A Father's Legacy

Chapter 2

"Ok, tell me what you know, Michael."

I was sitting at a picnic table with my laptop opened in front of me.  Michail was sitting across from me.  He was fiddling with a silver business pen.  I couldn't read the words on it.

"You can just call me Mike," he offered.  "I don't know a whole lot.  My dad wasn't really there in my life, you know?  Always working.  He was close to my older brother."

"Did you talk to him?  Maybe he knows where your dad is."

"We're not talking to my brother.  Ever."

"Why not?  Sibling rivalry or something?"

"One, he's in jail.  Two, he's a jerk.  And three, he pretty much hates me."

"Wow.  You've got a messed up family.  One brother in jail.  Dad missing.  Any other family I should know about?"

"Well, my little sister tries to kill people."

I stared at him.  He finally glanced away uncomfortably.

"I'm joking," he told me.  "My little sister is dead.  And I never met my mom."

"Sorry to hear it."

"Look, should I just say what I know and you write it down?"

"Yeah, good idea."

"My dad's name is William Afton."  I started to type as he talked.  "He founded Afton Robotics Inc.  For a while he was also the co-owner of this pizza entertainment place called Freddy's Family Diner, and later Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.  A lot of this I learned about later.  At the time I was in the hospital."

"For months?"

"Um . . ." Mike stared off into the distance.  "A couple of years.  I can't remember exactly how many.  I was sort of in a coma."

"Gosh, what happened to you?"

"An accident at the diner involving my brother, his gang of friends, and one of my dad's robots."

"Seriously, you have some family problems."

"Thanks, doc. Anything else I should know about?"

"I can probably help you. Here, check this out."

I turned my laptop around so he could see. It was open to the homepage of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. I tapped the screen.

"Says they're still open. We can just pop in and ask some questions-"

"No. Nobody can know about this." He scrolled down and pointed to a different part of the home page. "Look, they're hiring a night guard. I'll apply and let you in during my shift. Then we can look for clues."

"And why can't we just ask?"

"Part of the reason I'm hiring you is so you don't ask questions.  We do this my way."

I shrugged.  If he wanted to get hired he could be my guest.  I was just in it for the money.  And maybe for the chance to do a case. Besides, it wasn't like we were breaking the law or anything.

- - -

Mike's shift started at midnight. At exactly 11:48 he opened the main doors and let me in the old Pizzeria. The hallways were dark and everything smelled like mildew.

Mike lit the way with his flashlight. He was dressed in a blue security guard uniform. An ID card was clipped to his chest. A quick glance was all it took to read it.

"I thought your name was Mike Afton."

"It is."

"So what's all this funny business on your name tag?"

"Mike Schmidt is one of my fake identities."

Did I even want to know why he had fake identities?  This whole thing was starting to feel shady. Everything starts filling shady at midnight. You're just being paranoid. He's a normal guy, Zoe. A smoking hot guy. I grinned. Even the voice in my head sounded like Yena.

We marched down the hall to the security office.  Posters were plastered over the walls, advertising pizza and entertainment from a trio of animatronics.  Everything felt more depressing in the dark.

The security office was a tiny room, barely big enough for Mike and I to be inside without touching.  An empty doorway stood on either end of the room, divided by a long desk.  A single computer and electric fan buzzed away on it's cracked wooden surface.

"So what's the plan?" I asked as I leaned against the wall.

"I'll get into the databanks and do a search for my dad.  You have the usb, right?"  I nodded and held it up.  "I'll transfer the files there and then we can get out of here."

"No, you need to finish your shift," I declared.  "You can't leave this place unguarded!"

"It's an old pizzeria.  Who's going to rob it?"

I frowned at him and fiddled with the usb as he started a search. The progress bar moved achingly slow. I stifled a yawn as Mike stared intently at the screen. A thump sounded in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, perking up.

"Hear what?" Mike replied.

"A thump. I think someone is trying to break in!"

"It's just the pipes. They thump."

"Check the security cameras, ok? It won't stop the search progress."

Mike rolled his eyes and pulled up the security camera feed. Nothing seemed amiss as he flipped between the different cameras. My heart jumped as the stage area flicked by.

"Wait, go back."

"What?"

"Wait for the camera to pan back."

We waited in silence as the camera slowly pivoted. One animatronic . . . two . . .

"Where's the rabbit?"