Chapter Text
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Vanessa’s alarm clock blared, the sound ringing out and pulling her from the strangest dream.
She blinked a few times, groaned, then hit the button as hard as she could.
I’m really starting to hate this job.
Shifting, Vanessa sat up on her bed, feet touching the floor. She was wearing a loose gray shirt and some black sweats.
Standing up, she stretched, trying to wake up her body as well as her mind.
Okay, thirty minutes to get dressed and get there.
Dropping to the ground, Vanessa did a few push-ups to wake herself up before standing back up and pulling off her shirt. As one hand began pulling off her sweats as well, the other grabbed a nearby towel from a hook and wrapped it around herself.
Using her feet to toss the towel into the laundry pile, Vanessa left her room and walked down the hall, into the bathroom. Closing the door, she dropped the towel and walked to the showerhead, turning on the water and waiting for it to warm up for a few moments before stepping in.
She showered quickly-the guard had to if she was going to make it in time. Wash out hair with soap, then lather hands with said soap. Wash, clean, step out, dry.
An easy process.
Well, it was easy to fall into doing mindlessly.
Vanessa quickly rubbed the towel over herself, trying to dry off as she glanced in the mirror. It was mostly fogged, but even with that she could see the bags under her own eyes.
The guard paused for a moment, then sighed, walking out and back to her room.
Her body felt…sore, for some reason. Didn’t really make a lot of sense, she hadn’t been doing anything different lately…but that didn’t matter.
Reaching into her closet, Vanessa pulled out her uniform-a white shirt with the Fazbear logo with black jeans and black sneakers.
She moved fast, pulling it all on, before stepping back into the bathroom and grabbing a brush. Vanessa brushed her hair out until it was down before taking a hair tie and quickly tying a small ponytail.
She paused for a moment, looking into the now-cleared mirror.
Alright. Let’s do this.
* * *
Vanessa had been the Head of Security at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex for…around two months, now. It was…a lot.
The Pizzaplex itself was massive, and she was rarely taken seriously. Most realized that she…wasn’t the most experienced person to have this job.
Which meant that she often had to cover night shifts, which meant she’d learned to function on only a few spare hours of sleep a night.
Besides, the place basically protected itself. Recently, they’d started incorporating STAFF bots to fulfill a lot of the jobs around, including small security patrols. This meant that there was less work for Vanessa, even if some of the other members were worried about them taking their jobs.
Vanessa…she found it hard to care.
She folded her arms. The guard was currently watching over Bonnie Bowl, with a bunch of groups along the lanes.
Stepping out from the arcade, Vanessa quickly scanned the room. Taking a glance behind her, she ended up catching sight of a Glamrock Endoskeleton creeping out from the backroom.
Vanessa growled. “Excuse me,” she muttered to a few people on the games as she passed, walking by a couple of the minigames, making her way to the loose Endo.
It eyed her as she approached, recognizing her Level 10 security clearance on her Fazwatch. The system it was connected to was telling it to obey anyone with a pass that high, so it was.
Vanessa sighed. “How’d you get out, buddy?”
The Endo, naturally, didn’t respond. Instead, it just cocked its head.
She waved her hand to the door, with it automatically opening as it too recognized her clearance.
“C’mon,” she muttered, leading the Endo back into the dark room. It would be best if nobody else saw it. After all, if the system malfunctioned, it could be dangerous. Especially since this one had claws-it was meant to be a potential replacement for Bonnie, after all.
“Stay,” she ordered, pointing at the Endo. Then she stepped out, closing the door behind her.
Fortunately, it hadn’t disturbed anything while out. But…how had it gotten out, anyway?
He better not have…
Vanessa narrowed her eyes, stalking down and walking back out from the mini arcade, past the lanes and into the diner section of the Bowling Alley.
A few people were sitting at the diner, being served by the two female employees at the desk, with a few more groups by the tables. Glamrock Bonnie was on the small mini-stage down the center. He had his guitar out, and was performing some old 50s song.
Stepping aside so as to not block anyone’s view, Vanessa folded her arms, waiting until Bonnie dramatically finished his performance. After his eyes opened, Vanessa waited until they fell on her and pointed to his backroom, behind the stage.
“Okay, time for a little break. For now!” Bonnie exclaimed, before turning around and walking back into his dressing room, Vanessa following and closing the curtain as she did.
“Officer,” Bonnie nodded as he walked a little deeper into his room, down a hallway.
Vanessa sighed. The passage led to Bonnie’s dressing room, which was behind the lanes. There was another door on the far end, but Bonnie’s desk and mirror were right there, with a poster from Freddy hung up nearby.
Bonnie placed his guitar down, leaning it against the desk. “What’s wrong?”
“The spare Endo in the arcade backroom got loose,” Vanessa replied. “And that’s strange, considering that the technicians and I are the only people around here with high enough security clearance to open that door. Then I remembered, “Oh wait, Bonnie also has some clearance of his own. I wonder if he knows anything?”
Bonnie paused, then turned, sitting down.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Vanessa growled.
“Those things make me uncomfortable,” Bonnie replied. “Would you be able to work effectively if you had your own replacement constantly following you around?”
“It’s not a replacement, Bonnie,” Vanessa groaned. “And this is exactly the kind of behavior that would make them-”
“Make them what?” Bonnie asked, turning around. “Take out my personality chip? Put my casing on that Endo instead? Because that sounds an awful lot like ‘replacing’.”
Vanessa sighed, looking down. “Either way, you thought that setting it loose was the best way to deal with the issue?”
“I don’t know. All I knew was that I couldn’t do what I do with it always back there. And if I can’t do what I do, then the chances of it replacing me rise. And when I realize that, I panic and I do even worse. You see the kind of loop I get stuck in?”
Vanessa shook her head, exhausted.
“I wanted to just put it in the back of the Fazcade, with the DJ,” Bonnie replied. “I didn’t realize its navigation was strong enough for it to wander back here.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to find a way to ignore it,” Vanessa replied. “Because trying to get rid of it will not work for you, and I seriously doubt the higher-ups are going to agree to not have a spare on hand.”
“Alright,” Bonnie sighed. Then he paused. “Could you maybe…not report this? Just this time?”
Vanessa thought for a moment, before sighing. “You owe me one.”
Bonnie perked up, a little happier now.
The guard eyed the poster next to his desk. “You sure have that in a prominent place.”
“Hm? Oh, you mean the Freddy poster?” Bonnie asked, turning. He chuckled, tone filled with fondness. “You’d think he’d get the point by now.”
“He might,” Vanessa replied. “‘You and me, forever and ever’? That sounds pretty…”
“Eh, that’s just the way he is,” Bonnie replied, waving his hand dismissively. “But I’m sure he’ll catch on soon enough.”
Vanessa shook her head fondly. The AI of these animatronics were advanced enough to make their own decisions, separate from both their human superiors and the system controlling them. That was pretty much the only reason Bonnie was even able to get rid of the Endo in the first place.
However, it also meant that they had their own emotions and personalities. And Bonnie would…not so subtly flirt with Freddy before they performed.
Freddy…did not catch on.
Vanessa walked down the hallway, heading away from the dressing room and back to the diner area of the Bowling Alley.
Time to check on Chica.
* * *
“Welcome to Mazercise! Work off the calories while you eat!”
Chica’s automated message began to play as Vanessa pushed open the doors into the attraction. The animatronic herself was currently performing a yoga pose in front of a group of middle aged women, who all did their best to copy the robot.
Vanessa walked to the side as Chica shifted from Warrior One to Reverse Warrior, traversing the side of the room and getting into the back room.
Chica, finally noticing her, added, “Okay, short break. Get yourselves some water!”
The group sighed with relief, each dropping their positions, aside from one or two who practiced a few others.
Chica walked up. “Officer Vanessa! How are you doing today?”
“Fine,” Vanessa replied. “Just checking up on everyone. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary today?”
“Hmmm…” Chica mused, tapping her chin. “Let’s see. Mostly it’s been my normal groups, but I’ve had a few more random visitors!” She gasped, eyes going wide. “Could they be-?”
“No,” Vanessa sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Chica was…excitable. “I just meant anything that was really weird.”
“Oh. Then nothing,” Chica shrugged. She tapped her foot awkwardly.
Vanessa raised an eyebrow, then groaned. “What is it? Spill?”
“Well,” Chica scratched the back of her head. “I was just wondering if I could hear about what’s going on with your security guys.”
“What are you talking about?” Vanessa asked, a little concerned.
“I just…I overheard a few of the guards talking about something strange that happened. I was thinking you probably knew about it.”
Vanessa froze. What? I should know about everything that happens…
Chica examined her face, then added, “...but, you know, it’s not really any of my business. Sorry. That’s all.”
“Right…” Vanessa muttered, making a mental note to herself.
Check in with the guards. Find out what they saw.
“Anyway,” the guard added, glancing down at her Fazwatch. “I have to check in on-”
Then she froze and sighed as she saw the camera feeds for the room next to them. “Chica, is someone stuck in the maze?”
“What?” Chica asked, walking over and looking at her Fazwatch. “They shouldn’t be, no one’s gone to the back all day-”
But, undeniably, a kid could be seen on the camera feeds, their head just cresting one of the walls as they jumped.
Vanessa groaned.
“I’m sorry!” Chica exclaimed. “They must have snuck in! I was so busy with the group-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Vanessa muttered through gritted teeth, annoyed. “I’ll head in, you shift the maze to make it easier on us, okay?”
“Alright!” Chica replied, quickly jogging into the control room.
Vanessa stepped into the backroom, quickly examining her Fazwatch and checking the cameras for the Mazercise room, finding where the kid was.
Stepping into the entrance of the maze, Vanessa shouted out. “Hello? Kid? We saw you on the camera!”
A moment passed. Then a relieved, “Thank god!”
“Just stay there,” Vanessa quickly shouted out. “Chica’s shifting the maze to make it easier to find you.”
As Vanessa stepped into the maze, she immediately heard the mechanisms start to shift as the walls moved, Chica watching through her own cameras to be sure she wasn’t making things more difficult.
“Wait!” the kid suddenly shouted. “I think I see the way out!”
Vanessa paused. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah! I can see the door, straight ahead! You must have shifted the maze right!”
Vanessa sighed. “Okay. Go ahead.”
Turning around, she pulled up her Fazwatch and quickly said, “Chica, the kid found an exit. Stop shifting the maze, meet them outside.”
“Alright!” Chica said happily.
One problem solved.
Unfortunately, Vanessa soon ended up getting lost in the maze herself. She groaned as she realized that the shifting must have caused her exit to seal up.
“Chica?” she asked through her Fazwatch. “You sent the kid out, right?”
“Right,” Chica replied, her perky voice coming in over the Fazwatch. “I decided to send them out with a warning. I think they’ve learnt their lesson.”
“Right,” Vanessa groaned as she hit another wall, this one with a vent on it. “Well, I think the maze shifting messed up my exit.”
“Oh no!” Chica said. “Are you lost?”
“I know I’m at one of the walls,” Vanessa replied. “That’s about it.”
“I can contact another guard, get them to come in and find you-”
“No,” Vanessa sighed. They already didn’t respect her, how would it look after she got lost and needed someone to rescue her. “Don’t do that…the vents here lead down to Monty Golf, right? That was the next place on my list anyway.”
Chica coughed. “Erm, Vanessa? You really shouldn’t be climbing around in those-”
“It’s one time,” Vanessa replied, grunting as she used a tool on her belt to pry open the vent and lean the cover against the wall. “Besides, no one has to know except you, me, and Monty.”
“I just…I don’t really think-”
“Chica just…” Vanessa sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t their fault, their personalities were programmed to be this way, but it could be…grating. “Just look the other way this time, okay?”
Chica sighed. “Okay.”
“Good,” Vanessa replied, before bending down and climbing into the vent.
This one should lead her to the catwalks above Monty Golf, where Monty himself would be patrolling. Vanessa was pretty sure there was a way down behind the stage, but Monty could show her if there wasn’t.
Grunting as she slid past a small turn and dip in the vent, Vanessa heard a small sound from her watch as it shifted, connecting to the Monty Golf system rather than the Mazercise system.
She also heard a small sound come from her phone, which she resolved to check on once this was over.
Finally making it to the end, Vanessa pushed against the second vent cover and it popped off.
Climbing out, Vanessa took stock. The gondolas had taken a pause, thankfully, so no one saw her. Down far below, she could see people on the different holes in the mini golf course, and Monty was over by the “Hurricane Hole in One” bucket.
Bending down, Vanessa grabbed the edge of the platform she was on and dropped onto the main catwalks, stopping a moment before continuing.
She eyed the catwalks as she walked along them, taking the most direct route to Monty’s stage. Sure enough, an exit door was just past the release button for the Hurricane bucket.
“Hey Monty,” Vanessa shouted.
“Huh?” Monty asked. Turning around. “Oh. Officer. How’d you get up here?”
Vanessa paused, then gestured to the door. “The stairs.”
“Right, right,” Monty nodded.
“I’m doing my checkups,” Vanessa continued. “Anything out of the ordinary today?”
Monty cocked his head, thinking. “I can’t really remember nothin’, no.”
“Really?” Vanessa asked with a raised eyebrow, folding her arms. “Because both Bonnie and Chica had something wrong-”
“Well, not me. I’ll try harder next time,” Monty shrugged. “But don’t blame Bonnie. He’s a good guy.”
“Him being good isn’t an accomplishment. You guys were designed to be around kids. It'd be more worrying the other way around,” Vanessa replied, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah well,” Monty scratched the back of his head.
“Anyway,” Vanessa continued, walking down to the door. “I’ll see you later. You’d better not have any more accidents on these catwalks, okay?”
“Eh, the kids need a little rough n’ tumble!” Monty replied, waving his hand dismissively.
Vanessa chuckled for a moment before opening the door and walking down the stairs.
It made sense why Monty didn’t want anything bad to happen to Bonnie-Bonnie had been the one to endorse the concept of an alligator animatronic and was a major reason why Monty had been built in the first place, and Monty had been protective of him since.
Jogging down the steps, Vanessa blinked, checking her watch. She still had a few more hours left on her shift.
Okay. Next up, Roxy Raceway.
* * *
Vanessa was glad she didn’t have to check any of the smaller areas like the restaurants or the arcade-since they had employees on deck, any incident would either be reported or dealt with. She only had to worry about the areas that were run by the animatronics themselves.
Similarly, she didn’t have to check the Utility Tunnels, Rockstar Row or Parts and Service-since two of them weren’t open to the public and the other was only open to the public for special events, she didn’t have to check up on them on a normal patrol, only if someone reported something.
That meant she had the Raceway and Fazer Blast left on her list. She often preferred to save Fazer Blast for last-with Freddy running it, it had the least issues out of all of them, which made it the easiest to deal with.
Speaking of, as Vanessa stepped into the Raceway, she saw a race happening right then. It was very fast paced, but thankfully no one appeared to have gotten hurt.
Scanning the place for Roxy, Vanessa noticed that the animatronic herself was worryingly absent. Walking down the stairs to the main level, the guard jogged over to the small checking in building and to the main desk, where an employee-Vanessa was pretty sure his name was Bryan-was walking out from the back.
“Hey Bryan?” Vanessa asked as she approached. The man jumped at her voice, his face seeming panicked before he disguised it.
“Oh, um, yeah? Hi, Vanessa!” Bryan said quickly, clearly hiding something.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
Bryan coughed. “Um, nothing!”
Vanessa eyed him, suspicious, but the guard ultimately decided that she didn’t have time for this. “Have you seen Roxy?”
“Roxy?” Bryan asked. “She’s up there, in the Salon. She likes to watch over the races sometimes, instead of being in them.”
Vanessa followed his finger to one of the walls, where sure enough a large window was built into it and the wolf animatronic was watching from said window.
“Okay,” Vanessa nodded. “I don’t have time to figure out what you’re hiding right now…just don’t do anything illegal, okay?”
“Okay!” Bryan replied happily as Vanessa turned and walked away, back up the stairs.
As she left the Raceway, Bryan sighed with relief.
“Thank you,” a voice came from the back, behind Bryan.
The employee turned, seeing a young boy with brown hair and big brown eyes. “For not telling her. Thank you.”
“Of course,” Bryan replied. “I think there’s a spare Level Four pass in Party Garage 3 that will get you into the restaurants. Just return it when you’re done.”
“I will,” Gregory replied, hand against the wall, looking around. “Is anyone there?”
“Only the kids on the track,” Bryan replied. “The coast is clear.”
“Good,” the boy replied, before running out from the building to where the Party Garages were.
* * *
Surprisingly enough, Roxy hadn’t had anything to report either. Which was especially odd considering her and Monty were easily the most irresponsible animatronics in the PizzaPlex. Even the Daycare Attendant was careful-when he was Sun, of course.
With the Raceway finished, that just left Fazer Blast as the last place to check before Vanessa could clock out. Which was good, considering she had somewhere to be.
Currently, Vanessa was situated above the arena itself, in a small spot where she could see over, where one of the last groups were running around. Freddy was seated there too, watching the arena, lost in thought.
The single Fazer Blast catwalk was above them, and an open vent was on the far end of where the two were which should lead to said catwalk. On the other side was a spiral staircase that provided the main way to access the catwalk.
She eyed Freddy, who was sitting on the edge of one of the walls, a little farther away so he wouldn’t accidentally fall into the arena. He sighed.
“Long day?” Vanessa asked, raising an eyebrow.
Freddy jumped a little, before smiling. “Ah, Officer Vanessa! How are you doing today?”
“What do you think?” Vanessa replied with an eye roll.
“Ah, yes, it must be difficult in your position…” Freddy trailed off as Vanessa sat down next to him.
“Erm, Vanessa?” Freddy asked. “Aren’t you…supposed to be on patrol?”
“Yeah,” Vanessa sighed. “But I’m just going to take a break for now.”
“Ah. ‘Long day’,” Freddy nodded, before glancing back down to the arena.
Vanessa sighed. “Any trouble so far?”
“Nothing serious,” Freddy replied. “No broken bones or fractures. One boy got hit in the eyes, but I made sure he received treatment and that his vision was fixed before sending him away.”
“That’s it?” Vanessa asked.
“That’s it,” Freddy nodded.
Vanessa sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.
Another day.
“Officer Vanessa?” Freddy asked.
The guard peeked open one eye. “Yeah?”
“I understand that we all can be a difficult bunch to manage,” Freddy said slowly. “But we all appreciate what you do, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
“Right,” Vanessa chuckled. “I wish the higher-ups felt that way.”
“Well, you got this job, didn’t you?” Freddy asked.
Vanessa opened her mouth, then pursed her lips.
Right…
Before, Vanessa had confessed to Freddy that she shouldn’t have the position she did. She hadn’t expected to get the Head Security position-she had no experience, after all. And if her having no experience got out, then no one would listen to her ever again.
So maybe Vanessa should be grateful that she’d gotten this job. But it was hard to be when it felt like herding cats all day.
“I’m sorry,” Freddy eventually said after Vanessa had been silent a while. “I understand that these things are more layered than I am designed to see. I hope you have a good day, Officer.”
“Thanks…” Vanessa muttered as Freddy climbed back down to the arena, making his way to the catwalks.
The guard sighed.
Then, pulling out her phone, she checked her notifications. She’d gotten one back in Mazercise, but had forgotten to check it.
It was a text.
Ms. Ramona: Hello, Vanessa. I wanted to check up with you and make sure our session is still set for tonight.
Vanessa sighed, shifting to text her back.
You: I might be a little late with traffic, but yeah, tonight.
Good. That was dealt with.
Part of Vanessa wanted to be proud that she was at least trying to fix her life a little, going to therapy like she was. But sometimes it felt like she was bailing water out of a leaky boat. Maybe it helped, but her just being there meant that more got in.
That sounds philosophical. Ms. Ramona will love to hear that one.
Grunting, Vanessa, stood up and eyed the vent. She wasn’t sure why it was open, but it was probably best to find out.
I probably should have asked Freddy when he was here…eh, doesn’t matter now.
Bending down, Vanessa started crawling through the vent again. She was getting a lot of practice tonight.
Sure enough, as she had thought, this one sloped upwards, taking a few turns before putting her out at the catwalk.
And also at a…cubbyhole.
Vanessa froze, bending over and peeking through the window in a door that was built into the wall. She hadn’t been able to see it from below.
Inside there was a small bed, a desk with a computer, another door and…graffiti?
Odd.
Written across the wall was the name Vanny.
Vanny Vanny Vanny.
Stop.
Vanessa jerked back, stumbling away, a headache suddenly entering her head. She groaned with pain, closing her eyes, hand going to her head as a high pitched ringing sound came out of nowhere.
Then suddenly, the pain retreated.
Vanessa blinked, opening her eyes again as her senses went back to normal. She was facing down the catwalk.
Why…why was she up here again?
She turned around.
Right. I was checking on the vent. Probably just need to check the security footage-
No.
Vanessa blinked.
What was she doing here again?
Oh right, checking on the vent.
Glancing up, Vanessa looked down the catwalk one final time before turning around and seeing nothing but a wall.
Shouldn’t there be something else there-
Return to your duties.
Eh, it’s not like it really mattered.
Bending down, Vanessa started to climb back down through the vent.
As she slid down, her Fazwatch beeped. Vanessa groaned, finishing sliding back down the vent before checking her watch.
Apparently, something was wrong in Rockstar Row.
Perfect.
Grunting, Vanessa climbed down the second vent, arriving back in the Superstar Lounge. Walking back down the hallway, Vanessa jogged down and headed back out.
As she got back to the Fazer Blast opening area, Vanessa noticed another one of the security guards was walking around, on patrol.
Didn’t Chica mention…
“Hey! Hey Jacob!” Vanessa shouted. The patrolling guard turned to her before rolling his eyes.
Vanessa folded her arms. “Chica told me you guys found something weird on the cameras? You know all that stuff is supposed to go through me, right?”
“Firstly, you missed the opportunity to say, ‘a little birdie told me’,” Jacob replied. “Second, of course I do.”
“Right,” Vanessa muttered. “So were you planning on actually telling me, or…”
“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we had someone competent on the case,” Jacob replied, making a small hm sound.
Vanessa closed her eyes, exhaling and gritting her teeth.
He’s just trying to get under your skin.
“Are you asking for a write up?” Vanessa asked, reopening her eyes. “Just tell me what you found.”
Jacob sighed. “We were looking through the footage from a few nights ago and found something weird. Seems like there was an intruder in a bunny costume running around Fazer Blast, this area specifically.”
“A bunny costume?” Vanessa asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s weird,” Jacob replied, shrugging. “But if there is an intruder, we have to know about it. Apparently they’re a ghost-the footage was the only time we saw anything of it.”
“Huh…” Vanessa said, lost in thought.
“Well, I’m gonna continue my patrol,” Jacob replied, rolling his eyes. “You keep doing whatever you’re doing.”
Vanessa folded her arms, but couldn’t resist giving him the finger as she walked away.
He’d been in line for the Head Security position, she knew. So losing it to a newbie had rubbed him the wrong way.
Still, the intel was useful. An intruder in a rabbit costume…
No. There is no intruder.
Vanessa paused, blinking for a moment. How’d she get over here? Then the guard shrugged, moving on.
Anyway, to Rockstar Row.
* * *
“What happened?” Vanessa sighed, looking over the scene.
“Not really sure,” Mary responded, standing nervously to the side. “I just found it like this.”
One of the display cases had been broken open, glass scattered around the floor, with whatever had been inside missing.
“What was in here?” Vanessa asked, checking her watch.
“A prototype for the wind-up Music Man toy,” Mary replied. “I don’t know why anyone would want it, we sell the finished version in the gift shop…”
Vanessa sighed.
“And, uh, it must have happened recently,” Mary replied. “Because I’d been out here before I found it, and nothing was wrong. Then five minutes later…well, this.”
“Right,” Vanessa muttered, jotting down a couple details. “I’ll skim the recordings, see if we can find anything.”
“Okay,” Mary nodded, walking back. “I should get back, I didn’t finish cleaning up Monty’s room-”
Vanessa shook her head, tuning out the other woman as she walked away.
Check the footage.
Happened fast.
No clear motive.
“Oh!” Vanessa shouted, suddenly turning to make sure Mary (who was farther down the hall) heard her. “And make sure a cleanup crew gets here! I’m clocking out.”
“On it!” Mary replied.
Vanessa sighed, turning back away.
Now I can make it to-
What was that?
Vanessa paused as she heard a strange sound coming from the walls. It didn’t sound like the water pipes or anything like that, it was too…dry.
Striding over, Vanessa placed her ear against the wall.
The sound was…odd. It sounded sloppy, wet and dry at the same time. As the guard listened, there even seemed to be a hissing noise that came from it.
What is happening…
The sound, traveling through the walls, moved away from her, Vanessa eyed where it moved, to one of the other glass cases against the wall.
Suddenly, the glass inside shattered, falling out around the floor. Vanessa took a step back, eyes wide.
A few black wires slipped out from the wall. They snatched what was in the case, taking the replicas of both Mangle and the Puppet before pulling them away.
The wires…they seemed to ooze.
Look again. You didn’t see anything.
The ringing sound came back.
Vanessa held her head for a moment, closing her eyes before opening them again.
Huh. Another case had been broken into.
Vanessa blinked, then sighed, pulling up her Fazwatch.
Just one more thing to deal with…
* * *
“Hello Vanessa, how are you feeling today?” Ms. Ramona asked kindly as Vanessa sat down in a comfortable chair, sighing. “You look a little tired.”
Vanessa shrugged, before settling back into her seat.
“Hm,” Ms. Ramona continued. “Well, it’s been a while since we last spoke. How’s your anxiety been?”
Vanessa just closed her eyes. She…really didn’t feel like talking today.
“You did so well with your calming protocols when we first worked together. Are you still using those?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes? Okay, good. Well, now I understand there’s a new issue. It came on just recently, rather suddenly? Can you tell me about it?”
“What issue?” Vanessa asked, confused. “I’ve been doing my job. I come in and sit at my desk and do my work.”
“Yes, yes, of course you do. Your performance reviews are good,” Ms. Ramona agreed. “But a routine check of your online history has revealed that you’ve spent quite a bit of time with someone in an encrypted conversation.”
What? I barely even use my work account!
“We have transcripts, and I’ve read them,” Ms. Ramona continued, sliding a few papers from her desk. “But it’s not clear what you’re talking about in these conversations. I…can’t make sense of it. You must be getting something from these that I’m not getting, right?”
Vanessa took the papers that her therapist offered, looking over the conversation. It was definitely from her account…had someone hacked it?
“Who are you talking to in these?” Ms. Ramona asked.
“No one!” Vanessa insisted.
Change the subject.
“Sometimes I talk with Luis. He’s in the marketing department. He’s nice, I guess.”
“Yes, I see Luis here, but there’s someone else-”
End the session.
“I think I’m feeling fine,” Vanessa said as she stood up. “That will be all.”
Ms. Ramona looked up at her. “Vanessa, I-”
“Don’t,” she said. “I’m going to leave now.”
Ms. Ramona paused, then backed away.
Vanessa stalked out of the room, into the hallway, then blinked as she realized what she had just done.
What? How did I think of that?!
Vanessa glanced back at the room, but then sighed and shook her head, continuing to walk away.
* * *
This is getting dangerous.
How did they find those messages…
Ramona will need to be dealt with.
Vanessa can’t do it. And we can’t bring IT out yet. Doing it around the PizzaPlex has been risky enough, especially since we were seen.
And she can’t track Ramona anyway.
We need someone else, someone new. A hacker.
Isn’t it risky to bring out VANNI so early?
Risks bring reward.
* * *
That night, Vanessa arrived at her apartment.
Her nightly routine was simple-use the restroom, change into pajamas, microwave some dinner, brush teeth, get as much sleep as possible before tomorrow.
As she pulled off her white Fazbear shirt, Vanessa tried to guess if she needed to put it in the laundry yet.
No stains, so…
The guard pulled out a hanger from the closet and hung the shirt around it, before moving to place the hanger back into the closet.
Maybe some ramen tonight-
What’s that?!
Vanessa froze as she saw something that was tucked away in the back of her closet. It was nestled in the corner, hidden away behind a box that was never moved.
The guard narrowed her eyes, then grabbed onto a bit and pulled it out. Sliding it out from the closet, she maneuvered it around until she could hold it upright.
It was a white bunny mask, made of fabric. There was a black smile with two buck teeth, two whiskers on each side, and a pink color on the inner parts of the ears. Parts of the mask were visibly stitched together, as if the person who made it wasn’t an experienced seamstress.
Most notably, however, were the two red eyes with black slits for pupils.
No no no no no no.
The VR game!
The rabbit!
Purple. Purple everywhere!
Was it-
No.
But-
No. Hush. Go to sleep.
Suddenly, Vanessa’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed, falling onto the floor.
Now awake, my follower.
Slowly, Vanessa’s body moved, her arm jerking into position. She twisted, pushing herself up, a giggle escaping her as she did.
Once she had stood up, her eyes opened. Instead of green, they were now shining purple.
Pick up the mask.
She chuckled, then reached down and picked up the dropped bunny mask from the floor. Had Vanessa dropped it? How silly!
Good.
She chuckled. She loved this part.
Put it on. We have some work to do.