Chapter 1: 9/1- Normal Day for Luis
Notes:
I got this idea after reading the FNAF AR leaked emails and since Luis was the most developed character (outside of Vanessa), I thought he would be an interesting protagonist. Maybe not at first since he's a bit of a boring office worker but his development throughout is what I am looking forward to.
Don't worry, Vanessa will have her time to shine. There will be the occassional Ness POV chapter.
Vanessa and Luis willl have extremely slow slow burn. Considering the fact that Ness starts off pretty rocky, and that this fic will have a large focus on plot, Luis' love will be one-sided for now :( poor Louie
I plan to introduce more well known characters as well, outside of Michael Afton, like Gregory and Jeremy Fitzgerald/the 87' bite victim (I took inspiration from SpoolOfStory's version of him! I really liked him in their fic)
I know I have other fics, but this one has been so easy for me to write for some reason so here is the first chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
:-)
On a normal day at the Fazbear Entertainment LLC office building, Luis was pretty bored. He had work to do, so he did it. His particular department, the IT department, wasn't as thrilling as something else would be, but it was what Luis was good at, and he liked it, kind of.
Sure, when he applied to work here, he expected autonomy as an adult who got his own income. He got that, but it still felt like he was missing something he always longed for. Something more than a stable job. Something more intimate, as one might say.
He always considered himself a guy who had a good-sized group of friends, but they seemed to dwindle down as he got older as he focused on his future. A close group of fifteen shrunk to eight in university and by the time he graduated, he was really only in touch with two of them. He could only blame himself for this. He was a bit of a distant asshole, in a way. He always turned down opportunities to hang out with his friends, instead just surrounding himself with schoolwork and studying. His friends kept in touch with him, even after so many times he had turned them down, but even that only lasted a while.
Luis studied hard for this job, and it paid off. He got into the IT department in a well-known company at a young age. He was the youngest in the department, and he still had a good position, if he would say so himself.
If anything, Luis tried to make up for being a little reclusive nerd back in university by socializing more in the office. Luis made sure to greet everyone in the office, give an authentic smile. However, his coworkers didn't always share the same energy as him. Who would’ve thought everyone in the tech department were such introverted sloths? It’s like they ran on caffeine. Everyone in the morning only seemed to give him bloodshot-eyed glares before they reached their coffee, and even when they did, they only gave a quiet ‘hello’. Now, Luis was fine with this, everyone has their own introverted personality, but it was at that point when Luis realized he had just wasted his life in university. He already had so many regrets and he was hardly 24.
How could he ever make it up? Did it even matter? Honestly, Luis felt like he was overreacting for something he disliked he did when he was younger. Just like how some people were bullies when they were younger and grew out of it and hating themselves for it. Even if Luis wasn’t exactly a bully, he did tend to come off as selfish and apathetic, and he was. He cringed when he thought about every time he had talked to one of his old friends rudely.
Today was just another day in the office where he had to oversee the AI systems. As advanced as artificial intelligence was, even it had its own faults that couldn’t be matched by humans. He knew so very well, having to develop his own AI in university. He always used to brag about it, being so proud of such a little shitty program, when he actually thought about it. Sure, it was impressive at the time, but the AIs he’s seen developed here by Fazbear Entertainment were eons more advanced than anything he could ever create. That was one thing he always admired– those who created these animatronics. Sure, the story behind the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ was that the founder, William Afton, was some kind of child serial killer, but it wasn’t just him who created these animatronics. Plus, the whole Afton thing was really just an exaggerated rumor that Fazbear Entertainment used to make money. It's been done plenty of times before by other companies. Luis was allowed to like animatronics, right? Just thinking about it made him feel a twinge of guilt. He couldn't shake off the fact that these animatronics have indeed killed people. He knew these incidents were just accidents and he had nothing to do with them in any case, but just the thought of incidents made him feel a bit down. Luis could be quite the hidden fanatic of programming. Well, outside of its hardware which Luis wasn't the most accustomed with, the animatronic programming was out of this world. Even the earliest versions. Luis couldn't help but revere it. He wished he could crack an animatronic open and look into it. However, that wasn't his job. He just stuck to his IT stuff.
He passed into the entrance of the building. There, a pretty blonde woman with rainbow streaks always stood in her spot of security. She had her eyes fixed onto her monitor, not noticing Luis’ entrance even though she was supposed to be monitoring the people who passed by. At first, Luis felt hurt as she always greeted him with an upbeat ‘good morning’ which Luis always returned. Luis loved her little smile and all the energy it brought around him. He always felt like he had a better start to his day after her presence. Now, she simply seemed so transfixed on the monitors like she was staring at something that wasn’t on the screen, like she was watching something else entirely. She still greeted him with the same words, but they were different.
“Good morning, Ness!” Luis swiftly passed by her, a soft smile on his face.
“Mhm, morning,” she responded. She gave him a side glimpse.
Luis passed into the elevator quickly, trying not to dwell on Ness’ eerily blank face. She seemed so tired and it worried him, even if they hardly knew each other. As the doors on the elevator closed, Luis leaned forward to try and sneak a second peek at Ness. Even if she wasn’t smiling and brightening up the atmosphere with her shining attitude, knowing how she was doing made Luis feel better. Ness was probably going through a rough patch, just like so many others did. Even if they were not much more than acquaintances that greeted each other in the morning and afternoon, Luis wondered if she was okay.
Ness’ head was turned; she was staring right back at him. They locked eye contact for a second and just as quickly, the elevator doors closed and Luis’ heart thumped loudly in his ears for those few seconds. It was only for a second, but she looked at him, she finally looked at him. Her face only had a sliver of a resting smile, one that Luis couldn’t help but let his thoughts dwell on.
Luis let out a little happy exhale and rolled his head back. He hadn’t felt like this about anyone in a long time. Luis wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation. He wasn't exactly the master of creating or keeping friends-- he knew this very well.
He couldn’t lie, he may or may not have a small crush on the security guard. They had hardly talked, yet Luis felt like he wanted to know more about her. However, Luis had no excuse to really talk to her and work forced him to be away from her. Working 9 to 6 didn’t leave too much space for him to chat with the security guard, Luis thought, convincing himself. Well, there was the time before 9:00 am since Luis always arrived 20 minutes early, there was also the hour of lunch, and there was always after his work hours. No, Luis was always busy with work, after all, he had to deal with a lot of things as the newest hire. Yeah… that was why.
Finally, Luis arrived at the 3rd floor. Luis switched to work mode and the thought of Ness slowly drifted away from him as the towering presence of work in his mind overtook everything else. Greeting everyone as per usual, Luis found his way to his office from the entrance. His office was just a cubicle that had a desk with a few minimal decorations as he's only worked in Fazbear Entertainment a few months.
There were no framed pictures on his desk. Only a mug with a cheesy IT joke on it was turned away from him, and a few books and papers related to work. It was so bland. Luis has wanted to change it so many times, but he has no idea what to put. He doesn't own any pets and he hasn't really spoken with his family much anymore. It's not like he had a girlfriend or anything to put a picture of on his desk.
With Luis' smile fading from his face, he sighed and began work. Eight hours of work would fly by if Luis didn’t think too much. If he just focused and concentrated, he was sure it would take no time at all to get his duties over with.
He flipped his monitor’s switch on, him having the oldest monitor. It was ironic, considering he was the youngest IT employee. He supposed they didn’t want the youngest one to have the newest most stylized computer, but Luis didn’t mind. In fact, he enjoyed antiques to some degree.
Almost immediately, a pop-up screen flared in his face, like it was calling for his attention. Luis frowned, not expecting any issues to come on immediately. Usually, he would be the one to find issues and fix them. It couldn’t be good if the system was the one begging him for help. Luis dragged his mouse over the pop-up screen to see more information. Upon scrolling down the pop-up window, he read some information: the system had set a red flag report after sensing some trigger words. Luis just felt himself sigh again. It was probably another employee searching up some inappropriate furry thing in incognito that they thought the system wouldn’t pick up. It’s happened far too many times that Luis didn’t have another choice but to accept it as part of his work.
He clicked on the button the pop-up window directed him to. It opened another window, displaying more detailed information. It stated that it was someone in the Security department this time, one of the recent transfers. A word was bolded in red, underlined as the word that triggered the computer– Viking Blood Eagle Twelve-Month Calendar
Viking Blood Eagle… Why would the program become triggered by that? Luis opened a window and googled what it meant.
He was absolutely horrified to see the results. He read a detailed description of a form of torture the Vikings once used. It really didn't need to be that detailed. He was glad the Vikings were long gone after reading that.
"Yeesh," Luis said, unable to contain his disgust. Who in their right mind searches this up?
A coworker of his heard his worded groan and looked over the cubicle wall separating the two of them. It was James, but everyone called him Jim. He wasn't the oldest in the firm, but he certainly wasn't young and seemed to fear becoming one of the 'elders' of the firm, like Greg was, though James was the one closest to his age in the office.
"What is it?" James looked over to see his screen. Luis hurriedly switched to the pop-up window instead of the horrid description of torture.
"Hey, Jim! Just this crazy trigger word someone searched up," Luis explained simply. He tried to think of any possible reason one would search this up. "Authors and screenplay writers search these kinds of things up, right?"
"It's very possible, but I wouldn't know. I was never interested in those kinds of things," James said, starting to slip back into his own cubicle as the topic started to bore him.
Luis wanted a distraction from work so he tried to keep James' attention. He felt conflicted for a second. He knew he needed to work, but James was right there, and he knew he would regret this chance to socialize any other day. "Hey, uh– I heard they still have the Halloween donuts from yesterday. Do you want to go check?"
"Donuts? Did they have the chocolate-frosted ones?" James looked over the wall again, his interest recaptured.
"I think so. I was here yesterday, but work took me away before I could take one," Luis said, chuckling. James only looked at him weirdly.
"You're so obviously a workaholic, you know that?"
"Huh?" Luis was taken away by the outright statement. It came randomly in the middle of their conversation. James was a little out of pocket sometimes.
"You're glued to your screen, and you always respond to my emails only a minute after I send them," James said as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh. I suppose I never noticed I was one," Luis lied. He knew it very well, but he tried not to dwell on it. He wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do. No matter how friendly he wanted to be with his coworkers, he never seemed to be able to form the same close friendship he used to have with past friends. He just gave up at some point and did what he was good at: work.
A box of donuts lay in front of them, it's lid open with scarcely any donuts left.
"I wonder who's the donut thief," James quipped, thinking the same as Luis. He stole a chocolate-frosted donut for himself.
"It was Mark Cho from the second floor," a woman said from behind them. Luis and James jumped, James dropping his precious donut.
"Kayla, didn't see you there," James said, a forced smile on his face as he went to pick up his donut from the floor. He picked it up with a napkin and threw it away. "Did you see the crime in action?
"That young boy putting his nose where it shouldn't be. Those on the second floor should stay there," She commented, not really answering James' question. Kayla was quite the person with strong opinions, ones that usually aligned with the company's morals, making her perfect for her job in the Legal department.
Luis didn't know much about the others on the second floor, only passing by it once. He did remember the name Mark, as he had helped Luis with a project that was hardware related. Plus, Mark had searched up many questionable things in the search browser, leading to many emails from Luis. They were only somewhat effective, though.
"Well, he is just a teenager still," Luis said in defense. "I heard he used to be a beta tester."
"Oh. One of those," Kayla said with a disappointed tone.
Luis shrugged and tried a smile as he took a large bite of the donut. It was dry but Luis had expected it since it had been lying there for a day. He swallowed and began speaking.
"They do have some crazy theories. Some of them are rather entertaining," Luis said.
"I heard one about the character, what was his name?” James tapped his chin, thinking.
“Freddy Fazbear? That’s the first one I always think of. I don’t know much of the characters to tell the truth,” said Luis.
“No, it was a human, one of the protagonists in one of the games, I believe.”
“Mike Schmidt?” Kayla offered.
“Mike? Close, but not exactly... Michael Afton. You know how in the sixth game, he supposedly was written so its implied he died? One theory stated that he was still alive, even after the story writers for the games pronounced he was dead," James recalled.
"Really, that guy?” Luis questioned. “If that's what the fans want. Some of those theories are so far off, it’s kind of funny."
"I dislike it. The whole theory thing that fans do. Their theories cause problems for the legal department. Sometimes a rumor spreads and the Fazbear Entertainment company is sued," Kayla said dejectedly. She sighed. "It's problematic."
"Oh. They're just theories though, right?" Luis asked as he looked at Kayla. Luis had to admit she was a bit of a buzzkill, and Luis didn't like to insult people on purpose.
Kayla didn't say anything for a long time. James simply ate the rest of his donut in silence while preparing a coffee. Luis felt awkward, unsure of what to say as he waited for her to respond.
"Of course. I have to go back to work," Kayla declared and left. It was a bit ominous, the way she had left after killing the mood. Luis was never one who could lift the mood that well, so he had no idea what to say as she left. He stared at James' back expecting him to add to the conversation but he never did, simply making coffee and chewing on his donut.
"I should go to work too," Luis said. He was painfully aware of James' workaholic comment, but it wasn't like he could suddenly slack off now. Plus, Luis had a duty to work that he should follow.
"Have fun," James said as he finished his coffee.
Luis blinked and a headache started to form. It came out of seemingly nowhere, emerging after James' words. His vision became blurry for a quick second before returning to his usual eyesight. It felt like he was dizzy, like he was sleepy but Luis felt himself wide awake. He was a morning person, one who has a rush of adrenaline in the morning.
Luis wondered if it was that donut he ate. It had been left an entire day out and he knew not everyone in this office washed their hands before eating. That teenage ex-beta tester, Mark, was the last one to see the donuts, according to Kayla…
Did Mark poison the donuts? No, that was ridiculous, he wasn't some evil spy.
Was it even Mark who last opened the box?
Luis simply shook his head as he trudged towards his desk, the sudden heavy weight from his dizziness dragging on him. Luis settled down on his chair and shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness. It only made his headache worse and Luis let out a gritted grunt under his breath.
It probably wasn't even the donuts. He was just going crazy.
He clicked with his mouse multiple times, hoping his computer would wake up again. It took nearly a minute until a whirring sound started to sound, signifying its wake. The screen's dim blue glow returned and Luis re-entered his password and continued his work.
Right, so there was the whole red flag situation with the trigger word someone searched. Luis rubbed his face as the dizziness caused the lit up screen to be painful to look at. With narrowed eyes, he stared at the information given to him.
It had been alerted in Security, right, he knew that, and the perpetrator was none other than employee Vanessa A. Luis read over the information, processing it. It took Luis about a few seconds before he realized who that was.
"Ness?" He whispered under his breath.
All his thoughts became biased under the new information. He struggled to grasp it and then quickly accepted it when he realized Ness was most likely an author of some sort. It was always those screenwriters that searched up the strangest things, especially those who wrote crime mystery novels. He couldn't imagine he actually had to give her a red flag report because of something as minor as this. Luis didn't know if he had it in him to flag her, anyway.
Instead, Luis thought up an alternative action. He created a new email and directed it to Vanessa. He could just advise her kindly in a way how to avoid these red flag situations.
However, once he opened the email, Luis paused and stared at the empty email. He wasn't sure on how to format it. Should he be formal? Informal? Act like some silly junior or serious senior? Technically he was neither, which only complicated things. That sounded unnecessary to him, but it still plagued his mind.
Luis shook his head, placing his hands on the keyboard. It's not that complicated, really. Just give some advice on what to do. Yeah, just some simple advice on how to help. Maybe Luis could even place some contact information if she needed any help. It wouldn't hurt him, how could that hurt him?
To: nessie97
From: luis.cabrera
Hey, Ness,
I hope you're having a good day! It's no big deal, but I wanted to reach out 'off the radar,' and remind you about the company policy about personal internet usage. Nobody cares if you're online shopping, as long as you get your work done - I promise, I've done my share of last-minute gift-buying! But certain words and phrases trigger red flag reports, so your last order got automatically sent to me: basically anything mentioning 'torture' is going to raise the alarm. So although the Viking Blood Eagle Twelve-Month Calendar you ordered is very cool, the searches that got you there did trigger a red flag.
If you have any questions about the policy, let me know. We could even get coffee or something and go over all the words to avoid.
...And now I've raised my own red flag! Good thing I'm the one who gets the notification. :-)
-Luis
:-)
His head hurt. He typed away, his fingers flying across his keyboard, making quick clicking noises. He finished in a few minutes only, leaving behind a paragraph on his screen.
It was rather informal and Luis tried his best to sound friendly. He'd even invited her to coffee! That was nice. Luis worries it was too much, but being friendly could never be a bad thing. Being the exact opposite of that is what made him lose friends.
He looked over the email a third time, triple checking his grammar and his accuracy in his advice. It seemed right enough to him and he sent the email. He hasn't felt this nervous sending emails ever since sending his first email back in middle school. He felt a rush of adrenaline coursing in his veins and his heartbeat sounded louder in his ears.
That made his headache worse. His head pounded harder with his new thoughts and Luis rubbed it weakly.
The rest of work went by, as slowly as it would. Luis asked for some painkiller pills that James happened to have on him. Luis was grateful, but he somehow felt worse after taking the pills. He was wondering if it really was food poisoning that gave him this migraine while having no stomach ache.
The pills made his vision worse and at some point, Luis had to stop his work. He couldn't stare at the blinding screen anymore, it was like the screen was stabbing his skull. Luis rubbed his eyes, and even put on his reading glasses. Nothing changed the fact that the migraine was only growing stronger. It felt like an unmoving tumor that pressed harder onto Luis' nerves.
With a slam, Luis shut his computer. The sound felt like a shot to his head. Luis grunted and stood up rapidly. He couldn't leave yet, it was only five past four. There were still two hours left of analyzing code and logs. Luis couldn't take it anymore, so he switched to doing some paperwork. Albeit being about his least favorite, it successfully distracted him. The blank white paper space spazzed his brain out, and Luis was incredibly slow on paper, but he at least got some work done.
The clock hit six eventually and employees clocked out almost immediately. Luis grabbed his things, which really was just his phone, his wallet, and his boxed lunch, and went back to the exiting elevator.
He wondered how Ness would greet him. Would she make an inside joke about the email he sent? Should Luis be the one to tell a joke? Has she even read it yet? Luis tapped his foot impatiently as he stood stiffly, trying to stay still as he anticipated the elevator doors opening.
The doors began to crack open and before Luis had even seen Ness, he decided against the whole inside joke thing. It was too early anyways. With a hiss, the elevator doors were left wide open.
Ness wasn't there. Oh.
A twinge of worry sparked in the back of his head. Luis glanced at her empty desk as he slowly walked out of the building. The monitor was turned off and everything was neatly put away. From the little He knew about her, Luis had never seen her that neat. He didn't mean that in a bad way, just that she had always left some papers out, maybe for tomorrow's work or the monitor on. She always did seem desperate to leave this building. Luis completely understood, she must've been tired from all those hours staring at those security cameras.
Luis sat on the bus stop bench, where a homeless man sat on the other end. He seemed asleep as quiet snores vented from the man. Luis taps the floor, his leg twitching repeatedly as he waits for the bus to come. He had that bad habit of tapping the floor impatiently, one he often did in large social hangouts.
The bus was late. Very late. Luis doesn't remember it being this late before. It must've been 20, 30 minutes late. Luis sighed and dropped his head in his hands. He felt sicker by the minute and the cold weather didn't help. Rubbing his arms, he tries to keep his temperature up, but he still shudders as his head continues to pound against his skull.
Luis fidgets with a coin he pulls from his pocket, bored. He doesn't want to pull out his phone, knowing the screen will make him want to pull his eyes out. In fact, he already wanted to, pulling out his phone might actually make him do it.
He flips the coin once. It goes up and twirls before landing back in his hand. He repeats this again and again. It's a good way to distract himself. The coin bouncing up in the air before falling back to him– it gave him a sense of continuity and peace, strange enough.
Luis flips it a fourth time and the coin slips from his fingers. The coin bounces off the bench and rolls away from him. Luis gets up and scrambles towards it. It was just a quarter, but he didn't exactly want to lose it. It's heading right towards the sewer in the crevice between the sidewalk and the street. The coin was going at much faster speeds than Luis thought a coin could go. Just as Luis reached out for the coin, it made an unexpected turn and flipped right into the sewer.
"Oh," Luis mumbled as he saw the coin fall into the darkness of the sewers.
The coin is gone now. It wasn't a big loss of any kind, but his headache was making him lose any sense of logic and he started to feel immensely dejected, an exaggerated feeling of loss overtaking him.
It was just a coin, though…
"Ouch!" A voice came from deep inside the sewer.
Luis blinked. Did that voice… just come from inside the sewer? It sounded so human and alive. Luis wasn't sure if he had imagined it or if it was real, as the voice had only cried out for a split second. It stayed silent for some time, so maybe it was just made up by Luis' imagination. Still, Luis couldn't help but be intrigued by this strange occurrence. He wasn't exactly the most creative guy, so he wasn't sure what crazy hallucination his brain came up with.
Luis leaned in name looked in the sewers but only saw pitch black.
Who was in the sewers? If it wasn't Luis' imagination, what the hell was going on?
Notes:
I almost am done with the second part already! It should be posted soon.
So here is old Louie. I hope you liked my interpretation of him. I have a lot planned hehehehehe
Chapter 2: 9/1- Normal Chat with Eggs
Summary:
Luis talks to the man in the sewers. He has some intresting things to say. Particularly about Fazbear Entertainment.
Mark Cho makes an appearance.
Notes:
YOOOO THE RUIN DLC TRAILER JUST DROPPED OMG I cannot wait I am pissing my pants
The chapter titles follow dates like 9/1. This is particularly because of one of the leaked emails has a series of dates with the Glitchtrap security breach information ;)
Also thanks for the really supportive comments last chapter! I wasn't expecting any and it really made my day and motivated me to write this chapter faster.
I also decided to copy and paste some emails in there when the plot calls for it, for those that haven't read it, instead of assuming you guys read it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
:-0
"Hello…?" Luis said, his voice echoing in the sewers and back. "Is someone there?"
The silence lingered, Luis feeling alone on the street. The homeless man still slept, paying him no mind and cars whizzed by in front of him on the street. Crouching, he tried to get a closer look inside the sewer, staring down into the darkness. Only a putrid stink accompanied a dark void within the sewer. He supposed the voice really was just his imagination. The day was long, he was poisoned or sick or whatever that was, and he just wanted to go home. He gave the sewers one last glance before shifting into a position to stand up.
"...Wait," the voice echoed, much lower this time as if it was in a distant location, "Who are you?"
Luis perked up. There really was someone– or something– down there. So he wasn't imagining it? Why was there someone in there in the first place?
"I'm Luis Cabrera, but are you okay? Do you need help? Are you stuck down there?" Luis questioned.
"I'm… fine," the voice said hesitantly. As Luis listened closely, he could make out a British accent in the male voice. At first, Luis thought it was a child, but he started to rethink it. He sounded older, already an adult. Based on the raspy edge of the voice, Luis could only imagine the man was old and possibly a smoker. The voice continued, "But, I could use your help for something… I'm, uh, looking for someone."
"Looking for someone?" Luis repeated, hoping to get more information.
"Yes," the voice whispered, "A boy. I doubt you've seen him, but he used to talk to me. He's short, scraggly brown hair, and has a bandaid on his cheek."
Luis racked his memories to think of any boy he's seen by the bus stop. It wasn't common to see young boys at the bus stop as this area was mostly surrounded by office buildings and small residential apartments. Still, Luis couldn't imagine many of those apartments being filled with large families. Maybe there was a kid or two at the bus stop, but Luis wasn't entirely sure of their characteristics, not really paying attention to his surroundings at the time.
Then again, isn't it weird that an unseen stranger in the sewers was asking for a little boy? It was like a trap from a horror movie, one Luis almost fell right into.
"No, I haven't seen anyone like that," Luis said truthfully. Even if he did see someone like how the voice described, Luis wasn't sure if he trusted it enough to tell the truth. He doubted the man in the sewers could do anything to that boy through the sewer hole, but Luis still felt tentative.
"I figured," the voice said with a sigh. Luis couldn't help but wonder what a boy had to do with anything.
The conversation could've ended there, but the bus was late and Luis hated spending time alone. If you can talk to someone, obviously you talk to them. Even if they're literally six feet under.
"Who are you?" Luis asked, his doubt piling up. “How did you get in there?”
"Oh… I live here, " the voice faded. A long moment passed. "And I'm Eggs."
"You live there? In the sewers?" Luis was properly shocked. He’s heard of crazy stories, and living in the sewers was far from the worst thing he’s heard, but it was still an abnormal situation. Luis coughed to cover up his shock and continued, "Eggs is a funny name. A big fan of eggs, your parents?"
"...Sure.” Eggs answered slowly. Luis immediately regretted asking the question about Eggs’ parents, knowing it was probably too personal of a question. Then, he heard a quiet chuckle. “Your last name sounds like 'capybara' to me," Eggs remarked. "Luis Capybara."
"Some people at the office have said that, yes," Luis said, laughing. Although Luis said that, it really was just James who had said it to him, being quite the honest and straightforward man.
"At the office– do you mean the office of this Fazbear Entertainment building over here?" Eggs asked with an edge to his voice.
"Yup. I work at Fazbear Entertainment. I don't work on the games though, so don't get your hopes up, I can't answer any lore questions."
There was a long silence once again, and Luis wondered if he said something wrong or if this strange Eggs man had walked away from him mid-conversation. This must've been the strangest conversation he's ever had, while also being one of the most refreshing. He hasn't met a new person in a long time, having the exact same schedule every weekday, seeing the same people everyday.
Luis waited but Eggs still didn't speak. It was awkward, to be honest.
Luis still wasn't sure if he was or wasn't imagining things. As real as this Eggs person felt, his head was still pounding with pain. The pain had significantly gone down as he distracted himself with this conversation, Luis realized. Now with the resurfaced silence, the pain was louder, calling for his full attention.
Wet footsteps echoed in the sewers. Luis assumed he was leaving, which was strange on its own, but when he listened closer, the footsteps got louder and louder until it was as if the footsteps were right below him. Luis leaned in to see if he could grab a glimpse of Eggs, who must've walked closer for some reason.
A pair of glowing purple mechanical lights stared back at him. Luis stifled a gasp, staring right back, wide-eyed. The lights narrowed until they disappeared entirely.
"Are– are you a car?" Luis shouted without thinking.
"What–" Eggs said in earnest shock before breaking down in a fit of laughter. It sounded so authentic yet mechanical with strange glitch sounds between each giggle.
Luis couldn't help turn red in embarrassment. A smile stretches on his face as well, after all, the thing he said was ridiculously hilarious. It was a childish remark Luis made from shock. The shout had also woken up the homeless man. He shook awake and glanced at Luis. Luis turned to him and the homeless man pretended not to see the crazy man apparently talking to himself while crouched over the sewer gap.
"N-no one's ever called me that before," Eggs said between fits of laughter. Eggs inhaled and his laughter calmed down.
“Yeah, I just– I don’t know what I saw.”
“Well, I'm not a car, if that's what you're wondering," Eggs said, not elaborating further. "Hey, you work at Fazbear Entertainment, correct? What position do you have?” Eggs inquired, changing the topic rather quickly.
“Oh, I just work in the IT department. I’d say my position’s pretty good for someone who just got hired a few months ago,” Luis replied honestly. It felt strange to talk about this to an outsider.
“So you don’t see the animatronics face to face. That’s for the best, honestly,” Eggs had a monotone voice.
“Most people think my job is boring,” Luis shrugged, even if Eggs probably couldn’t see it, “since I don’t see the animatronics nor work on the games.”
“Do you think it’s boring?”
“...I don’t know. It’s just a normal job.”
“Do you know the truth?"
“What…? Do you mean the incident that the games are based on? Of course I know, it’s hard not to know when you work here.”
“Do you know what really happened?”
Luis sighed, a mix of confusion and frustration. He’s been asked a similar question by crazily-dedicated fans. He decided to repeat what Kayla told him to say in this situation. “Yes, the bite of 83’ and 87’, the real incidents, then there’s that whole theory about the missing children case with the founder, William Afton. It’s just the story writing team connecting dots, to make these games. Hate to disappoint you.”
“Have you ever played the games?” Eggs asked. It felt as if he was interrogating Luis now. Luis wasn’t sure where he was going with this. Eggs didn’t seem to respond to what Luis said earlier.
“Um, yes, a few of them through a friend. I was never a big fan of it myself, but if you are–”
“Then you know what really happened,” Eggs interrupted.
What was he going on about? The games were just exaggerated versions of true events. Everyone knew that, even the fans. That's why fans were able to get so hyped up about the games as no tragedy had actually plagued those games, other than an incident or two that happened in the past. It was a bit ignorant of fans, he knew, he was shocked to find out that the games were based on true events at first, but when he did just the minimal amount of research, the truth came out– it was just one large hyperbole.
“The games, this company, the founder, there’s so much you don’t know, Luis,” Eggs continued. “Why do you think the games were created?”
“To bring the incidents of Freddy’s to light?” Luis tried. He didn’t know what Eggs wanted from him. Eggs began to have a dangerous edge to his voice.
“No.” Eggs stated firmly “… There's so much you need to know. You said you would help me, right? There is one more thing you can help me with.”
Luis stared down at the sewer hole emptily. He’s heard of all sorts of theories before, the craziest, stupidest ones, some that had a genius to it, and some that were just… eerily familiar to him. The vague manner in which Eggs spoke, the way he was unhesitating but not boastful, unlike obsessed fans, reminded him of another employee that had been directly affected by one of Freddy’s restaurants incidents in the past: the victim of the bite of 87’.
He had just happened to run into him in the office building as he had apparently been hired to work there. He was immediately recognizable as the victim. The scars on his face were extremely noticeable, stretch marks of skin where it healed nearly covering the entirety of his forehead. People whispered behind his back as soon as Luis had greeted him. They pulled Luis aside and told him the whole story– how he was hired right after he recovered from his coma. The biggest mystery to Luis was how someone without their frontal lobe could work at an office building. Apparently, he currently works as a beta tester, seeing the games in a different light.
Now, he doubted Eggs was a victim of any of the Bite Incidents, as the other well-known incident is known to have died in a coma. Luis knew that much. It was unfortunate and bringing up that information brought a sour taste to his mouth.
So who was Eggs? A hallucination? A victim of Fazbear's?
“...I’m sorry,” Luis muttered. He cleared his throat and spoke louder, “Why do you want my help? I’m talking to a voice in the sewers that’s asking me for my help. Ha, I’m really going crazy now.”
Eggs didn’t respond right away.
“And Eggs? My sick brain could have been a bit more creative,” Luis continued, laughing at himself. He spoke to himself more than to Eggs with that last statement, feeling a little delirious now.
“... Please find out what they’re doing at the burned debris of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place. The one that came right before that… pizza plex,” Eggs said in a low whisper, his voice raspy. It even sounded desperate, as if everything depended on how Luis would answer. He sounded a bit worried towards Luis' remark, but Luis tried to ignore it. It was just self-pity after all.
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place? That name sounded just like so many of the other Fazbear restaurants, Luis had no idea what Eggs wanted from him. And the Pizza Plex? Was Eggs talking about the Fazbear-themed mall that was functioning yet still in construction? That singular request was mind-boggling to Luis, for none of it really made sense to Luis.
Luis wasn’t even sure why he should do anything the voice in the sewers was telling him to do. Why did Luis even stay here and talk to this man like it was just a normal day occurrence. This was far from anything normal, but Luis didn’t feel unsettled or disgusted by the man. He just felt so… real.
This man, Eggs, asked him for uncanny requests. First it was to look for a little boy, and now it was to investigate inside the company he worked for?
Despite that, something about what he said felt like it had some truth to it. Nothing he said was wholly a lie according to Luis’ knowledge, but as a worker for Fazbear Entertainment, everything he said felt wrong. Everything he was taught from working at Fazbear Entertainment went against this man, it clashed against his words. The norms there clearly didn’t apply when talking to Eggs; the apathetic attitude towards the Freddy’s incidents, the subtle belittling of Fazbear fans, and the unnatural air of it all.
Speaking with Eggs was refreshing somehow. Luis meant that in the most bizarre sense.
That unnatural ambience at the office was so clear to see after talking to this strange hallucination Luis was having, whether it was a hallucination at all. Maybe it was his brain’s way of getting away from all that subconscious crap he had pent-up from working at Fazbear Entertainment.
Luis started to get the feeling a bus would never arrive to pick him up.
Standing up, Luis fixed his hunched posture and dusted his shoulder, trying somehow to get the sewer stink off of him. Though there was no way he would be able to do that by patting his shoulders. He turned, getting ready to leave. He didn't want to stay anymore. The conversation was veering towards a certain negative opinion of Fazbear Entertainment, one Luis tried to avoid as a Fazbear Entertainment employee.
Just as Luis walked away, he heard cracked muttering sounds from the sewer. He could only make out the word, 'Father', repeated again and again, like it was some kind of obsession, along with other words he couldn't make out.
Luis needed some goddamn sleep.
He headed back to his apartment and shut the door, closing it with his two trusty locks.
He had a pretty decent apartment, having two bedrooms and a single bathroom. He wasn't sure why he needed a second bedroom when he started to rent the place, but it was rather cheap as Fazbear Entertainment had partial ownership of this building. Most of his coworkers live in this building as a result. Now that Luis thought about it, why did Fazbear Entertainment own this building? He really didn't know anything.
He wondered if Ness had also lived there. He did see her enter the apartment building once, around a week ago, yet he has never seen her around here ever again. It was then when Ness started to seem more… troubled.
Funnily enough, it was James who was his next door neighbor. He always seemed to be everywhere, also happening to be Luis' office neighbor, their cubicles right next to each other. James was probably already inside his apartment, eating dinner with his wife and kids. James would occasionally blab about them at work.
Luis entered his room and shut the door. He glanced at his small desk in the corner, where he would come home and do extra work if needed. Dropping off his things, he realized he forgot to ask Eggs for his lucky coin. Now it really was stuck there forever. Maybe Luis could ask him for his coin back tomorrow and it would prove whether Eggs was real.
Starting his computer, Eggs’ words echoed in his head. His head was now filled with doubts about Fazbear Entertainment’s sincerity. He had just accepted everything he knew about that corporation at face value, not really thinking deeper. With just a few words, Luis’ head was stuck in a loop of what he should believe.
Everything he had researched about the Fazbear Entertainment corporation seemed to be true, even backed up with good evidence and elaboration.
Unlike Eggs, who seemed to have only asked questions about him and the corporation. Yet, there was knowing experience behind his questions.
That singular thing he had asked– find out what they’re doing at the burned debris of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place– was incredibly telling. Even Luis didn’t know entirely what Eggs was alluding to with that question, just that this Eggs person wanted Luis to know the truth, whatever that was supposed to be.
How would Luis find anything out? Where could he go? He needed a source outside of his hallucinatory Eggs. The internet didn’t seem very helpful as Luis only found threads of conspiracy nuts spilling nonsense backed up by fruitless claims.
Perhaps an email would be helpful. To whom?
Ness?
As much as Luis was tempted, he knew he shouldn’t go out of line. Ness was dealing with her own stuff, and Luis only wanted to send comforting emails, not ones that would increase her worry.
James? Kayla? They seemed like people that strictly followed Fazbear Entertainment policies, especially Kayla. James had a family to feed; Luis doubted he would risk a demotion because of a coworker acquaintance.
Luis was really starting to lose options here. He started to rack his mind for what else he could find.
Jeremy, the victim of the bite of ‘87?
Luis smiled. Of course this man would be skeptical of Fazbear Entertainment. Not just that, he had been an actual employee of the ancient Fazbear restaurants, he would know things others wouldn’t, especially things the corporation would want to hide.
Luis frowned slightly at the thought of the corporation being some super evil villain that covered deaths and criminals. Although it sounded silly in retrospect, it didn’t stop Luis.
Pulling up a private list of Fazbear Entertainment employees, Luis scrolled down to the beta-testers, where many names were listed, each having a headshot picture of the employee. At the very end of the list of beta-testers was the name Jeremy Fitzgerald, the only employee without a picture, having only the default gray profile picture. Luis frowned, a bit confused by the outlier. Now, all he needed to do was open his profile from the list and gain his contact information. He clicked on his icon, waited a bit, but nothing happened. He clicked on it a few times but no matter what he did, the full profile wouldn’t load. In fact, it wouldn’t even start up.
Luis sighed and dropped his head on his desk, groaning. He was so close and yet so far. He inhaled deeply and looked up at the list of beta-testers again. He wasn’t sure how else he could get this man’s information. He supposed he could email another beta-tester. What other beta-testers did he know that could help?
Right next to Jeremy Fitzgerald's icon was Mark Cho. He was mentioned a few times before in the office. According to Kayla, he was a troublemaker. It wasn’t exactly what Luis had in mind, but it worked. Although Luis had only talked to Mark once in a shared project, Luis hardly knew the kid, most of their interactions being online.
He got to writing the email, minutes flying by as he typed on his keyboard…
All the way back inside the Fazbear Entertainment building at 10 pm, Mark Cho wasn't having the best time right now.
The big job, the one he was just waiting for his paycheck, was now just a half-assed job, according to the higher ups. Mark had to read the disappointing email sent by his boss a third time to make sure he understood it.
To: Mark Cho, Raha Salib, Daniel Rocha, Steven Wilson
From: Anna Kwemto
Fazbear just ordered us to stop working. It sounds like they're halting work with all their contractors, not just us. They said they'll be in touch about ‘our future course of action.'
Mark had to blink once, twice, and a third time to make sure he read 'stop working' right. As much as Mark hated working, Mark liked money.
Mark typed an email in response as quickly as he could.
From: Mark Cho
Are we still getting paid for this?
He waited at his desk, tapping on it impatiently. No one ever responded to emails quickly, much less Anna, his boss, who always seemed extraordinarily busy. Mark sighed and just decided to close the computer and head home. He was already working overtime as is, and he didn't want to push it. He wasn't entirely sure if the higher ups planned on paying him for the overtime, or if they were even going to pay them for this job.
Being ordered to pick up vintage animatronics from some destroyed, burnt Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place was weird in its own way. And now the whole strange glitches in the computers ever since this project started? It was suspicious to Mark.
Sure, the corporation probably didn't actually predict the glitch, as that would only buffer their employees and work force, slowing down the corporation. What kind of ridiculous corporation would do that?
It was the corporation that went about the orders, always so vague and trying to keep it all secret.
He has always had a slight suspicion in the back of his mind of Fazbear Entertainment ever since he had a contract with them and ever since the first day on the job. It wasn't unheard of for him to get a job in which old hardware was transferred back into newer establishments. They had emailed Anna directly, always using vague terms when describing orders. Mark and the rest of the team had gone a few times to the old pizza place, digging through the debris. A couple days ago, Dan had been lucky enough to find a real one. It must've been completely wrecked, having missing limbs and parts of its outer shell.
The strangest part of it all was the human flesh inside the animatronic. It was hardly in a human shape anymore, only some muscle fibers and bones left, being severely burnt. It somehow looked more severely burned than what a building fire could ever do, at least that's what Mark thought when he saw it. It stank too, like ashes and rotting meat. That's what Dan said allowed him to find it so easily– the horrid smell.
It wasn't just that, ever since Dan with the help of a teammate, Raha, cracked the animatronic open and scanned its circuit board, things on the computer have been weird, really weird.
Raha was always a fan of the games and made references to Springtrap this and Springtrap that, and Mark really just wanted the whole thing to be over and to get his money.
Still… He couldn't help but wonder a bit on who exactly this Springtrap is in real life, outside of the Fazbear Entertainment games' interpretation of them.
But then again, Mark also really just wanted to get paid and leave.
A beeping noise sounded from his computer, signifying the notification of a new email. Mark refreshed his page and an unread email was sent to him at that very moment. At 10 pm. When no one else was in the office.
That wasn’t weird at all. Mark opened the email regardless of its absurdity.
To: Mark Cho
From: luis.cabrera
Happy afternoon Mark!
Calling it afternoon was pushing it.
Not sure if you remember but we worked on a project in the past together, but we have emailed before.
I was reaching out because there are a few questions I have about the beta-testers I was hoping you could answer.
Perhaps we can meet up whenever you're free?
Thank you,
-Luis
Mark blinked. He didn't remember this guy at all, but then again Mark didn't remember most of the people he met.
The email was so vague, Mark had a hard time understanding what this Luis guy was asking. The email didn't seem business related, and it wasn't particularly professionally structured. Luis was sure to ask something weird that would make him weirded out, as most people outside of his team did. People who worked at offices were always weird after all.
He glanced back to the other email, stating the fact that the big project had a forced stop. Mark was sure to have plenty of free time now. He didn't have a real reason to say no to this email, as sketchy as it was.
Mark internally shrugged and decided to write a quick reply to the partially informal email.
To: luis.cabrera
From: Mark Cho
Okay. I'm free tomorrow. You can talk to me on the second floor.
Mark closed his laptop and got ready to leave. He was going to have a bad day tomorrow, he just knew it.
Notes:
Luis Capybara talks to sewer eggs man and Mark Cho makes his appearance!!! I'm just imagining this 70-year old bald crusty dusty purple man in the sewers talking to this young office worker.
I did change some canon (the email Mark sent is actually sent by Steven) but it shouldn't actually affect anything. Plus, this is canon divergent so I don't know what Im worrying about. And we got a specific Afton in the sewers. I sure wonder who it is hmmm.
Chapter 3: 9/2- Normal, Not Creepy, Old Animatronic
Summary:
Mark Cho is introduced, and Springtrap has been found.
Notes:
Now we start off with Mark POV and meet the rest of the team! In this fic, Mark will be rather important, having the main character energy lol
I feel like this fic might change a lot after the release of the ruin dlc and help wanted 2 (?). This year is crazy for fnaf.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
…
The following day was just as Mark had expected it. He entered the building exceedingly late. His day had already started off awful, his alarm didn't sound and he had no more boxes of cereal at home. And the friendly security guard didn't seem as friendly any more, staring at her stupid monitors. Mark used to know her, as they used to be beta-testers, and now she hardly ever said hi. Mark did blame himself partially for this, as he forgot to say hello in the morning, being a bit of a grouch after waking, and he never remembered her name.
This was fine. Mark didn't give the security guard a second thought as bigger worries took up the rest of the space in his head.
With quick steps, Mark took the stairs to the second floor. It always was faster than the elevator after all. He made it in no time and saw his team standing all together, discussing something. Mark felt himself wondering about the future of their team. He liked them and what they had going on. They were a pretty efficient team, if Mark would say so himself, and no one had any major issues with each other. Now, with a major project being canceled, he only hoped they could find another project to pick up, and not be transferred or demoted somewhere else.
As he walked in their office, he heard Steven speak. Mark was glad Steven was already here as Steven was often the one that kept everyone in line and on track for the important things.
"...and there were still the issues with the login. Did that occur for you as well?"
"Nope," came the reply from Raha. Mark had known Raha for half of his life which was saying quite a bit since he hadn't lived for too long. Even with knowing her pretty well, he couldn't decipher the clouded expression she has. "I did have some other issues though."
"Like what?" Dan asked. He was half-paying attention to the conversation, being on his phone.
"Dan, please, this is serious," Steven said.
"What's happening?" Mark finally asked, setting his things down on his desk. He faced everyone and they all looked back at him with the same tired faces as him. Mark could pretty much guess what had caused those exhausted expressions. They all looked pretty disappointed in something, something they wanted to blame but they didn't know what to blame. Their big project got canceled somehow, and it was just some 'circumstances' that caused it, according to what Anna said.
"Oh, Mark, you're extremely late. And you look like crap," Raha said, her face contorting with faint worry, "Are you okay?"
"Obviously not. So what's–" Mark gulped, "what the hell is happening?"
"You remember the animatronic we picked up yesterday?" Steven said, now facing Mark with his perfectly straight posture.
"Ugh, that one was so annoying to retrieve," commented Dan. He still seemed to be detached from the conversation, only joining in when the conversation had something to do with him.
"The old animatronic, the rotten green one?" Mark asked.
"Springtrap," Raha clarified, her voice jumping. "At least an extremely burned version of him."
Steven sighed with her comment. "It can't be Springtrap, Raha. That's just something the games made up. You know, with the whole ghost stuff."
Raha only sent a doubtful glare in return, saying nothing. Raha had always been one to believe in the supernatural, and Steven believed the exact opposite. Ghosts, curses, and all that stuff, Raha believed it all.
Mark on the other hand, needed just a bit of convincing. He didn't completely deny its existence, those animatronics were pretty creepy after all, but Mark had a hard time believing it completely without any evidence.
"Anyway, Dan gave me the circuit boards for the animatronic and I just scanned it. Now I'm thinking that was a mistake since so many glitches have started to appear ever since," Steven explained.
"I knew there was something weird with those creepy animatronics. Why did Anna even agree to take this job?" Mark said, suddenly becoming accusing. The other team mates were starting to give Mark strange looks, but Mark continued. "Anna is our boss and all, but like seriously, even if she's all high and mighty she should–"
"Mark. I have my reasons… and good morning," Anna said, appearing right behind Mark. She was like a horror creature that jump-scared him, just as she is mentioned. Mark jumped fifty feet in the air, staring at her with wide eyes, desperately trying to think of some way to cover up.
"HOLY SHI– hey Anna, I, um, I just haven't had my coffee yet, haha," Mark stuttered through. "Just being grumpy in the morning."
It was a half-truth, as Mark was quite the little pessimistic guy in the morning. Anna simply stared at him back with her resting judgemental face. She looked disappointed in him, the worst kind of punishment a newbie adult like Mark could have.
"You don't drink coffee–" Raha began but Mark elbowed her, shutting her up. She was such a snitch.
“I was standing in the room the whole time. You didn’t notice me,” Anna said in a monotone voice. “I recommend staying away from video games and getting sleep.”
“Haha,” Mark said aloud, forcing out each laugh like some kind of mechanical robot. He hurriedly looked around to find some excuse. “Uh, you want breakfast? I can get you breakfast.”
Mark scuffled away to the door and went straight for the kitchen on the 3rd floor. Yes, he knew it was an immature reaction, but Mark didn't really care. Plus, he always went to the kitchen if he wanted to skip work or if he was genuinely hungry.
He creaked the door open to the kitchen and his eyes fell on a single tall man who was grabbing nothing but a water bottle. The man looked a bit familiar, but Mark chalked it off as that being because he was an employee of Fazbear's. He was wearing the typical office employee outfit, the collared blue shirt with a black tie and black pants. Mark wore something similar as he was supposedly an office employee as well, except he didn’t wear the tie nor a collared shirt. On some days that he felt particularly weary, he felt a sweater helped him stay in one piece. The sweater he wore now was his favorite, and maybe it was a little worn, considering the gaping hole in the pocket and the flying loose strings. Sure, it was given to him like a charity donation by Fazbear Entertainment and was a nauseatingly pink color, looking diseased with age, but it was Mark's and only Mark's.
The coffee machine was on the side with a mess of coffee beans on the side. Mark glanced at the guy with the water bottle, but he hadn't noticed the coffee beans nor Mark. The man was standing right in front of the refrigerator which had his favorite little milk cartons. Mark waited a second for the man to move but he was stuck staring at the white door of the refrigerator like he was lagging or something.
"Hey man, do you mind if you move?" Mark tapped the guy on the shoulder, needing to extend his entire arm in the process.
"Oh, sorry," the man said. He turned to face Mark and an expression of recognition lit up on his face. "You're Mark, right? Funny that we meet again in the kitchen."
Mark blinked. Who the hell was this guy? He worked on the third floor so there's no way they saw each other often. The man waited expectantly, his bright smile slowly fading.
"...I'm Luis. I emailed you? Maybe you haven't seen it yet?" The man tried, apparently being whoever this Luis guy was.
Luis, Luis… Oh right, Luis. That guy that emailed him a couple of hours before midnight hit yesterday.
"Yeah, I remember you. Luckily I was working overtime last night, otherwise I would have missed it," Mark acknowledged. "Also, do you mind moving? I do want to open the refrigerator."
"Right, right, sorry," Luis moved out of the way. "Were you looking for the donuts? I threw them out, sorry. Pretty sure they had food poisoning."
"Wait donuts? There were donuts?" Mark turned rapidly to look at Mark again, who looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"You… missed them?"
“I guess,” Mark said, reaching for his little milk cartons. He popped a straw in them and started sipping on them. The cold liquid trickled down his throat and calmed his jumpy nature. He sighed in ease, finally having his morning drink, even if it wasn’t with a side of cereal.
On the other hand, Luis looked a little confused, even disoriented. He stumbled backwards a bit, barely catching himself before attempting to laugh it off.
“Hey, are you okay?” Mark asked him. He’s seen people black out before at work due to sleep deprivation, but he shouldn’t be walking around like that if he didn’t get to sleep the night prior. “Did you not sleep or something?”
“No, no, I’m fine,” Luis shook his head, “I think I’m just getting sick is all.”
“Man, should you be at work if you’re sick? I don’t know you that well but I can tell you need rest,” Mark suggested knowingly.
“Mhm, I’ll be fine,” Luis cleared his voice, “So about the email, I did have some questions."
"Oh okay. What did you want to ask?" Mark set down his milk carton and properly faced Luis, attempting to get into his business mode.
"Do you happen to know Jeremy Fitzgerald by any chance?"
Mark didn't like that he asked him about a person in specific because that was what Mark was the worst at answering. Jeremy Fitzgerald sounded more than just familiar, the name shouting itself in the back of his head. Mark closed his eyes for a moment, clearing his head for a moment to get a clear image of him
Jeremy Fitzgerald…
Mark went through his beta-testing memories, hoping for the name to spike up in his head. He thought of one specific instance, a snapshot of time before Mark had clocked out for the day.
Chica was creeping up behind Mark. He hasn't noticed yet, instead checking all the other cameras.
Then it hit him.
"Where's Chica? Bro, there's literally no–"
Chica hops out from behind Mark, grabbing his face and screeching at him. Mark lets out a howl of fear and throws his arms in front of him, only to fist-punch air.
Taking a moment to regain his senses, Mark lifts up the VR set from his face, containing the urge to chuck the thing to the floor.
Mark mutters a string of curses. Beta-testing was good for a quick buck, but beta-testing for Fazbear Entertainment was on another level. He adored video games, but playing buggy games wasn’t always fun.
He turns to look at the other beta-testers. There's only two other ones today, his friend Raha absent.
On the left of Mark stood some middle-aged man and to his right was a young lady with hair that belonged on the rainbow.
In just a second, the rainbow-unicorn-and-sparkles lady yelps and flinches. She sighs disappointedly, and also lifts her headset. She turns to face Mark.
"Did you manage to get Chica? She's quite a menace," the rainbow lady said, laughing now.
"Not with that teleporting bug," Mark replied.
"Is Jeremy still going? He's always been so good at these games," she continued.
Turning to look at the middle aged man, what she said seemed to be correct. The man, Jeremy, clicked on nonexistent buttons, swinging his head side to side checking through virtual doors. He didn't seem to hear them talking, strictly focusing on the game.
Mark had heard a few rumors about that guy, a few words here and there, but not enough to connect them all. Something about being an 'authentic security guard' and being the longest working employee at Fazbear Entertainment. Mark could only assume that meant he had worked at the original restaurants the games were based on, yet, Mark knew next-to-nothing about the actual events that took place. To him, Jeremy was just a coworker. An interesting coworker, one with a mysterious past.
Eventually, a quiet cheering tone came from Jeremy's headset, signifying he reached 6am, and he took off the headset.
The first noticeable thing on his face right after he took off the headset was a messed-up patch of skin in his forehead where the skin looked like it grew in all the wrong directions. It was disheveled, like a sharp dent in his head surrounded by dragged skin.
Mark tried not to cringe looking at it, but his face contorted into an expression of disgust anyways. It was hard not to look at the glaringly obvious scar. Mark cleared his voice when Jeremy didn’t react to his face of involuntary disgust.
"Hey, did you beat the night?" Mark said, not loving the time he spent right now, speaking to this weirdo. He muttered under his breath, “....Does your head not hurt with that there…?”
"I beat it," Jeremy said simply, without a single drop of emotion in his voice, having nothing to signify if he heard Mark’s muttering. His expression matched his monotone voice, devoid of expression. "...And you and Vanessa?"
"I guess I'm not close to your level, Jeremy! I didn't make it to 6am. I only got to 2 am. Chica tended to skip through some camera locations and went straight to the blind spot straight from the beginning," the blonde lady replied, which Mark now realized was Vanessa. Damn Mark and his short memory.
"Oh, I see. You might want to report that to the supervisors," Jeremy said with the same dead-tone voice.
Vanessa flashed a bright smile back, "Right! You too Mark, you had that issue too."
"Yeah, it was like Chica traveled along the invisible walls like the guinea pig I lost when I was little," Mark remarked sarcastically. Vanessa giggled at his remark.
The two walked out of the testing room, as Jeremy remained, replaying and beating the same level for what must've been the tenth time. It was like he was stuck in a loop.
At the time, Mark had respected the man as a weirdo excellent gamer, but now he wondered if it was just an abnormal obsession he had. He always seemed so.. dead .
"Oh that guy? Yeah, I know him. He is a little weird, but he wasn't anything wild," Mark said, back to reality, speaking to Luis once again. He knew he could be quite judgemental subconsciously, and after reflecting upon it, Mark had to scold himself for being so blatantly disrespectful to this man who never did anything creepy in the first place. Mark's stomach guiltily knotted, just like when one remembering any embarrassing memory from the past.
"Do you have his contact information? I've been trying to reach him but there's no contact information on his employee page," Luis said.
This man has access to the employee pages? Luis did seem to be an employee on the 3rd floor, having a higher position than Mark and his team. It was certainly a privilege to have access to those. They had a variety of information for each employee displayed.
…Does that mean he saw Mark's resume and all the embarrassing things he had on it? Mark died inside himself. He made that resume when he was barely 14, and he hasn't changed it since, having no need. He's been working for Fazbear Entertainment ever since he was a kid, really, and it was only now when he had a high enough education to get a decent job, through numerous internships and educational programs. He put information like his nerdy hobbies, his final goal to 'become a streamer', and a few other embarrassing facts. It made Mark awkward knowing Luis had a chance to read it.
"Did you, uh, read my resume?"
"No, I just looked for your contact information, promise."
"Oh thank God! Glad you respect my privacy on that," Mark said, sighing in relief. Luis looked a little guilty with Mark's statement, as if he indeed did breach his privacy, but he said he didn't so he didn't, right? Mark felt better telling himself that.
"...Haha, right," Luis said, looking a bit awkward himself, "So do you happen to have Mr. Fitzgerald's contact information?"
"No, I never talked to the guy outside of work," Mark said earnestly. "He always seemed, I dunno, kinda ancient. I don't think he even has a smartphone."
"Ah, well, do you mind if–"
A woman barged into the kitchen at that moment. She slammed the kitchen's door wide open and it slammed hard against the wall. Luis winced at the sound.
"Cabrera! Your computer has been beeping for minutes. Can you stop it?" She complained loudly. Now that the door was open, the faint rhythmic beeping could be heard from Luis' computer.
"Oh course, Kayla! I'm sorry, I didn't know it would be that loud. I'll lower the volume. So sorry," Luis apologized with a pained expression. Luis turned back to Mark, "We should continue talking soon. I still have a few more questions–"
"Luis." The woman interrupted him.
"Right, sorry.”
Luis is dragged away by Kayla, leaving Mark alone once again in the kitchen. He doesn’t have much else to do, the donuts Luis mentioned being gone, so he simply hogs a few more milk cartons and brings it down with him. He has to hug the milk cartons like if it was a large plush given to as a child.
As soon as he returns to the second floor, Raha is at the door, staring at Mark. She glares at him with her fists clenched, like she was ready to hit Mark. He flinches, his tower of mini milk cartons toppling on top of himself.
Her eyes search Mark, looking through his reaction, reading him thoroughly. Even with her bossy personality, Raha was always a goody-two-shoes and always snitched if Mark did anything bad as a kid. This led to the two of them constantly arguing, and still arguing in the present. Mark is aware of arguments like those that were rather petty, like when Mark had stolen her home VR set, by accident mind you, and Raha still blamed him for it. He returned it, didn’t he? She always made big deals of things like that. Mark only expects another argument of theirs to start, and Mark really wasn’t in the brightest mood to be on the same level of wittiness. Mark needed to always, always have witty comebacks. But today wasn’t his day.
“Do you think Springtrap is real?” Raha finally asks, her eyes softening a bit with the sudden, pleading question. She sounds like a kid again and Mark is rather shocked. He definitely wasn’t expecting her to ask him something about a random animatronic. Mark thought Raha already strongly believed in Springtrap's existence. He could only imagine she would scold him no matter what Mark responded. Mark could only guess what he did wrong in her eyes.
“Springtrap? Oh, the old animatronic. We found him in the old pizzeria, didn’t we?” Mark says, trying to create a balance with his milk cartons again as he speaks, looking away from Raha.
“Yes. I think… I think no one believes he’s William Afton,” she said.
“Oh.”
“You don’t either, do you?” Raha looks up at him, the slight vulnerability she showed, the want to know Mark’s opinion is gone, replaced by shallow acceptance. Once again, Raha must be making a big deal of something Mark didn’t get.
“I mean he could be, I guess… but how?” Mark asks as they walk back to their office.
“You know, Afton gets stuck in the suit 40 years ago, is burned like twice, and then we find him,” Raha explains like she’s done a million times for Mark. Never particularly having an interest in the complex lore, Mark had a hard time paying attention to her longer rants.
“Huh? Who burns him? How did he get stuck?”
“I thought I’ve already told you this a billion times about how he got stuck. And I think it's Henry, his rival, who burns him. It makes the most sense to me. But I’m not here to make theories or anything. It’s just a fact that William Afton is inside that animatronic.”
“Isn’t that weird though?” Mark said and Raha shot him a skeptical look, waiting for his explanation. “Okay, if it really is William Afton or whatever, how is he still here? No, I have one better question– Why do we have him? Why were we sent to get him?”
“Those are two questions not one–” Raha clears her throat when Mark copies the same look she gives him. “I don’t know? Maybe the fact that this is Fazbear Entertainment, the company co-founded by William Afton. Tell me you at least know that part.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know that, but that doesn’t explain anything, really. What company sends a team to rummage through some debris to find the previous owner?”
“You think they knew he was there in the debris?”
“Why else would we go there if they didn’t know Springtrap was there? I really don't know though."
“But they canceled our project right after we found him,” Raha stated, almost as if testing his side of things.
“Maybe that’s what they were planning all along and they just wanted to find the Springtrap animatronic, for parts, maybe. Or maybe for some other weird CEO reason, I dunno,” Mark inquired, not sounding very smart at that moment.
Mark really was clueless of what was going through the higher ups’ heads. They always were strange to Mark, making the most unreasonable and impulsive decisions that never affected anything as a whole. It’s like they were searching for something, building up to something. Something Mark had no idea about, and something Mark knew he wasn’t supposed to get involved in. He was limited to do his job, supposedly. Obviously, Mark can’t keep his hands to himself for that long. His curious mind always had to know more, especially when it involved his money.
“It’s not like we can do anything about it, anyways,” Raha said, sighing.
“For sure,” Mark said, lying through his teeth. Mark had his ways, and his curiosity burned too strong. Raha luckily didn’t seem to notice, and Mark was glad, for he needed anything but a snitch right now.
The truth behind the company: It was something that had always bothered Mark, even before he worked here as an employee, from before he was a beta-tester. There are always whispers, a rumor here and there, but nothing concrete. Mark has always done his share of investigation, but all he ever finds are theories on the games. It’s like he can never find anything on true events, almost as if they were entirely overshadowed by the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise.
Before, Mark was alone on this, Raha being a goody-two-shoes, any idea of going against the higher ups being outrageous. He can imagine her reaction, ‘Are you insane? Like, okay in the head? I thought your therapy sessions had helped with your stupid head. Jeez, try acting a bit more like an employee and not some emo teenager rebelling against your parents.’ Mark tried to stifle a laugh, his imagination creating such a ridiculous reaction that Mark couldn’t take it seriously.
Now, Mark could talk to Luis, who had access to the employee records. If he dug through some private folders within the company, he could find at least some semblance of the truth. Now, he just needed to convince Luis to use his computer. He was never the charming one, but he could be persuasive with the lovely matter of blackmail. Not that he had any on Luis, but it’s not like it’s impossible to obtain. Blackmail was a gift sent to people in need for Mark for just a situation like his. He was lucky, really.
Mark was good at observing people, being good at maintaining eye contact most of the time. Evidently, there were times where he couldn't handle the look of immense disappointment handed down to him through someone’s eyes. It was the only look Mark had trouble with, and Luis had no reason to look at him with those eyes, they just met each other after all. However, everyone on the 2nd floor knew about his weakness and used it on him constantly , especially when they wanted Mark to stop bothering them. Anna was the master of using the look, and the master of discipling him. Honestly, he held some thanks to her for that, if not he would’ve been that same beta-tester that was rude all the time and poked into people’s personal business.
Just as he was thinking, he felt the presence of that masterfully refined version of the look on him. Anna stood in front of him as he returned to the office. Mark gulped and his gaze moving away from Anna, instead on his other team members, each now on their computers, working.
Mark wasn’t working like he was supposed to. And his boss was staring right at him.
“Hi Anna,” he said in almost a whisper. Just as the words escaped his mouth, the crushing realization of a promise to his boss he broke dawned on him. He said he would bring in coffee for Anna. Mark did not bring coffee with him, only having an armful of mini milk cartons, his favorite. Anna didn’t like it when her employees were being selfish nor when they disobeyed her. “Um… sorry I forgot.”
“Forgot what, Mark?” She said in her usual monotone. She sipped on a mug of coffee– she sipped on a mug of coffee? What? How? Mark said she would bring her coffee, and Mark sure as hell didn’t see her in the kitchen. Is she a ghost? No, she’s a demon. Raha has always been right, demons and ghosts exist.
“Your coffee, where do you get it?” Mark asks inconspicuously.
“I have my own personal coffee maker. You can’t use it, if that’s your question,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Oh, okay. That’s … cool.” Mark didn’t particularly care. He just needed to get rid of her attention. “I'll go to work now. Yup. Work. I have lots of work.”
Anna blinked and with the time she has spent with her Mark was able to decipher the simple message of minute confusion– What work? She didn’t dwell on it, and simply turned away from him without a ‘Goodbye’, ‘Good Luck’, or a ‘Have fun.’ Not that Mark ever liked any of these dismissals as it felt like a cut off in a conversation.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he discerned that there was only an hour left until lunch break. It wasn’t shocking considering the fact that he was around an hour late and he had spent an hour in the kitchen. Honestly, Mark wasn’t sure how he wasn’t fired yet. He even abused every single one of the company’s resources, including the snacks in the kitchen and all the other benefits given to employees.
Mark only needed to stare at his laptop for an hour, and then he could speak to Luis again and squeeze the truth out of him. He was sure lunch was the best time. The hour could be used to his advantage, as his most important contract with Fazbear Entertainment was now broken for the time being, so he could reorder his priorities with some other contracts he has.
Just one hour.
He'll get to the bottom of this, eventually.
Notes:
Fun fact: Mark goes to the therapy offered by the company! He does indeed pass by Vanessa there. Definitely won’t be relevant to the story in any way! :)
To make Mark's personality, I made a mix of a real person I know, Markiplier, and the little we know about him in the AR emails.
Chapter 4: 9/2- Normal Blackmail?
Summary:
Mark finds something interesting about Luis
Notes:
As we go along, I'm going to slow down, in case there's some giant mind destroying lore reveal in the ruin DLC:
This chapter is more slice-of-lifey, you know, the calm before the eventual storm
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The hour Mark worked flew by like the mosquito that Mark killed when it buzzed in his ear. Mark hates bugs with his life.
As soon as Raha, Steven, and Dan got up and away from their work desks once the time for lunch hit, Mark felt he had the unspoken permission to do the same. No one really went to the kitchen during lunch, either heading to the lobby to eat a packed lunch, or leaving to eat out. The kitchen was seen more as the ‘coffee room’ to employees, as all the snacks are gone by the time Mark arrives in the building.
No one is in the kitchen, just as Mark expected. He sits himself on a spinny chair in the corner of his room and gets a small packed lunch from his bag. It’s nothing special. It was some dry rice that Mark made a few days ago and some chicken he bought from KFC a week ago. Not exactly healthy, but it was food. Next to his lunch was a container with a few pills rattling inside. He felt like ignoring them, as he needed no reason to concentrate on any work today and they always made him feel woozy. Then again, it wasn’t exactly a good idea to decide when he didn’t want to be on pills anymore. He took his usual prescription and slowly chewed his boxed lunch. The rice was crunchy(?) And the chicken didn't taste like chicken anymore, having a closer taste to a rubber toy. At least he had some barbecue sauce to dip into.
This was depressing. Usually he would share with Raha, but she didn't come up to the kitchen this time. Mark guesses she went out to eat. She does do it occasionally, and with her car she can go anywhere.
The door to the kitchen creaked open, and there was Luis, as expected. He was looking around anxiously. He had dark rings under his eyes and he somehow was paler. His hair, which was well-kept the last time he saw it, was slightly more ruffled and frizzy. Mark was curious about what had happened in a single hour.
When their eyes met, Luis switched to a friendly smile, waving at Mark.
"Hey, Mark. Had a feeling you would be here," Luis said in a friendly manner.
Mark shrugged and said a muffled, "Yup, 'tis be my place" with food in his mouth.
Luis stood tall over Mark while Mark spun in his chair. He was hardly intimidating with his friendly mannerisms, but Mark couldn't help noticing the height difference. Mark was only the average height for men, but Luis must've passed it by quite a bit.
"So… you were a beta-tester. Maybe you know some other beta-tester that knows Jeremy better?"
Still talking about Jeremy. Did he have some kind of obsession with him? It could be a crush. Crushes work great as blackmail, especially in this strange situation. It's weird, Jeremy Fitzgerald looked like he was in his late sixties and Luis barely looked a few years older than Mark. Well, he's seen people simp for the oldest wrinkle bags, albeit barely having crawled out of the womb themselves.
Mark still threw the idea out as Luis didn't seem romantically interested at least. He was determined, but his eyes only showed an undying curiosity. Mark has felt the same thing so many times before, the biting call for knowledge, the need to beat the unknown.
"I know another beta-tester. Two actually, but they're not beta-testing anymore. I can give you both of their contact information," Mark said, having swallowed his food, "But if you had my contact information, don't you also have theirs? Why talk to me?"
"I just prefer talking to people face-to-face. Emails are stuck in the computer. They're not very reliable." Luis said, doubting his own words. He laughed a little. "But straight-up talking to people can be a bit difficult too. It's a little… forceful, I guess."
"I get what you mean, I'm always told I'm bugging people when I ask for things," Mark grins rather impishly. He certainly had more self-control as he was now, and was definitely more aware, and restrained many of his thoughts from fleeting out of his mouth. Still, even he knew sometimes he would speak more than he should.
Mark led Luis back to the second floor, so he could meet Raha. There was still plenty of time left in the lunch break, and Raha had already come back from eating out. She held bags of KFC, ironically enough, and placed them down on her desk. The others, Dan specifically, looked a little disgusted by the smell of grease, but he didn't say much about it, surprising. Mark wondered if it was because Luis was here, a man from the revered third floor.
"Ay, Raha, can I speak to you for a sec?"
She turned to him with the same glare as before when Mark had apparently said something wrong. Her face softened upon seeing Luis, a flash of recognition passing by her face, and then she looked back at Mark with the same glare. Mark wondered if everyone knew Luis at this point.
"What is it?"
"My guy Luis here wanted to ask a few questions about the whole beta-testing business," Mark said, presenting Luis like he was at an auction. Luis, who could feel their tension, felt slightly uncomfortable.
"It's one person in specific I need to meet–"
A sly smile climbed on Raha's face, a drastic change from her previous silent glare.
"I've seen you before, entering the building. I think I know who you're talking about," Raha said, her smile only growing wider.
"Really? That's great," Luis said, returning a friendly version of her smile.
Mark frowns, doubtful of what Raha's motives here were.The smile on her face was certainly strange. If she knew Luis wanted to talk to Jeremy, was she looking for blackmail like Mark was? Mark didn't exactly know what she would be looking for, either. Mark interrupted quickly, "How do you know?"
A competitive tension broke out between the two, leaving Luis out of the loop and simply glancing between the two of them.
"I'm more observant than you, that's for sure. And mature," Raha stated.
"Mature, really now? You believe in ghosts and resurrection stuff." Mark retorted.
"Hey! I thought you believed in ghosts too. You said it yourself when I showed you proof."
"So you admit it's childish–"
On the other side of the office, Dan let out an annoyed whine. "If you guys are going to argue like babies, do it somewhere else!"
Mark snorted. "Okay, sure, just show me– us– that person you're talking about." Mark had nearly forgotten about Luis for a second there, who was watching them with a stagnant smile.
Raha led them downstairs, back to the entrance of the building on the first floor. Mark had never seen Jeremy come in through the entrance, so he had no idea what this place had to do with Jeremy.
She stopped right in front of the security office and called for the security guard by repeatedly clicking on a button by her door.
The security guard, a young lady, came out of her office, looking exhausted, having a hunched posture and half-open eyes. She blinked multiple times in an attempt to clear her vision and looked up at them. If Mark remembered correctly, her name was something like… Nan? Ness? Yeah, Ness or something.
"Here she is. This is who you mean, right?" Raha turned to Luis with a smug grin on her face, thinking she had accomplished what she wanted with the least amount of communication.
Luis turned a shade redder after the security guard appeared, while the security guard only looked confused. This was most certainly not the old wrinkly man that Luis was looking for, it was–
Oh, wait a second. It was so obvious that Mark almost slapped himself.
Luis was suddenly nervous around this chick. He was rubbing his neck, laughing sheepishly to cover up for his unprepared case of butterflies in his stomach.
He clearly had a crush on this lady, and it wasn't just a little crush either. Luis was heating up like a red chili pepper the longer he stood in the security guard's presence.
"Did you need me?" Ness sneered, having an edge to her voice. It was almost passive aggressive in the way she stared at them, as if they were wasting her precious time.
Luis laughed quietly in response while Raha eyed the two of them with wide eyes. Of course this is what Raha meant. She was always big on pushing two people together to form a relationship, getting overly excited when it came to seeing romance blossom, and to be honest, so did Mark.
Although he didn't originally come here for this, he couldn't help but let a tinge of smugness overcome him with this new knowledge about Luis. If anything, Mark would criticize Luis' taste in women. The security guard here looked incredibly grouchy and surly, the opposite of Luis' friendly and sociable nature. His crush situation here seemed hopeless, but it didn't hurt to push them together.
"Ness! Don't worry about it, there must've been a mix-up," Luis said, chuckling. He turned to Raha, "I meant to talk to–"
"Do I know you?" The security guard asked, squinting.
Luis blinked, as if to clear his vision when Ness talked back to him. It was almost like he wasn't expecting Ness to continue his conversation.
"Well, we always greet each other in the morning, and I've had to email you about… a few things. Nothing too worrying! If anything, I definitely would appreciate it if you emailed me back."
Ness tilted her head to her side, analyzing Luis with her narrowed eyes. Something clicked in her head. "The donuts…"
"Donuts?" Luis sounded understandably confused. "Do you like donuts, Ness? We can go out for donuts instead of coffee if you want," Luis said, keeping a calm complexion albeit turning rather red in the face at the mention of going out together. Mark and Raha were both pleasantly surprised that Luis had already made a move on Ness. Mark's innocuous opinion on Luis changed slightly at that moment.
"Mhm, maybe. Goodbye, Luis and… friends. Unfortunately, I have work to do," she said with a shift in her voice to appear more affable, after getting questioning looks from both Mark and Raha. It sort of reminded Mark of the way a mascot would speak. She preemptively entered her office before any of them could speak anymore.
Luis was left staring at her door, even after it had been closed.
He quickly snapped out of it once Mark spoke up, talking to Raha.
"You nosy asshole, you just wanted to plant your nose in someone's romantic business," Mark elbowed Raha and laughed aloud. Raha's sly smile returned, making much more sense now.
"Romantic business?" Luis turned to Mark, "No, I'm just concerned about an acquaintance."
"Do you hear yourself?" Mark asked.
"Do you see yourself?" Raha emphasized.
"Guys, please, it's really nothing like that. You did see how Ness acted, right? She looked tired. Very much so. It worries me," Luis said, glimpsing at her office from the corner of his eye. Mark decided he would poke at the prospect of Luis having a crush later. He could even use it as blackmail.
"You know, I'm kinda concerned too. Has she ever acted like that before, Mark?" Raha pondered.
"Huh? Me? I dunno. Did she work with us?"
Raha looked at him incredulously. Oh no, did Mark say something wrong again? He did find Ness familiar and he knew her name, which is certainly an improvement from not knowing Luis'. Yet, Mark didn't recognize her character at all.
In fact, the way she acted reminded Mark of the way Jeremy started to act towards the end of Mark's beta-testing career, to a lesser degree. Jeremy looked more and more tired as the days passed. Mark took notice of it as Mark constantly asked Jeremy for gaming tips. It was one of the few things he could recall from Jeremy Fitzgerald.
"Yeah, she worked with us, Mark. Vanessa? The happy-go-lucky blonde and colorful hair lady?"
Mark couldn't imagine the security guard ever being a joyous person, skipping atop rainbows with her security cameras and laughing giddily. Okay, perhaps Mark's mental image of being happy-go-lucky was moderately exaggerated, but that didn't change the fact that the security guard was the opposite of being cheery.
Vanessa… Ness… blonde… yellow… Chica… Oh! That one Chica bug Vanessa helped him report. It was a backwards way to remember her, but at least Mark managed to remember in the first place.
"You're right. She used to be this ‘sunshine and rainbows’ gal. She didn't even have anything rainbow on her."
"She does have her rainbow hair streaks," Luis commented.
"--Other than the rainbow hair streaks which I definitely noticed. Funny that you noticed, Luis, you pay attention to the details, huh?" Mark continued, smirking, managing to come back from looking like a selfish brat.
"I mean, it's something that stands out," Luis covered quickly, his face heating up again.
"Her rainbow streaks are starting to grow out, though," Raha pointed out, bringing the conversation on track again, "They used to be the bottom half of her hair and now I can barely see them."
“So what’s that supposed to mean?” Mark asked. Raha didn’t have anything to say in response and neither did Luis. If anything, Mark only remembered bits and pieces of Vanessa, and it was mostly a general figure of what Vanessa was. If he was lucky, he’d remember an entire memory, clear as day, and on other days, he couldn’t remember anything at all. His brains sometimes felt like a bowl, constantly being shaked and the contents inside being mixed. However, no memory of Vanessa popped up this time, but he did manage to remember one thing she said to him one–
“Hey, Mark! Any chance you have any experience in security jobs? I think I’m being transferred…”
It was a random thing to remember, and Mark couldn’t remember when exactly Vanessa had told him this.
“I’m pretty sure she’s just tired. Plus, I doubt being a security guard is a good economic choice,” Raha said.
“Well,” Luis cleared his throat and glanced one last time at the security office, “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking behind her back like this. Anyways, there was that thing I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, I got a little carried away. What did you want to ask me?" Raha asked.
"It's about Jeremy Fitzgerald. I need to talk to him," Luis said, nodding after mentioning Jeremy.
"Him?" Raha squints her eyes, her mouth slightly agape. She had a rather strong reaction to the name, her more relaxed posture now sharpening. She stared directly at Luis who didn't expect her shift in behavior, after all, Mark certainly didn't react this way. Mark himself was confused by her response to him.
"He was a beta-tester, right? Do I have the wrong guy?" Luis said, his nervousness entering his voice.
"Why do you want to talk to him?" Her voice was borderline accusing now. Mark didn't get where this came from. Wasn't Jeremy only their coworker? He wasn't Raha's child or anything. It's like she randomly became protective of any information involving Jeremy.
"I have a project– yes, something was assigned to me at work. It involves some stuff about the company's past. I believe he used to work at one of the old restaurants, so I thought it would be a good idea to speak to him." Luis said, wobbling around through his words. Raha hardly looked convinced but she didn't berate his statement.
"Can't you just search it up online?" Raha jabbed instead.
"I want to know the truth," Luis said firmly.
Mark turned, looking at Luis. He had a sort of determination in his eyes.
"You need to convince me then," Raha said, still not buying into Luis' words.
"Raha, why are you suddenly all defensive about this? Is Jeremy special or something?" Mark waved his hands to grab her attention. It was a futile attempt as her eyes remained fixated on Luis, watching his every move.
"Of course you wouldn't know. You never noticed anything that goes on around you," Raha bit back harshly.
"Okay, Raha, I'm a bit tired of you insulting me all day today. Can you lay it off?"
"It's because you haven't realized what's been going on!" Raha finally snapped away from Luis, facing Mark. Luis seemed relieved she was no longer staring daggers at him. His expression quickly changed to helplessness when he was stuck third-wheeling the start of an argument between Raha and Mark.
No, it wasn't an argument yet. Mark didn't want to argue right now. That's what he told himself, anyway.
"What the hell is going on then? Can't you use your words?" Mark snapped back, his words sounding more aggressive than he intended.
Luis' eyes switched from between Mark and Raha, unsure of what to do with their sudden argument.
"It's the animatronic, it's… real. It's real, Mark. I'm not crazy," she said, her voice lowering to a whisper. Mark could tell she didn't want to argue either. She wanted something else. She returned to observing Luis. "And now Luis is looking for Jeremy? You're kidding me."
"What?" Mark scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to make heads or tails of what she was hinting at. What animatronic was she talking about, and what about it being real? "Look, I'm sorry if it's something I'm not exactly a perceptive person. I know I joke about being better than you or whatever, but I'm actually really stupid when it comes to stuff like that. Can you just tell me what you mean? And can we not argue in front of Luis?"
Luis gave a confused glance to Mark. He clearly felt out of the loop, and Mark felt bad. Well, as often as Raha and Mark fought, they at least had the manners to not act childish in front of people. Most of the time, at least. Today was an exception.
Luis started to speak, "I can leave this to another day, if it's inconvenient–"
"No, no, we said we would help you now," Mark said.
"Lunch is almost over." Raha crossed her arms. "Just leave it for another day."
Luis seemed slightly disappointed, but he still smiled. "Alright, see you tomorrow then? I'm happy you helped me today, even during your lunch. That's plenty already, I'm sure."
"It's whatever," Raha said, stifling a smile from being flattered.
Luis nodded goodbye and headed towards the elevator. Mark and Raha watched as the elevator door closed with Luis waving goodbye inside of it.
"You heard that, right? He wants to find out the truth ," Raha said, turning to Mark with lifted eyebrows. "He's a little suspicious, but.. I think I want to help him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mark was surprised to hear her say that. She was the last person he expected to say that, especially with her goody-two-shoes attitude.
"He obviously isn't doing a project. He's investigating, you know, digging around for the truth."
"He could be doing a project. You can't just assume things," Mark narrowed his eyes.
"You're focusing on the wrong part." Raha poked Mark who let out a yelp. "Everyone always says that I'm going insane under the office pressure, but I always knew there's more to the company than what it seemed."
Mark didn't respond immediately, examining Raha. She stared at him expectantly, her arms still crossed. Her hand was clasped around one of her arms tightly as she spoke.
"I know what you mean, but every company has its own secrets. Is Fazbear Entertainment that special?" Mark said. Raha was about to cut in but Mark continued to speak, "Plus, don't you think that maybe digging around for this supposed truth is going to… I don't know, reveal something unpleasant?"
"Obviously," Raha said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm serious. I'm kinda worried."
"Mark, calm down, think of it as a B-plot in a movie. It doesn't actually affect anything other than increasing our knowledge." Raha tapped her head. Mark was still dubious.
"Okay, but aside from that, we might get fired too."
"Now you're just being whiny." Raha said, unexpectedly. Mark widened his eye in surprise. "Let's go back to work. Not that there's much to do but you know Anna."
"I know very well. She's terrifying. You know one time I swear I saw her eating the coffee beans raw?"
Raha laughed. "No way. She can't be that much of an office demon."
"You'll be surprised. I've seen some stuff in that office of hers."
The two continued to talk as they returned to the second floor. They took the same elevator as Luis.
Nothing bad will happen from then on. Nothing at all.
Notes:
:) I'm never good at writing slow scenes. Also, i apologize for my out of pocket notes and my typos.
...I wish i had a beta reader