Chapter Text
Mornings were the worst. With the temptation of your bed luring you back to sleep, it would be just too easy to roll over and slide your alarm to snooze it to catch a couple more winks. If it was your day off, maybe you would’ve been tempted to.
But that wasn’t on the agenda for the day. If you were to allow yourself that grace, then you’d have to cut off time from somewhere else. And where would you possibly want to take that from? Breakfast? Showering? Your daily hygiene routine? Yeah right
.
So with a heavy sigh, you pulled yourself from the blankets that tangled your legs and shuffled out of the bed. Your eyes look at the screen of the phone as you check the time. Four A.M. Ugh.
If only you were one of those early birds, today would be so much easier. But you weren’t. So instead of being cheerful and chipper the moment you woke, your feet dragged across the floor through the process of getting ready. If you didn’t live so far away from work, maybe you wouldn’t have to wake up so early. But that would either mean moving, which was out of the question, or quitting. And quitting meant not seeing your favorite animatronics every day.
Your work was already struggling for *actual* employees, and you’d rather not have to go through the process of finding someplace else to apply to when you actually enjoyed the work you had there. Every job had its downsides, and waking up early to make the drive was just what you had to put up with. The pay was good- Hell, you were probably making more than most base employees were elsewhere. But you also had to deal with a lot of safety hazards that made the rate of pay make more sense.
With your routine done, your keys are grabbed off the hook by the door with a metallic jingling noise that makes you smile a little. The ring is decorated with several keychains that may or may not have been bought from the Pizza Plex’s gift shop. Monty’s was your most recent addition, and it was one you didn’t have to pay for.
The recent memory of the rockstar tossing it your way with a statement of how you now had a better one to replace Freddy’s on the ring always made you chuckle. Instead of replacing it, you added it on with a promise to take care of it the best. Freddy had been so happy to see you donning his merchandise, small as it may be, and you couldn’t bear to take it off of your keyring.
Company standard black shoes carry you outside, where you stop to gaze at the rain falling all around you. Downpouring. It was just going to be one of those days, huh?
At the very least, the Pizza plex didn’t have any leaks in it. It was better than the old warehouse you used to work at in that way. You duck your head and move to get into your car a little faster in order to avoid getting soaked, and then you’re finally on your way.
The car’s radio automatically hooks up and this early in the morning, there’s not much more playing than the news. You suffer through a news clip and the beginning of some ‘Breaking News!’ before your phone pairs and you’re actually able to enjoy music you enjoy.
The drive to work finally begins at 5:16, meaning that you’ll still be able to get to work on time even with the slow pace of everyone trying not to hydroplane on the road. Something nags at you, but you push that feeling away. It’s just a little bit of rain. Nothing bad. After you see someone swerve a little on the road, you almost feel a little… better? Maybe that’s just it. Just one bad driver had you worrying for a moment- maybe a sort of sixth sense.
And you go back to it, peacefully performing the same every day task. You make it all the way into the parking lot and the scene in the parking lot makes you furrow your eyebrows. There’s a handful of police cars, an ambulance, and even a fire truck that’s parked and thankfully not in use.
Checking the time, the clock reads 5:52, meaning that it was too early for a customer to be causing a scene. The feeling comes back again, and you at least have the sense to grab your umbrella from the backseat before you’re quickly rushing out to investigate.
“Whoa there- Sorry. Pizza Plex is closed for the day.” One of the police stationed by the yellow caution tape by the door stops you. The officer seems nice enough, but it still causes you to frown.
“I… work here. What’s going on?” Confusion is evident in your voice as you glance at the front doors as you try to scope out the problem. “Is everyone okay?” That seemed like the next question, and you hold your breath waiting for an answer. The officer glances at your badge before hesitating and giving in with a sigh. He picks up his radio, calling for the witness, and it takes just a moment for a familiar face to come into view.
‘Thank fuck,’ you think. “Vanessa.” You greet the night guard with a relieved sigh. “What happened here?”
She pinches the bridge of her nose, overwhelmed clearly, and after a moment she explains with a tired voice. “A kid got into the plex last night. There… was a fire. Cameras show the kid making it out, but- there’s a lot of damage. A lot of the structural damage isn’t too bad, but,” She pauses to find the words before continuing. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get everything running again. It doesn’t help that our main tech quit when she found the news. ‘Too much work,’ she said. What the hell am I going to do?” Vanessa adjusts the umbrella she held that was keeping her dry before narrowing her eyes at you.
She’s evaluating you, and you know it. It’s a look you’ve seen time and time again, and before you can get a word in, she speaks first. “Look, you’re a tech, right?” You quickly chime in with wide eyes.
“Just part time-! And I mainly do just maintenance, not whatever you’re going to ask me to do.”
Vanessa shoots you a look before continuing. “Just take a look at them first. I’m sure FazEnt would include a promotion and a fancy new title if you agreed to fix them. It’s not like repairs would come out of your pocket. And you’d really be saving our asses here. The market is terrible right now and I don’t want to look for another job. So… Just take a look. And then give me your answer.”
It’s going to damn near kill you to see the animatronics and you know this. Seeing your coworkers burnt to high hell? You’d be lucky if you could make it through the Pizza Plex without crying. But… Fuck it. You have to try. You have to at least see if you can make a difference here.
“I’ll do it.”