FNAF: Alternate Timeline

Chapter 7

Location: Ace and William's Joint Office, a week later

Ace: (sitting at his desk, scanning through lines of code on his laptop for any anomalies, looks tired but determined)

William: (sitting on the other side of the room at his own desk, also engrossed in his work)

(The phone on Ace's desk rings. Ace glances at the caller ID and picks up immediately, putting it on speaker)

Ace: Henry, do you have news for us?

Henry: (on the other end, audibly relieved but still tense) Yes, I've identified what was taken. Hazel and I went through the backup logs meticulously.

(Back to the Joint Office)

William: And? What did they take?

Henry: They stole the blueprints for advanced animatronic AI interfaces. The kind that would allow for more fluid movements and advanced decision-making processes. It's not complete, but if someone knows what they're doing, they could finish it.

(Back to Ace's Office)

Ace: Advanced AI, you say? That narrows down the list of suspects. It would have to be someone with a strong understanding of robotics and software engineering.

William: This could be incredibly dangerous if used irresponsibly—or worse, maliciously.

Henry: That's what worries me. I had developed that technology with the hope of creating more interactive and safer animatronics. But in the wrong hands...

Ace: We can't afford to think about that now. We need to act fast.

(Back to Henry's Location)

Henry: There's something else. The thief left a message in the code. It's a single word: "Revenge."

(Back to the Joint Office)

William: Revenge? So, it is personal.

Ace: It has to be someone from our past. Someone with a grudge, technical know-how, and an awareness of our recent projects.

Henry: That's what I thought. This isn't random. We're being targeted.

Ace: Henry, increase your security, both digital and physical. William and I will do the same. We'll also revisit the list of suspects. With this new information, maybe we can narrow it down even further.

William: And we'll look into beefing up our own firewall systems. If this person could break into Henry's systems, it means ours could be next.

Henry: I've already started on that. And Ace, thanks for the extra set of eyes. I'd never have identified the breach so quickly without your code reader.

Ace: That's what friends are for. But make no mistake, Henry; we're ending this. Whoever is behind this will not win.

As the call ends, Ace and William look at each other with a sense of urgency and resolve. The game has indeed changed; it has become deeply personal and all the more dangerous. Both men realize they are racing against time to catch a ghost from their past—a ghost driven by revenge, armed with stolen technology, and capable of wreaking untold havoc.