Fritz Smith
Fritz was utterly exhausted, having spent the entire night (and then some) poking and prodding at his soul and developing a migraine that he could only describe as reminiscent of being shoved into a Freddy head. Too bad robots couldn’t use Advil, or else he would have greedily swallowed an entire bottle, consequences be damned – he was already dead, after all.
Jeremy had already left, the mechanic promising to drive them later that night. He scoffed – tonight would suck for everyone involved. Poor Jeremy had to spend all day at Freddy’s, then immediately return for their nighttime expedition. Fritz was no better off, a pit forming in his stomach at the thought of being so close to where he met his demise. Even the night guard on shift would have no reprieve – it was Friday night, when the animatronics were the most active (or so he heard, seeing as he only made it to Thursday), and he felt sorry for adding a new animatronic into the mix. At least Fritz wouldn’t be trying to murder the guard, but they couldn’t possible know that.
If they didn’t do this though, he reasoned, things would be much worse. He still didn’t quite believe Bon-Bon was telling the truth, but he couldn’t bear the thought that his distrust would lead to children dying. No, they had to track him down. And, as a small voice in his head recalled, he’d go crazy with boredom if he just did nothing.
Fritz knew he should keep experimenting with his soul, but he wanted to be in good shape when they investigated the establishment… and, he felt completely drained by last night’s excursion. Instead, he lazed around until Jeremy arrived, reading and watching the TV, the boredom strong but not yet powerful enough to push him back into experimenting with his soul.
……
Jeremy Fitzgerald
Jeremy was driving home, his day at work somehow leaving him excited to scout out the pizzeria with Fritz later that night. It had only been around a month since Foxy was repaired and deemed performance-ready, and yet some crafty teenager had already managed to sharpen Foxy’s normally-blunt hook to a needle’s point. It was a wonder the poor kid that discovered it left the building with a deep scrape and not a puncture wound.
He let out a sigh, remembering how the latter half of his shift was spent repairing the hook and dealing with Foxy. Why they couldn’t make the damn thing out of plastic was beyond him, but in the end, Foxy’s hook was good as new, if slightly shorter.
Eventually, Jeremy arrived home, a muffled laugh escaping from him as his gazed landed on the pink animatronic fox spread out on his couch, too engrossed in some sort of cartoon to notice Jeremy’s arrival.
He took his coat off and made his way to the couch. They had some time to kill before their expedition, and loathe as he was to admit it, Jeremy was dying to learn more about the insanity surrounding everything that kept Fritz alive against everything he considered rational. Maybe it was simple curiosity, or the thought of what he could make, but he was ravenous for knowledge in a way that he hadn’t been for a long time.
As he got close, Fritz finally noticed him, his ears perking up as he waved Jeremy over.
“Any luck figuring out this bullshit?” Jeremy asked, gesturing to Fritz.
“Not really. Well…” Fritz paused, thinking back to the previous night. “Sort of.”
He recounted his painful experiments to Jeremy, explaining the strangeness of his animatronic-bound soul. The mechanic listened with rapt attention that slowly devolved into confusion as Fritz’s tail progressed. Eventually he summarized his conversation with Bon-Bon which left Jeremy confused and more than a bit curious.
“Have you tried it? ‘Blending in’, I mean.” Jeremy asked, suddenly much more invested as the possibilities began to form in his mind.
“Well… not quite.” Fritz admitted. “I haven’t actually done anything since then. I wanted to, but I was so tire-”
“Well go on then!” Jeremy interrupted. “Don’t back out now – give it a shot!”
Fritz looked at him funny but complied nonetheless, hauling himself off the couch and closing his eyes, apparently turning his focus to his soul. Together, they tried different ideas, bouncing ideas off of one another. Fritz did his best to avoid anything painful, but an hour of experimentation still left him with a dull headache – nothing compared to the previous night, however. To the glee of both animatronic and human, they had the occasional breakthrough – mostly Jeremy seeing and hearing brief flashes and echos – but nothing useful came of the experimentation. Despite that, the duo were content – the mere fact that Fritz could mess with Jeremy’s senses was reason enough to keep experimenting. Eventually though, 12AM rolled around, and they set off to investigate the pizzeria.
Even though he wasn’t playing dead this time, there was only so much space in Jeremy’s truck, so Fritz would still have to ride in the bed. Like last time, Jeremy covered Fritz in a tarp to hide him from curious onlookers. He also opened one of the windows behind the cabin, which, to his amusement, Fritz shoved his snout through so they could communicate. With that, they were off.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“So, how has Freddy’s been since I… lost my job?” Fritz asked.
“Shit as always.” Jeremy said, smirking. “You’ll be happy to know that Foxy’s back, even though that just means more work for me. Did I tell you about the kid that got stabbed?”
Their conversation continued onward, Fritz reminiscing about his time as a guard and Fritz explaining the intricacies of animatronic repair (something that Fritz was very grateful for Jeremy’s knowledge on). Eventually, their conversation veered into the plan for when they arrived.
“I reckon we just scope the place out. Peer through the windows and see if the animatronics are crazier than usual.” Jeremy suggested. “I brought a pair of Walkie-Talkies with us, so we can stay in touch once we arrive. I can stay in the car, just in case we need to get the fuck outta there.”
“That sounds fine. Just peering in. I really hope I don’t cree-” Fritz responded, cutting out suddenly.
“What’d you say, Fritz?” Jeremy asked, taking a brief glance back at the animatronic. The fox’s eyes started into empty space, hollow and unmoving.
“Shit!”
Fritz began to pull off to the side of the road, but stopped when he heard a familiar high-pitched voice.
“Where’d the night guard go?”
“Fuck if I know! I never thought he was narcoleptic, but didn’t he fall asleep a few days ago?” Jeremy asked. “Speaking of which, don’t get any ideas now that Fritz can’t reign you in.”
“Nope, this isn’t like last time! I don’t feel him here anymore. And don’t you worry, I don’t mind spectating – I’m not up to anything, promise!”
“Wha- you don’t feel him anymore?” He asked, a shred of panic filling his voice. “That asshole better not be dead!”
“I guess there’s nothing to do but keep driving and hope for the best,” he sighed. “By the way, Bon, you really don’t care about being stuck in Fritz? Your chip can always be moved over to a different animatronic.”
“That’s how it’s always been for me; it’d be silly to change it. Besides, is there really a difference?”
“Huh?”
“I see the same things as the night guard, I hear every conversation he has and feel his responses coming out of my mouth. Sometimes, I can’t tell which one of us is at the wheel. Would it really make a difference if I was in control?”
Jeremy paused, considering Bon-Bon’s words. “Of course there’s a difference. You’re talking to me, aren’t you? But maybe that difference is so small that it’s hard to really notice.”
“Maybe,” Bon-Bon agreed. “I guess that’s a bit silly of me, but it’s fun watching this story unfold before my eyes.”
They continued the car ride in silence, both silently praying for Fritz’s return. Jeremy became more tense as their destination got closer, each passing moment without Fritz seemed like evidence that he was gone for good. As the building came into view, his worries were interrupted by a sound from behind him.
“-p that night guard out too much. What the hell?”
“Finally awake, huh?” Jeremy asked, relieved that his friend had returned.
“What’s going on, Jeremy? We’re here already? How is that possible, we were still at th-”
“Relax, Fritz. You just passed out. Gave us quite a scare, but it looks like we all made it in one piece.”
“I… passed out? How’d that happen? It was like I was there one moment and here the next.”
“Who knows! Maybe your soul wiring’s faulty. We’re here now, and we need to get exploring!” Jeremy exclaimed, already half-way out of the truck. He helped Fritz out of the tarp, then tossed him a Walkie-Talkie, which Fritz quickly shoved inside his chest cavity.
“I’ll stay in the truck. If he’s here, run back. I don’t really think we’re prepared to deal with him, and the less he knows about us, the better.”
“Alright. Just one sweep around the building and a bit of peering through the windows, and I’ll be right back!”
……
Fritz Smith
Fritz set off towards the pizzeria, the neon lights making it feel like a refuge that he knew it wasn’t against the cold night. He walked through the parking lot and around the sides of the building, occasionally pressing his face against the windows – a feat made much more difficult by his snout. There was movement, but it was just the expected wandering animatronics. Fritz shuddered, pitying the night guard who was probably fending for their life at the present moment. He wondered if he should help them, but figured that his presence would only make things worse.
He reached the back of the building and quickly breezed past it, since there were no windows or other places worth spying on. The other side was similarly uneventful, and he only caught the briefest traces of movement. Returning to the front of the pizzeria, he was left with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was relieved that he didn’t have to confront William (or the animatronics controlling him), but if William wasn’t here, he had no idea where else to look. Suddenly, he heard the glass farthest away from him shatter and watched in a mix of horror and amusement as a wooden baby chair careened through the window and out into the parking lot. After taking a moment to compose himself, Fritz jumped into action.
Quickly, he took out the Walkie-Talkie and hoped Jeremy could hear him.
“Uh, something pretty bad’s happening. I’m going in to check it out.”
“What? Fritz, I don’t think I can put into words how fucking awful that idea is. Get back here, right now!”
Fritz promptly ignored Jeremy’s protests, rushing into the building through the now-accessible window. He didn’t know what he’d face on the other side, but he was prepared for anything, and quite a bit tougher than he was last time he was here.
……
Notes
I’m really excited to write the next chapter! Sorry for the cliffhanger, it should be out tomorrow (depends on how hard I grind; just so you know, more comments = harder grind).
In other news, did you know that I planned the last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter all to be a single (2000 word) chapter? Funny how that works.