Chapter Text
First day of your new job. You can hardly believe it.
You've been waiting for an opportunity like this for years, nights of research and theories, it's finally here. You knew eventually another establishment would open, especially since the plan the company had for a VR game fell through for ‘mysterious reasons’.
It's been your dream to start your own true crime podcast dedicated specially to Fazbear Entertainment and their long history. Today is finally the day that dream starts, and you have the perfect inside scoop.
Will your life be in danger? Probably. Too late now, you've committed.
When you walk through the doors of Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex it's already a couple hours past halfway through the day, AKA the place was fully packed.
The establishment was brand new, having opened to the public only a few months ago, and it was booming with business that rapidly increased every day.
You're unbelievably so stoked, when you'd gotten the call saying you were hired you had screeched in excitement. Management didn't seem amused but they didn't tell you off so you took that as a good sign You didn't mention in the interview, for obvious reasons, but being something of a horror and true crime fanatic you knew everything there was to know about the company’s past and more. Read every article, listened to every podcast, dug as deep as you could. Anything and everything about Fazbear entertainment and the string of crimes behind the company. What really fascinated you was the weird hushed rumors about the animatronics seeming much more human than they should. It was brushed off as a crazy conspiracy, especially regarding newer models with their advanced AI, but you're part of a very small online group that talks about it together. They tell stories of the much older animatronics behaving strangely, malfunctions that shouldn't be possible, and rumors of spirits haunting the robots. You've come to call this group of fellow Fazbear conspiracy theorists close friends over the years.
Man they were going to love hearing about this.
Who you presume is another employee calls out your name, waving to you with a friendly smile. You wonder if that's how she was trained to greet people for her job or if she's actually that friendly.
"Hey, I'm Nicki! It's so nice to meet you! I'm here to show you around and fill you in. This place is huge but I promise it's not so bad with all the directories and signs. Oh and here," she hands you a pamphlet map of the building and you fold it open to examine it.
"We should run into all the cast and characters throughout the tour, and I can answer whatever questions you have. Any questions about past locations or staff I am not legally allowed to answer. Anything you may have heard or read is just rumor and not a true reflection on the integrity of the company. Health and safety is our top priority." She rambles off dully, the tone shift between her introduction and the obvious trained script is evident. You think to yourself that you might know more about past locations then she does and the idea of it makes you chuckle internally.
"I wonder why." You really don't, you know exactly why, the statement is pure sarcasm. The part about past employees in the middle of the obvious anti-lawsuit speech catches your attention. There were a lot of stories regarding a previous owner who branched off from the company, along with an employee who worked at several establishments by changing his legal name. There's a particular theory that the old co-owner and the name changer are the same person. Intriguing. You don't look up from the map and she answers you with silence. When you finally look up at her she gives you a knowing look.
“Sorry, I haven't introduced myself, I got distracted.” You give her your name and accept the handshake she offers. She told you so much information all at once you'd forgotten to greet her back. You didn't mind though, she has nice energy and reminds you of one of your theorist friends. “It's super nice to meet you too.”
“It's okay! I know I have to tell that whole speech immediately or else I'll forget and management is always getting on me about not saying it.” Nicki smiles ear to ear.
"So, how long have you worked here? Are you a manager?" She clearly has some authority since she's your trainer in a way, you want to know more.
"Yep! I've worked here for a little over a month! Although, the oldest employee is Vanessa." She talks with her hands a lot you notice, you do that too.
"Vanessa?" You repeat, tilting your head. "That's a really pretty name."
"Right? She's our nighttime security guard so sadly you won't see much of her unless you have an after close shift." Nicki rests her hands on her hips.
"I have a night shift today." You squint at the map, thinking nothing of it.
"Wait, you do?"
"Yep." You nod.
"That's odd."
You look back up at her, squinting with a cocked brow. "What? Why?”
"Well, just," she pauses, turning over her next sentence in her head. "they normally don't do that to newbies."
Don't do that to new employees. That's an odd way to phrase it. Why wait to put new workers on the night shift?
And why aren't they doing that with you, too?
She motions for you to follow her into the entrance area. You walk past what you can only describe as an insanely massive and entirely unnecessary golden statue of the Pizzaplex mascot, Glamrock Freddy, surrounded by a fountain. You follow a few steps behind her through the gates into the area with the main stage. It's empty at the moment. You guess that any performances had already happened earlier in the day.
"Wait, so, why don't they give night shifts to newbies?" You get an uneasy feeling at her avoidance of the subject.
"Oh, nothing." She stops again, thinking of what to say next. "It's just hard to get around without help. So they normally don't have newbies start on the night shift. But you can always ask Vanessa or Freddy for anything you need!"
I guess that makes sense, it is a big place. You're curious why she specified asking Freddy and not just any of the animatronics. You open your mouth to ask about it but you're interrupted by loud laughter as you and Nicki walk into the main Food Court area, filled with rows of tables and chairs.
Squealing children dressed in cheap cheesy pirate costumes paired with flimsy foam swords run into the room, weaving through the obstacles in their path. They only slow down when they're scolded by Nicki for breaking the first safety rule. You see an image of a list of safety rules on the wall of the original Freddy’s establishment. The second time it opened, that is. ‘Don't run’ was the first rule on the poster. Have the Safety Rules not changed at all since 1993?
Behind the group follows a red fox pirate, the one and only Glamrock Foxy. His face holds a wide toothy grin, a single gold tooth glinting in the light.
"Aye, lass, the kids just be havin' fun, go easy." Foxy holds out his arms, the gold of his hook reflects the neon lights. He sports a star shaped eye patch over his right eye. A mischievous grin flashes across his features. He exudes overconfidence.
"Don't make me mark you down, Foxy." Nicki points an accusing finger as she threatens him.
His ears fall flat against the back of his head. "How could you, my own caretaker, give me a strike?" He brings his hands to his chest, rested over where his heart would be were he not a robotic fox. Or well, hand and hook.
"It's my job, Foxy." She rolls her eyes.
"Wait, you're Foxy's caretaker? I thought you were a manager." You insert yourself into the conversation, looking back and forth between the pair. Buzzing kids speed walk in circles around the three of you, hitting each other with pretend pirate swords.
"I am! I'm Foxy's general caretaker, he has a separate band manager. Typically one person would do both jobs but well-"
Foxy cuts her off and flashes a proud smirk, puffing out his chest. "Lass loves me so much she turned down the promotion to stay my manager."
"So management compromised." She waves off the fox with a stuck out tongue at him for good measure.
"That's so cool." Your jaw is just about on the floor, and your eyes are glued onto the fox. He's one of the original band members, obviously not the original but still. This is real. You're actually here, working here. You get to be here tonight when everyone is gone. It's amazing. Not to mention, you always had a particular interest in the Foxy models over the years. You read so much on many late nights fueled by energy drinks, coffee, and hyper fixation. You knew every detail about the bite of 87, which happened at the rebranded Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria. Toy Foxy was the one that did it. Better known as The Mangle because of what the kids did to it. That poor security guard, the place was already closing down. He survived that long just to have his frontal lobe torn out on his very last shift. He wasn't even supposed to be at that birthday party, he was the night watch, they wanted extra security because of issues with a previously fired day shift guard. It was on every news station you could think of. They said he was sent so many flowers the hospital didn't have space for them. Not that he could appreciate flowers in the state he was left in.
"Aye lass, ye got competition." Foxy elbows his friend and she elbows him back, rubbing the sore spot after. Yeah that's what happens when you elbow metal.
"Stop assuming everybody likes you." She gives him a push that does not actually move him. "Go do your job, let me do mine."
If only he knew why you were staring so much, though it's honestly better he doesn't. You wonder if he even knows the violent history behind his previous incarnations.
Foxy huffs, looking around at the expectant kids waiting on him. "Alright alright, aye, when's your shift over?" He motions towards you.
"oh, uh, 4 A.M." You didn't expect him to ask, you're curious why he wants to know.
"Great, time to get to know ye without the boring babysitter." He flicks his eye patch up and winks using the 'good' eye, pulling it back down as he walks away. His gaggle of little pirates chase after him while loudly giggling.
Nicki shakes her head and sighs. "Just ignore him, he likes to mess with people, I tell him time and again to leave the newbies out of it."
You barely process the pair's words, focused entirely on the colliding thoughts in your head. Questions you knew Nicki couldn't or wouldn't answer. Just how much of that was him and how much programming? That is, assuming the theories you study are right. It was going to eat away at you until you could figure it out. This job was getting more and more exciting by the minute. Tonight you'll have the chance to learn more. You have to be careful though, can't get caught snooping where your nose isn't allowed. You cannot lose this opportunity before finding anything.
You're so spaced out in your little world that you don't respond or speak up when Foxy walks off, just staring at his back as he leaves.
Nicki catches your attention by tapping you on the shoulder. "Are you drooling over Foxy, daydreaming in there?" She smirks and knocks gently on your head.
You snap out of it. "No way, oh come on." You shake her off, stepping back.
She laughs and you follow her further into the Pizzaplex.
_______
You go another hour without running into any animatronics, well besides the various staff bots and wet floor signs. There are so many wet floor signs.
Nicki plops down on the couch of the employee break room. "Okay so, between you and me, employee rooms don't have cameras. I hide out here, just don't do it so much that you neglect your job. Management will find out and you will get in trouble. Believe me, I learned the hard way." She shudders.
You explore the room, finding a coffee maker and you get yourself a cup. "Got it, don't get caught." You lean against the counter and blow on the hot drink.
Nicki gets up and opens the fridge. "And you can put your lunch and drinks in here. Maybe write your name on it, luckily though we haven't had any lunch thief issues yet. Oh, and there's always water in here that I keep stocked."
"You stock it?" You raise a brow.
"Oh yeah, you know, just going above and beyond." She blows it off, but there's an underlying tone in her voice.
You take a sip instead of responding. So management doesn't do much of anything for their employees it seems, you wonder if Nicki takes care of everything herself. She probably does.
"Sometimes we get free pizza vouchers, so that's cool. Also, we have a fridge. So, it could be worse. There's a microwave and you found the coffee maker. Pretty fancy compared to jobs I've had before." She bumps the fridge shut with her hip, opening her mouth to continue before being cut off by the door opening.
"Duck in here, come on." A voice coming from outside says in a loud whisper.
"Duck? I'm a chicken." Another voice, much higher pitched than the first, and evidently even worse at whispering than the first person. Their voices get louder as they both step into the break room.
"You know that's not what I meant, Chica." The first to speak but second to enter shuts the door behind them.
That's the second time already that Nicki has been cut off by an animatronic today.
You and Nicki exchange a look before turning your attention back to the animatronics who just clamored into the employee break room like they owned the place.
"It is a mob out there!" Glamrock Bonnie the bunny, in the flesh. Well, metal. He's dressed in a fancy purple bowling shirt with a matching glove. You're surprised he doesn't sport bowling shoes at first, but you figure he probably just doesn't wear them outside of Bonnie Bowl. He looks exhausted, as much as an animatronic is capable of looking tired. He leans back against the door with a heavy sigh. He doesn't have lungs right? Moving on, you'll question that later.
"Good thinking with the break room, Bon, you're really a genius." The chicken, Glamrock Chica, stands next to him with her hands on her hips.
“I know right, the only way I'd ever get a second to myself all day is if I hide. This spot is a good one.” The bunny makes a loud and drawn out exasperated groan.
Finally, Chica turns to look around the room and stops short when she notices that the break room was in fact not empty. "Hey hun-bun, we've got some company." She's wearing Bonnie's jacket with the Bonnie Bowl symbol on the back, you saw it before she turned around. You take it the pair were hanging out together for a while before this encounter.
Bonnie lifts his head off the door to look at you and Nicki. "Oh! I heard we had a new hire! Is this them? Nicki, were you hiding them from us?" He wastes no time pushing himself up from the door and walking across the room to the stop right in front of you, offering his hand. Though by the intensity of the action you get the feeling it's mostly meant as a distraction. "So nice to meet you honey, what was your name again?"
Somehow, despite the clear attempt to avoid getting into trouble for being in the break room, his over the top friendliness is still slightly intimidating. Maybe it's just because he's the Bonnie Bunny. You shake his hand and tell him your name.
"Oh you're so cute, I think we'll be the best of friends. Do you want to be friends?" Chica leans against the counter next to you, giving a big bright smile, you have no clue when she'd crossed the room to join Bonnie.
"Oh, uh, yeah sure. I'd love to." You smile back, it's a little harder to be intimidated by her. She just exudes sweetness. Maybe it's because she's not as tall.
"Nicki you didn't tell us the newbie would be here today. Who else has seen them? Are we the first?" Bonnie turns his head to her, crossing his arms over his chest.
Nicki crosses her arms firmly, copying him, or more like challenging him, and stares him down. "Aren't you both supposed to be walking around and interacting with the families?" She saw right through his little stalling ruse. She must be familiar with his coded behavior and how he's programmed to act. Or familiar with him. Last you checked it wouldn't make any sense for their AI to allow them to slack off. Advanced AI your ass, there's no way that's all there is to it.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us they were starting today. When do you get off, love? When did you get here?" Bonnie keeps his eyes trained on you with a playful smile. He's doing his best to avoid the scolding, by just ignoring what Nicki said.
"Bonnie."
"What? Nobody's gonna miss us, we'll only be in here a couple minutes." He looks back to Nicki again. giving her an annoyed look.
"Bonnie." She taps her foot impatiently.
"You're no fun. Can we at least steal the newbie?" He motions towards you.
“Oh, please! Can we?” Chica pipes up from next to you.
"No, I need to train them for tonight." Nicki sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. It's funny to think that the animatronic could be genuinely getting on her nerves.
"Tonight? Are they staying past close?"
"Yes, they are."
"Why?" Bonnie’s brows furrow, he looks almost concerned.
"I don't know why, Bonnie, I just know that's the schedule management gave them." She sighs, she gives him a particular look. Like she's trying to tell him to zip it.
"This is the second time it's been brought up." You butt, you'd feel bad for interrupting if they weren't talking about you. Right in front of you. "Why's it such a big deal?"
"It's not." Nicki cuts off Bonnie, who looked like he was about to answer, and he glares at her with a side eye.
The bunny looks back to you and gives a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, they just usually want people to work here longer before trusting them with the equipment and what not without any supervision. I guess they count us as supervision though, they're just being more lax about it since we've been in business for a while now."
This place has only been open for a few months, and with all the issues they've had with employees in the past it's odd that they're being 'lax with it'. You have a feeling that both the animatronics and the staff have their scripted responses trained into them. You make a mental note that it seems like a scripted response, but not a coded one. He's saying what he knows he's supposed to say, but it looked like he was going to say something he shouldn't before Nicki stopped him.
You take a long and dramatic sip, staring him down as you do. "Sure, that makes sense." The bullshit stinks, not only from them but from you too.
Nicki shoos the animatronics towards the door. "Come on, I'm tired of telling all you guys to do your jobs today. Get out of here."
Bonnie steps backwards towards the door, pulling his chicken companion with him. "Bye, it was so nice to meet you. Sorry Nicki is such a party pooper. We'll see you later, love."
Chica waves happily and skips after Bonnie out the door. "Yeah! See you later hun!"
Nicki shuts the door behind them, a little harder than really necessary, lingering with her back to you and her hands pressed against the surface of the door.
"What was all that about?" You eye Nicki with a raised brow.
"They're just like that." Nicki waves it off with a hand, finally turning back to you. She strides across the room.
"No, I mean the night shift thing." You know she knows what you meant.
"You heard what Bonnie said, it's just not the usual so the animatronics are curious about it. That's all."
"They can be curious?" You celebrate internally that caught that. You fight down a victorious smirk.
"I'm-" She freezes, debating how to continue. "I, uh, I didn't mean that literally. You know, just an expression. They just want to know why the routine changed."
"So do I." You furrow your brows, pushing it more. You don't mention that she said they ‘want’ something. You need her to trust you and interrogating her too much certainly won't help.
Nicki takes a deep breath, looking you in the eyes, she takes a moment before responding. "It's just a change in protocol."
You know she means more than she's saying. She's wording it in a way that won't get her in trouble.
You take another drink of your coffee, turning away from her to stare at the break room door. "It's okay, I'll drop it."
There's a stretch of silence that feels longer than it actually is.
"It's not too late to leave." Nicki finally breaks it. She's shifted to lean against the counter beside you, staring ahead at the wall.
Your head snaps back to face her. "What?"
"You can walk out, none of us will blame you. I think I know that you know this job isn't… normal."
You half huff half chuckle, turning back towards the door and downing the last bit of your coffee. You toss the foam cup overhand to the trash can, which misses embarrassingly badly. "If you know then why are you even suggesting that? I took this job for a reason."
"Most of us took it for the money." She shrugs with a smile.
"Well that's most definitely a factor. But I know what I'm getting into. Well, for the most part, but I do know the risk. I'm here because I want to be." It's nice to know she's concerned about your safety.
Nicki doesn't answer for a minute, you think about the fact that she really is as friendly as she seemed. Working with her is going to be really nice. You look forward to it.
"Well, I'm glad you're here. I think you can handle this place." Nicki looks at you again, with a warm smile.
You smile back, walking over to pick up your trash and actually throw it into the can this time. "I'd sure like to think so too. We'll just have to see, won't we?"
"We will." Nicki stands up and physically shakes off the tension, walking to the door. "Let's get back to it huh? Still got some more characters to meet."
You nod and follow her with a certain bounce in your step.
_______
"Welcome to Roxy Raceway!" Nicki leads you into the huge open room and you take it all in by spinning a full circle around as you walk.
"Holy shit."
"Hey, watch that around the kids." Nicki playfully scolds you, pretending to punch your shoulder.
You raise your hands in defense. "Apologies, boss."
"I'm not your boss."
"You're my superior, close enough."
"Still not your boss." She tisks.
Your eyes follow the path of the go kart raceway in pure wonder. Wow, this place is absolutely massive. Not to mention the entire bowling alley and mini golf course. And the arcade. And everything else. All of it. It's all so much. Oh yeah, there's an entire daycare too. The Superstar Daycare, if you remember what it's named correctly.
"Hello racers! Welcome to Roxy Raceway! Remember to wear your helmets and buckle your seatbelts, being safe is being cool!" A wolf animatronic that you aren't as familiar with belts out what sounds like a definitely coded statement to the room full of kids.
"Oh hey, that's Roxy, she's the stationary mascot here. Let's go say hi." Nicki links her arm with yours and leads you over half way against your will. You would have followed her anyways but you nearly fell over from suddenly being dragged. You don't mind, it makes you smile.
Once Roxy is done with greeting the kids entering the raceway her attention turns to you and Nicki, the wolf flashes a wide grin and throws out her arms. "Hey!"
"Hi, Roxy!" Nicki stops in front of her, motioning towards you. "I'm giving the newbie a tour."
"Fresh meat?" Roxanne bellows in surprise, were none of them told you were coming? She grins wider and holds out a hand for you to shake, which you accept. Her grip is tight and she shakes your hand firmly. "We need to arm wrestle."
"Wait, what?" You look only a smidge concerned, she does not let go of your hand.
"This is how she says she's excited to meet you." Nicki chuckles, clearly used to this. Little do you know what's in store.
Roxy walks past you, still holding onto your hand so you have no choice but to spin around and follow her wherever she drags you.
Nicki follows along behind you both with a knowing smile. "Roxy, there's people you're supposed to be greeting." She scolds. Something in the way she says it sounds like she knows Roxy is going to ignore it but she doesn't mind.
"I'll get to it they can wait a minute." The wolf shows no signs of stopping until she's pulled you along to a table and carefully but forcefully makes you sit down before sitting across from you and propping her arm up with her elbow on the middle of the table. She shifts your hand in hers into a hold meant for arm wrestling. She really didn't let go of your hand that entire time.
You look stunned for a moment before rolling your eyes and smirking. Alright, even though it's an unfair fight this will be fun. You silently vow to do your best. You prop your elbow up in the same way.
Nicki looks slightly surprised at how quickly you put up with the silliness of the whole thing. She places her hand on top of yours and Roxy's and counts down from three.
You pick at this routine in your head. From Nicki's reaction you gather this is something Roxanne puts every new employee through. But why? She knows she'll always win, you know she will, Nicki knows, any other newbie she's done this to would know. You can only assume most people wouldn't take it seriously and wouldn't even try. So why keep doing it? The question burns in your mind once again. Is this programmed personality or sentience? God, it's killing you.
"Go!" Nicki pulls her hand back and you put as much force as you can into pushing back against Roxy. You focus on keeping yourself in the game as long as you can because you know you have no chance of winning and trying to force a robot's hand would just tire you out instantly.
Roxy pushes lightly at first, yawning dramatically like she's bored of the competition even though it's barely started. After a second she realizes that her light pushing is barely moving your hand. A look of shock then excitement crosses her face as her jaw splits into a joyous grin. You really can tell that it's been a while since a newbie has actually put up a fight, if anyone even ever has before.
You push back as much as you can and she starts putting more strength into it little by little, she's pushing your limits to see how much you can take. And it's not much before your hand starts moving back significantly but she still looks impressed. Eventually your hand makes contact with the table and Roxy cheers in celebration. Nicki takes hold of Roxy’s hand and holds her arm straight up like a referee at a real wrestling match.
You breath a sigh of relief now that your arm isn't being assaulted. You give a big smile and offer your not sore hand for a handshake. "Good game, Roxy."
The wolf beams and happily shakes your hand. "Good game! We should do that again!"
Your smile grows at the corners slightly. "I think you broke my arm." You were always a dramatic one.
Roxy chuckles and jumps up from her seat. "Oh, yeah, I've got to get back to work. Later guys!" She takes off to another part of the raceway near the entrance, her tail wagging back and forth.
You stand up and shake out your arm. When you look at Nicki she has a very warm smile.
"That was very sweet of you."
"I don't think I'm competitive until I'm challenged to something." You chuckle to yourself.
Nicki starts walking towards the exit of the raceway. "Thank you for that."
You follow behind her, skipping a bit to catch up. You look over your shoulder to scan the room for Roxy and spot her watching you both leave. You give her a wave before you walk out the doors. "I don't know what you're thanking me for." You know exactly what for. Your suspicion that most newbies aren't enthusiastic with Roxy was most certainly correct.
"Alright so, next up on our list is Gator Golf. We'll pass the Superstar Daycare after and just say hi really quick. You can only meet one of the daycare attendants but you might get to meet the other one tonight. They're not the fondest of adults though, just a heads up. Most people don't get a heads up, count yourself lucky." Nicki counts off the list on her fingers as she tells you the plan.
You raise a brow, what in the world does 'not the fondest of adults' mean? Man, this place gets more interesting the longer you're here. You can't imagine how not liking adults would be a part of his coding, and if it was a bug why hasn't it been fixed? That definitely needs to be added to your notes. "Alright, got it, what should I be looking out for?"
"His name is Moon, you'll recognize him after you see Sun, I'm sure, he's just the opposite of Sun. Oh, and you'll see posters and the statue of him." Nicki walks down the hall leading you along, you pass a room labeled Fazer Blast with bright neon signs and a staff bot attendant out front selling tickets.
"Sorry we haven't run into Freddy yet, he's usually really busy. I promise we'll find him before I clock out. You're really gonna need to know him for tonight, he'll be your biggest help." Nicki has an apologetic look on her face.
"What does that mean?" You tilt your head. Once again, the night shift is referred to with an air of uncertainty. You of course know about the company's history with its night shift, so you're not entirely surprised, you aren't afraid to go through it yourself. Though, you probably should be. Where did you leave that damned self preservation? Maybe under your bed. Still, it would be nice to not go into this completely blind.
"Freddy's the most, um, helpful. He'll be the one you want to turn to if there are… complications." Nicki fidgets with her hands, avoiding eye contact.
"I thought there was a human security guard? What about her?" She sounded important but Nicki rushed past the conversation about her.
"Vanessa's very focused on her security job, she won't have time to help you with yours." Nicki keeps her eyes fixed in front of her, you know this is all you're going to get out of her.
You might be overthinking it, but you're sure you know better than that. Especially regarding everything you've been through already today. Your running theory is that she's trying to tell you as discreetly as possible that Freddy is the safest animatronic in the building. Maybe even safer than this Vanessa girl.
"Alright." You pause, watching her intently, still she won't look at you. "Turn to Freddy for help, I got it."
There's a drawn out, uncomfortable silence as you both walk. You fall a couple steps behind, staring at the back of Nicki's head. You wonder what she could be thinking, what she wants to say that she won't. She opened up the most in the break room. Maybe you could get more out of her eventually. But you're running out of time. It sounds like the night shift is something to worry about, but you don't think you can get her to say anything else before she has to leave. You just have to follow her advice and watch out, maybe it won't be so bad. People do the night shift without much complaint as you've heard, maybe employees are just worried about it because of the company's history. Then again, you wouldn't put hush money past Fazbear Entertainment. There has to be a reason management decided to schedule you a night shift on your first day, and you sure would like to hope it's not because they were trying to kill you.
"Here's Gator Golf!" Nicki stops in front of another big room, like the others you passed, it has double doors with an attendant outside. They wave you and Nicki in since you're employees.
You admire the set up, an actual flowing river under the bridges and around the golf course. And not to mention it's mini golf, you love mini golf.
Nicki waves a hand in front of your face and laughs. "You good?"
You shake your head a bit to snap out of it and break into a grin. You feel the tension between you and your coworker washing away. Calling her your coworker doesn't feel right. She's your new friend. You turn to her with an excited smile. "Are employees allowed to play?"
"On our days off, yeah, we get a really decent discount on everything around the Pizzaplex. You also get a meal voucher for each shift. And on top of that, above and beyond work will earn you rewards, free tickets to things like Gator Golf or tokens for the arcade are a couple examples." She smiles warmly at your enthusiasm. "Do you perchance enjoy reptiles?"
"Reptiles?" A flash of green catches your eye over her shoulder and you lean around to investigate.
"That's Montgomery Gator." Nicki smiles, turning sideways to give you a better view.
You watch a large alligator animatronic walking around with his arms out in a flexing pose, he has two children hanging off of each arm who are giggling loudly in excitement. He sports a pair of purple star shaped sunglasses that you didn't see on any of the posters of him, that's weird. You think you remember seeing some just like them in the gift shops you passed though. He has a huge grin and is clearly enjoying entertaining the kids with his display of strength.
"Alright listen, before you go meet him he acts tough but I swear-"
You are not listening, you walk over and give Nicki no choice but to sigh in amusement and follow.
You stand off to the side, out of the path of the show off gator, watching him for a while before he lowers his arms and lets the kids off. He gives them both a fist bump and they run off back to their waiting parents.
"Montgomery?"
He stands up straight, his back to you, his tail hits the ground once with a loud thud. He turns to look at you over his shoulder, lowering his head slightly to see you over his sunglasses. "It's Monty."
"Oh, sorry, Nicki didn't tell me." You defend yourself with your hands in the air, looking at Nicki who gives you a dramatic gasp.
"I tried to tell you but you took off like you couldn't wait another second to meet him!" She accuses and you playfully hit her arm.
"I'm sorry." You wince at your own eagerness, putting your hands together in a pleading motion. "Why didn't you stop me?"
Monty leans down to set the kids on their feet and shoos them so they run off back to their parents. He walks over and rests his arm on your shoulder, pushing his sunglasses up on top of his head. "It's not that serious, I ain't mad, just call me Monty."
"Got it, Monty." You finger gun and he squints at you with a cocked brow. You internally cringe.
"Monty Gator." Nicki scolds, placing her hands on her hips with all the attitude she can muster. "Not only are you not supposed to have those sunglasses,"
The gator cuts her off, stepping forward to point a finger at her. His arm leaves your shoulder but adjusts to rest his hand there instead. "Bonnie gave them to me, I'm not going to give them up for the last time."
Nicki cuts him off in return, putting a finger up in a silencing motion. "I'm not going to take your glasses, you big lug."
"Don't call me that." He argues back, standing up straight so he towers over her and crossing his arms. His tail hits the ground again a couple more times.
You wonder if it's a response to something, once again the question of if it's coding or not buzzes around in your head. You almost tune out of the back and forth on accident but you push the little curious worms in your brain aside and focus.
"Listen to me, Monty. Quit it with the acting all mean to newbies, you keep scaring people off." Nicki sounds like a tired mom.
"I'm not-"
"They were very excited to meet you, and they're very excited about mini golf. Play nice." She motions to you for emphasis.
Monty grumbles, rolling his eyes, his tail thumps the ground a few more times. "Whatever, Nicki, you don't know what you're talking about."
"You act like you're too cool for people and I'm tired of it." There's no fucking way this shit is just AI personality.
He glares at her, but you can see a smile at the edge of his mouth. He tries very hard, but it breaks through and he rolls his eyes again to try and play it off. "Alright, alright enough. I won't scare off the newbie."
"Promise?"
"Don't push it." He flicks his glasses back down. "Are you two hanging around or what?"
"No, Monty, I'm giving them a tour. We've got to keep going, I have to clock out soon too." She crosses her arms, the look on her face betrays that she doesn't fully believe him.
"What about them?" Monty points at you with his thumb.
"They're scheduled past close."
"They're what?" His head drops down to look over his glasses, eyebrows raised.
This time you butt into the conversation, raising a hand to get the pair's attention. "We've had this exact same conversation so many times I've lost count. Apparently it's a big deal but it also isn't.”
The gator furrows his brows and he stares down at you with an expression you can't read. Is it worry?
Nicki grabs your hand and starts pulling you towards the exit. "They'll be back, without me so you can intimidate them all you want and I can't do anything about it. Night staff has to clean Gator Golf tonight."
You have to what?
"They have to what?" Monty looks full of himself, a shit eating smirk on his face and his tail thumps the ground a couple times, but faster paced and lighter than before.
Nicki pulls you out of the room and down the hall. "Sorry about that, you probably think I'm weird."
You were about to ask about your job tonight but you're caught off guard. You look at Nicki quizzically. "Wait, why would I think that?"
"With how I talk to the animatronics and stuff." Nicki mumbles just a bit, she's still pulling you down the hall but eventually lets go of your arm. Though she's still walking fast paced. You think she's embarrassed. "You probably think it's silly."
"What, like they're alive or something?"
Nicki stops in her tracks and you stop with her, there's a moment's pause before she looks at you.
"You talk to them like they're people." You cross your arms.
Nicki pauses for a moment longer. "Yeah, like that."
You shrug, acting nonchalant but you give her a knowing look. "It's not silly, it's uh, it's fun. You're just getting into the role of your job. Nothing else, right? They're definitely just animatronics. Nothing weird at all."
Nicki is frozen a second more before she slowly smiles just a tiny bit. "Yeah, that's it, just being in character. Do you agree then?"
Agree with what you can only assume, the question didn't really make sense in the context of the conversation. You mull on it for a moment, trying to determine what she meant, and the conclusion you land on is if you agree that they're alive. Or at least, that they seem to be. That there's a reason to treat them like they are. Because there's definitely something going on.
"Yes, I do." You smile back and motion to her to keep walking forward. "To the daycare?"
_______
The outside of the Superstar Daycare is an extravagant wonder. Nicki showed you the kids entrance first, with the doors to the Theatre nearby and the giant slide into the ballpit. You definitely want to investigate that theatre at some point. You could see the daycare in all its glory through the windows. While you were watching, the animatronic named Sun noticed the pair of you and waved. You were really surprised, you don't know how he saw you guys all the way up there while focused on all the kids. He juggled them all so well from the short display you saw and you were amazed. You were doubly amazed by the giant golden statue of Sun and Moon in the middle of the room that almost rivaled the Freddy statue you saw before. You made sure to inspect the statue and the posters so you knew what Moon looked like. Seeing as you might meet him later. Nicki brought up going to Freddy immediately if anything was wrong while you were staring at a poster of Moon. You can only assume what she meant by that. It's probably a really good idea to remember what he looks like.
She took you down to the entrance used by parents for pick up, two comically large wooden doors led into the daycare. She knocked on them, a tune type of knock, the type that's open ending for someone to knock back. Surely enough, two knocks sounded from the other side and both doors were pulled open with a dramatic swing.
"Hello!" A very bright sunny themed animatronic greeted you both, the sunrays that decotated his head spinning round and round.
"Hi Sun, I promise we won't bother you for long, but this is our new employee." Nicki motions towards you and Sun's attention abandons her very quickly.
He offers you a hand which you go to shake and he nearly shakes your arm off. "Such a pleasure to meet you new friend! What's your name?"
You give him your name, rubbing your shoulder. To which he pats it gently and offers a quiet apology for his over excitement.
"I just love love love new people. Everyone!" He turns his torso 180° so his upper body is facing into the daycare but his legs are still facing you. You giggle a bit at the theatrics of it all. "We have a new employee! Say hi!"
A wave of small but excited greetings sound from the children around the daycare.
Sun spins back around. "Now, I'm very busy with all the little ones, I'm so sorry I can't hang out longer!"
"Oh it's okay, I'm staying after close, I'll be able to talk to you more then."
Sun freezes, his hands fold together in front of his chest, he starts to wring them together. "You are?"
He looks kind of nervous and Nicki immediately puts her hands on his. "Yeah but they'll be busy with Monty most of the night. Moon doesn't like to go around there right?"
Sun nods, moving his hands to link them behind his back. Nicki drops hers to her side. "Unfortunately, new friend, when the daycare goes dark for the night I won't be around anymore."
You raise a brow, but you know he's really busy so you don't want to question it too much. You opt to ask Nicki what that means after you leave. "When does the daycare go dark?"
Sun smiles wider, moving a hand in front of him to raise up his pointer finger in a matter of fact way. "Two hours after close! So there's time to clean up and in case any parents are running late."
"Can I come around before that then?"
Sun looks surprised for a moment. You wonder if that's because it's rare for employees to ask to hang out with him. "Sure! If you have free time, as long as you keep up with your duties. I don't see why not! Now I really do have to go, I'm sorry."
"No, yeah, sorry for pulling you away for so long." You wave him off with an apologetic smile.
He grabs onto the door handles, stepping backwards. "We're even for pulling on your arm on accident. Buh bye! And bye Nicki!" With that he shuts the doors.
You turn to Nicki, slowly for the dramatics of it. "He's kind of weird, huh?"
Nicki snorts and rolls her eyes. "Yeah he's uh, he's always like that."
"I realized too late that I probably shouldn't have asked him about slacking off from my job in front of you."
Nicki puts a finger to her lips and grins playfully. "I won't tell a soul."
You grin back before pausing. "Oh yeah, what's up with him uh, what was it he said, 'not being around anymore'?" You paraphrase what Sun had told you.
"Oh um, here I'll explain while we look for Freddy and head back to the front. And I've gotta get my stuff from the break room lockers." She walks down the hall and you follow next to her.
You listen intently while she explains that Sun and Moon are the same animatronic, they just have separate AI that is triggered by the light level in the room. You find it fascinating and make a mental note to ask Sun more about it when you get the chance. You're mostly curious about the sentience level of the two of them as well. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Moon, you find yourself really wanting to meet him.
“Moon just isn't super friendly, like I said the daycare attendants don't care much for adults. Sun is easier to get to come around, you just have to give Moon some time.” You stay quiet and let her continue but show you're listening by looking at her. “He's on security detail every night and he takes his job very seriously. Don't let him spook you too bad, he can be intimidating.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
There's a long silence after the conversation reaches a natural end, then Nicki speaks up unexpectedly. "Moon isn't… dangerous, by the way. None of them are. I mean, they're animatronics, of course they're capable of being dangerous." Nicki whispers, looking up and down the hall to double check that the two of you are alone. This is the first time she's really mentioned it, so you don't interrupt her. "They don't mean to, there's something, uh, going on. I think. I don't really know what's causing it. But I know they're always sorry when anything happens, and I know they mean it. If you run away and don't look back nobody will judge you."
You offer a reassuring smile. You think that she trusts you enough to not call her crazy, and you come to the conclusion that your assumption of what her earlier cryptic question meant was right. "I'm not going anywhere, even if something happens, I know there's something up. Like I said, that's exactly why I'm here. I know more about what I'm getting into than most probably do."
"I know, that's not really what I mean…" She pauses again, you stay quiet so she can think. "They're worried about you, that's why everyone is so concerned about the night shift. It's not so much that something will happen. But-" She looks at you with a sadness that makes you think she's been through this many times before. "You just got here, and they really like making new friends, but new people don't usually last very-"
The two of you turn a corner and nearly collide with a family standing in the middle of the hall. Nicki shuts her mouth and clenches her jaw tight.
In the middle of the family stands Freddy Fazbear himself. He signs autographs and gives his final hugs to the kids before kindly encouraging the family to head to the exit because the Pizzaplex is closing soon. Despite the pleads and complaints of their kids, the family walks away down the hall.
Freddy turns and sees you and Nicki and a sweet smile spreads across his muzzle. He walks over to you two. "Nicki! Hello! And who is this?"
Nicki bites the inside of her cheek before forcing a smile. "This is our newbie." She tells him your name. Her happy demeanor is strained, and from the look Freddy and Nicki give each other, you can tell he knows somethings wrong and she knows he knows.
Freddy however knows she's not going to tell him, and that now might not be the best time to ask, so he turns to you and offers a hand. Fortunately, a repeat of Sun does not happen and he shakes your hand very gently. "It's so nice to have you here. I am so sorry I haven't seen you all day. I hope I can see you more the next time you work."
"I'm not going home until 4 A.M." Here we go again.
"After close?" The bear looks surprised and he knits his eyebrows together when he turns to look at Nicki. He's probably assuming that's what Nicki's strange behavior was about. He'd be half right.
"Yep, on their first day." She looks at him with an expression that he understands, but you don't.
Freddy turns his attention back to you. "Well I certainly hope you're a night owl, 4 in the morning is awfully late. There's a coffee machine in the break room if you need it."
You smile. "I already know, thanks though. And I most definitely am a night owl so it's fine."
“Don't tell Moon that.” Nicki comments, her tone is joking but there's a twinge of seriousness you pick up on.
Freddy smiles back and nods. "I'd love to talk more, but I have to make my rounds and say goodbye to the families. I'm so sorry to rush off so quickly. But I'll get to talk to you more after close, alright?"
You nod and wave as he walks off down the hall you and Nicki came from. She waves to him too and he waves back with a warm expression.
"He is so nice." You state after he turned the corner. He can probably still hear you but you can't hold it in a second longer.
Nicki snorts very loudly.
"No like, I have never met anyone nicer than him."
"He's a giant teddy bear." Nicki is still laughing at you.
"He is! That's exactly it! Literally!" You throw up your arms, turning on your heel to walk down the hall in the direction the family went.
Nicki follows you, still struggling with fits of giggles.
_______
You and Nicki walk into the break room, laughing together about a dumb 'why did Chica cross the road' joke. Only to find Bonnie and Chica in the room before you guys this time.
Nicki stops in the doorway and puts her hands on her hips, that seems to be her signature move when an animatronic is doing something they shouldn't be. The fact that the animatronics can do something they shouldn't in the first place is peculiar.
Bonnie immediately points a finger at her and speaks before she can scold him and his chicken friend. "We were here first!"
"That's not a valid argument! We're closing, you're both supposed to be out there at the doors saying goodbye to people. If you two are here then only half of the band is out there!"
Bonnie groans and Chica copies him, though it seems like she only does it to back up her friend and not because she actually cares about being kicked out.
"Do you even do your job at all on my days off?" Nicki taps her foot impatiently.
"Do you even do your job?" Bonnie speaks in a high pitched mocking tone, folding his hand with his four fingers straight out and his thumb beneath them flapping like a mouth opening and closing like it's talking.
Nicki throws her uniform hat at him as she storms into the break room and he jumps up to run out, pulling Chica with him. "Make a break for it!" They dodge around her.
The pair dart past you out the door and Chica yells a goodbye at you over her shoulder. You laugh and close the door behind them.
Nicki scoops up her jacket out of her employee locker and puts it on, tossing the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She drops her combination lock into her bag. "Whatever will I do with that bunny?"
"What about Chica?" You lean against the side of the couch.
"Oh Chica's not to blame. She just follows Bonnie around, she's too friendly and um," Nicki pauses, looking for a word. "featherbrained to skip work on her own."
You snort.
"See what I did there?" Nicki grins and you laugh more, nodding.
"Yeah I saw what you did."
Nicki walks past you to lead you out of the breakroom and towards the entrance of the building.
You're back out in the main entry area again, it's been four hours since you saw this room. You watch families making their way out of the large stretch of front doors. On their way the families stop to say goodbye to the four band members that stand around the entrance. Some families stop at all four of them, leisurely making their way out. Some tired parents make their kids pick a favorite to say bye to. The whole band takes their time hugging kids, signing autographs, taking selfies, and going through their goodbye routine with the guests. You observe them all as you walk with Nicki through the crowds and towards the clock out station near the front doors. You can hear Foxy telling the kids he's with to make sure they tell him stories about all their pirate adventures the next time he sees them. When you look at Nicki she has a slightly wider smile than she did before, you're sure she heard him too.
Foxy quickly walks up behind the two of you. None of the other animatronics protest to him abandoning his post. When you hear him coming you turn around and spot his tail wagging quickly.
"Good night Nicki, see ye tomorrow?" He looks at Nicki with a bittersweet familiarity and you notice his ears fall back slightly.
Nicki smiles and hugs him, you watch his tail wag faster. "Yeah, I have a night shift tomorrow too so we get to hang out."
You didn't think that tail of his could go any faster but there it goes. His ears perk up and he grins. He walks backwards while waving to her and then to you before turning around to go back to his job. "Had to say goodbye to my favorite employee!" He explains to the next family that was waiting to come see him.
Nicki watches him with a soft smile and then turns to you. "You sure you're ready for tonight?"
You're watching Foxy, his tail is still wagging back and forth, as if just the thought of Nicki was still making him that happy. You lean back against the wall and smile. "Yeah I am. From what it sounds like the night shift isn't actually so scary, more like time to hang out with them."
Nicki leans against the wall beside you, checking her watch for the time. The crowd that's leaving begins to dwindle in size, most of the families left being people lingering as long as they can. "I think most of them were worried because nobody other than me ever sees it that way."
"Not to be a 'I'm not like everybody else' person-" You cut off, snorting and bursting into laughter, which Nicki joins you in.
"I think we're going to be best friends." Nicki’s smile is wide and kind.
"Me too." You smile back before turning your attention to the animatronics again.
You scan your eyes across the room, watching each of them. Eventually your attention falls back on Foxy. When you focus on him, you notice his attention is on Nicki. The last few families are more interested in Freddy and Bonnie, so he and Chica are standing on their own. Chica walks over to join him but he still stares at Nicki with a wagging tail. You turn to Nicki and notice her staring back at him, a sweet smile plastered on her face.
"Do you and Foxy like each other?"
She all but chokes on the air itself. She stands up straight, turning to look at you with a shocked but very very guilty expression. "What? No? What are you talking about?"
You raise a brow, a shit eating smirk on your face. You were already sure the animatronics were alive when you walked into this place, and your conspiracy theories are only getting fueled more and more as you go. Part of you was prepared to be completely wrong but despite how hard everyone seems to try to hide it, it's really obvious. Everyone is really bad at hiding it. Granted, most people would just think they're weird or crazy, and just ignore any strange behavior because they don't care. Unlike past employees, it was the whole reason you were here. You must be a real curveball for everyone.
"Wow, what's that, we're officially closed. I have to leave." Nicki nearly slams the buttons to clock out and steps backwards towards the door.
"We don't close for another 5 minutes." You don't actually know the time, but you're guessing by the last two families surrounding Freddy. By now Bonnie has joined Chica and Foxy and the three of them are watching the spectacle between you and Nicki. You don't think they can hear what you asked her from over here but you're sure they'll ask and you're so excited to keep it from them. They're not gonna like that.
Nicki laughs nervously. "Good night, it was so nice to meet you, I'll see you tomorrow."
"You're a really bad liar." You stand there with your arms crossed, watching her rush out the doors, although she stops to wave at Foxy one last time. Yeah, a really bad liar.
You watch her go, walking to stand in front of the glass doors. This place was even more interesting than you thought. You didn't imagine so much could happen on just your first day. You're only even halfway through it. This place was chaos and shenanigans incarnate, although an unsettling concern lingered in your thoughts. You turned over the events of the past four hours, everything you learned, and as fun as it was you knew something was wrong underneath it all. This place isn't entirely safe, you knew people were getting hurt, you knew it had a horrible rate of employees quitting despite only being open less than half a year. If you had to guess, most employees probably quit after the first night shift. Maybe Management got fed up with people leaving after getting adjusted, maybe that's why they scheduled a night shift on your first day. What if you weren't ready for this? What if something happened? What if you died? Were you really willing to die to find out what you wanted to know?
You think about Nicki and Foxy, the peace and happiness of the moment. Yeah, there is something going on here, but clearly it's not all bad. You were too stubborn to give up now, and you were determined to find out more. Your dream was waiting and you could taste it. There's something so much more going on with all of them and you knew you had to figure out what. No matter what it took.
Yeah, you are willing to risk your life.
This was going to be a very eventful first night shift.