"I'll take my eggs sunny-side-up," Jack told the waitress as he folded his menu.

She nodded as she jotted down his order.

"And you?" she asked as she turned to me.

"I guess I'll have the cinnamon pancakes," I replied.

She jotted that down, as well, and took our menus from us, telling us our orders will be out soon. We thanked her and she headed towards the kitchen.

"How's everything going?" Jack asked before he took a sip of his orange juice. I shrugged.

"As good as it can be when you don't have a reliable income," I replied. He gave an awkward grimace and nodded.

"I feel ya," he said. "How's Jasmine? School treating her well?"

"Well, her grades are doing fine, although she's still struggling at math."

"Heh. The genius mother's worst nightmare, eh?"

"Hey, now. I don't know if I'd say 'genius'. If I was that smart, I wouldn't be here."

"At IHOP?"

"Oh, shut it," I told him as I gave a playful smirk.

We then laughed a little bit before both ending in a sigh.

"So, what's this job you were talking about?" I asked.

He then gave a cocky smile as he leaned closer.

"Well," he told me, "you know how you have an amazing love for robotics?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, what if I told you that I found a job opportunity where you would be surrounded by nothing BUT robots?"

"Well, that depends."

"On?"

"What kind of robots are we talking about here? Manufacturing?"

"Nope. Entertainment!"

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he then offered to me. Curious, I took it from him and unfolded it. Right away, I saw what looked like a little girl dressed as a clown, only she was clearly some sort of animatronic. She sported a bright red dress, complete with tutu, and had bright orange hair in long pigtails. Her skin was pale white, her cheeks and nose were rose red, and her eyes were lime green.

Next to her read the following:

"Welcome to Circus Baby's Pizza Party Rentals!

For an affordable price, you can have Circus Baby and/or her friends visit your party! From the graceful Ballora, who, with the help of her Minireenas, encourages kids to be active, to the lovable Funtime Foxy, who teaches kids to share and be kind, and to the hilarious Funtime Freddy, who entertains kids with jokes and stories with the help of his puppet friend, Bonnie, there's no shortage of fun for the party! Call 1-555-CIRCUS-BABY for any and all information!"

Below that message read the following:

"Now Hiring: Late night technician. Must enjoy cramped spaces and be comfortable around active machinery. Not responsible for death or dismemberment."

I reread the flier before looking back at my brother, who was smiling with glee.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well...it certainly looks pretty interesting!"

His smile went away.

"...you don't sound too enthusiastic," he commented.

"Well, Jack...you do know the stories behind these robots, right?"

"Alice, they're just stories."

"Really? Because 'stories' don't cause a pizza restaurant to close down overnight."

"Okay, fine," he scoffed as he crossed his arms. "You got me. There's bound to be some truth behind the closing of Circus Baby's Pizza World. About how something went wrong with one of the animatronics. But, Alice...that was years ago. They had to have been fixed by now. Otherwise, why else would this rental service still be around?"

I looked back down at the flier. He had a point, I suppose.

"Besides," he continued, "your job as a technician would be to make sure they're fixed and running smoothly! So what is there to worry about?"

"Oh, I don't know...cramped spaces? Dismemberment? DEATH???"

"What, you don't want them to warn you that working around active machinery could be dangerous? Any old factory job has the same risk."

I was about to make a counter argument, but I realized he was right. Any job involving machinery and mechanics can be fatal. It's just standard procedure.

"What are they paying?" I asked.

"Does it really matter?" he replied. "It's a reliable job with a reliable income. What more do you need?"

I stared at my brother for a few seconds before slowly nodding.

"Okay," I finally told him. "I'll call and apply."

"I knew you would," he said with a wink and a sip of his juice.

At that moment, our waitress arrived with our food. As he ate his eggs and I ate my pancakes, I thought about the job at Circus Baby's. The place was supposed to be the 'new and better' sister location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which, after decades of opening and closing, finally had all locations across the country close down, from reports of rat infestations to cannibalism. Yeah, I'm not sure I believe all the reports.

Anyway, once Freddy's closed, as well as its unofficial horror attraction replica, it wasn't long before Fazbear Entertainment came back into production and started a new establishment, reusing and changing some of the old characters while adding new ones. Actually, isn't that how Fredbear's Family Diner became Freddy Fazbear's Pizza...?

Regardless, Circus Baby's Pizza World soon opened up, promising 'new' and 'revolutionary' and 'modern' robots. And, to their credit, they weren't wrong. The most revolutionary in particular was Circus Baby herself. She could do everything from take song requests, inflate helium balloons with her fingertips, and even serve freshly made ice cream from her stomach. To say I was intrigued was an understatement.

Nobody knows for sure why the place closed within a week. It's rumored that something went fatally wrong with one of the robots, but it was never confirmed. But Jack was right; as the technician, I have a chance to make sure they're all in working order.

Besides, as long as it gets me money, who cares what I have to do?