Chapter 3: A New Idea

315 17 8
                                    

The answering machine started beeping. Afton awoke from slumbering on his management desk in the restaurant.

"How long have I been asleep?" he muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes and checked the wall clock. 6:30 am. That's an hour and a half before opening...

He sat up quickly and began to straighten himself up. How could he have slept so long? He rushed out of the office and started ripping down the 1st Anniversary decorations. The day after the week-long anniversary would be busier with visitors from out-of-town that missed the event.

The machine kept beeping until he played the message. "New message from 20 0614 0106: Hey Willy, just calling to check on you. Kids are missing you. I'm missing you. Try to come home a bit more okay? Bye."

William chided himself for working late again as he continued taking down the decorations.

*****

Customers walked in and out that day as William got more and more tired.

Maintenance on the mini-arcade. Maintenance on the mascots. Messes on tables everywhere. The diner is understaffed today. And the customers keep on coming.

At the end of the day, the phone began to ring. William ran to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end said. "Afton?"

"Yes?" William replied anxiously.

The voice answered, "It's Henry! We met a year back. I was calling to start talking about the business proposal."

"Give me about 5 minutes, Henry," William said as he slammed down the phone. He had to make a quick decision. Should they start earlier than agreed upon or should they wait? William picked up the phone again nervously.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"That's great! Because I flew all the way here just to speak to you," spoke Henry, "We'll meet tomorrow in the restaurant at 2 pm, Afton. Don't be late!" The phone hung up.

William scratched his head as he wondered about how the meeting would go. He locked the diner's doors and drove home.

*****

William arrived at the diner around meeting time to see Henry waiting outside his car.

"What's up?" Henry said as he shook William's hand.

"The uh..." William hadn't heard this expression used often.

Henry slapped him on the back, "No worries, Afton. Let's get to business." Afton led him to a table as they sat down and began to converse.

"So..." Henry explained, "I've come up with a few ideas. First of all, the whole Fredbear name isn't long and loud like most of us Americans enjoy it. What about the name...Freddy Fazbear? It has a catchier ring to it. Then we can use his name as the franchise trademark in Fazbear Entertainment. What do you think?"

William scratched his head before replying, "I think that's a great idea! If we rebrand, the company will be allowed to enter the game much easier. What else did you have in mind?"

"I think we also need to introduce more characters into the cast. And make them colorful! America loves color", Henry told William.

William responded with a smirk, "I think I can do that." He wrote a few notes down on his pad. He then asked, "What should the primary cuisine be? I take it American children don't particularly enjoy beef casserole or Cornish pasties."

"I think the best choice would be pizza," Henry relayed.

"Pizza?" Willian questioned.

"Pizza is one of America's favorite things to eat besides hamburgers. There are pizzerias everywhere, but never one that is catered towards children. Always just family-oriented."

"I see. So shall we name the location something simple like...Freddy Fazbear's Pizza?"

"That's a great idea, Afton!" Henry exclaimed as he wrote down some notes of his own. "Now, I think we should keep all the same attractions. The mascots with the arcade. Anything else we should add?"

William thought and said, "No, I don't think so."

"Well then", Henry stated, "There's a bit of paperwork and licensing to handle. We can get some of it out of the way here, but some will still have to be done over in the US. If you'd just sign here, here, and..."

*****

William watched as Henry drove away in his car.

What an ambitious man, thought William, He'll be a great co-owner.

He looked back at the diner, envisioning it larger and more colorful. Then he locked the diner doors and drove home.

*****

When Afton arrived home, he met his wife in the living room. He set down his briefcase, kissed her, and told her the news.

"You what!?" Mrs. Afton exclaimed. "I thought you told that man that we would wait until little Tristen was one year old right?"

William scratched his head. "Well what's a few months babe? It'll allow the rest of the kids to get used to the country. And enjoy some sightseeing."

"Well I think it'd be better if you moved by yourself and I stayed with the kids", Mrs. Afton said, "It would be too much to move 5 people from here to over there. Well, what if you took just Michael? It would be good for him to travel."

"Alright", William replied, "So I take Michael while you stay here with Elizabeth and Tristen. We'll start packing tomorrow. That should give us enough time to get visas."

William then headed upstairs and told Michael the plan to get passports, visas, and pack minimal belongings, as Henry offered for them to stay at their house for a little while.

*****

William again sat down at his designing table with the almost finished design for Elizabeth's mascot. He needed to make a few new characters to help promote the new restaurant in advertisements.

Maybe two new animal types. Something simple and playful like...a chicken. Then something cunning and smart like a fox.

William started to draw some basic designs for the two new mascots. He then stared at the metal one and decided to leave it for another location. Another day.

He crafted a short personality for each new mascot and the two old ones. One was a pirate. The other could not stop eating. The third was just playful. And the last was good friends with the former.

He then began adding more and more detail to the fox and the chicken. The new mascots would look just right on stage with the other two. All of them with new colors. All of them keeping children busy.

FNAF: InsanityWhere stories live. Discover now