Welcome to Popgoes!

Night 3

Strings woke up, groaning...he was now just generally unhappy and determined to figure out what was going on. He had only been this way for only 2 nights, and beginning his third. Yet? He was already SICK of this.

"Why was I made this way?" Strings asked as he turned on his phone. "I get that I'm advanced or something...but why is all of this happening so fast? And...why do I feel so much...panic? It doesn't feel normal...but what is normal for me?" He hugged himself with his arms. "I...I'm so confused...I just...I...okay...just calm down, Strings."

He turned around and saw all three of the animatronics. Popgoes. Sara. And Saffron. "Heh...I wish you guys could talk...maybe you know something."

He then sighed as he looked at his phone and started this night's phone call. What did confuse him a little more is that Fritz didn't treat him and the other robots like...robots.

He treated them like human beings. Like they were alive.

"Hello again! So, uhh, I'm gonna come clean with somethings. I actually made a mistake with yesterday's message. You know, with when I told you that you can control the heating and how it lasts a minute. Remember? Yeah, I'm sure you do...well. I made a mistake."

"Yeah! In pretty much everything!" Strings cried as he watched Popgoes leave into a room. He rolled his eye. This was getting less scary and more irritating...what kept him scared is that he STILL didn't know what Popgoes was trying to build.

"I said the heaters would shut off to cooldown after a minute...but in reality? I-I made it closer to like, 10 seconds. So, uhh, sorry about that.

Not a huge mistake, but I should own up to it anyway. It's one of the mistakes I don't have written down- Actually, hang on. I'm gonna do that real quick.

I'm just...kinda tired right now. I've been doing all these calls in one take, and well, I'm not nocturnal like you. Even as a night guard- Uhh...nevermind."

Strings' white eye widened. "H...Huh? Nightguard...? Like...me?"

"But to put it simply, I'm very tired. Doing all these calls in one take. And I JUST noticed about the heating mistake. My tired mind apparently thinks 'Hey! 1 minutes means 10 seconds!'

Jeez, I'm an idiot sometimes...so, you've been here for two nights, yes? Beginning your third one now, right? I wanted to ask...what do you think about the place?"

"Oh, terrifying." Strings said. "But...it does look really nice. I wish I could see it during the day."

"The pizzeria, I mean. It's...it's really special. I come into work, tired and my head pounding, but what helps? This place during the day.

Let me tell you, during the day? You can really feel everything. The fantasy. The fun! Kids can run down the halls and be greeted by Popgoes and the gang. They gather around and sing with them on stage. They use the 3D Printers and design and print out...these little plastic toys! It's amazing. They can paint them and everything!

Not one kid has a frown here. Okay, some do, but I honestly can't tell if the people frowning are teenagers or parents.

Oh! Oh! I remember this one kid. Totally heartwarming, but there was this kid. He was running around and somehow managed to open one of the locked rooms: The Server Room.

He started messing around in there, and I watched on the cameras. I went 'Here we go again' and grabbed my jacket to go take care of him...until something amazing happened. The kid's been a loyal customer since.

As I was taking my jacket off...Blake. The Badger character? He, uhh, doesn't shut down on stage. He shuts down in the server room, so I guess you haven't exactly seen him, but anyway. The story."

"W...Wait...Badger?" Strings whispered. "What badger!? What do you mean badger!?!?"

"Blake gets into the server room...and using the monitor in the room? He starts to play a little game with the kid!

Y-You know the game 'Simon Says'? Well! It was like that! He just turned-

No...oh, no. Uhh! Hold on. Hold on. I'll sort the rest out later, here are the options! I'll be right back!"

Then, the options showed up again, but that wasn't at all what Strings was concerned with. After activating the heating lasers, he gulped.

"B-B-Badger!! There's a badger!!!! Oh, god!!! What am I gonna do!? And why did he run off!?!? What noise was that!?!" Strings screamed as he looked into the server room.

There was a monitor...glowing green. Strings began to panic again. Why was it glowing green? Did that mean something?

"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!"  Strings screamed before remembering something. This...Simon Says game. He was programmed with a memory of it.

There was two versions of it, he believed. But he had a feeling, he knew what to do.

So, after looking at the monitor's color, he looked at the ray of colorful buttons at the bottom and then the yellow Badger Button on the side. "Okay...green!"

He said this as he pressed the green button and then the badger button.

Strings saw the screen go dark again, but for some reason, he felt like it was supposed too. He sighed in relief before looking at the vents.

The Squirrels were once again trying to crawl through, but Strings fired up the heating lasers one more time, forcing them to go back.

"Okay...let's just get to the questions." Strings said as he grabbed his phone again.

Can you continue the story?

What is Simon Says?

What were you just doing?

Less concerned about what Simon says was, and not wanting to feel any MORE panic, he tapped the first option.

"Yes, yes, the story! The story! The story! Sorry about that, my brother was asking me who I was talking too.

You've heard of him, right? I'm sure I've brought him up. His name's Simon. Really kind guy. He and I are actually twins."

"He...had a brother? Wait, so I have an uncle?" Strings asked as he looked at Popgoes walking away again.

"...But it was just him. He, uhh, lives with me and Bonnie now. His house burned down, y'know? Bonnie and I couldn't just let him live homeless."

"...Bonnie? Oh, yeah! He brought her up...kinda." Strings said with a shrug. "My sister, I guess."

"What was I talking about? Right! The story! I don't remember exactly where I left off, but Blake started playing Si- I mean...that game with him! And the kid's been coming here nonstop ever since!

He kept pressing the yellow button on the side of your monitor! With the badger symbol on it? He wanted to continue their game.

It's moments like that...they make you feel special. I kind of wish I had built this place earlier when Bonnie was still a little girl.

Bonnie, you remember her? She's my daughter. My...only daughter. She's 18, and honestly? She's my little angel. I couldn't be more proud of her."

Strings smiled at that, despite not having a mouth. And the heart that he didn't have melted. Fritz actually seemed like a good father, proud of his daughter.

"But...she had it...a little rough...when she was younger..." Fritz finished as the call ended. He sounded...sad.

Strings became...confused. "Rough...childhood? Wait, is Fritz abusive? No, abusive pricks don't admit they're abusive."

He then hummed. "...Come to think of it...he never mentioned a mother-"

And then, the 6 AM tune began to play. Strings sighed as he hung his head low. "Yeah, yeah...just get it overwith."

He then shut down...unaware of what the Badger Button actually did...Blake was standing right beside him, his eyes glowing yellow.

SIMON SAYS...DO YOU WANT TO LEARN THE TRUTH?

HE DOESN'T WANT TO REMEMBER...