Chapter Text
Natalie stepped out of her old pickup truck, papers tucked under one arm and her purse in the other.
This would be the last step in determining whether or not she would get her desired job. She'd already received the call for the interview, and was now rushing into the large building for said meeting with the hiring manager.
Although she'd never been inside the Pizzaplex before, she had been to the old Fazbear locations when she was younger, and passed it often on her way to her current job.
Her brother Nathan was the one to suggest she work there after receiving feedback from a friend who once worked there as a Glamrock caretaker, and she decided to apply for the same position as the caretaker for Freddy Fazbear himself. He'd always been her favorite since she was little, and found it quite interesting that he happened to be the one with a caretaker position available.
The pay was surprisingly better than her current job's, and it was conveniently a little over 10 minutes away from where she lived.
When she entered the building, she was immediately overwhelmed with awe at her surroundings. It looked nothing like she had pictured it and appeared incredibly updated with its technology since their former locations. Even after hearing the stories from Nathan's friend about the band members and their personalities, which she assumed was frighteningly advanced AI, she still hadn't seen them up close and personal yet herself. She'd come across a few pictures or performance videos of them every so often, but never had spent the time actually watching any of it or further investing. She was slowly beginning to understand why they'd grown so popular. Either way, she was excited to learn more when she would begin working at the fascinating location. The requirements for caretakers that were listed seemed simple, making sure the member you were working with was always prepared before a performance, supervised outside of their greenroom, report any behavioral changes or concerns, making sure all booked parties were attended, etc...
She was pulled out of her thoughts when a blond security guard approached her.
"Can I help you?" she questioned, arms crossed in a casual manner.
"Oh, uh, I'm here for an interview with James," Natalie replied, adjusting the papers under her arm before they began to fall.
"You're Natalie Grey?"
"Yes, that's right," Natalie nodded.
The female security guard studied her for a few moments before holding out her hand.
"I'm Vanessa. I'm the head security guard here," she introduced with a tired smile.
"Nice to meet you," Natalie returned the smile, shaking her hand.
"I'll let James know you're here," Vanessa stated, grabbing a hold of her walkie talkie.
After quickly contacting the hiring manager, she turned her attention back to Natalie.
"Come with me," she ordered, beginning to make her way towards the stairs in front of them.
Natalie did as told, following her up the stairs and into one of the two elevators that stood before them.
From there, she followed Vanessa out of the elevator once they reached the next
floor.
One thing she couldn't help but notice was that it wasn't as busy as she thought it would be—even though it was an afternoon on a Wednesday, she still expected it to be bustling with people with its great popularity.
As they walked down another stretch of stairs, Natalie was greeted with an open atrium lined with tables and a large stage at the back. She was once again filled with that same feeling of awe as she took in their neon lit surroundings.
They rounded behind the stage and entered a room filled with many fold out chairs and music sheet stands. In one of the chairs sat who she assumed to be James, a welcoming smile present on his face.
"Good afternoon, Miss Natalie—come have a seat!" he urged enthusiastically, gesturing to the seat in front of him.
Natalie made her way over to him and sat down as told, her nervousness growing despite James' great friendliness.
Once he started to go down the list of questions though, she began to ease up. They were all pretty easy to answer, and either James really liked her, or was incredibly desperate because after around 20 minutes of interviewing, he hired her right on the spot. Sure, she knew Fazbear Entertainment had a reputation of a sketchy history and it could've had something to do with that, but she decided she didn't really care at the moment. It sounded much better than the toxic environment of her soon-to-be former job.
"So how soon can I start?" Natalie asked as they both stood up.
"Tomorrow—if that works for you, of course," James responded.
"Great, that's perfect, actually..!" Natalie nodded, a light excitement beginning to replace her fading anxiety.
"Wonderful! I'll have Officer Vanessa take you to meet the band tomorrow along with a tour of the Pizzaplex," the manager smiled, clearly pleased.
"Thank you—what time should I be here?"
"8:00 a.m. That'll give you enough time for everything before opening hours."
"Great, I'll be there, then!" Natalie agreed.
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Early next morning, Natalie entered the Pizzaplex at her given time.
Vanessa greeted her at the door, appearing even more exhausted than the previous day. She still managed a faint smile as she held out a small bear-shaped watch.
"What is it?" Natalie asked curiously.
"This is a Fazwatch. Most of the employees here use one. You can contact other staff through it," Vanessa explained.
"Ohh, wow..." Natalie uttered, taking the item gently from the security guard's hand and strapping it around her wrist.
Vanessa gave her a brief tutorial on all of the watch's functions before leading her out to where the Glamrocks' green rooms were located.
Vanessa's walkie talkie crackled to life with a male voice Natalie didn't recognize.
"Freddy had another episode this morning. We'll be there in 10. Can you let Chris know we need more stabilizer? Haven't been able to get a hold of him for some reason."
"We can wait. I'll let Chris know when I can," Vanessa answered into her radio.
"Thanks."
Natalie refrained from feeding into her curiosity and asking about whatever situation was taking place on the other end of the walkie talkie, knowing it was probably none of her business being only her first day on the job.
"Freddy's not here right now, so why don't we start off with Chica since we're already outside her room?" Vanessa suggested, stopping and turning to Natalie.
"Yeah, okay," Natalie nodded, watching as the security guard opened the green room door with a card.
"I'll wait out here for you," Vanessa stated.
Natalie nodded, hesitantly entering the anthropomorphic chicken's room.
The room walls were painted in a hot pink and bathed in neon lights, many other decorations and some furniture also spread around.
Chica stood at her desk in the corner of the room on the left, turning around once she'd heard Natalie step into the room.
"Oh it's you!!" she chirped, rushing up to her with excitement.
"It's so nice to finally meet you!! I know you'll take good care of Freddy!!" she continued on, shaking Natalie's hand enthusiastically.
Her energy and fluidity was incredibly unexpected, and Natalie found herself struggling for the words to speak.
Something felt strangely off. It was also quite frightening seeing how tall she really was in person.
"...Wow, I...Never imagined you Animatronics could get THIS advanced..." Natalie breathed.
Chica was just so lifelike.
"We're not Animatronics, silly!" The Animatronic chicken giggled.
Natalie paused.
"...Hold on, what did you just say?"
"We are the products of the successful fusion of both animal and human DNA! We're living and breathing just like you, not Animatronics!"
Natalie paled, waiting for Chica to add that she was kidding. Unfortunately, she wasn't.
"No...There's no way...That can't be legal—right? How is that even possible...?" Natalie murmured, taking a step back nervously.
"Are you okay? Did I scare you? I'm sorry...!" Chica exclaimed frantically, her expression now filled with concern.
"...You're...Actually alive...?"
Chica nodded, still studying her with concern.
"I'm sorry, I just...No one told me that this place just randomly decided one day that they wanted to use genetic experiments instead of Animatronics—I mean, how...Why..."
Natalie didn't know what else to say. The more she thought about it though, anyone she'd ever spoken to never used the word Animatronic when speaking about the newer characters. Now it made sense.
But what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to predict that after the many years of using Animatronics, Fazbear Entertainment would turn to supposedly illegal anthropomorphic experiments? This was apparently normal to everyone?
Now she had second thoughts on her new job. What was Freddy like? Would he carry the aggression of a real bear?
"This is wonderful...Just wonderful..." she muttered.
"I wish I could help you, but I don't really understand..." Chica pointed out, frowning innocently.
"No, it's okay—don't worry about me," Natalie sighed, attempting to force a smile. "It's just a big misunderstanding. I'm sure Vanessa can help me."
Chica nodded intently.
"Alright then, I should get going," Natalie finished, making her way back towards the door and exiting the green room without another word. Chica only watched her in an uneasy silence as the door closed behind her.
"Oh, you came out at the perfect time. Jade and Freddy are already here."