Fnaf DarkSide: Beyond the Neon

Chapter 12: working man

Monday, July 16th 1986

10:02 am

Donnie stood for a second in the cold, dark room. He was grateful to have the headlamp providing a steady stream of light or else he would have started to panic. Donnie was never really fond of the dark so having light of any kid was a plus. Donnie turned and slowly approached the stationary Baby. before Donnie attempted anything he looked around and then leaned close. "hey? Are you there? It's me, Donnie." The animatronic remained silent, her eyeless black sockets staring off into space. Donnie shivered a little at the sight. Baby wasn't very scary when lively and activated but when she was deactivated like this, Donnie couldn't help but be on edge. What didn't help Donnie's nerves any more was the immense amount of tasks dumped on him despite this being his first attempt at his new job. Then again, why were they putting this freshly 18 year old on a job this complicated and potentially dangerous? Donnie couldn't make heads or tails of this place's logic or ethics but he knew he had no other options for him in life that superseded the path he currently was on. Donnie took a deep breath and placed his toolbox down on the table and unclasped the lid. Shining his light down into the box he removed the manual and looked through the table of contents. He scanned until he reached Baby's chapter. He skimmed over the words and diagrams before honing in on his first task. "Located on the upper thigh is the condiment hatches. These can be identified by hatch outlines with red stripes on one and yellow on the other.." Donnie read the manual to himself as he glanced back and forth between the manual and the robot. "The condiment hatches may be opened by pressing the buttons located on the backside of the upper legs" Donnie put the manual down and looked for the buttons. The task was made much harder by the robot sitting down, covering most of her legs. However her upper legs despite being against the table, had been slightly moved so the backside of her legs were now facing outwards on the sides. Donnie reached and clicked one button and then the other and watched as both hatches clicked open. In the yellow hatch was mustard and in the red hatch seemed to be ketchup. He took out each of the condiments and looked in each empty hatch for any kind of issue.

Shining the light inside, he found no real issue. Donnie grabbed the manual and skimmed over the section and found a new detail to look for. "The condiment hatches can and will incur damage over time in the form of cracks and splits in the plastic casing. For basic inspection purposes, use the notepad and pencil in your toolbox to take note of the damages present so that the damaged parts may be replaced or repaired by the manufacturer." With this new knowledge in mind, Donnie took a second look at the hatches and soon found what appeared to be a decently sized crack in the mustard hatch. As Donnie's light landed on the crack, he caught a glance of the metal and wires below the shell. From what he could make out, it looked rather intricate. Donnie moved over to his toolbox and grabbed the notebook inside and the pencil that was next to it and turned to the first page. Donnie noted the crack in the yellow mustard condiment hatch before shutting it and putting it down on the table. "Okay, that wasn't so bad." Donnie glanced up at Baby, surprised that she hadn't made a move. Before, she hadn't had a problem speaking with him when alone. So why was this all of a sudden different? They were underground, alone, and in the dark. If there was a time for her to do her thing, it would be now.

Donnie returned to the manual to move on to his next task. Remembering what his adviser had told him, he remembered that next he had to check the balloon hatches wherever they may be. Donnie flipped through the pages until he got to a section labeled  "balloon slots and helium storage." Donnie looked over the text and began to read once again. "Located on Baby's lower arms are pink slots. One arm contains standard party balloons while the other contains modeling balloons meant for balloon animals." They really have every base covered with this thing, don't they? Donnie thought. It still baffled Donnie that Fazbear entertainment was able to even compete with this kind of technology and design. Donnie continued down the page until he got to the upkeep procedures. "To open the slots, press the buttons on the underside of each arm." Donnie put the manual down and made his way over to the right arm first. With a bit of a struggle Donnie lifted the slightly heavy arm and located the pink button on the bottom of the slot and pressed it. With a loud click the slot popped open in the same hinge style as the condiment hatches. The inside of the slot was empty which Donnie figured was the issue needing attention. Donnie returned to the manual and skimmed it until he found the solution to his problem. "Beneath the maintenance table are drawers with additional items needed to complete maintenance procedures. For this specific procedure the balloons are located in the 3rd drawer from the right." Donnie bent over and spotted the drawers on the underside of the table and began to move across them until he located the balloon drawer. He grabbed the handle and opened the drawer, fixing his light on the contents inside. Inside the drawer were three sections, one with assorted balloons, one with balloons that had logo prints on them, and a final one with longer balloons which Donnie assumed were the aforementioned modeling balloons. Donnie didn't know the exact amount of balloons he needed to put into each slot so he grabbed a handful of the party balloons and stuffed them into the slot, pushing them down before shutting the slot with his hand. Next he opened the other arm and repeated the procedure, stuffing modeling balloons into the other slot. Once he was done he shut the drawers and closed the slot before moving on to the next task on his list. Turning to the next page, Donnie found what was looking to be his hardest task thus far.

"Helium storage replacement." Donnie read quietly. "To open the helium storage, find the line indent on the back of Baby. Next, hold the buttons on each side of the torso. Keep in mind, both buttons must be held at the same time in order for the storage to open." Donnie walked around the back of the table and looked around until his light landed on the buttons. Once he found them, he leaned over the table and stretched his arms as far apart as he could in order to reach the buttons. Eventually he reached the buttons and pressed them at the same time. Without warning, the hatch came open and hit Donnie's face as it swung upwards. Donnie stumbled backwards, his face stung and his head was spinning. He quietly swore to himself and slammed his fist on the table before collecting himself and taking a deep breath. He stepped forward and peered into the now open helium storage. Inside was a pink tank that was attached to a nozzle piece at the top which Donnie assumed was how the helium was pumped and dispensed. He grabbed the manual and flipped to the appropriate section and began to read once more. The helium storage requires a replacement tank every two days. "To remove the tank, twist the top nozzle until it becomes loose. Then remove the tank and place it into the disposal unit found under the table." Donnie reached out and put one hand on the pink tank and his other hand on the fastening nozzle on the top. Donnie twisted it and with a click and a soft hiss the tank came loose. The tank itself was pretty light which was good for Donnie who quickly set it aside to put into the disposal unit after he was completely done . On cue Donnie returned to the manual and continued reading the helium storage section. "To replace the tank, make your way over to the far right of the maintenance room. There you will find the medium replacements storage. This area houses things such as, spare helium tanks, animatronic heads, spare hands, spare feet and larger electronic appliances." Donnie looked around and then focused his light on the right side of the room, spotting a wide metal maintenance cupboard. As Donnie made his way to the cupboard, he glanced back several times. Even if the robot was apparently deactivated, he didn't feel safe keeping his back to it for too long. Once he reached the cupboard he opened the center two doors and peered inside. Inside were assorted hands and feet along with two spare heads for Baby, their empty black eye sockets staring right ahead towards a crowd that wasn't there. Donnie did his best to not look at the heads as he continued combing through the cupboard. After opening the left set of doors he found several of the pink tanks. With a fist pump of triumph, Donnie took one of the tanks and walked back over to the table. To Donnie's relief, the robot hadn't moved an inch since Donnie was last there. Returning to the manual once more, Donnie read the final part of the section. "To complete the replacement procedure, place the tank into the storage and line up the tank's top nozzle with the fastener nozzle." Donnie grabbed the tank and gently placed it into the back of the robot and with the same click as before, Donnie fastened in the tank. Looking back at the manual was the final step he needed to complete the procedure. "With the tank now fastened, take a spare balloon and place it on the helium spicket (the metal tube found within the mouth) and press Baby's nose to begin the testing timer. During the test, helium will inflate the balloon for 10 seconds if the procedure has been completed properly. If no or little helium is released, make sure to check the helium storage to ensure the tank is fastened properly."

With that final info in mind, Donnie began the last steps of the maintenance procedure. He opened up the balloon drawers under the table and grabbed a pink balloon from the assortment before shutting the drawers. Using his light he looked over Baby's face as quickly as he could to ensure that the sensors he had been told about wouldn't trigger. Donnie focused his light on her mouth and soon found a small metal tube at the back of her mouth and between her teeth. Nervously, Donnie guided his hand slowly up to her mouth and put the end of the balloon on the circular tube and pulled it all the way on. The moment he did so, he quickly pulled his hand back. With a deep breath, Donnie leaned close and pressed the triangular nose of Baby. A hiss could be heard as the balloon quickly began to inflate. Donnie kept his face near but not too close to the balloon to make sure he could see if anything went wrong during the process. The balloon kept inflating and getting bigger by the second. Based on its size, Donnie began to worry if things were going as planned. The balloon seemed to be getting concerningly big and the maintenance timer seemed to have gone for well over 10 seconds. But before Donnie could properly react though, the balloon popped. Donnie's face stung even more than it already did from the explosion and now only left him with more questions. Was that supposed to happen? Did he do something wrong? Donnie tried to think but oddly found it harder and harder to focus.
Donnie's head began to feel heavy and his body began to feel numb. His vision slightly blurred and with each blink of his eyes, his eyelids got heavier. He stumbled backwards and grabbed the table, desperately trying to remain conscious. Unfortunately, Donnie's desperate struggle to remain awake was in vain. Donnie fell to the floor and his eyes began to slowly close. And with one final slow breath, the sickly sweet smell of permanent marker filled his nose as he soon drifted off into unconsciousness.