Chapter 1: New Hire
"Make it to six, and you'll be fine."
As instructed by his brother, Jack rested up and arrived at the nightclub around eleven. The sun had long since set, and the city lights illuminated even the darkest alleys.
Jack wasn't fortunate enough to afford a car, so he had to take the metro. It didn't even take him all the way, but luckily, the walk was only a minute long. He found the place pretty easily, despite it being his first time in this part of the city. It wasn't hard, considering how popular the establishment was.
He was surprised there were hardly any cars out in the parking lot. In fact, there was only one. "No freaks out tonight?" Jack commented.
As he approached the glittering building, he looked up to see a large, horizontal, oval-shaped sign hanging above the entrance. Bold glowing letters spelled out 'Fredina's Nightclub' with an image of four mascots plastered across the inside of the oval. There was a brown bear, a purple bunny, a yellow chicken, and a red fox... "Wonder where I've seen these before."
"You Jack?" An old, gruff-sounding voice said, startling Jack.
He looked ahead to see a dark-skinned man who appeared to be in his thirties leaning against the front wall of the nightclub. Jack studied him before he stopped leaning and walked towards him, stepping into the light in the process.
The man was taller than Jack, standing at a height of six feet, with a muscular build outlined underneath his security uniform. Unlike Jack, who had a full head of hair in a flattop-ish hairstyle, the man was completely bald. Not only was it apparent, but the glossiness from his head reflected light into Jack's eyes, making him blink and squint more than he would've liked. To keep from going blind, Jack focused on the man's facial features, noticing the neatly trimmed tuff of a black beard.
Finally, he made eye contact with the guy, staring into his sunken gray eyes. Heavy bags were underneath them, making him appear perpetually tired.
The man sucked his teeth after not receiving an answer.
"Y-yeah. I'm Jack." He finally answered. He almost asked who the man was, but as the thought entered his mind, he saw a golden nametag on the man's right chest. Braxton B. Berry.
"Thought you'd be older," Braxton said with a blank expression.
Jack sighed, knowing where this was going. "I'm twenty-five."
"Oh." Jack expected Braxton to apologize for the assumption, but a sorry never came—not that he cared.
It wasn't the first time someone thought he looked younger than his actual age. Although he was in his mid-twenties, he had quite the baby face that made it appear as though he just graduated from high school. It didn't help that he had the slim build and height of a teenager.
After another moment of silence, Braxton extended his hands, handing Jack a pair of neatly folded clothes he was holding the whole time.
"Get changed and meet me inside in five." That was all Braxton said, as when Jack took the uniform, the burly man turned and headed inside the nightclub, leaving him out in the cold by himself.
"Not much for conversation, I guess," Jack noted, moving around to the nightclub's side alley to change.
The uniform included a black jacket, suit pants, and dress shoes. The only other color aside from black were bold white letters on the left side of his chest spelling out 'security.' The uniform also came with a golden badge shaped like Fredina's face, which Jack stuffed in his pocket rather than clipping it on.
Since the uniform fit him perfectly (surprisingly), Jack finished getting changed in less than five minutes. He put the uniform over his casual clothes and hid his shoes somewhere in the alley, hoping no bum would come by and steal them before his shift ended. Seconds later, he entered Fredina's Nightclub.
Fluorescent blue lights enveloped Jack's vision, briefly blinding him. After his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he was greeted by Braxton once again. "Hm, you move fast. Good." He huffed with arms crossed.
Jack was too focused on his surroundings to pay any mind to Braxton.
The room they were in, which had to be the main area, was massive. It took the shape of a square, with multiple doors on various ends of the room.
There was a miniature half-circle stage on the wall in the middle of the room, with a narrow pole erected in the center—a stripper stage if you will. There were two more like it, with one across from the first and another in the back. None were occupied.
Lined up alongside the walls were stacks of circular tables and chairs. Jack would've thought all the tables and chairs would be laid out on the floor for patrons to use. Speaking of the floor, why was it carpeted? That seemed like a very poor decision for a nightclub.
"Admiring the Fun Lounge?" Braxton said in a bored tone.
Jack then turned to him. "Where are the others?"
Braxton looked at him, confused. "What?"
"The other customers. Ain't this a nightclub? Pretty sure you should be getting peak business around these hours."
"You mean Adam didn't tell you?" Jack tilted his head slightly, telling Braxton all he needed to know. "Of course he didn't." He sighed. "The club is under investigation, so we're keeping the place closed for a few weeks. It's been like that since Friday."
"Ah." So that's what Adam meant when he said he ran into a hiccup.
"Even if Adam didn't tell you, I'm surprised you don't already know. That's all the media is talking about right now. Don't you watch the news?"
"Not if it's about this place." Jack's response caused Braxton to raise a brow, as if what he replied with was unheard of. Honestly, it probably was. There wasn't a straight man alive in this town who didn't keep up with the happenings of Fredina's Nightclub. Jack was the exception.
As Braxton stared him down with a perplexed expression, Jack looked past him and eyed the three empty stripper stages. From the way Adam spoke over the phone, he seemed to imply the animatronics would be in the nightclub during his shifts. So to see they weren't there had Jack pleasantly surprised.
"So, with this investigation going on, I guess that means the animatronics were relocated or something?" Braxton gave him an 'Are you serious?' look. "What?" Braxton gestured behind him with his eyes. Jack turned, and his mood immediately dropped. "Oh."
Apparently, he had been looking at the back of the Fun Lounge this entire time, not the front.
Ahead of him was a large stage with small steps leading up to it. A couple of ceiling spotlights beamed down dim white lights on three voluptuous anthropomorphic animatronics and a door behind them. Although he had seen them multiple times through ads and TV commercials, this was his first time seeing them in person, so he was a bit taken aback by their appearance. He never realized how big they were, as they all were at least a foot taller than him.
Jack took a few steps back.
"Yep. That's about the reaction I expected." Braxton said, his arms still crossed. Jack then noticed his mouth was agape and quickly closed it. He wasn't mesmerized by their appearance, instead surprised. But he knew Braxton wouldn't see it that way.
"Adam told me you don't know much about this place, so I guess some introductions are in order. Meet the stars of the show."
Braxton uncrossed his arms to gesture toward the animatronic on the left. "Bonfie Bonsai."
Bonfie, as he called her, was a purple bunny with a pair of long rabbit ears, cute buck teeth, and admittedly pretty red eyes, which were further emphasized by her red eyeshadow. Her left eye was covered by her short purple hair.
She was clothed in a small red dress that sort of mimicked overalls, with a red bowtie neatly wrapped around her neck. It matched nicely with the red electric guitar gripped in her hands. Accompanying her red and purple colors were black thigh-high socks and forearm sleeves.
After Braxton allowed Jack a few seconds to eye the bunny, he moved his hand to the animatronic on the right. "Chiku Chicken."
Jack narrowed his eyes slightly. "Doesn't she look more like a duck, though?"
Braxton shrugged. "Hey, I didn't name her."
He shook his head at Braxton's response and focused on the chicken-themed animatronic.
Chiku's skin was yellow, and she had small fur on the ends of her elbows, resembling feathers. Her eyes were pink, and part of her messy yellow hair was wrapped in a ponytail via a pink band.
Unlike Bonfie, who wore an actual outfit, Chiku only had on a simple apron paired with orange-colored thigh-high socks.
"And finally, we have the face of the franchise herself. Fredina Fazclaire." Braxton announced unenthusiastically, pointing to the animatronic in the middle.
Standing front and center on the stage was a smirking brown bear with dazzling blue eyes holding a black microphone.
Fredina showed the most skin out of the three, wearing a white buttoned short-sleeve crop top, which exposed her slender stomach. The only things she had for pants were pitch-black thigh-high socks and a black laced thong, leaving her thighs out for the world to see. Of course, you couldn't forget the signature black bowtie and top hat.
Jack stood there, taking in the appearance of all three animatronics. The commercials and advertisements did not lie. In fact, they didn't do them justice. Their faces were adorable, their bodies were outrageously curvy, and their tits were unrealistically huge. He thought it'd be weird, but their animalistic features actually made them somewhat more sexy. He could see why the community that formed around them kept referring to them as goddesses.
Despite their attractiveness, Jack's opinion of them did not change. Though he had to admit, their design was impressive. He couldn't stop staring, and it wasn't for the reasons one might expect. While yes, they were alluring, Jack was more so focused on how real they looked.
Usually, with any kind of animatronic, there's some telltale sign they are, in fact, machines. Visible lined joints, stiff movement, glitchy speaker-like tones, or even the occasional visible endoskeleton. But these mascots... They had nothing of the sort. Not a single segmented line or mechanical component could be seen on the girls. Plus, Jack has seen and heard them speak countless times through the various videos people post about them online. They sounded like any normal person he'd hear on the street, and their movements were as fluid as an actual stripper. Why, if Jack didn't know any better, he would've thought the animatronics were actual anthropomorphic animals. Maybe it was because of their flawless engineering that they were so popular?
Whatever the case was, Jack would like to meet the one responsible for their creation and shake their hand sometime in his life. Maybe even take some tips if he could.
"Wait a minute," Jack said, suddenly remembering something. "Where's the fourth mascot?" He took his gaze off the three girls who blankly stared ahead and looked at Braxton.
"What?" Jack didn't respond to Braxton's confusion, but after a moment, the day guard put two and two together. "Oh, you must be talking about the pirate. Yeah, she's in a different area."
"Is there a reason for that?"
Braxton grunted. "You could say she's... different from the rest of them."
Jack didn't quite understand what Braxton meant by that, but he thought it best not to ask.
He turned back to the three mascots on stage, flinching at Bonfie's sudden movement.
"What's the matter?" Braxton looked at Jack weirdly.
"Y-You mean you didn't see that?"
"See what?"
Jack looked back at Bonfie, staring at her intently. Her movement was so subtle that anyone could've missed it. And you know what, maybe he was just seeing things. But... Jack could've sworn she was looking at him.
After a moment of staring, he relaxed. He disliked this nightclub and other settings like it, so maybe it was just the unfamiliar environment making him uneasy, thus causing his mind to play tricks on him. "Nevermind. Must've been in my head."
Braxton side-eyed him for a few seconds, then huffed. "Well, let's get moving. Gotta show you around."
"Wait." Jack stopped Braxton from turning. He didn't question it before, but if Braxton was going to give him a tour, then he should know what was on the other side of that door behind the three mascots. "What's in there?" He pointed.
"That's just the backstage. Nothing in there but a fire escape exit. Not like you'll ever need to use it, though." Braxton answered casually, then waved Jack along.
Jack looked at the animatronics one last time, specifically Bonfie, before following.
Braxton spoke up as they walked out of the Fun Lounge and down the hall. "I'll be the first to say that we have a few rules here at Fredina's Nightclub. But since you're a special case, I won't bother going over them. Adam already said he'd be leaving a special set of them for you to follow. With that being said, I do have one request." Jack looked up, listening intently. "Employees aren't usually allowed to fuck the mascots without putting some time in, but since you're only gonna be here for the next few nights, I won't enforce that rule on you. Just try not to mess them up too badly, alright? At the end of the day, I'm the one who's gotta fix and clean them."
That entire speech made Jack contort his face in disgust. Nauseous wasn't the right word to describe how he felt. The fact Braxton would say it so casually too... He shook his head before pushing his glasses further onto his face. "Yeah, no. You won't have to worry about me touching them at all."
Braxton snorted. "Yeah, sure I won't."
"I mean it, man."
"You aren't the first night guard to spin me this story. They'll say that, and then get caught a few nights later with one of 'em. Again, I don't mind if you do. Just don't make much of a mess is all I ask."
Jack grew irritated as Braxton didn't seem to take his words seriously. "Hey, wise guy. I said I won't touch 'em." He snarled, causing Braxton to turn around. "I don't know what kind of horn dogs you're used to working with, but I'm letting you know right now that I'm not one of them. I'm only here to help my brother out, and that's it." Jack crossed his arms. "'Sides, I'm not into glorified sex dolls."
Braxton gave him a concerned look. "They're more than just sex dolls, y'know."
Jack realized how offensive he just sounded. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I get the machinery you guys employ here is really advanced. I'm just... not into your mascots like that."
"That's not what I—" Braxton stopped, sighed, then turned. "Nevermind. Let's just keep moving."
Jack made no objections there and kept following.
Braxton showed him around the nightclub, and it was then that Jack realized the establishment was a lot bigger than he thought. It wasn't quite as big as his favorite place on Earth, but it was big enough.
All around the nightclub were various posters of the different animatronics. Each one had a mascot either making a lewd face or in a suggestive pose. The posters also had explicit messages that matched whatever was going on. One poster had Chiku's legs spread wide open, and apparently, like Fredina, she too was wearing a black thong. Bold yellow words at the bottom of the poster read: 'Stuff this chicken!'
After that, Jack made a conscious effort not to look at any more posters.
Jack got to see the generator room, the bar area—which was called Tipsy Bar, backstage, the VIP rooms, and more of the Fun Lounge. There was also Lustful Cove, connected to the same hall as the VIP rooms, and the entrance to the basement, which Jack didn't know the club had. Braxton didn't show him the inside of either of these areas, claiming he wouldn't have to worry too much about them.
Finally, he was guided to where he'd be spending most of his time: The security office.
The room was probably the smallest area in the entire nightclub, on par with the generator room. In the center of the room was a gray office chair, illuminated by a single bulb on the ceiling that dimly lit the front portion of the office, leaving the back slightly shrouded in darkness. The front and back of the office had wooden desks against the walls. The back desk had a microwave, newspapers, and various other items littered across it. The front desk was smaller and had a single monitor on it.
The front part of the office had two doors, one on the left and one on the right. Each door led to a different hall of the club, and small panel-like windows on either side gave minimal visibility.
After getting settled in, Braxton left Jack with two things. His phone number, and a tape recorder that was supposedly left behind by Adam.
Jack stared down at the tape recorder after Braxton left. He couldn't help but laugh. "What is he now? A tape guy?" A minute passed before he pressed play on the device.
"Hey, hey! Jacky! Glad you could make it. Again, thank you so much for filling this position. You have no idea how much this means to me. You're doing me a solid here, honestly." Adam's upbeat voice abruptly filled the quiet atmosphere of the office. Adam was generally a happy person, but Jack hadn't heard him this happy in years. He must've really been helping him out.
"If you're listening to this message, which hopefully you are, then that means Triple B is doing his job. Normally, I'd have left you a message over the phone, but as you can see, we don't have one. We used to, but the last guy... broke it." Adam said that last part uncertainly.
"You could've just called me on my personal..." Jack mumbled.
"It's probably better this way anyway! So, enjoy this tape!" Adam cheered, then cleared his throat.
"First things first. If Braxton listened to my instructions, then he showed you all the areas of the nightclub you should be concerned with. So, I'll assume you know each area I'm about to mention. If you don't, one of those papers on the back desk should be a blueprint of the building—well, a roughly drawn one."
Jack didn't bother looking for that blueprint since Braxton saved him the trouble by giving him a tour.
"I forgot to mention this over the phone last night, but the nightclub is currently under investigation. Don't worry, nothing that bad happened. But, with that being said, that means there should be nobody but you in the club during your shift, which is from twelve to six." Adam chuckled. "Hey, lucky you, right? You're alone with our girls for a whole six hours!"
Jack frowned.
"I know you probably just frowned at that, but I promise it won't be that bad. You may not like our girls, but I'm trusting you to look after them during your shifts. They are Fazclaire Entertainment's crown jewels, after all."
Jack placed the tape recorder on the desk and leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head.
"Now, usually, I'm supposed to read off an introductory greeting from the company to new hires such as yourself, but since this is off the books, I'll just get straight into what's expected of you and what rules you should follow." The sound of paper unwrapping echoed from Adam's recording. "Like I said before, the only person who should be in that club during your shift is you, yourself, and you. You shouldn't have to worry too much about this since the doors will be locked, but should someone get inside, I'll need you to throw them out. You might not have the build of a security guard, but the jokers around here usually skedaddle at the sight of the uniform anyway, so you'll be fine."
"Oh, that's a comfort."
"Second, I'll need you to watch our mascots closely. Since Braxton is too old to keep up with them, and you're not gonna be messing with them like that, this will be the first time in years they've gone without being, uh, serviced, for lack of a better word. I'm not sure how it'll affect them, if at all. It shouldn't, but just in case, please do your best to take care of them."
"He... does know I've only worked on cars, right?" Jack asked himself, noting how Adam was basically saying, 'If the animatronics go haywire, fix them!' Again, he wasn't a technician—well, not fully, anyway.
"Thirdly, I would like for you to go around fixing anything you think needs to be patched within the building. Granted, I don't want you to leave your office too often. Now, you might be asking yourself, if I don't want you leaving your office that much, how will you find anything that's broken? Well, to answer that question, I present to you our mighty monitor! At least, I hope there's one there." Adam paused. "Y-Yeah. There should be a small monitor on the front desk. It has access to every camera in the building, and there's one in almost every area of the nightclub. So you'll be able to watch everything that goes on like a hawk, all from the comfort of your chair!"
Adam was right. The monitor in front of Jack displayed the various areas of the nightclub. He could view the main stage, the bar, the hall with the VIP rooms, everything!
After a few more crumpling noises, Adam clicked his tongue. "I think that's it—OH! I almost forgot. One last thing: this building has some poor infrastructure. I mean, you probably noticed that after seeing the carpeted floor in the Fun Lounge. But it's much more than just the external that's bad. The inside is just as terrible. More specifically, the lights." As if on cue, the single light bulb in the office flickered, causing Jack to look up.
"The electricity in this place is iffy. So anything you do, like switching between cameras or closing the doors, will drain the power. Speaking of the doors, they eat up a huge amount of power. Which makes sense. They're industrial doors—pretty heavy-duty stuff. I'd only close them if a hostile force, like say, an armed robber, breaks into the club. I shouldn't have to tell you this, but for the love of God, please don't stand underneath the damn thing when you go to shut it. They come down fast and hard. One guy wanted to play games with fate and ended up taking a nice month-long vacation in the hospital. I don't want that to be you." Adam sounded genuinely infuriated.
"Anyway, back to the power. At the bottom of your monitor should be a gauge that displays how much the building has left."
Sure enough, Adam was right again. There was a solid green bar at the bottom of the screen, showing that the building's power was ninety-eight percent.
"Now, should your power go out for any reason, you can restart it by flicking a few switches in the generator room. I'd only do this if you really have to, as not only is the generator room on the other side of the building, but when that place loses power, it gets dark. And when I say dark, I mean pitch-black dark! You wouldn't be able to see a pair of giant F-sized tits even if they were a few inches from your face. Shit is crazy, man. So keep that power on!" Adam warned, then clapped once.
"And, yeah, I think that's... Actually, one more thing. On your desk in the back is a first aid kit. I doubt you'll need it at all during your five nights here, but it's there if you do." Jack turned to see he had overlooked the bright red med kit sitting at the end of the back desk. It would seem, even with glasses, his eyesight was still poor.
"Okay, now that's it for real. Just remember, fix anything that seems broken, keep uninvited guests out of the club, watch the girls, close the doors only when absolutely necessary, and don't run out of power. Do all that, and your first night should be a breeze. Oh, and don't worry about locking up after your shifts. Alright, thanks again, Jacky. Good luck!" And with that, the recording ended, leaving Jack with the quiet hums of the office light bulb.
Jack leaned back in his seat once again, placing both hands behind his head and resting his feet on the side of the front desk. He'd then close his eyes and smile. "This shouldn't be too hard."