A New Start
Prologue

The year was 1997. It'd been ten long, long years since the murders and The Bite. The majority of the rumors and panic surrounding the dreadful events that took place near and on that day had long since passed, though some acrimony had still remained. If you were to ask someone, anyone, about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, they would most likely respond with “That place where that guy got bit?” or “The joint where those kids disappeared?”. Despite the company’s best attempts at covering it up, it seemed that the franchise was doomed to be known more for those deaths than its upbeat and welcoming pizzerias. Some folks even said that the spirits of those children still haunted the place. What a joke. Even the new pizzeria a few miles away didn't seem to be doing all that well!

However, none of this mattered to Scott.

You see, Scott was what you’d call a “Fazbear Fanatic”. He absolutely loved everything that the franchise stood for. Aside from the murders and Bite, of course. He loved the restaurant, the bubbly style of its decor and advertising, even the excessive alliteration. “Freddy Fazbear”. Really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?

His friends didn't think so. They thought he was weird, perhaps even a freak at times. It certainly didn't help that his room was adorned with countless posters from the original restaurant, some obtained from the internet and others in more... shady ways – breaking into the old condemned restaurant and nicking some posters for example. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But what he loved most of all were the animatronics. That was where his friends started to get concerned. They wondered – What did he see in those bots? As far as they knew, they were nothing but a bunch of creepy hunks of plastic and metal. And God forbid you were unlucky enough to be at the restaurant after hours...

But they could say what they wanted about the restaurant’s and the animatronics' bad reputations, but Scott thought that the bots there were really rather revolutionary, even despite their “quirks”! No other restaurant, or any establishment of the sort, had anything remotely as advanced as the pizzeria’s animatronics. They could talk, sing, and even interact with the patrons to an extent! It was truly, truly wonderful! Until, y'know...

Yeah.

They were thrown out, discarded, left to rot in spite of the few whimsical months they served in the pizzeria. It was as if none of what good they did mattered. And it was all that murderer's fault! However...

“One man's trash is another man's treasure,” Scott said with a wide, silly grin as he ran his hand through his rather thin, dark brown hair. He still couldn't believe the absolute bargain he got from the junkyard owner when he offered to buy, wait for it, the four Toy Animatronics! To think, for the past ten years, they had been lying about in that junkyard, gathering dirt and grime and all manner of filth! They were even still in working order! Now, there they were, lying in his living room. Perhaps the reason for Scott's bargain was that the Owner wanted to be rid of the dirty things as soon as possible. Still, $50 dollars was definitely more than a steal!

Regardless, this was why, at this very moment, in his very own home, he was standing before the slumped forms of the three main “toys” – Toy Bonnie, Toy Freddy, and Toy Chica. The Mangle, whom he preferred to call Toy Foxy, lay in a literal mess a few feet away. Much unlike their condition only a few hours ago, the three toys almost seemed like new. Excluding their still faded paint, they were as clean and presentable as could be! Scott counted himself lucky that none of them were damaged, either from their stay at the junkyard or by the deliverymen who brought them to his house, or he'd have had a real job on his hands. This was why he had decided to put off the task of rebuilding Toy Foxy until later.

“Welp,” Scott began, speaking to nobody in particular. “This is it. The moment of truth!” he exclaimed before grabbing the arms of Toy Bonnie and, with some difficulty, hoisting up the lifeless bot. Gently, carefully, cautiously, he laid the bot down on the carpet face-first. Producing a screwdriver, he opens a panel in the back of the bunny's head to reveal a mess of wiring and metal. The back of the endoskeleton. Scott had made all of the preparations earlier – Cleaning, reconnecting wires, all o' that. All he had to do now was to flip this switch, and his best bunny buddy would spring to life!

Flick. ...Flick. Flickflickflickflickflick.

Scott found himself... confused. This should have been working. Why-- Why wasn't it working?! Frowning, he checked his wrist watch.

11 P.M.

With a strong whap, Scott facepalmed.

Of course. They go dormant from closing time until midnight! And “closing time” was four hours ago!, he shouted to himself. He groaned both in disappointment and discomfort, standing up and stretching a bit. Only now did the impact of the current time hit him. With a yawn, it was only then that he realized that he was tired. More than tired – exhausted.

Working on robots all day does that to you, he supposed.

After a bit of thinking, Scott figured that he'd just have to find a way to remove that program tomorrow. Or, alternatively, he could modify his sleep schedule so that he'd be alert enough to test the bots at midnight. Regardless of his choices for the future, he figured that he needed to get some sleep for now. After making sure that the switch in the back of the animatron's head was set to off – the downward position is off, right? Probably. – he reattached the small panel and yawned. He then turned and headed off to the bathroom, where he planned to have a nice, warm bath. Nearly an hour later, he exited said room, fully refreshed and relaxed. As he made his way through the living room on the way to bed, he took one last look at the inactive animatronics. They blankly stared forward, jaws hung open as they smiled upon a nonexistent crowd of children with their rosy, faded cheeks. Scott could only chuckle, still not believing his luck as he made his way up the stairs toward his bedroom.

What did he see in those bots?

With a clap-clap, all of the lights in the house were simultaneously turned off and the bedroom door could be heard opening and closing. Immediately after, two more lights switch on. Two small, bright-green LEDs from within the living room. Following that, shuffling and whirring could be heard.

Really, what did he see in those bots?

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