Chapter Text
"Well, here goes nothing I guess."
Fritz stood before the double-doors of the pizzeria, suddenly anxious about something he was quite sure he hadn't spared a second thought before. He held his resume and his job application in his hand, unsure what to expect of the building he was about to enter. He'd heard rumors about the creepy performing robots and the obnoxious screaming children everywhere, but it had all felt so far away until now. He cast a glance around the parking lot as though to re-affirm that there was no way out until he'd applied properly. It looked like every parent in town was here, judging by the cars. Not that anyone could blame them; it was as good a place as any to take your kids and relax in the A/C while they ruined someone else's property for a while. Fritz raised an eyebrow at one of the cars in the lot briefly; it was a classy little thing, all smooth sides and chrome so shiny you could see yourself in it, done up with a striking purple paintjob.
Must be someone important, he mused, before finally forcing his feet to move and carry him inside. He couldn't say what hit him first; the smell of cheap, greasy pizza, or the almost-tangible wall of crisp, cool air. He unconsciously dropped his shoulders for a moment, letting the air conditioning wash over him and reassure him that all would be well. There was an incredibly bored-looking woman standing by the entrance to the pizzeria from the foyer he had entered, giving him an expectant look.
"Take this bracelet and keep it on the entire time you're in here. All bracelets must be returned by the time you leave. Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where fantasy and fun come to life."
She spoke as though she had rehearsed this line a million times, letting each word blend together as exasperation hastened her speech. Fritz just nodded and accepted the green plastic wristband, affixing it to his wrist after a moment of fumbling with a cheaply-made latch. Before he passed through the turnstile into the pizzeria proper, the employee stopped him and pointed to a large box that looked like a present.
"Hold your bracelet up to the present so the Security Puppet can register you."
"The wha-"
Before he could get anything else out, something tall and lanky popped up out of the box. Its body was all black, save for a few white stripes and buttons here and there. Its face was a frankly unsettling white porcelain mask with two purple streaks running down from hollow, empty eyes and around a hollow, empty smile. It had little red dots on each cheek, presumably to make it look more friendly and approachable. This thing--the "security puppet"--stared at Fritz blankly for a few moments and then down at his wrist.
Good fucking Lord Almighty what the hell is this thing what is it doing-
With a happy little jingle, the puppet waved at Fritz and then sank back down into its box, the lid sliding back into place on steel rails. Fritz looked incredulously at the nearby employee, but she had already turned her attention to the doors once again. He awkwardly cleared his throat and headed over to the prize counter--where the newspaper ad had said to check-in regarding the position. He could hear the animatronics performing on the stage in the other room, though after his encounter with the puppet, he wasn't terribly keen on watching the show, so he kept his head down. When he got to the counter, an older man stood behind it; a stark contrast to the pretty young woman by the entrance. He had a kind, wise look in his eye, like he'd been around the block more times than you could count and could give you advice on damn near any situation you could imagine.
Looks like the kind of grandpa who would build you a sick treehouse, Fritz thought with a smile.
"Hey there, sport. Bet you're here about that job, eh? Or maybe you were after some of these great new slinkies we just got? I don't see any tickets on you, though," the old man said with a chuckle. He extended a hand towards Fritz, which he took gladly and gave a firm shake like his dad was always going on about doing.
"Yes, sir, that's precisely why I'm here."
"Oh, no need for the formality. You can call me Henry. But how's about you take a walk with me, sport?"
Fritz nodded happily and followed along with the kindly old man as he waved over another employee to watch the prize counter and set off through the building. They walked down a long corridor with a bunch of party rooms branching off either side. He could hear little kids screaming and yelling in excitement, or talking loudly about this or that stupid thing they were hyped up about that week. The parents talked much more quietly and Fritz could just barely smell a hint of wine over the comparatively loud scents of pizza and birthday cakes baking in the kitchen. Singing was coming from one of the rooms further down.
"As a night guard, you'll be tasked with watching over the restaurant from midnight to six in the morning every night, for as long as you want to be part of the Fazbear family. Simple job, really. We'll supply you with a computer where you can watch all of the security cameras, and you'll get your own--if I may say, rather comfortable--office. There will even be refreshments. A pizza or two so you won't go hungry, and the key to the vending machine--you can open it up and get a drink whenever you feel thirsty. Just have to make sure nobody breaks in, and you'll get $120 a week. How's that sound, sport?"
Fritz couldn't believe what he was hearing. Free food, free drink, his very own office, $120 a week--just to sit there and watch cameras for six hours a day? This was entirely too good to be true. He had an awestruck smile on his face as he looked down at the floor, not noticing until too late that he was on a collision course with something tall, thick, and bear-shaped. With a dull clunk he bumped into Toy Freddy and fell backwards with a grunt. When he looked up, the robotic performer was extending a hand down to him with an apologetic expression.
"Darn these big clumsy bear feet! I just can't see where I'm a-goin', a-huh-huh-huh," the animatronic said, in an exaggeratedly goofy voice. Complete with a silly, nasally belly laugh at the very end. "Who are you, sir? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before, a-huh-huh-huh."
I...Have to introduce myself to a robot? I had no idea they were this advanced. This is like...Some Star-Trek shit.
"Um, I-I'm Fritz. Fritz Smith," he said with a bit of a stammer. It was awkward, tripping over a fat stupid robot bear, but somehow even more awkward to have to introduce yourself to him moments later.
"That's alright, Freddy. Fritz here is gonna be the new night guard! He'll be watching to keep everyone safe at night, sport." Fritz felt Henry's firm, grandfatherly hand clap him on the shoulder confidently, and flashed a big grin. Toy Freddy was quiet for a moment like he was trying to put his words together right, but put on a big goofy smile after a minute.
"That's guh-rate! The safety of our precious Faz-Fazlicious Fazeroni Pizza is in your hands, Mr. Fritz-The-Night-Gu-Guard!"
Weird...He like, glitched on a couple of those words. Must be a weird kink with the programming on these guys I guess.
"Yes, yes. But I've got to finish the complementary tour and finalize the paperwork before he can start, okay, Freddy? Run along now, I see a birthday boy who could use a big number from our bear-shaped star."
The big robot bear gave an excited wiggle of his ears and went marching off in search of said birthday boy. Henry gave an exasperated chuckle and motioned for Fritz to follow as they continued walking towards the security office. A young woman sat at the desk there, absent-mindedly flipping between cameras on the little desktop computer in front of her. Fritz realized something and turned to Henry with a hopeful expression.
"So, does this mean I like, got the job...?"
"Almost, Fritz. Just some paperwork to sign. But if you're serious, then I'd say you're a shoe-in. First, though," Henry stopped to gesture to the young woman sitting at the desk. She looked up and put on a strained smile for Henry. He motioned her over and she got up with a slight sigh.
"Fritz, this is Millie. Millie, this is-"
"-Fritz. Got it. Henry, Stu needs you in the kitchen, says Chica ate some of the pepperonis again last night and they don't have enough left for the rest of the day's pizza orders."
The old man gave a deep laugh and slapped his forehead. He seemed to be taking this relatively well, Fritz thought, considering she just said that the robots eat.
What kind of fucking robots eat?
"I'll head right over. Thanks a Millie-on, heh heh." With that, Henry left, and it was just Fritz and Millie--presumably the day shift guard.
"Listen, kid, I'll be frank. You're getting the job I want, handed to you on a silver platter. Kinda pisses me off, but that's fine. I need your help. I can make it worth your while, I swear. You're gonna be here at night--when there's noone else around. That means you can get away with snooping anywhere you want without getting caught. I need you to do me a couple favors, if you're willing. I swear, I will pay you back ten times whatever the hell you think this gig is worth."
Her bright green eyes burned with a kind of intensity Fritz had only seen in some anime shows he watched when he was absolutely certain nobody else was in or even near his house. He was honestly scared of this lady, but she intrigued him at the same time. Not like that--she wasn't really his type--but the mystery of her aggressive proposition really had him interested as to where this would go. Still, he wasn't so sure about ruining such a wonderfully lazy job, considering he hadn't even technically gotten it yet, so he resolved to give her an in-between answer. He needed some money this summer for a new TV and a Nintendo Entertainment System, plus some games, so he figured maybe he'd work a week or two for the cash and then see what this woman was trying to accomplish.
"Uh, maybe you give me your number and we talk about it another time? I just need the money, y'know? Um..."
Millie rolled her eyes and sighed. She handed him a business card with an older, unfamiliar design of Freddy on it. Fritz stuck the business card in his pocket and turned his attention to the hall ahead of them as the other two animatronics made their way to the other party rooms. The big blue rabbit--Toy Bonnie--strummed his fake guitar, causing a speaker hidden somewhere inside of him to produce a jaunty electric guitar rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song as about a dozen children joined him, screeching and off-key. His own singing voice was remarkably nice, Fritz realized. High-pitched for a guy, but somehow...Soulful.
Whoever did these voice recordings at Fazbear Entertainment HQ deserves a raise.
The rest of the day passed about as you would expect. Henry came back and, with his grandfatherly energy, walked Fritz through all of the paperwork necessary. He gave him his badge and cap, and told him to return at 11:55 PM that night to get started right away. Fritz went home to brag to his folks about the great new job he'd landed. All the while, the nerves seemed to build up within. His mother prepared a delicious meatloaf for dinner that night to celebrate, and they sat and watched Full House and Alf for the evening until his parents retired to their bedroom. He was left sitting in front of the TV alone, simply waiting for the clock to strike as the screen before him broadcast various programs intercut with commercials.
When the time finally came, he hopped on his bike and headed for the pizzeria. The near-midnight air was cool on his face, a welcome change from such a ridiculously hot summer. The usual road he took to get to the town proper ending up being closed off for roadwork when he reached it, so he headed for the more round-about road instead. It took him deeper into the countryside briefly, before veering onto a main road that took him into the heart of the downtown area--and thus to his new job at Freddy's. Along this "scenic route" was an abandoned ironworks. Its dormant smokestacks rose high into the sky, like they were trying to split the clouds themselves in two. As he sped by, Fritz could swear he saw a light on in one of the windows, but he didn't have enough time to stop and investigate. Besides, it was impossible to say for sure--he was really flying down these back roads to make it on time.
As he finally reached the building, Henry was standing outside to greet him. He had that same kind, wise look about him, though he did seem to be in a bit of a hurry to get home. He gave Fritz the keys to the building and guided him to the security office, before locking up the building on his way out. Fritz would be unlocking the building for the staff in the morning, he explained. It all made sense. Fritz found two boxes of pizza on the desk, with a little plush toy of one of the characters sitting atop them holding a post-it note. "For you! " was written on it. The plush was of a white fox character with goldenrod eyes and pink accents. It was quite cute, by Fritz' reckoning, though he did find it a little odd that he hadn't actually seen this character yet. Not on any of the posters, not walking around, nothing. He shrugged it off and used the vending machine key to get himself a Coke before sitting down at his desk and settling in. After about an hour or so, he decided to start flipping through the cameras, as he'd become bored of staring down into the impenetrable darkness of the hallway before him.
"Hmm...Too dark on these cams, wonder if there's like..."
After trying a few buttons on the computer's keyboard, he found that the spacebar, while held down, seemed to activate a light attached to each camera on the system. With this, he started getting a better look around the place. The party rooms were a little eerie without anyone in them, he had to admit. He flipped through the various cameras, watching their feeds for a few moments before moving on. He finally came to the Kids' Cove camera and stopped dead in his tracks. Laying on the floor, in the corner, was a mass of animatronic parts, slapped together in a haphazard, careless fashion, like a drunk half-blind elderly man had thrown together a robot in his death throes. The poor mess of parts seemed to be incapable of movement, lying there dejectedly. Fritz knew it was weird to assign such emotions to what amounted to lifeless pieces of steel, but even he couldn't really resist feeling sorry for the thing. He kept watching over the party rooms and the main stage, though he did keep switching his attention back to the Kids' Cove camera now and then as the night passed. As 6am neared, Fritz found himself exhausted from the all-nighter he'd just pulled. Yawning, he continued diligently looking around each camera until he came to rest on Kids' Cove once more. There that mangled mass sat, looking sad and lonely. He couldn't stop looking at it every now and then, it just fascinated him so. Except this time, it looked like something was actually different. As he leaned in close to the screen, the head attached to the mess of parts turned to look at the camera directly.
NOPE. No thank you, no no no no, nope, no.
Quickly flipping to another cam, Fritz continued his sleepy vigil over the dark pizzeria. Before he knew it, the digital clock on the wall behind him began to chime--the signal that heralded 6am. He stood up and stretched before heading over to grab the ring of keys and leave. All was going smoothly until he reached the turnstiles by the entrance. The security puppet popped up and startled Fritz into dropping the keys and jumping back a foot or so.
"Jeez! You can't scare me like that, puppet. What's, uh, what's up?"
The security puppet simply stared at him blankly for a few moments before a quiet voice came from somewhere inside, barely above a whisper, but just loud enough for him to hear:
"Goodbye, Fritz..."
"Oh, uh, 'bye puppet. But, um, I'll be back tonight. So it's not like, goodbye forever."
"...Don't be like Jeremy."
Before he could ask what the fresh, squeaky-clean hell it was talking about, the morning-shift people began to knock on the door impatiently. Fritz just waved at the puppet and went to go unlock the door for them, and then headed home. He didn't have a whole lot of time to think about everything; he didn't have a whole lot of time to think about anything at all, for that matter. When he got to his bedroom, he fell near-immediately into a deep, sound sleep. His mother came in to check on him when she woke up a few hours later, and she gently tucked him in before going about her day.
END OF CHAPTER ONE