Saboomba

To Those Who Wait When Lyle returned to the safe room, Percy was waiting for him. He seemed anxious. “Lyle, what happened? Something was different tonight.” “The guard wasn’t playing right,” Lyle said evasively. “We put him in his place.” “Joey and I are concerned about you,” Percy told him. “You’re supposed to be helping them stay sane, but we’re worried you’re as lost as the rest of them.” “Yeah?” Lyle muttered crossly. “It’s technically your job, not mine. I don’t see you doing anything.” “I told you, my job’s to help them complete their task.” “Well, you’re not doing that either.” Percy rubbed his temple. “I’m trying, okay? But there’s only so much I can do when the purple guy’s not here. Joey’s been trying to reach him through dreams, but he hasn’t responded yet.” “He can do that?” Lyle blinked, then looked around the room, wondering where Joey even was. It had been a bit since he’d seen his shadow. Percy shrugged. “I’ve caught him doing it before, sending dreams to his

A Warning to the Overconfident The animatronics stood quietly on the stage as they always did when the opening staff came in to set up for the day. It was only in the aftermath that Freddy had fully comprehended what they’d done, and the knowledge now sat heavily in his chest. They’d killed someone. The guard had lost their game, and they’d killed him. When had it stopped being just a fun nighttime activity and turned into a dangerous hunt? Inevitably, the staff found the body in Parts & Service. There was yelling and shrieking and lots of not-very-pleasant words. They wondered if someone broke in. They debated calling the police. They questioned why and how the man had gotten shoved into one of the spare costumes. Surely a common burglar wouldn’t have been strong enough. And then there were the bruises on the man’s limbs. “Did an animatronic do this?” a staff member said in a half-whisper, glancing nervously at the stage. The other, a man Freddy recognized as Adam, the head guard

On the Edge Goldie inspected a poster on the wall in the west hallway. It was a generic Freddy poster, depicting the bear smiling out at anyone who happened to wander this way. Goldie found its placement a little odd, considering customers didn’t come back here. Really, employees were the only ones who ever saw it. But it was clearly visible on Cam 2B, so one of Goldie’s mind tricks had involved changing it slightly. “Slightly” might have been too nice a word though. The altered image was still Freddy, but he was no longer giving passersby a friendly smile. Instead, his hands were pulling at his mask as if he were trying to rip it off his head. Goldie considered it just disturbing enough to be creepy without overdoing it. Now, though, he had another idea in mind. He wanted to see how the guard would react to something a little more . . . substantial. This guard didn’t yet know Goldie existed. He planned to change that. He’d already dropped subtle hints, but those could easily be

Trial Night They started slowly, giving the night guard ample time to figure out what they were up to. This might spook him a bit at first, but hopefully he’d catch on that this was simply a game and play along. They stayed on stage for the first couple hours. Then Bonnie left, wandering through the dining room like he often did. Though his end goal was the office, he didn’t make that clear right away, wandering through just about every room on the west side of the building. While he was doing this, Chica eventually left the stage as well, following a similar pattern except on the east side. She lingered for a while in the kitchen, and Freddy heard her banging pots and pans. She might’ve gotten distracted, but he didn’t bother to go after her. This was just the test run, after all, and nobody was in any hurry to get to the office. Freddy himself stayed where he was, letting the others do what they wanted. After all, they probably shouldn’t have everybody go after the guard just

The Monsters’ Purpose “Percy, where have you been?” Lyle hadn’t seen Percy for a little while and had just managed to catch him hanging out with Joey in the safe room. “Oh hey, Lyle. Sorry. I’ve been having difficulties.” Lyle crossed his arms. “Don’t you have a job to do? You’re their guide. They need guidance right now.” It was true. Despite Freddy’s and Goldie’s efforts, things continued to deteriorate. The distractions had helped for a while, but when Foxy’s antics acting outside of his programming got Pirate Cove shut down and the animatronic labeled “Out of order,” the overall mood had dropped considerably. Bonnie, easily bored, had abandoned practicing his guitar and resumed roaming about the pizzeria causing trouble. Chica sometimes joined him, sometimes messed around in the kitchen, and sometimes sulked on the stage or in a corner. Freddy at first had attempted to cheer them up, but more and more often now, he was absent, likely off listening to his music box

Divertissement Goldie’s plan was to give everyone something to work on. Freddy was skeptical at first, but he thought they should go ahead and give it a try. “What’s something you’ve wanted to learn how to do?” Goldie asked the group, all assembled near the main stage. The camera blinked on and off every once in a while, reminding them the night guard was keeping tabs on them. Maybe he wondered what they were all doing. Chica shuffled her feet awkwardly. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook,” she confessed. “I mean, we work at a restaurant. I watched the cooks sometimes at the old place. It seems fun.” Goldie nodded. “That sounds like a good thing to try.” “Won’t the night guard get suspicious?” Freddy asked. “I could disable the camera,” Goldie replied. “He won’t know what she’s doing in there.” Bonnie smirked. “Maybe you should bang random pots and pans,” he told Chica. “Make him think you’re just wandering around bumping into things.” Chica giggled faintly. “Okay, I can

Secrets Foxy peered out of the curtain toward the stage while Goldie sat quietly inside the cove. “What’s going on out there?” Goldie asked. “Chica’s upset again,” Foxy replied. “What’s wrong?” He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the stage. “She does this sometimes. I think she just misses her old life.” “We all do. But it’s been years.” “Yeah. Bonnie tells me she was a sensitive girl way back when.” Goldie wished he’d known the other three before their deaths. He and Foxy were in the same boat here, though Foxy had been with the others for a little bit longer. The animatronics were hard to read sometimes, and that made it difficult for Goldie to try to help them. “I’m going to go talk to her,” said Goldie. Before Foxy could protest, he teleported from the cove to the stage, placing himself in a shadowed spot from the camera. Bonnie was sitting on the edge of the stage with Chica, trying to comfort her, and he jumped at Goldie’s sudden entrance. “Goldie! Don’t do

Unrest Freddy stood still on the stage after hours, watching as Bonnie and Chica roamed around the dining area. They were bored. They’d gotten used to playing their little game at the old place, and now they didn’t really know what to do anymore. The first few days, they’d talked about what it was like to perform and entertain the kids, but there wasn’t much else to talk about. They did pretty much the same routine day after day, and it seemed duller than the performances they’d watched when they were still kids. Maybe it was because none of them were allowed off the stage during business hours. The company had deemed it a liability or something, so the animatronics weren’t allowed to wander the restaurant and interact with customers like they used to. That meant when they weren’t currently singing or doing a show, they just kind of stood there waiting for the next performance. They’d agreed to let the robots do the performing too. In hindsight, Freddy wondered if it would be more

Adjustments Lyle watched the other animatronics all receive upgrades and couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. All he had was his old suit, and there were no plans to do anything with it at all, especially considering no one knew it was still here. He’d stored it way in the back of the workshop where no one usually went, and if ever he felt its location would be compromised, he moved it or distracted the people somehow. The last thing he wanted was for someone to find it and throw it out. And that was because, unlike Percy, he couldn’t just abandon his vessel and go where he wanted. Percy had done that and was here in the workshop as well, but he’d told Lyle not to tell the others. “Why not?” Lyle had asked. “Aren’t you supposed to guide them?” Percy shrugged. “Freddy listens to you more than he listens to me.” That was all he’d said on the matter, but Lyle could see where he was coming from. It didn’t really answer why Percy didn’t want his presence known though. Watching Joey

Starting Over Despite his uncertainty over whether Fritz was worth hunting, Freddy still enjoyed it. Doing this every night had given him and the others something to strive for, and it would’ve been dull and boring if they hadn’t just for tonight. Freddy didn’t play terribly hard, and he wasn’t sure if anyone else did either. Aside from the Toys. Whatever was up with them, they seemed very intent on getting into the office. Goldie said the Puppet didn’t like Fritz for whatever reason either. But no matter. Morning came, and Fritz left unscathed. Aside from probably being spooked. Returning to Parts and Service, the old animatronics sat and waited for the impending move. Goldie, as usual, spied for them. He reported on the staff coming in, the crew showing up, and anything else eventful. The Toys got taken out. A bunch of decorations were taken down. The Puppet was removed. “Is he going to come with us?” Chica asked upon hearing this. “I’d imagine so,” replied Goldie. “He’s