Chapter 6: An Oldie, but a Goldie

"Some bots are just gold."

"Ello?" Adam answered cheerfully after the third ring.

"Hey, Adam," Jack replied, a little less enthusiastic compared to his brother.

By now, he'd already showered and washed his clothes, prepping everything for the next night. He wanted to ask his brother a few questions while they were still fresh on his mind, so he laid in bed, nice and comfy in his pajamas.

"Guessin' your third night didn't go so smoothly?"

"Am I suddenly only allowed to call you when my night goes badly?"

"Oh... so it did go smoothly?"

"...Well, I didn't say that." Jack thought about how hectic the third night was. It would've been a lot to recap or even summarize. "Let's just say I survived, and everything's in working order... probably." He whispered the last part, still unsure if Fredina would be okay after that injury to the head.

"Hey, that's good news! But I'm betting you didn't call me just to say that, did you?"

Jack chuckled. His brother knew him well. "Well, uh, where do I start?" He paused, thinking of where to begin the story. "So, I might've disturbed that bitch of a fox."

"Uh oh."

"Don't worry, I got away scot-free. Managed to lose her in that area connected to the Tipsy Bar."

"Wait, you mean you weren't in your office?"

"Nah. Had to fix a broken pipe in her area, and I forgot to switch cams when I went. She must've gotten agitated by the camera and just so happened to see me."

"Nobody ever gets away from her unscathed unless they're already in the office... What area did you lose her in again?"

"I don't know... Braxton didn't mention it during his tour, and it isn't on any of the cameras. It's a basement."

"Oh," Adam said in a knowing tone.

"You know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah. It's a basement nobody uses anymore. That explains how you managed to lose Fexa so easily. The whole area is designated as a safe room. So there's no cameras, and it's completely invisible to the mascots. But like I said, nobody uses it anymore."

"I could tell," Jack recalled how the place seemed abandoned. "The fox didn't leave the Tipsy Bar right away, so I went and explored. Then I found something...strange..."

"What? What did you find, Jack?" Adam asked intently.

"I, uh...I think it was a mascot? I've never seen them before, though. It was a bear, like Fredina, but golden."

"Oh." Adam laughed. "You must've found Goldie."

"Who?"

"Goldie," Adam repeated. "Goldie Fazclaire... Man, that takes me back. You know, she was Fazclaire Entertainment's first animatronic. Used to be the star of the show at a diner named after her—Goldie's Pizzeria."

"Goldie's Pizzeria? I've never heard of that."

"Wouldn't expect you to. It wasn't quite as popular as Fredina's Nightclub. Probably because it catered more to children than adults."

"Children?" Jack questioned with a raised brow, remembering the voluptuous figure Goldie had.

Adam nervously chuckled. "Y-Yeah. I'll admit, the company didn't really know its target audience back then. They were really trying to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. Y'know, become one of the greats, like Freddy Fazbear."

"More like mimic," Jack mumbled under his breath.

"But hey! For what it's worth, the kids loved her! She could cook, clean, sing, and basically do what Fredina and the gang can, but better. You should've seen her back then. She was a total knock-out. People used to call her the Golden Angel."

Jack thought about Goldie's current state. She didn't exactly look like an angel anymore. "What happened to her?"

Adam gave a disappointed sigh. "The same thing that happens to all great people. She became irrelevant."

"...Not gonna lie, I was expecting more." Adam sighed again. "S-Sorry. I was just curious about the details."

"No, no. You're right. You deserve a better answer. It's just hard to talk about..."

Jack looked at the crumbled-up newspaper on his dresser. "Does it have something to do with those four missing women?"

Jack heard Adam inhale sharply. "How do you know about that?"

"I found a newspaper talking about it," He answered honestly, resulting in yet another sigh from Adam.

"No, it doesn't. Well, maybe... I don't know."

"You don't know?" Jack questioned skeptically.

"I don't know," Adam repeated sternly. "I have no idea what happened to the girls. They just up and vanished one day. I can't help but feel it's my fault somehow."

"Wait, you knew them?"

"Of course I did. We were colleagues."

Jack was a bit taken aback by Adam's straightforward response. Just how long has he been with this company? "And you've been with Fazclaire Entertainment for how long?"

"Eh, long enough."

Jack rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore his brother's vague answer. "Well, why would you think it's your fault?"

"Because the day prior to them disappearing, we had a... mild disagreement, to put it lightly. I don't even remember what it was about anymore. When they didn't show up for work, I just assumed they were being overdramatic. Y'know, like how women usually are. But then the days passed, then the weeks..." Adam's tone gradually grew more somber.

"Then Goldie just went crazy one day. I don't know what happened to her. She just attacked a man for no reason. Nearly killed him, too. Scared the kids half to death." Jack imagined his brother shaking his head. "The girls disappearing was bad enough. But with Goldie suddenly assaulting someone, that gave the naysayers all the ammunition they needed to put the pizzeria and her out of business for good."

"Don't robots like Goldie usually get scrapped after situations like that?"

"Yeah, usually. But the company thought it best to just decommission her. After the basement was abandoned, that became her new home."

"That seems like a waste of parts... Why keep her?"

"Eh, who knows? Sentimental value, I guess." Adam sighed. "Sometimes I think if I had never argued with the girls, then they wouldn't have gone missing. And if they didn't go missing, then maybe Goldie wouldn't have attacked that man..."

"Adam, stop. Nobody could've known any of that was gonna happen from one single disagreement, least of all you."

"I know. But still..."

Jack didn't like it when his brother beat himself up over things like that. It was nonsensical. "Adam, I didn't want to say this, but I'm ninety-nine percent sure the company you're working for is shady."

There was a brief moment of silence before Adam responded in a blank but confused tone. "What?"

"The newspaper I found had mentioned there was a possibility that Fazclaire Entertainment was buying and selling sex workers."

"That's false," Adam said quickly.

Now it was Jack's turn to say, "What?"

"Fazclaire Entertainment would never do something as atrocious as that. It's just not worth it for them to do so."

"Adam, I know you're defending them because they're paying you well, but come on. Don't you see that makes sense? How else would those four girls disappear without a trace?"

"If you're implying they were sex workers, then you're wrong." Adam continued to defend. "They were my friends. I would know if they were in some deep shit like that, and I'm here to tell you they weren't. That allegation was completely made up by the man-children who were fans of Freddy Fazbear. They're still butthurt over the fact that Fazclaire Entertainment put their childhood out of business for good. They can't accept that times have changed and move on with their worthless lives!" He finished in a raised voice. An awkward silence followed.

It had been a long time since Jack had heard Adam get this defensive about something. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, he didn't have to say anything.

"S-Sorry. That came out the wrong way..." Adam apologized, as if remembering Jack was one of those 'sore man-children.'

"Y-You're fine. You're just defending your place of employment." Jack reassured, knowing the attack wasn't personal.

Adam had clearly spent enough time with the company to grow an attachment to it, so anything Jack said would either fall on deaf ears or be blinded by bias. Besides, the allegations were just that, allegations. But Jack wasn't entirely convinced that the hands of Fazclaire Entertainment were clean.

He decided to move on from the touchy subject for their relationship's sake. "There was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Hm?" Adam chirped, keenly listening.

"So, when I was in the basement, the power went out. I had to go to the generator room, and when I did, Fredina ambushed me. I managed to get away, but..."

"But what?"

"Look, before you get mad, just know I was just defending myself. But I ended up injuring her. Now, don't freak out. She's fine and not damaged at all. If anything, I'm the one who came out worse off." Jack murmured, rubbing his wrists, which still ached a little. "I knocked her offline, I think. She busted her head pretty hard on one of the back pipes. Not only that, but she... she was bleeding."

Noise drained from the other end of the phone, only to be filled with abrupt laughter from Adam. "Bleeding? Come on, Jacky. You sound ridiculous."

"N-No! I'm serious. She was bleeding! Saw the wound and everything."

"Robots don't bleed, Jacky."

"I'm not lying about what I saw."

"And I'm not saying you are! But you were clearly panicking when Mama Bear caught you. I'm sure your mind was just making you see things that weren't actually there."

"...Mama Bear?" Jack completely tuned out everything else Adam said after that.

"Oh. Sorry, that one slipped out."

Jack paused, shuddering at the possible implications. "...What do you mean it 'slipped out?'"

"That's her alias!" Adam defended. "You didn't know that's what the patrons call her?"

"People actually call her that?"

"It's either that, Mistress Fazclaire, or Mommy." If Jack had a drink to spit out, he would from how blunt Adam was being.

He shook his head and got back on topic. Adam made some valid points. His mind probably made the bleeding up. If so, then he wasted a whole first aid kit tending to a nonexistent wound. Still, everything else about the animatronics felt real. So who's to say the blood wasn't either?

"Anyway... it sounds like you had a rather exhausting night. Just go get some rest for right now. You got two more shifts to get through, and then you're done with this madness, alright?"

"Y-Yeah."

As much as Jack didn't want to admit he was seeing things, nearly dying and being crippled was probably putting his brain into maximum overdrive. Besides, sleep sounded heavenly right about now.

"And Jack." Jack listened intently. "I know you didn't know, but the basement is off-limits. It couldn't be helped this time since Fexa was chasing you, but if you can, try not to go down there anymore. Something about that area seems... off. Plus, the company doesn't want anything happening to Goldie."

Jack nodded. "Sure."

"Great!" Adam boomed happily. "Oh, one other thing. I won't be able to leave you a tape recording for your last couple of shifts. The reason is 'cause I'll be gone for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be back in time to give ya the money. Triple B will handle everything, too, I'm sure. You've been doing fine so far anyway, so I trust everything will be okay."

"Got it."

"Thanks, Jacky. You're a real-life saver!" With that, Adam ended the call.

Jack put his phone on the charger, then laid back in bed. He stared out his window as the morning light crept into his dark bedroom. "I really need to get some curtains," he sighed, soon drifting off to sleep.

Jack awoke sometime later, but not in his bed. He didn't even register he wasn't in his apartment until he realized he wasn't lying down.

He stood upright in pitch blackness, unable to smell or hear anything. It was so dark he couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not.

What the hell? Was his first thought. His second thought was, Am I dreaming?

He tried looking around but couldn't see a thing. That was until a figure appeared within his field of vision.

Jack faced them, seeing as they were the only thing in this pit of darkness. Oddly enough, they were illuminated in a soft yellow glow. He recognized them immediately. It was Goldie.

She stood in the same position as him, except she was looking down. Confusion coursed through his mind.

That confusion was soon replaced with fear when she slowly looked up at him, revealing her face. Her eyes were still missing like before, but empty sockets weren't gazing back at him. In her hollow eye sockets were white dots the size of pinpricks. She was clearly staring at him.

Something about those white dots sent a tidal wave of dread through Jack. He tried to turn and run, but he found his body unresponsive. It wouldn't do what he wanted. He couldn't even speak! All he could do was watch Goldie staring at him from afar. At least she wasn't so close to him...

That didn't last very long, as right when he thought that, he blinked. In that split second, he opened his eyes to find Goldie standing right in front of him. If he had control of his body, he would've flinched.

He watched as she examined him with her 'eyes,' donning an expressionless face. Her gaze trailed downward. Then, her face morphed into a puzzled look.

What...? That was all Jack could think.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped back to his, and she leaned in close, regaining her neutral expression. He wanted to lean back, but alas, he had no control over himself.

Goldie raised a hand, and it was then he noticed some of her joints were missing. She shouldn't have been able to move.

Her hand gently cupped his cheek. She'd then caress it in an almost...loving manner? He wasn't sure.

As if sensing his confusion, she smiled. He internally cringed at how unnaturally wide her lips were able to curl, yet somehow, the smile looked strangely cute. Then she giggled, which really threw him off.

Goldie's giggle echoed loudly, increasing in decibel every second. It practically drowned out any other thoughts he had.

His eyes shot open, followed by his body sitting up instantly. Jack was back in his apartment on his bed, and Goldie was nowhere to be seen. He looked around, seeing everything was exactly how he left it. "Just a dream..." He calmed down, hearing his heartbeat in his ear.

It took him a minute, but after fully composing himself, he was quick to feel how tired he was. It was like he had only been asleep for an hour. What's worse, he felt wet. He looked down to see he had been sweating profusely.

"Mmm, please tell me it's still morning..." Jack peered at the time on his phone, seeing his shift started in an hour and a half.

He whined and groaned before laying back in bed. "I need a shower..."