»Of Godhuman Nature« [Five Nights At Freddy's]

Chapter VIII - The Chaos Path

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A collection of particles held together
by the force of a soul and its memory;
Fear tangled with despair, this ghastly symphony of malice
Oh well, the maddening laughter growing louder with memories now
Atoms like incense rising...

[Arcturus - The Chaos Path]

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Paralyzed with both, terror & awe, Lily stood in front of the workbench, witnessing the bizarre spectacle that was Mangle's awakening. High-pitched clicking noises & the unsettling sound of metal grinding against metal filled the cold air inside the room as the animatronic slowly adjusted itself, both heads with one eye each now pointing in Lily's direction & starring daggers at her. If it hadn't been for William Afton standing right behind her, the horrified woman would've already backed away several steps; right now he was the only calming force, keeping her from taking to her very heel's.

Eventually, when Mangle stood fully erect, all its movements died off entirely, & the room went dead silent. Not wanting to fall victim to a false sense of security Lily exhaled, her eyes glued to the animatronic's head the entire time as though fearing it would choose to attack her in a moment of inadvertence. Part of her prayed that she could still trust William Afton enough to protect her & keep her out of harms way, but considering the absurdity this evening bestowed upon her she refused to rely on anything, at least until she managed to exit the situation safe & sound...

" Isn't she stunning? ", Mr. Afton whispered from right behind her, delivering a weak squeeze to her tensed up shoulders. " First she was nothing more than a vessel too, a robotic shell with vacant, lifeless eyes... Now, she harbors my passed wife's beautiful soul. Her very essence. That which will never die... "

Lily took a deep breath, only now noticing how much her chest was trembling; it quivered as the air flooded her lungs. " This... this isn't real, right?? She is moving because her motors are attached to a power source, aren't they? She... she can't possibly---"

" There is no power source in this room except for the one that feeds the lights, " he said, a smile in his voice, " I never connected her to a power source to ensure that, should I one day succeed in capturing her soul, there'd be no room for any doubts. Nothing terrified me more than the idea of being fooled by my own creation...so I had to erase that opportunity before it could even see the light of day. "

All of a sudden Mangle started moving again, this time using her strangely shaped limbs to slowly but surely crawl across the workbench towards her & Afton, as fast as her distorted body allowed it. In an instant, Lily's flight response kicked in, sending a surge of adrenaline through her system that compelled her to step back in place, straight into Afton's chest. His grip on her shoulders tightened, much to her dismay, & although nothing about it seemed forceful she felt threatened... Not by Afton. Not by the slowly approaching Mangle.
She felt threatened by her very own, long forgotten memory; once deeply cherished, then dreaded, abandoned out of fear & left to rot in the darkest corners of her mind, never to be remembered again.

Until now.

" I'm sorry, Mr. Afton... I have to go! " Feeling no resistance in his otherwise strong grasp Lily broke free, feeling little to no desire to get another look at the animatronic whose screeching limbs & clattering jaws conjured a cacophony unlike any other right behind her, only further motivating her to get out. She felt Afton's eyes on her but did not meet them, her terror outweighing her curiosity - &, to some extent, her compassion towards him as well.