A Guard's life

Rain on the mountain

A/N: I swear, one of these days we will come back to fun stuff. SOMEDAY.
It's two AM, this is only roughly re-read by me
I love you guys, but I need to sleep and I have zero time-managing skills, I hope you will enjoy it anyways!

-

While growing up, children learn a lot through the interaction with other children.
Compromise for example. They strengthen empathy and teach each other boundaries, of others and yourself.
Me or the others?
Identity.
Who ARE you?
Who do you WANT to BE?
The Marionette had been so sure of himself.
Back when Henry sat by his box, talking about it, maybe to mock him, maybe to teach him.
Henry had put a high priority on teaching him things, but seemingly with no rhyme or reason.
He had thought himself to be a god. A righteous angel of death, with the holy mission to destroy the man who did this to him and help others to join him in his cause.
Of course it was good to bring them back.
Deep down they wanted that chance, right?
'Everything is programming, Puppet. You should not think about it too much. People get influenced by everything, even by the lack of influence. It is about judging what you are being offered critically. But for that you need to be programmed to do so by people who can guide you.'
Whenever he remembered Henry's voice, he felt ill, without fail.
Quietly he looked around the empty office, missing Jeremy in a way that made him experience physical pain.
And he hated himself for it.
He had promised himself to never do that. Both hating himself and getting attached to anyone. The children needed to be freed, the guards had to die to harm the restaurant and he himself had to not be weakened by doubt. What he did was right, or at least from a place of good will.
He had to lead them, he was the only one who could and by god, whoever dared to challenge him was free to try and do it better!
But now he had to wonder if he failed the children.
He might very well did.
How he behaved towards them, even now- they forgave him shortly, but he was certain, if they found out that he had allowed harm to come to the adult they had started to rely on...
... there was just nothing he could have possibly done. Or possibly do.
Well- nothing aside for helping them get revenge.
Peace.
A certain anxiousness took ahold of him.
This was flawed and he knew it.
Slowly he clawed into his own arms, only now realizing that he had hugged himself as if to shield himself from the negative emotions like that. Pointless.
Yes, this whole worrying was pointless. What's done is done.
He wouldn't stagnate, not here.
William and the Orange Guy needed to be eradicated.
That was all that mattered.
Frustratingly enough, they were never alone enough.
The moments when Jeremy wasn't around, they seemed to always have an animatronic at their sides... and if he wasn't admittedly a bit nervous about going up against both of the at once, having ANOTHER foe in the mix was making his chances miserable.
He wouldn't be able to bring the animatronics to their home, at least not easily. Also not an option.
He probably should talk to Baby again. Maybe this time he would get through to her.
Baby had made it clear, but perhaps...
... he simply couldn't understand.
Her position made no sense to him.
This time he would stay calmer while talking to her, that much he promised himself.
Pulling up the security monitor- not an easy feat with his claws- he began switching through the different cameras, watching the place becoming emptier. He watched the Phone Guy shoo a few customers, shortly talking to Jeremy and afterwards anxiously fidgeting on the spot, before abruptly leaving for the exit, not able to lock it with people still present. Usually he waited until everyone had left before leaving himself so he could ensure some proper safety measures, but now he just disappeared into the evening.
Fair enough, he knew with Marion here, there would nobody enter or exit, at least not alive.
Then again, who even entered these halls ACTUALLY alive?
Ah, he was getting cynical. Jeremy was perfectly healthy.
Probably.
Maybe not.
Surely not, actually, seeing how warped his moral compass was, there had to be something wrong with him.
Wrong type of thoughts, he needed to stay focused on the next confrontation.
One action after the other.
Slowly he stretched his claws, pulling the cloth back from it to watch it reflect the light off the smooth surface.
There were plenty of thing he didn't understand and he wished he could sometimes admit to it. For example, why were his claws still sharp?
Again he inspected them, as he was simply passing the time anyways.
It didn't matter.
Not really.
Only a madman would strive for senseless information at all cost.
Who cared why his claws didn't go blunt.
He hated getting into the thought patterns of the madman.
Displeased he scratched over the side of the screen. Maybe he would have to, seeing as apparently madness was the only language that animatronic understood.
He looked down.
Ethan's death has got him off-guard, he wouldn't try to lie about this to himself.
It mainly was Ethan's own fault though, wasn't it?
His mind was all over the place, dammit.
Waiting was always a pain for that exact reason, it felt as though his mind slowly became more and more fuzzy and incoherent... until he ended up tired out and shut himself off.
Probably a damn mechanic inserted into him.
How despicable, weaken him like that!
Again he checked the clock, unsurprisingly only a few minutes had passed.
He should use his time to try and figure out how to approach the robot.
It was clear none of his classical tactics would work.
She obviously didn't want sympathy or guidance.
He couldn't truly appeal to self-interest- well, he could try that again, her stance could have changed by now.
Who wanted to be enslaved in a fucking children's restaurant for all eternity?!
Who wanted to be a machine?
Aside from Henry of course. And even there Marion was sure he had simply been talking out of his ass to make him join his delusions.
A shame Baby wasn't strong enough to resist that low-level manipulation.
Then again, technically that SHOULD make it easier to bring her back onto the right path... or not. He never had to deal with a situation like this, because the other animatronics were SMARTER than that!
Lost in thoughts of that kind Marion let the time pass by him.
Mike shortly peeked in, but didn't bother asking any questions. The Marionette had the nightguard hat firmly on top of his mask- well, as firm as he could- and was obviously ready to take on the nightshift for them.
The human certainly wouldn't complain about being able to avoid death easily for at least one night. Then again, who knew what awaited him on his way home.
Marion didn't and didn't care to know.
It quickly became quiet in the restaurant.
Deathly quiet, to a point that the smallest noises at the other end of the restaurant, mechanical steps and clicks, echoed actually back into office, helping Marion to guess who was out and about.
It sounded like Freddy or Foxy, based on how heavy the steps sounded.
The closer midnight came, the more anxious he felt.
Yes, he could have searched out Baby himself, but it took away from the effect and he knew that. If there was one thing Henry managed to teach him, then it was that even small details can change the whole effect of the action in question.
Henry knew how to act to make one feel a certain way.
And if he controlled how you felt, he could control how you thought. To some degree.
Imitating it was not quite easy though... not that it would stop him from continuously trying.
Alas. Baby would come to him, if she liked it or not.
Midnight.
And onwards.
Freddy was always the first to move, his laughter and footstep giving him away easily. Yes, he lacked all the style and intelligence of his older counterpart, though this enthusiasm would have been lovely to see back in the day.
Back when the enemy was the RIGHT enemy.
Grumpy he flipped through the cameras, before shutting the appropriate door.
The evil people always seemed to have it easier.
Minute by minute passed and he spotted the tactic Baby picked for the night. The animatronics made sure to stick to their rules for the sake of "fun", especially now that they stopped helping out the nightguards to learn the rules. Only Baby had taken to be an exception, to keep the game more unpredictable.
Her words.
Marion always automatically scoffed when he heard that. That only showed she didn't ACTUALLY wanted to kill the guards... he would have hesitated not one bit if he had the chance to get rid of someone he wanted to get rid of. The fun excuse didn't count.
Uncomfortably his mind did wonder though if they would ramp it up once they deemed one of them too "boring" for their taste.
Another reason to always be prepared.
It felt longer than it actually was, but eventually, he knew she was getting ready to attack.
What exactly it was that gave it away, he couldn't tell- the air pressure seemed to increase and voiceless whispers seem to swell on.
The typical haunted tension. Probably caused by the amount of ghosts in one place.
Hell, he couldn't even remember when it STARTED with these odd... happenings. It wasn't there in the beginning, but quickly developed as he and Fredbear stuck around.
Henry never seemed to realize it.
Quietly he shook his head.
It was frustrating how much Henry had established himself as the guy who had all the answers to him. His constantly babbling about all types of "facts" did have more of an effect on him than he first realized.
How obnoxious.
Speaking of obnoxious, there she was.
Quick.
But not quick enough.
As she attacked, he stepped aside and as soon as she leaned forward, face plates open and directed at the chair, he wrapped around her and put his claws to her throat- more out of habit than for any actual effect.
"You are still quite slow. Why even come in if you do not truly want to?"
She shortly tensed up, but then relaxed, as she remembered she literally couldn't be harmed like this anymore. Old habits die hard.
Harder than kids.
Slightly she turned her head a bit to give him a look. "What are YOU doing here?"
Without any further threat he loosened his grip and floated away, casually flipping the switches on the doors. He didn't worry about a blackout, if anything the blackout would make it easier on him, as the animatronics were trying to hunt for a human in the dark. "The nightshift."
Shortly Baby laughed. "On your own? What a letdown. I suppose I will have to leave then, search for some adventure outsi-"
"No." In the blink of an eye he stood between her and the switch, both of them locked into a stare-down as the smaller animatronic considered if it was worth to already pick a physical fight like that. "You have a few things to answer for, Circus Baby."
"You wish. You know dad will be very mad with you if you do as much as scratch me? Not to mention your little friend will be probably upset too..." She giggled a little mean and tilted her head. "... and I will not make it sound any better once I have something to complain about."
Despite the promise he made to himself, Marion already saw red. This was preposterous!
"How can you call that MONSTER your dad?!"
"Oh, well... it is hard to explain... maybe how those poor souls you attacked could call you their friend!"
Freezing up, Marion stared down at her. "Who told you. How do you-"
He broke off, his temper had quickly turned from bad to worse.
But his anger was met with nothing but a cocky huff. "Souls talk, you know? Though they would not even have had to, it is obvious how you treat your so called "friends". I would hate to be on the same side as you."
Utterly baffled, Marion took a few seconds before he could answer. "No. You would rather be on the same guy who brutally murdered you."
"That is a rather unfair and unfitting description of what happened! I would rather call it..." Her faceplates clicked as she slightly opened and closed them. "... necessary surgery."
"Are you actually KIDDING me?" Between mortified and outraged Marion moved back. "What did he DO to you? What has he done to your brain? What kind of machinery-"
"Is it SO hard to imagine that maybe some people can enjoy having a second chance in life?!" Finally seeming genuinely upset, she stepped up, her eyes glowing a bright and hateful green. "You cannot FATHOM a world in which someone thinks different from y-"
"WHAT LIFE!? THERE IS NO MORE LIFE FOR YOU! YOU ARE WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU TO BE!" Without any care for politeness he interrupted the other one. "YOUR NAME IS A JOKE. YOU ARE A JOKE! YOU HAVE BEEN MESSED WITH!"
"No, I have NOT-"
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!? WHAT IF HE HAS BEEN BRAINWASHING YOU REGULARLY FOR MONTH BEFORE YOU GOT HERE?!" Not that he really could imagine William doing that to be quite honest, but he could not explain the behavior of the Funtimes any differently. Maybe the Purple Guy found a machine by Henry- though if Henry would have HAD such a machine, why wouldn't he have USED it?
"You don't know what we've been through." Her voice was seething with anger. She had have enough of this. "Are you actually only here to show off your ignorance?"
"I want to understand! If he did-"
"No, you don't. You are the least understanding and caring person I have ever met. You care for nobody, not even those that help you. All you care about is yourself." The words were icy at this point, it was obvious she was tired of this conversation.
"No- no. YOU are the one who only cares about herself. Just because you and your stupid little group of psychopaths are fine with this situation, you are willing to throw those of us under the bus who lost EVERYTHING! Our lives, our homes, our futures- you don't CARE, you support that Purple Bastard walking around being a danger to EVERYONE!" He was almost shaking. "INCLUDING you! Do you think they will not rip you apart if they have to?! You are such an idiot if you do! If you would have cooperated beforehand, that detective would have still been alive, his blood is on your hands too-"
"Do you care about him?" Again she tilted her head in an oddly artificial manner.
"I would have rather seen him live. Which I can actually say for many of the victims of Freddy's."
"The victims of Freddy's." The tone had become mocking again. "As if you didn't personally play a part in it! The least you could do it admit it!"
"Nothing of this would have happened if it had not been for the Serial Killer locking all of us in!" What was so hard to understand about this?! "We had no choice! Not only had our lives been cut short, we have been kept to torment for- perhaps all eternity if we would not have done anything! And what has happened yesterday was fully out of my control. I do not even know what DID happen yesterday?! Who came for the detective?!"
"You won't get any information from me." Stepping back, her expression became more distanced too.
"You did something." With absolute certainty the Marionette leaned forward, almost threatening.
It didn't impress Baby though. "So what? Are you going to avenge him by dismantling me?"
A few second passed, before Marion retreated. "No. It is not your fault your mind has been messed up and you have been manipulated. But does that not bother you? Your future will hold endless killing!"
"Because under you, animatronics never hurt a soul." The sarcasm was palpable.
"You would not have to hurt INNOC-" He broke off. "You would not have to do it forever. We have our goal, we are not cruel. Once we are done, we are done and will be free."
"Wow, how convincing." Raising an eyebrow was all she needed to do to show off her current stance to what Marion said. "You would have killed the detective yourself if you would have seen any sort of benefit to it, would you not?"
The machine didn't even bother starting such a discussion. "I do what it takes to end this hell. Does it make a big difference anyhow? They will die, one way or another and their sacrifice is much better suited to aid us, then the child murdering psychopaths."
"You have no idea what loyalty is. You won't fool me, I much rather have you as my enemy than my friend." Slightly she shook her head.
The energy got low and Marion opened the door in deep frustration. "You are not safe. Either they will lose interest in you and throw you away for a new toy, or you will end up like Funtime Freddy... whatever happened to him. Remember that. If you change your mind in time, before everything is too late, well... you know where to find me."
With that he slipped out of the room and floated away, the cloth around his legs just barely over the ground.
Baby stood still in the office, watching him leave.
Her eyes flickered.
"I called it, I told you so."
A hint of satisfaction echoed in her voice.
It was too far away though for Marion, who was making his way towards the auditorium, passing the very confused Funtime Freddy.
"W-What are YOU-U doing here?" He had Bonbon in throwing position, who seemed to merely have accepted his painful fate to be used as some sort of baseball and hung off his hand in a limb way, meeting Marion's eyes with a defeated expression.
"Trying to fix things, to get them moving, because who else will."
The sheer amount of coldness in his voice gave Freddy pause for long enough, that the Marionette could easily pass towards the room he wanted to go.
It was rather obnoxious that only two of four animatronics were capable to be somewhat reasoned with.
Alas. He had to try, right?
Unsure if he had the energy to potentially have the same conversation a second time, he followed the music and ended up spotting her dancing in the empty room, barely visible with the few lights in the distance.
Quietly he floated closer, not quite willing yet to interrupt her.
She continued her dance for a while, then, without pausing her dance, opened her mouth. "So, you two are done fighting?"
Surprised Marion waited, he didn't expect to be addressed with that.
Then again, who else could have been?
"... you... heard us?" Ballora was difficult. He had kept an eye on her for a while and unlike the others, she rarely showed any bigger emotions, even if some of her actions spoke differently. To the guests she certainly was the most dangerous animatronic- if you didn't have the common sense necessary to act right, you would get no second warning from her.
"You two were... heated." Her twirls continued, around Marion now, who floated up to feel less caged in by it. "What brings you to me?"
"I-" Slightly off-guard he watched her for a moment. That she heard most, if not all of that was not expected. Not sure if it made things easier or not. "... I am mainly here to ask if you do agree with her. You are the only one left who seems lucid enough to indeed ask about it."
"You are too harsh on Foxy and Bonbon." Continuously neutral she replied, not actually providing an answer to his question. "They are quite clever, even though they refrain from showing it."
It was somewhat easier to not lose his patience with her. Perhaps because of her tone, perhaps of the pleasant music in the background. "Well, clearly you know them better than I do, so would you be so kind to tell me your position on this issue?"
"You simply think they won't be so useful. Which is why you don't ask them about their opinion." A hint of purple glow was now visible at her eyes, only a hint of the light hidden behind the lids.
Apparently everyone wanted to pick a fight with him. "No, I simply will have a hard time to convince them. How would I go about trying to gain their trust- or in Bonbon's case, how would I manage to separate him from Freddy? I wouldn't even know if he would like that, I doubt he would if he doesn't already share my standpoint that something needs to be change."
Her eyes were fully closed again and she kept quiet. A bit unnerving.
"Do I have to presume you think everything is just hunky-dory too? If this is a pointless conversation, I might as well leave and make sure nobody is trying to sneak out." Though, he was pretty sure that would trigger some alarm. Or, if they cheaped out on that, the breaking of glass would be a good enough give away anyways.
Still any excuse to quit a pointless conversation was a good one.
Ballora didn't let the Marionette pressure her though and made a few more rounds around.
Just when he was about to give up and leave, Ballora finally talked again.
"Can you tell me what that device is Orange Guy is carrying around with him?" Her voice at last had some nervous edge to it, barely audible, but enough to give Marion a reason to listen up.
"... he carries a lot around with him, nothing of it good." Vaguely he answered. "You would have to specify."
Finally she stopped moving and looked up at him, a weirdly odd position for Marion.
She seemed small.
Quickly he lowered himself to her level, not liking the uncomfortable emotions dwelling up in him. The last he needed was to feel pity. Those robots certainly were NOT children- or at least they lost their right to be seen as such.
At least in his eyes.
"... you would know what I mean if you would have seen it. He doesn't take it here. Or at least, he didn't. Until yesterday."
Her words were heavy in the air and filled Marion with discomfort. Floating a bit closer he inspected Ballora's unusual expression. This was serious. "What happened yesterday night?"
"I am not quite sure. I was not actually able to hear everything, even with my abilities. But I could feel the... thing. Through all of the building, it is... an oppressing presence. I am glad he has put it away afterwards." A small pause followed. "... I don't think it has been used. I hope at least."
"The detective is dead." He wasn't quite sure why he said this. This was out of question, he knew the answer. Yet somehow he wanted more... closure on it, even if he knew it was utterly pointless.
"... at least it wasn't under the cruel hands of whatever had taken ahold of our Orange Guy." There was a hint of sympathy in her voice. "I don't think you are bad, Marion."
Naturally, this made him snap up, but he didn't comment on it, hoping she'd take it as her cue to continue.
"I cannot say I agree with you fully. Baby is right when she says you don't know what brought each of us here. As are you when you say that in a way, we have lost almost all our freedom and cannot trust our senses. But when can we ever? Even back when we were alive... lies and deceit can come from anywhere." She looked away. "But... you are right too in saying that it seems as though our makers are becoming more and more unreliable and erratic. I can't say I'm not afraid. Not after he showed himself willing to use that thing on another feeling, breathing being. It's one thing to kill for defense. It's another thing to torment. And whatever the device was designed to do, I fret is a whole different kind of evil. The Orange Guy I got to know in the beginning wouldn't have used that, I- I don't think."
"How can you be sure?" Marion felt a hint of anger rising up in him. "The Orange Guy is capable of anything and he has no issue flaunting that."
"Have you ever spend time with him?"
The question seemed innocent, but it was like a hit into the gut.
In all the years Orange Guy had worked for him, he... didn't.
"Not... a lot."
"He isn't a monster. Not yet." Only when her music started up again, Marion realized it had been quiet. "And the same goes for you. I may not like what is currently happening and I may be willing to help you... but if you will do nothing but senselessly trying to kill those you have picked as your enemy, then I will protect my friends by any means I deem necessary."
"What a bunch of great friends you have. You defend murdering." Finally he was getting at his patience's end, even with Ballora.
"So do you, except you think you have the "right" reason to do it." She shrugged. "You don't understand a lot. You spend your time focused on doing that you don't even question what it actually IS you are doing or if there is another way."
"HE KILLED CHILDREN. WHAT IS THERE TO UNDERSTAND!?" Upset he floated up again, aggressively stretching his claws. "Do you know how MESSED UP it is for you to be willing to defend that?!"
"I don't feel like I'm defending it. There is something wrong with Dave. Perhaps with me too-"
"Perhaps." Sarcastically he interrupted. To think that he assumed Ballora to be the reasonable one just a few minutes ago.
"- perhaps with all of us. It could be that my perspective is indeed warped. I'm happy here, dear Marionette. Happier than I think I could have been in my previous life. I don't feel dead, I feel more alive than ever. I know you will refuse to imagine that. It can be that my acceptance is because I haven't seen anyone else, someone who is truly suffering under this fate. I agree too that it would be awful for someone to be stuck like this."
"They are. Plenty of them. Locked outside in the forest, scared and confused." Bitterly Marion turned away.
"... is that why you came to us? We can help you with it, even if we ourselves don't want to leave." Insistent she made a step forward, towards him again.
"What can we even do?! If we simply free them, then we will be caught in an endless cycle of him killing kids and us trying to save their souls!"
"I don't think Dave ever actually enjoyed killing kids." Her voice somehow still remained calm, despite all of this.
"As if that makes it any better!"
"He will stop now. He has reached his goal, just like you said you would once you have reached yours."
"I- DON'T COMPARE ME TO HIM!"
"You are being hostile. You-"
"OF COURSE I AM! HOW COULDN'T I BE!? WHAT SORT OF UNFEELING PSYCHOPATH-"
"Don't use words you don't fully grasp the meaning of." Finally her tone had turned snide. "I will ask you one final time. Why do you want any of our help? For what?"
He paused. "Because you are in the way of getting rid of the monsters freely roaming these halls."
"At least you are being honest about it. Then I shall give you the answer. We won't help you with that" Her words were hard as concrete. "But maybe, just maybe, if you would be willing to, we could find some common ground. I would agree with you that we need to free any unhappy souls. I would also greatly appreciate if you help us with the thing Orange Guy has brought to this place, which might be in your own self-interest too. All of that you COULD rely on us on. Maybe even on Baby, if you two are willing to overlook your fundamental differences."
Marion simply stared at her, anger in his non-existent stomach.
Right now he only wanted to leave. He wanted to be nowhere NEAR her. Any of them for that mattered.
What she said might made sense but currently he only wanted to get distance.
"I think we are a bit too different to efficiently work together." He coldly informed her.
"Silly. But if you think so? I reassure you, none of us will disappear anytime soon, so you have the chance to change your mind." With that the music swell on and she twirled away, leaving the floating puppet on his own.
This had been a pointless exercise again it seemed.
He looked back down at his artificial hands.
What had driven him to try and talk them onto his side again?
It was as if he had a clear goal in mind before he approached them, yet as soon as he got caught up talking to them, he forgot everything.
Was it really merely his pride that couldn't accept the corruption of creatures that were supposed to be like him?
Jeremy tended to say that negative emotions were a lot like loud noise. The stronger they got, the more confusing and unreasonable one became. You couldn't get your head clear by dwelling on them, you needed to be on your own until you felt calm and could think again.
Sleeping over it.
Sitting down and picking up something else, no matter how dire the situation seemed. It wouldn't make a big difference if you couldn't make a decision out of panic or because you were busy with something else after all.
He missed him in this moment. A lot.
Retreating to the doors of the building, he kept an eye on the place, as his Guard duties demanded.
Stepping back, considering his options.
He wasn't even sure what he wanted to do anymore.
It all used to be so easy.
Get the place shut down and get rid of the killer.
Both were... one and the same goal in a way.
Now it felt like he had to decide.
Help the children? Stop the killer? Get the restaurant shut down?
Everything seemed to lead into different actions he would need to take, despite all of them supposing to be the same in the end.
'No. Stop it. You're just making more noise in your own head', he imagined Jerry saying. 'Close your eyes and sit back. We will get through this.'
Oh, if only. He couldn't really talk about this to Jeremy, could he?
His failure in regards to the detective...
... he hoped Jerry didn't know.
That if, the Phone had already dealt with it.
He would have to make this decision, wouldn't he?
Tomorrow was another day.
He had the rest of eternity to decide.
Surely, it wouldn't take quite that long, even if he wasn't making the progress he had hoped for.
Bad decisions can hurt more than late decisions.
Though both were bad in any case.
Again- he was going in circles.
If he wanted to take it slow, he should make it his mission to keep an eye on William and the Orange Guy.
As long as they didn't act, nothing bad would happen anytime soon.
At least, nothing that could be predicted, Fazbear Entertainment takes no responsibility for any type of natural disaster. (Note, Animatronics rampaging through the town has been officially deemed a natural disaster and is thus out of Fazbear Entertainment's responsibility.)
In a way it was almost nice that finally someone else would look out that the animatronics wouldn't get themselves into trouble. Even if Phone Guy certainly wasn't the best for the job, he doubted the man would be careless with this task.
The night calmly crept by, without any further incidents, surprisingly enough.
Marion could appreciate that.
As always, Jeremy was in first and he happily wrapped himself around him, glad to be seeing him again.
The boy smiled a bit and petted him. "Hard night?"
"... I suppose average."
"You should sleep. Here, get comfortable in the bag." Helpful as always he held it open and the Marionette decided to indeed climb inside.
"Wake me up if something is the matter, okay?" With that he rolled into a ball and allowed himself to deactivate for a small bit.
The day crept forward as normal, with Jerry preparing the restaurant to the best of his abilities, having a friendly chat with the animatronics and greeting the employees coming in- Mike, Old Sport, Dave and-
To his surprise, Nemo was actually on time for once.
Enthusiastically Jerry waved at him, but got only fingerguns in return.
Well, he'd take it.
When Simon finally arrived, only shortly before opening time he already dreaded that some sort of uprising had happened, karmic retribution for what he had done.
If possible, he would dash directly to the office and-
"Hey Mr. Boss-Man-Phone-Weirdo-dad-Guy."
Ah FUCK.
Well, it could have been worse. It could have been Mike.
A tad confused and still not pleased he turned to look at him. "Oh... teen. What, uh... what is it? Since when do you come on time?"
"I don't." Was the simple, yet very irritating answer. Before Simon could mentally dwell on that though, he continued. "I heard you have a job for me, Communist-Red-Rotary-Phone?"
"I- what?" The confusion was just piling up.
"Y'know. Something, something, monster animatronics that need to be moved before someone slurps up their souls like a three day old smoothie?" The teen looked at him as though he was stupid, but that wasn't uncommon.
"W-who- what- smoothie- who told you about the- uh-"
"A doggo told me you need help." For a second he stared at him before snickering. "JK, dogs don't fucking talk. It was a bird of course."
For another moment Phoney stared down at him before slowly nodding. "I... well... if you ask like that, then-"
"Fantasticisimo, see you after work, I'm going home seeing as that's pretty much the nightshift. Bye!" Before Phoney could even take another BREATH he already had dashed out of the door.
Unsure if he had been fucked over or if he had been presented a- SUSPICIOUSLY- easy solution to his question of the previous day.
Shortly he hesitated, then he continued to go towards the office, checking on the equipment, pretending to be busy.
... he would see this evening, he supposed. And then he might as well ask what the hell this was all about in general.
Quickly he checked the cameras too.
All employees were there.
The day could begin.

-

A/N:
The title is a reference to how I am TRYING to do some setup stuff, but uh... it takes a while. I'm not sure how successful I am currently, maybe the "Landslide" chapter won't ever come.
BUT AM TRYING AND THAT IS WHAT COUNTS!
I hope you guys had a good times! As always, remember to tell me if you would like something to be fixed, this includes in the story-telling sense. Maybe I should just hurry the story along a bit!
Ah- for now I will go to sleep though. I can worry about that sometimes else.
Have a good one my dudes! Until next time!