The Murderer's Child

Springlocks

The house was clean and tidy, a massive difference to the state they had left it in. There was a pile of books and papers on the shelf that stretched along one of the walls, a charger and headphones sat beside them. There was a small lamp and along was a note board hung on the wall. The table was now clear and the carpet was clean, the sofas were in their original places and the kitchen looked like a kitchen. But something seemed off.

Everything was where she had left it. She was stood looking around the house, as if trying to determine what had happened, but there was nothing obviously different.

"Shad, You alright?" Foxy placed his hand on her shoulder and she jumped slightly, startled.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... I'm fine. Just... I'm just imagining things... I'm gonna go sleep for a bit..." She sighed and headed upstairs, leaving the other four in the main room.

"Is she okay?" Chica stepped forward, directing her question at Foxy.

"I honestly don't have a clue. She seems distant. Jumpy."

"You can say that again. She's been like that since she got to the pizzeria yesterday- this morning - Since she started to take notice of the drawings." Bonnie commented, almost absent-mindedly.

"The drawings? Wait... She draws. What has she been drawing recently?" Freddy wandered over to the pile of books, noticing a small book with pages stuck out of it awkwardly. It was obviously another one of her sketch books.

He flicked through it, seeing patterns and doodles. A few pages further, there were more of the animatronics, as robots or otherwise, there were a few messy scribbles, then a small page that was folded up and glued in. It was a diagram with notes around it.

"Springlock. Used in Springlock suits. The term 'Springlock' can be used to describe the singular lock, which holds back the animatronic mechanisms in a springlock suit, or it can describe the suit as a whole. That's what she's written down. There's a sketch of an individual lock, then one of a suit in its entirety. Then, she's written more..: There was once a 'multiple and simultaneous springlock failure' meaning either a) multiple suits all went down at once or b) multiple individual locks within the same suit went down, the later of which is more likely."

Bonnie was looking at the notes and reading more of the seemingly random information that was scattered along the page, looking at the detail in the notes and diagrams. There were descriptions of what the 'springlocks' looked like, either as suits or individuals, then descriptions of what they do.

"It's as if she was researching them. As if she was wanting to either make or use something with them." Freddy looked at the notes again, trying to decipher what she was planning on using them for. "These aren't 'oh, I'm bored lets go make random notes' like she has done in the past. These are detailed, constructed to show anyone and give them an incredible understanding of them. This is done purposefully, carefully. Not like how she's done it in the past..."

"Wasn't there an incident with a springlock suit before? I'm sure there was one. A kid got bitten, I believe..." Chica had joined in, staring at the page.

"I think that's what she's been researching... But why would she want to know more? I remember her saying that her father and his old work partner had taught her about them..." Foxy was looking between the floor and wall, as though the wood that ran around it could give him the answer he wanted.

"His old work partner?"

"Yeah... Some guy called Henry, I think. She said, after he found out about the murders, he committed suicide. Let one of the animatronics kill him, apparently."

Silence fell as they heard a noise running through the house. They all looked up from the page, ready to put it away and be sat as though they were talking all along if they needed.

"Its just the hot water. She's probably gone for a shower. I don't blame her... We probably should as well at some point." Bonnie was quick to point out as soon as he'd realised.

There was nothing else in the book. The date at the bottom of the page was from a few days ago, the first day she was alone after starting her job.

They were stood deep in thought for a while, before being startled by Shadow walking down the stairs, now in a black jacket at faded, navy-blue jeans. Her hair was still damp as she walked through into the kitchen. It was now quarter to eleven.

"Food? Do you guys want any?" She asked, not looking up from the cupboards.

"Uh... I will, but I'm gonna head off for a shower first." Bonnie said, running up the stairs. Foxy, Freddy and Chica agreed that they would all eat after they had all had a shower.

By half past eleven, they were all sat around the kitchen table. Chica and Shadow still had wet hair dampening the back of their jackets. Everyone was now wearing clean jeans and t-shirts, Shadow, Chica and Freddy wearing hoodies over the top. They had eaten, and were onto making plans for the day.

"Well... We need to go out for more food again. We'll go out for dinner if you want..."

They agreed, and set out for the day...