CORRUPTION

CHAPTER ONE, PART ONE. Afton

It's Me, the words scrawled on the wall in a childlike manor stood out like a burning building, very noticeable, Hard to look away from. Even from at a distance, the obscure writing seemed to warn people to go away, to warn them that death was lingering ahead. That somehow the inevitability of their timely end had drawn near. The words appeared to be written in a dark, red liquid, that had faded to brown over the course of many years.
It was frightening to most. Not to Afton. The writing, to him, was an art gallery of shattered memories. Portrayed by two, short words. "It's Me". Words that had little to no significance to any average person. To Afton, they held the significance of what he did to Them, years and years ago. The incident that occurred in 1985, but this was no laughing matter. What small memories Afton had left from that night, changed his life forever. Or rather, they broke him...
Afton pondered what knowledge from that night he could and couldn't remember. His mind was torn between the children, the ones slain by him, the ones he watched his own hands carefully manipulate and drag towards their deaths, and Henry... His old partner, the one Afton felt he could rely on the most to drag him out of the burning depths that was Freddy Fazbear's Pizza

(May 8th, 1985. Two years after the bite of 83')
Children rushed back and forth. Their laughter shrill and joyful. The children played, as the parents talked. A verbal murmur between the small crowds, often conversating about little things. Like the service, how the robots kept breaking down, and occasionally, the children. Not their own, but the rumors about the ones that had gone missing.
The stench of sweat, rubber, and pizza lingered in the air. Along with the creaking and groaning of the plastic playsets. Their originally vibrant colors had faded to a dull version. The tubes seemed as if they were going to snap at ny moment. With each tumble and turn, kids recklessly flinged about the tubes.The younger children weren't the company's concern. It was the older kids, teenagers, to put it clearly. The tubes were really only meant for 10 and under. Regardless, kids up to the age of 17 would still be crashing about the play set . Replacement of the tubes, or perhaps a small tune up would be ideal.
There was a stage in the main dining area, on the north wall. Made of a beautifully polished oak wood and covered with little decorations and lights. Perched upon it, were three mechanical animals. Each roughly the size of a full grown adult. Maybe even a little bigger.
To the right, a yellow chicken with two orange feet and a matching beak. Her eyes a lavender purple, she wore a bib covered in rainbow patterned confetti with two words printed in bubble letters "Let's Eat", Chica The Chicken was her name. Perched upon the plate in her right hand, sat a cupcake with yellow-brown eyes and pink frosting. The candle atop was artificially lit and had a blue and white striped pattern on it. The cupcake's name was Carl.
The one to the left, a deep blueish purple rabbit. His ears stood up straight. Occasionally, flopping down slightly, then back up. Around his neck was a red, glossy bowtie. His eyes were a hot pink, and the inside of his ears, and stomach, were lilac. In his hands, he held an orange electric guitar. Bonnie the bunny.
Then, at the center of them all stood the main animatronic, the company's namesake; Freddy Fazbear. He was a brown bear with light blue eyes, and a black top hat with a matching bowtie. In his right hand, was a microphone. One of the ones with a silver top and a black handle. Chica danced, Bonnie played the guitar, and Freddy sang.
Fredbear's family diner was no more, the company went under a different name: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Afton grumbled as he realized they couldn't have chosen a more pathetic name to give the place. After all, it was named after the main animatronic, good ol' Freddy Fazbear himself. It was Afton's Co-worker, Henry's idea to name the place after him. Y'know, to keep up with the chain. Fredbear was the leader of his band, now it's Freddy's turn to lead the animatronics for years to come.
6:32 AM, May 8th, 1985
The restaurant had settled down, customers had started filing out of the building and night was slowly falling upon the world. Afton was finishing up filing the papers for the company. Bills, lawsuits(unfortunately), and worker reports. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his dark, umber hair.
Today was just as stressful as any other day. Children got hurt messing around on the playsets, and the merry-go-round. Parents were yelling at the employees when they messed up the orders, which happened quite often. The carpets needed to be cleaned since they hadn't been given a decent clean in months. Children would drop or spill stuff on the floor all the time. Pizza stains, juice, soda, you name it. The carpet was littered with it all.
The animatronics hadn't been cleaned in a while either. Kids would try to feed the animatronics pizza, or rather, throw it at them. The image of those filthy robots, and the carpet made Afton gag. He sighed, mumbling to himself, "Best go check in the backrooms for cleaning supplies... "He arose from his sitting position at his desk and headed towards the door.
As he took a right, a long shallow corridor loomed ahead. Three of the lights had stopped working on the ceiling overhead. Leaving only one fluorescent light to illuminate Afton's way as he dragged his feet across the checkered-tile ground. He came to a halt in front of a rusted silver metal door, its handle was the only thing that was stable. Afton knew he would have to replace it eventually.
The lights flickered on and off inside the room, the stench was an awful mix of blood and sweaty mascot costumes. The walls were lined with empty heads and torsos of former or never used animatronics. Some old and rotting, others newer and softer. Some were lined with blood from springlock failure accidents with the employees. The restaurant had lost three people to springlock failures, and five were severely injured.
Afton had asked for the springlock suits to be burnt or destroyed. Henry begged to differ.
"William, you must reconsider... The springlock suits are what keep this place alive." Henry had said pleadingly.
"Emily, those suits aren't keeping this place alive. People are dying inside them. You call that alive?!," Afton raised the tone in his voice, "We could go out of business because of those things. Do you want that?" Henry stared Afton dead in the eyes, "Well, no. But, at least give it another week or so? If the suits injure someone at all, we throw them out. If not, we keep them here. And proceed with our business as usual."
"Fine, I will give it three weeks. I trust you to keep your word, Henry. No more deals. I have made my final decision." Afton had a stern look on his face. Henry nodded, something about the way he grinned sent cold chills up Afton's spine. "You won't regret this, Mr. Afton." Henry spoke in a monotone voice. Afton grumbled and turned away." I'm regretting it already... Now, get back to work! Those robots can't watch themselves." "Yes, Mr. Afton." Henry nodded, his expression stern and solemn as he walked away.
As Afton shuffled down the hallway, back to his office, he couldn't help but think of all the possible outcomes of keeping the springlock suits in Freddy's. The liability rate would go up drastically, employees could die. Those damn suits couldn't make it a week without something going wrong with them. Failures, technological malfunctions. Afton growled and slammed his hand on the wall. A few of the employees that had been cleaning up the place turned to look at him, their faces filled with shock. Afton looked at them, each one had stopped what they were doing.
"Get back to work! I don't pay you to jus sit around and do nothing! Those tables won't clean themselves."
The employees scattered, and returned to their work.

To be continued...