It had been 6 weeks since Vanny had been killed, safe to say that brought Freddy Fazbear's pizza Plex back on the map for some parents. Out of sight, out of mind. There was no article that told the truth behind the missing child cases, only that they had ceased, for now. If the parents couldn't see any more articles on missing kids, they guessed that the place must've been safe. Who could blame them? They didn't exactly thoroughly research the establishments they went to. In this day and age, the most anyone was willing to do would be looking at the ratings and reviews.
With all the new traction and buzz at day, the night shift also became slightly more draining. The more the merrier? No, the more the messier when it came to children's restaurants, let alone mega malls. Freddy had told Cooper sometime during the weeks, that their customer count average during the killings was about 30 families a day, not even including the teenagers and young adults who enter the mall alone. After the killings, Freddy's average was around 116 families. Yeah, quite busy.
With all the new customers came not just mess problems, but all sorts of other ones. S.T.A.F.F bots would have to work in overdrive to actually even have a chance to get orders out quickly, The animatronics would have to expend more energy looking after more kids at their designated attractions, causing them to have to dip to recharge mid-Fazer fight, or mid mini golf, and as previously stated, the messes...
Some of them were so bad it took the janitors multiple days to clean them up.
Freddy was able to recall one particularly bad day when a kid just wasn't getting his way. He wanted a blue birthday cake, with Bonnie all over it. Instead, he got a Monty one that was green. Even though the flavours were the same, the kid karate chopped the cake out of Freddy's hand, sending it to the floor candles first, luckily not causing a fire, before grabbing the table cloth, and yanking it as hard as he could to really get the message across that he wasn't happy. He ran shortly after. He was caught though, and sentenced to 4 months in superstar daycare, under the management of the daycare attendant. A just punishment.
In the six weeks, Roxy's raceway had finally finished construction. The attraction was incredibly popular, rivalling Fazerblast. Freddy really didn't care. Roxy on the other hand, would not let Freddy hear the end of it. Her ego skyrocketed during the day, and she became cocky and obnoxious, unpleasant for the other animatronics to be around. During the night however, she was fine. Whether that be because of the presence of Cooper, or maybe because of the lack of guests.
Speaking of Cooper, he had gotten to know all the animatronics much better over the six weeks, all except for Monty, whom he hung out with like only 3 times. The only reason he had hung out with him at all was to play golf. His relationship with Roxy had not changed too much, the only change being their showing affection for each other more frequently. If they weren't alone none of the other animatronics really cared, they had all just gotten used to it.
Freddy had started to distance himself ever so slightly from Roxy, as her personality that had become egotistical and narcissistic had begun to take a toll on him. It only made sense for Gregory to start doing the same. Roxy hadn't really noticed their distancing, she was too busy with Cooper and herself.
Cooper clocked on and headed up to the atrium. He looked at the messages on his fazwatch. Unread message. He clicked on it. To whom it may concern, night shift management has requested a large spill in the main atrium to be cleaned, as s.t.a.f.f. bots are currently all recharging, loose tires in Roxy raceway to be picked up and put back on their respected racks, and finally a check up on Monty, he has been incredibly antisocial lately, it's been bad for business. Thanks in advance.
"Quite the agenda tonight." Cooper told himself whilst humming the elevator tune. "It'll keep me busy for an hour. Something to do." The doors in front of him opened and he was met with the same familiar neon sight. He walked up to a restaurant shutter and knocked. No response.
So they really are charging? No coffee for me I guess. He glanced over at the tables at the centre of the atrium, there he saw what the message was referring to. 2 slushies spilled over on the tiles, 2 bags of popcorn, and an entire sandwich.
Who just wastes food like this? I get you're a child but like... C'mon. How do you even spill two slushies that look like they were basically full? I guess I'm lucky it was the tiles and not the carpet. He thought whilst walking to the nearest janitor's closet to get a mop and a spot sweep. He walked slowly, his footsteps echoing in the vastness of the atrium. They could at least play a bit of music over the p.a. system. Actually, I've got headphones. He was kicking himself for not remembering that obvious fact sooner. They would make something as dull as cleaning at least bearable.
But they're in my locker... Can't be bothered to walk all the way back... He thought. He made his way to a janitorial closet on the second floor and obtained a mop and spot sweep. He walked back and began cleaning.
Whilst he was, his mind wandered. Free to think up anything it wanted to. He began thinking of the weirdest and most random stuff. Shower thoughts.
"Hello, Cooper." He was interrupted from his miniature epiphanies by the big brown bear himself.
"Hey Freddy." He replied sleepily.
"I see the customers have made quite a mess here."
Cooper looked at Freddy. "You don't say." He looked past him for his companion. "Where's Gregory?"
"He is asleep in my room. Would you like a hand?"
"Nah. I'm alright. Just a little spill. Thanks for the offer though."
"OK. Well, I was just going to Monty golf to check up on Monty. He hasn't been himself lately. Feel free to join us when you are finished."
"I'd love to, but I got other things to do tonight."
"OK. Goodbye." Freddy said whilst walking away, rather abruptly.
After a few minutes, Cooper was nearly done. It wasn't that disastrous of a mess, since luckily it was on tiles. He walked back up to the second floor where he found the janitor's closet and put the cleaning utensils away. He checked his fazwatch. Ohh yeah, tires. Raceway. He thought as he began moving towards the raceway.
Despite having challenged him when the racetrack was incomplete, Roxy had never followed through with her offer to race him. He knew he did want to race her, he thought it would have been fun. He just expected Roxy to invite him to her track for a race.
The hallways he walked through were pristine and in gorgeous condition. To be expected from an update to an old attraction. As he moved closer he could hear the distinct sound of a go-kart racing around at an incredibly high speed. Hey Roxy. He thought to himself as he moved forward.
He passed the large wall of trophies, which had been largely unchanged via Roxy's request. Instead, receiving attention, having been all polished and dusted and made to look brand new.
He turned the corner into the raceway and was met by a dimly lit track, headlights illuminating it every now and then. The track itself had been revamped, now with proper asphalt making it similar to a proper road, and a new layout. The track itself started simple, with only a couple of easy and basic turns. The more you drove however, the more twisty and windy it became, and the more dangerous it became.
Because of this, several safety protocols were put in place, none of which Roxy followed. Speed limits were used when the track became windier, Roxy just ignored them though. To be fair she was ultra-durable, and a small crash would not affect her nearly as much as it would affect a child. Helmets and other safety items were required, again none of which Roxy wore. None of the human staff during the day cared though, it was her attraction after all. She could do what she wanted.
Cooper walked down a flight of stairs to the start of the track. He looked at it and saw the dim lights just barely marking out the path to the racer, but ultimately being rendered useless by the racer's headlights which mostly illuminated the track. He rested on the metal separators whilst he watched the wolf in the brief moments she was visible. Cooper looked up at the lap counter on the wall behind him, just below the clip art of Roxy waving two flags. It read lap 46, with a time of 17 minutes.
46 laps in seventeen minutes. How is that even possible. He thought to himself. Then again, she doesn't exactly comply with the speed limits. He got up and began walking to where the tires were stored. Sure enough, roughly 20 tires laid on the ground unorganized. some were small, and therefore easy to lift, whilst some others not so much. Jeez, what the hell happened here. He walked over to the racks.
He looked at each tire size and then began looking for the corresponding rack. The first few tires he picked up were tiny. the go-karts they were for were probably meant for around 7 to 10-year-olds. The next tires were larger and therefore heavier. they still weren't too bad though. Around this time he noticed that he couldn't hear any go-kart engines and that there were no more brief flashes of headlights. He looked towards the track and saw nothing.
He looked back and kept on sorting the tires. He was almost done when four remained, and they were huge. Just barely below the size of actual car tires. Who the heck would need a go-kart with these wheels? These are like monster trucks of the go-kart world. He lifted the tire with all his might, it had moved, just not enough to get it off the ground.
"Now how the hell am I going to-" He was interrupted mid-sentence as a pair of grey robotic arms reached out from behind him and began to lift the tires with ease. A wolf figure emerged from behind his back and placed the tire on the respected rack.
"I'm the best, aren't I." Roxy told him, whilst looking back and giving him a smile. She said it more jokingly this time than arrogantly.
"Mmmhmm. Hello Roxy." Cooper replied.
"Hello. Did you see my lap score? Please tell me you saw it... Did you?" She said, leaning towards him, tail wagging excitedly, her glowing, hypnotic, yellow eyes staring him down, hoping she had impressed him.
"Yeah, I saw you got 46 in 17 minutes." He gave a small round of applause.
"So you did see? 50 laps in under 20 minutes, that's pretty impressive right?" She kept wagging her tail. Cooper found it rather adorable.
"Uh-huh. Now could you give me a hand with the rest of these tires please?" He reached out and scratched just underneath the wolf's mouth. Roxy's tongue slightly poked out of her mouth from the sensation.
"Sure." She looked around at the three that lay dormant on the floor. She bent over and began picking them up and putting them on the racks, completely effortlessly. Cooper silently watched and admired.
When she had finished she turned toward him. She touched both index fingers as if she was about to ask something that made her nervous.
"Now that we're both here and alone..." Her voice went from happy and excited to seductive. "Want to race?" And then back to happy. She gave a shy smile and awaited a response.
"I was expecting something else, but I'd love to race you. Unfortunately, I've got other stuff to do, I need to check on Monty."
The sheer mention of his name set something off in Roxanne. It was no surprise though, given their history.
"Why do you need to visit him?"
"Something about him being antisocial, bad for business or whatever."
"Sounds like Monty. What changed?"
"No clue. But it's my job, I gotta do it." He said with a sigh.
"Fair enough. I want to come with you, but I also don't." She told him.
"Well do whatever you feel comfortable doing. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do."
"Awww. How kind." She told the night guard. "Just for that, I want to go with you now."
"Ummm... Ok then. If you wish." He told her, slightly amused at how easily she made up her mind. The two of them set off for Monty golf. Cooper didn't bother checking the cameras.
They already knew Monty would be there, he barely used his green room, given its condition. And if animatronics could file noise complaints, Monty would've been evicted centuries ago.
They made their way out of Roxy's raceway, and headed for Monty golf.
"Oh yeah, I think Freddy might be talking with him too. He's like the therapist of you four." Cooper joked.
"What's a therapist?" Roxy asked.
Cooper looked at her confused. "You don't know what a therapist is?"
"No."
"Aren't you guys supposed to know everything? Don't you have like an inbuilt encyclopedia?" He asked.
"No. We're programmed to know basic stuff. That's it really. What's a therapist?" She repeated.
"Basically... Someone you talk to when you're sad... And they try to make you happy again. It's the simplest way I can put it."
"Huh." Roxy replied, beginning to think.
At the end of their exchange, Cooper was slightly disappointed that his joke still flew over her head.
They made their way to Monty golf and walked out of the elevator together. The beautiful lush greens and greenery somewhat overwhelmed Roxy. She didn't come here much, but when she did, she forgot how beautiful it was.
The two stepped into the swamp, jungle hybrid landscape and stepped forward before they heard two distinct voices.
"Monty. I'm just concerned about how you are interacting with the customers." The voice belonged to Freddy.
"Looks like he's doing my job for me." Cooper quietly told Roxanne, as they approached the two.
"Look, I don't know who you think you are Freddy, but you're not my boss, I show up during showtimes and that's that. I don't need to do anymore or any less. Got it?" He sounded frustrated. Cooper wondered how he would react when the two made their presence known.
"Monty. I appreciate you showing up consistently and on time, but these are our customers, our fans. It would be a disservice to them if we just brush them aside. At least interact with the children again. Please." His voice was sincere and full of emotion, just no one knew which one.
"Like you used to, Monty. You don't have to hang around us, you don't have to be our friends. But we have a responsibility to make our fans happy. Please, Monty." There was something so reasonable about his proposition.
He sat down on a prop log nearby. He thought for a moment.
"I don't want to be here." He said bluntly. his tone died down a bit.
"I'm not happy Freddy." He looked at him and took off his glasses.
"I can't remember the last time I was happy Freddy. What's wrong with me?" His question was existential. He wasn't crying, but it looked as though he would any second.
"Monty," Freddy said gently to him whilst he sat down next to the gator. He really was the therapist of the bunch.
During their conversation, Cooper and Roxy had clearly overheard almost everything. Something about what he said resonated deep inside of Roxy. She found it awful that she could relate so much with someone she hated. She took a moment to realise that she was the exact same as Monty before she met Cooper. After she had, she became happy.
Was that what Monty needed? Someone to love? Someone to hold onto? Someone to be there in his time of need? Roxy thought. Monty's actions prior were inexcusable, but this poor mental health certainly explained some of it.
"You guys are exactly like humans on the inside." Cooper quietly spoke to Roxanne. Roxy looked at him confused.
"You share the exact same mental problems that we do. You share the same feelings we do." He spoke gently. Roxy was touched. She didn't really know how to respond.
"Were you assuming we were so different?" Roxy replied, interested to know more.
"Yes. Look at you. Who would've thought this robot wolf's mind would be the spitting image of a human's mind." When he put it that way, things made a little more sense to Roxy. Behind the showtimes and the scenes, these guys were completely different characters.
"I don't know why our minds are like this." She told him. "We were created for profit, with a side effect of emotions, and with the territory, depression and sadness. I knew the feeling all too well." She told him.
"So you know the word depression but not therapist?" Cooper asked. Roxy shrugged her shoulders. He was sure there was some irony in his sentence somewhere.
He saw the two robots in front of him. They were in a deep conversation with Monty seeming to be feeling slightly better.
"I feel bad for him." Cooper told her. "He's lonely. He has no one." Roxy was glad she wasn't alone in thinking that.
"I'm going to my room if you want me. I've got some stuff to think about." She told Cooper somewhat sadly. She walked away slowly to the elevator.
Cooper was sad she left, but nevertheless needed to talk to Monty. He approached the two cautiously.
"Hello night guard." Freddy said. Monty looked to the ground, almost ashamed. "When did you get here?" Freddy asked.
Cooper thought on the spot. "Like... Uhhh... 30 seconds ago. I uhh... Need to talk to Monty."
"Why? To lecture me about not wanting to talk to people?" He looked up.
Cooper did not want to answer truthfully. "Yes. Exactly that." He hated that he had to say that, he hated that he was predictable. Especially when it came to complicated stuff like this.
Monty sighed. "What do you want from me?" He asked rather monotonously.
"Monty, perhaps you could let him know of your situation." Freddy told him. He rested a hand on his shoulder.
Cooper checked his fazwatch again quickly. "I've been asked to just check up on you. see how you are doing. I also need to know why you aren't interacting with the kids as much anymore. Day shift employees are noting that you don't talk to anyone. You're not in trouble mate, I just want to know what's happening."
"Why do I have to talk to them anyway?" Monty asked.
"It's your job." Cooper replied. Monty thought he had heard that somewhere before.
"I never got a choice. One day I was built and all of a sudden I'm on stage and I've replaced a star attraction that everyone loved." Monty looked down again.
"Is that what this is about? Bonnie?" Cooper asked.
"I don't know anymore." Monty told, he shed a tear as he put his sunglasses back on.
"Look, I don't want to make things worse for you than they already are, so... Could you just promise me that you'll talk to some of the kids and adults during the day? Please?"
"What if I don't? Will I get scrapped?" His voice sounded almost... Optimistic at the last sentence.
"Monty, don't think like that." Freddy told him.
Is this robot contemplating suicide? Cooper thought. Something inside of him became deeply saddened at that realisation.
"Just... Talk to people okay?" Cooper left before he heard a response.
When he stepped into the elevator, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was just something so human about him. He took that robot thinking about suicide as seriously as he would a regular person. A tear shed from his eye.
These guys' mental health is just as important and serious as our own, why would they be programmed like this? He thought as he left the elevator.
He walked over to the nearest security office and started filling out notes on Monty. Claims he is unhappy. Recurring elements and ideas of suicide and being scrapped. Couldn't reach an agreement on social behaviour. Tech team may need to get involved. If not, hell, maybe even a real therapist. It sounds crazy, but these guys aren't too far from human.
As he jotted down his notes, he realised how insane he sounded. He was seriously considering a therapist would be ideal for robots? Maybe there was something wrong with him.
He checked his fazwatch. 5:56 am.