Playtime with Percy; Before Playtime

Sunday; Finding Aid

June 2, 8:27, 2002

Percy and his friends barely got any sleep last night. Felix kept waking up to check on Rowan, and Charlie even snuck out of the room to find Pal. Percy lay in his bed wide awake thinking of how and why Pal would have caused them so much pain and lied.

How could a Tamagotchi somehow take control of me and my friends? Are we somehow connected? What if it isn't Pal? What if it's someone else who's controlling Pal or is Pal? The more Percy thought about it, the more what-ifs appeared. What if he isn't controlling us? What if it's a malfunction we experienced? But, if he is controlling us, then, is he what the Ringmaster is fearing and screaming to get out of his head? What if Pal can take control of the circus animatronics?

But why would Pal control us? Couldn't he just tell us what he needed and we could have helped him or not? Percy wanted to ask Pal those questions, but nobody knew where he was. Charlie said that himself. Because Pal didn't want us to know about his plan.

One thing Percy found odd was that the room for the night guard was locked. There was no one there in the room, expert Charlie and Pal were there in the hallway. It's obviously Pal. Percy scolded himself. He must have blinded Charlie while controlling him so he wouldn't know where Pal was.

Marylin didn't sleep well either, despite being the animatronic who suggested trying to go to sleep. She spent most of the night with Felix in his bed.

When the sun rose, Percy didn't get up. He waited until all his friends were out of the room getting ready for the day, then stood up. It took a long time for them to leave.

Can we even trust John now? Percy thought as he finally got up. The spring locks in his bed creaked. Pal could be lying. But those papers... They looked so real and true. He stood up, thinking of Pal's manic laughter and smile, thinking that John would never believe him and his friends if they told him that.

His mechanical bones ache when walking. He didn't feel like doing anything other than figuring out what Pal is or what Pal wants. But a part of him didn't want to figure it out.

Once downstairs, he saw John with a cup of coffee in his hands and sitting on top of the table with a pale blue hoodie on. The cup looked like Percy but with only his face, smiling eerily. His friends were nowhere to be seen.

" Hey, Percy! How'd you sleep?" John asked cheerfully. His hair had been nicely brushed and he no longer looked sick.

" Not that good, I guess," Percy replied. He sat next to John on the table, remembering about the deactivation papers. He looked at John in a new way. Not a good one.

He looked at John like he didn't trust him. That John was keeping something and was covering it up with a cheerful facade.

" Oh, how come?" John took a sip of his coffee.

Percy shrugged. " Don't know." He stared at John, thinking about what John's reaction would be once told about Pal.

Percy took a deep breath. "John, I need to tell you something." He said seriously. John nodded and looked at him solemnly. Percy wanted to bust out about what had been happening the past night but held in his fear and nervousness and explained slowly.

" Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs to try and tire myself out. There, I was followed by some sort of shadowy fog of sorts and a yellow hand with five fingers laid on my shoulder. I don't know why or what it was, but I kept running until I was forced to go down the hallway near the show stage. The darkness followed me but I calmed myself down and I found a mirror in front of your door. I looked into it, and when it thundered it changed my reflection. I, I don't know why, but the reflection was shown with me having wires wrapped all around my face, ears, neck, and shoulders. Like any sane animatronic I screamed and broke the mirror. A ran away towards the Rat-cade to see if it was actually raining, and it was. Charlie came down to see me, saying that he heard me scream. Together, we found a living Tamagotchi that said its name is Pal. We brought down Felix and Marylin, and Pal said he needed help finding his 'one and only best pal', that he doesn't even know who it is. Then he started to persuade us by showing... by showing deactivation papers for us that were signed... You, John. Pal said he would help us from getting deactivated if we helped him. We agreed, and he somehow took control of us. He controlled Charlie to pick him up and take him to the hallway I once was there in, and we all had sudden control of our bodies again. We tried to go to sleep, but it never worked, and now I'm here with you... explaining... it all." Percy said very slowly and fearfully, leaving some details that were better left untold.