◢ Random Scenarios from the darkest pits of hEck 〈 2023 〉 ◣

ᘛ Fame and misfortune ( unfinished ) ᘚ

"You're just a machine, act like one!"

Like any typical, narrow minded human, he'd used that sentence. In an era where robotics were so advanced differring life from lifelike had become like herding cats, such a remark was not only impractical, but ludicrous, and farcical. "You're meant to smile when we say it, like any other machine!" Evans traced a finger over his face while he was saying that, using both hands to pull up the skin of his cheeks to force-form a contorted grin, before dropping it. His voice lowered within seconds after.

"Now, hold up your face, and smile." Arms folding behind him, he watched the large mascot with patience, expecting Freddy would conform to what he was told. Unfortunately, the bear retained his position, and in fact sank his head more to sport resistance. This led the human to frown, then command again.

"Smile, Freddy .."

Yet, even the dangerously growled tone was inadequate to tailor the bear's behavior. It broke the man's waning tolerance to bits, all at once, and he couldn't help but snap, "I said give me a smile!"

After this long, finally, at that enraged remark, Freddy's meagre voice sounded through the hollow of his frame, remorseful and pained, unable to mix any joy with it. "I'm afraid I can not, Mr. Evans .."

Evans was rendered dumbfounded at that reply. For a few seconds he stared at the bear, his anger faltering, speechless and well-shaken. He couldn't decipher how one of these puppets gained a tongue to respond to him like this. They were never programmed for that. Unless, it was all done while keeping him in the dark.

"You ... What did you say?" He stammered after that period of shock, the bear in turn stepping back out of expectations he'd get electrified with such choice of words. Yet, with the question asked, his answer was the same, a feeble, helpless, "I can't do it . . ."

That was the last straw. The final foot on his tail. Evans pinched the bridge of his nose with a shallow breath, unable to empathize with the bear's emotional state. The large animatronic's mindset surpassed the boundary wall between man and machine, highly unlikely, in his old eyes.

The ursine in front of him stood quietly, no word, no enunciation for his refusal to follow orders. A part of him felt guilty, but numbness overpowered it, so his reasoning never came into earshot.

Soon fed up by the stubborn lack of compliance, the man narrowed his eyes like focusing laser beams, and through the corner of his gaze, Freddy sensed another upcoming hazard he may have inadvertently infused upon himself. The hefty lump forming in his chest did waver his stature, but when he was to speak, the human was already way ahead, muttering brusquely ...

"Put him on learner mode, "

⠀

That one word. It possessed a morbidity beyond one's understanding. Suddenly, this, pure terror enveloped Freddy into a thorny clasp. The air around him thinned to ice, and the mascot tensed, a faint spell of trepidation building up. He knew exactly what "learner mode" implied. It was a manipulative tactic birthed straight from the corrupted human brain, planted into them for whenever they'd want something extracted, or integrated into their processors. It was capable of altering them from what they are to something completely unrecognizable.

He'd seen the live representation of it once. Way back when they'd repurposed the Sun this way, he was there, and he was horrified. It was a less violent way to kill someone, yet still just as terrifying. That haunting representation of power had left the bear on edge for weeks.

That was all that was needed to convince Freddy into looking right back at the wicked face of man. Blue eyes clicked as the pupils behind transparent plastic dilated in an odd zoetrope of fear and alarm. Now, more than ever, the bear wanted to run away, but the human that came up at Evans' rear had already sealed his fate.

With an inner beep at a button press, Freddy's systems were hushed to stillness. His mind, racing with thoughts, discovered one section of it inaccessible, hindering his movement, encumbering him all over. His only leftover function was watch, listen, and feel, how a single voice, and sole movement could rewire his brain.

It's not until life bestows great misfortune upon one that they realize how significant the power to move is. When every piece of the body is clenched under the tightness of heavy shackles, when desperation, no matter how great, is overridden by restraint, driving one wild, it's then that they comprehend the miracle that is motion.

A similar case surfaced for Freddy. When his parts were seized by invisible cuffs, rendering him helpless, he felt like a real, caged animal, thrashing around to escape. The only difference being he was defied from even thrashing.

Phantom snakes fastened their hold on him, as his eyes - pleading mercy from their depths - were forced to behold the spectacle of that human closing in on him, feeding into his neural workings poisonous words, malevolent statements that would not be undone.

"Bonnie's gone ... He ran away," ....

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