Eggs crawled through the vents towards Baby's room, humming happily to himself as he worked down his mental checklist. Foxy and Ballora were on their stages, Freddy was entertaining BonBon, and Lolbit was behaving herself in Parts and Storage. In other words, things were finally going well for a change.

"Everything seems fine so far," He mused to himself, even managing a small smile. "Maybe I can even get out early tonight."

He exited the vents and looked around in confusion as he realized that Baby's room was completely dark. Usually most the room be shrouded in darkness, and since Baby was never very talkative, it didn't usually bother him. But this time, EVERYTHING was dark. The puppets, the lights and shock buttons, and the other equipment. It as like the entire room had been switched off, falling completely still.

Deathly so.

Eggs gulped as he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Something wasn't right here. Then again, nothing was right with Circus Baby's Funtime Diner. He had found that out the hard way.

When he had started working there, he'd been desperate. He had too many bills and not enough cash to go around, so he ended up working as a...god, what did they even call it? Security guard? Technician? Fuck, he couldn't even remember at this point. Put simply, he looked after the animatronics while they were in storage. Simple enough, right?

Wrong. So, so wrong.

Turns out, the bots were alive and self-aware, and also had a nasty habit of murdering people when they were out of "performance mode". He got a million excuses for it from corporate, but it all boiled down to a software error that filed some employees under a criminal database that had been attached after a past incident. He didn't really believe the excuse, but it didn't really matter either. All he needed to do was stay alive, and he got pretty good at it! Well, for awhile at least.

Around the end of the first week, the entire facility had some kind of shutdown. In a terrifying turn of events, Baby ended up guiding Eggs through the pitch black hallways, informing him that they "needed to talk". Turns out, talk meant "scoop out your organs and use your body as a vessel to escape the cold, damp, terrible realm that was the the bassment facility".

Weird translation, right?

However, in a stroke of insane luck, he had managed to talk the animatronics down from the digusting (and honestly idiotic) idea, instead settling to get more personal with them, and even allowing them to the top floor occasionaly during night hours.

The animatronics actually agreed to his terms, and had actually been behaving quite well since the incident. Overall deaths had decreased at the establishment, and corporate ended up giving him a brief pay raise for improving the workflow. Still, things were going a bit too well for his liking. Something had to give, something always did…

"Hello, Micheal."

Eggs let out an embarrassingly girly shriek of ear at the sudden appearance of Baby, who now stood on her stage, a smug smirk plastered on her face. She enjoyed giving him a good scare.

"H-hey, Baby." he greeted, attempting to compose himself hastily. He couldn't let her get to him. "You, uh, don't have to call me Micheal. Guidelines say that as long as I'm on the grounds, "Eggs Benedict" must be my name thanks to a certain scrap heap."

"You should really get that Hand-Unit replaced." She stated simply, green eyes boring into his own. "At the very least, we should be able to call you by your real name."

"I...don't disagree." Eggs-no, Mike agreed, before averting his gaze and stepping up to the now lit control panel. "Ok, let's get the checklist done. First routine, if you please."

"Of course. Executing Party Rountie-1A." She reported, before closing her eyes and humming for a few seconds. After a few seconds, her eyes snapped back open, now a beautiful shade of blue, and she flashed a dazzling smile. "Hiya, kids! My name is Baby, welcome to our restaurant! Who wants some fresh pizza?"

Despite his better instincts, Mike managed a small grin at the animatronic's performance. She always sounded so happy during the tests, never using the composed, condescending tone that he heard whenever he had to check on her or perform maintenance.

"Heh, nice. Now 2A, please."

Again, Baby's eyes fluttered shut, before snapping back open again, smile still wide and jovial.

"Hello again, children! Welcome to Ciruss Baby's stage. Would you like to hear a song?"

"Would it matter if I say yes?" Mike mused aloud as he checked off another box. To his surprise, a soft giggle echoed from the stage, drawing his attention back to Baby.

"Of course it matters, silly!" She chirped, eyes shining in an almost mischievous fashion. "Any requests?"

"Um...Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" Mike asked after a moment of stunned silence. Yet again, Baby's eyes glowed a bit brighter, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, I love that one! I'll sing it now!" She replied cheerfully, before making a noise to simulate clearing your throat and starting to sing. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are~!"

Mike offered a few celebratory claps as the song ended, genuinely beaming at the robot before him. He had never been to the restaurant during the day, so hearing her sing was not only a new occurrence, but a nice one at that. After a few moments, he noticed that she was staring at him expectantly, and he quickly cleared his throat and resumed his scanning of the checklist.

"RIght, um...that was very nice, Baby." He approved, trying to quell the embarrassed blush on his face. "Ok, we got one test left. 3A, please."

For a final time, Baby's eyes closed, and opened again, still bright. Still happy.

"We hope you've enjoyed the show, but now it's time for my friends and I have to go to sleep! Have a nice night everyone, and stay safe!"

Mike checked the final box, and then looked back at the animatronic on the other side of the glass, smiling despite his unease of what was to come next.

"Alright, that's everything. You can exit performance mode now." He told her. Slowly, her eyes dimmed, before returning to their natural green hue, though notably less bright now.

"I take it you enjoyed that show?" She addressed him, her tone back to that cold, uncaring nature that he had grown accustomed to. It was hard to remember that the other side of the animatronics that he saw during the test wasn't really. It was just programming.

"Yeah, it was a real treat." He confirmed snarkily, pocketing his list and turning on his Hand-Unit. "Maybe I can see it properly some time."

The ginger-haired animatronic hummed in acknowledgement before the Hand-Unit whirled to life, it's obnoxiously happy voice crackling out from the speaker.

"Well done, valued employee! You've finished all your tasks for the night!" It chriped, the forced cheeriness in it's tone making Mike scowl. Listening to it drone on about policies, past assignments, and success rates got grating, not helped by the fact that the damn keyboard on the shitty thing didn't work, so whenever he was asked something important he couldn't respond properly. "Due to your commitment to the Fazbear Brand, we'd like to get me something special."

"Wait, wait. Don't tell me, let me guess!" Mike interrupted, rolling his eyes at pad and speaking in mocking tone mirroring Hand-Unit's. "An exclusive, but expired membership to a business I'll never use? Or a brand new, exclusive firearm for me to shoot myself with? Wait, wait! I got it! It's another basket of fucking butter isn't it?!"

Mike was fully aware of Baby chuckling quietly from the otherside of the glass, clearing enjoying his fit of frustration. Hand-Unit, on the other hand, didn't even react, instead simply displaying it's options and keypad.

"Please select whatever option you prefer below."

"Ugh. Whatever. I'm gonna get another basket of butter, aren't I?" Mike groaned, reaching out to make his selection before a tap on the glass caught his attention.

"If I may?" Baby quirred, her smile a bit wider than usual. "Try XC6TF3. That should get you something nice"

Mike quirked an eyebrow, surprised with the advice, but did as she suggested and typed in the code. A satisfying ding! echoed within the chamber, followed by Hand-Unit's voice.

"Congratulations, you selected the ever popular Cash Basket!" It announced, making the guard's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He cast Baby a knowing look, and was met with that same grin.

"How did you know that would work?"

"Technically, I didn't. There was still a twenty-seven percent chance you'd get another item." She admitted, an almost bashful quality entering her voice. "I just thought that since you've been so patient with us since the...incident, perhaps you deserved something for your efforts."

"Oh." Mike muttered, before a grin rose on his face. "Well, thank you. I knew there was a reason you were my favorite. See you tomorrow, Baby."

He turned around and started towards the exit after he said this, missing the way that the animatronic jolted behind the glass, her eyes wide and her cooling system rising to full power.

"I...um...goodbye." She murmured as Mike slipped back into the vents, crawling his way back toward the main security room. As he did so, he swore he saw movement from within the office. He paused, and allowed one hand to drift down to his baton on his belt and unclipping it before continuing towards the exit. He reached the vent after a few seconds, and with a quick jab knocked the vent cover and slipped out.

"Ah, there you are."

Mike jerked his head upward and came face to face with a woman in a purple polo, a Fazbear Entertainment logo embroidered on her left arm. She quirked her eyebrows expectantly as Mike hauled himself to his feet, brushing himself off and offering her an embarrassed chuckle.

"Sorry, Van-er, I mean boss." He greeted, grinning nervously at his superior. To her credit, Vanny just rolled her eyes and shook her head, shooting her co-worker a wry grin.

"Van is fine, Mike. You know I don't really care about rank." She corrected, before holding her hand out. "I am gonna need you Hand-Unit though. Company is requesting that all previous units get turned in, and you're the last on my list."

"Oh, sure. Here you go." Mike replied, handing over the device. Van turned it over a few times, as if scanning it for damaged, before nodding and pocketing it.

"Alright, cool. I should have your new unit by Monday. Until them, consider your schedule cleared."

"Wait, seriously?" Mike interjected, legitimately surprised by this development. Freddy's wasn't known for letting workers have many days off, so a four day break was a bit out of character.

"Let's just say there are gonna be some...developments while you're away." Van explained cryptically, turning away and walking back towards the elevator, becoming for Mike to follow. "You seen the news recently, Mikey?"

"Um, no. Why, did something happen?" He asked, now legitimately concerned. Van sighed deeply, and met her friend's gaze with a tired glance.

"Willam Afton was found dead in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria."

The words didn't register at first, as the name wasn't one at the forefront of Mike's mind. Then, it clicked. William Afton was the man who made the Funtime animatronics, and was the former business partner of Henry Emily, the creator of the Freddy Fazbear animatronics. They were both part of the Fazbear corporation, but had chosen very different paths in development.

Of course, there were also a pethera of unsavory rumors surrounding him. He'd been a suspect, or at the very least involved, in just about every scandal at Fazbear Entertainment. The Missing Children's incident, the murders at the sister location, even the Bite of '87. Wherever disaster struck, Afton was never far behind. Still, to hear that he died in one of the restaurants…

"Was it another accident?" He asked, air quotes audible around the last word. Policy was for all events in which someone is killed or injured on a Fazbear property be known as accidents, to prevent bad press or more rumors.

"Of a sort, yeah." Van confirmed as she pressed the button to take them to the main floor, waiting for the doors to close before continuing. "Look, it's an ongoing thing, but all I can tell you is that the company is now moving away from Afton's designs and making some...changes."

"Like what? Are they taking away the Funtime animatronics?"

"No, but they are doing a few modifications, hence the time off." She clarified, before snapping her fingers. "Oh, also! You'll be getting some new additions. The franchise that Afton died at is moving their animatronics here until everything gets sorted. Good news is you'll have two extra pairs of hands, since they're also sending over the guards from that place."

"Really? It'd be nice to not have to work alone anymore." Mike admitted, a bit excited with the prospect of having some human company for a change. The prospect of more animatronics, however, did make him a little nervous. "What about the animatronics thought?"

A wicked grin rose on Van's face, and the feeling of nervousness increased. That wasn't a great sign.

"Oh, you'll like these ones. Have you ever been to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria?" She asked, earning a nod in response. "Well, think those models. From what I hear, you'll get five animatronics. I think we'll have enough room for them in Parts and Storage."

"Huh, ok. You're the boss." Mike conceded as they reached the top floor. They both stepped out of the elevator, and crossed the shrouded dining room over to the punch card station. Mike clocked out, but before he could leave a hand met his shoulder, making him turn back to Van, who now looked a bit more nervous than before.

"Look, I know that you and I don't know each other that well or anything, but try to stay in one piece, alright Mike?" She muttered, crossing her arms and leaning on the wall next to them. "I know that you've got a good handle on things down there, but I'd appreciate it if you stayed cautious. I've lost more than a few friends to this place, and I don't want to lose another."

"Um, sure Van." Mike assured her, a bit surprised with the apparent vote of confidence from his superior. "I'll keep on my toes."

"Good...good. Just wanted to make sure." Van relented, flashing her co-corker a quick smile. "Have a nice night, Mike."

"Yeah, you too!" The guard replied, before heading for the door and leaving the establishment. As he walked down the sidewalk back towards his apartment, he found himself reflecting on his current situation. On one hand, more animatronics meant more hours, better pay, and potentially new co-workers. On the other hand, dangers could increase with five new animatronics in an already tense situation, not to mention that he didn't know what these new animatronics were or how dangerous they could be.

I'm overthinking this! He told himself, shaking his head and allowing a chuckle to skip past his lips. I can handle whatever Fazbear can throw with me. Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?