Anomalous Nightguard [FNIA] [Discontinued]

Chapter 5

Joel is driving to Joe's pub for some breakfast. It may not be a restaurant or a diner, but it had some goddamn delicious food for a pub. After parking his van in a nearby parking lot, he pushes open the pub's door and yells. "WHAT'S UP, FELLAS?" Everyone stops doing whatever they are doing and welcomes him with great enthusiasm. He sits on one of the seats, and everyone starts talking to him, asking how he is doing, asking about any more interesting stories, etc. He answers, tells them short stories and jokes, and pretends to have a great time. Eventually, everyone leaves him alone, and the waitress comes and asks for his orders. He orders several burgers alongside a big cup of coke and waits patiently. While waiting, he starts thinking of his work, like how he could warm up to the girls for reasons that will be unveiled further down, he may seem like a carefree hobo who only likes alcohol and smoking, but it is different inside.

He always felt mentally exhausted and would feel empty inside because of the family he used to have. Joel had a lovely sweet daughter and a wife that would put models to shame just by looks, and she was sweet and kind. They would fight sometimes, but that wasn't anything special. Until he lost them... His daughter died in a pizza place, and his wife went crazy and killed herself, unable to live with the thought of a dead child. When they both died, he was broken, and the habits he had quit after marrying his wife returned and became his best friends again. Alcohol would make him forget the hard times and feel happy and warm inside, filling the dark void in his heart, similar to how his daughter made him feel. Smoking would calm him down like his wife used to and make him happy. In other words, he replaced them to not deal with depression or other mental illnesses, but they were slowly catching up, and he knew it.

Eventually, his Breakfast comes, and Joel starts devouring it. While eating, he continues to think about the girls, and his train of thought of warming up to the girls leads him to remember how he shot Bonnie. Oh, how he was regretting it now, but from his perspective, it was still their fault, but someone had to accept defeat and apologize, or their hatred for each other would continue to grow, and he knew about that quite well from his past experiences. He even thought that he should apologize to turn the fire off between them and befriend them. The reason he was trying to befriend them was for several reasons. First is that he was going to start investigating the place where his very own daughter's corpse was found; initially, he didn't realize that he was working at the place that ruined it all, but once he did, he wanted to actively search for any clues leading up to the killer and the girls would undoubtedly hinder him while he searched. Second was that because the animatronics were virtually immortal, they could be his long-lasting friends to hang out with in the future. Third and lastly, he wanted insight into how the girls' personalities were so... realistic. Their personalities interested him mainly because they were animatronics. When speaking with them, it felt like he was talking to a natural person instead of an AI-controlled robot. This intrigued him, and he was surprised it hasn't taken anyone's interest or attention to investigate and research.

As he finished the thought, Joe came in, sat in the opposite chair, and started talking about the day and how it was starting to get tiring with annoying braindead customers not reading any sign. However, one sentence picked Joel's attention a lot. "Wait, wait, repeat what you just said. "Joel said to Joe, now paying full attention to his blabbering. "Like, how I managed to kick out a Karen?" "No, before that." "That there was an old and creepy bunny robot thing outside at the back alley?" "Yes! That, when did you see it?" "Uhh, just now, when I was taking the trash out." "Is it still there?" "I don't know, I didn't check it." "Oh, alright, thanks, you ugly son of a bitch!" Joel pats Joe's back as he runs out after hearing the information, leaving him confused. Joel left a very generous tip of $30 to the waitress that served him.

Going outside, he ran straight for the alleyway and found the same animatronic who attacked Foxy last night. Getting his taser out, he pointed at it and yelled. "I know you're alive! Get up now!" After staying quiet for a few seconds, the old animatronic creaks and wiggles, barely managing to get up. "Put your hands in the air and surrender peacefully, or else I might just put you in the crusher!" The old animatronic complies and puts his hands in the air, Joel gets a handcuff from his trench coat and cuffs the ancient animatronic's hands, and forces him down to sit. He then calls Alan.