The next morning, after I dropped Jasmine off at school, I let my curiosity get the best of me and I decided to do a quick Google search on Afton Robotics. As Tyler stated, it was founded by William Afton in the mid 60s. It was created to help launch Fredbear's Family Diner and its bear and bunny duo, Fredbear and Bonnie.

Also as Tyler stated, every single robot in every single Fazbear location was created by Afton Robotics, though looking at reports shows that that's debatably not the best thing. With as often as it was reported that the robots did everything from crushing a child's skull to breaking an employee's arms and leg, it seemed clear to me that these machines were stronger and deadlier than it would've seemed.

That's when I stumbled across an article that caught my attention. It was posted in the 70s, and it stated that it was rumored that Afton Robotics was planning on working on a new, never-before-seen restaurant, but that it never officially opened up. The kicker? It was reported to be named "Circus Baby's Pizza World".

"In other news: The grand opening of Circus Baby's World has apparently been cancelled due to reported gas leaks in the building. Sources close to the establishment question the report, saying that the strange activity around the area at night suggest something else is to blame.

One local is quoted as saying, "Everything just stopped. There was so much excitement built around this place opening and then they just stopped talking about it. There was only a handful of people that ever got a look at the inside, kids from here and there, making sure everything worked right, you know? I guess they weren't quite as ready and they thought they were!"

A tenant from across the street claims to have witnessed a large group of cars surrounding the building during the night, and large pieces of equipment being taken out of the building under tarps. A few weeks later the building was for sale. There is no comment yet from the local entrepreneur who financed the venture.

If anything, it was just too soon for such an ambitious venture. There is still a bright future for Circus Baby, so be watching for her to appear at a neighborhood party near you!"

So, it was planned for Circus Baby's Pizza World to set up shop in the 70s, only to never open due to reported gas leaks? And what's all this about groups of cars and equipment under tarps? Something's pretty fishy about all this...and I think I know where I can go for more info.

*          *          *

I pulled up in front of the police station and walked inside, where I found a familiar face behind the counter.

"Alice?" he asked in a surprised look. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Jack," I replied. "I was just wondering if you could help me get some info."

"On what?"

"On Afton Robotics."

"Afton...that sounds familiar."

"It's the company that designed all the animatronics for the Fazbear Entertainment restaurants."

"Oh, yeah! Including the place you're working at now, right?"

"Right. But something doesn't seem right about it."

"What do you mean?"

"I did some research and...well...I get the feeling there's more than meets the eye. Like something shady is going on."

"What, do you want to file a report?"

"No, no. I just want to see if there are any records about the company that can clear some things up for me."

"Hm...okay. Wait a second and I'll see if I can get you access to the records room."

"You can do that?"

"Well, I kinda owe some people a favor or two," he replied with a wink. "Plus, you're my sister. I'm sure they'll understand."

I smiled and nodded as he put the phone receiver to his ear and dialed a number.

I'm not entirely sure what I hope to find, but any information that can clear what exactly is up with Afton Robotics is good enough information to me.

"Alright," he finally told me as he hung up, "follow me."

He got up from behind the desk and started walking towards a hallway. Following his instructions, I stayed behind him as he walked.

"So, how is the job treating you?" Jack asked as we walked.

"It's certainly not what I was expecting, that's for sure."

"How so?"

"The animatronics...they seem too...I don't know."

"Off?"

"Sure. They seem a little off. That's why I'm trying to figure out more about Afton Robotics."

"Fair enough. You're not in any danger, are you?"

"Well..."

He then stopped walking and looked towards me.

"Alice?"

"Jack, I'm fine. Honest."

He stared at me with a doubting look for a new seconds longer before he continued walking again.

I know I should probably say something, but I never really saw any indicator from the robots themselves that they were trying to hurt me. All I'm going off of is old reports and the voice of Baby, and even that's debatable on how serious I should be taking it. I'd hate to make an ass out of myself by calling Afton Robotics a bunch of crazy psychos for making killer robots when they don't actually hurt people. Yeah, they did in the past, but maybe they've perfected things since then.

"Here we are," Jack finally told me. "I'll have to keep an eye on you, obviously, but I doubt there will be any trouble."

"Not at all," I replied with a smile.

I instantly started walking towards the 'A's to find what I was looking for.

"Let's see," I murmured aloud to myself, "Addicus...Adiline...Aero...aha! Afton!"

I then pulled out the file and scanned through it. The photo on record was of a man who looked around 50 years old, but the file stated he was 35 at the time. Sheesh. Must've been a smoker or something.

Anyway, according to the file, he had no proper criminal charges, though he was once under investigation after people started suspecting that something was not right about his animatronics. Reports that children were disappearing near his workshop certainly didn't help him. But in the end, the police found no evidence of criminal activity.

That's when I saw a cassette tape inside the file. It was labeled "Afton Interview, 6-30-71". 

"Do you have anything that can play this?" I asked my brother as I held up the tape.

"Of course; right over there."

He then pointed to a table on the other side of the room. It was cluttered with papers, a lamp, and, most importantly, a cassette player. I walked to the desk, popped in the tape, pressed play, and waited.

The first thing I heard was what sounded like a knock on a door.

"Come in," a man's voice called out.

I then heard what sounded like a door opening, as well as a chair being moved along the floor, like someone pushed it back to stand up.

"Good evening," the man's voice said. "I know it's a bit last-minute, but I just have some questions, if that's alright with you."

"Of course, sir," a new voice replied. This voice was a bit deeper, and even had a slight English accent to it. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"Well...it's the robots."

"What of them?"

"Well...there's no doubting what you've achieved on a technical level; these are clearly state-of-the-art. There are just certain...design choices...that were made for these robots that we don't fully understand. We were hoping you could shed some light on those."

There was silence for a few seconds, aside from a slight scuff of a chair. Finally, the second man responded.

"She can dance, she can sing, she's equipped with a built-in helium tank for inflating balloons right at her fingertips, she can take song requests, she can even dispense ice cream."

The way he talked felt very calm and collected, as if he were advertising the robot.

"With all due respect, those aren't the design choices we were curious about, Mr. Afton," the first man replied in a somewhat confused tone. "We were mostly concerned about...this."

It then sounded like he unrolled a large piece of paper or something similar.

"While these blueprints do contain the features you mentioned," the first man continued, "there are a few here that we wish to clarify."

It then sounded like he was tapping a section of the blueprint.

"It says here 'Emergency Stop'; is there a reason that feature is included?"

"Well, with all due respect, she's different from anything I've ever created, from her appearance to her mind. Consider her like a test build, if you will. While she was created for loving purposes, I can't guarantee that she'll run perfectly."

"So are you implying she could cause harm to the children and patrons?"

"Well...I can't say it's impossible. It's best to prepare for everything."

"Alright, then. Another concern we have, though, is this right here."

It sounded like another blueprint was being laid down.

"It says 'Voice Mimic/Luring'. What's the purpose of this?"

Afton gave a light chuckle before replying.

"As for the mimicking, he's an entertainer, a joke-teller. Being able to mimic the voices of customers is part of his act. As for the luring, well...it's possible for children to wind up being lost at the establishment. By mimicking the voice of the lost child's parents, or perhaps a law enforcement officer, he can lure the child out of hiding and take the child back to the parents."

There was silence. I'd like to think the first man has enough sense to still have his doubts.

"I see," he finally replied. "I can assume the 'Parental Voice Sync and Replay' found in Funtime Foxy has a similar purpose?"

"The very same purpose, actually."

"In that case, I think we're through here. Thanks for coming in, Mr. Afton."

"It's my pleasure, sir."

It then sounded like they both stood up and shook hands before the door opened and closed, implying Afton had left. There was silence for a few seconds before I heard the first man talk again, almost as if he was talking directly to the recorder.

"Something still seems off...but I just can't prove it."

The tape then stopped.

"Well, that was...interesting," Jack commented.

"Indeed," I replied. "I think I've got everything I need; thanks, Jack!"

"Any time, Alice."

He then walked me back to the front of the police station, where we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. As I got back into my car, I began asking myself about the features in the robots back in the 70s, and if any of them transferred over to the ones I'm currently guarding. Because there's no way that it's a coincidence that 2 Circus Baby's Pizza Worlds existed nearly 50 years apart with the same exact characters and would have no connection.

When I get to work, I'll see if I can talk to Tyler about not only the AI of these machines, but their features, as well.