Absurdist Phone Guy Stuffed in a Suit

5 - Repairs

Jeremy Fitzgerald

Jeremy exited his truck, then carefully removed the tarp and ropes covering the animatronic. He knew getting involved in this – whatever this even was – was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. Years of nothing at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria would do that to you. Sure, he helped keep watch over the restaurant, and fixed up the animatronics when a kid stuck a lollipop between its gears or something, but fuck him if that wasn't the most uninteresting job on planet.

This was something at least. Something interesting. Something exciting. Carefully, he moved the animatronic onto the dolly, making sure to avoid damaging it further. Not like it could be damaged further.

He wheeled it into his garage, clearing a spot in the sea of tools and miscellaneous Faz-junk that littered the floor. He set the animatronic down, and got to work. No time to lose.

The first thing he did was inspect the face. Getting up close and personal with the thing still gave him the creeps – it felt like it could jump at him at any second – but years of this exact process helped him shrug his nervousness off.

The first thing he noticed was that there were parts that clearly shouldn't be there. Like a suspicious data storage device wedged in between its wiring. "What the hell happened to you?" He muttered.

Using a pair of tweezers – well, he called them "tweezers", but they were closer to tongs to in size – he carefully removed the device and inspected it. It was intact. "How did this get outside of you?" He shrugged. He'd put it back in later. Cautiously setting it down on his workbench, he continued the inspection.

The next step was to remove the outer casing. Strangely, this animatronic differed from the designs he was used to, being composed of an "endoskeleton" with removable plastic plates. Removing them was simple, each had a painted-over screw, which, when removed, would allow the plates to slide out. The extremities of the animatronic were undamaged, so he began by removing the torso. "Huh? What's this?"

Inside was... something. Jeremy wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at. The first thing he noticed was a sizable cavity inside of the machine. Perhaps for storage? He also noticed a very strange grid of metal connected to motors and the animatronic's control board, as well as a strange disk-like object. What the metal was for, he couldn't fathom. It clearly wasn't support structure, nor could its purpose be power delivery – the metal had no insulation and, had power actually ran through it, it would likely fry the animatronic's parts, or cause it to completely malfunction. Yet it was connected to areas clearly intended to receive electricity.

The strangest part of the grid, however, was the feeling it radiated. He couldn't quite describe it, but moving his hand close to the metal, it felt hot and almost like he was in a thunder storm. He didn't know what could cause it, but prayed it wasn't a fatal dose of X-Rays barreling through his body. Shuddering, he took a closer look at the control board.

On the board, he noticed a spot very clearly intended for a data storage device. Like the one on his workbench. However it got out, he would put it back in. Gingerly, he picked up the device, carefully aligning it with the slot and pushing it was in. With that, the animatronic should at least function, even if it still wasn't fully repaired.

Moving back, he took another glance at the animatronic's strange features. It was completely unlike any he'd encountered. Like it had a different purpose all together. "Why were you built like this? What the hell can you do?" He whispered.

He moved his head upwards, taking in its face once more. This would be a project. But he could complete the repairs in a couple hours. If he neglected his sleep for that night. "Fritz, this better be worth it..."