a lil bit of writing just because
Three technicians stood in the elevator. One of them looked nervous - today was the first day of his new job - and the other two looked bored and like they wanted to go home. When the elevator stopped and opened, the three stepped out into the control room with two big windows on either side.
“So, it looks like Ballora had a bit of an accident today,” one of the veteran techs said as he scanned his clipboard. “New guy, you get to go through funtime auditorium and pick up a couple parts from parts and service; looks like we just need a replacement right arm and left foot, We can just work on her in her gallery since she’s there already.”
The other technician leaned in and said “That means you get to meet the funtime animatronics... I’d be quiet going through there if i were you, the last guy who went in there got his hand bitten off.”
“Bullshit,” The new tech said, looking through the window into the dimly lit - but not dark - room. He could see the two standing up on stage under the rainbow lights; one, a slender white and pink fox only an inch taller than himself, and the other a tall white and lilac bear with a blue rabbit puppet in place of his right hand. They appeared to be asleep, as most of the animatronics did when the lights were turned down for the night - Eyes hidden behind black eyelids, heads bowed, bodies slumped forward in a way that probably only barely maintained their balance. They didn’t look very threatening, but he’d seen pictures of them awake. He’d seen the sharp metal teeth inside their rounded plastic faces, how Funtime foxy’s plastic teeth still looked deadly, how Funtime Freddy’s mouth could open wide enough to fit a human head inside.
He didn’t want to mess with that.
The vent opened at the press of a button on the control panel for that side of the room. The new technician looked up through the window again. The animatronics inside hadn’t been stirred by the sound of the vent opening, by some miracle. He got to his knees and crawled through carefully, trying not to make a sound. As he poked his head out, however, he froze when he noticed something the window had obscured... The puppet on Funtime Freddy’s raised arm still had its eyes open. It was slumped forward like the others, head hanging down, but he could easily see its wide, staring eyes looking down at the floor...
He scooted back out the vent into the control room. The other two technicians had already gone into the ballora gallery, so he was alone. He heaved an anxious sigh...
And his heart skipped when he saw Funtime Freddy look up.
He could hear the bear’s high, sharp voice say quietly “What was that?” as he looked around. The puppet raised its head, looking around as well. “I thought I heard something,” Freddy said. The technician quickly ducked below the window, but he knew he had been spotted as the bear said “There! I think someone’s in the control room! Did you see that, Bon-bon?”
“I didn’t see anything,” the Bonnie hand puppet said, and the tech could hear the sound of it pivoting around on Freddy’s arm to look. He swore under his breath; he didn’t know the puppet was a separate animatronic. He crept toward the vent as quietly as he could... The puppet spoke again, saying cheerfully “I think it was just something settling! Let’s go back to sleep.”
“If you say so... I thought i saw something moving, though...” Freddy said. The tech peeked out around the corner of the vent and watched Freddy close his eyes and slump forward again. He waited a few moments, then he carefully crawled out of the vent, being careful not to make a sound. He got to his feet and tiptoed around the darkest edge of the room... He kept a close eye on the still machines, but as he crept around the side of the room, the puppet’s eyes suddenly turned to look at him.
He froze. He wasn’t sure how intelligent they were... maybe if he held still, it wouldn’t realize he was there. It lifted its head, looking directly at him, its expressionless face giving no indication as to how boned the technician was.
“You were right, Freddy, there WAS someone there!” It said loudly. Freddy looked up, and the technician panicked as those bright blue eyes locked on him. He tried to make a dash for the door to parts and service, but his foot caught on one of the cables hanging out of the wall haphazardly. He tripped and fell with such force that all he could hear was the buzzing of near-consciousness and all he could see was black...
As the tech’s vision began to return, he saw a huge, hulking shadow leaning over him, blocking out the light from the stage. he could feel a huge metal grip squeezing his chest, lifting him up off the ground. Slowly, he began to see that it was Freddy holding him up on his feet... the bear had a look of concern on his face that translated surprisingly well through plastic and metal. “That was quite a fall you had, friend!” Freddy said, “Are you okay?”
The technician looked past Freddy to see Funtime Foxy awake as well, a worried look on her face. “You’re... not going to bite me, are you?” The technician asked, disgruntled, although he already knew the answer. Freddy looked surprised; “Why would I do that? Biting people isn’t nice.” He said, and the puppet added “I don’t recognize him, he must be new! I bet someone tried to scare him like they did with the last one.” Freddy stared at the technician for a moment, then said loudly “Well, you can tell whoever told you that that there’s no room for a RUDIE JUDY in funtime auditorium!” He let go of the technician, who watched him walk back to the stage and get back in his place next to Foxy. The technician made it the rest of the way to parts and service with a lot less terror involved... As he walked back through, carrying Ballora’s parts, he looked back and saw the puppet wave at him. He waved back before crawling back through the vent into the control room...
He scowled at the veteran technician looking at him through the window. The other was laughing at him as the new guy came through the vent and shoved the mechanical arm into the prankster’s hands; “You’re an asshole, you know that?” the new technician said, “i probably got a concussion because of your little joke.”
“Don’t worry,” the veteran said, elbowing the guilty-looking prankster, “getting insulted by Freddy is punishment enough for anyone. You can call this guy Judy from now on!”
The new technician sighed. “Don’t you guys think it’s kinda... creepy how intelligent they sound?” He asked. “I mean, they sound like people.” One of the techs patted him on the back and said “You’ll get used to it. Let’s fix up Ballora so we can get out of here.”
