FNAF: Alternate Timeline

Chapter 1

Ace glanced at the blueprints spread across his workbench, then sighed and pushed them aside. He'd been struggling with a minor glitch in the animatronics, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Specifically, his thoughts were on Evan, who hadn't been sleeping well lately.

A soft knock on his workshop door pulled him from his musings.

"Come in," he called.

The door creaked open, and Evan Afton stepped inside. The boy looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes that couldn't simply be blamed on a lack of sleep.

"Hey, Uncle Ace. You busy?"

"Never too busy for you, kiddo. What's up?"

Evan hesitated, clearly gathering his thoughts. "I've been... having nightmares. Really bad ones. Nightmares of, well, terrifying versions of the animatronics. They keep me up at night."

Ace's eyes widened with concern. Nightmares about the animatronics could point to a deeper issue, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Are these dreams recurring?"

Evan nodded, swallowing hard. "Every night, Uncle Ace. I can't sleep. I'm scared to close my eyes."

Ace stood up and walked over to Evan, resting his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You don't have to be afraid, Evan. Let's figure this out together. If these nightmares are about the animatronics, maybe we can find a way to... well, debug them, so to speak."

Evan's eyes lit up, the glimmer of hope shining through his tired expression. "Can we really do that?"

"Of course, we can try! I have an idea."

That night, Ace and Evan set up in the latter's bedroom. Ace had brought a small tablet that connected to a monitor. They were going to use a simplified form of augmented reality to overlay friendly, non-threatening versions of the animatronics over the frightening ones in Evan's room—if he saw them again.

"Ready?" Ace asked as he handed Evan the tablet.

Evan nodded, gripping the device tightly. "Ready."

As the hours passed and the darkness outside deepened, Evan began to grow more and more nervous. Finally, he gasped. "There—there it is! Nightmare Freddy!"

Ace watched as Evan aimed the tablet at the spot where he saw the nightmarish version of Freddy Fazbear. He tapped the screen, and a friendly, cartoonish Freddy overlay appeared, waving happily. Evan let out a relieved sigh and chuckled softly.

"It worked! He's gone!"

Ace grinned, relieved. "Good job, Evan. Now, try to get some sleep. If they come back, just use the tablet again."

For the first time in weeks, Evan slept through the night, the tablet clutched tightly in his hands. And for the first time, Ace felt they'd scored a small victory over the shadows that seemed to haunt his family.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this was only a temporary fix, but for now, it was enough. It had to be.