Here are the previous chapters:
You can see the animatronic's designs here: Animatronics
The noises came at midnight. Scrape. Scraaape. Scrape. Thud! Tap-tap-tap. Thump. Scrape. Thump. Thump. Noises outside. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. They were steady and loud. Thump. Thump. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. SCRAPE. THUMP. SCRAPE. Growing louder. THUMP. SCRAPE. THUMP. SCRAPE. Too loud to go unnoticed. Too loud. Too loud. Too loud. Too loud. THUMP. SCRAPE. THUMP. THU- Silence. Sudden, awful silence. The front door opened; somebody was in the lobby. The second pair of doors, however, did not open. There was a grunt. “Stupid thing,” a voice muttered. There was a pause. “Well, it should get the job done….I hope.”
There was a knock at the door. Just one knock; quiet enough not to alert many people, but loud enough to hear. Nobody responded at first, of course, but after a while, the door opened and a wolfish face peeked outside. Green eyes scanned the small area. Dakota shrugged, but couldn’t hide the look of worry that crossed her face. She turned to leave when she heard a crunch. The robot froze for a split second, then turned back slowly. A feeling of dread hung in the air as she looked down, her face a mask of shock.
***
Dakota’s tail flicked back and forth. Her friends all looked confused. “You found it where?” Sterling asked again. “For the last time, I told you it was in the-the waiting room!” Dakota growled annoyedly. Chica looked nervous. “Why did you bring it in? What if Mr. Afton and Mr. Emily get mad at us? Oh, I hope they don’t get mad at us.” The chicken looked up. “Oh dear. Oh dear! Maybe things will be better if I clean up….Yes, clean up! That’s the perfect thing to do!” She bustled off to find a broom. There came a gruff sigh. “Ye know, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that landlubber. She’s such a people-pleaser. Blow me down! I’ve never seen anything like ‘er!” Bonnie looked at the fox. “Look at me! Look at me! I’m sooo fancy, with all of me pirate talk! Yar-har-har!” Foxy growled and leaped for the bunny, jaws open and aimed for his head.
Sterling leaped between the two, tail twitching nervously. “C-c-cut it out, guys….stop fighting…you’ll just make everything worse!” Foxy grumbled but stepped back. He growled again, turned around, and walked away. “You know, I worry about him sometimes. What if he acts like that near the children?” Sterling wrung his hands together. “It-it’s a possibility, right? I mean-what if he scares them away, or-or-what if he hurts them? He almost hurt Bonnie…” Bonnie opened his mouth, ready to butt in with a snarky comment, when the thing on the floor moved. It uncurled itself and trembled slightly. It was small, a lot smaller than the robots….it was an animatronic, Moxie noticed. “Um….it moved,” she deadpanned.
Her friends turned around. Their eyes widened when they saw the small animatronic standing there, eyes closed, trembling slightly. It just….stood there…creepily. It had gray fur and a semi-fluffy gray tail with black bands wrapped around it. Its eyes were surrounded by a patch of black fur, giving it the illusion of wearing a mask. “Oh dear…we should tell Mr. Emily about it, right? He should be here soon….I say that we don’t touch it until we get permission,” Sterling declared. Freddy, who had been silent the whole time, decided to step in. “I’m the leader here. I say what we do and don’t do.” He hesitated for a second and sighed. “But….as much as I hate to agree with you, I do think that we should leave it alone until Mr. Afton or Mr. Emily check it out.” The bear glared at his friends, daring them to say otherwise. Nobody did.
This is their story. It is not about the people in it. It is the story of confused robots, just trying to do what they were meant to do. Alas, nothing is ever as it seems. How do I know their story? That, my dear readers, is up to you to decide. All that I will tell you is that the animatronics weren’t ready for what happened next…and that’s putting it mildly. You see, they only know what they see. That’s all they’ve ever known. So, naturally, seeing a deactivated animatronic just pop up in their pizzeria will obviously cause some concern. After all, they only know each other, and their creators don’t hide their creations like that. As you get older, your world opens up and gets bigger and bigger. It’s overwhelming. And now I must tell you that the same goes for advanced ai. Nothing will be the same for them. There are many things wrong with their world. You just have to pay attention. Everyone is lying. Now, where was I? Oh, right, right, back to their story.
Not one animatronic was bold enough to disagree.That is, not one active animatronic was bold enough to disagree. The mood was tense, filled with unspoken words-some supportive, others spiteful. Moxie was the first to speak up: “Let’s just leave it alone, then.” The robots nodded as one and began to do their usual morning duties: cleaning up the restaurant, making sure everything was in its proper place, preparing for their shows…We have so much to do, and so little time…Freddy thought. One glance at the room and he knew that his friends were having the same thought. He could’ve sworn he heard a noise and he turned around with a puzzled expression. That thing is…creepy. Why is it here? The bear was about to turn around when he heard another sound; quiet and eerie, but loud enough to cut through the air and catch the attention of the animatronics.
There was a sudden series of soft clicks and whirrs and the small robot on the floor opened its eyes. It looked around, brushed itself off, and extended a small, grayish-brown hand. “Hello! My name is Briar.”
With the end of this chapter comes a brand new character. I also adapted a new writing style and plan on integrating it into this story when I begin the next chapter: Hocus Pocus.
UPDATE: I do feel terrible about not getting this posted until a month later, but my life's been shitty to say the least. I plan on making new chapters-or parts- on a more regular basis once I get everything in my life sorted out. I thank all of the people that have supported me and read my story. It means a lot to me.
Pings: @GamerWithDepression @ToUzTzUyI
