It was almost time to for Harry to meet Abel at his office to go over the situation and new possible plans for the company, moving forward from this day, especially with the new order having been enacted. Harry himself was at his own office, finishing up some work that he himself had been doing with names for the database and other work that he had on the side before those tasks were made so urgent.
Typically, this meeting he was going to have would be with the other three in management over at their usual meeting room, just like how they did yesterday when he brought them together to inform of them of the FBI's final warning. There were also many other times as well, but not this time since they all were so busy.
It was unfortunate that this was the case because it meant that Harry wasn't accompanied by anyone else, just him and Abel. And there wasn't much of an issue with it either than of course, him not liking Abel at all. 14 years of working with him has not changed his view of his boss at all, and he could never ever see it changing, not even if he was forced to. And that doesn't include the time where he worked with Abel as a phone-head-less guy, because he couldn't remember a single thing about those times.
"That feeling is mutual, just is everyone's own. Though, I don't think it's to the level he had for Joe..." Harry stared blankly at the screen of his monitor and it faded to black, finally turning off.
Harry was silent for a while, and he stared at his vague reflection through the monitor, thinking about his situation. And the company's situation. It made him go think to the early days that he could remember, at least. Back when the other three managers were still with him, with them, the company.
Harry opened one of the drawers at his desk and took out a photo, an old-looking one. A group photo that featured five Phone Guys... The original five managers. Its colors were faded and the photo's shape could be better, but it was good for what it was. Understandable since it was taken in 1973. In the picture, starting from the left was Joe, Terrence, Abel being in the middle, and then lastly, Everett and Harry.
With his eyeless phone-head, focusing on the other three that he worked with. Joe, Terrence and Everett. All of them..
Gone. It hurt to just think and talk about, and that was no exaggeration. Though it couldn't compare to the pain he felt to talk about the original Scott.
He wasn't alone in this, as nearly every employee that had been as far back as Harry has did feel this way. And that even did include Abel...from what he was told by Joe and the others before they died in their own ways. Even now, despite understanding why anyone would be depressed to hear about the original Scott's death, it was still shocking to know that Abel himself would be sad about it.
And it's probably the only time, he ever could hear that Abel would show some kind of sympathetic human emotion instead of just being a bastard of a boss. Though, in the present, he never had seen it, only heard, and any memory of it prior to the phone-ification process was all gone.
But. It did add up, in a way, that Abel did care for Scott's passing, although his actions onward will overshadow what he did. Always had and always will.
Probably, even if he were to somehow die, he'd leave some kind of legacy.
From what Harry was told, and how the chain goes, Abel was the second oldest of the group and the one that worked with the original Scott the closest. He was followed by Joe, Terrence, Everett and then Harry himself, who was the youngest and last one to join.
So...after...Scott died, Abel had naturally taken over his position as company boss. As with the rest of the managers, he felt it was tragic that Scott could die so soon, or at all, and so he led the project to bring him back.
And it all started with Abel deciding to buy Afton Robotics, which was this, Fazbender HQ. Except at the time in 1973, it was just a small workshop but it later grew as the years went by. After Afton Robotics was bought, Abel later had the Phone Guy creation machine, dubbed the 'Scott Memorial Machine' be built which would bring Scott Cawthon back, and as a Phone Guy, nonetheless.
It worked... It worked. But Scott later was put out of his misery since he suffered as a Phone Guy. He was in pain, and everyone, including the customers could see it. Technology wasn't that great back then, after all.
"And from there, it all went down hill..." let out Harry, with a sigh, "...Scott wouldn't have wanted this..."
There was something ironic about this. Out of the original five managers... Despite Abel looking like he was the second model, he was the last of them to become a Phone Guy...
Joe was the second. Next was Terrrence. Then Everett. And then Harry himself. That was the true order.
Abel was the only one to not have gone through a failure in a springlock suit. Was the only one to not have his head shoved into a Phone. Was the only phone-head-less manager of the group.
And that was because simply figured that he will just never wear one since he knew what would happen in the event the suit he wears malfunctions. And so he gave that job to the others so he wouldn't have to do it himself.
So, how did he end up with the candlestick-phone that he has to this day? By force, of course since he never wore a suit in the first place... By none other than the hands of Joe, who had the help of Terrence and Everett...
Abel intentionally ignoring his duty of ever having to wear the suits and also letting his fellow managers die in it was a part of it. So was him being a bastard-boss since the day he took over as head of Freddy's.
But the final straw for Joe and the others was when Abel reworked the Phone Guy AI for Harry after his failure, changing it from the Generation 0 that the original Scott, Joe, Terrence and Everett had been produced with, to Generation 1...
The AI where the Phone Guy's past memories and life are wiped away and cleaned, and replaced with memories that the company wanted him to remember. This all enraged the other managers, especially Joe, who took it the hardest.
Memories about Harry's old life, his family and anything else before... All of it. It was all gone. No one else in the group wanted justice for happened to Harry other than Joe. And he made sure to show it.
"...I still remember that day when they told me what happened..." muttered Harry.
With what he was told, with the details and having been around HQ more than enough times, Harry could imagine the scenario.
* * *
It was almost time...
Almost time for Abel to arrive to the Factory, Fazbender HQ. It was early in the morning, before any of the other employees were to arrive.
Joe, Terrence and Everett were in hiding inside the Factory, at the main entrance with them having their own phone-heads since they all had their own failures. Meanwhile, Harry was doing his job as a manager at his location.
Joe himself was leaning against the wall on the left side of the entrance while the other two were on the side straight, across from him. He felt like this plan wouldn't exactly work even though he was the one to come up with it in the first place. And it was all due in part if Abel was really go there.
After all, it was so early, and it was Joe himself that called their boss there, and they both had a mutual dislike of each other.
"...You're sure he'll be here?" Joe asks, facing his fellow two other Phone managers.
Would Abel perhaps figure something is up? thought Joe, even if he did want this to work, because he wanted—
No...
He needed it to work. To have justice served. To have Abel get what he deserves, to have him reap what he sowed...
Again, even with those thoughts in mind, he wasn't full on with it believing it'll happen, but he'll try anyway. Joe was a cynic, and he couldn't help it. It's why he thought this way. Being a Phone Guy only made it worse.
"Yeah, don't worry, it will, I assure you. And we'll get it in for Harry, okay?" articulated Terrence, giving him a thumbs-up.
"...Haha..." Joe laughed at his words, "Alright, alright, I'll try and believe in this just a bit more..."
Not because he didn't believe him and his words but because he was able to say those words with a seeming smile, or if not that since he had a phone-head (which means no face), but then because he said it all cheerfully. Terrence was the opposite of Joe in that he was an optimist, something he was before and somehow even after becoming a Phone Guy. None of the original managers could ever understand, but were nonetheless, still okay with it.
"...Yes, that's right...We must...do this..." added Everett, lastly, his voice and demeanor of it all suggesting he was hesitant about this.
That is because that is the case. Everett was on board on this plan on enacting revenge against Abel, but he was the most hesitant one here to do it, the least vocal about it. Everett was a kind soul, after all, perhaps too kind for a job like this. He definitely wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for Terrence and Joe because he wouldn't be able to do it himself.
"Everett," Terrence turn to the stiffest phone out of them all, "Don't worry about Abel and this being cruel. Look at what he had done to us. You and Harry."
Joe spoke nex, "He's right. If anything, Abel's the last person in Freddy's that we should ever feel sorry for. He deserves this."
"...You're right..." Everett nods and he touched his own phone-head, "This is something we have to do..."
A few minutes later pass and a the sound of a car pulling over could be heard outside, although barely. If the Factory's machinery was on then they wouldn't be able to hear a thing. They weren't even sure if this was Abel, but they were going to prepare, anyway.
Footsteps came and so did the opening of the Factory door. They made sure the figure entering was Abel, and it was. When he came in, he passed through without seeing them, and that's when the three made their move.
"Got you!" Terrence shouted out first as he got a hold of his left arm, his grasp secure as he could make it.
"...!" Everett wordlessly also made his move and grabbed Abel's right arm just after Terrence.
"Y-You two?! What are you doing?!" he looked at them in question, not really trying to escape from their grasp. He seemingly just wanted to know what was going on first.
And he'll find out soon, enough. thought Joe, as he went over in front of him.
"'Morning, sir," Joe greeted him, mockingly.
"Joe...? Joe...what is the meaning of this?"
"You'll know once we're there. Let's go, boys."
Joe lead the way while Terrence and Everett forcefully dragged him to his destination and it wasn't until Abel realized where it was they were taking him that he started to put up a fight. But by then, it was too late.
Inside the room where the Scott Memorial Machine was kept was where they took him. Once in, Joe closed the door and went straight to Abel, standing in front of him, staring him in the face.
"Here we are, Abel. The place where you made us into these Phone machines, and it's about time you pay your own dues. We know you won't ever put on a suit, so we'll just to take matters into our own hands."
"...You three... Release me right now!" Abel ordered, but none of them listened or budged.
"We will, just after you join us. All of us company veterans have become Phone Guys so now it's your turn. It's time for you get your head shoved into a phone."
"...You can't do this, Joe."
Joe doesn't respond to that and brandished the phone that he wanted to use for Abel. It was the skinniest, smallest,and oldest model right next to their company founder's own; a candlestick rotary phone.
"I picked this one out myself and put a lot of thought into it. Hope you like it, because it'll be your new head for the rest of your life."
Abel winced and tried to back himself away, but of course, he could not. None of them were gonna make him get away from this.
"Oh no, my skull... My skull won't fit inside that. It's too thin—"
"Don't you worry, Abel," Joe interrupted him and went to the door of the room to lock it before returning where he just was, "We'll make it fit."
* * *
"And the rest is history..." Harry said under his breath, finishing that thought.
While it was indeed a horrible fate for Abel, Harry didn't feel had for him at all. He had it coming for what he did, after all. But... He always did feel bad for Joe. After all, the moments they had together, whether it be his first day on the job to the other moments while working on the job - it was all gone.
Joe could do nothing but try to remind Harry of how he was like. How they were all like. It couldn't live up to Harry actually remembering, and it never could, but it was the most Joe could do. They all knew it. And that was exactly why Harry felt bad for Joe.
The last thing was that Harry doesn't doubt a single word of it. He believed everything he said. But despite that... He didn't feel cheated. Because Harry had no memories of his past life, only what he had been told. So as a result, he was unable to know what Abel has truly taken away from him.
It was almost a silver-lining... If Harry was to have awareness like Joe and the others did, have memories of his life, then he surely would have a different view. Something more like Joe...
But I didn't...remember. I couldn't remember.
And it was because of that, that Harry didn't suffer as much as Joe did. The only suffering he would exactly have is having to deal with the pain Joe, Terrence and Everett had with him being unable to remember...
And until now, he hasn't forgotten any of the moments he had with them after becoming a Phone Guy. It's all crsytal clear. And it's also something that has been kept to himself. The amount of details he knew...
He never spoke of it to anyone. Not even Scottie. The only people that know it is him, Joe, Terrence, Everett and Abel. And he had no plans of ever telling the tale for the next few decades...
"If we even last that long, that is..." Harry said and placed the photo back in his desk drawer.
Time for the meeting was even closer than it was, so he got out of his chair and prepped himself to meet Abel. You would think that going to an meeting with negative thoughts such as this would be a bad start to it all... Which it was. But Harry had dealt with worse situations, and this wasn't the first.
Harry often has thoughts like this and has since the 70's, and he couldn't help it given what kind of person Abel was, and what he had done. He was nothing like his boss, the original Scott Cawthon, in fact the complete opposite. But even then, even if Harry wanted to do something, he couldn't. And it had been this way ever since...
"For better or worse..."