Summary: Circus Baby's Rental had been successful for years after hiring their newest technician. But he can't do this on his own anymore when the robots begin acting unusually hostile, and its time for him to call for backup. Sequel to Upon Nightfall.
Warnings: death, mentions of suicide, violence
In the same vein that Sister Location is a spin off, that's how I feel about this. Dusk is a spin off, focusing on our new technician and his problems with his own animatronics. We'll have familiar faces popping up of course, being in the same continuity.
Also, my night 5 is different than the game's canon ending. You'll see why eventually.
I hope you all enjoy my take on our new characters/friends!
Xxxxxx
"Hello and welcome back for another night. Now that you've returned, please once again use the keypad to select this week's gift basket."
He sighed, not even really bothering to try. It's not like the damn thing worked. He'd been working here for years now, and the keypad always seemed to malfunction. He thought about fixing it, but it really wasn't anything he cared about. He was paying for these stupid gift baskets anyway. And honestly it seemed stuck on one, and he rather liked the odd butters that he got; they tasted pretty good with popcorn.
"Thank you for choosing..."
"Exotic butters I get it." He sighed, adjusting his glasses.
The elevator stopped and he quickly crawled through the taped off vent. His hands and knees were calloused from the many times he'd scurried through. He'd gotten too used to this, and when all's said and done, it was likely very very illegal. Not that he was about to complain. He'd seen too many people go...and not in a fun way.
"Ballora, you on stage?" He called as he pressed the light. He sighed when the stage was empty except for a few Minireena's that waved at him. "Ballora please."
He saw the small animatronics move quickly, spelling out words. If he hadn't been expecting it, he would've missed it. "She's...in need of repairs? Oh thanks guys. I'll get to her quick ok?"
One Minireena waved again before they all twirled off into the shadows. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed and pressed the light to the right. "Foxy how about you-"
Foxy was pressed against the window, grinning . He raised an eyebrow, wondering what the fox was doing but it whined and pouted at a lack of reaction. "Thought I'd get you this time."
"Maybe if you didn't try it every other day. Now how's everything looking? Need a checkup?"
The pink and white robot shook its head. "I would like a new voice if you have a moment. Maybe something like Freddy's this time? Oh, though I do like Bonbon's but-"
"If Ballora doesn't need too much attention I'll see what I can do. Let me go check on Baby real quick. Are you going to give me trouble when I crawl over there?" He asked, kicking Baby's vent door open.
Foxy paused, thinking a moment. "I guess not today, if only because I really want a new voice..."
"Oh, well, as long as my time is convenient for you."
He pushed himself through Baby's vent, ignoring the motion trigger that went off. He yawned as he dusted himself off, rubbing his eyes. "Baby are we doing good today?"
He pressed the light. Nothing happened. He paused, surprised a moment, and then scowled and heaved a sigh. "These worthless, cheap lights..."
"It seems we have a malfunction. Please head into the breaker room and reset the power." HandyUnit went off, making him groan.
"Let me guess, Freddy is back there?"
"Funtime Freddy is likely on his stage, resting. He won't bother you if you can keep quiet and not irritate him."
"Fuck you." He mumbled to himself.
"Here at Circus Baby's Rental, we have very important rules about sexual harassment. If someone is-"
"You're the one bothering me. Where's my raise huh?" He asked it and again, trying uselessly to shut it off.
He got back into the vent, grumbling to himself about coming back here for nothing. At least going through Ballora's would be easy, since she was in the Parts and Service room, but he had to be careful of the Minireena's. While they were tiny and usually harmless, he still needed to be cautious. Everything in this place wanted him dead.
He needed to remember that.
Xxxxxxx
"Bonbon, I mean it, you're beginning to wear on my nerves." He mumbled, glaring down at where the little hand puppet was running near his feet. "How do you even run? You don't have legs."
"It's not very nice to make fun of someone like that. If you aren't going to be nice, I'll turn Freddy on and tell him what a meanie you are."
He sighed. He really didn't want Freddy waking up. If that happened, then he'd need to make a break for it. There were strategies for them all, and he was an expert in handling the robots. But that didn't mean he wanted to. Especially since…
"Eggs! Eggs, Freddy powered up! Morning Freddy!"
He froze, brain screeching to a halt. He heard the groans and shifting of Freddy's shell, the clinking of the clean, smooth body rubbing against itself. Freddy's eyes opened, blue glowing in the dark room and they locked on to the human instantly. His jaw creaked into a grin as Eggs struggled not to panic.
"I see you there!"
He hesitated. Sometimes Freddy was...okay. Sometimes he was passive and liked to watch him fix the breakers. He'd sit there, talking with Bonbon and ignoring the human; other times he'd ask about Eggs' life and offering to play some games that he never accepted. Was this one of those times?
"That must be the birthday boy!"
Oh shit.
His fingers scrambled for his HandyUnit, hands shaking, and pressed a button on it. Bonbon's recorded voice played. It echoed into the room as he dove back to the breakers. He saw Freddy pause, looking around for the blue bunny and that gave him enough time to finish with the power. Bonbon hopped back onto the bear's hand with a giggle as Eggs pushed himself towards the door, all but throwing himself through it.
His heart was thumping painfully against his chest as he collapsed to the floor in Ballora's room. He groaned; that hurt. His elbows were scrapped from the tile but he shrugged it off. He slowly picked himself up off the floor, hands still shaking.
They were getting worse…
He didn't want to admit it, but there was no denying it lately. The robots were getting more and more hostile. He gritted his teeth, needing a moment as he sat on the ground. After his first week, things had changed. That fifth night, he found two very dead humans and all the robots...well, scooped. Their remains were in the scooping room; how he managed to find the room on his own in the dark he still had no idea.
Ever since...that next Monday, they were so different. Kind. They could talk to him, and in some cases, were desperate to play with him. He promised not to shock them if it meant they'd behave. They had almost begun a routine then. It was like dealing with co-workers in any other job he'd have, except these happened to be very smart AI. He didn't trust them, he certainly didn't like them, but lately...they were reverting back to that first week.
They were getting more and more aggressive every day.
And soon, Eggs wouldn't be able to keep up.
Xxxxxx
He heard of Mike Schmidt from watching TV. He'd been between soaps, lamenting his empty popcorn bowl, when the first news story of Freddy Fazbear's came on. Of course he'd heard of it, since Circus Baby's was not only a competitor of theirs but also a sister brand. He'd looked up all the horrible things that had happened and decided not to keep up on the place. But seeing it on TV, he couldn't help but watch.
It popped up a few times over the months since. Someone that used to work there broke in only to be stopped by the lone guard, and the place slowly boomed from then on. Its sudden popularity was odd, and people were wondering what awful thing would happen next. Eggs only paid attention out of a morbid curiosity. If this was the same brand, could it be that their robots were like his?
It took almost a year of digging before he found anything. Being a technician made it easy to find files his bosses wouldn't want him to see; they'd definitely fire him if they knew. He found the many dead guards that had been covered up, the kids, and emails between certain CEOs about why the place was suddenly taking in money and why no one else had died. And it was because of Mike Schmidt.
His idea of reaching him festered for a few weeks. Mike didn't technically work for Circus Baby's, and why would he even want to come here to help? If he even could help. Mike had apparently reached some kind of treaty with his robots, and that left him alive. But there was something else going on here. He had a truce with the animatronics and that clearly wasn't doing him any good.
Even so, as he hid from Ballora and those awful Minireenas, he knew he needed to do something. So he sent him a text, having found his number in the hidden files. It wasn't until he was making his way home, exhausted, that he even received a reply. He wasn't expecting one, really, but his hands were shaking as he looked at the message Mike sent him. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the sudden chill and felt a heavy weight in his stomach forming.
"Oh god, of course he's a loser..." He mumbled.
'I don't know how you got my number, but if you're struggling against the animatronics then I'll do my best to help you out. My friend is the manager here, I'll see if he can have me transferred for a few weeks. It might take some time, and I'll try looking up your work place to get a better idea of what's going on.'
Stay safe until then. I'll be there as soon as I can be and I don't want you dying on me.'
Stay safe? He'd been doing this for years now! What did this asshole know about his working conditions? He was a night guard, something that Fazbear's could apparently sweep under the rug and replace in an instant. But him? He wouldn't merely be killed. He wasn't going to quickly die and rot away in a dumpster. Baby had other plans for him…
But even so, having someone else around might help. Part of him briefly wondered about having a human shield, making sure the robots got to Mike and not him, but shook it off. Even as cynical as he was, he couldn't do that to someone else. Sighing, Eggs knew he just needed to keep it up; he managed to survive this long, a few more weeks alone would be easy.
At least, that's what he told himself as he gritted his teeth and shocked Foxy the next night. As it trembled under the flood of electric currents, looking like it was silently screaming, he forced himself to watch. A hand even went unconsciously to the window as he waited for Foxy to recover and reluctantly get back on stage. He sighed. It was going to be a long, rough night…
Xxxx
Three weeks he waited on hearing back from anyone. Mike, his boss, HandyUnit telling him about someone being on site with him...At this point, he'd take more suicides if only to see another person. Even a dead one made him feel less alone in this awful facility.
He ran through the auditorium, using the light to blind Foxy as the fox rushed at him. It yelped and paused, blinking rapidly, and Eggs quickly ducked into the vent. He cursed as he felt it grab his foot, trying to yank him back, but kicked out. He was apparently stronger than he seemed in his induced panic state because Foxy gave a hiss and let him go, whimpering slightly as he crawled away.
He tumbled out into the main area, heart racing . It took him a minute before he realized someone was talking to him.
A person. He froze, glancing up wearily. His name tag read 'Mike' in a short chicken scratch, and he was looking pretty concerned about him. Forcing himself up, he lazily offered a hand, making Mike stare at him a moment. The guy was definitely older than him, maybe in his late twenty's or early thirties. He didn't have a hat, but had been given the typical white shirt, purple pants uniform Eggs himself wore, though it looked a bit big on him. He had a kind face, wide blue eyes and short hair; a typical everyday guy then.
"Really hoping you're Schmidt because only an idiot would be going down an elevator and through a vent to break into here."
He slowly shook his head. "Yeah, I'm Mike. You're, uh...?"
"Eggs." He said immediately, ignoring the confused look. "Gotta admit, I'm surprised you actually came here."
"I promised I would." Mike shrugged.
Eggs had to fight the twitch in his eye. "Right. Well, I guess I should give you the rundown, but you already missed some of my prep work."
He motioned to Ballora's window. Mike peered in almost immediately, jumping slightly when Eggs hit the light button. Ballora was twirling near the stage, her smaller robots propped up on it, and seemingly doing...something. Eggs didn't bother with them when they were together. Ballora was usually pretty passive unless the Minireena's wanted to start something.
"That's Ballora. She only reacts to sound since she keeps her eyes closed...well, unless she's got you." Eggs explained casually. "She only opens the face plates when she's sure she's got you. Only seen it once or twice."
"She moves around fine without seeing?" Mike asked curiously as he watched them. He paused when a Minireena noticed him and twirled faster, getting the others attention. "What are they doing?"
Eggs moved closer as the smaller ones began spelling out something. Mike seemed lost, but the technician had been doing this for a long time. "They're...asking if you're one of the new repair guys. Wait...oh, they said to stop using the curtains to hang yourself because then they get blamed for it. I'll make a note of that for my boss."
Mike paused, staring at him. Eggs shrugged. "I come in to find a lot of them dead. Usually hanging but sometimes I find them stuffed in weird places. I have to write it in my notes so someone can come clean them up."
"You have already checked in on me." A soothing, musical voice came in from the speaker. Ballora paused in her movements, face looking in their direction without seeing.
"Sorry to bother you, Ballora. Mike's new." Eggs explained.
She dipped into a bow. "My children welcome you then, Michael."
"Thank you. They're very talented." Mike replied back before Eggs could say anything; he was smiling as he watched the group. "You're all amazing to watch."
"We do as we are programmed. It would be best to remember that."
Eggs pulled the older man away and let the light shut off then. When he resisted slightly, he glared. "That's her cue to leave them alone. You've dealt with this crap before right?"
Mike frowned at that, glancing at the black window. "I have...but this is very different. You're sequestered from the animatronics while I'm used to being stuck in a room waiting for them to come to me."
"Well, we definitely have to go to them. Now, this is Funtime Foxy."
Eggs hit the light on the right. He sighed when it revealed Foxy pressed against the glass again, looking excited, but Mike yelped and tripped over something. Eggs groaned. For some veteran of this crap, Mike was awfully jumpy.
"Why can I never get to you Eggs?" The fox grumbled, their incident earlier completely forgotten. "Who's this?"
"Mike's from a different location." Eggs shrugged, watching as the man picked himself up. "Don't break anything Mike, I can't afford that."
Mike glared at him, dusting himself off. "I'm okay thanks for your concern."
He shrugged again. "You learn not to get attached."
"Wow, we get to play with two of you now?" Foxy paused, glancing around curiously. "You aren't being replaced are you Eggs? Baby would be so cross if you left us now..."
He paused, surprised. He saw Mike looked at him in confusion but he forced himself to shake it off. "Well then maybe Baby should keep you all from misbehaving."
"You say that like we do anything wrong..."
"Nah, just what you're programmed to do." Eggs echoed softly. He'd heard it too many times from the many years he'd been here. "It's fine, I'm not going anywhere."
Foxy nodded slowly, seemingly thinking. Mike jumped again when a small blue blur appeared on their shoulder. "Eggs isn't leaving?! You gave Minireena Four a heart attack! You should apologize before I make you!"
"Bonbon you're not supposed to be on your own." Eggs pointed out.
"Whoa wait." Mike cut in suddenly, not noticing the dark look he got from Foxy; the technician certainly did though. "Foxy, and a...Bonnie? I have different models of you guys where I work."
"Of course you do." Foxy shook their head. "We're not exactly originals are we?"
"I am certainly more adorable than your Bonnies though." the hand puppet said haughtily. "I'm compact!"
Mike laughed at that, causing Bonbon to preen. "Your other models would love you. Spring likes to pick on Bonblu a bit, and Bonnie usually has to keep them apart. You'd fit in perfectly."
"I would?" Bonbon paused, almost solemnly. "On my own?"
"They'd likely step on you." Eggs mumbled.
Mike glared at him. "Why would you do that when I'm reaching them?" He hissed in a whisper.
"Reaching them? Oh right, I forgot I'm dealing with a crying heart." The black haired man sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Bonbon on her own drains her battery and shuts off. And then, in your restaurant, she'd likely get picked up, broken, or stolen. That's why she's a team with Funtime Freddy."
"They make a great team." Foxy added.
"It's why she gets the most fanart from the kids."
Bonbon giggled at that, perking up. "Of course I'm popular! Look at me."
Mike still looked upset but glanced at the small bunny. "Freddy? You guys have a Freddy as well?"
"He's likely lumbering around. I had to update some of his programming earlier." Eggs glanced around but didn't see him. "You guys know if Baby is going to be okay with me going back there?"
Bonbon looked concerned at that as Foxy frowned. When the two didn't answer, he heaved a sigh and crossed his arms. "Shit. Bad day huh?"
"You aren't going to shock her for it, are you?" Foxy asked hesitantly. "I don't think she's feeling well."
Mike stared at the fox as a look of horror dawned on his face and he glanced at second button below the light. Seems like he was piecing together their function. Eggs ignored him as best he could, but the man was beginning to tremble.
"If she doesn't talk to me, there's nothing I can do about it. You guys have your programming and I got mine."
"Fair enough. Some of her stage lights are broken again." Foxy put a hand on Bonbon and began walking off. "What should we do tonight Bonbon?"
He turned the light off, letting them have their own time together. He looked at Mike, about to show him Baby's vent, but the man was seething as he stared at the blank glass. Raising an eyebrow, Eggs snapped his fingers, making the man jump.
"You...shock them?"
"It's my job. Sometimes they don't behave, so we have to...'motivate' them." He rolled his eyes at that. "That's what the HandyUnit says anyway and that's who I have to listen to."
"You're torturing them and want help from them attacking you?!" Mike demanded hotly.
Eggs paused, surprised before snorting. It made Mike glared at him harder. "I got a job to do, Mike. And like I told you before, they usually act fine. But lately..."
He stopped, frowning to himself. The other man's glower faded slowly, looking confused and curious. But Eggs didn't have a proper explanation for him. He was the one that looked through their programming, what limited amounts he had access to, and he was the one here all night with them. But he didn't have an explanation for anything happening.
"They've been acting up lately. Randomly, but it's been occurring more and more. They're appearing in the back all the time, needing me to fix them, and Baby..." He sighed. "She's like the leader of them all. If she feels up to it, you'll meet her in a second. But something's happening to them during the day. And I have no idea what."
"They're rented out to parties right?" Mike asked.
He nodded. "Usually booked solid."
The other man crossed his arms and began pacing slightly as he thought. Eggs raised an eyebrow. "Someone would notice while they're outside if something was wrong. The animatronics I work with all have a code, I guess, that they'd never hurt kids. I can only assume yours are the same."
"Assuming is a dangerous thing."
"Yeah...but if they were going after kids or adults on the surface then I think I would've heard about your place sooner." Mike sighed, staring off to the side at the weird clock on the wall. "Something's happening here."
Eggs frowned at that. Nothing happened here, except for the fixing up and scooping. Granted, from what he'd heard, the scooping wasn't exactly...pleasant. He'd wondered if they reacted like this because of what they went through to be 'fixed' but they kept targeting him. He wasn't the one that put them on the scooper and he certainly wasn't the one that decided who needed to go in there.
"Come on, we gotta check on Baby." He finally said, kicking open the vent. "Careful though, I've never had someone in here with me so don't be riding my ass the whole time."
He saw Mike roll his eyes as he got in. As he reached the motion sensor he realized he had nothing to worry about. Mike wasn't used to crawling around vents and he was rather slow. He had to get out and wait before Mike finally emerged, panting and his face red.
"Sorry, forgot you're an old man."
"I'm only-! Forget it." Mike dusted himself off as he got up, glancing around the area. "Uh, what's this?"
"Baby's area. Now hush up, I gotta see if she'll talk to me."
Eggs hit the light, not surprised when only one light worked. He didn't see her in there, she often liked to hide away, but he decided not to hit the electrocution button right away. In the years he'd been here, he learned that she was...sensitive, if that even was the right word. And he was still learning to deal with her.
"Baby, I need you on stage just for a moment please." He called, ignoring Mike watching him. "Once that's done you can go back."
"Who is that with you?" She asked softly as they heard footsteps. "Surely you aren't leaving us now."
Eggs snorted. "Nothing like that. Mike here is helping me. Think of him as my assistant. He wanted to meet you."
Baby got on her stage, and Eggs was quick to step on Mike's foot when the man started to gape. The robot usually took people off guard, being around seven feet but looking like a small girl. Her green eyes were quick to look over the both of them through the glass.
"An assistant? How interesting...no one else has ever had company here." She paused at that, giggling. "Well, none that lasted."
"Mike promised me he won't hang himself in the curtains. Anyway, how you feeling today? Need a zap?" He asked casually; he was watching her reaction to Mike critically. All the robots were oddly...uninterested in the man.
Mike glared at him, being the bleeding heart he was, but Baby cocked her head and smiled in that creepy, supposed-to-be-charming way she did. "I believe no zap is needed. Though, I wonder about your friend...Even so, as long as you aren't leaving us alone down here I think everything is fine."
"I still need a job so I'm still here. I'll make a note that you're fine so no scooping for you." Eggs said.
Baby nodded, glancing at Mike then him again. She then walked away into the shadow of the room. Eggs turned the light off, knowing she preferred it, and grabbed his HandyUnit. He had to smack it a few times to get the keypad to work, but he managed to get his notes down before the thing began talking to him.
"It seems you've finished your duties for the day. Please head home, and we'll see you tomorrow!"
"Guess we're done then." Eggs said.
Mike frowned, still looking uneasily towards where Baby had disappeared. "I don't think she liked me all that much..."
"What ever makes you think that?" He asked sardonically. Mike glared at him again. "Course they don't like you. You aren't made of metal and cheap plastic. They don't like me either, they just know I can hurt them if they wanna be assholes. So they get back at me when I have to venture into their areas. Now let's get out of this shitty place and we can talk about what the hell I'm supposed to do."
They crawled into the main area, pausing only when a lone Minireena appeared. It stared at them as they left through the front vent. Mike asked if they were supposed to put it back with Ballora but Eggs explained that he wasn't getting paid for any extra time he spent here and he certainly wasn't going out of his way. Reluctantly, Mike followed him.
"My apartment is pretty close." Mike mused to himself. "Uh, you have a ride?"
Eggs tapped his foot, looking around. Being outside after spending so much time underground always left him feeling like he escaped. At least, until the next night. He shook his head, motioning to where the bus stop was down the road.
"Ride the bus. My place is pretty far." He said.
"I can give you a ride if you want. Or..." Mike hesitated, pulling out his cellphone and checking the time.
The technician frowned at that. "You want me to meet your dad or something?"
He noticed that Mike stiffened slightly and made a mental note that dad jokes were off the table. "Like I said, my place is close by. You could crash there and we can discuss how to help you. I didn't get to see any of them acting hostile, but I certainly felt it."
"No offense Mike, but I don't make it a habit of sleeping over at some guy's house that I just met. Even if he's akin to a kicked puppy." Eggs shrugged, ignoring the way Mike bristled. "Let's sleep on it. If you still feel up to it, meet me here tomorrow. Earlier, so we can actually go through everything."
"Why should I? So far all I've seen if you talking about electrocuting them and being an asshole!"
"That's because I am an asshole." He rolled his eyes. He then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay look. I asked you for help because I'm desperate not to die. I just happen to be cynical dick most of the time. But I know that eventually, they're going to catch me. And they aren't planning on just killing me."
Mike stared at him for a good minute, thinking. Then, he just nodded and left, getting into his car and leaving. Eggs stood there a moment by himself. He honestly didn't expect Mike to come back tomorrow. He was an asshole, always had been, and he wasn't one that dealt with other humans very well. Hell, he took comfort in the dead bodies he'd find around the place because that meant it wasn't him. And he knew normal people didn't think that way...
Sighing, he began walking towards the bus stop. His fifth night here ran through his head. Looking at the scooping room through the glass, seeing the empty shells of the animatronics that tried to kill him, that had kidnapped him...hearing a voice behind him, cooing about going outside and being free again. Something had slithered over his foot and that's when he ran. Left the scooping room, left the facility, left the robots. He was shocked when his boss told him he wasn't fired.
Whatever was back there, hidden behind him...it wanted something from him. It sounded like Baby, but the dread in his stomach had told him it wasn't her. It did something, and if it caught him through the others...he didn't think it was as simple as dying.
Or maybe, he mused as he settled into his small, shitty apartment and began making popcorn for his shows to watch, maybe it was because he was such a dick that he deserved it. He sighed. He sat down on his couch and turned on the TV, waiting for the microwave to go off. If whatever that thing was got him and...did whatever, maybe it was meant to happen. Maybe he was meant to die.
But he sure as hell wasn't going to let it take him without a fight.
Xxxxxx
I hope you all enjoy Eggs! I think he's pretty fun, and I'm trying to make him distinct from everyone else I've written. Same goes with the animatronics. I hope you all enjoyed it and leave me a review to tell me if you think anything needs explaining, fixing, or just have questions!
MRIMO