Claw My Heart Out

It Doesn't Matter

Baby woke up feeling refreshed, but as soon as she set up she could feel something was wrong. There was something in the air that made her uneasy, like something bad was going to happen. And knowing this place, it was a reasonable worry to have.

She shook her head and stretched, not wanting that to bog her down from being able to tackle everything head on. Lefty finally apologised, so she was going to ride the positivity and hope associated with it for as long as she could. She turned after stretching so her skates were on the ground, and finally took notice that she was all on her own.

She pulled out her phone and glanced at the time, seeing it was 3AM. So it was night shift time. She shrugged, assumed her friends were called to take part in the night shift, and tucked her phone away again. Sighing, she felt hungry all the sudden, so decided getting something to eat was the best course of action.

So with somewhat slow movements, Baby left the tent and started to make her way towards the main dining room. But before she could even think about opening the door out of the storage room, she spotted Candy Cadet watching her from the corner closest to the door. Tilting her head, she skated over and looked the mysterious robot over.

"You're back, huh?" She said, whether she was talking to Candy or just to herself being a complete mystery. "What, have you come to bestow on me another one of your fantastic stories? Or are you just here to mess with me?"

The cadet was silent, none of his lights activated to signify even an ounce of life in it. Baby squinted at it, got close to its head, and even banged on the top with her claw. But still, the robot was unresponsive. So the clown simply shrugged and turned to leave, only to freeze when she noticed Candy had his head locked onto her. It's gaze was locked onto her, even when Baby moved back and forth quickly the robot's head would follow.

"Okay, that's kinda creepy..." She whispered to herself, looking around as if expecting someone else to be there. She looked back at the cadet with a hesitant look, fearful the robot was going to jump her at any second.

Which, of course, when Candy Cadet decided to fully activate.

"Now I will tell you a story", the bot said, all its lights flickering on instantly. Baby let out a startled scream and jumped a good foot in the air, fumbling on her skates when she landed.

Which meant she promptly face-planted on the floor.

Baby huffed and struggled to get herself back onto her feet, but froze when she saw Candy Cadet was staring down at her with its colourful but lifeless lights. The clawed animatronic felt very on the spot, and looked either way. "What?"

"There once was a girl", the robot began, completely unmoving as its monotone voice rang out. "Who could travel between two worlds at will. She had everything in one old, but nothing in the other. Then, something happened that had her choose one world over the other, with her only reminder being the friends she made along the way. Let's hope she made the right choice..."

Candy Cadet turned off right then and there, although it stayed in the exact position as before. Baby was so startled she pushed herself onto her back and scrambled away, her eyes not leaving the expensive candy dispenser. Once she was backed against a shelf, she used it as assistance to get back onto her feet, her eyes never leaving the cadet.

The air was still as Baby never stopped staring at the robot, which was still locked to the pose of when Baby was on the ground. It was eerie, creepy, if not outright horrifying. During their walk back, Lefty had said that no one had any control over the cadet, and that even Cassidy didn't remember bringing it down here. It was nothing but an enigma, and no one wanted to dig deeper to learn how.