Left Behind

Chapter 14

Mike cursed everything in sight as he dragged the metal body across the parking lot.

He cursed the streetlamps for their flickering glow and the faults in the pavement that kept snagging the bot's slippered feet. He cursed the bot itself for being so damn human-shaped that he couldn't just drag it by the leg behind him like he wanted to,  lest he wanted to deal with the police. He even cursed Fritz for leaving him to investigate all on his own at the last minute to 'get more sleep before the job interview he had in the morning.' As if either of them needed something as overrated as a full night's rest by now.

The drive back to his apartment felt far longer than it should've and Mike caught himself watching the rearview mirror more often than he did the actual road itself. There was nothing in the back seat, he'd stuffed the robot into the trunk, unwilling to risk it waking while he was driving and sending them both flying into a ditch. This, of course, left him with the risk of being attacked when he parked again, but that was future Mike's problem.

What felt like hours later Mike was griping the taser in his hand tightly, staring down at the locked trunk in front of him as he regretted every choice he'd made leading up to this very moment. The trunk itself was deceptively silent, no strange sounds or movement to so much as hint that there was anything amiss inside of it. For a brief moment, Mike considered dragging Ennard out to help in case it was awake and decided to attack, but the idea was quickly scrapped. Carrying a limp figure from the trunk of his car in the middle of the night would be suspicious enough without a demonic clown to hover over them as well.

Sighing in acceptance, Mike tapped the trunk, waiting a good moment for a reaction and opening it when he got none. The bot was laying on its side in a fetal position, eyes dark and smile unnervingly wide. Mike slowly reached out, nudging it slightly with his eyes locked on its face... Nothing happened. "Did I break it?" he muttered to himself, grunting as he dragged it out by the upper half.

It was entirely possible that he'd fried a circuit board, the older models were more than capable of taking a few volts to the circuits but the latest models were evidently built more for the aesthetics than anything. Grunting, Mike kicked at his door, thanking whatever gods were left that he lived on the lower levels of his apartment complex. There was the quiet sound of scraping from inside the apartment but the door stayed shut. "Ennard, it's me." He called and the lock clicked. The door swung open and Mike cursed, dragging the bot in before Ennard could barge out into the open like a dog crowding the door.

"Eggs!" Ennard cheered, "You're back! did ya find any clues about that Party Park thing?" Ennard hovered over Mike as he walked into the house, his Clown mask unnervingly close to Mike's own face as he triple-locked the door behind them. "Pizzaplex." Mike corrected automatically, grunting as he dopped the extra weight onto the couch before shooting Ennard a particularly withered look at the question with an exaggerated gesture to the bot he just put down. "I was just making sure!" the clown huffed defensively.

"Sooo..." Ennard started again as Mike wandered into the kitchen, looking down at the wires on the ends of his fingers like he'd just gotten a manicure. "What is it?" 

Mike sighed, rooting through the cabinet beneath the sink for his toolbox only for it to be missing from its usual spot behind the bleach. "I'm not sure," Not behind the paint buckets either, "I think it could be from the Pizzaplex but with how many bots he made, it could just be another Ned Bear situation- Have you seen my tools?"

"I think Helpy took it!" Ennard called back, poking at the animatronic curiously. "Evan!" Mike yelled, turning to the hall only for the bear in question to already be behind him, holding out the toolbox as if it wasn't over half his size and five times his weight. "Thanks," Mike said as he collected the box, watching the smaller righten himself from the corner of his eye before following him into the living room.

"You found one?" Evan asked, scaling up one of the end tables to take a cautious peek at the newest inhabitant of their couch. "I think so," Mike sighed, setting the tools on the coffee table and grabbing his laptop from where it was charging on his armchair. "Does it look anything like what we researched?"

Evan made an unidentifiable sound, pulling the hoodie back with all the trepidation of someone putting their hand into a bear trap. There was a moment of brief silence as he studied its face before... "Yeah, I think- I think I've read a few posts about it." Mike nodded, a weight he didn't know he had lifting from his shoulders at the knowledge that it wasn't yet another dead end. "I think I might've damaged something, they don't usually stay inactive for this long unless something's wrong." He confessed and Evan turned to face him. "What if it's not possessed?" He questioned and Mike frowned, "Maybe not, but unless they gave Foxy one hell of a makeover, it's still somewhat aware, ran straight at me."

The room went silent, save for the sound of Michael rummaging through the box. He pulled out a pair of rusted scissors, slicing through the robot's hoodie in one swift motion. "This probably isn't important." He muttered to himself as he tossed the remains next to the toolbox. It was a gangly thing with thin limbs that almost reminded him of the marionette Charlie inhabited. One of its arms was tucked against its chest in what looked like a make-shift sling, casing crushed with frayed wires poking out from the metal. A handful or so of fading glowsticks were still clutched in its broken grip.

It looked to be modeled after the sun, little styrofoam rays poking out from behind its plating with what looked to be a crescent moon on the right side of its face. He turned it a bit and- Mike hummed, the back of its face plate was completely missing, wiring and circuitry exposed to the world. "What's that?" Evan spoke, pointing one of his pudgy white plastic fingers towards a red USB hanging precariously from a small box hidden behind the wiring. Carefully, Mike picked it out, turning it in his hand carefully and studying the tiny Sun printed on its side. "I'm not sure..." He glanced to his laptop, "but why don't we find out?"

Notes:
Sorry for missing last weeks chapter, between my complete lack of sense of time and my computer deciding it's screen looked better outside of it's casing it's been a little hectic.

Ok so that might be a bit of an exaggeration, only a corner of the screen popped out but a part of the hinge broke out of place which means I can't close it or else that little piece might shatter that entire half of the screen. Pretty bad I know, unfortunatly I can't get it fixed right away but I'll still be updating while I try and get it fixed. That being said I'm not sure if I'll be able to make up for the missed chapter, I'll still try my best to though!

Cre, over and out!