Spend the Night: Prologue
~Coauthored by @zeitghest~
Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach
Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…
Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.
With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected.
Rating: T
Read on Ao3.
A new chapter, it is taking shape Under shadows with the ghost parade
Spend the night at the Pizzaplex And survive all the murderous tech Run and hide, stay a step ahead Or you might end up fallin' dead
~Spend the Night by Tryhardninja~
Tonight, the melodious music box felt far away from its usual home. Within the confines of the Daycare, inside the ball pit the gentle sound of Grandfather’s Clock grew in volume. Hidden beneath the colorful plastic river was someone who really wished they could go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, despite everyone's efforts it simply wasn't enough to keep him away. William Afton had returned for one inexplicable reason or another, and thus disturbed her and so many other spirits in the process. So, hidden from view in yet another new Fazbear Entertainment Franchise, she kept herself calm and watchful—just like always.
The Puppet was stuck inside the Daycare tonight, and judging by the plaintive wails of Foxy the Pirate's replacement things were not all they seemed to be.
***
Freddy was currently wandering the Pizzaplex, looking for... something. Technically he was supposed to be on lockdown, and while he was normally a stickler for following the rules, tonight was a rare exception. He could hear his animatronic bandmates roaming around, clearly not respecting their instructions to stay put after hours either, though from sound alone Freddy could tell they were different—and not in a good way. Their growls and mutterings seemed much more aggressive than normal for their pre-programmed personalities, even for Roxy and Monty.
So here Freddy was, following the odd, looping music in hopes that maybe it would lead him to a clue as to what in the world was going on...
When the heavy mechanical stomping could be heard just on the other side of the room, Puppet peaked her stained, greying face from the spectrum of scattered colors. Looking onward at the curious bear, she decided it was best to duck back down inside the pit. Even though she attempted to discreetly slither under the balls, they popped and clicked together. Along with the fading of the music as the key in her back wound down, it hadn't been the most nonchalant way to sneak by without notice.
Charlie had come too far to be stopped by one of Afton's creations, though. Without souls trapped inside them they weren’t aware like the others, so she continued on her way. It wasn't until she got a weak, limp hand finally wrapped around the lip of the slide that she noticed the sound of heavy feet even closer than before.
At first, Freddy thought it was Sun crawling through the ball pit. The lanky animatronic was the only one who might be able to fully slip underneath the colorful surface, although why the attendant would be slinking around inside there of all places was beyond Freddy's understanding. However, when he caught sight of the slim hand wrapped around a play structure, he knew this was not Sun—the color palate was completely wrong.
He stopped, head tilted slightly as he locked onto the figure. If it wasn't the daycare attendant, then... who was it?
Tentatively, Freddy called out. “Hello?”
With quick reflexes, the appendage was snatched below the surface. Limbs that moved too fast to ever be a child—and limbs far too long, for that matter—clearly indicated this intruder wasn't human. There was a racket of clattering plastic as the mysterious creature scurried under the over-saturated cover of fun.
She wasn't that fast, the full use of her limbs having been lost long ago. Now dragging two broken legs behind her, the Puppet stayed calm—she’d been through worse things than one animatronic trying to stick their nose into her business. Though as she accidentally got turned around and bumped back into the padded side of a rainbow bridge, she realized the robot was standing just above her and gave up trying to flee with a little huff.
Charlie took a second to see that she’d been dealing with a Freddy. Off the bat he seemed more distressed than her, with a face so full of expression it was hard to tell that this iteration of the bear wasn't flesh and blood. It was disconcerting, to say the least. She didn't know what to say, so after a moment the Puppet admitted softly:
“I'm lost...”
Now, this black and white jester looked strangely familiar to the Glamrock bear. There was no doubt it was an animatronic of course, though certainly one that Freddy had never seen in the Pizzaplex before. Still, there was something about it that tugged at his memory banks...
He blinked rapidly, pulling up what limited data he had on retired animatronics—this information was only added in case guests referenced past Fazbear Entertainment creations, though the Glamrocks didn't have much working knowledge of what their old iterations were like. After reaching further and further back, Freddy was able to conjure up an image that looked relatively close to the creature in front of him, labeled as simply: “The Marionette (alt. Puppet).”
Focusing on the present, Freddy crouched and put on his best reassuring smile. “Ah, I recognize you from the information in my databanks—you are from the original animatronic line! Forgive my hesitation; I did not think there were any previous variations at the Pizzaplex... But you say you are lost? Where are you trying to go?”
The answer wasn't so much of a destination—more like an idea. Charlie wanted to find rest, though it seemed like William would never let her or the others sleep. It meant those she vowed to place under her protection were all put at risk again, and it was her job to do something about it.
This Freddy was different, Charlie noticed. More present than all the others she’d interacted with before. She didn’t feel the need to scan for a soul—it was clear his friendliness was nothing more than programming. No child would talk with such formality, especially a pissed-off dead one.
Slinking towards the edge of the pit and gently pulling herself up, Puppet was able to show Freddy the mangled second half of her body. Exposed wires that disconnected her legs and sooty burns ruined her lower portions, revealing that even if she wanted to move fast, she’d have a hell of a time doing so.
“Parts & Service. The halls are too confusing...,” Charlie admitted, giving him a realistic answer. With no map-memory in her head of this new place, it was hard to navigate halls even for Henry's first, more successful AI system to process.
Freddy wasn't disturbed by the sight of the mangled animatronic—at least, he shouldn't have been. He'd seen robots like himself in various states of disrepair throughout his time at the Pizzaplex. True, he'd never seen one as distressed as the Puppet, but it shouldn't have been that unnerving.
Yet... something in him startled at the sight. It was both familiar and sad, and honestly it made Freddy quite confused. However, he managed to chase away this feeling quickly with a shake of his head, instead holding out a hand to help the damaged robot onto more solid ground.
“I can certainly bring you to Parts & Service, if you would like,” he told her with as gentle a smile his metallic face could offer.
He was friendly. Most Freddy’s that Charlie had interacted with were inhabited by good kids. Damaged and messed up from the years, but good kids. While Charlie didn’t recognize anything resembling life within the lovable mascot from the outset, she was relieved to be helped out by one that didn’t happen to have psychotic tendencies either.
“Please,” she intoned, quick to wrap her dirtied arms around Freddy’s hand. The Puppet clung to him with a voice unable to keep the mild tremble at bay, sounding less like a scripted robot and far too human. “I… don’t know how long I’ve been like this.”
“It will be alright,” Freddy reassured automatically, allowing his new, lanky companion to cling as much as she wished.
This one was definitely… strange. He expected his Glamrock counterparts—and this included any other animatronic currently in the Pizzaplex that he knew of—to present the façade of emotion comparable to a human’s. Their AIs were the most advanced in the business, and it was often hard to believe that they were in fact just robots underneath. But the older models shouldn’t have this capability to sound so real—let alone so scared.
“We will get you all fixed up in no time,” Freddy added, pulling the Marionette up. It was clear the animatronic’s lower half was struggling, so he gave the robot a quick scan—yes, those legs were definitely busted more than could be seen outright. “My health scan indicates damage to you lower half that might be aggravated by trying to walk. Is it alright if I carry you?”
He was so kind, this Freddy—not yet ruined by the blight Afton released upon the franchise. Charlie’s arms intricately wrapped around the bear’s, coiling tightly to grip and hang on wherever he wished to take them.
“I should be fine like this,” she remarked, beginning to wonder if they even had her spare parts.
“Alright,” Freddy replied simply, not one for confrontation. If this was an injured human child, he’d have scooped them right up and taken them to the nearest first aid station without hesitation. But this was an animatronic, and it had its own AI and way of doing things. If it wanted to walk, then he would let it walk beside him—though he’d always be there for support, of course.
As they started towards the large wooden doors marking the exit of the daycare play area, Freddy looked around. He found it odd that Sun hadn’t come over to see what was happening, for the cheery animatronic usually jumped at the chance to spend time with friends. However, the attendant was currently nowhere to be seen, so Freddy refocused on the being clinging to his side.
“My records indicate that you are called ‘The Marionette’ or ‘Puppet.’ However, many of us have nicknames as well, so is there any particular way you would like me to address you?”
With Sun currently preoccupied by the mess that inexplicably appeared inside his room the last time Moon had taken hold, he’d currently be out of commission a little while. Charlie’s mask twisted towards Freddy as she listened to his question.
Wouldn’t it be nice not to be called something so off-putting for a change? Bashfully, she wished to be known as—
“Charlie. Call me Charlie, please.”
***
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