Nothing really to say here besides, well - epilogue time! The conclusion of this particular story... And finally time to move on to what I've decided will be the final Alex Redding story. I'll be doing my own thing for Sister Location, so hopefully it comes out well!

City Hospital

Alex Redding

"...The Rat was finally dead and gone and all the other robots were powered down – with no Ringleader AI to give them their orders, they just went into a full shutdown. I grabbed the files from the safe and hit the road." Adams finished recounting his own story as I shifted a bit in my bed.

It had been a few days since I'd woke up, and Adams had been taking some time to fill me in on the details of what I'd missed while I was out. I had considered telling my own story, about how I'd relived my memories and fought an evil splinter of my psyche while I was out, but figured that would be a fast track to the loony bin. For now I was happy to just keep my memories to myself – it wasn't like telling them would help anything. "Sounds like you had a nice taste of what I had to deal with. It ain't easy, dealing with murderous machines, huh?"

Adams rolled his eyes and laughed once more. "Tell me about it. Couple times they almost had me – I'm no hand to hand fighter, Alex. Anyway, I was able to start hunting through those files for a bit." He shook his head. "Turns out that letter I found from Faz was right – there is another Fazbear location, forgotten and buried."

I sat up a bit straighter, this had my attention. "You don't think that..." I had told Adams about what had happened at Fazbear's Fright as well – including using the virus to 'kill' Golden Freddy. He shook his head a little bit, knowing where I was going with that one.

"No chance. That bear is done – for good this time. And the Ringleader's dealt with as well. I sincerely doubt there'd be anything particularly nasty even left down there; it's probably just been serving as a storage area. I left it with the AI research guys; they're gonna set up a lab station and start looking into the place." He grinned a bit at me. "Who knows, maybe they'll find some more Fazbear endoskeletons and the AI backups that letter talked about."

I grinned and nodded at that. "That would be some great news. Finally put a cap on this whole mess..." I paused for a moment as I heard a knock at my door. Adams glanced at me, and I shrugged – I wasn't expecting any other visitors. "Come in." The door opened...

And in walked Frederick Faz himself, looking a bit more aged and somewhat worse for wear, but not too badly off. He smiled wearily at me as he entered. "Ah, Alex my boy..."

Adams was immediately on his feet, glaring at Faz. "Y'know, it would have been nice if you had told us more about what was going on instead of just vanishing off the face of the planet, you old coot." I winced a bit – Adams hadn't been too thrilled about Faz just wandering off.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I do apologize for that... As well as for not giving you much in the way of information before sending you off to deal with Candy's. You must believe me when I tell you I had no intention of putting you in that much danger, however with Alex out of play I needed to make sure things were prepared..." He slowly entered, and I motioned to a chair. "You see, there is one more problem – the one I originally went into hiding from."

I sat up, shaking my head a bit. "Not a chance, Faz. I killed Golden, and you sent Adams out to take out the Rat – they're both gone. The problem's over, Fazbear Entertainment is wrapped up."

Adams nodded as well. "By the time the courts get through with the last few dregs of what's left from all this, everyone that even had a remote connection to the nastier sides of Fazbear Entertainment will be locked up in a hole for good. There's nothing left."

Faz shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid there's one other person. You see, Golden Freddy was the original problem on the animatronic end, however I had long suspected that someone else had a hand in first destabilizing his AI towards murderous tendencies. I did not have any evidence of this until after the second encounter with them – the one where the band was exposed." Faz hunted around before pulling a file folder out. "You saw the RAT one, I'm sure – I had left that behind simply because I believed it to be in safe hands with you, Alex. You would trust me enough to not pursue it. However, there was another document that I took because I knew anyone that had it would be in grave danger."

I took the folder from him, opening it and beginning to look over it. It seemed to be a Fazbear Entertainment employee file. One for someone VERY high up the chain. "Faz, what's all this?"

"My worst fears realized, Alex. You see, back when I first took ownership of Fazbear Entertainment I had bought it from the original founder, who agreed to a very reasonable sum provided he was still allowed to remain high on the chain within the company. He had built it from the ground up, you see – he was decades ahead of his time on AI research and robotics construction. I didn't see this as an issue, so I agreed and after the deal was done I made him head of research and development." Faz sighed for a moment. "If only I'd known what he had in mind, truly... As time went on, he came up with much more elaborate designs – including what he called the 'Funtime' line. The original idea was to use them as for-hire entertainers to go to children's parties. It was a good idea and a smash hit... Until one day, a young girl went missing during a party." He shook his head. "Nobody ever knew what happened to her, and nobody ever found her again. Her younger brother was traumatized..."

I held up a hand, shaking my head a bit. "Don't tell me. The younger brother died a few years later in the Bite of 1987."

Faz's eyes widened, before slowly saddening. "So you finally remembered..." I nodded grimly.

Adams finally shook his head and held his hands up. "Wait, hang on a minute. What the heck are you on about, Alex?" I sighed and explained to him that during my coma I'd finally remembered the part of my childhood that had been blocked out. He shook his head again, putting his face into his hands. "Alex, buddy... This is getting messy and fast."

Faz spoke again. "It will get worse before it improves. I had always figured Fredbear had been tampered with somehow – the failsafes had been disabled, or something. But the more research I did, the more I realized the truth. Fredbear, our oldest and longest lasting animatronic, had been designed from the beginning to be capable of killing."

Things were finally sinking in, and I started looking through the file Faz had handed me even closer. "So wait. This guy, the founder and R&D head... He...?"

Faz nodded. "Correct. And the more I examined the animatronic's designs – something I had never truly bothered to do until then – the more I realized what was happening underneath me. I tried to shut him out; I shut down the 'Funtime' location, closed the doors at Fredbear's Family Diner, and later rebooted things at the new Freddy Fazbear's. The individual in question left shortly afterwards, and I assumed he had gone into hiding to try and avoid any further scrutiny... Until the Missing Children Incident, as we called it." He sighed once more. "Five children went missing from the new Freddy Fazbear's – the one where the 'Toy' animatronics had first been used, before the restaurant you dealt with. At the time we had two Fazbear's locations; one with the Toys, and one with the original band – the one you ended up working at."

The pieces were starting to fall together and I spoke up. "The Toy location closed down and everything there was put into storage, and then when night guards started dying at the other location everything started coming apart – that was roughly when I entered the picture. Correct?"

Faz nodded again. "Indeed. It was following that, and the new 'Toy' incident, that I re-opened the files regarding my former R&D head. That was when I first found out about the stolen animatronic that had led to legal issues between Fazbear Entertainment and Candy's Burgers and Fries... And where I found out that the Funtime location had still been receiving shipments of animatronic parts and materials. A few weeks later I got a package from an unknown source. It had Fredbear's original hat in it, as well as a copy of the diagrams for the 'Ringleader' marionette – the one we never were able to finish."

I nodded, understanding dawning on me. "You put two and two together, figured out that the R&D guy was back, and went underground because you thought he'd come after you. You warned me away from Candy's because you figured he'd leave me and the band alone..."

Adams piped in. "...And when Alex went into a coma you got in touch with me, told me about Candy's and the lead there, and this led us to this so-called 'sister location', which you're calling the Funtime location. Right?"

Faz smirked a bit. "You two are very clever indeed. Correct – I originally thought that without me in play, he would leave you all alone. However the fact that Golden Freddy managed to be revived once more – an action that could not have been done under his own power – and then proceeded to enact his revenge proved otherwise. I needed both of his 'hands' removed so I could return and attempt to plan against him."

I shook my head, raising a hand. "Wait, you've lost me. How are they his 'hands'? They're both sentient AI – they're not under anyone's direct control. Right?"

Faz shook his head. "Correct, they are not under direct control. However, even sentient AI can be... Manipulated. Anyone with access to their control processors can introduce subtle 'ideas' to them, gently nudging and guiding them to take specific actions. That was what he was doing – manipulating Golden Freddy in such a delicate way that he truly thought he was the one in charge and coming up with the ideas." He shook his head and sighed. "And with that in mind, his hideout is made even more menacing... You see, if he was simply somewhere 'underground', he would not have been able to directly manipulate Golden Freddy or the Ringleader. He had to have access to Fazbear Entertainment systems."

My eyes widened as I figured out where he was hiding, and Adams groaned out. "You've got to be kidding. The only place that means is..."

Faz nodded grimly. "The Funtime location. That's where he has been hiding for so long, manipulating everything in his own dire goals. My friends, I am afraid that this is not going to truly be over until he is found and brought to justice."

I sighed, shaking my head as I closed the folder up. "Faz... I'm still recovering. It'll take time for me to be back up and running, and even then I don't know if I'll ever be at 100% again." I paused for a moment, before glancing over the folder again. "Does this guy have a name?"

Adams looked at me before shaking his head. "Alex... You're not running this one alone, got it? I haven't nearly gotten myself killed repeatedly trying to save your bacon just to watch you rush into the lion's den when you've already had a near death experience or two."

I nodded, raising my fist for him to bump. "I wouldn't have anyone else backing me up on this one, old friend." He bumped my fist and I nodded. "Alright, Faz. It'll take me some time to get patched up but you're right. This has to stop. Who is this guy specifically, and what do we need to do?"

Faz nodded slightly. "His name is William Afton, and if he has had this much time to work then who knows what he has been able to do with the Funtime animatronics. I'll see what I can find of the place while you are recovering, Alex."

I sighed for a moment before laying back in my hospital bed again. "...How many times am I gonna have to wreck animatronics before this whole mess ends..."

Adams spoke up, glancing to Faz. "Listen, we're gonna go do some research. You've had a lot dropped on ya at once, buddy – get some rest." I nodded and the two of them left my room, letting me lay back and close my eyes...

"Alex..." That voice again. My eyes opened and I was surrounded in blackness, except for the beat-up, abused version of me, gesturing to a chair across from where he was sitting in the emptiness. "Yes, I'm still alive. Not like you can 'kill' an entire other part of yourself... Guess I realized that when I woke up after you blew my head off, heh." He chuckled darkly to himself and I could see a bullet hole shaped scar on his forehead as I hesitantly took a seat.

"Let me guess. You're wondering what I want. Well... Let me put it this way." He cracked his neck and smirked. "You're beat to a pulp and trying to patch yourself up. And unlike you, I feed off the pain. And by the sound of what your friends are telling you, there's gonna be a lot of pain in your future..." He grinned a bit. "I can help you deal with it. I can help you fight back. All you have to do... Is take the offer." He extended a hand.

I stared at it, not trusting him one bit as he glanced at me... Then sighed for a moment. "No tricks, Alex. No more trying to take over, none of that. You'll need a more aggressive side if you're going to fight at this point. I am that aggressive side. I promise, I won't come out to play unless you need me... After all, I know you can take me out anytime." He patted his scar again. "I'd rather get some playtime on your terms than none at all. Plus, being killed is a genuinely unpleasant experience – I don't want to deal with it again. So, what do you say? Partners?"

I knew I was going to regret this... But I took his hand and shook it. "Partners. On my terms."

He laughed softly in that malevolent way before nodding. "Deal. Now, go get some sleep... Wake me when you need me." With that, he – and everything else, faded into the dark as I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The last thing I thought before the lights went out was wondering how I'd gotten myself into this mess...

Yeah, Nightmare's not truly 'dead'. Figured he may come in handy for the finale.

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