Chapter Text
Foxy's not quite sure why he was the first to wake up, or why it happened so damn early. Three months after opening, he was already recognizing different emotions, gaining likes and dislikes, and had an understanding of interpersonal relationships. He wasn't supposed to be able to do any of these things. On top of it all, he was the only one. The other animatronics were simply animatronics, no life to their demeanor or movements, just doing what they were programmed to do.
Foxy was lonely because of this. No other animatronic to sympathize with, and no human who truly believed he was anything other than a bunch of metal, plastic, and code. It was disheartening, always being the outsider. Too much a machine for the humans, and the other animatronics incapable of cognitive thought.
So he found ways to keep himself occupied that had nothing to do with whoever or whatever else may be in the Pizzaplex. He wandered into the attractions when they closed at night, though quickly learned playing them wasn't much fun alone. He explored without a map, documenting the entire thing in his memory banks, down to the smallest detail. He’d make up stories in his head to tell the kids when they were open (the kids were the only ones who really treated him like a person. This was probably because they didn't know he wasn't supposed to be a person in the first place, but he'd take what he could get.), and sometimes he'd act out those stories on his own. It'd probably be more fun if he had someone else there with him, but he didn't.
One thing that he did technically involve others in was a little game he played with himself. He’d stalk the night guards, see how many times he could make them jump in a night, see who was the easiest to scare, make up new ways to scare them. At first they'd try to tell him to go back to his room in Pirate's Cove, but they'd quickly learned that he wasn't going to do that and had mostly given up. A couple of them still tell him to go back if he scares them too badly, but of course, he never actually listens to them. He's even heard that new guards are warned about him when they join the team. Those ones are particularly fun to mess with, because they know he's coming, but they don't know when or how or where.
There's also Avi. She's not on the security team, but rather she's a technician. He's pretty sure she was on the engineering team that designed him and the other animatronics’ hardware, but had been retained because she was good at her job and listened well. She did what she was told with no argument, and was easy to get along with. She was also very easy to scare.
She only shuts Foxy down completely if she thinks she'll be electrocuted while she's working. She's supposed to shut him down regardless, but this is the only thing she doesn't listen about. Foxy doesn't want to be shut down while Avi works either, so he keeps his mouth shut about it. He's no snitch anyway, and management is full of holier than thou assholes. Avi says that she feels mean for doing it and performing procedures without his knowledge, so as long as no one finds out about it, she’ll let him stay awake when she can.
Which is how Foxy's able to mess with her so much. Sometimes he’ll snap his teeth at her, and others he’ll make ominous glitchy sounds on purpose. He's still trying to figure out how to remotely shut the lights off in the room, because he thinks it'd look cool as hell to shut the lights off and then make his eyes glow and light up the space, and then he’d jumpscare her.
He thinks that she and some of the other techs are starting to get the idea that he's Woken Up, no longer just a bunch of programming. They ask him how he's feeling sometimes when he sees them, and they'll hold conversations. They're always back to treating him like an inanimate object eventually though, so they're not a reliable form of interaction.
One Friday, about an hour after the last show of the night and a few minutes after closing, Foxy's in Pirate's Cove, inspecting the play equipment and making sure that everything’s safe and clean for the kids when he hears footsteps.
He initially thinks that maybe it's a janitor or a security guard. They do come in here, though usually only after Foxy's left to mess with people or gone back to his room for the night, so that they can be left alone to do their jobs. He cackles to himself, maybe this is a new guard who thinks the others are kidding when they say that Foxy tries to scare them.
He slinks behind a ship play area and makes his way up to the highest point, the crow’s nest. He's as quiet as he possibly can be, being about five hundred pounds of mechanical bits and faux fur. This is, surprisingly, quiet enough that most of the guards don't notice him until he gets close.
With that said, though, all the sneaking was for nothing because they call out, “Hello? I can hear you!” and it is in fact not a night guard.
He's not even human.
Bonnie looks around the room, trying to locate the source of the noise. His gaze finally lands on Foxy himself, still tucked away in the crow's nest.
“Well, ye’re here real late, ain't ye, rabbit?” Foxy calls down.
“A little,” Bonnie says. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Which is interesting in itself, because Foxy has never even once heard the other animatronics talk about wanting anything. As far as he was aware, he was the only one of them who could do that.
He leaps down from his perch, as he's done plenty of times before. He lands with a hard thud, but is completely uninjured.
“Isn't that dangerous?” Bonnie asks.
“That little stunt? Nah. We're pretty damn sturdy, y’know? Ain't gonna hurt me unless I decide to drop from the ceilin’,” Foxy says. “You wanted to talk t’ me?”
Bonnie nods. “I was in Parts and Service earlier and I heard some of the techs talking about you.”
For some reason, Bonnie won't just stand still while he talks. He circles Foxy once and starts wandering. “More specifically, how you act. Like you're alive, like one of the humans. They thought it was a dumb idea after a bit of talking about it, but then they turned to me and they told me that I was acting the same way.”
Just for a brief moment, Foxy feels something in his chest cavity stutter to a stop. Is.. is he not alone anymore? His lips curl up at the sides, exposing his teeth in what's meant to be excitement but would read as a threat to any of the guards. “Well? Are ye? Finally started to wake up?”
“I believe so,” Bonnie says. “I didn't know that we could do that at all, but I've started thinking , feeling things in a way I didn't before. Is this how they feel?”
“I dunno. They don't talk t’ me like they talk to each other,” Foxy admits, but there is no trace of sadness in his voice. Only happiness. He's not alone. There's someone else, going through the same thing!
“I guess we get to talk to each other now and not include them,” Bonnie grins conspiratorially.
“This'll be the beginning of something beautiful, eh?” Foxy says.