Chapter Text
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October 7th, ???. 11:47PM
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A young girl rubs her eyes as she sits up from the cold floor, decidedly not in a position to sleep in. From what she can gather, she’s in some sort of storage room... She thinks it looks much too futuristic, and it’s very dark... like this room jumped right out of those sci-fi book covers she's seen in stores.
The girl slowly stands up, wary, dusting off her skirt. Maybe, she thinks, maybe she fell asleep at Fredbear’s and was brought to a different room where there’s less noise? That sounds probably, just about, perhaps, possibly right. She could’ve done with a blanket or a pillow, though. Maybe her plush toys, too. She should talk to dad about bringing those with her.
Speaking of her father... where is he, then?
She stands up, definitely ready to go look for him.
--
“Showtime already...?”
Freddy begins to power on. Fans inside of him whir and servos buzz to life as he processes his surroundings... and as he notes the power he currently has.
That’s weird. Freddy hasn’t finished charging, sitting at a mere quarter of his maximum battery life. That could be quite dangerous if he has to perform!
“I should report this to the Parts and Service team immediately,” he decides, talking aloud to himself. “I should not have powered on this early... that’s truly odd...”
Before he can, though, he is interrupted by the loud scratching of a metal door opening. He turns to scan who it is, expecting an employee or a staff robot to inform him of... something important... or take him to be checked.
Instead, he finds a little short girl (likely in the age range for a free cake on his or her birthday!) with ginger hair and an... oddly outdated get up at this point, he thinks.
He quickly corrects himself in his own processing. The girl wears a pink blouse with large black buttons sewn onto it, a simple knee-length flowing blue skirt, and a nice red bow on the back of her head. She’s squinting at the light of Freddy’s room, not used to it.
She doesn’t seem to have any data associated with her in the customer database at all... another oddity. Freddy pushes that to the back of his processing for now in order to quickly scan her again.
The young girl stares up at him with what Freddy detects as both awe and confusion.
“Hello there, Superstar! It’s quite late, you shouldn’t be back here...!” Freddy begins quite loudly, calling a squeak of surprise out of the girl. Freddy immediately quiets down, crouching to meet her height... to the best of his abilities, at least. “Are you alright? Oh, are you lost?”
The girl tries to look around the room, at the bright orange walls plastered with the bear’s own face, the window to more bright lights in another room, the bright neon lights, the arcade machine, and the plush toys scattered all over. It is, as stated, very bright, and she is, as stated, not used to it.
This isn’t anywhere in dad’s restaurant that she recognizes at all, and she’s explored that quite a bit.
She guesses that she would count as lost, so she nods. “Do you know where my dad is?”
“Ah, you don’t seem to have a profile, so I cannot search for that information for you! I am sorry...” Freddy responds softly, standing back up. “...may I have your name, Superstar?”
The girl is quiet for a moment, thinking over if stranger danger applies here. She decides not, since they've been talking. “I-I’m Elizabeth...”
“Elizabeth is a wonderful name, my friend! I, however, will need your last name, as well...--”
The two are interrupted by an announcement from a synthesized male voice outside.
“It is currently 11:50! Ladies and gentlemen, we hope you enjoyed the show. Freddy and the gang are pretty tired after that, but they’ll be back to perform again tomorrow!” It says.
Elizabeth tilts her head, listening to the announcement Freddy has heard countless times before.
“The MEGA Pizzaplex is closing for the day, so please make your way to the front of the building to obtain your voucher for one free soda refill, and we hope to see you again soon!”
“A free soda refill, that’s quite generous!” The orange bear exclaims, all too happy. His sarcasm falls as flat as the soda in their refill machines.
--
Freddy turns to the other door in his room, now hearing footsteps. Upon the door opening as expected, he scans the new person entering the room. Vanessa A., the Security Guard in the MEGA Pizzaplex. One and only.
The little girl shuffles behind the arcade machine. Freddy doesn’t question it. Security Staff is a bit more important.
Freddy enthusiastically waves, as programmed.
The security guard sighs, rolling her eyes.
“You’d think they’d spend more time getting the main attraction to this stupid place functional,” she mutters, before clearing her throat and staring at the Animatronic bear in front of her. “Two questions.”
Freddy tilts his head. “Yes?”
“First off, do you have any clue how bad your last performance was? Because it wasn’t exactly pretty for the kids, mister.” She pauses, sighing. “I’ll need to check your crash logs later. See what the ‘Faz-’hell happened.”
The bear looks less like a bear and more like some sort of sad mechanical wet dog in this moment.
Vanessa sighs again.
“I don’t want to be here right now, so I’m just... going to go through the second thing fast. One of the museum displays is missing.” She pauses, glancing out the window for a moment. “Not even the valuable stuff or anything like that, just...”
“Have you checked the camera footage?” Freddy interrupts.
“Yes, Freddy. Of course I have! That’s my job. That footage just... isn’t there.”
The security guard sighs again, looking into the room as if she’s realized something. “...have you seen anyone around?”
Freddy pauses. He knows he should tell Security about the little girl who seems to have simply appeared in the back room without reason, but he thinks he wants to know what is happening first... for reasons he can’t entirely process.
He decides it’s best to lie for now, considering the girl herself hid.
“No! Ahh. Vanessa, I have not seen anybody at all in this room. Or outside of this room. At all.”
“...right. Mm.” Vanessa quickly looks over the room behind Freddy again, lingering on the door to storage before shaking her head in annoyance. “I’m going back to do my job. Tell me if you see anything.”
She turns to leave the room. “...and don’t leave your room like the others are, please. It’s just a hassle.”
--
Only after the Security Guard leaves does Elizabeth move out from behind the big machine.
“She’s very rude,” she states, quite simply.
Freddy gives her an apologetic look. “Vanessa is only doing her job, I am sorry if she scares you. You can trust her to help!”
Elizabeth pouts just a little, looking towards the door the Security Guard left from for a moment. “I don’t trust her one bit.”
She then pauses. “I don’t want to be near her. Can you lead me to the exit, please?”
“Unfortunately, I cannot leave this room at the moment... the door is locked.”
Freddy knows that he should not tell a little girl that she can crawl through ventilation to escape a room, as that is dangerous, and could lead to upset parents, or an upset child.
“...there is ventilation in the back room you could climb through, however. The door should open if you find a Photo Opportunity Pass! Can you do that, Superstar?”
This does not stop him from doing so, unfortunately.
Elizabeth nods hesitantly. She can... probably find her way.
Freddy crouches down once more, opening his stomach hatch to reveal a small gift box. “For the road. It is a Novelty Freddy Faz-Watch. You may have it, so we can contact each other while you are adventuring! The default voice is my own, so you will be able to hear me loud and clear!”
“That looks like a box, actually...” Elizabeth says, taking off the lid of the gift box and reaching inside.
She puts the watch on her wrist, thinking once again that this all looks and feels too futuristic, before moving to explore the back room further and hopefully leave.
--
“I don’t think I like ventilation that much, Mister... why is it even needed...” Elizabeth mutters to herself as she walks through the museum section of the Pizzaplex. The bear, who she now knows is Freddy through the massive sign near his room, said the Photo Pass should be in another gift box through the museum. She finds the gift boxes really weird, honestly, among other things...
For example, she finds all the stuff in here really weird. She’s pretty sure she’s spotted her dad’s microphone and her dad’s friend’s guitar in one glass box, which, last she knew, they were still using those... and on top of it all, she’s felt like she’s been watched the whole time she’s been out here! She does not like it.
She doesn’t want to think about any of it, actually. She should find Dad first and he can explain it all later! It’ll be okay!
Elizabeth walks up to a large garage looking door, which moves on its own to let her in. She feels like she just did magic... or her dad made the big doors know things too, which is a very real possibility actually.
She quickly finds the Photo Pass in a very convenient place, rushing back to Freddy’s room to open the door.
“Ah, there you are, Elizabeth! You have obtained a Photo Opportunity Pass! You can take one photograph with me now, free of charge... ignoring the cost of the pass itself.” He explains in jest.
“...if you would like, I can bring you to the main exit. Your parents may be waiting there.” Freddy pauses. “It will be through the Atrium. Is that alright?”
Elizabeth does not know what the Atrium is, but she nods after a moment. Freddy hasn’t really done anything to hurt her yet... so, while she might not get his whole deal yet, she... trusts him enough.
Plus, he’s very shiny. Almost shinier than her favourite is. That’s cool.
--
Freddy reaches a hand down to her for them to walk together, and Elizabeth takes it quickly, ready to leave as soon as she can.