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Vanessa never even really wanted this job.
She wanted an excuse to see the PizzaPlex- who wouldn't- but the actual job that came with it? Not so much. Everyone's heard the stories about what happens to night guards at Fazbear Entertainment.
But the pay…
When she saw the benefits listed next to the job description on the company portal, she knew damn well she had to apply. Benefits. From Fazbear. Unheard of. And the pay itself was nothing to sneeze at, either. Thirty bucks an hour? She'd be insane to not try to get the position.
Besides, she reasoned, anything would be better than temping at the very office she found a headless body in. Not that she expected to actually get it - she had no background in security at all! It was worth a shot though.
The next day, however.
Well, she opened up her email, only to find that they accepted her application for the position almost immediately. No interview, no requests for a resume, hell, they never even asked for a reference . Sure, they probably had her resume on file since she already worked with the company, but it still seemed odd that they never asked for an interview at least. They just hired her on the spot.
Maybe they were desperate?
Well, she thought, money’s money.
Her first night on the job wasn't too bad.
Nothing happened the whole shift, she spent it just wandering around and getting her bearings. She got jumped by no less than three map bots, and the security bots kept shining their lights in her eyes, but all-in-all, it was uneventful. She never touched the cameras, prioritizing learning the layout of the mall first.
If every shift was chill like that, she wouldn't mind this job at all.
…though, she couldn't escape the feeling of eyes following her every move the entire night.
It was- it was fine, it'd be fine. It was just the silence getting to her. Places like this were supposed to be full of people, and the lack thereof was putting her on edge. Yeah. That.
Still, when 6am came, she couldn't leave fast enough.
Night two wasn’t eventful, either.
She spent more time with the cameras, though. Needed to figure ‘em out sooner rather than later. And boy, were there a lot. The main security room was lined practically wall-to-wall with monitors, and the presence of three keyboards on the desk told her how many people were meant to run this joint.
Well.
Made sense.
Vanessa mindlessly clicked her way through the cameras, looking out over Rockstar Row, then the atrium, then a couple of the games and shops. The system was easy enough to get the hang of, and by three AM she was getting restless just sitting there, staring at everything and taking in nothing. She almost dozed off, actually- she’d have to get used to a nocturnal schedule- when suddenly a voice rang out around the room.
“Oh, so wonderful to see you again, Vanessa!”
Vanessa jumped to her feet, her chair clattering to the floor behind her as she spun her gaze around the room, “Who’s there?”
“Over here~” Replied a static-laced sing-songy voice, filtering through the tinny desk speakers.
Vanessa whipped her head around to look at the monitors, expecting to see nothing but camera feeds, and instead coming face-to-face with- with- a big, black, rabbit? Taking up- most. Of the. Screens. Um. "Um-?"
"Well, that's no way to greet an old friend! How you doing, how's the family?"
"What-"
"Aw, what, do you not remember me?" The strange, cartoonish rabbit seemed to deflate, ears drooping. Even his bowtie seemed to flop. Vanessa just stared.
And then the rabbit glared at her, ever-present smile curling almost cruelly, and Vanessa took a step back. "Well, that's perfectly alright, because I still remember you, Vanessa. And we're going to have so much fun together."
"What- what are you- what do you want?"
"Now, now, no need to be scared, Vanessa! I'm your friend! I would never hurt you!" He looked almost offended, hand splayed against his chest, aghast. The screens flickered, the rabbit's form jumping around like a skipping tape, before settling again. The rabbit preened, adjusting his bowtie and smiling at her like a big-shot businessman or a shark about to offer her the opportunity of a lifetime, kid! "My name is Glitchtrap, and I'm the reason you have this job. You owe me, now."
“Owe you? I don’t even know who-” -the "or what" went unsaid- “-you are!”
The rabbit- Glitchtrap- waved a hand dismissively, “Pssht, of course you do! It’s just been so long since we last saw each other, is all!” He leaned closer to the screen- Vanessa had to wonder if this was a video call, or if he was- inside the computers, somehow. With the way he fizzled in and out of existence on a few of the monitors, his movements choppy in places and seamlessly smooth in others, this was either a really advanced vtuber, or it was the second option. She didn’t quite like either, though, honestly. A hacking attempt her first week on the job wouldn’t look very good.
“No, no, no, no, see,” the grin dropped from his face, the scowl that replaced it feeling wildly out of place on that glowing purple mouth. The lights in the already dark room seemed to dim as he spoke. “You do remember me, Vanessa. You played with me every day, Vanessa. You were such a fun playmate, Vanessa. I remember when you left, Vanessa. You promised you’d come back, just like you always did at the end of the day, Vanessa, but you didn’t. You never came back, Vanessa. A new person came, and she told me you weren’t coming back. I waited, Vanessa. You were my friend, Vanessa. And you left me."
“But that’s all in the past,” his demeanor flipped in an instant, once again smiling as he waved his hands as if to wave away the very threatening atmosphere he’d created, “it’s in the past, and I forgive you. I made a new friend, and she’s better than you ever were anyway!”
She remembered. “Then- what do you want me for?” God, this is the thing that killed Jeremy.
“Oh, it’s simple, really. The more the merrier! I’ve got a big operation running, you know. We need all the hands we can get!” He reached forward, hand practically pressing against the back of the glass, “So, whaddaya say? I helped you out with your job- gotcha all up ‘n promoted on the back end, no-questions-asked, no-citations-needed! So will you help me out with mine?”
Vanessa glanced at the door, which shut the instant her eyes landed on it. She looked back at Glitchtrap, hand still pressed against the screen in what was clearly his best attempt at getting a handshake without real hands. “Time’s a-ticking, Vanessa~” he sing-songed “will you be my knight in shining armor?”
The heavy clomp-clomp-clomp of animatronic footsteps echoed from the hallway beyond, only interrupted by the screech of metal-on-metal as who she only guessed was Monty scraped at the door.
“Or will you be just another stain on the wall?”
The power on the door ticked down, one-bar.
Glitchtrap giggled. She could feel his eyes on her back as she stared in horror at the door.
Two-bars.
Monty started punching, the door visibly denting under his weight. Glitchtrap’s giggling morphed into full-on laughter. “Tick-tock~”
Three-
“Fine, yes, okay!” She slapped her hand over his.
She heard the security door whoosh open. Heard his laughter reach a crescendo, echoing around the room and bouncing around in her skull.
Her world went black.