Chapter 4: A New Member
My eyes fluttered open in the dark. I looked over at my phone on the charging stand. It read 9:45 PM!
"Shit! I have to get going if I want coffee!" I mumbled and rubbed my eyes of tiredness.
When I got home earlier with the food I bought, and after eating said food, I decided to take a nap before I went back to the Pizzaplex.
Standing up from the left side of my bed, I trudged over to the wall by the bedroom door and turned on the light. Looking down with almost tired eyes, I glanced at my outfit that I was wearing earlier.
Eh, it's still wearable. I shrugged to myself.
I sprayed some of my cologne, just in case there was a smell. Also, I took off my personal watch, since I have the Fazwatch now. After brushing my teeth, I grabbed my shoulder bag, keys, and phone and headed my way out of my apartment. Locking the front door, I raced down the stairs and out into the apartment complex's parking garage. As soon as I was at the driver's door, I heard it. It was faint, but I heard it.
"I need you"
I froze immediately. Not wanting to stick around any further, I quickly unlocked my car and threw my stuff into the passenger's seat next to me. I nervously looked around the seemingly empty parking garage. There was nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing! I steadied my breathing, and turned the car's ignition on. Exiting the garage, I sped off to the nearest coffee shop.
I made it to Caesar's Coffee Shop before they closed. From what I've read, the place is usually open until 11 PM. I walked in and I was hit by the aroma of fresh coffee grounds. The bell above the inner door went off. The barista behind the counter smiled at me.
"Hello! Welcome in! What can I get for you today?" The barista lady beamed.
I hurriedly scanned through the menu above. "I'll take an iced white chocolate mocha, and a chocolate croissant." I politely smiled at her.
"Okay! Coming right up!" The barista smiled, "First, let me ring it up."
I pulled out my wallet from my bag as she rang up my order on the register. Inserting my card, the pin pad dinged that I paid for it. I pulled the card back out, and put it back into its rightful place. The barista scampered over to the coffee machine. I started to scroll through my phone as I waited.
"Here ya go!" The barista chirped as she set my order down at the pick-up counter.
"Thanks-" I grabbed my order and looked at her name tag, "Aaliyah. Thanks Aaliyah!"
"You're welcome!" Aaliyah smiled as I walked out of the coffee shop.
I arrived to the Mega Pizzaplex around 10:30 PM. As I got out of my car with my shoulder bag and iced coffee, I noticed that a lot of families were leaving for the night. Trying to navigate through the sea of people in the parking lot, I finally reached the entrance of the building. Upon reaching the customer service desk, I saw both Gavin and Kennedy.
"Hi Gavin!" I smiled softly at the head manager.
Gavin turned around and smiled, "Hey Elijah! You're here early! Just come around here and I'll help you clock in!" He pointed to the side door on the left of the desk area.
"Okay", I headed around the desk to the left and went through the door.
When I took a picture of my login information, and getting clocked in, Gavin had me follow him. The both of us were headed over to the lower security office. This office also served as the Lost and Found. He handed me a security hat and a level ten security badge. I gave him a confused look with a raised eyebrow.
"Since you have a special situation, you won't need a uniform. You'll just blend in mostly, minus the hat. As for the level ten security badge, you'll be given this just in case you need to hide from whoever is out there to get you", Gavin was just going over the basics.
"Oh okay", I accepted the hat and badge from the head manager.
"Don't show anyone else you have that, we don't want the others to think we're playing favorites", Gavin chuckled and winked.
"Yeah, of course!" I sheepishly smiled.
When he was done finishing the basics, Gavin led me all the way over to Rockstar Row.
"First things first, you're going to be getting to know the animatronics", the head manager beamed with excitement.
I looked at the time, it was 11 PM. The Pizzaplex usually closes at 11 PM for the guests. All of the attractions should be closed by now anyway. When the two of us arrived to the hallway for the green rooms, I noticed that there were stragglers in the area. I finished my iced coffee and threw it into the nearest trash can.
"Hey everyone! The Pizzaplex is now closed! You can see your favorite rockstars tomorrow!" Gavin bellowed throughout the Rockstar Row. I walked over to stand next to him.
There was a collective mass of groans from the customers that were still here. Handful by handful, the remaining customers started to leave Rockstar Row, eventually leaving the Pizzaplex. Once there were no more customers left in the Pizzaplex, Gavin brought me over to the green rooms. He sent the four animatronics a message through his Fazwatch. In a couple of minutes, the animatronics collectively left their green rooms.
"What's going on Gavin?" Freddy questioned the head manager.
"I'd like for you guys to meet the new night guard who's also your night handler!" Gavin gestured to me with a delighted grin.
I suddenly became nervous again.
Not knowing what to say, I nervously smiled and waved at them. "H-Hey there".
"Hey superstar! I see you got the job", Freddy smiled softly at me.
"Y-Yeah", I smiled even though the stares coming from two of them were starting to get to me.
"Haha, look he's such a wimp!" The green alligator animatronic bellowed.
"Monty! Be nice! You don't have to be so mean to everyone who's new!" The hot pink and white chicken animatronic flicked Monty's head.
"Ow! At least I'm being honest", Monty began to argue with the chicken.
I tried holding in a laugh, but a quiet snort escaped. The gray and purple wolf animatronic stepped forward and started to look at me up and down. "At least he has a very good fashion sense!"
The chicken moved the wolf out of my way and stood in front of me. She gently placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'm so sorry for those two. My name is Glamrock Chica, or Chica for short! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."
"T-Thanks", I was starting to feel better about being here.
"I don't think we got your name, superstar", Freddy implied.
"O-Oh yeah. My name is Elijah!" I plastered a smile.
"Nice to meet you Elijah!" Freddy beamed.
"Now that the introductions have been made, who wants to give our new friend the grand tour?" Gavin turned towards the animatronics and clasped his hands.
The four animatronics looked at each other and there was a bit of silence between them as well.
"Eh, I don't feel like dealing with a wimp", Monty grumbled, turned around, and headed back into his green room.
My heart sank because this was actually the first time that someone has belittled me like that. It kind of hurt, to be honest.
"Sorry, pup, I have to get the raceway ready for a big birthday tomorrow", Roxanne looked at me with a bit of guilt.
"I-It's okay, I understand", I gave her a smile with a thumbs up.
"We'll show you around superstar. Right, Chica?" Freddy smiled at the chicken.
"Oh yes of course we will, chickpea!" Chica clapped her hands with excitement.
"Well, that's settled. I'll let you guys to it! I have to go help out with my kids!" Gavin grinned and headed off towards the exit of the Pizzaplex.
Roxanne headed over to her attraction to set up that birthday party. Freddy, Chica, and I headed out of Rockstar Row. There was a heavy awkward silence lingering between the three of us as we walked through the massive building.
"So uh, where were you before you decided to come here superstar?" Freddy broke the heavy silence.
I started to panic because I definitely couldn't tell them. I knew that they're usually confined to the Mega Pizzaplex, but these are very evolved sentient AI animatronics.
"I-I'm not comfortable sharing that right now", I nervously looked down at the ground.
"That's okay chickpea, we understand. When you're ready, just let us know", Chica smiled softly.
"Thanks", I smiled back at the chicken.
"Looks like we're at the first stop of our grand tour! The Superstar Daycare!" Freddy beamed with animation.
It looked like we were in the main lobby of it. There was the soothing noise from the water cascading slowly from the fountain. It entirely had calmed my nerves down. I wish Scarlett was here to see this, her kids would Love it here!
"Hold on, superstar, I have to recharge for a bit", Freddy walked into the red chamber with a blue lightning bolt painted on the side of it.
I looked at Chica with a confused expression on my face.
"At the end of every two hours since our last charge, we have to charge ourselves in those chambers", Chica explained.
"Oh okay", I was still a bit unsure.
"Last time, when the Pizzaplex was under the last CEO of Fazbear Entertainment, who was corrupt, we could only last for an hour. We're so grateful that Scott could upgrade us!" Chica was excited about the upgrades.
"What other upgrades did he give you guys?" I was now curious about the animatronics.
"He gave us all five sensory details that humans have, we can eat and drink, even with guests if they pay for that little addition, we can sleep if we want to, and um we have extra parts that we usually don't like talking about", Glamrock Chica became flustered at the last thing mentioned.
"That's awesome!" I was awestruck at how far they have come.
Both the chicken animatronic and I heard a metal door open. I looked over at the red capsule chamber, I saw Freddy step out of it.
"Looks like I'm all ready to go superstar!" Freddy smiled.
I just nodded in acknowledgement. After going through the main lobby of the daycare, the three of us ended up in this smaller lobby. I looked up and saw golden statues of a sun man, whose arms were stretched to the sky, while a moon man was facing the other direction. There was a plastic tube slide that said "SLIDE INTO FUN!"
"That tube slide is only for the little ones", Freddy commented.
"Oh okay, definitely noted", I wasn't interested in going down that slide anyway.
The three of us headed down the nearest staircase to get to the actual doors of the daycare. Freddy knocked loudly and rapidly on the giant wooden doors before us. The doors opened slowly, and there stood a humanoid animatronic with a sun as its face.
"Hey friends! Come on in!" the animatronic beamed.
I shuddered mentally because of how energetic this one was. Once all four of us were by the big desk, the sun man turned towards me with a big smile.
"Hello, hello, hello, hello new friend! My name is Sun! We can play, do arts and crafts, drink Fizzy Faz until our heads ex-PLODE and many other things!" Sun was being so hyper with introducing himself to me.
I thought it was a bit cute. "It's a pleasure to meet you mister Sun!" I shyly giggled.
"Are you here to play, friends?" Sun beamed.
"Unfortunately not tonight, Sun. We're giving this one here a grand tour of the Pizzaplex. Elijah here is our new night guard and night handler!" Chica chirped with excitement.
Sun looked a bit sad at first, but then became energetic again. "Well I hope that we get to see each other after this, friend!"
"Of course, Sun. I promise", I softly smiled at the animatronic.
I was looking around the giant daycare, and to be honest, I totally would've wanted to be here when I was a little kid. There were a lot of play structures, there were tables for snack time, there was a nap time area, and a giant ball pit! I didn't see the other animatronic though.
"Where's the other one?" I turned towards the animatronics with a confused and curious look.
"Moon? He only comes out when it's nap time. He also comes out every hour to help with security protocols", Freddy explained.
"Oh okay", I still was a bit confused on how the whole thing worked.
"My brother wants to meet you, new friend!" Sun plastered a smile on his face.
"O-Oh?" I was a bit nervous, "I would love to meet him!"
"Okay, you'll just have to turn the lights off, friend", Sun smiled.
I turned towards the light switch and flipped it down. All of a sudden, I heard the sounds of whirring and metal moving. Looking over, I saw that the rays were gone, replaced by a fluffy sleeping cap, and his skin was no longer golden but pale white. The crescent moon on his face was now more noticeable against the dark black of the other half of his face, his clothes were midnight blue with purple shades and little glowing stars that were slowly lighting up like on his command. Him having red, piercing eyes made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Hello, new friend. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Moon", the moon man animatronic said with a smooth voice like honey, and then did a little polite nod.
"H-Hi", Moon's voice made me feel a bit flustered.
"I would love to stay and talk with you, but it is the end of the hour. I'm going to do my patrol", Moon smiled softly and then headed out of the wooden doors.
"So, superstar, where would you like to go next?" Freddy looked down at me with a smile.
"What about Monty's Gator Golf?" I asked since it was right next to the daycare.
The two animatronics looked at each other with a nervous expression.
"We can do that, chickpea. If Monty is there, we won't stay for long because he's not good with new people", Chica wasn't trying to hurt my feelings.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that", I shrugged.
The three of us headed out of the daycare, went through Kid's Cove, and ended up at the mini-golf attraction. At the entrance, there was a small carousel like ride that had the seats that were shaped like golf balls. When we entered the attraction itself, amazing wasn't the only word to describe it. The lush and dense mini-golf course was shaped like the back of an alligator! The dim lighting also helped the immaculate vibe it gave off. I also loved playing mini-golf as well. Going down the stairs that came after the first four holes, there was a snack hut called Monty's Gator Grub. I looked up at the ceiling and there was a floating gondola ride with the cars shaped like alligators!
Those alligators are so cute! I cooed in my head.
There were also catwalks that had guns here and there. They were pointed at this giant bucket above a stage? After walking almost halfway through the attraction, that's when I saw him. I instantly froze. A few feet away from the three of us, it was Monty playing mini-golf by himself?
I heard Monty huff and then I got even more nervous when he suddenly turned around. "Well, well, well. Look at what the bear and chicken dragged in", Monty smirked.
"O-Oh hi Monty!" I nervously smiled, trying not to blush.
"What do you bastards want now?" Monty huffed with annoyance.
"Language Monty!" Freddy scolded the gator, who just rolled his eyes.
"We're just showing Elijah around. Like Gavin asked the four of us to do!" Chica crossed her arms.
"Sorry for not wanting to babysit wimps!" Monty grunted while hitting his golf ball off of the tee.
"Monty stop that!" Chica glared at him.
I don't know what came over me, but it was probably my fight or flight response. With tears welling up inside my eyes, I exclaimed with hurt in my voice, "I haven't done anything to you! Why would you treat me like this?! You don't know what I've been through to get here!"
I let the tears just flow out of my eyes and I ran out of the mini-golf attraction. I heard loud arguments behind me, but I didn't care. Running past the golf carousel, I somehow ended up at Roxy's Raceway. Looking through blurry eyes, I stumbled into what looked like a salon? I couldn't give a fuck where I was, so I sat down in one of the chairs. I pulled my legs close to my chest, put my head down, and just kept sobbing quietly. I was just done.
I guess my sobbing attracted someone away from her duties tonight. Feeling a paw on my shoulder, I looked up. It was Roxanne.
"What's wrong pup?" Roxanne squatted next to my chair I was sitting in with a concerned look.
"I-I'm sorry for interrupting your work", I stuttered out.
"You're fine pup, I was almost done anyway", the wolf animatronic softly smiled at me. She started to gently rub my back.
"O-Oh okay", I tried to smile.
"Freddy, I found Elijah. He's here in my beauty salon", Roxanne talked into her Fazwatch.
"Oh good, we'll be right over!" I heard Freddy's voice from her watch.
Roxanne and I stayed in silence, while I leaned against her on the ground. She was holding me on her lap. That was until I heard a bunch of heavy, fast, and metallic footsteps coming closer to the salon's entrance. I looked up and saw Freddy coming towards us.
"W-Where's Chica?" I didn't see her come in with Freddy.
"No!" I heard a female voice yell outside in the attraction's lobby, "You stay out here and stay away from Elijah until you can be nicer to him!"
There's my answer. I slightly chuckled in my head.
"Fuck you, I don't know why I even came over here anyway!" I heard a gruff male voice near where the other voice was. After that, I heard footsteps heading out of the attraction's lobby.
Chica finally came into the salon. When she saw the state I was in, she quickly hurried over to me, and picked me up into a hug. "I'm so sorry for that chickpea!"
"I-It's okay", I replied softly.
"What even happened?" Roxanne asked while getting up from the ground.
"We didn't know Monty was going to be there while we were showing Elijah the mini-golf course", Freddy began to explain.
"And Monty became a dick to him over nothing! It upset Elijah a bit", Chica crossed her arms, finishing Freddy's sentence.
Freddy looked at the chicken with a stern look because of her word usage.
"What!" Chica expressed with her arms.
I silently looked over at Roxanne. She was starting to look angry. Like really angry.
"Oh hell nah! He's starting to go too far with this nonsense!" Roxanne stormed out of her attraction, looking for Monty.
"I-I'm so sorry for causing all of this!" I stammered nervously.
"Superstar! It's not your fault, you've done nothing wrong", Freddy smiled softly at me. His voice was smooth just like honey.
"Okay" I started to dry my eyes from the tears.
"Let's go see the raceway chickpea!" Chica chirped, trying to make me more at ease.
"Yeah! Let's do it!" I gained my confidence back.
I followed Freddy and Chica out to the raceway. It looked so cool! The track itself looked intense! I was wishing that I could race against the animatronics one day.
"Do you think Roxy would be able to teach me how to race?" I asked Freddy with a sheepish smile.
"Of course superstar! It's her specialty!" Freddy replied.
"Well, when she's not pissed off at Monty!" I laughed thinking about it.
The two animatronics looked at each other before they started cracking up as well.
"I think the last place we'll stop is the Fazcade superstar. You still have to meet DJ Music Man! He's such a nice fellow!" Freddy said as soon as the three of us calmed down from our fits of laughter.
"Okay! Then let's go!" I beamed, thinking about the last animatronic I would have to meet.
Following the two animatronics out of the raceway, we headed up an escalator to the next floor. There was an elevator from the attraction entrance to actually get to the arcade itself.
Surprise, of course there was. I mumbled to myself in my head while we were in the elevator.
Once we got out of the elevator, I heard loud music bumping from our right.
"Uh, I'm going to wait over by the staircase until you guys are done with the introductions, superstar", Freddy gave me a sheepish smile.
"Why's that Freddy?" I turned towards the bear with a confused look.
"When I hear music, my body won't stop dancing until there's no music", Freddy put his hand behind his head, "It's still part of my programming."
I couldn't help but laugh at that hilarious fact. "I'm sorry for laughing big bear, but that's just too funny!"
"You're right superstar", Freddy chuckled a bit as well.
When I saw the first five animatronics, I thought they were a bit taller than me. However, this last one was massive! He was this giant six-legged animatronic that wore a pair of red and green headphones on!
Whoa! That thing is fucking huge! I was in awe while Chica and I headed over to his stage.
Chica started waving her arms to get his attention. He finally noticed after a few minutes of her doing that. DJ turned off the music, so we could talk. However, before I could say anything he started waving one of his hands around.
"What was that?" I looked at the chicken animatronic, very confused.
"Oh yeah, he can't talk, but he can usually use sign language for humans. He can talk to us in my head though", Chica explained.
"Oh okay", I was trying to wrap my head around that.
I waved hello at DJ, who waved back.
"He asked who you were, chickpea", Chica smiled.
"O-Oh, I'm Elijah! I'm the new night guard and the night handler for you guys!" I smiled nervously at DJ.
"He said that it's a pleasure for him to meet you", Chica continued talking for him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, big guy!" I giggled.
"DJ! Yes Freddy came with us, but don't tease him for his programming!" Chica bursted out laughing. The giant animatronic just grinned.
"I heard that DJ!" Freddy's voice echoed from the staircase. Chica laughed harder while I joined in the laughter.
"He said that he loves your outfit, and that you present yourself so well"
I stopped laughing, and instantly blushed at that.
Why are these male animatronics making me feel like this! This is weird! I started to rationalize this in my head.
"T-Thank you DJ", I smiled at the giant animatronic, while hiding my blush.
"Well, it's almost 6 AM, chickpea. We need to head back to the entrance", Chica put a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah", I kind of didn't want to leave, "Bye DJ! I'll see you tomorrow night!" I waved goodbye to the giant animatronic, who waved back.
Chica and I met Freddy by the elevator to head back down to the Atrium. After going down multiple escalators and elevators, the two animatronics and I ended up at the customer service desk in the lobby. As I was clocking out, I noticed that Roxanne was pulling Monty with her. The both of them were coming up to us.
"You are going to say goodnight to him!" I heard Roxy say through her teeth. All Monty did was grunt.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, superstar! I'll see you tomorrow", Freddy smiled as I hugged him goodbye.
"We'll always be here chickpea!" Chica chirped as I hugged her.
"Be safe out there pup!" Roxy smiled softly as I embraced her goodbye as well.
When I let go of her, I looked behind her. Monty's back was faced towards me and his arms were crossed. I kind of felt sorry for him.
"I'll see you tomorrow big guy", I smiled and winked in his direction.
"Bye you guys!" I waved at the other three while heading out of the building.
Not long after finding my car in the parking lot, I turned it on, and headed home.
When I got back to the apartment complex, I was so exhausted. Trudging up the stairs, I just could not keep my eyes open. Fumbling for my keys, I heard fast footsteps coming from the far end of the hallway! That got me out of my tired state.
Shit! Come on! I panicked.
Finally getting the key into the lock, I quickly turned it and opened the door. I slammed the front door shut, locked it, and took a quick peek through the peephole. There was nobody there! The heavy feeling of being tired came back over me. I walked with heavy footsteps up to my bedroom. When I shut the bedroom door, I locked it just in case the front door wasn't good enough. I got out of my clothes and laid down in my bed.
I hope tomorrow night will be better than today. I tiredly thought, closing my eyes, and letting my body give in to the tiredness.