Curiosity and Ignorance

Hurricane, Utah

Thursday 1st December 2016, 18:14 PM

It hadn't taken them long to get back into Hurricane's centre. By then, the streets were not as packed as they were before. In minutes, Tyler was able to swiftly drive them towards the Fazbear Entertainment Executive Office, guided by Sam.

Once there, he parked up discreetly a block away, close enough to see the car park. "We don't want to get too close," he explained, though he hadn't needed to. Sam was seconds away from suggesting the same thing and Spencer had given a concurring nod.

They waited there, exchanging few words amongst themselves. As the minutes ticked away, Sam could feel the discomfort and tension inside of the car. They all expected to see flashing lights creeping closer. Perhaps a sudden tap on the driver's side window, with a stone-faced Police Officer asking to speak to them.

This was a feeling that Sam had experienced before; a feeling that at any moment, the silence would be broken. Their cover would be torn asunder and escape would be much more difficult. That feeling never left, even as dusk began to creep over the horizon.

All of this, for the confirmation that Mike would be leaving that building safely.

Then that moment finally came. Over the next hour, workers would periodically leave, exchanging farewells. Sometime after six, the last of the workers left, including the man and woman who had been on the stage.

Joined by them was none other than Mike, who exchanged pleasant words before departing. That surge of relief and anguish washed over her again. Once more, she could feel that confusion over seeing him cavorting with their former enemies.

He's playing the long game, she assured herself. What else could it be, after all?

"I reckon we should hold back," Tyler spoke in a hushed voice, "wait for him to get wherever he's going."

Though she felt that worry of losing Mike again, Sam reluctantly nodded her head. "Agreed."

"You know how to follow a guy in a car, old man?" Spencer joked in the back.

"Of course." Tyler scoffed, "Watch and learn, kid."

Entering his own car, Mike began to drive out of the park and into the streets. Drifting their own into gear, Tyler manoeuvred it carefully around the corner, following him. As she watched Mike, trying to get a good look in, she quietly acknowledged Tyler's precautions.

Keeping at least ten spaces back from Mike. Smart.

Before they knew it, Mike was leaving town, towards the north eastern exit. A quick glance in the rear view mirror and towards Tyler told her they both had the same thought. It wasn't a coincidence that Mike happened to be driving up towards New Harmony. Perhaps this was the confirmation that they needed.

It's not definite, though, she reminded herself. Were Mike to indeed be heading that way, it would be easy enough to get up to him. If not, then jumping the gun was the last thing that they needed.

The drive up the route was dripping with caution, with only the two of them on the road for the longest time. Sam almost forgot how to breathe, only realising it when they finally saw other headlights drifting down the roads. As they headed up, they all saw as Mike's headlights turned, his car changing down to a stop.

As they approached the turn, Sam gazed at the sign she'd seen only recently again; Welcome to New Harmony! Population: 241.

Back onto another straight road, this one unfortunately as empty as it could be. For minutes on end, the only two pairs of headlights that were there were their own, and the car up ahead. Finally, as Mike turned left, Tyler slowed the car down and parked up to watch where he was heading.

All three of them watched on as Mike drove down the private road and again past the many trees. When his lights finally vanished, Tyler finally spoke up.

"That's that, then." He pointed out, "I guess your hunch was right."

"Very few options." Sam admitted, finally relaxing, We're not done yet. We still need to talk to him."

"Right. How do you want to do this?"

"Just in case someone's keeping eyes on him, we should do this right. Go up that dirt road again. We'll make our way there the way we did before."

"Roger that." Tyler effortlessly pulled the car back onto the road and followed Mike's route, turning right at the end. Once they reached the dirt road, he took them a hundred metres down it before parking up one last time.

Both Tyler and Spencer got out of the car first, yet something glued Sam in her seat for some time. A sudden realisation struck her that she would need to hold Mike accountable for all of this.

To say that the risk they had undertaken by coming here was severe had to be the understatement of the century. Their own criminal history notwithstanding, she had entered a pit of snakes. AESIR had many enemies; the Crucible was only one of them and if even they knew what was going on…

Whatever his intentions were and whatever their personal history, Mike had put them in hot water. Perhaps she would remember that when she finally was able to openly talk to him.

A knock on the window surprised her. "Sam." Tyler mouthed, not trusting his voice not to be heard by someone nearby, "C'mon."

Sheepishly, Sam opened the door and stepped out into the cold. As they had before, Tyler led them through the woods closer to the clearing in the middle. Reaching the edge of the clearing, all three of them stopped at the sight of a lightless house. As Sam grew concerned, she relaxed when they saw Mike's car parked up outside the house.

"Okay." Tyler spoke in a harsh whisper, "There weren't any security cameras there earlier. Just keep an eye out; we don't know if he's home alone."

Sam and Spencer gave concurring nods before joining him as he led the way. Back over the cracked hill towards the house that stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the clearing. Once they were close enough, they saw Mike in the car, talking to someone.

"He's on his phone." Spencer guessed and when she strained her eyes, she knew he was right. "Probably on his dashboard."

"Like a proper office boy." Tyler grumbled before leading them towards cover. "Alright, how you wanna do this?"

That was the million dollar question; one that she had been wracking over in her head all day. "Spencer, you cleared the house, didn't you? There weren't any signs of surveillance?"

"Definitely not." Spencer confirmed.

"Then I think it's better to wait for him inside. Tyler, you unlock the door, same way you did before. Then…I'll talk to him." She hesitated as she said the last word. "Alone."

Without skipping a beat, Tyler scowled at her. "Like hell you are."

"Ty, it's Mike. He's not a danger."

"That's not the point."

"Mom, I'm with him on this one." Spencer said, unsure, "It's not Mike that's the issue; we don't know who else is in there."

"Mike was jumpy earlier." Sam argued, "If he suddenly sees three intruders waiting for him, he might run. Or if he's on the phone, he might attract attention. Can't you see why it might go wrong?"

Growling lowly, Tyler huffed, "Fine. I'll give you five minutes. If I haven't heard back from you by then, I'm kicking the door down."

Silently in agreement, Sam waited as he lockpicked the door again, taking care to avoid leaving a footprint. He stepped aside, allowing her to squeeze in. Once she was inside, he carefully closed the door. With a brief look back, Sam saw the anxious gaze in Spencer's eyes.

Before she could shoot him a reassuring smile, the door closed.

Taking in a deep breath, Sam crept further into the hallway and towards the living room. Once there, she found the best spot she could that allowed her sight.

A minute after she chose her spot, the sound of a key inserted into a lock broke the silence. Then the front door opened and a voice, followed by a figure, entered the building.

"Of course." Mike said, in the same tone he'd used back on that stage, "The way the project is going, I reckon we'll have a finished product by the end of next year."

She heard a voice on the phone, but couldn't make out what it was saying.

"None of this would be possible without you, Malcolm. Once the project is finished, upper management will be looking at us all favourably, I assure you."

The reply was short but sweet. "Got you. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early. Say hi to Miranda from me!"

Then the call was disconnected and silence filled the room again. Peeking out from her spot, Sam could see him putting his things away. Suitcase and all. He was still wearing his clothes from before, not even the suit jacket had been misplaced.

With a deep breath, Samantha stepped out of the shadows. "Mike."

It was almost eerie how he stopped all of a sudden; freezing in place. Straightening, Mike turned around and looked at her, plainly.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice low.

"We had a feeling you were being watched back there." She responded, cautiously watching for any signs that something was still wrong. "Sorry if we jeopardised your cover."

Inclining his head, Mike gave a small smile. "Nothing I couldn't handle, trust me. What's this about?"

That made her blink. "I'd have thought I would be asking you that. Mike, you went off without telling us."

He nodded. "Something important came up. I didn't have much of a choice."

"Yeah, we know. Ella told us. We found your old files."

"You did?" For a moment, Mike seemed hesitant. "Well, what do you know, then? So I'm up to date."

"Ella contacted me. She said that you fell out of contact a couple months ago. Mike, what happened?"

"It's complicated."

"Complicated?" Holding the bridge of her nose for a moment, Sam tried to keep her frustration out of her words, "No, what's complicated is having to try and get AESIR to search for you. What's complicated is trying to follow your trail and work out what in the world happened to you."

"Well, you know; none of this stuff is simple anymore."

She sighed, "Mike, I just don't get it. You weren't a prisoner. If you came to us and told us you wanted to look into Fazbear Entertainment again, with this lead of yours, we wouldn't have stopped you. You put yourself in danger by leaving without warning us."

He didn't respond at first, looking down at the ground, eyes closed. Then he looked up with a sheepish smile, "You're right. I'm sorry. I should've told you all. This lead, though…it was important. You've seen for yourself; I'm in with them, now. The information I'm getting, you won't believe."

Taken aback by this, Sam tried to relax. "We had an idea from your files. Found them down that trap door, by the way."

"Ah, I was wondering what happened to them." He snorted, "Took my eyes off them for one second."

"I'd rather you keep them safe. Tom's files were with them, too."

"Right. Sorry."

With another sigh, this one less trembling, Sam looked around the house. "So…you moved back in. Fixed up your old family house. I wasn't expecting that."

He shrugged, "Proximity. It's isolated, too."

She bit her lip and pointed, "You shot Midnight just over there. Remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"It's just…with your past…I can't see why you'd want to stay here."

He shrugged. "Maybe I'm tired of running from it. I made mistakes. No point denying it. It felt like the best way to move forward."

"And have you?"

"I'm getting there." He smiled, eyes beaming.

New Harmony, Utah

Monday 3rd October 2016, 23:58 PM

I'll never get over this, Mike sniffed at the air as the elevator rumbled around him. A part of him had hoped that this time around, he would be less anxious. That he wouldn't feel like he was inside of a metal death trap. That feeling hadn't left, in spite of his wishes.

As this was the only way down into the facility that he knew of, he hadn't much of a choice. Unless he was ready to give up and go home. To give up on digging up the secrets behind Circus Baby's Pizza World.

Of course, he mused to himself, that's not what this place is called. From everything he had dug up, this strange facility went by Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. It was simple enough to deduce one of the intentions by the name. A sort of rent-an-animatronic service to provide one of Afton Robotics' products to those wanting a taste of their self-described genius.

That motive was easy enough to uncover. What Mike knew, deep down, was that something far more nefarious had been intended.

"Welcome back to another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes." That voice sounded over the intercom, making Mike jump within his own skin.

Cursing softly, Mike shook his head in dismay. This sort of guided railroad employment was not what he intended. How was he supposed to snoop around and find answers if some stupid AI was stopping him at every turn?

"We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience." The voice carried on, oblivious to his chagrin, "One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don't get tired of the voice that you're hearing right now."

Blinking, Mike listened more closely. If there was a chance that he could at least get rid of the voice, it would certainly help.

"Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice." The voice began to list the options, not unlike an appointment booking, "For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text only, press 3. For other options, press 4."

Well, that's easy enough, Mike almost smirked and looked for the third option, but stopped short of clicking it. "Oh, come on." He nearly whined when he realised the issue.

There's not even any God damn numbers!

Were he not convinced already that someone was messing with him, Mike knew there to be no doubt now. Shaking head and scowling around the elevator once more for hidden cameras, he grumbled before clicking a random spot on the screen.

"It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad." The voice said and Mike waited almost patiently to see what awful hand he was about to be given. "I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you."

"Thank you for choosing Angsty Teen."

This is stupid, Mike groaned. He was being messed with; either a planned trap, or someone knew he was here. There could be no other option. Before he could begin to assess which one it was, a sound gave him pause.

Clunk. Clunk. Narrowing his eyes, Mike looked around, trying to find the source. It sounded like footsteps. Large, heavy footsteps surrounding the very death trap he was standing in.

Then that familiar buzzing noise blew out from the intercom and the elevator slowed. As it finally reached the ground, the jingle played and Mike tried his best to shake his doubts away.

"The elevator's stopped." Mike felt gobsmacked by the sound of a brand new voice, this one filled with a snarky youth, "You know the routine. Get out now, or whatever. Stay here if you want."

This time, rather than feeling annoyed, Mike couldn't help the grin. There was no point in denying that he was being led into some sort of deadly prank. At the very least, the mysterious puppet master had a sense of humour. Perhaps a little joke about kids half his age getting offered jobs at his pay grade just to tick a box?

Unless…

When the other, more personal explanation came to mind, Mike's grin soured.

Getting onto his hands and knees, Mike made his way through the vent, back into the bowels of the facility. As he crawled, the uninterested voice spoke up again. "So, funny story, a dead body was found in this vent once. M'kay, so, not that funny, but, it's a story."

That's a crap story, Mike snorted.

As before, Mike reached the end of the tunnel, his knees aching. He had a bad feeling that this operation was going to give him some long term issues by the end of it.

"Alright, so, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Ballora, and make sure she's on her stage, but, whatever."

Groaning, Mike struggled to his feet and made his way over to Ballora's gallery. Having a bad feeling he knew where this was going, he tapped the light button.

He was forced to take a sharp intake of breath when he saw Ballora's shadow stretched across the stage, yet she herself was hidden from view.

"Huh. I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap her! That should be fun."

Perhaps Mike would've been taken aback by the malicious sliver in the voice's tone. Sighing, he pressed the shock button and that horrifying zap shuddered the room. He awaited the response and got far worse than he expected.

"Argumentative…" The voice said, distorted and so low pitched he could barely understand it, "Standards…"

"Elevation…"

"Passive…"

"Heights…"

Many painful seconds passed with Mike left alone in the shadow of that before the voice, back to normal, continued. "Let's check on Funtime Foxy, make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow."

Hesitation flowed through Mike like a drop in freezing water. Nervous despite himself, he stepped over to Foxy's auditorium and pressed the light button.

Like Ballora, Foxy was not quite visible, yet the shadow of the animatronic was splayed out by the new light.

"Great... Great... Great…" The voice spoke up, once more distorted, before silence overcame it. Before he could try and consider his next move, whether to turn around and run, sound filled the room again.

"There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesiser. Default settings have been restored." The original voice spoke.

This time, Mike scoffed. As utterly incomprehensible as the last few minutes were, he was quite confident in his belief that it wasn't intended.

"Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby's Auditorium."

Knocked out of his stupor, Mike sighed. He'd been deeply hoping of catching at least a sight of the head honcho herself last night and was left disappointed. Reaching back down to his hands and knees, Mike began the long process of crawling through the vent. Once he finally made it, he struggled to his feet.

"Circus Baby had a busy day today. Let's check the light and make sure she's in proper working order."

Grunting, he stepped over to the panel, examining the buttons. He had a feeling that this was going to go much the same way as before; with nothing to show. Nevertheless, he reached for the light button and pressed it.

Though the lights flashed up, nothing was visible on the other end. " Still haven't fixed them, then," Mike softly cursed under his breath.

He was expecting the next thing to come out of that intercom, though it didn't make it any less sour.

"Oh, Circus Baby!" The voice chastised, like a stern yet friendly parent, "We aren't here to play hide and seek. Let's encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock."

A wave of ice filled Mike's blood; this wasn't what he came here to do. To find answers, sure. To challenge danger. Not to assist in the potential torture of these things. Not when they could be just like the friends he had an age ago.

I'm sorry, Mike thought as he pressed the shock button. It never got easier, feeling that surge crackle in the walls.

"Let's try another controlled shock."

Mike blinked. Though he'd felt that crackle, a part of him noticed how different it was. Like the surge formed, but didn't quite finish.

He pressed the button again. Like before, the crackle came through the walls, but it was less of a surge and more of a drip.

Just as Mike was starting to consider a power outage, the voice stated, " There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby."

" Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process."

Perhaps Mike would've thought that news would be a relief; a long-awaited break from the voice that hounded him. In that moment, though, he could feel his blood chill at the thought of being left alone in this dark room, an unseen animatronic watching him on the other end of a glass wall.

"Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen." The voice finished, just another sardonic side note before it left, " Commencing system restart."

With that, all the electronics flashing in the room died. Left standing there in complete darkness, Mike could feel a familiar panic setting in.

I've survived worse, he kept repeating in his head. He reached for his old instincts, the very same ones that allowed him to delay a certain bear from finishing him off for as long as possible. As he'd remained sitting in that chair, keeping as motionless as possible.

This time, he was standing, and there was no point in pretending to be anything other than alive. He knew the animatronic in the room in front of him was watching him. She had to be.

When a female voice spoke over the intercom, Mike had to stop himself from jumping. "Motion Trigger: Entryway vent."

There's something in here with me, Mike knew. He tried to rationalise it; maybe it was one of those employees. As unfortunate a situation as it was to get caught now, it was better than the alternative-

"Funtime auditorium maintenance vent, opened."

Just safety precautions, Mike told himself, feeling his heart rapidly beating in his chest, like the old doors at Freddy's.

"Ballora gallery maintenance vent, opened."

That's all it was. Just safety precautions. Nothing to be worried about.

Perhaps he might've cursed himself for being a fool that it took him so long to realise the problem, were he not so stricken by it. If they're open…then they can get out.

Before he could even begin to assess how utterly screwed he was, his entire world came rushing at him in a moment.

"I don't recognize you." She spoke, a voice so soft like a lullaby, "You are new. I remember this... scenario, however. It's a strange thing to want to do, to come here."

Don't move, he told himself over and over again. But he knew it was too late for that. As daft as it sounded, it was not her who he should be worried about.

"I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this, willingly." She continued, Maybe curiosity? Maybe ignorance."

Neither, Mike's wandering mind somehow managed to offer as he stood there in mortal danger. In the distance, he could hear the sound of metal on metal. There was no point in denying that it was coming from inside the vent behind him.

"There is a space under the desk; someone before you crafted it into a hiding place, and it worked for him."

He looked down, underneath the desk, and was dumbfounded to see it. She wasn't lying; underneath the desk was another gap like the vent.

"I recommend that you hurry, though. You will be safe there. Just try not to make eye contact. It will be over soon. They will lose interest…"

As she finished that sentence, what Mike faced finally dawned on him. Feeling his lungs burning, begging for the sweet oxygen he'd unwittingly denied to them, he ignored his aching legs and rushed for the space.

It was more a cubby hole than shelter, but he knew he hadn't much of a choice. With his knees bent up to his chest, he twisted until he was facing the office. There was a small metal door, like that of a cupboard. Prying his tense fingers on the edge of it, he dragged it closed, wincing as it screeched.

When it finally fully closed, he knew it to be not a moment too soon. That sound he'd heard before in the elevator made itself known. Trying his best to deduce where it was coming from, he bit his lip when he decided it was from the vent.

Whatever was inside had found him.

Then, the sound stopped, and Mike was left in horrifying silence.

Screw this, he cursed to himself before quietly reaching for his gun. Finding the pistol and sliding it out of his holster, he tried to check the ammunition as silently as possible. As he'd known, he had thirteen rounds in it. One extra magazine in his jacket.

The rest, he'd left in his backpack. Back by the elevator, like before.

Will it be enough? Back in the old days, it had taken half his armoury to take on the Fazgang. That had been with an SMG, too. Sure, it was closed quarters with very little room for them to get him. That also meant his only option for escape was to go through them-

"Hello in there…"

The gasp that escaped his lips was involuntary. Instead of the soft lullaby-like voice from the one who'd helped him, this was different. Like a child's voice, nearly squeaky. A slight metallic scraping followed it.

"Someone is inside…"

For the first time in a long time, Mike could feel himself shaking. He was trapped, like a rat.

"Is it the same person?"

Something hit the ground, only a slight thud that nevertheless filled him with dread. Another followed, closer.

Then his blood ran cold as a series of taps on the other side of the door signalled his doom.

"Knock knock…"

And then that scraping came back, followed by the same shriek from the door.

Mike fumbled for his flashlight in a panic. There was no point in pretending otherwise; they knew he was in here. He clicked it on and saw that the door was being dragged open.

Without any hesitation, he grabbed at the handle with desperate fingers and tried his best to slow the opening. His teeth chattered and hurt as his jaw clenched, feeling his skin grow colder. His fingers, bare, begged for reprieve.

Then, just as he could feel his strength simmering, the resistance stopped. He slammed the door closed again and looked for any leverage he could. Pressing his right foot against the door's handle, Mike held his flashlight in one hand and his pistol in the other.

"We always find a way inside…"

Not this time, Mike seethed. He hadn't come all this way just to die here.

Then the strain on the door came back and Mike used all his strength in his leg to keep it from going further. Gritting his teeth, Mike refused to give them an inch and slowly, the attempt died away.

"She's watching us…"

Scrunching his face up and reaching for his fury, Mike scanned the holes in the door for any movement. I can't hesitate here, he knew.

"We have to leave, now."

Hearing that, Mike tried to stop the relief that threatened to fill his bones. He couldn't afford to grow complacent. Not yet.

"We'll see you again, soon…"

Then that metallic scraping came back, before a low, repeated thud coming from the elevator grew fainter.

Many painful moments passed before Mike allowed himself to relax.

"When your guide comes back online," That voice from before, the one he knew had just saved him, spoke so suddenly he couldn't help but recoil, "he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful. That you must restart the system manually."

Can I trust her? That question was what ran through Mike's mind over and over again. So much so that he had to remind himself to listen to her closely.

"He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the breaker room."

Had it not been for her help, he might've found himself caught in an impossible situation. Whatever had been in the room with him could very easily have overwhelmed him.

"If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore. She will catch you."

On the other hand, was he really willing to risk relying on her? How long had she been trapped down here? Decades? Even if she was telling the truth and acting against her fellow animatronics, he had no way to deduce her motive. Not until it would be too late.

"The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Ballora Gallery, go slowly."

You made that decision twenty years ago, a voice in Mike's head pointed out, when you put your faith in Foxy.

"She cannot see you, and can only listen for your movement. When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near. Listening for you. Wait and be still."

Resting his head against the back wall, Mike sighed. Something told him, should the power still be out, the elevator wouldn't be an option. He had no way out but through.

Some of the lights came back on in the room and the voice returned, startling him.

"Thank you for your patience. It seems like the power system cannot be restarted automatically."

He closed his eyes. This is gonna be a long night…

TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: Their operation was always going to be difficult, so much so because of the differing feelings towards Mike. Sam is driven by her friendship to him and her desire to honor her husband's memory, while Tyler is on one hand practical and concerned about the security threat. On the other, he hates Mike's guts. The only one who is truly neutral is Spencer. It's not going to get easier as they finally get answers from the man himself.