10/31/23 (Y/n)'s story of the mishap involving Michael has been heavily edited.
11/08/23 edited once again to prepare to post it to Ao3
~~~
"You know, if you'd—I don't know—ease up on the glitter glue, I wouldn't constantly have to unhook your arm and finger joints to remove the glue causing these jams." I deadpan as Sundrop holds his hands out to me, already knowing why the joints were stiff and unmoving.
"Aw! Mr./Ms. (Y/n)! You know that's a no-can-do! The kids love using the glitter glue! So it stays!" He jerks his hands away from my hold before I can even begin my work. He crosses his arms and lets out a small 'Hmph'.
"Fine! It stays! Only for the kids, though! Don't go getting the idea. I like cleaning the glue from your joints, though." I snicker as I make quick work of taking apart his joints and cleaning them.
Sundrop was one of the more down-to-earth animatronics. Yes, he was loud at times, but that was just his programming. His job is to deal with children. You gotta be loud most of the time just to get their attention.
Now about his counterpart, Moondrop... I personally have nothing against him. He's not bad during his repairs and diagnostics, but according to Vanessa, he loves to get feral when it comes to her and Mike.
Vanessa... She is, well was sweet, but lately she's been kind of off. Twitching, muttering to herself, and paranoid about everything. She's not herself. It's almost as if she's hearing things. Things I can't hear.
Mike... The man was very closed-off when I first met him. His face was covered with a mask, and his head always tipped down just enough to were the bill of his hat covered his eyes. After awhile, though, I managed to get him to warm up to me. Especially after I ran face-first into him running from a malfunctioning animatronic. I had knocked both his hat and mask off. When I noticed I knocked them off, I quickly jerked one hand over my eyes while using the other to help him up. I turned away so I wouldn't invade anymore of his privacy as he put the hat and mask back on. Mike wears his hat and mask for a reason, and it felt wrong to see anything he was hiding. Not to mention his eyes, but the quick glimpse I caught... They didn't seem right. They looked weird... It was almost like they glowed. What am I saying? With how fast my hand came over my eyes It's easy for things to look strange when you only catch a second-long glimpse of them. I'm sure it was just a trick of the light. It's none of my business anyway. Ever since then, I made sure I apologized every once in a while so he knew how bad I truly felt. I try to forget it, honestly, but somehow it always creeps back into my head. Conversations were short with Mike, though, but they were nice and relaxing. I couldn't make him comfortable enough to look up at me, though. I always made the point to tell him if he needed anything, I was here. I hoped to make him feel just as safe as he made me feel.
More often than not when a mishap during a diagnostic or repair session would happen. Mike was there to check in on me. Like the time Chica couldn't sit still for a wire check. I had went to reconnect two wires when Chica suddenly jerked her head. This had caused me to zap myself. It was mostly my fault, though. I should have known better to not leave Chica on during the repairs. Within minutes of my painful cry, Mike was coming through the door with a small first-aid kit. Ready to patch up any damage done. Mike's job was to sit in the security office, and monitor the outside and indoor cameras, and alert Vanessa of any unusual activity. So it's not shocking that he's come to my aid multiple times.
"Poof! You're all good, Sundrop! Just try to be a little bit more care-" Before I can finish, stomping is heard coming down the daycare stairs, and the doors slam open to the playroom.
"(Y/n)! We have an issue!" Vanessa has her voice raised, but it isn't exactly yelling.
"Yes?"
"There's a kid running around backstage! I need him out before 12! If you see him, report to me! Don't try, and send him out or contact his parents. I'll do it!" She informs me.
"What if we bring him to the daycare? He'll be safe there, waiting for his parents."
"No! I want him in the office! I want no chance of him getting away!" Before I can reply, she's already marching out of the daycare. On her say to find the next person (or animatronic to inform).
"Well, Sunny boy, as much as I love spending time with you. It seems I have a child to find." I begin to walk away, but not before Sundrop softly calls.
'Please leave the lights on. If the child wonders down here and the lights are off, I fear Moon might do something." He calls out almost like a wounded animal.
"Don't worry. The lights will stay on!" I send him a reassuring smile.
~~~
I make my way towards Freddy's room. He sometimes knows more about things like this. I'm hoping he's maybe seen a glimpse of the child. I have diagnostics I have to run on him anyways. Two birds, one stone, I guess.
Something itches at the back of my head, though... Isn't it protocol to bring a lost child to daycare? It's the safest option. Sundrop was made to deal with kids. Comforting a lost and scared kid until their parents arrived would be the most logical thing. Vanessa's adamant about keeping him in the office, though.
'Something's not right here.'
I round the corner, about to make a direct beeline for Freddy's room. Suddenly, a bot gets up in my face. I trip backwards as the sudden arrival of the bot scares me.
"Take a map! Take a map!" He shoves a map towards me.
I take the map just so it'll leave me alone. Out of all the time I've worked here, the map bot coming out of nowhere and scaring me senseless is something I'll probably never get used to.
As I sit there, I take notice of the figure that seems to be staring at me out of the corner of my eye. They quickly snap their head down toward the ground as I turn my head towards them. With just that simple gesture, there's no doubt in my mind that it is Mike.
I stand as he begins walking again, and he's heading straight this way. He came to a halt in front of me with his head tipped down.
"I'm not sure how these things still scare you. They usually stay in the same areas." Mike chuckles as he watches me dust myself off.
"Yea, trust me, I haven't got a clue either." I join in on his laughter.
"Night going smoothly so far?" I asked, tilting my head to look up at him.
"Yea. Just about as smooth as it can get. I'm only waiting for the usual when I'm watching cameras. I'll suddenly see you accidentally hurting yourself." He lets the playful tone roll off his tongue.
"Trust me! It's coming. I still have a few more repairs and diagnostics to run." I rub the back of my neck.
"I better get back to the office. Be safe." And with that, Mike was off before I could even say anything else.
Before he could fully disappear, I called to him, "Remember, if you need anything, I'm always somewhere around here." I offer a smile, and he gives a small nod before disappearing behind a staff-only door.
After that little dilemma, I make it to Freddy's room, where I hear hushed whispering. So, as any normal person would do, I stop and listen before I go to open the door.
"I think it's best we find (Y/n). They usually handle situations like this at night. Though I don't think we have ever had a problem like this, I still think it's the safest option." Freddy's voice is soft and gentle as he talks to someone. I assume it's the child.
"Freddy! That's a horrible idea! What if they're like Vanessa? I don't think Vanessa just wants to send me home."Before the voice continues, I decide it's best to enter the room. So I do just that, but I do it quietly.
"Gregory, I can assure you, Vanessa means no harm. She just wants to get you home." Freddy's voice rings throughout the room.
"He's right, Freddy. Protocol is a lost child is to be taken to the daycare until the parents arrive. You know that. Vanessa wants to keep him in the office. She wants to completely break protocol. Vanessa was a stickler for rules. Suddenly, she's not? There's something wrong here. We gotta get this kid out of here ourselves." I calmly state this as I prop myself up on the wall.
Both Freddy and the kid suddenly stiffen at the sound of my voice but quickly relax as they hear me out.
I walk past Freddy, heading straight for the kid.
"I'm (Y/n). I'm a nightshift mechanic. I promise, as long as I have air in my lungs, you'll be safe." I offer a warm smile as I crouch to his height. "Your name's Gregory, right?"
He nods as I continue to smile.
"Well, here's plan one. We try to get Gregory out of here before nighttime protocols go into play at 12. I'll lie and say I became sick at work. My security level isn't high enough to unlock the doors when nighttime protocols go into place. My code won't work until about 6. We'll have to find a badge lying around. If that plan fails, we dodge all people and animatronics until 6. Then we book it out of the door. Sound like a plan?" I smile at both of them.
"Why help me? What about your co-workers?" Gregory asks meekly.
"If Vanessa's intentions really aren't the purest, I don't want to know that I could have done something and did nothing." I reply, patting his head.
"I think the plans are risky, but if it gets Gregory out safely, I'll gladly help." Freddy gives a slight nod.
~~~
Forgetting the cameras in Freddy's room, the three continue to ramble on. discussing the best course of action and where to even begin searching for a badge that would be a high enough level to raise the gate and unlock the doors. He listens and watches as the audio from the camera crackles in and out. He hears the distrust in their voice when (Y/n) brings up Vanessa's sudden change in behavior. The mechanical whirls and clicks of the machines that replace the organs he once had fill the silence of the security office, along with the audio from the cameras.
This was it. Tonight would be the night Michael put an end to all of this. That is, if he could convince you three to help. One thing was for sure: He couldn't do it alone. Though he sensed it wouldn't be too hard to convince you, you trusted him just as he trusted you. There's just some kind of thing between the two of you. Like a sixth sense, when one of them needed something, the other was almost always there.
It also just so happened. You took notice of the strange way Vanessa's attitude shifted. You sensed it, and Michael knew that you had known for quite some time that there was something off about this place. That this place wasn't always full of rainbows and sunshine. There is something that lies in the shadows. Something only you could feel, and something Michael knew all too well.
~~~
This was unpublished and republished a little while after it was originally posted, so I could change the plot just a bit.
Goodevening! I hope you guys like this story! I'm really excited to write it! When Security Breach came out, I knew I wanted to do something with it, but I just now found out how I wanted to do it! I also wanted to write something for Michael for the longest time. So I figured, how about we do both in one? My memory of the lore isn't too great, but I definitely have the idea. I'll be following some of the major aspects, but I don't think I'll stick closely to it. As you can tell, I definitely went away from the lore by making Michael more of a machine than a walking corpse. If there are any mistakes in this, they will be edited out this weekend as I read over this chapter and work on the second chapter! Thank you all for reading!