Chapter Text
The harsh neon logo of Glamrock Freddy’s face glowed against the side of the tall, grey building. The rain distorted the cyan light, making it harder to look at than normal. Most of the cars had left the lot, the windows of the offices dark. Now was her chance.
Shuddering against her soaked windbreaker, she tore through the dark, avoiding lights that might alert anyone that she was here. She had no idea what would happen to her if she was discovered. It couldn’t be good…
She found the back entrance. Out of the way, well hidden, meant only for lowly maintenance employees. But techs used it too. She’d seen it a hundred times. She’d been told it was just a faster path to the basement than the front entrance. And the higher ups didn’t enjoy seeing grease covered technicians in ugly jumpsuits walk through the lobby.
She took a deep breath and stared at the black clouds looming overhead. “Please work,” she whispered, slipping an old Fazwrench out of her jacket pocket. It hadn’t been used in over a year… She shook her head, wiping the droplets from her cheeks, though she couldn't be sure whether it was rain or tears. She forced the Fazwrench into the socket, twisted, and squeezed the grip.
“Welcome: Joshua Benedict,” a computerized voice greeted.
The electric lock clicked, letting her cautiously push it open just enough that she could slip inside. She quickly shut it behind her before glancing at her surroundings. No one was there. Just a dark, empty hall. Shivering, she pulled off her sopping wet windbreaker, discreetly hiding it in a Parts and Service bin close to her exit. It was identical to the ones from the Pizzaplex, with a decal of Helpy and the gear behind him.
Clutching the Fazwrench to her chest and chewing her lip, she hoped she could find where the technicians worked without a guide. But, following her instincts, she found her bearings, memories leading her on.
As she got closer, the halls became more and more cluttered. Like a maze. It wasn’t like she remembered… She grit her teeth and glanced around. She must have taken a wrong turn or something. She should’ve been there by now.
“Get away from me! Stop!”
Her heart lurched at the shriek, her legs carrying her towards the sound before her mind could decide. She tore down the hall, following the sound of crashes and yells. What if it’s happening again?
“Damnit, Harrell, get this stupid thing under control!”
“Please no!” The distressed voice let out a cry of pain.
“Fucking finally. These things give me the creeps.”
She peered through the crack in the partially open door, her eyes going round as she watched two technicians haul an animatronic into the cylinder. Biting her lip, she snuck inside, tiptoeing around the edge of the room, using the cluttered bins and work tables to hide. Their backs were turned, all attention on the animatronic.
“Got it plugged in.”
“Great. Let’s get this shit over with.”
The techs left the cylinder, and she had to fight back a gasp. Roxy..?
The wolf’s eyes flitted open, her breath ragged. She winced, shaking her head. Then her face shifted to terror. “I can’t move!”
One of the techs sighed, hands on his hips as he turned to his coworker. “Allen, got the code up?”
Allen nodded. “It’s fucked up. I’m not sure we can reuse the chip for a Foxy, anymore…”
“What do you mean reuse?!” Roxy panicked.
The other tech, who must have been Harrell, crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t want to, anyways. They never react right to getting a total system wipe once their code breaks. You should’ve seen the rabbit prototype after we tried to get it back to normal…” Harrell shuddered.
“Please,” Roxanne begged, drawing the techs’ unamused attention. “Please, I’ll behave. I’ll do whatever you want…”
Allen sneered and turned away from her. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Why won’t you listen to me?!”
“Are.. we keeping the endo?” Harrell asked, earning a cocked brow from Allen. “I mean.. this one’s really freaky. What if the endo’s fucked, too?”
Allen scoffed. “That’s not how it works.” He eyed Roxy. “But.. we might as well give it a new one. I think the records say it’s been around a year since its last endo change. We’ll get the casing off after we shut it up. Use the rest for spare parts.”
“Don’t touch me!”
“I don’t get why the boss thought it was a good idea to reuse the Foxy chip for this one. Can’t believe it took this long to make a real Roxanne chip.” Harrell reentered the cylinder and walked around behind the wolf.
“No!” Roxy yelled, the sounds of her overworking fans filling the room. “I’ll do anything! Just send me home! I need to be with my family! ” A broken sob escaped her jaws. “Please… I’ll be a Foxy. Anything..!”
Allen rolled his eyes. “I’m filing a complaint with whoever makes these goddamn personality chips,” he grumbled, Harrell replying with a laugh, Roxy’s pleas for mercy falling on deaf ears.
Harrell’s hand went to the back of Roxy’s head, opening the hatch where her chip was stored.
A final wail ripped from Roxy’s voicebox. “I don’t want to die!”
The light faded from the wolf’s eyes. The chip held carelessly in the hand of the technician. Staring at the wolf and covering her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks, she pressed her back against her hiding spot.
“Get the voicebox and we’ll toss it with the chip,” Allen ordered. “I’ll grab another endo.”
I have to save Roxy..!
Eyes darting around the room, she searched for something to help. She slipped between bins, squeezing her eyes shut when she heard the techs chat, praying her sneakers wouldn’t squeak against the tiled floors. She stifled a gasp when she nearly kicked a STAFF bot head, hands shaking as she waited for the techs to notice her.
“I better be getting paid overtime for this,” one of them complained loudly.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” snarked the other.
Carefully, she grabbed the STAFF bot head, searching for a seam where the chip might be held. Her weathered, green nails found it, pressing the tab and pulling it open. And there was the chip. It easily slid out of the socket. She then yanked the voicebox out from the base of the neck before setting the head back on the floor as silently as she could.
One of the technicians strode by. “Be back in a sec,” Allen called, opening a heavy set of double doors that immediately locked behind him. She peeked over the bin at the other tech. Harrell was already removing Roxy’s casing, expertly taking out her voicebox. He left the cylinder, tossing Roxy’s chip and her voicebox in a dish beside the computer, then returned to the wolf’s side to continue stripping the lifeless endo.
Now’s my only chance..!
Gritting her teeth, she crept closer to the computer, keeping it between her and Harrell, hoping it would be enough to keep her out of his sight. She froze when he started humming, having to force herself to keep moving after the scare.
And then she was there, leaning against the computer desk, blood roaring in her ears. Slowly, painfully, she raised herself from the floor until she was eye level with the metal dish. Right beside Roxy’s voicebox. Her chip. She was told it was the equivalent of their brains. And they wanted to destroy it…
She glanced at the chip and voicebox in her own hands. They were off-color, the circuitry not matching. But she didn’t have any other choice. Please don’t notice, she thought desperately as she silently switched the STAFF bot’s equipment with Roxy’s. She stuffed them in her sweater pockets, then scrambled back to the safer hiding spots behind the bins. Controlling her breaths, she eyed Harrell, looking for any sign that he’d noticed something off.
Allen’s voice suddenly spoke from the cylinder, the voice slightly staticky from the Fazwatch audio. “Harrell, can you let me back in?”
“Password,” Harrell replied curtly.
“Exotic butters,” Allen said. The door let out a loud buzz before clicking open, Allen rushing back into the work room, tugging an endo on a cart behind him. “Fuck, I hate storage… Y’know I still saw some blood on the wall behind this thing?”
She immediately perked. That’s where it happened… That’s where I have to go!
“Don’t look at me,” Harrell huffed. “I’m not going in there any more than I have to. I’m not gonna be next.” He shoved the bin full of Roxy’s casing away. “Anyways, got everything ready. We can put it on the new endo.”
“Let the morning crew worry about it,” Allen grumbled. “Let’s just destroy the old stuff and put the endo away.” He trudged to the tray, lazily grabbing it and dumping the STAFF bot parts into a container. Much to her relief, the technician didn’t seem to notice that he was tossing the wrong parts. He set the container on a table, pressing a few buttons before a deafening crunch filled the room.
Harrell dragged the endo off the work table and onto the cart. He pushed it to the doors. The doors she needed to get through.
When the sensors recognized his Fazwatch, they clicked, letting him enter with the cart. She glanced back at the other tech, preoccupied with his phone. Then back to Harrell. He kicked something up to the door. A way to keep it wedged open while he dropped off the endo. She waited, so close to her goal… But if she snuck in now, she knew he’d spot her.
Within a few moments, Harrell returned empty handed, nudging away the door stop as he approached Allen. “Okay, ready to go?” His back was turned. The door began to swing shut. She darted forward and shoved the wedge back in its place, pressing herself back against a bin. She needed to wait for them to leave.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here. My wife’s gonna be pissed.”
“When are you going to dump that hag?”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Whatever.” Their voices faded away as they left the room, heading down the hall to leave for home.
She was alone now. No one could stop her. “No way I’m going in there without a flashlight,” she muttered to herself as she grabbed one from a table, trying it out before approaching the door. Taking a deep breath, she pulled it open so she could squeeze through. She propped the doorstop back in its place and turned to examine the back storage.
It was dark. With endoskeletons laying in awkward positions by the entrance.
Then there was a bang. A click.
She whirled around, a gasp escaping her lips as she stared at the locked doors. The stopper must have slipped… She pushed, praying that she hadn’t really messed up so badly. But.. they didn’t budge.
“No! No, no, no…” She whimpered, glancing around. “How am I supposed to get out of here..?” She looked down at her Fazwrench, then around the door. But there were no sockets for it. She’d have to wait for the employees to return tomorrow.
She shut her eyes, trying to stop her stinging eyes from tearing. Don’t panic… It’ll just make everything worse. She turned back to the storage area, her trembling hand lighting the room. She was alone, now.
A clunk made her jolt, her flashlight whipping to the source. An endo, laying on the floor. Its arm must have slipped from its position at its side. She noticed the claws. Green. It took a moment for her to connect the dots, but it became clear who this endo once was. “Poor Roxy…”
She crouched beside the endo, noting the eyeless sockets. Roxy had special eyes, right..? Maybe that’s why they took them away. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she reached into her sweater pocket, pulling out the chip.
Maybe I don’t have to be alone until tomorrow.
She took the voicebox, placing it into the spot where Roxy’s neck met her torso. Carefully, she connected the wires. Then she moved to the back of the wolf, finding the slot for her chip and putting it back inside.
She stared at Roxy, waiting. She hadn’t seen the wolf in so long. Almost two years, now. Would she even be in Roxy’s systems, anymore? Was she wiped from the database when she moved away? Would Roxy still know that she changed her life..?
A sigh parted her lips as she got to her feet. Maybe the animatronic needed a charge. There had to be a plug somewhere. She approached a cabinet, opening the drawers and rummaging through them. “Found one!” Grinning, she turned back to Roxy. Except.. she wasn’t there. “Where did she—?”
Metal clamped down on her arm, claws piercing her sweater and threatening her skin. She was yanked around, the endoskeleton’s ears pinned back. “I’m not letting you kill me!” Roxy roared furiously, gripping tighter and surging forward to attack.
She shrieked, scratching uselessly against the metal. “Let go! Let go!”
Roxy’s ears immediately perked, releasing her and recoiling. “I-I’m sorry,” Roxy stammered, confusion lacing her voice. Her stiff, endoskeletal face and lack of eyes made it difficult to make out what she was thinking, but she shook, ears low, head tilting as she searched for sight. She opened her mouth a few times, as if trying to speak or breathe. “Are you okay?” she croaked.
The skin wasn’t punctured, but she’d certainly have a nasty bruise. Trembling, she fought to catch her breath before replying. “Y-Yeah…”
Roxy’s fans spun as she sighed in relief. Her paw went to her chest, ears perking and body freezing. “My casing…” Her green claws scraped the metal frame. “Where—?” Roxy cut herself off and hung her head. Her voice was soft, almost inaudible. “What’s going on..? Where am I..?”
“You’re at Fazbear Entertainment,” she blurted to the wolf. “I saw the technicians. They took out your chip and threw you in here.”
“Where’s here?” Roxy asked with a growl, her patience waning.
“I don’t know… Some kind of locked storage?”
“Locked?” Roxy whispered. She hugged her lanky frame, tail between her legs as she shook. “I’m going to die in here… I’ll never see any of them ever again…”
“It’s okay. They’ll come back tomorrow and they’ll have to let me out. I can take you with me.”
“They won’t let me leave,” Roxy huffed.
“Well, I got you in here,” she pointed out. “I’ll just put your chip and voicebox back in my pockets and smuggle you out.” Roxy’s ears perked at the plan. “Then we can go back to the Pizzaplex,” she suggested wistfully.
Roxy tilted her head. “Why do I know your voice..? Who are you?”
She stared up at the wolf. Would she remember..? She hoped so. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if the wolf had forgotten her. Another friend lost… She took a breath. “I’m Cassie.”