“The four animatronics weren’t properly programmed with a night mode," I said. "They can free roam at night. The company actually encourages it because it means less of a chance of their servos locking up during the day.”

“But Foxy is supposed to be broken.”

“I know. I know. But apparently he’s not. Just hear me out, alright?” Christine didn’t answer. She looked at me expectantly before glancing nervously at the doors.

“Don’t worry about the doors. I’ll close them when the animatronics get too close. That’s why there are cameras.” Although the security desk had many monitors, only one controlled the cameras. It was quite small, so you had to lean in really close to see any detail. It had a touch screen on the right side, where I was able to change the camera feed. I toggled the screen to start up the display. The first camera showed the stage. Bonnie was missing, but Chica and Freddy both stood exactly where they did during the day. I switched to camera 1C. Foxy was back behind the curtains at Pirate Cove.  

“I always wondered why the cameras weren’t pointed towards the doors and the registers.”

“They weren’t made for discouraging possible thieves. Hang on, hang on.” I beckoned Christine over to the monitor.

She stooped down and leaned over my shoulder. “What is it?”

“Do you see that?” I pointed to the screen. “By the men’s bathroom sign back there?”

“I see the sign. What is it you want me to see?”

“What’s that black thing? I’ve never seen that before.” It looked as if someone had made a person out of a white paper plate and some black streamers. The paper plate was more like a mask, because whoever made it cut out eyes and a mouth. I couldn’t make out much more detail, but it did have painted stripes down it's cheeks.

“I don’t see anything,” Christine said.

“It looks like it’s taped to the wall.” I pointed again, this time touching the monitor’s display. “Right there. It’s like some kid made a puppet out of a plate and some streamers.”

“No, there’s nothing there. I was walking around there all day.”

I switched to a couple more camera screens to see if there was something wrong with the monitor. No, the strange black and white image only appeared on that one camera. When I clicked back to the bathrooms feed, the thing was gone. “Okay, that was weird,” I said.

“So what’s with the characters? They walk around at night, but why did Foxy seem to want to attack us?” Christine didn’t seem affected by… whatever it was that just happened.  

“Well, the characters tend to not recognize humans very well in the dark.” I tried to brush off the ordeal and get to the main problem at hand. “That’s why they went after us when the main lights shut off.” I toggled through a couple of cameras to make sure no one was closing in on the security office. Bonnie was hiding in the employee’s only room. “The company’s not doing very well right now, so they have the lights on a timer to turn off at night. Conserving energy is great for the company, but not so good for us. When the characters see us now, they will register us as endoskeletons. You know, the ones that go into the suits? It’s against their programming to have an operating endoskeleton out of costume, so they will take it upon themselves to try to stuff you into a suit.”

“But aren’t those full of wires and beams?”

“Yeah. That’s the bad part. If they catch you, you’ll die.”

“Can’t they reprogram those damn things?”

“Apparently that costs too much money. Hiring me to keep an eye on them is much cheaper.” I gave a sly smile.

“You enjoy endangering your life to make money?” She probably thought I was insane to keep working after the first night.

“Not at all.”

“Then why don’t you quit?”

“I can’t. I don’t have enough evidence yet.”  

“Evidence? Buddy, this isn’t a court case.” Christine got up from the chair to join me at the computer screen. “This is life or death. Those things… they’ll kill you!”

“I’m not a lawyer.”

“Yeah, you’re going to be an ex-night watchman.”

“I’m a cop!” I turned off the screen and looked at her. It wasn’t worth wasting power if Bonnie still hadn’t moved.  

“You’re serious? Aren’t you a little young to be a cop?”

“I’m one of the youngest detectives on the force. I got promoted just for this case. They needed someone young. Like a college student who needs the money.” Christine looked unconvinced, so I pulled out my wallet and flashed her my badge.

“What’re you trying to bust a children’s pizza place for?”

“Freddy’s Pizza has kind of a rough history, with several different incidents that have threatened to shut it down. It keeps coming back though because there’s never enough evidence in each case to pin down the company. It’s a health hazard, and I’m not just talking about the poor sanitation.”

“What’ve you got so far?”

“Well, one of the previous night guards left recorded messages for other employees to follow. Mostly regulation stuff, but he did start revealing some interesting information. I started recording them on a tape player after day one once I realized that the messages could be used as evidence. Unfortunately, I can’t pin the company down just on a few phone messages. It’s not enough on its own to hold up in a trial. There is a problem though.”

“What?” Christine asked.

I pulled up the security cameras to keep an eye on the animatronics. Bonnie was in the storage closet. Chica had left the stage but was nowhere to be found. I headed to the door to turn on the hallway light. No Chica. Pausing for a moment, I strained my ears and heard shuffling noises coming from a couple of rooms away. She must have been in the kitchen where the camera was disabled.

“Well, yesterday, the night guard’s recorded message said something very chilling. This might get a bit confusing so I’ll change his name to the guy on the phone.” I must have been killing Christine by not getting straight to the point. “The guy on the phone asked the next night guard… I guess the guard who was here last week who got fired…”

“You’ve never met either of them, have you?”

“Nope. The manager who interviewed me just told me that a previous night guard had recorded messages to play during the first week of work to act as a sort of on-the-job training. Anyways, the guy on the phone asked the next employee, the last night guard, to check inside the character’s suits that are in the back room. I think… well, I think the guy on the phone was killed on the job.”