Chapter 40: And Now For... Totally Not A Spy

Stan Howard sidled through the hallways of the half finished Chica's Party World, his face as unreadable a mask as ever. As he slid past a pair of construction workers carrying a section of pipe towards an open section of floor, Stan murmured to himself, "Interesting. Very interesting. What exactly are you two up to?" One of the construction workers, his hearing obscured by mufflers, asked, "Pardon?" Stan shrugged the question off, giving the workers a polite, "Nothing. I just have some business to attend to with Sherman and Sherman." He slipped away, leaving the construction workers with a convenient half truth as he slithered into the more or less completed section of the building.

As Stan sidled towards the manager's offices, he briefly paused and glanced out one of the recently inserted windows. Fredbear's Family Diner was visible past the thin line of arboriculture and shrubbery at the edge of the newly asphalted Chica's Party World Side Parking Lot. It's own side lot was filled up with cars, most of them those of customers. He resumed walking, and slid into place just behind the doorway to Sherman and Sherman's Office. Withdrawing a cassette from his pocket, Stan set it to "record" with a soft click.

Luckily for Stan, Sherman and Sherman seemed completely oblivious to his presence. Thinking that they were the only two people in that part of the building, Sherman and Sherman began to talk. Sherman No. 1 started the conversation, "You know, Greg, we might have bitten off more than we can chew with this one." Sherman No. 2 tried to reassure his partner in crime, "Peabody, I'm sure that this plan will work! After all, the chicken's a side character, isn't she? If we just make the forgeries convincing enough, she'll be ours!" Sherman No. 1 retorted, "That's the problem! We're facing Fazbear Entertainment! They're an established company with a lawyer and everything! We're just two guys with a-" Sherman No. 2 cut No. 1 off, "So what? We can win the lawsuit. We might even get it in the bag if we can bribe the judge and jury!" A brief pause settled over the conversation. Then, Sherman No. 1 purred, "We can bribe the judge and jury... just one problem, Greg. Where are we getting the greens for that?" Sherman No. 2 answered, "Well, Peabody, I still have some of the money from our previous hustle. Those suckers in Spanish Fork were easy prey!" Both Shermans laughed, their hyena like cackling accentuated by the repeated slamming of fists on a desk. Stan listened more closely as wads of cash were slapped onto the desk. "See? We have thousands of bucks- enough to pay off a judge, a jury... and maybe even bribe Fazbear Entertainment into just giving us Chica!" More cackling followed. "Sherman you jokester! Bribing Fazbear! Are you implying that this "Mr. Afton" you mentioned is sleazy enough to... uh oh."

Stan waited at the door with baited breath, listening as an even longer, more awkward pause settled over the office. Sherman No. 2 asked, "Uh Oh What?" Sherman No. 1 chided him, "Uh Oh- THE Afton Family is involved! We've really bit off more than we can chew!" Sherman No. 2 nervously suggested, "Well, we can switch targets. We can just settle with Fazbear Out of Court, maybe try to buy the chicken, and target some other idiot like oh I don't know, that Murray guy and his silly mascot characters!" Sherman No. 1, now sounding irritated, chastised, "Greg! Do you realize what's at stake here?!?" Sherman No. 2 gasped, "Peabody! Our plans will be ruined if we fail!" Sherman No. 1's voice began to rise, "Plans ruined?!? We could get run outta town or worse if those Afton guys find out that we crossed them!" Sherman No. 2 also began to panic, "Run outta town?!? Or worse?!? PEABODY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?" Sherman No. 1 yelled, "THE LAST GUY WHO TRIED TO SCAM THE AFTONS GOT HIS HEAD IMPALED ON A SPIKE!!!" Sherman No. 2 screeched, "AAAAAUGH! WE HAVE TO GET RID OF THE EVIDENCE!" Stan decided to risk just a quick peek into the office. What he saw did not disappoint him.

Sherman and Sherman were frantically stuffing papers and wads of cash into a plain black suitcase with minimal gray accenting. Stan caught a glimpse of a target list, some "Top secret" records detailing some of Sherman and Sherman's previous scams, wads of dollars bound together with flimsy yellow paper... all flying into the suitcase as fast as the two Shermans could stuff them in. Stan slid back behind the edge of the doorway and continued to listen as the two Shermans continued to ad hoc try to plan out their crime- rather- plan their cover up. As he stuffed something into the suitcase, Sherman No. 1 asked, "HOW ARE WE GONNA GET RID OF ALL THESE PAPERS?!?" Sherman No. 2 bellowed back, "I DON'T KNOW- DUMP THEM SOMEWHERE?!?" Sherman No. 1 shouted, "GREG! WE CAN'T JUST DUMP THEM ANYWHERE! WHAT IF THEY'RE FOUND?!?" Sherman No. 2 screamed, "WE GOTTA DESTROY IT ALL, PEABODY!" Sherman No. 1 caterwauled, "DESTROY IT?!? AND ELIMINATE ALL THIS HARD EARNED CASH?!?" A long, almost agonizing pause settled over the office. Stan was just about to hit "stop" on his cassette when Sherman No. 2 finally said, "... Wait. We don't have to destroy it. We'll just dump the suitcases somewhere where no one 'll find 'em. And once this mess blows over and we're sure we're not dealing with this "Afton Family" that you're so afraid of, we can collect the evidence, and pretend that none of this ever happened." Sherman No. 1 finally said, "Good plan, Greg. Now... we need to find somewhere... hmm, nearby... where Hurricane's suckers will be none the wiser to our previous ventures!" The two Shermans cackled again, this time way more uneasily.

Stan decided that he'd better leave before the Shermans discovered him loitering around their office recording them. Besides, he'd had enough of listening to those two slugs plotting to try and avoid- or worse try to con- his boss. With a soft, final click, Stan stopped recording, and neatly tucked the cassette into a pocket inside his jacket. He briefly turned around and pretended to admire a photo hanging outside the doorway- just in case he got caught. It was a generic photo of a white Persian with blue eyes labeled, "Employee of the Month." Turning briskly on his heels, Stan sidled away from the Sherman's office. As he slithered away from the office, he ran into the same pair of construction workers. This time, they were positioning a sheet of drywall. As he passed, one of them asked, "So, did you get your business sorted out with them?" Stan smoothly understated, "Oh yes, it was very pleasant." He then added a small, but believable lie, "I think you'll be paid a nice bonus for working so neatly and efficiently. Sherman and Sherman would love to have a spick and span restaurant come opening day." The two construction workers grinned at each other. One of them quipped, "A bonus! We haven't seen one of those in a long time!" The other agreed, "Definitely! Just think- we'll be able to pay off our house with the extra cash!" Stan left the two construction workers to maneuver their drywall sheet into place as he made his escape. As he exited the building and broke into a jog, Stan quipped to himself, "The Boss is gonna love this. Two crooks right where he wants them! Oh, how the heads are going to roll!"