Mike was not a man of great courage. It took all of his guts to stop himself from giving himself away to the bunny by inhaling and exhaling in a respiratory panic. Bonnie was scarcely fooled by darkness and was one of the few who really took it upon himself to move in it. There was no way he wouldn't be caught if he slipped up even a little.

So he did his best not to. Hung onto Foxys endoskeleton, held his breath.

Waited.

Though Mikes eyes couldn't see from his hiding spot, Bonnies eyes were running over the fox, and the rabbit was motionless. Surely he'd seen something on his way down the west hall. But Foxy was immobile.

The animatronic was not programmed to think too deeply behind this sort of mishap, and after staring at the fox for a while, eventually turned to move on. Fortunately, he hadn't noticed the fingers hanging onto the foxes torso, or maybe he had? Perhaps he'd mistaken it for a part of Foxy. Either way, he was leaving.
Mike couldn't afford to keep himself where he was for much longer. It was dangerous enough being in the same room as all of them at once - something that hadn't even happened in the office before. He had four of them all waiting to catch him - even if they weren't moving.

Quickly he fumbled with Foxys back, prying at the cables and cursing softly. Bonnie would be the only one active for now but the worst part on Mondays was that fact that there was always a chance Chica would move, or Bonnie would come back. He was terrified Bonnie would find the office empty and break out, so working fast was the only thing he could do.

It was either that or bait himself, and then what?

Mike fumbled around with the polaroid picture a little more as he tried to keep himself focused. He didn't know if, in using Bonnies settings, Foxy would inadvertently take up the rabbits pattern, but one thing Mike made himself sure of was the daytime programming and AI setting. He couldn't let Foxy activate in the day the way the band did. It would be a terrifying experience.

He was almost finished when the power died - and he cursed. Loudly. He'd left his tablet on constantly and it had swallowed up the power too rapidly. Bonnie had stopped moving audibly, and the hair on the back of Mikes neck stood up in realisation of what was about to happen. He quickly slid the polaroid in his pocket and forced the back of the suit back onto Foxy, not caring that the settings weren't fully changed but glad that he'd made the effort and not pussied out like he would have done if he'd had the choice sooner.

Footsteps again. Mike didn't know what Freddy would do if he found the office empty, but the likelyhood was that Freddy would not be a jolly bear about it. So despite how suicidal it was, he slid out from between the curtains and ran down the hallway, tripping over trash in the dark and scrambling at the doorframe to find his way back into the office. Bonnie hadn't been in the hallway, to his fortune, which meant the bunny had deactivated himself inside the closet. Poor janitor would have a heart attack.

Mike curled up in his chair, held his tablet to his chest, and willed himself to not be noticed. No fool Freddy, though. It was only as he realised this that the words of the phone guy fell into place in the jigsaw frame of his mind. They knew he wasn't an endoskeleton. How could've he fallen for that?

The backroom was lined with endoskeletons - some fully constructed for emergency replacements, some simply parts. But they were there, and Mike had seen them when he'd been backstage fumbling with the suit. So why did they go ignored if the animatronics were programmed to have a 'rule' about the endoskeletons? And why did they have that rule programmed into them if there were only four animatronics to begin with? They knew he wasn't an endoskeleton. And that was why Freddy, despite the power failure, came to his door, and scared him shitless. They all knew he was a human being, a guard, a watchman. They only ever attacked guards - workers. But if they weren't programmed to stuff endoskeletons, what were they?

His mind cast back to the articles on the walls. Perhaps they thought he was dangerous. He was forcing them away, night after night, practically trapping them to the halls when they were simply doing what came naturally. But surely this couldn't be a case of the supernatural.

Supernatural beings were for movies and books, right?

Mike was cut off from his thoughts as the illuminated face of Freddy appeared in the doorway. Staring him down with blue eyes, tinkling his toreador tune in a taunt towards the poor security guard. A way of saying 'We've got you'.

There was no escaping this now. He couldn't do anything, and if he moved, he'd be forced back into that suit. It wasn't full of death but it was painful, and he didn't want to go through it with again. There was that chance he'd be stuffed into another one.

The last thing Mike thought of before the tune faded was the guy on the phone. Of his advice. Searching for that final piece of help.

'Try playing dead'.

Sure, he said it didn't work when they thought he was a suit - but if they knew he wasn't an endoskeleton, what led them to be convinced he was a suit?

Mike only had the time to sit back and squeeze his eyes closed, wanting nothing more than to evaporate. He could hear the footsteps in his direction.

The world spun, and Freddy pounced.