl's day! We could probably sneak Louise in too, nobody'll notice!"
Well, that wasn't what Natalie was planning to do today. She was a little wary too, but she didn't want to pass off the opportunity. Both to not risk invoking Vanny's wrath and to be Ness' friend which, despite her obvious suspicions, she did genuinely believe they were friends. If Vanny was a cry for help, maybe spending more time with Ness would help.
"That sounds great! It's probably going to be just you and me this time though, since Louise is at work. I'll meet you there?"
"I'll come pick you up! I'm at the laundry mat right now so there's no reason to make you drive all the way here when I can swing by!"
And now Ness was wanting to know where she lived. Natalie panicked momentarily.
"Are you sure? You'll have to drive all the way into Hurricane. I can just meet you there!"
"I'm sure! It'll give me a reason to go highway cruising for a few minutes! How do I get to your place?"
By then Natalie had hatched a plan and gave Ness an address. The address was, in fact, to a bus stop a couple of streets away. So, after telling Ness the address and planning to meet up in about forty-five minutes, Natalie hung up and rushed through getting dressed, grabbed a granola bar and a water bottle, and bolted out of the house.
Despite running around the whole night, Natalie speed-walked her way all the way to that bus stop.
On the way she called Fritz and brought him up to speed.
"So, we're heading over there now. Or whenever Ness shows up. I'll let you in on all the dirty details of what's going on once we get there."
"Alright, just… keep your guard up. I don't think she'd pull anything in front of a lot of people, but you never know."
"Well, I hope for her sake she doesn't, because I would hate to have to body slam her in front of all our co-workers."
"Hey, wait, if you're planning on doing that then definitely call me. I can be there in ten minutes, and I've got a newish battery in the camcorder."
Natalie snickered a little. "We'd have to send that to my dad. We'll just nix the part where I'm a disgruntled employee." She sighed, "Okay, I'm at the bus stop."
"Need me to keep you company?"
"Sure, but I'm going to be eating, so you'll have to do all the talking. Tell me about your day."
"It all started with a child getting his sleeve caught on Foxy's hook-," Fritz dramatically began. Natalie smiled and started to bite into her bar.
By time Ness pulled up, Natalie had been finished for a few minutes and lounging on the bench. She quickly ended the call with Fritz.
"I've gotta go. Love you."
"Love you. Be careful!" Fritz warned.
With that, Natalie hung up the call and tucked her cellphone away. She got up as Ness rolled her window down, the brunette waving excitedly and the blond waving back.
"Hey! I thought I was at the wrong place. You don't live here, right?" Ness joked.
"Hey, hey. Don't knock it until you try it," Natalie retorted. She went around the car and got in before gesturing off vaguely. "I live right down there, I just didn't want to get stuck behind the cars."
"Ah, smart! Yeah, I'd prefer that too. I'm what you'd call an anxious driver. Or a frantic driver," Ness said. "I tried to call but I guess you were on the phone."
"Yeah, it was Sam. He's at work so we were catching up."
Ness gave a fond, "Aww."
"Speaking of, how's Brad?"
"He's… good," Ness hesitated a long second. "We've been sort of busy and haven't gotten to spend much time together."
"It happens," Natalie sympathized. "But it'll get better. Trust me, Fri- Freddy's takes a lot out of you. Sam and I went through periods where we too exhausted to say more than a few words to each other."
"How'd you survive?"
"I slept through most of it."
Ness laughed and Natalie smiled, and they headed off towards the highway.
"Sooo I was thinking… that I'm going to go ahead and get my hair done," Ness said.
Natalie's brows raised. "The rainbow highlights?"
"The rainbow highlights," Ness repeated with a growing smile. One both of excitement and nervousness.
"Go for it! You've been planning on it this long. Why not?"
"I'm just a liiittle nervous that something might go wrong, and I'll have to shave my head."
"Pfft! I don't think the Staff Bots will mess up that badly. Worst case scenario they just don't get the highlights even and we have to take you to a real stylist."
"Oh God, real people. I can't handle that!"
Natalie snickered honestly at that. Despite her suspicions about Ness, she was pretty fun.
They got to the Pizzaplex a little later and walked in to find a swath of workers circled around the lobby elevator. Natalie didn't recognize any of them except for Chaz.
"Finally looking for the source of that smell?" she called as she and Ness headed towards the stairs.
Chaz turned back and raised a hand in greeting.
"That's the plan. And we've got a replacement carpet on standby just in case it's mold," he said.
"What if it's a gas leak?"
"Then we're all dead."
One of the other workers gave a quick, "He doesn't mean that." Natalie brushed him off regardless, Ness quietly waved, and they headed out of the lobby.
It was quiet in the Pizzaplex. There were some people and some families, but they were all workers or related to those employees, so it was a smaller turnout. There wasn't even anyone else at the Glamrock Beauty Salon when they arrived. A Staff Bot approached them when they first arrived.
"Hello. Welcome to the Glamrock Beauty Salon. Please take a number from the dispenser and our world-famous stylist will be with you in a moment."
"Oookay…" Natalie said, taking note of the empty salon.
"This is normal," Ness clarified.
They sat off to the side and waited to be attended. Natalie skimmed through a hairstyle and makeup magazine, basically a menu for the beauty salon, while Ness sat there with her heel jumping. At one point Natalie gave her an assuring pat on the back and that seemed to help ease her nerves. Only for them to spike again as the salon bot rolled over- hanging from the ceiling, surprisingly enough.
"Hello. Welcome to the Glamrock Beauty Salon. I am Snippo and I will make you fabulous. How would you like to look fabulous today?"
"I want to get rainbow highlights," Ness said slowly and clearly.
"What color?"
"Uh, rainbow."
"Rainbow consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Is this correct?"
"Yes."
"Excellent choice. It is a good color for you," Snippo complimented. "Permanent or temporary?"
"Per-Permanent," Ness said.
"Would you like to include nails and makeup?"
"I don't know," Ness admitted.
"Let's pass for now and we can add on later," Natalie suggested.
"Yeah, that."
"Understood. Come over to stylist chair three so I can begin your transformation into the new you."
Snippo led Ness off, who looked back at Natalie one last time who gave her two thumbs up. She then went over and got seated into one of the chairs that wasn't a racecar.
Surprisingly, the actual hair treatment didn't take long at all. Especially not for what was supposed to be a permanent dye-job.
"And finished. Admire your new self in the mirror. You are fashion," Snippo 'gushed'.
To which she did, Ness turning her head and pulling her hair around to try and see the back. Natalie grabbed a mirror on the way over and assisted, allowing her to see the highlights. They were faint, but colorful, peeking through her dark hair evenly.
"They turned out great!" Natalie complimented.
"You really think so?"
"I do. Brad's going to love it."
Ness looked surprised, but then gave a flustered smile.
"You really think so? I mean, he should! He's always telling me to get out of my comfort zone."
"Well, you did. And you look fabulous," Natalie said, mimicking the Staff Bots. Ness snickered a little while Natalie looked at the highlights. "…In fact, they look so good I might get some of my own."
"Wait, really? You want to?" Ness asked in surprise.
"I think so! But I'm going to probably go for the temporary stuff. I can't keep 'em in forever, but I could go for, what, a week of color? It'll probably take a few washes to come out."
"Still! Oh wow, they're going to look amazing. Like, you can barely see them in my hair, but you're blond, so they're totally going to pop out-."
There was a jingling sound as the front door opened and both women looked over to see none other than Roxanne Wolf herself walking in.
"Roxy, hey!" Natalie greeted with a wave.
Ness sunk in her seat.
"Vanessa?" Roxy looked in her general direction, squinting, her ears twitching. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon."
"Neither did I. How's it going? Did the technicians take a look at your eyes yet?"
Roxy scoffed. "Of course not. Here I am supposed to be the frontrunner for the raceway and I'm as nearsighted as a bat. I can't even see myself in the mirror unless I'm standing ten inches away!"
"I'm sorry about that," Natalie sympathized softly. Then gave a more upbeat, "But hey, you look great."
"Thank you. I just had my makeup redone," Roxy said, running a claw through her hair. "I just came by to pick up some nail polish. I have a one-on-one appointment with my biggest fan later. What about you?"
"We're getting rainbow highlights."
"Whoa. That's pretty bold," Roxy said, impressed. "Well, you came to the right place. Snippo does the best highlights."
"I know, my friend here just got them done," Natalie said.
Roxy came over and leaned in very close to the back of Ness' head, squinting and struggling to see the colors while Ness started sweating bullets. But eventually Roxy pulled back with a satisfied nod.
"Snippo has done it again. The softer colors really contrast with the darker hair tone," she said.
"That's what I was thinking," Natalie agreed.
"But if you're getting this done, take my advice. Your hair length? Get it done on the ends and fade into the top."
"I'll take your word for it!"
"Good. You two have a good time, alright?" Roxy said. She then went to look through the nail polish and eventually left right around the time Natalie was getting in the chair. Ness breathed a sigh of relief once she did.
Soon, Natalie's highlights were done as well. Unlike Ness' that streaked through the whole length, hers focused on the lower half of her hair, but the color still came out vibrant. They walked out of the salon together, Ness with a huge, excited smile and Natalie with a much more relaxed one.
Since Natalie had only had a granola bar for breakfast, the two swung by the food court for lunch. Natalie taking the plunge and getting some sort of pizza burrito, and then proceeding to debate over how to eat it.
"Look at this, it's huge! I don't get how someone's supposed to eat this," she said. The Pizzarito so heavy it was hard to lift and the dough so thick that the first bite would be nothing but dough. Eventually she took the plunge- and a plunge it was. Of dough. A bunch of dough with sauce and cheese leaking out.
"You know what I don't get," Ness said. She popped a fry in her mouth and chewed it up before pointing and continuing. "Why someone gets meat and fake meat on a pizza. What's the point of getting fake meat if you're getting real meat anyways? And who comes to Freddy's for chicken alfredo?! There's this brat Lily, she's the daughter of some guy on the board of directors, and she came in and threw this big tantrum about chicken alfredo and somehow-."
"Don't look now-," Natalie warned through a mouthful of dough.
"Well, who are these two lovely ladies?"
Ness' mouth slammed shut and Natalie covered hers as she chewed as fast as she could, swallowing to greet the new face. "Hey, Mr. Wight."
There came James Wight, dressed in business casual making a line directly for their table. He stopped beside it with that big cheesy grin that he got whenever he was talking up the Pizzaplex.
"Why, it's the two Vanessas! I barely recognized you. Ness, your hair looks beautiful. And Vanessa, let me get a good look at yours- fantastic!" Wight exaggerated, and chuckled. "I take it you're both having fun?"
"Oh yeah, we're having a blast," Natalie said.
"And I see you're trying the Pizzarito! It's our most popular menu item you know. What do you think?"
"It's… great! Very cheesy," Natalie said, deciding to not voice any of the complaints she voiced to Ness minutes ago.
Ness just sat there awkwardly smiling. Giving a hum of agreement and nodding.
"That is excellent to hear! I'll be getting one for myself once I finish up upstairs. I'm famished! I was so eager to get here that I walked right out of the house without a breakfast- beyond a toast point or two."
Ness offered her cup of fries.
"Oh, thank you!" Wight grabbed a couple. "But I hope to see you both at the theater tonight. We will be screening the new Freddy and Friends movie."
"Wait, there's a Freddy and Friends movie?" Natalie asked in surprise.
"Yes! And this is just the newest one, 'Freddy and Friends in the Universe 2000!' A delightful science fiction romp. Though we have a slew of others. 'A Freddy and Friends Christmas Carol,' 'Chica goes Hollywood', 'Rocking on the Raceway'…" He snapped his fingers. "What am I forgetting?"
"The Faz-Babies straight-to-video line," Ness added.
"Ah, yes! That."
"Wow," Natalie said. Though she was more wowing about how much there was in such a short amount of time. She was waiting for someone to mention a cartoon, but neither did.
"Today the Fazbear Theater, tomorrow the big screen!" Wight proclaimed. He then gave a dismissive wave like he was playing even though Natalie was pretty sure he was being serious. "Well, I won't stand here gawking all day. You two have a good time and we'll catch up later," he said.
"Okay," Ness said. She gave him a smile and Natalie waved as he headed off.
She watched him go while Ness popped another fry into her mouth.
"…Was he flirting with us?" Natalie asked.
Ness almost choked on her food.
That joke aside though, Natalie found herself still thinking about it even as they returned to eating. And a few minutes later, after one more bite of the Pizzarito, Natalie dared to ask.
"Hey…" she started quietly. "Is there something… going on between you and Wight?"
"What? No! He's just- he's like a dad to me," Ness said.
"Just double-checking. Just keeping an eye out for you. Making sure Wight isn't doing anything sketchy."
"I appreciate it. And I'm glad you asked me instead of whispering about it behind my back," Ness said, trailing off at the end.
Natalie quirked a brow. "Sounds like you've had experience."
"Just be lucky you're not part of the office staff. They get way too into everyone's business," Ness added.
"Just give me a name and I'll take care of 'em."
Ness got her smile back at that. "I'll keep you posted. I've got a few people who could afford to be arrested."
The mood returned to normal for a short while, with Ness even running to the counter to grab Natalie a knife and fork to go at her food with. Which she did.
And then Natalie caught sight of someone running across the atrium, and then a second person racing behind them. She realized right away that it was the two daytime security guards, Tommy and Abe.
"Hey, what's the fire?" she yelled over toward them.
Abe gave a wave but kept running. Tommy actually stopped, hand on his hip and hunching over a little before calling back. "Something's going down in the atrium!"
The first thing Natalie thought was that someone had gotten hurt in the elevator. Either that or someone found something. Either way, she sprung up from her chair.
"Let's go," she said.
It didn't matter that it wasn't her shift, she hurried after them. Ness was a little startled but quickly caught up and all four ended up heading into the lobby together.
…
With a loud clatter, the hatch hidden in the bottom of the elevator shaft was finally popped open. It took a crowbar to do it, but it flipped open and revealed the dark hole. Out of which a rotten smell wafted out. The thick armed technician that had popped it open gagged and covered his mouth.
Then he looked up to the next technician and pointed down into the pit.
"Alright, Grady, get in there."
The technician, Grady, had his eyes almost pop out of his sockets.
"Me? I'm not going down there," he said pointing to himself.
"You're the best fit. You've got to go down there," Chaz said.
"What about Stanley?"
"Stanley's not fitting down there."
"What about you?"
Chaz silently gestured to his own stomach.
"Flynn!"
Flynn was over by the stairs last time he checked but had now mysteriously disappeared.
"Relax, it's no big deal. The crawlspace is only about three feet deep. You just climb in, flash the light around, and see what died down there," Chaz encouraged.
Grady did not want to do this. He looked up at the elevator, which was parked at the actual landing on the second level of the lobby. They had to remove the glass wall of the tube to get in here so, by all accounts, the elevator shouldn't lower. It shouldn't drop. Yet he was increasingly nervous that it would.
Chaz must've noticed where he was looking.
"It's fine. The power's cut, the elevator's not going anywhere," Chaz assured. "And if it does, with how slow this one moves, you'll be out and eating a sandwich before the thing touches ground."
"And if it drops?"
"You're stuck in the crawlspace for a little while."
Grady sighed and reluctantly took the flashlight that Chaz held out. Then he stepped down into the shaft and to the edge of the hatch. Then he crouched down and went to lower himself in. Ronan, the other technician, taking his hand and helping him lower inside.
The smell in that crawlspace was wrong. Something nasty and decayed. Not as powerful as he was expecting but definitely the source of the elevator's stench. Maybe that woman who said it was gas was right.
"If I pass out, pull me out quick," Grady warned.
Then he crouched down onto his knees and shined his light around the crawlspace, fully expecting that he was going to really have to look for the source of the smell.
But there really wasn't much there. It was a crawlspace either right above or beside one of the basement production lines, so it made sense that there wasn't a lot of useable room. It had just gotten closed up and forgotten about. Made sense.
What didn't make sense was when his flashlight fell on a starry pattern tucked into the back corner of the crawlspace.
It was the only thing in the crawlspace.
Grady already had his suspicions, but he couldn't look away. He called up, "I… I think I see something! Hold on, let me check…"
He began to crawl through the small space. It wasn't three feet like Chaz said. More like two, maybe even less. It was terribly claustrophobic, especially with the flashlight bouncing from his movements.
Yet the beam stayed ever stuck on that starry patterned lump. It was a bundled-up blanket. One of those starry blue twin comforters from the daycare. The smell was coming from it.
It eventually got so strong that Grady wrinkled his nose and went to block it with his arm. In that motion he shined the light to the side and his heart stopped.
He saw a shoe sticking out from the bottom of the blanket. No, not a shoe. A foot, a leg. A person, it was a person. It was a-
He swore loudly.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Body! There's a- Holy hell, oh my God, it's a- There's a body wrapped up down here!"
"Somebody?" Ronan called, thinking he heard wrong.
"A corpse, man! A CORPSE!"
…
By time the elevator doors opened there was a chaos erupting in the lobby. A cacophony of panicked voices from below. Abe didn't wait and ran to the steps, bolting down them so fast that he stumbled.
"What's going on?! Did somebody get hurt?!" he shouted.
"There's a body down there!" one of the technicians yelled.
Abe mouth nearly dropped open. "Wh-What?! Where?!"
"In the crawlspace underneath the elevator! Right there!" He dry-heaved.
Grady crawled back out of the hatch with a sickened look and turned up to face Chaz. His face taking a new stony expression.
"I think it's Ray," he said.
"Bullshit," Chaz instantly shot down. He gestured for Grady to come out. "Move. Let me see."
Grady quickly got out and Chaz climbed down into the crawlspace.
"Did he say there was a body?!" Tommy asked.
"Yeah…" Abe said. His eyes wide and distant.
Tommy wasn't so convinced. "Are you sure there ain't some prop down there that you're just thinking is a body? Some broken up Staff Bot or something?"
"It's a body. I don't know who it is, but it's somebody. And they've been down there a while…" Grady said. His voice shaken but sure. He looked to the two, and to the women coming down the stairs behind him, focusing on Ness. "Ness, I think it's Ray."
Ness' eyes widened and she froze on the spot on the steps. Like a deer in headlights.
She wasn't the only one either.
Tommy went as pale as a sheet. Then suddenly ripped off his badge.
"I quit," he said. Eyes wide, he threw the badge to the floor and turned and strode to the exit. "That's it! I'm done! I quit! I'm outta here!"
"What?!" Abe snapped his head between him and the ordeal in front of them, then rushed after him. "Tommy, wait!"
"I'm done!" Tommy shouted back.
He strode out the front doors and towards his car, with Abe quick on his heels, still pleading with him to stop.
"Tommy, wait."
"You're not getting me back in there, Abe!" Tommy spun on his heel and began walking backwards, hands up as though in defense. "A dead guy?! A dead body?! That's where I draw the line! Screw this, I'm not- I ain't getting caught up in all this!"
"But they need us! Or, I… I need you. I can't do this alone! 'Specially not now!"
"You're staying?!"
"I've got no choice!"
"Abe…" Tommy turned and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes. "You can find another job. This job ain't that important! A guy's dead in there!" he shouted, gesturing a hand at the Pizzaplex.
"I… I can't. I need this job," Abe meekly admitted.
Tommy looked unimpressed and let him go, turning away and continuing towards his car.
"Well, I don't. Life's too short to get your name listed in a murder investigation."
"It could've been an accident…?"
"Fat chance."
Abe was scrambling as Tommy finally got to his car and unlocked the door.
"Call me if you wanna get a drink sometime, but other than that, I ain't comin' back," Tommy swore. He dropped into his seat, shut his car door, and started it up.
He caught sight of Abe standing outside his car door looking devastated and took pity, rolling his eyes and rolling down the window.
"Last chance to come with me," he offered.
Abe stared at him, overwhelmed and panicking. There was a dead guy inside, a dead guy, and likely the place was going to close. He could lose his job, and if he didn't, he'd be here alone without Tommy. He couldn't be here alone. Not this place, not with the noises and the way the Staff Bots looked at him. He couldn't lose this job; he couldn't do it alone. He needed help.
Tommy held out a hand in a sort of questioning shrug. Finally, Abe answered, but it wasn't the answer he was expecting.
"I'm living out of my car."
Tommy stared at Abe for a long second before his brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"I'm living out of my car, Tommy. I need this job, I don't have any other options."
There was a long silence. Tommy now just as blindsided as Abe was. After a few more seconds he turned the car off.
Abe's shoulders slouched with a sigh. He stepped aside and sat down on the ground beside the car, his back to the sun-warned metal, trying to slow his pounding heartrate.
Tommy opened his door and leaned out. "You said you're what?"
Abe took a shaky breath and explained.
"My mom's sick. Like… she has to be taken care of. She needs round the clock care, and her insurance doesn't… Almost every cent I make goes to her. Everything else goes into my gas tank…"
"Oh geez…" Tommy said. Suddenly understanding the gravity of the situation Abe was stuck in.
Abe covered his face with his hand.
"I can't leave," he mumbled into it.
There was that tense silence again.
Tommy had been so prepared to blow out of here and leave this all behind, but now here he was just as stuck as Abe was. Who could drive off after something like that?
Especially since… Tommy had a hunch something was up. He thought it was really weird how Abe was so eager for overtime work, how he would wrap up stale food that was supposed to be thrown out and take it with him. Sure, he did it too, but Abe did it a lot more often and didn't care how old the stuff was. Sometimes his uniform was wrinkled like it hadn't been washed either, not that Tommy cared but…
But that explained some things. Especially why he was so afraid to leave the job. Tommy might've not known Abe was homeless, but he did know he had trouble finding a job. The only reason he scraped into this one was because the Pizzaplex wanted security guard fast and weren't too picky on who they chose.
It would've been one thing if he was just living paycheck to paycheck, but with a mother with medical bills- if the Pizzaplex had any perks it was that it paid better than any other place in town. That was one of the reasons Tommy stuck around. That and… Abe.
Tommy stood from the car, finally doing something other than sitting and staring and took only a step closer, shut the car door closed behind him, and sat down on the ground beside Abe. His legs crossed, Abe's bent in front of him, and both sitting there like a couple of chumps who had gotten canned, not a couple of chumps who were stuck with jobs.
Eventually Tommy spoke up. "Can't you get help or something? Like food stamps? Anything?"
"She gets a little help. It doesn't really cover much."
"They should cover your mom getting taken care of!"
"They do… but the place they had her wasn't great. I had to pay myself if I wanted her somewhere that'd make sure she was really taken care of."
Tommy hissed sympathetically. "Yikes."
There was a brief pause.
"Wh-What about family? You got any family somewhere that'll pitch in?"
"I've got a brother, but he's not really in the picture…"
"Do you got anyone? Anyone at all?"
Abe looked at Tommy.
Oh.
Oh.
Well, that made things a whole lot more complicated.
There was another, somewhat longer pause until Tommy sighed.
"Abe, if this is going down, you know this place ain't gonna be open much longer."
"I… I don't know," Abe admitted. Answering the question that Tommy had only implied.
Honestly, Tommy didn't know either. Didn't know what he was going to do, because he was all prepped and ready to go at any time and now something was holding him back. The same something that convinced him to stay this long. What was he supposed to do? Leave Abe and risk him ending up shoved in a crawlspace somewhere? Stay and end up in the crawlspace with him?
Tommy had the luxury of going back east if things went sour. Join up with his uncle's handyman company and have a relatively cushy life if he wanted to. He didn't want to, but he could. Abe was stuck.
Tommy knew what he was going to wind up doing and dropped his head back against the car. Clunking it louder than he intended.
Abe looked over at him. "That sounded like it hurt," he mumbled.
"Yeah…" Tommy admitted. He sighed deeply. "…Go back in and get my badge, would ya?"
Abe's head snapped up; eyes as wide as saucers.
"Really?!"
"But tell anyone who'll listen that I'm taking the night off. You too, we're getting out of here while they straighten this out."
"What if they need us?"
"I don't care."
"Tommy…" Abe's face broke into a smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Tommy managed a smile of his own. "Yeah, well. You're gonna have to figure it out. 'Cause I ain't stayin' here forever."
"Got it," Abe agreed with a thumbs up. "Be right back."
He jogged back to the Pizzaplex while Tommy dragged himself to his feet, opened the car door, and collapsed back into his seat. His head dropping into his hand. Somehow, he knew he would regret this.
He was such a sucker.
Abe headed back into the lobby about two seconds after Wight arrived, and since attention was focused on that arrival more than his own, he grabbed the badge, discretely told the closest technician that they were leaving but not quitting- said technician didn't even ask or try to stop him- and then hustled back out. He and Tommy left together in the latter's car.
Meanwhile, inside the building the ordeal continued without them.
"What's going on?!" Wight shouted in surprise as he bolted out of the elevator.
"There's a dead man in the crawlspace down here!" Grady shouted.
"…Dear GOD!" Wight all but screamed. "WHAT?! No, there's- How?! What happened?!"
"We don't know! He's just down here!"
"Are you sure?!"
"What do you mean am I sure?!"
"Are you sure it's a person it's not a Staff Bot they look the same in the dark lighting?!"
"It's not a Staff Bot! It's a- He's Ray! We think he's Ray!"
"JESUS!"
As shady as Wight was, his panic seemed genuine. Though Natalie could understand why. He looked to Ness who looked down quickly, and then to Natalie, and then to anyone else waiting for someone to say it was a mistake, a joke, anything.
That was when Chaz came out of the crawlspace.
"Was it him?" one of the technicians who Natalie didn't know, Ronan, asked.
Chaz didn't answer, he didn't stop. He walked about ten feet away from the elevator with his back towards them and covered his face with one hand. He started to shake a little. He was crying.
Natalie took the initiative and walked over to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. He didn't brush her off, instead softly crying. It was almost strange to see him crying, it told her all it needed to about who Ray was.
"Alright, ALRIGHT! N-Nobody move! Nobody touch him, the body, I mean! I… I am going to call Dr. Talbert and I will be back with you shortly. Nobody call the authorities yet until I… until I get back."
Wight seemed utterly frantic. Grabbing and squeezing Ness' shoulders as he passed by and all but bolted back upstairs and over into the café to find a working landline.
"I can't believe he's going to make us wait to call the police. You know what that is? That's a cover-up," Grady said.
"I don't think you can cover this up," Ronan said.
"They'll try."
"Chaz, I'm so sorry," Natalie said quietly.
"I brought him to this job. I told him to take it," Chaz choked out lowly. "He would've been working at the gas station right now."
"It wasn't your fault," she assured, knowing what he was getting at. "You were close?"
"He's my brother-in-law. He's my best friend."
Oh, they were very close.
"I'm going to have to go home and tell my wife-." He choked up, unable to finish the sentence.
Natalie continued holding him, supporting him all she could.
Finally, Wight returned. He was rubbing his hands together anxiously as he came down the steps, with Ness choosing to follow him down.
"I would like to have everyone's attention!" he called. The technicians and Natalie looked over, Chaz didn't. "I just got off the phone with Dr. Talbert. He is going to come take a look at everything before calling the authorities to make sure he can collect what evidence he can. You know how the police can sometimes miss things and… given the circumstances, we need to know exactly what happened here."
Wight's voice grew more solemn. "This might have shaken us, but this will not ruin us. We will stand together through this troubling time, stay the course, and keep on. This, I promise you."
Chaz turned his head so fast Natalie could've heard it snap. She let him go as he turned on Wight.
"You can't promise us shit! Where do you get off acting like this is some sort of- A man is DEAD! He's DEAD! And you're acting like this is some PR stunt!" Chaz snapped. "Ray's been missing for months, and you covered it up!"
"I-I didn't even know he was there!" Wight fumbled to defend himself, startled at the attack aimed at him.
"Well, we sure as hell would've known sooner if you wouldn't have told everyone, including the police, that he left! He didn't LEAVE, Wight! He DIED and YOU covered it up!"
"I did not-!"
"Really got the real Freddy's experience! Down to the people disappearing and dying, and some slumlord stuffed shirt telling US to be quiet! That why you kept telling everyone those dead kids were rumors?!"
"Chaz, please, this isn't- this is not the same thing. Those WERE rumors-."
"Oh yeah? Why don't we go find William Afton and ask him what happened to all those kids who disappeared?!"
"Don't bring him into this!" Wight snapped back, finally finding his fire. "This is not about him, this is about Ray, and us!"
"No, it's not! It's about his family! He has a kid, Wight! What am I supposed to tell her?!"
That cut off any of Wight's arguments. He floundered, looking like he had been slapped in the face. Utterly speechless.
Chaz took that moment to turn towards Stanley who had faded into the background until address.
"Get your taser. You, you, and you. Let's go. We're heading to the daycare," Chaz instructed. None of the technicians argued.
"The daycare? Why?" Natalie asked. She put two and two together. "What, do you think Sun did this?"
"He's wrapped in a blanket from the daycare," Chaz answered coldly.
"…That doesn't mean that it was him?"
"No, it doesn't. The fact that Ray was his personal technician does," Chaz said bitterly. "Now that thing is currently watching a bunch of young kids. So, until I find out what the hell happened to Ray, we're taking it downstairs and putting it under containment."
No amount of convincing from Natalie swayed Chaz's decision and soon she found herself following him and the other technicians towards the daycare. Ness stayed behind with Wight, who had a hand on her shoulder and was still looking gob smacked.
Natalie had no radio on her. She had no way of warning anybody and no time to do it.
But someone else did.
The Superstar Daycare was moderately busy today. There were only fourteen tots that had been brought in, all children of the employees who were called in to work. Or close enough relatives to qualify for the free daycare services today.
This meant that Sun didn't have to bounce around as much as he usually did. So, this was a good day for arts and crafts. He circled around the tables and watched the kids finger paint pre-printed pictures of Freddy, Chica, and Roxy. Most of them getting the colors wrong, but he admired the effort.
One of the little girls even drew a tiny sun and pointed it out with an excited, "It's you!" He couldn't even comment on her being outside the lines, he just rewarded her with as many stickers as he could afford to stick.
It was a surprisingly delightful day! Though he was looking forwards to the brief reprieve that would be naptime. When he could get off his feet for a while. He had a feeling the kids would be quiet today.
And then a voice suddenly spoke up. Not from beside him or behind him, but from directly inside him. A direct warning inside of his head.
"Don't freak out but they found the… the smell under the elevator."
The moment Sun processed what that meant he was filled with an overwhelming terror. His points pulled in, his fans kicked in, he panicked. He was filled with growing, overwhelming panic.
No. No, no. No, no, no, no.
And then- everything stopped. The panic rose to a crescendo and then released, and the world went black.
Sun shut down. His body tightening up before he collapsed back onto the cushioned floor. His glowing white eyes going dark and his arms falling at his side. One leg bent up, held up only by positioning alone.
The kids noticed immediately and some of them even came to his aid, trying to wake him up. He did not stir. One of the attendants at the front desk noticed and reported that Sun had collapsed but stayed back at the desk.
Up in his and Sun's private nook, Jake was watching the cameras through the control panel and having a meltdown of his own. He had noticed some sort of panicked call over the radio earlier and started watching the lobby, and sure enough it didn't take him long to figure out that something terrible had gone down.
Even with the messages over the radio silenced and unable to hear through the cameras, Jake was seeing something happening there. It was like they had found something in the elevator- that one with the distinct smell. Jake had a bad feeling that they might've truly found something terrible. He was tempted to hook into a Staff Bot to go see, but… he almost didn't want to. He didn't want to know.
And then suddenly, the radio built into his control panel came to life. He didn't even press any buttons, the voice just spilled through.
"The Sun has gone down! The Sun has gone DOWN!"
Jake suddenly straightened to alert.
"What?! He- Hold on!"
He scrambled out of the tunnel and up onto the balcony platform. He peeked out from behind the curtains and much to his horror, there was Sun completely fainted on the floor.
That was bad. That was really bad. If the technicians got ahold of him, who knew what they could do. There were probably months of backlogged updates waiting to be installed if he was taken downstairs. That couldn't happen. That couldn't happen and Jake wasn't able to help him with so many witnesses.
He needed help. He needed-
He all but jumped down into the loft and threw himself through the tunnel. He got to his control panel and went straight to work.
There was only one person who could help Sun now.
…
Freddy had just gotten out of a one-on-one photo session with one of the women who worked at the Fazbear offices and her little boy. It had been a pleasant experience through and through, with the boy reminding him of Gregory, who was currently up playing at the arcade with a friend of his.
This gave Freddy some time to himself. Being that the Pizzaplex was technically closed, Freddy didn't have any shows he needed to do. He just needed to stay out of the way unless some employee, like the woman, showed up with a picture pass. That was fine by him, though it did get a little boring being cooped up in here.
Little did he know that this peace won't last.
Suddenly, he received a message. Not from one of his bandmates or even Sun or Moon, but from an unlikely sender.
"Freddy, I need your help! Sun passed out in the daycare, and I can't reach him! If the technicians come up to get him, he'll be taken to Parts and Service!"
It was Jake, and his words were haunting. Sun never collapsed; that either meant that he was severely overworked, or something went terribly wrong. But if he was taken down to Parts and Service, Freddy couldn't trust that they would repair him. He knew about their sinister updates and was also very aware of how they 'fixed' Chica and Roxy.
No, Sun could not fall into their hands.
Freddy's eyes narrowed with determination.
"I am on my way! Sit tight and stay out of sight!"
With that, Freddy blew out of his green room and ran at full speed towards the daycare.
He breezed through the atrium, thundered up the escalator stairs, bolted through the back hallway, and made his way into the hallway outside the daycare when he saw someone else heading in that direction.
It was a slew of technicians! Including Chaz, the one Sun wasn't fond of, and even Natalie was there in civilian clothes.
They must've been called to come get Sun. Freddy pushed himself to keep running for the daycare as fast as he can.
"Freddy? Freddy?! Where are you going?!"
Freddy ignored the call and continued into the daycare. He raced down the walkway to the stairs, nearly bumping into a worker and hastily apologizing as he continued past. He made it to the daycare doors which had been left open, likely to let the technicians in, and waltzed right in. Only slowing down because of the risk of children being underfoot.
He gasped as he spotted Sun's collapsed form past the play structures. He raced over and knelt, taking care not to bump any of the young children now clamoring around him.
"Sunshine!" he gasped. He gently shook his shoulder, to no avail. With time running out, he pulled him into his arms.
"Is Mr. Sunflower okay? Is he sleeping?" a little girl asked worried.
"He is- yes! Sunflower has just gotten too excited and missed his earlier nap. He needs to be taken to a doctor immediately!"
The kids started to look a little more concerned, but Freddy was quick to try to soothe. Even while carrying an unconscious Sun.
"He will be fine! He just needs a little rest and a check-up. Why not make Sun a get-well card? I am sure that will make him feel much better."
While most of the kids seemed concerned, one boy gave a rather enthusiastic, "Okay!" and returned to the table to do so. So, Freddy took that as his cue to get moving. Some of the young children kept asking questions and trying to follow. Freddy politely answered them while he could, calling back assurances as he left them behind and ran towards the daycare doors.
"Freddy, what are you doing?!" the woman manning the security desk blurted out.
"Taking Sun to Parts and Service," Freddy lied.
He strode out the doors and looked to his left and his eyes went wide as he saw the technicians on the upper steps, led by a fortunately slow Chaz.
A fortunately slow Chaz who looked downright distraught. His face red and his teeth in a tight grimace. Freddy suddenly understood why Sun was so afraid of the technicians, and then he turned and bolted towards the lower theater doors.
"Freddy, get back here, god damn it!"
"I am taking him to Parts and Service!" Freddy called back.
But he wasn't, of course. He took him into the theater and ran around to the stairs leading down into the basement. Much to his surprise, he got down the first flight to see Jake waiting for him.
"Oh, thank goodness! Come on, this way! There's a way into the utilidors down there!" Jake exclaimed. He began to hobble quickly down the steps with Freddy quick on his heels.
But Jake was going marginally slower than Freddy and soon they could hear people entering the upper basement. Now there were numerous voices calling for Freddy. Realizing they were going to get caught, and standing on the landing, Jake pushed Freddy along.
"Go!" he whispered. "I'll hide, just get him somewhere safe!"
Freddy nodded and began to hastily thump down the stairs, making as much noise as possible to draw attention on him as he descended them. Jake darted over to the basement ball pit, used for cleaning and circulating balls, and tried to somewhat quietly slip inside. Only avoiding being noticed because of how loud Freddy was being.
Using his built-in mapping system, Freddy located the door leading further into the basement and made his way down into the utilidor tunnels. Running deep into them until he thought he got far enough away and then stopping around a corner, his back resting against the wall. Not quite catching his breath but trying to get his thoughts together.
Until Sun groaned. Freddy looked down with a start.
"Sunshine?"
Sun tensed up and trembled in his grasp before his points began to pull in. His emission kicked back on with a low flicker, flashing yellow briefly before melding into blue. Moon was coming out, but his eyes were still dimmed.
"Oh, Moonlight…"
Now Freddy was worried. Not just by the delay but by how under Sun, now Moon, really was. Something must've happened, he couldn't have just failed like that, could he? All Freddy knew for certain was that he couldn't risk taking him to Parts and Service or handing him to the technicians. He would have to call Foxy! Foxy would know what to do.
Freddy was contemplating this when a Staff Bot wearing a hardhat rolled around the corner. Freddy looked to it in surprise, and it stiffly looked in his direction, and then down at the animatronic in his grasp. It pointed at Moon and began to make a flagging noise.
Freddy straightened from the wall and started to back away when more of the worker Staff Bots came rolling around the corner. Their eyes focused on Moon and continuing to flag.
Someone, a technician likely, had activated some sort of Staff Bot protocol that put them on watch for Moon. To find him and flag as to lead the technicians right to him. But that wasn't all they were planning to do.
They started to come in with their arms raised and their hands reaching out. They were coming for Moon.
Freddy turned and bolted into the utilidors in a panic. His eyes darting around as he raced through the semi-darkness. Every now and then the lights from his eyes alighting the face of an approaching Staff Bot. There were so many of them and they were all under the same command: find the Daycare Attendant, retrieve the Daycare Attendant.
There had to be somewhere safe. Freddy couldn't run forever; even if he could, he didn't trust that he wouldn't be tracked by some of the Pizzaplex's systems. He had to put Moon somewhere where he wouldn't be found, where the Staff Bots couldn't go, where he couldn't be tracked.
Suddenly Freddy knew where he could take him.
He exited the utilidors and took a detour until he found himself in mounds of trash, pushing past half buried doors that hadn't been used in ages, and continued on until the only Staff Bots he could see were broken ones.
Moon would hate to be down here, but this was the safest place for him. A place where nobody would find someone.
Freddy raced up to a familiar busted-up recharge station. It was shoved open and Glamrock Bonnie stuck his head out as he thumped up to it, the rabbit's good eye going wide.
"Whoa, whoa! Freddy, what the hell?! What happened to nobody can know where I am?!" Bonnie sputtered.
"I know, I am sorry, but Moon needs your help! He collapsed in the daycare and now the technicians and the Staff Bots are both after him!" Freddy gasped out.
Bonnie seemed to grimace and sunk down into his station. "Ooooh God."
"It is very bad."
"So, when did bringing him in here become pa-part of the pl-plllerzt-plan?!"
"The only place Moon will be safe in this state is if he is somewhere where nobody can find him… and they… well…" Freddy awkwardly fumbled his words. "They… never found you."
Bonnie shot an unimpressed look- cockeyed but clear. "Real smooth, Fazbear."
"Erm, true. But this is a matter of… perhaps of life and death, Bonnie. Please. You and Moon used to be very close, you are the only one he can trust," Freddy begged.
Bonnie, mouth agape, looked between him and the Daycare Attendant, before giving a staticky sigh and dropping back into the recharge station.
"Put him in."
"Thank you! I will call Foxy tonight about how we can get him repaired. He may be deactivated until then, but hopefully he will stir in sometime."
"I'll keep an eye on him," Bonnie said flatly. He laid there as Freddy attempted to tuck him into the recharge station. More so laying him on top of Bonnie, so eventually he started to have to adjust to work Moon into a comfortable position. "Where's Jake?"
"He is hiding in the basement of the Fazbear Theater. I will try to contact him as soon as I leave, but I am afraid if I go search for him the technicians will find me."
"Bullseye. They're probably tracking you now. Huh, and they're not the only ones…" Bonnie looked away uneasily. "Just be careful. You're going to make yourself a target getting involved with Fazbear Entertainment's wacky backwards busin-in-sinin-business strategy. Sorry, that one got a little stuck."
Freddy patted and ruffled Bonnie's hair. The rabbit closed his eyes contently. Then Freddy petted Moon's head, only to notice something missing and gasped.
"His nightcap!"
Bonnie made a tried noise of acknowledgement as Freddy reached in and gently tucked his fingers into the hole in Moon's back, reaching past his hoisting hoop and touching fabric. He hooked and pulled free the nightcap before carefully sliding it overtop Moon's head. Freddy sighed and rested his chin on his head, sat there a few moments, and then pulled away.
"I will return once it is safe."
"Be careful out there, Freddy. Once this ship starts sinking, we're all going down," Bonnie warned.
"Not if I can stop it," Freddy said with sworn determination.
Bonnie perked up at that and gave a stiff wave as Freddy slowly walked away. Then shut the recharge station, closing himself and Moon inside.
Freddy took the longest way he could to get back upstairs, forgoing even the Parts and Service lift and instead taking the kitchen one. As he was passing through the atrium, he saw some people there and heard the ghost of a conversation. They had found something. He didn't know what and honestly, he preferred not knowing.
He had a bad feeling that Bonnie's warning carried more weight than it was supposed to.
With a shake of his head, he returned to his greenroom, and waited for the technicians to eventually arrive.
…
The second Chaz and the others took off into the daycare basement, Natalie found it best to fall back and instead go check the poster door. Surprisingly, it was left partially open, and she went inside to see if Jake or Sun were in there. To her dread and relief, neither was. So, likely both had escaped, hopefully.
Then Natalie dared to head down into the basement. Slowly making her way down the steps, and not getting far before she heard a voice.
"Psst!"
Natalie looked over to see the edge of a mask peeking out of a tank of balls. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked over.
"What's going on?" Jake asked.
"Well… Brace yourself, but… they found a body hidden underneath the elevator, and they're blaming it on Sun. Or Moon."
Jake gasped, his hand tightening on the edge of the tank. "No…"
Natalie nodded apologetically.
"No, he- You've got to believe me, Natalie, he would never do that!"
"I don't think he did. I think Chaz has a chip on his shoulder and is going off that," Natalie said.
She chose to briefly ignore the evidence implicating Sun since she knew there was screwy stuff happening at the Pizzaplex. A crazed woman in a rabbit suit possessed by something, a living mound of wires, random possessed endos and Staff Bots- there was a lot going on and this being an incident of framing wouldn't be entirely out of left field.
Jake sunk further into the tank, his head drooping despondently.
"Are you going to be okay?" Natalie asked.
"Me? Oh yeah, I'll be fine! I-I'm just worried, uh… I'm going to hide out here for a little while and then find somewhere to hide. Probably up in the Prize Counter, maybe. Gives me a quick escape off the roof."
"Just be careful and I'll check on you later," Natalie assured.
Jake nodded and she reached out and patted his hand. To which he briefly held her hand before sinking back into the ball pit. Making a noise like he was holding his breath, then calling out, "Force of habit!"
Natalie smiled a little and started out of the basement.
She could help Jake relocate tonight. Likely Sun too, and likely that relocation was going to be out of the Pizzaplex.
They had been preparing for this, honestly. While Natalie didn't want to steal animatronics from Freddy's, they couldn't stand aside and watch people get mistreated because they were animatronics.
She couldn't let that happen. Not to those guys. They were already becoming younger siblings to her; she felt a responsibility to protect them.
She was so distracted that she went around the corner into the theater and almost walked directly into something, coming face to face with a Staff Bot. She shouted in surprise and nearly hopped back onto the stairs, but stopped herself as she realized who it was.
"Smitty! You scared me!"
Smitty must've followed them from wherever he was patrolling. He was looking at her attentively, waiting for orders even though she was off the clock. She patted his shoulder and steered him around.
"Come on, Partner. Let's get back to the lobby."
Smitty obediently followed her back through the daycare and towards the lobby. He seemed a little hesitant to entering the lobby directly for whatever reason, but at her coaxing he followed after her.
She expected the lobby to be largely empty since all the technicians followed Chaz out. She wouldn't have been surprised it there were police out there either though. Instead, she found neither to be the case.
There was a slew of new workers taking the technicians' place. A group of five people in coveralls with thick gloves and boots, but no head or mouth coverings. She didn't recognize any of them, and the only reason she realized that they worked at Freddy's was because their dark blue jumpsuits had the Pizzaplex logo on the back.
Wight was still there. Ness too but standing on the mid-stair landing while he was in the lobby proper, standing with a striking out-of-place man.
The man was tall with broad shoulders and dark toned skin. He had bushy black hair that was edging with grey, and a long solemn face. One lined with weary creases and with a pair of skinny browline glasses perched on his nose. He was wearing a lab coat, which made him stand out like a sore thumb.
Natalie wasn't sure why the man caught her attention so much. She stood alongside Ness and stared at him for a second.
"Hey," Ness greeted.
"Hey…" Natalie lowered her voice to a whisper. "Who is that?"
"That's Dr. Talbert," Ness said quietly.
"He showed up fast," Natalie remarked.
"He was already here."
Natalie wasn't sure why she found that so cryptic. Likely he was just somewhere here with the rest of the employees, but Natalie had the mental image of him lingering somewhere in the shadows.
"I'd, uh, just leave them be… It might be a while," Ness said quietly, assumingly taking the blond's staring as her considering going down there.
But Natalie wouldn't dare do that. She was undercover, making herself a target- when there was currently a body nearby- would've been a really bad idea.
She finally looked away from Dr. Talbert and to Ness.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Uh… yeah. I think so, but I'm kind of still in shock."
"Want to leave? I don't think they'll stop us."
"We can't. Doors are locked. They won't let us leave until we sign a waiver or something."
"…Okay, I stand corrected." Natalie tried to ignore the unease at them getting temporarily locked in.
Ness seemed just as nervous, taking a shaky breath and turning to her.
"…Want to- I-I know this sounds weird, but umm… Want to go… get our nails done? Or go finish our food or just something to get us out of here, please?"
Natalie recognized that desperation and nodded. She took Ness' hand and gave it an assuring squeeze before leading her away, not sure if she was acting or not. Maybe she was behind it, maybe Bunny was, maybe she was and didn't know it. She also waved for Smitty to follow, which he willingly did.
She had a bad feeling about all of this, but somehow as shocked as she was… she also wasn't shocked.
It was as though she knew this was going to happen, and that frightened her.
She had a bad feeling that the cops weren't going to be called.