7DSJ: Three Nights at Freddy'sby ShinzakuraChaptersJune 22, Morning: Well You've Got Opportunity in This Very Community....June 22, Evening: Jumping the GunJune 23, Morning: Cleanup Required in Dining Area 3June 23, Evening: Reach Out, Reach Out and Touch Someone....June 24, Morning: Logistical NightmareJune 25, Morning: Hat.jpgJune 24, Evening: Say Hello to My Little FriendJune 22, Morning: Well You've Got Opportunity in This Very Community....Taking off her helmet, Adagio Dazzle set it down on her motorcycle. The bike was new, as were her clothes, and truth be told, she still hadn’t quite adjusted to wearing civvies yet, as well as letting her hair grow out. It felt weird enough not having a sidearm or anything to protect her with as she left them in the lockbox on the side of her bike, but she quickly reminded herself, she was a SIREN and being a SIREN meant that she didn’t need a weapon; she was a weapon. Even so, this current assignment required that she pretend to be a normal sixteen-year-old girl, and one of those things, according to her research, was a summer job. At least that was the norm for girls around here in Canterlot; maybe it was that way back in Canada, too. At least Madrigal Storm, her technically-legal guardian (for this current assignment, anyway) and Sonata’s grande sœur, thought so: “You sure you want to get a job, Dagi? We have more than enough money for this assignment,” the older woman said over breakfast. “I’m being trained to lead, right? As the oldest sister and the fireteam leader it’s my duty to take the initiative. Since our research showed that lots of girls our age hold down jobs, it’d be a great way for us to get into the community, right?” Madrigal nodded. “Yeah, and since I have a job interview myself – trying to get into the City Hall records department – that makes sense. What about Ari and Soni?” Adagio turned her head to look upstairs at the bedroom she shared with her fellow triplets. The two were still asleep in their beds, getting used to “civilian life”. Adagio, on the other hand, got up at reveille – that is, dawn to just about everyone who wasn’t used to a military life – and did her six-mile run for the morning. Now, with plenty of time on her hands, there was nothing else to do except read the Equestria Daily, the local newspaper…and she was never really one for reading the news. Picking up the classifieds – she saw once in a movie that jobs were advertised in that part of the paper – she searched around the Employment section until she found something of note: HELP WANTED Night-time Security needed to watch over historic restaurant in downtown Sunnytown No experience necessary, $25/hr with benefits Contact jobs@freddyspizza.us or Shim at (232) 555-PIZZA Hey, I like pizza, Adagio thought to herself, and how hard could a security guard’s job be? With that, she made her pitch to Madrigal, who agreed, and because it was in Sunnytown – a supposedly run-down suburb, though they’d been through worse – and a security guard job, she even allowed Adagio to carry a small sidearm. Going through her collection, Adagio selected her Mateba Unica 6 revolver as well as a backup .38 Special, just in case. With that, she looked up the directions on her phone and drove off towards what she was sure was her new job. She looked up at the sign on the roof: FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA. “Freddy Fazbear”? Think I’ve heard of this place, she thought, before heading over to the door and knocking. Two young women with long red-and-white tresses poked their heads out, affixing their apple-green eyes on her; they were identical twins and had it not been for the fact that one wore eyeglasses – apparently blanks; they seemed to be just for looks – she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart. Not at first guess, anyway. As they stepped out of the restaurant, Adagio noticed they both wore white-and-blue striped polos and tan slacks. “Hi!” the glassless one said, a smile on her face. “Are you here for the job?” “Uh, yeah,” Adagio said, trying to relax as she saw the creepily wide grins on the two women’s faces. “Well, don’t just stand there,” the one with the glasses said, “C’mon in and welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!” “I’m Shim,” the first one said. “I’m Sham,” the second one called out, just before both sisters said in a near-singing tone, “We’re the up-and-comin’ Shim-Sham Sisters, Excellent Businesswomen, Nonpareil!” Adagio blinked and looked at them both. “Uh….” Shim blushed, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “Sorry, ingrained family habit.” Sham adjusted her glasses. “Yeah…our grandfather was Flim. Y’know, of Flim-Flam Manufacturing Co. fame? Anyway, when Grandpa passed away last year, he left us an inheritance, as well as a drive to go into business, just like he and his brother did.” “Yeah, and since I can cook, and Sham can design,” Shim explained, “We bought this old pizza place and the IP from the company that owned it. Figured if we made enough money off it, we could restart the chain—” “That’s where I’ve heard of the place before!” Adagio said with a snap of her fingers. “There used to be one in the strip mall just down the road from the base…that…my…uh…Dad was assigned to, yeah,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. “Oh, so you have heard of it,” Sham commented, nodding with a smile. “Most people your age really haven’t, since the company had a problem in one of their franchises in Colorado back in the 80s that caused the company’s fortunes to decline.” “According to our business class,” Shim piped in, “by the time corporate got wind of that issue, Chuck E. Cheese’s had bought Showtime Pizza and had way too much of a lead, and around 1992, Fazbear Entertainment was bought by some Malaysian investor who merged most of them with Pepperoni Pizzaz’s Pizza Palace. By the time we were teenagers, the chain was completely gone.” “But I remember going to the one in San Palomino fondly as a kid,” Sham sighed. “There was this Ms. Pac-Man machine in the game room that I used to play for hours on. Those were the times.” “Yeah,” Shim agreed with a smile. “Oh, so anyway, you’re here for the job, right? The biggest question is, can you protect yourself? Sunnytown’s a little weird place to start, I admit, but it was the last of the restaurants that was still standing and in good condition. Plus, they moved some of the animatronics here, and we’re going to get some techs to come out and work on them tomorrow morning.” “The job’s really not too hard,” Sham explained. “Just sit in the restaurant during the off-hours and make sure that nobody tries to break in. We’ve heard reports of people getting hurt in the area – Sunnytown doesn’t have the best of reputations, unfortunately – and we think it’s a gang. We’ve sunk a lot of money into this venture, so we have to make sure that we protect our investment.” “No problem,” Adagio replied. “I’m armed, and nobody’s going to break in, I assure you.” “You’re armed?” Shim gasped. “Oh wow,” Sham said with some surprise. “I don’t think I could ever be brave enough to carry a gun.” “Yeah…uh…Dad taught me when I was little. You know, parents, right?” When the twins nodded. The golden-haired girl added, “I’m Adagio Dazzle, by the way, and if you’re hiring, I’ll take the job.” Shim nodded. “Well, that works for me. Sis?” “Yeah, yeah,” Sham agreed. “Well, Ms. Dazzle, c’mon in and fill out the paperwork, and we’ll get you started. There’s something that your parents’ll have to sign, but since the job starts tonight, if you can get it to us in the next few days, that should be fine.” As Adagio went in, she wasn’t sure, but something set her off. Maybe it was the rundown look of the dining room, or maybe it was the arcade with the dusty machines that looked like they hadn’t been turned on in ages, or maybe it was the hulking, damaged animatronic machines on stage that set her on edge. “Oh, those things?” Shim said, pointing out the figures on stage. “Oh, those are the Mark I animatronic models; when we bought the company, the previous owner sent us the last existing copies they had; apparently they were kept in storage somewhere in Utah.” “They look pretty beat,” the teen admitted. “They’re just there temporarily,” Sham told her. “Apparently the problem was originally with the Mark I models, but that the Mark II ones, which were supposed to be an upgrade, didn’t work as planned, so the Mark Is got kept around far longer than they should’ve been. Only reason we kept them is because we needed the software suites inside to have them compared with new ones we’re ordering.” Shim nodded excitedly. “Yeah. We had a designer from Korea come in three weeks ago to look at the old ones, so that we could have upgraded Mark III models made. You know, voice print analysis, biometric detection in case of sexual predators, all that stuff that was in the Mark IIs, but with the latest and greatest tech!” “Plus, they’ll be kawaii! All the kids love kawaii!” Sham swooned. “You’ll have to excuse my sister; she’s an otaku,” Shim explained. Sham mock-pouted and as Adagio watched the twins, she felt as though she were being watched. She turned around to see Pirate Cove’s curtains rustle. “What was that?” she asked. “Oh, the animatronic for Foxy malfunctions a lot,” Sham told the teen, “and for some reason it almost always refuses to come out of the ‘Pirate Cove.’ Just another reason why we want to get the Mark IIIs as soon as possible, I guess.” “They walk around?” Adagio asked. “Yeah, that’s what made the place so cool,” Shim replied. “Much better than Chuck E. Cheese’s; robots walking around and not just some guy in a costume,” Sham piped in. “I agree, sis,” Shim told her. “Well, here we are: the office.” As Adagio looked around, she noted that the office looked like the admin office of the underground base she once worked at, filled with furniture that had seen better days, an aging metal desk, rusty fan that was already on and running, and various other things; about the newest thing to the whole collection was a brand new laptop that the sisters explained controlled the security camera and the power settings, since the climate control systems were so old they hadn’t been completely computerized yet. If anything, to her this was probably the most comfortable and homey place in the building. The trio filled out various paperwork, and when Adagio noted that “Fazbear Entertainment, Inc. was not responsible for accidental death, dismemberment, etc.” Sham looked at it, tore up the paper and said, “That’s a little…too specific. Tell you what: these probably aren’t up to current code anyway, so let me order up new contracts – ones that aren’t as weird sounding and bizarre. You can start tonight and tomorrow before you leave I’ll come early and you can fill out the revised paperwork. And just to sweeten the pot, we’ll pay you time-and-a-half for tonight, okay?” “Really?” Adagio said with a smile. She didn’t know how much that stacked up against normal pay for people her age, but that couldn’t be all bad, right? June 22, Evening: Jumping the Gun“Be careful, okay?” Sonata said, hugging her sister. Adagio smiled; theoretically the youngest, Sonata was always the most emotional of the three. “I will, Soni,” Adagio promised. “Besides, you don’t see Ari or Maddie worried, do you?” “Maddie’s grocery shopping right now,” the youngest teen countered, “And Ari’s playing that videogame console she bought today, so she’s a little focused. Both girls then turned to look at the middle triplet, who was playing Call of Duty and screaming into her headset, “And that’s how you get played, ya pansy-ass weakling! Bet you couldn’t even hold a real M4, much less all the gear your character’s carrying, you fat fuck!...Oh, boo hoo, I made you cry! I dare you to come over here and say it to my face!” “Yeah, she is a bit focused right now,” Adagio replied. “Well, let her know I left and….” She then looked at Ari, who got up from the game, muttering something about “stupid ass mother fuckers kicked me from the game” and approached them. “Hey, take care, sis,” Aria said, hugging Adagio. “I hear Sunnytown’s dangerous. Well, for untrained, normal civvies, but I know you can handle yourself. Thing is, you’re supposed to be one of those at the moment.” “I’ll be okay, girls, I promise. You two looking for jobs as well?” “I started yesterday,” Sonata said. “Trying to find something I like.” “I have to let my hair grow out a little more,” Aria admitted. “Still not as long as the average girl’s. Even though we’re triplets, we’re not identical triplets, so I’m kinda jealous that you two have faster-growing hair than I do.” “Don’t worry, you look good as is, sis. Anyway, I gotta get going.” Giving her sisters one more hug, Adagio made sure to doublecheck her weapons, and then slipping on her helmet, drove down the street, headed for work. About three blocks away, she saw a rainbow-haired girl and another girl jogging down the street and Adagio smiled to herself. Looks like normal girls work out as well. Maybe I’m more normal than I thought. “And so Shim-Sham Enterprises, LLC dba Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Company, agrees to these terms as outlined in the document and confirmed by the signatories below,” Shim read, setting the contract down in front of Adagio. “All you have to do is sign, and you should be good to go.” “Additionally,” Sham added, “Here’s a work authorization form. We’ve already signed it, so all you have to do is just make sure your parents do.” “Well…older sister, actually; I live with her.” A pause. “My parents are overseas, so Maddie’s keeping an eye on me.” “That’s good to know,” Shim told her. “Anyway, here’s how things work: the laptop controls both climate control and the security cameras. We’re running it on a laptop right now because the computer we ordered from Dell is running behind schedule.” “We put some games on the system,” Sham added helpfully, “and if you’ve got your own Steam account, feel free to install your own. We know how boring it can be down here.” The rest of the time was spent looking around, checking the locks on the doors and other items on the checklist. The Mark Is were inspected to make sure nothing was left active, even though the main power units had been removed; and both sisters made sure the power was ongoing – Shim had explained that one of the problems the predecessor company had in its late years was a “power budget”, while Sham clarified that they had no such issue here – before handing Adagio the keys. Finally, as the pair stood by the entrance with Adagio, Shim added, “Oh, and if you get hungry, we already have the pizza-making equipment installed, so feel free to make whatever you want, on the house.” They then went over to the kitchen and Shim explained the workings of all the equipment, as well as the refrigerators where everything was kept. “In fact, we made some pizza crusts earlier, so by all means, help yourself.” “Honestly, if you even want to take some home, it’s a great way to get the business word out,” Sham added, “so don’t be afraid to do that, either. We’ll just chalk it up to stealth advertising.” “Thanks. I’ve got it from here,” Adagio said, patting her sidearm. “Nobody’s going to break in while I’m around.” “Good. We’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Shim said, while Sham mainly waved, before closing the restaurant’s front entrance. As the two girls walked to their car, Shim asked, “You think she’ll be okay?” “Of course she’ll be!” Sham replied. “Did you see the gun on her side? She’s like, a super-secret agent or something. Like Ghost in the Shell!” Shim facepalmed. “Sis? We really gotta do something about your anime watching. You’re losing your grip on reality.” Some pushups and a quick jog around the building later, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to take off the sidearm I was wearing earlier, she admitted. Fortunately, she placed it in her backpack, which was back in the office; she could sprint there in a matter of seconds and be armed in no time flat. The thugs around here probably didn’t have her level of reflexes, so she could easily make it before they even drew on her. As she stood up, she faced the stage and the three inactive Mark I automatons standing there. Though they were depowered, they were definitely ugly and hadn’t lasted the test of time; they were definitely due (in her opinion) to be replaced by the Mark IIIs. Yeah, definitely creepy, she thought. Fortunately, they were nothing more than statues while the power modules were removed, and frankly she had bigger issues with potential gangbangers breaking in to steal something, or worse – like the FBI showing up on the doorstep to arrest her for being part of the SIRENs. She shrugged. Can’t live my life on what could happen tomorrow, she thought to herself as her stomach growled. Well, Dagi, let’s see how good of a pizza maker you are. She then decided to make some for her sisters and their guardian; she was sure that Maddie liked pizzas. Well, I know Ari does, and so does Soni, her obsession with Mexican food notwithstanding. She no sooner placed her double-pepperoni and sausage into the pizza oven, then the phone rang. Reaching for the phone on its cradle, she then answered with what she hoped was a friendly, “Hi, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria! We’re not open right now, but stay tuned for our grand opening in September!” “Hello? Hello hello?” What sounded like an older man said across the line, though the call sounded as though like there was a low signal. “If you can hear me – this is a bad connection – you’ve made a very poor career choice.” Adagio’s eyes narrowed. “If you think you’re going to threaten me, whoever you are, you’ve got another thing coming,” she hissed. “No, no, not that! I used to work at the original Freddy’s! Back in ’87! When the bite occurred! Oh, I spent a fortune trying to make sure that the company went under, and I thought when that guy in Kuala Lumpur bought it, I could rest easy! But no, now you’re in danger and you need to get out of there!” “Look, I don’t know who you are or what your game is, but if you even think you’re going to sabotage my bossladies’ new business, you’ve got another thing coming, bucko!” “Look, if you have any sense, you’ll get out of there before those monsters come alive! Listen: get into the office and lower the blast doors! There’s only enough electricity to use one at a time, so you’ll h—” Adagio hung up on the man; obviously he was completely out of his mind and had no idea what he was talking about. So what if he worked for the old company? Shim and Sham seem very nice and they wouldn’t rip me off; they don’t have that kind of personality. With that, Adagio went back to her dinner plans, never realizing the fact that if she’d just turned, she would’ve noticed the chicken automaton standing there, its eyes glowing a bloody red. Finally, after another inspection of the locks on the windows and entrance, she then went down to the security office, noticing that both entrances to the room, strangely enough, were blast doors, just as the man had said. She wondered why that was…right until she noticed the safe at the far side, over by the table with boxes of memorabilia from the original chain. Well, that explains the blast doors; betting the man either didn’t realize that or it was just some ploy. Seeing the time – seven in the evening – she set her alarm for midnight, just to make a patrol around that time. In the meanwhile, she’d study up on some of the duties of her real job – the one that involved spying on Mrs. Wintry Mix and her family. Meanwhile, on the stage, in Pirate Cove and in the maintenance area, several automatons creaked to life, shuffling to their feet as if corpses newly given life. Artificial eyes glowing red, the various robots shambled, via instructions from who knew where and a power source that seemed to not exist, towards their target, sitting in the security office. It didn’t matter to the mechanical shapes that this wasn’t the same location they’d been in earlier, nor did it matter that decades had passed since their last event. What mattered was their unnatural programming, whether by electronic malfunction or something preternatural, bid them forward, ten mechanical nightmares reuniting at the stage. At midnight, they would attack and rend bloody murder. The weathered brown bear, Freddy – the original, not the insultingly toylike one designed to replace him – looked at the Puppet and then pointed towards Pirate Cove, where Foxy dwelled. The Puppet seemed to understand what Freddy communicated and slunk off to meet with its fellow animatronic. Soon the Office would be painted with blood. Midnight came, and with that a very bored Adagio. She’d already watched the news, played more than a few rounds of Tetris and read up on the previous company history – apparently there were some legal issues involved due to unexplained injuries and a few murders at a prior location. From what she knew of civilian world, it was a sad fact of reality that lots of restaurant chains suffered this, so it must’ve been a truly heinous crime to have critically damaged the fortunes of the parent company and not just the individual restaurant. Well, it’s midnight, time to check the cameras. Maintenance Room, check; stage, check – wait, is that chicken robot moving? Have to check that out later; could be a power fluctuation even though they’re not supposed to have power running, whatever. Kitchen, check; Office Hallway, check; Dining Areas 1 – 4, check; Arcade, check; Kids Kamp, check; Pirate Cove, ch—wait, that wasn’t open earlier. Her wariness kicking in, she opened up her backpack, pulling out her main 9mm semiautomatic, as well as a backup that she’d brought with her. Slipping on her web belt, Adagio then did a quick diagnostic of everything, but couldn’t find signs of a break-in. That doesn’t mean nobody did it, she knew. Anyone could easily get into the HVAC vents; I know, because I had training on how to do that when I was eight. The gangs could easily have coerced – or even recruited – a kid into breaking in. However, the adults wouldn’t let the kid do the stealing; they’ll want the good stuff themselves. With that, Adagio went for her pistol the moment she heard footsteps rushing down the hallway towards the office. Turning off the light, the moment the figure appeared silhouetted from the light and approaching the door, she nearly pulled the trigger until she saw the silhouette of a little boy. But then she heard something behind her coming from the other door, and turning she heard a scream as a white face with dark lines launched towards her. Instinct took over and she doubletapped, the tinny sound of her pistol barking. Without wasting time, she got up, estimated where the figure’s torso was and unloaded two more, just in case, then turned on the light to see— —the Puppet automaton, laying there and leaking oil; she’d nailed both the head and the chest cleanly and likely hit two oil lines. As for the head, she’d blown off the mask completely apart, exposing part of the endoskeleton head, which had a hole that went all the way through. Strangely enough, the oil looked a little too much like blood, but it wasn’t anything Adagio hadn’t seen before. Must be a light weight of oil, Adagio observed, and that probably means I damaged this one beyond repair – good thing Shim and Sham ordered replacements. But it was clear that whoever powered up the automaton clearly meant to spook Adagio, and that wouldn’t do; furthermore, there was a kid involved, and that meant that an innocent was in danger. Rushing down the hall into the main area, she brought out her other pistol and barked, “This is Security! You have one second to disarm before I open fire! Surrender the child and come out NOW!” To her surprise, however, there was no one coming out. Moving with stealthiness and surety, she checked each room before calling out, “And you better damn well not come back!” Walking back to the Office, she was surprised to find a puddle of oil…but no Puppet. Her mouth turned into a grim line of anger. So that was their plan: sneak up on me, make me run around the building and then sneak off with one of the robots, since we have the junkers in the back room. She sighed; she was going to have to apologize to Shim and Sham on failing them, and it probably meant she would be fired. And it’s a shame, too – I really like the pizza here, she sighed. Dejected, she headed back to the Office. She had paperwork to fill out, as well as the Sunnytown Police Department to call. She could only hope that they weren’t aware of her status as a SIREN, because that could be the biggest problem she had here. On stage, three murderous animatronics looked at each other. If their eyes could express an emotion, said feeling was that of confusion. This was compounded by the sounds of the other animatronics, as they rushed back to the maintenance room as quickly as they could. In Pirate Cove, Foxy reached over, yanking the curtains shut. At first, he’d been furious that Balloon Boy and Puppet had moved in first to attack the new meat even after Freddy had clearly indicated that Foxy had dibs, and not the clown and the midget. But after seeing what said “meat” did to Puppet, he was glad he hadn’t moved first. He might’ve ended up looking worse than Mangle, his Mark II counterpart. Deep in the back of the restaurant’s maintenance room, a shattered puppet-like automaton hid for what it felt was its unnatural life, comforted by an equally-terrified Balloon Boy. The creature rubbed itself, occasionally uttering a mechanical sound somewhere between an undead child crying and a whimper. June 23, Morning: Cleanup Required in Dining Area 3“And you say you shot them, Ms. Dazzle?” the police officer asked, looking at her with a glance of confusion. Fortunately, Adagio already had that covered. Pulling out a pistol with an orange top, she said, “Airsoft. Have to be careful nowadays and I know how strict state laws are, officer.” He chuckled. “Smart girl; wish we had ones like you a few months back, as it would’ve made life easier around here. Well, we’ve got your report. Should we be aware of anything else?” Adagio shook her head. “No officer, thank you for your time.” As she escorted him out the door, she breathed a sigh of relief, pulling the orange cap off her pistol. That was close. I’ll have to ask Maddie to have our people break into SPD’s computer systems and see what we can find out. Don’t want to run into that situation again. The first thing she did after that was to inspect the animatronics on stage; if one was malfunctioning, chances are they all were. While the company manual – from the original corporation until Shim and Sham could write new rules – stated that the bots were not to be touched, especially Freddy, but she figured that was due to people who had no idea of what they were doing. As part of her training, Adagio had to learn rudimentary electronics and wiring, so she had a much better grasp than the average person, she assumed. Walking over to Freddy, she watched as the head looked at her, following her. Definitely creepy, but probably the motion tracking suite within the system; they were circa 1980s technology, so very rudimentary at best. Opening up his back panel, a noxious smell came that was akin to a rotting carcass, but given the construction of some earlier wiring, she’d smelled that before – the wiring systems on the HVAC back at base smelled like a graveyard in comparison. “And there we go,” she said to herself, reaching into the upper part and pulling out the memory battery. The robot reacted at once, shivering before coming to a complete stop. Yeah, I was right: it’s a redundant system. She then did the same to both Chica and Bonnie, and would’ve went to the back to do so with the others, but then her phone’s alarm beeped 6AM, and the contractors working on rewiring the building for modern power systems would be here in a few minutes. Throwing away the batteries in a nearby can, she walked towards the entrance, pausing only to walk to the Office and put her gun away. If she’d looked back at the stage, she would’ve seen the enraged looks on the Mark I animatronics, a visage akin to being violated. Adagio sighed. “Look, I know I screwed up,” she told Shim and Sham when they arrived at nine, having explained the events of the prior night, “and I—” The look on Shim’s face was one of shock. “No! If anything, we’re glad you’re safe! Losing one of those old robots isn’t worth your life, Adagio!” “Shim’s right,” Sham agreed. “Especially if those guys had a kid around – they were endangering both the kid and you! You made the right call, and I’m glad you did. Heavens knows what would’ve happened to Shim or I if we’d been there. But you’re clearly very tough, and scared them off. I’m sure they won’t be back.” “So does this mean I’m not fired?” the teen asked. “Of course not! If anything, this confirms we made the right call hiring you! In fact, once school starts in the fall, we’ll promote you on the afternoon shift as a manager.” “Yeah. You’re smart, think quickly and make the right calls. We’d be foolish not to have you aboard,” Sham insisted. “Thanks!” Adagio said with a smile. She knew that if she’d been a normal girl, this would be an achievement in and of itself. As it was, however, she could use this to make friends and the like once the school year started – if she’d stayed around that long – and wheedle her way into Mrs. Mix’s grandchildren’s circle of friends. It would be a step towards accomplishing her real goal as a SIREN operative. “Well, you better go home and get some sleep. Be back again at the usual time, and stay safe – we wouldn’t want our star employee to be hurt!” “I’m home,” Adagio yawned as she walked through the door, carrying a couple of pizzas. “Morning, sis,” Aria said from the kitchen table. “Want some breakfast?” Then seeing the pizzas she joked, “Or did you eat to go?” “Actually, breakfast is fine, Ari,” Adagio said, walking over to the kitchen and putting the pizzas in the fridge. “So, where’s Maddie and Soni?” “Maddie had to go to Horseshoe Bay to pick up the rest of our false identities,” Aria explained, “and Soni’s still asleep – she was up all night working on a birthday present for Maddie, since that’s next week.” “Really? Well, Maddie is her grande sœur, so I suppose that makes sense – I’d do the same for Mezzo. Well, I’m going to go get a few hours of shuteye, and then I have to plot out some tactics.” “Tactics?” The older sister nodded, then explained the events of the night before. “Whoever they are, they’re good,” Adagio explained. “Better than I expect for the average gang member. Maybe they even have military training.” “Could it be Les Scars?” Aria asked. “I doubt it. Not even those bastards are monstrous enough to use children.” But Aria shook her head. “Sis…CSIS created the SIRENs. They would and have used children.” Adagio’s agreement was said: “Yeah, you have a point.” Later that afternoon, Adagio came down the stairs, rested and relaxed, carrying her backpack. Now to think of— “Hey, sis, ready to go?” Aria asked. She was in her riding gear, and she carried a large gym bag. “Go where?” “To your work, silly,” the younger teen said. “I’m curious about this place, and…well, I microwaved a bit of the pizza for lunch, and it was great – I’d like to try a fresh pie.” Adagio grinned. “Fortunately, they let me cook whatever I want there, so I could whip up more than just pizza. I was thinking about making a calzone tonight; found the recipe on my phone an hour ago and am really interested in trying it out.” “That sounds great,” Aria replied. “Well, shall we go?” A few hours later, and after meeting Adagio’s bosses, Aria had a chance to inspect the place. Several windows, probably have night shutters, but nothing that can really stop anything with heavy penetration power, she mused. Perfect. “Hey, you want a calzone or a stromboli?” Adagio called from the kitchen. “Surprise me!” Aria called back. “I’m going to look around for a bit, if that’s okay with you.” “Sure, but don’t touch anything!” But touch everything was what Aria did: walking around, she set up small motion sensors that ran on batteries, guaranteed to last a few days, but she’d just need them overnight. She set up all over the place, creating a small sensor net. She then went up to the robots on stage – Yeesh, they sure are creepy, she thought to herself, as she almost got the feeling she was being watched – and placed tracking discs on them; if anyone tried to walk off with them, they’d be identified and tracked in the network. Now to put a friendly transponder on Dagi, Aria thought. If Adagio discovered it, she’d know that something was up; the oldest sister had a protective sense towards her younger siblings and hated when it was the other way around. But she’s both part of the Sisterhood and my sister, Aria thought. I have to protect her. Dinner was quiet and subdued; the pair munched on calzones – Aria had to admit, freshly-baked food was superior to the already great reheated pizza she had earlier – and the two chatted. “So what’s with the gym bag?” Adagio asked. Aria told a half-truth, and blushed. “I applied for a job, an assistant at the local YMCA. They wanted someone for the self-defense class, and when I showed them my well-forged certificate for a first-degree karate black belt, they hired me, though I’m only an assistant because the teacher’s a third-degree.” “You could probably beat him,” Adagio said, between bites of her food. “Yeah, but a normal girl probably couldn’t, and we are pretending,” Aria pointed out. “Good point.” A few minutes later, and Aria made to take off, while Adagio went to go throw the used plates and cups in the industrial washer. That gave Aria the excuse to slip the IFF tracker onto the inside of one of the pockets on Adagio’s web belt. She’ll wear the thing, given what happened last night, so I can track her safely. Good. Coming back with her gym bag, Aria set it down briefly on the table, then hugged her sister. “Well, off to my new job,” she replied. “Wish me luck.” “You don’t need it, Ari. You’re the best.” “Thanks, sis.” With that, Aria walked out of the building, taking one last look back at her sister, who was wiping off the table. God, those things are creepy, she thought of the robots; she almost felt as though the bunny, in particular, was trying to bore his vision through her skull. Slipping her bag back on the bike, she headed off to her job at the YCMA… …but not before driving around the block. Good, all the buildings are easily spaced together, and I should be able to make it across the street via the power lines in a matter of minutes. She’d be back by ten, park behind the 7-11 across the street from the restaurant, and then begin her plan. She patted her bag as she gunned her bike’s engine, feeling the strength of her sniper rifle within. Stay safe, sis, and I’ll make sure you’re safe too. June 23, Evening: Reach Out, Reach Out and Touch Someone....Aria walked into the MainSix Sporting Goods store across the street from the YMCA. “Welcome to MainSix,” the clerk at the counter said. “How can I help you?” “Yes,” she said, putting on her best “girl next door” look. “I’m buying a hunting bow set for my older brother.” “Well, we can help with that,” the man said with a smile. “What are you looking for?” A shrewd look came over her face. “I need a Sagitta HuntPro105 with hyperpolyresin fibers. I also need StrongArm shafts, and a quiver to hold them.” She paused. “Oh, and do you have the Decapitator arrowheads?” The man looked at her oddly. “We…uh, carry them, but…with a 105-pound draw, why would he need Decapitators?” “Versatility,” she replied. “Hunting both moose and goose.” And guys who would hurt my sister, the teen silently added. After selecting what she needed, she drove to the location, an easy nine in the evening. The streets were already empty, and given that the only thing open was the 7-11, that gave Aria plenty of time to set up. Opening up her gym bag, she then set her sniper rifle into position, speed bolting the rifle into position, then covering it with a tarp so it couldn’t be seen from above – all it would take would be one police helicopter and that would make life even harder than it already was. Once that was in place, she then climbed up the utility pole, tugging as hard on the wire as she could. Once she was sure it would support her weight, she then climbed, hand over hand, over to the building kitty-corner from the 7-11, an office building that was entirely abandoned. Getting up to the third floor which would give her access to the roof, she set her new bow, along with three quivers, all armed with Decapitator heads. Between a 105-pound draw and the heads, penetrating the ceiling of the roof would be perfect if she needed to. As it was, if she needed to snipe any baddies she was probably going to break a few windows in the process. Well, can’t afford for anything to happen to Dagi, the middle sister thought to herself as she climbed back over to the 7-11, and barely missed being potentially spotted by an SPD police cruiser going down the street. Getting sloppy, Aria, she chastised herself. Should’ve set up a zipline, but wanted to do this on the cheap, lazy. Plopping down to the roof, she decided to run into the 7-11 to buy a thermos, some coffee, and more than a few donuts. Her waistline would likely hate her for it, but there was nothing like caffeine and sugar to keep alert and awake while being in position. She could sleep the crash off later, once she knew Adagio was safe. Slipping on some headphones and some music, Adagio decided to take it easy tonight. The chances of the idiots being back the next night to try to steal the robots was ridiculous, she had to admit. Any smart criminal would realize that it was wiser to wait until the furor from the previous night died down and people had forgotten about the break-in. At the moment, she read about improved cameras, which she would recommend to Shim and Sham. If this place was going to succeed, it would need to do so without being broken into on a regular basis, which meant that it would need to be protected further. Of course I’d recommend an armed security guard, but I’ve seen some security guards around these sorts of places; they’re jokes! Couldn’t handle regular troops much less CANSOF or us. Then again, she realized that was probably a bit of overkill, so heavy surveillance was probably the better response for a lightly-protected non-critical asset. Well, it’s critical to Shim and Sham, she had to admit, as she continued to work, unaware that she was being stared at by Chica. The chicken animatronic shuffled, eyes glowing with an unnatural light, towards the stage, where many of the others met. Chica looked at Freddy, and though no sounds were uttered, a million words’ worth of conversation seemed to be conveyed. The weathered, aged bear robot then looked at the (inferior) toy counterparts, seeming to also pass along a missive. Several minutes passed, and with that, the Mark II automatons moved to their positions, while the Mark Is remained in their places, ready for a show. If there was any emotion to be expressed on the face of Freddy Fazbear, it was one of murderous glee. Last night was an error, a lucky favor on the part of the guard. Tonight, however, there would be blood and gore, and at last their bloodthirst would be sated. Seated at home, all alone, Sonata Dusk pouted. Both her sisters were out tonight: Adagio at her job and Aria at a post-job celebration. Maddie was still gone, and it left the youngest triplet at sorts. Sure, Sonata was used to being alone, but that was during mission parameters. During downtime, however, that wasn’t what she was used to. Sure, she’d easily admit that out of the triplets she was the most emotive and fragile of the sisters, but that was part of her nature as the youngest of the three…even if she wasn’t entirely sure she was really the youngest. So she gamed a little on Aria’s Playstation 4. The game was forgettable, and she knew her sister wouldn’t mind. She also got into her car and drove down to the local Burrito Bandito, ordered the Taco Fiesta platter to go, went home, watched a movie, ate dinner, sighed, watched another movie, then debated if she should take her carbine and go night-hunting just for practice. But a voice in her head said that Maddie would not be happy about the unauthorized use of weapons, so she let it at that. Not for the first time she wished she’d taken up Aria’s offer to teach her how to use a bow…but then again, she didn’t have one of those either. Finally, she picked up the phone and called. “Ari, when are you coming home? I’m bored.” “Soni, you’re not a child – you’re a SIREN. Act like one,” was the response. “Besides, weren’t you working on something for Maddie’s birthday?” “Yeah, but I finished it an hour ago and can’t test it during the nighttime – it’ll make too much noise,” Sonata sighed. “Sorry, Ari, I just hate slack time. I was never one for just ‘relaxing’, you know?” “Yeah, I know, sis.” There was a pause on the phone line and Aria then said, “Look, I have something going on right now, but I’ll tell you about it in the morning, okay?” Sonata knew that tone in her sister’s voice. “You need help?” “Not yet, but….” There was background noise over the phone, as though Aria was near some hardware. “Let’s just say that if it’s what I’m afraid it is, we’re going to have a very busy night tomorrow,” she replied. “Sis, whatever—” “Soni, gotta go – I gotta laser grid to set up,” was Aria’s suddenly rushed response. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, sis. Feel free to use my PS4; whatever games you like.” “Already did, Ari.” “Good; enjoy. Night, little sis.” Hanging up her phone, Aria looked at her wristwatch and noted that it was almost midnight. Based on what Dagi said, this is around the time that she was attacked. Now if I’m wrong, I’m betting I’m in for a very dull night. But if I’m not…. She leaned down, settling into the scope and her old familiar sniper position. Dagi, please be safe. Three minutes after midnight, she got the first tag from the net. She settled in, watching both positions, taking the measurement data from her phone attachment, and readied to fire if she needed to. And if it came to saving Adagio? No argument whatsoever. I am a SIREN, she mused, repeating the motto, and I give no quarter. Her favorite song playing, Adagio dozed in her seat, the music droning on. She hadn’t even realized she fell asleep, but between the flickering of the computer screen, the soft jam of her music and being bored for most of the night, she succumbed to the touch of sleep. Meanwhile, in the farthest corner of the maintenance room, an automaton stirred. To describe it would be a jumble of parts, a patchwork quilt from hell composed of various limbs and pieces. In its heyday it would’ve been called Toy Foxy. However, the heavily-damaged Mark II was known simply as “Mangle”. Moving in a shuffling, slithering motion akin to a murderous technological lamia, the animatronic started to make its way towards the exit of the room, ready to beeline it towards the Office, where its target lay. Behind Mangle, the other Mark IIs stirred, ready to commit to assisting in the bloody murder. The Puppet, on unsteady legs, walked over to a shelf, pulling off the surface a spare face mask. With gangly, twitching movements it tried to put on its new face, but to no avail. Balloon Boy walked over and picked up the mask, then placed it on the Puppet, with both giving the other a curt nod. With that, they then joined the small army walking towards its bloody objective. Walking over to the stage, the army looked at Freddy, and he nodded in agreement, his eyes seeming to glow red before taking a look much akin to more natural, living eyes. As the army moved forward, a sinister look seemed to come onto Freddy Fazbear’s face. The unnatural robot then walked over to the power junction box, reaching over and ripping it off the wall. The power snapped within the building, and the pizzeria was plunged into darkness, even as Adagio continued to sleep, unaware that death was coming for her. A silent cue was signaled, and Mangle took off like a shot, rushing down the hall. Less than a second later, that movement stopped…as Mangle’s fox head suddenly shattered into a dozen pieces. On the rooftop, Aria felt the buck of her sniper rifle, most of it absorbed by the fact that she’d bolted it to the ground. As befitting a semiautomatic, the next round slid into place, and, following the firing solution provided by her phone, she pulled the trigger again. Running down the other corridor, Toy Chica suddenly had her head explode, followed by a portion of her torso. She was thrown backwards by the shots, crashing into Toy Bonnie. With a sudden act akin to fear, Balloon Boy suddenly grabbed Mangle, pulling him back like a soldier would a wounded comrade. On the stage, the Mark I Freddy looked in utter confusion, completely unable to comprehend what was going on, save for one thing: the guard wasn’t being killed…and the animatronics were being shredded. Okay, they’ve moved too far indoors for the rifle to penetrate; so, onto Plan B. Getting off the ground and picking up her compound bow, Aria jumped up to the power line and climbed over as fast as she could. Every second counted, and every second was not in her favor right now. She hadn’t tracked her older sister as moving, and that meant that she was either drugged, or wors— No, don’t focus on that, girl, Aria said to herself as she reached her position. Quickly slipping on her quiver and making sure that everything was in place, she looked into the heat-seeking scope – surprisingly they had one at MainSix, and even more surprising was that they bought her excuse about her non-existent brother going night-hunting up in Oregon – drew back the bow and pulled. If Aria had a single hobby, it was archery. It kept her edge on her sniping skills, and it allowed her to relax. She’d gotten good enough that she could actually snipe at mid-range with a bow instead of a rifle if everything was good. That being said, she’d had years of exercise to get used to the strength of the bow, and that meant she had some serious strength in her upper arms, though it thankfully didn’t show, as she was never one for muscles. That being said, she bought a 105-pound bow, requiring a minimum of that strength to pull. Instead, she pulled 140 pounds of strength on it, then let the bow fly. With that much power, the arrow easily penetrated through the roof of the pizzeria, and as the blades of the decapitators kicked in, they sliced in, leaving a huge entry point. Within the building, Balloon Boy didn’t know what hit him. The arrow went through the back of his head, slamming him to the ground. A second later, a second shaft punctured Toy Freddy, chewing him up like he was so much plastic and wiring. The instinct to kill had somehow suddenly been routed, followed by the instinct to run. As one, Toy Bonnie and the Puppet ran for the back, trying to drag the others with them as much as they could. Aria continued to fire shot after shot into the roof, exhausting her quiver. Without a moment to spare, she grabbed the second one, with conventional heads, and jumped onto the roof. These weren’t as strong, and she’d have to aim much closer than she’d liked. The thumping on the roof awoke Adagio. Knowing something was up, she ripped off her headset and wandered into the darkness of the hallway. Continuing to hear the thumps on the roof as well as additional ones in the dining room, she wasted no time, firing a clip into the ceiling. She then switched guns, moving into the dining room, the flashlight attached to the tactical rail on her pistol cued and throwing light onto the walls. What she saw, she didn’t expect: the animatronics were in various positions on the ground, stuffed like pincushions from various arrows. A sparking came from the far wall as it was clear that the junction box had been damaged. Goddamn it, Ari was right – it is Les Scars, Adagio thought with concern. Guess we’ll have to plan to take them out. Running as fast as she could, Adagio raced for the spare junction box; the building had one installed as a strange redundancy, but right now the SIREN was not going to argue her luck. Aria climbed back up to the office building, her heart beating like a drum. Someone – likely Les Scars, had returned fire. Aria rushed back to the sniper rifle, desperate to find out if Adagio had survived, and if she was going to have to return fire…or worse, avenge her sister. A few minutes later, she breathed a sigh of relief as the lights came on in the building and she watched the dot that corresponded to Adagio’s IFF signal running around the building, double-checking the perimeter. Immediately, Aria started disassembling the rifle and throwing the parts in the bag, getting ready for the police to arrive at any second. She didn’t want to be around when that happened, though she was sure that Adagio would be able to handle herself for the rest of the evening. Hopping onto her bike, the middle triplet raced for home, her mind awhirl with plans: Les Scars had clearly tried to take out Adagio, which meant one of their teams was in the area. Madrigal wasn’t available, and while Vesper was in town, risking her cover would be unnecessary. Well, time to prove our own worth, Aria thought as she headed home. Author's Note In case you didn't care...there's no such thing as hyperpolyresin fibers. Credit to Hunter's Friend for the term. June 24, Morning: Logistical NightmareThe SPD officer – a different one this time – looked around the semi-damaged building. “And you said that you were attacked by the gang you reported yesterday, but now they’ve brought assassins?” Adagio put on her most helpless girl look. “Uh – yeah! I mean, just look at the robots?” She pointed to the starlight coming into Dining Room 3 and the Mark II automatons that were pincushioned to the ground via a dozen arrows. The cop looked at the robots, still wiggling around as if reacting to short-circuits; she noticed the red eyes, but didn’t react further, as she’d seen more than enough weird stuff in her days. “Looks like someone removed the main circuit control to the building as well….” she mused, looking at the damage done to the wall. “This…doesn’t look casual.” “I know, that’s what I’m saying!” Adagio gasped, hoping she was putting on a good enough show. “My life could be in danger here, officer!” Of course, given all the weapons that had been at her disposal, she probably could have easily dealt with gangbangers, but the arrow strikes and the way they’d used the robots – which somehow had inexplicably had their power packs reinstalled – was a hint that it was CSIS at work. But the proof in the pudding that it had to be Les Scars was the sensor grid that she’d found around the building while waiting for the police to arrive. Only a pro would do something like that – and she hadn’t mentioned that much. “So…you think they tried to steal the robots?” the officer asked. “I don’t get it, though: Why shoot ‘em full of arrows if they’re trying to steal them?” “Officer, I’m just a cute but dumb high school student with a summer job. I couldn’t possibly fathom the ways of crime like you do.” The officer grinned. “Well, we’ll have our detectives come by in a few days and look at things.” The officer’s watch chirped, and she said, “Well, it’s six in the morning. You should get out of here and relax – and if I were you, I’d consider getting a safer job.” “I’ll think about it, officer,” Adagio lied through her teeth. Shim and Sham looked at Adagio with looks of worry on their faces. “Adagio, please – we have to think of your safety,” Shim said, tears practically coming to her green eyes. “I don’t think sis or I could bear to see you hurt,” Sham said, her tears fogging up her glasses in the warm summer morning. “I’ll be okay, I promise. I’m more worried about failing you both,” Adagio told them, and meant every word of it. The two sisters had been nothing but great bosses to her, and had she been a normal girl, she would’ve been proud to be Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Employee #1. Part of her wondered that if in another time, they would’ve made great SIREN operatives – they were certainly as nurturing as any grande sœur she’d ever met. “No, like we said – you’re the best employee we’ve ever had!” Shim said sincerely. “Aren’t I the only employee?” “Not the point,” Sham agreed. “We know talent when we see it, and we know you’ll be a legend working for the company. We’re proud of your accomplishments in such a short time.” “Thanks,” Adagio beamed. “Well, you’d better go get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow,” Shim told her. “Yeah – we have some electricians and construction crews coming anyway to do some work, so hopefully they can make some patch-ups in time,” Sham added. As Adagio drove off, Shim looked at her sister. “I’m worried for her safety, sister – these gangsters look like they mean business.” “We’ll look into a professional night guard service once we get more employees,” Sham insisted. “Adagio’s a treasure: we shouldn’t put her in a position where she could get hurt.” “Good idea.” Sham grinned. “After all, we need her to be our calendar girl! We could put her in a maid outfit, and she can be all ‘Danna-sama! Dai suki!’” Shim’s only response was to facepalm. The moment Adagio got home, she bellowed at the top of her lungs, “Fireteam, muster on station, now!” Within seconds, a pair of girls rushed down the stairs and moved into position. Both had long hair and the first one wore camouflage pajamas, while the other one wore shorts and a t-shirt. Despite the fact that both were half-asleep, as if on instinct, they both moved into an attention formation. “At ease,” Adagio said, as her sisters relaxed. “What’s up?” Aria said, while Sonata merely yawned, rubbing her eyes. Adagio looked at the middle sister grimly. “You were right, Ari. It was them – Les Scars. Either they were after me or they were looking for a place to hide out and thought the building was empty.” Aria hid her smile, looking at her sister; even though she was glad to have warded off the attack on Adagio, she couldn’t reveal that she had a hand in it, lest she mortify her older sister. “Are you sure?” “Yeah. They were good at it, and if one hadn’t botched the op and landed on the roof, I wouldn’t have known. As it was, I found a lot of evidence that they were there.” Sonata yawned again and spoke up. “If they catch us, there goes the mission. We can’t afford for that to happen.” “That’s why I think we need to take the fight to them,” Adagio replied. “With a small team, we can take out whatever forces they have and make sure that they don’t trail us.” “I think we should get a hold of Vesper,” Aria replied. “Maddie’s out of town, but Vesper’s still in the area. We should get her.” “No! She’s known to them – if she gets involved, they’ll know we’re here and that’s just as bad!” Adagio said. “No, we have to do this on our own, girls.” “Okay, what are your orders, sis?” Sonata asked. “I’m going to go get some sleep for a few hours. Can I trust you two to get a battle kit going? Urban warfare, low intensity. Don’t assume we’ll have the high ground. Expect worst case scenario – if we have to go down, I want to make sure they go with us and I want no way they can trace Maddie or the others. They have the job to do; ultimately, we’re expendable.” “I’ll do a gear check,” Aria insisted. “I can make sure we have everything ready to go,” Sonata added. “We’re going to need to make sure we have it all ready to roll anyway. We can transport it all in my car.” “We can fit all that in your car?” Adagio asked. “Tight fit, but my little Beetle can do it!” “Okay. I’m going to get some shut-eye for a few hours, so wake me up at about three so we can inspect everything, okay?” Aria smiled. “You got it!” Two hours later, Aria and Sonata were both discussing which weapons to use. “If they mean business, we’re going to need something with high lethality but low penetration power,” Aria mused. “Means that carbines aren’t going to be of much use.” “I’m just curious: why can’t we use the carbines, sis? Three burst – boom, boom, boom! – and it should be done, right?” “Yeah, but Dagi likes working there, and we don’t want to endanger her job,” Aria explained. “We should be considerate of that.” “Point. So, frangible rounds, maybe?” Sonata offered. “We don’t have much of that, but we do have enough to equip us for this op.” “Yeah, do that. Substitute grenades with flashbangs, if we’ve got them. Make sure we’ve got knives and collapsible batons as well for CQB.” “Already did,” the youngest triplet replied. “Too bad we can’t use anything with the rapid firepower that the carbines can give us,” Aria sighed. “We could really use something with crowd-clearing power.” Suddenly a wide smile came onto Sonata’s face as she hummed. Curious, Aria asked, “Something up, sis?” “I think I know what we can use….” she said in a sing-song voice. “Spill, Soni.” “Better if I show you,” Sonata said, grabbing her sister’s hand and dragging her out of the room. “Remember that present I’ve been working on for Maddie’s birthday?” “Yeah, what abou—” Aria asked as Sonata dragged her into the garage, which had been soundproofed and converted into a weapons forge. “What do you think?” Sonata asked, leaning on it. A violet eyebrow rose slightly. “Really?” Sonata nodded. “Uh-huh?” A wide, proud smile came onto Aria’s face. “Sis, you’re a genius,” the middle triplet said sincerely. “So, tell me more.” Feeling a little better, Adagio came downstairs, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, carrying a bag holding her CADPATs; she’d change while there. Seated on the couch were Aria and Sonata, watching TV. “Feeling better, Dagi?” Sonata asked. “Yeah, thanks for asking. Everything loaded in the car?” Aria nodded. “Was a kinda tight fit, but we made sure that everything was stowed away and ready to deploy,” Aria replied, handing Adagio a clipboard as she approached. “Here’s the gear we decided on.” Adagio looked it over, murmuring, “Nice choice,” before she came to the final decision. “Special Experimental Unit One?” Adagio asked with a curious tone. “It’s the thing I made for Maddie!” Sonata said with a smile. “Aria thought it was a good idea since we can’t use carbines, and that it should do the job.” “Okay, I’ll believe you then,” she replied. “Let me call my bosses, and then we can leave.” As Aria turned off the TV, Adagio pulled out her cellphone and dialed the pizzeria. “Shim? Yeah, this is Adagio. I have a favor, if you don’t mind: my younger sisters were curious about the place and they wanted to come visit me tonight. Would that be okay?” June 25, Morning: Hat.jpgAdagio’s surroundings were nothing but white, like something out of a laundry commercial. She half expected a giggling plushie mascot to come out of the endless white talking about “silky smoothness, right out of the dryer!” or something like that. Still, she walked on through the bizarre fog. Eventually, she stumbled upon a group of crying children. Strangely, they looked greyed out, as if they weren’t even real. No reason for the crying was given, and no matter how much Adagio tried to approach them or call out to them, they seemed silent and distant, as if in a fever dream. The fever dream turned into a nightmare a second later as a vague form appeared: a man, whose face Adagio could not see for some reason, yet seemed to have a motif of the color purple, started charging towards the kids, making unnatural, unearthly sounds as he ran. There was a flash in his hand and a second later, a huge, bloody butcher knife appeared. “No!” Adagio screamed as the man approached within inches of the children. At that point, her training took over and she reached behind her for her backup gun. Pulling it with a draw, she’d barely drawn a bead on the man when she pulled the trigger, firing. The man was hit once. Twice. Thrice. Each bullet in the gun made him stumble back and…strangely, vanish, seemingly derezz as if he were a vanquished videogame character. Finally, with the last bullet from the gun piercing him where his heart would be, he fell backwards, vanishing into nothingness. The tears of the children suddenly stopped. And although Adagio couldn’t see their faces, she could somehow feel their smiles, and hear their unanimous saying: Thank you. Her vision blurred into white and— A body, dust-covered but otherwise intact, broke through the debris of the destroyed restaurant, gasping for air. Adagio could barely comprehend anything other than gulping down the dirty air of a Sunnytown morning before she heard a familiar voice call out, “There’s one!” She turned and her vision swam for a second before she felt herself being pulled up, with an oxygen mask slipped onto her face. Despite the light stabbing her eyes, Adagio reached a delicate hand to look at the face looking down at her. “It’s okay, Dagi. We’re getting you to the hospital.” Hearing those words, seeing Vesper’s face…it brought both comfort and fear to the teen’s mind. Comfort because it was someone she knew, Aria’s grande sœur, but fear at the same time, because Aria was sti— “We found another one!” a voice in the distance cried. “You’re fine, Dagi,” Vesper said in comforting tones. “We’ll talk later.” But Adagio heard the underlying meaning: Vesper, as senior SIREN in the area, wanted answers and would have them. Adagio smiled slightly before passing out. When she came to again, she saw Vesper sitting in a chair next to her, still dressed in her EMT outfit. “Boss gave me the day off so that I could watch over you,” the older woman said casually. “I called your sister and told her I’d keep an eye on you guys until she got home from her trip.” The undermessage was simple: Reported to Mezzo what happened; will keep overwatch on you three until relieved. Adagio looked to see Aria and Sonata in beds on the other side of the room. Both were asleep. “Are they…?” “They’re fine, Dagi. In fact, after the hospital runs some routine tests, you’ll be released to go home. I already told Maddie and I’m going to stay over there tonight – in fact, I’ll make dinner. I’m sure you’d like something other than pizza for a change.” “Vesper,” Adagio croaked, “I….” “We’ll talk when your sisters wake up, okay?” Aria and Sonata are fine. “Plus, your bosses are waiting outside for you to wake up – I think they want to talk to you.” The area’s not secure; we’ll debrief when you’re released from the hospital. “Sure,” Adagio said, sitting up. “I’ll go get them,” she said, getting up from the chair. But before doing so, she leaned over and whispered, “You’d better have a damn good reason for all this, Seaman Dazzle. I’m going to have to go back there tonight and make sure the place is sanitized.” Not knowing what to say, Adagio merely nodded while Vesper gave her a smile, then walked out of the room. Adagio sat there for a moment, looking at her two sisters, asleep on the other beds in the room. She was relieved to know that they were fine, and that they’d made it through their battle with Les Scars. “Adagio!” she heard two voices cry out and watched as a tear-stricken Shim and Sham rushed over to hug her. “We were worried about you!” Shim cried unashamedly, hugging her. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to lose our star employee!” Sham added, her glasses fogging up. “Don’t worry, we’re paying for yours and your sisters’ medical bills,” Shim suddenly said. “Please please please don’t sue us!” “Sue you guys? Why would I do that?” “Because of the faulty gas main,” Sham said, wiping her glasses on her shirt. When a curious look came over Adagio’s face, Vesper, who came back into the room, said, “One of my coworkers told me about it: there’s a major gas line through that part of Sunnytown that PG&E has been constantly patching for years due to constant decay. I guess the part where the restaurant was located was a ticking time bomb in the form of an undiscovered leak.” When both Shim and Sham froze in shock, Vesper said, “Ladies, I know the girls’ family; their older sister’s been my best friend for ages. They’re not the kind that would sue, so you’re fine – they understand what accidents are.” Both Shim and Sham breathed sighs of relief. Adagio sighed. “Well, this means I’m out of a job,” she groaned. Vesper looked at her oddly, while there was a curious look on the twins’ faces. And, strangely enough, Adagio’s funk was sincere: in the few days that she’d worked there, attacks aside, she’d actually enjoyed it. If she’d been a normal girl, it would’ve been the job of her life. “Not necessarily,” Shim said with a smile. “We didn’t get a chance to tell you last night but around noon yesterday we had lunch with our attorney. It seems that due to the reputation the prior company had and the gang attacks of the last two days, they strongly recommended we abandon the Freddy Fazbear’s IP for the good of the company. He said it was just too toxic an IP.” “After talking to our father for advice, we did just that,” Sham added. “And while you’ve been here, we’ve had our lawyer release the Freddy Fazbear IP into the public domain, where it should stay.” “But what about—” Adagio began. “Oh, we started work on a new IP based on the same concept!” Shim said with a grin. “We just sent the designs off so they can modify the Mark IIIs before they send them here.” “Yup, here you go!” Sham chirped, handing Adagio a folder. “Johnny Jackrabbit’s Pizza Party Palace,” she said, reading the cover of the folder. It had a picture of a smiling, happy rabbit, and truth be told it looked far friendlier than the Bonnie character from the old place. In fact, as she looked through the folder, all signs of the old characters were gone, with Johnny replacing Bonnie, Maxine Mouse taking the place of Freddy and Charlie Chicken replacing Chica. It seemed like a rebirth for the concept, leaving the old to remain in the dirt. “We’re going to donate the land where the restaurant used to be to the county; apparently they’re going to do something with it,” Shim told her. “In return,” Sham pointed out, “the County is giving us an equivalent-sized parcel of land in San Palomino, which would be the perfect spot for the first Johnny’s!” “Other than that, our offer still stands, Adagio – we’d love to have you work for us still, and we’re know you’re the best employee.” Sham adjusted her glasses. “Maybe when you’re older, we might even make you a partner in the business!” she said with a wink. “Well…how long?” Adagio inquired. “About two months to construct the building, get the permits, test the Mark IIIs – well, now the Johnny Mark Is – and all that, so…right around when school starts?” Adagio grinned. “Count me in,” she said with a smile. “Good!” both Shim and Sham cheered with huge grins. “Okay, your story pans out, and unless the gangs were using it for a cache or you three brought more weapons than necessary – which we didn’t teach you to do – it looks like there were signs of Les Scars activity,” Vesper told Adagio the following day at the girls’ home; she was seated at a table with a lot of printouts. “Thankfully Seaman Blaze was smart enough to use WP and that melted a significant amount of the metal there, the weapons included. From what it sounds like, the SPD is going on the fact that the gangs damaged the gas main on the day they went in and eventually it overloaded last night. So consider your asses covered, you three.” Adagio shifted uncomfortably in her stance before shifting back to attention; being interrogated by Aria’s grande sœur wasn’t very comforting at all. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. Behind her, Aria and Sonata stood at attention, and had Adagio looked behind her, she would’ve noticed that they’d unintentionally stood in positions not unlike the Mark I animatronics that had once graced the stage. “Okay, last thing: I want to know why. You knew I was in town, and you could’ve made a call and Lieutenants Blue and Storm would’ve come. It’s our duty to handle this sort of thing, not yours – you have a different mission and you could’ve jeopardized the whole operation. So as the fireteam leader, I want an answer from you, Seaman Dazzle.” “Yes, ma’am,” she said, looking briefly at her sisters before asking, “Permission to speak off the record, Lieutenant.” “Seaman….” “Please, Lieutenant?” Aria finally spoke up. “Granted, though I know what you’re going to say,” Vesper said. “We didn’t want to lose you three,” Aria continued. “Call it childish, immature, insubordinate, whatever – you, Maddie and Mezzo are our grande sœurs. You are more than mentors, more than older sisters, more than mothers to us! Do you know what it would be like for us to lose you?” “It would’ve been painful to never see Maddie again if we died,” Sonata spoke, “but that would’ve been minor compared to me having to attend her funeral!” “Plus, without an adult like one of you, technically we’re just normal girls,” Adagio added, playing for logic. “The SIRENs would have lost us as assets for at least a few years, possibly permanently – and then the org would be down six field operators. Better for us to go than you guys.” “I…see.” Vesper rose from the table, and walked over to the triplets. “Okay, if you’re so afraid of being treated like normal girls….” She went and slapped all three. “I’ll treat you like normal girls: you’re all grounded for two weeks.” She then went and hugged the trio individually. “Do you know that Maddie, Mezzo and I would feel the same way about you three? Did you even think that?” The looks on their faces indicated they hadn’t. “Girls, we love you three as much as you love us. And risking yourselves like that…it was appreciated, but needless. Which is why you’re grounded – a civvie punishment – rather than getting something out of the QR&Os.” She went and then held Aria, her petite sœur. “For my sake, don’t do that again, Ari? Please?” “I won’t. And I’m sorry for making you worry,” she admitted. “Good. Okay, so punishment: two weeks, can’t leave the house – except for your job, Ari – no games, no books except manuals, and I want the house spit polished and shined, got that?” When the three nodded, Vesper said, “Okay, I’m going to go do some grocery shopping. Maddie’s coming home tonight – and Mezzo’s coming with her – and you owe them apologies as well, got that?” When the three nodded, she said, “Oh, and finally…Dagi, I found your bag. Mostly torn up, but I figured you wanted it. It’s by the front door.” With that, Vesper grabbed her keys, said, “I’ll be back in thirty. There will be a uniform inspection in thirty, understood?” and then headed out the front door. Adagio went to where the bag was. Sure enough, it was mostly destroyed and covered in soot and burns; only one pocket, still zipped, remained of the backpack. Adagio found that curious and opened the pocket, allowing for the contents to be unearthed. “What’s that, Dagi?” Aria, standing right behind her, asked. “I…I don’t know,” Adagio said in a confused voice, looking at the pristine, slightly cream paper of Fazbear Entertainment corporate stationery, circa 1987. On the paper, in yellow and green crayon, was a single word: PROTECT. And at the bottom of the paper, pinned to it, were three cloisonné pins of the Puppet’s head, underneath which was a cloth banner which read: GUARDIAN. “What is this?” she murmured, looking at her sisters in confusion. US Route 287 lead out of the town of Aurora, Colorado, heading eastwards towards its eventual connection with US Route 36 towards all points east. On that lonely road, just east of the city limits, was an abandoned, forgotten building, the broken parking lot filled with weeds and a rusted light pole that had seen better days. The building was faded colors of white, green and yellow, its paint peeling off and its shattered windows long since covered with well-weathered boards. The sign that had once grace the roof was long gone, but the ghostly, faded remnants of the lettering on the sides of the buildings were almost readable: R DD FA B AR’ PI Z R A. A wooden billboard in front of the whole building said that the lot was for sale or lease, but it had been there a long, long time with no takers. On a rainy, dreary Saturday afternoon, it was as much of a forgotten relic of an earlier era as any other day before. Until now. Within the aging black and white checker floors, the faux-pizza decors on the purple, water-damaged walls and the long empty rooms, something stirred in a forgotten, long-ago boarded up room. Shuddering with an unnatural shake from a power source that should have been drained well before the building had ever closed down, the animatronic, created for the original Fredbear’s restaurant back in 1973, shook its head, coming to life with unnatural motion. Something dark stirred within Springtrap, bringing the murderer whom the news had once called “The Purple Killer”, back to unlife. The killer had been damned, for decades, to be trapped in this hell of its own making, its own grave and prison at once, revenge from tormented souls from the double-digit murders that had haunted the Denver metro area back then. But now…something was freeing its toys; that much the reanimated murderer knew somehow. And that would not be allowed. However long it took, whatever it took to prevent that, it wo— The roof of the building was suddenly torn off, exposing it to the air. A backhoe’s shovel came into view as it pulled more of the building off, and the robot remained slumped against the wall, completely confused. The confusion was immediately relieved by a man, silhouetted from where Springtrap was, who sneered at the twisted abomination of man and machine and called out, “The kids say hi, monster,” and threw something into the building. A second later, the makeshift bomb – composed of dynamite and several vials of holy water – detonated, tearing apart Springtrap and the body within. A few minutes after that, the rest of the building was torn down. Soon, as agreed, a priest from the local church would come and bless the location once more. Standing in the rain atop the backhoe, wearing a raincoat and taking a draft from a cigarette, the old man felt purified. He’d been a college student back when it had all began – the murders, the Bite of ’87, all of it – and the move had pushed a young security guard into a life as an Aurora police officer, and finally a detective. He’d delved into the mysteries of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and while he wasn’t particularly religious when he worked with the company, decades had changed him – evil existed in more than just corporeal form, and today had finally proven that, in his mind, once and for all. But it had also proved that evil could be defeated, regardless of whoever it manifested. Between him and another former security guard – now a business magnate and also privy to what had been investigated over the years – they had worked to have a foreign business buy the company just to shutter it. He’d been dismayed that two girls over in California had recently bought the rights, because it would’ve started everything all over again. By pure fortune or grace of a higher power, the location that was being rebuilt in the metro Canterlot area had been destroyed by happenstance. Which lead to today: with the agreement of his friend and partner in this arcane war against the Purple Killer, the detective came over to the land to destroy the old pizzeria, find Springtrap and destroy him for once and for all, the location where the source of all these horrors had been hiding for all these years. It was a chancy proposition, but…one that had panned out, as indicated by the shattered remains he’d blown apart and now buried under a building that would be excavated, the rubble and trash set on trucks with the intent to ultimately dump in a volcano in Chile, where it would all be vaporized, permanently. Perhaps it was overkill compared to an incinerator, but like his friend, the detective wanted to make sure there was no chance for evil to avoid its punishment. The rain stopped, and portions of sunlight peeked through the afternoon sky, a purifying, cleansing light. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a phone and dialed, and a familiar voice answered on the first ring: “Hello, hello hello?” “It’s over,” the detective said with a wide grin, gently rubbing a pin on his raincoat – a cloisonné pin of a puppet head, from which a banner hung that said GUARDIAN. He never found out how he received it…and that had been one of the mysteries that had led him to this day. “Good,” the voice said on the other line. “I’ll be in town on Tuesday. Meet up for lunch?” “Sure thing. Talk to you later.” Pocketing his phone, the detective walked to meet the priest, who had just pulled up in his car, followed by a group of older people in a van – the now-elderly parents of the murdered children. Today was the end of Freddy Fazbear’s dark legacy. Tomorrow, a new park, dedicated in the name of those who had suffered all these decades, would be built on the site, donated to the City of Aurora, and the world would move on. In his mind, Detective Fritz, Aurora Police Department, could picture the built-in lights in the animatronic heads finally snuff out, as they deserved to. Author's Note Aaaaaaaand it's over, folks. Although I've been since told that I got the order of the animatronics wrong: Well, truthfully? This story wouldn't have come together if I wasn't in the mood to be silly and someone hadn't made an equally goofy comment. Also thanks to my 7DSJ cohorts (Blue and Flynt) for wondering what the hell I was doing and let me get away with it. We'll be back to normal 7DSJ next week, folks. Thanks for letting me run down this detour. June 24, Evening: Say Hello to My Little FriendShim and Sham looked at Sonata, the last of the triplets they had yet to meet. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Shim said, offering her hand. Sham, on the other hand, gushed. “Oooh! Look, I know a cosplayer who can help us…just picture!” she squeed. “Urd, Skuld and Belldandy! Oh, this is going to be great!” The triplets looked at one another, confused, while Shim facepalmed, slowly shaking her head. “What’d I say?” A few minutes later, Sonata was looking over a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria application, while Aria messed around with a game on her phone. As for Adagio, she chatted breezily with the two sisters. “Feel free and show them around,” Shim said. “In fact, if you want them to stay overnight with you, I’d actually prefer that: three are better than two, and if we need to, we can pay them from petty cash.” “I’ll ask them, but I don’t know if they’ll agree to it,” Adagio replied, knowing full well they would; the pay would just make it even better. “Do they know what’s going on?” Sham asked. “They’re my sisters. I wouldn’t want to worry them, and besides, I like this job. If I tell our older sister, then she’ll make me quit and I’d rather not do that.” Both Shim and Sham sighed in worry before Adagio added, “But I’ll ask Ari and Soni. I’m sure they’d like to stick around.” “Thanks for being so understanding, Adagio.” Adagio smiled and nodded. “If anything, I should be thanking you guys for that, ladies – it’s nice to know that I have bosses who care about my safety.” An hour later, Adagio was in the kitchen working on dinner – using the new stromboli recipe that she’d been credited with “inventing” for the company, leaving Aria and Sonata to set up everything. “I’m going to go set up the IFF grid. Can you take care of the other stuff?” “Sure thing!” the youngest teen chirped, tying her hair into a bun. Since they were required now to grow their hair out for the main mission, compromises, such as tying their hairs into buns for battle dress had become a necessity. Just before midnight – the time that Les Scars had picked as the most optimal time to attack, apparently – the trio would slip on their Kevlar vests and position themselves at the three most advantageous locations there was. Meanwhile, with a great amount of care, Aria set up both the sensors and the tripwire locations. Since this had to be low-lethality, the obvious decision had been to set a few tripwire flashbangs, followed by some sneaky tricks to move them into the middle of Dining Room 3, the largest of the dining rooms, where the main stage and the ugly Mark I animatronics still sat. That, in turn, would be dealt with by Sonata’s “Special Experimental Unit One”, of which she had yet to fully explain to either of her sisters. One way or another, unless absolute disaster occurred, they had the controlling ground. However, that still lead to questions about the vents. The vents could be used to do anything to them, from gas to miniature explosives to a direct assault. Looking up at the ventilation shaft, Aria figured she’d have to do something about that. Running to the nearest janitor closet to get a ladder, Aria did, in fact, do something about that. “Okay, ladies, dinner is served!” Adagio chirped, carrying out a tray with a large buffalo chicken pizza, a stromboli and mozzarella sticks. “Have at it girls!” the eldest triplet replied, as she set the food on the table. She’d brought out pitchers of soda before, and now the trio was getting a chance to eat before they changed into their CADPATs and prepped for battle. “So, Soni,” Adagio said, pointing with the mozzarella stick in her hand, “what’s this Special Experimental Unit One?” Wiping her hands on the napkin, Sonata rose from the bench and walked over to the object, which was currently covered by a tablecloth. “Taa-daa!” the youngest girl said proudly, revealing the object beneath. While Aria had seen it before, she was looking to the reaction of their elder sister, who would be feasting her eyes on this object. Sitting on a stand of its own was a small, 1.5 meter minigun. Painted in hues of blacks and grays, it looked lethal at first, but as both Aria and Adagio got closer, they realized that the weapon wasn’t made of metal, but of a heavy plastic. It also looked loaded, but with what? “This…it looks like a rotary cannon,” Adagio stated. “Specifically like a snubbed GShG-7.62,” Aria added. “Vesper showed me her grande sœur’s once.” Sonata grinned. “It’s actually based on a mix of a GShG, a M134 Minigun and a replica rotary cannon made by Nerf.” She grinned as she petted the weapon. “I call it Rebelle.” “Rebelle?” both Adagio and Aria asked at once. Sonata nodded. “It’s made of a few polymers and ceramics, based on an idea that Soprano Burn had before she…was ‘retired’,” Sonata said with a brief downbeat note before piping up with, “but the engineering principles are sound.” “You built this?” Adagio asked, both surprised and proud of her youngest sister at once. “Yeah – just because I’m the scout on the fireteam doesn’t mean that’s my only ability: I studied engineering and military science back at the base.” “Forgot that, sorry.” “No problem,” Sonata said with a forgiving smile. “This thing doesn’t look like it fires 7.62mm rounds,” Aria said, looking at the barrels. “Plus, the barrels aren’t rifled. I’m guessing this thing doesn’t take conventional ammunition? “No,” Sonata said, reaching into a bag and pulling out what looked like a shotgun round. “It’s actually a needle gun.” Tossing the round over to Aria, the middle sister caught it and opened up the shell, revealing a dozen or so 38mm flechettes within. Continuing her explanation, Sonata continued with, “The belt feed to Rebelle makes it capable of shooting up to 6000 ‘beehive’ rounds per minute, each round containing about eighteen flechettes. That means Rebelle can deliver approximately 108,000 flechettes against targets.” She grinned. “And people think Claymores can be messy.” “Uh, Soni? The point here is to deliver high-impact but low penetration rounds to the enemy,” Adagio pointed out. “You’re talking about enough firepower to slice through the building as if it was a knife.” “I know, sis, but not only do I have to test this puppy out – I still don’t know how well the ceramics will hold up to extended heat, though my calculations panned out, but also the fact that, well, this is honestly a silent last-ditch weapon. If we have to go down, better to go down with this, which will hurt very little people outside Rebelle’s effective area.” “I don’t like the idea of either of you being hurt,” Adagio admitted, “but if I have to, I guess that’s the best way to do it – bring the building down on top of us, I mean. Still…you’re my sisters, so please be careful.” “That’s sweet!” Sonata gushed, leaning against Rebelle. Unfortunately, she was not careful where she leaned, and the gun fell off its perch, jostling the trigger. The gun roared like an industrial fan, and three rounds were dispersed, sending fifty-four one-and-a-half inch metal needles barreling straight towards Freddy’s nose. They tore through like a swarm of cadmium-steel alloy, slamming through the endoskeleton head, where they made thok-thok-thok noises as they finally impacted against the back wall. As for the Mark I animatronic, more of that weird blood-like oil started to pour through the hole where the nose had been. “Whoops….” Sonata said, blushing. Aria rolled her eyes. “How many times have I told you to be careful around live weapons, Soni?” “Sorry!” Adagio shrugged. “Well, the bosses are getting rid of those pieces of crap anyway; the Mark IIIs are on order. Those and the Mark IIs in the back aren’t compatible with modern electronics, so they’ll probably end up in the County Dump or something. Just…consider this a lesson, okay? Someone could’ve gotten hurt – and not the kind of person we want hurt!” “Hey, I said I was sorry!” “Anyway, food’s getting cold, Soni, so come and eat,” Adagio insisted, as the youngest sister joined in. Finally, as 10:30 came, the sisters got dressed, slipping on CADPATs, web belts and other gear. “Look, girls…I have to tell you something,” Adagio said, looking at them both. “Something about what I said just before dinner hit me, and…look, you two are my sisters. I love you dearly, and I would rather spare you the pain of being captured – or worse – by Les Scars. So…just in case, about an hour ago I laid a whole bunch of explosives around the pillars of the building. If I think we’re going to be overrun with no chance of survival…I’ll trigger them, bring the whole building down on us. Believe me, I wish I could spare you both that, but…you two are SIRENs as well. You deserve to be here in this battle, and just agreeing to it proves that.” “Does Vesper know?” Aria asked; the look on her face was forlorn. Little doubt Sonata felt the same way about Madrigal, who they lived with; Adagio knew she felt that way about Intermezzo, who was in Horseshoe Bay and might never see her again. That was the bond between sœurs: it wasn’t just one of master and apprentice, mentor and mentee. It was also like mother and daughter, and very much like the French words the terms were based on, big sister and little sister. Adagio loved Intermezzo as deeply as she loved Aria and Sonata and she knew they felt the same way about their grandes sœurs. It was the way of the SIRENs. “I left a note on the table for when Maddie comes back the day after tomorrow. If we make it out of this, I can get rid of the note, and no one will be the wiser. But if not….” Adagio sighed. “Sometimes, you don’t get a chance to say goodbye to the ones you love. I know that hurts, girls, but that’s just life.” Aria’s response was to merely nod, while Sonata, always the emotional one, wiped away tears from her eyes. “Okay, let’s get into the mindset and go over the order of battle one last time. We’ve got ninety minutes left and after that, it’s showtime – and I know they’ll come in force.” With that, as the three got ready, they went over placements, their plans, and other readiness for the battle against their hated foe. Meanwhile, watching with rage in his eyes and the shattered remains of a fox head, Mangle looked at the trio with unbridled hatred. He would tear them to bits, and then the others would have their turn. The hour was nigh…. As the witching hour came to pass, the leader of the animatronics, the injured and insulted Mark I Freddy Fazbear’s eyes glowed like unnatural white pinpricks, showing his level of utter rage. Around him the other animatronics, in far worse conditions of damage then they’d ever been before, looked at him with both fear and urgency. The (un)natural order here had been drastically flipped on its head: the guards were not only closer to kids than adults…but they were doing the hurting, not the animatronics. The hunters had essentially become the hunted, and the guards that once might have been prey were now becoming the most dangerous predators around. If Freddy were a living thing, he might have made a comparison to being the potential victim in a horror videogame. In the meanwhile, he placed a synthetic-fur paw in the bleeding, gaping hole that was once his nose, the ichor that continued to drip from it had a coppery smell, the red fluid splashing down onto the ground in spurts. The animatronic’s eyes flickered on and off unnaturally, and of those assembled, they did the same as if the former was sending a message that the latter received. Then all eyes glowed an unearthly shade of red before Foxy, Mangle and Puppet started crawling into the ventilation shafts, while the others started their movements to attack the guards. Freddy, if asked, might have commented on his desire to rip the head off the cyan-haired guard that shot him and tear her apart from limb to limb. Or perhaps he would’ve shoved her into a spare suit, had there been one around – neither the Springtrap nor Golden Freddy suits had been seen in years, not since the last restaurant closed. Truth be told, who knew what was in the mind of the murderous mechanical mammal? There would be answers forthcoming regardless, as the automatons began their attack. This time they would win, and this time they would wreak bloody vengeance. Unfortunately for malicious animatronics, they were still more than capable of hitting the tripwire net. Instantly, two chimes went off: in the left ventilation shaft network and in Dining Room 3. “That’s the cue!” Adagio roared. “Let ‘em have it, team!” From her position in the kitchen, Aria smiled grimly, speaking into her helmet’s microphone, “Roger that, Digamma. Poppin’ Willie Pete.” Pressing a button on her phone, a signal was sent to series of miniature incendiary grenades strewn throughout the ventilation systems. Receiving their signals, the items went off as directed, sending spikes of white-hot hellfire to burn through the area, both superheating the air in the vents and scorching anyone unlucky enough to be beneath them. They would do extensive damage to the HVAC system, unfortunately, but the girls were sure there was a way to stealthily get repair funds to Shim and Sham. Unfortunately for both Mangle and Foxy, both had the luck to be caught within the area where the WP grenades triggered, and both were immediately burned with the searing heat of white phosphorus. Both animatronics tried to move out of the way as the heat slagged their wiring and heated their endoskeletons – to say nothing about completely burning off their suits – but neither could escape the micronized inferno that they were caught in. Finally, the vent gave way to the smoldering metal and two burning robots collided onto one of the tables in Dining Room 1, setting it ablaze from the heat even as the antiquated sprinklers kicked in. In her helmet’s speakers, Sonata heard Adagio’s shout: “That’s the cue! Let ‘em have it, team!” “Roger that, Digamma,” she said soberly, “Sampi engaging.” Immediately she started to see shapes in the dark moving towards her, as if to taunt her. However, Sonata Dusk had an advantage – she was a SIREN. Powering up Rebelle from her position, she roared, “OKAY, MOTHERFUCKERS! ROCK AND ROLL!” and pressed the trigger. The minigun immediately started to roar like a jet engine, throwing dozens upon dozens of flechettes towards her targets, like merciless metal killer bees. They impacted against her opponents and threw them back as though they’d been hit with a battering ram, the next dozen rounds of shots roaring over their bodies and tearing massive chunks out of the walls. Finally, Sonata removed her hand from the trigger after having let Rebelle run for nearly a full minute, tossing about a thousand rounds at her opponents. Knowing that even an experimental unit like Rebelle had to cool down, she immediately switched to her small arms, a pair of pistols loaded with frangible bullets. As more shapes started to move in the darkness, Sonata immediately started to fire, double tap, going for headshots. Whatever armor these CSIS assassins were wearing was good, and if she didn’t end them, they would end her – and her sisters. Her own death she could deal with…but not her sisters. “Come get me!” she roared her challenge absolute. “I am a SIREN and I do not run!” By some minor miracle, the Puppet had managed to travel down the right ventilation ducts, which Aria had missed and thus was a clear shot directly into the Security Office. Unfortunately for the animatronic, as it burst through the duct, aiming straight at Adagio, murder in its unnatural eyes… …right until the point where, in one elegantly fluid move, Adagio turned, clotheslined the Puppet, slammed it into the ground, and stomped on its neck with her combat boots. With a malicious grin she seethed, “Tell the boys in Burnaby to go to hell.” With that, she emptied her entire magazine into her victim. With a shaky, stuttering movement that underlined its unnatural abilities, the endoskeleton that was once Foxy pushed itself off the charred, steaming remains of the dining table. Mangle, from what the endoskeleton could see out of its remaining good eye, was now better off being called “slag” than anything else; partially melted to the floor, the chimeric animatronic feebly moved its arms around, while what was left of its iron jaws hung loosely off the remainder of the head. If anything, the Mark II seemed to be telling its Mark I predecessor something that seemed to be inexplicable…. That is, inexplicable until the HVAC, weakened by the ancient sprinkler system’s activation and the damage already done from the incendiary grenades, collapsed right onto the unsuspecting animatronic. Aria fired again, hitting something directly in the head and pushing it down. Whatever armor these guys were using, it was tough as hell – could CSIS have somehow gotten a hold of something the Americans had recently made? “Digamma, Koppa – we’re not making a dent with frangibles. Permission to switch to standard.” “Koppa, Sampi – she’s right. They’re using some kind of improved ceramic armor. Request the same,” was Sonata’s addition. Back in the Security Office, Adagio inspected the machine she’d just shot – it was clear that she’d been spooked by the machine, but why? In order for Les Scars to catch them off-guard, was the obvious answer. Anger coursed through Adagio’s mind as she realized that their enemy wasn’t taking them seriously. Throwing broken animatronics at them as if this were some sort of stupid haunted house instead of an aged pizzeria? Adagio’s answer was swift: reaching on to her web belt, she pulled the pin on a grenade – a standard one – and threw it into the vent. A second later, a deafening blast and the tongues of fire roared through the vent. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” She heard something running down the hall and with a practiced ease, Adagio ejected the frangible magazine, loaded a standard, then popped her head into the hall and fired at whatever was at the end. The thing went down with a satisfying spray of something – likely blood – against the wall. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” “About fucking time!” Aria said, putting aside her frangible pistol and pulling one preloaded with regular rounds. “Go fuck yourselves!” she shouted, aiming for the center of the chest at the nearest target and sending him back with a spray of something. “Get your asses back to Trenton, you fucktards!” she taunted. Freddy, mostly torn to shreds by the last attack, had more than enough. This was his playground, his rules – and nobody could tell him otherwise. Rising from the ground via the unnatural strength given to the endoskeleton via whatever dark forces fueled it, it put one foot in front of the other, moving faster, running, even as a tinny, warbling lamellae and cylinder emitted the haunting sounds of “Votre Toast, Je Peux Vous le Rendre”, the famous Toreador Song. As he finally saw his hated target, he lunged at her, ready to bite her head off in one blow if it was the last thing he did. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” Sonata, with the speed of someone who had trained her whole life, saw the bleak figure rushing towards her in the dark, playing the haunting musicbox melody. Ignoring it, she threw away the gun and reached behind her for something she hadn’t told her sisters that she brought along for the party: her trusty FN P90 submachine gun. As she saw the flickering of some helmet lights and the form of the attacker’s strange helmet, she brought her gun to bear and whispered a phrase: “Say hello to my little friend!” The roar of the gun tore the animatronic’s head completely off, the 5.7x28mm bullets roaring without mercy towards the air. And that’s when the problem began. One of the bullets ricocheted off one of the steel beams in the roof, then caromed straight into a nearby column, setting off the explosive. And as the whole thing was set to send signals once one detonated if the master trigger was destroyed, the others went off as well, in succession. Friend and foe alike suddenly stopped in realization that the building was exploding around them. Balloon Boy, from his shattered fallen location, uttered a fear-tinged word: “Hi.” The building imploded as if destroyed by a California earthquake down by the San Andreas faultline, falling down to the foundation and sending up a great plume of fire as the gas lines ignited. A pillar of flame erupted into the air, the sound akin to the scream of the damned for a second before a small mushroom cloud of smoke and dust fell back to earth.
June 22, Morning: Well You've Got Opportunity in This Very Community....Taking off her helmet, Adagio Dazzle set it down on her motorcycle. The bike was new, as were her clothes, and truth be told, she still hadn’t quite adjusted to wearing civvies yet, as well as letting her hair grow out. It felt weird enough not having a sidearm or anything to protect her with as she left them in the lockbox on the side of her bike, but she quickly reminded herself, she was a SIREN and being a SIREN meant that she didn’t need a weapon; she was a weapon. Even so, this current assignment required that she pretend to be a normal sixteen-year-old girl, and one of those things, according to her research, was a summer job. At least that was the norm for girls around here in Canterlot; maybe it was that way back in Canada, too. At least Madrigal Storm, her technically-legal guardian (for this current assignment, anyway) and Sonata’s grande sœur, thought so: “You sure you want to get a job, Dagi? We have more than enough money for this assignment,” the older woman said over breakfast. “I’m being trained to lead, right? As the oldest sister and the fireteam leader it’s my duty to take the initiative. Since our research showed that lots of girls our age hold down jobs, it’d be a great way for us to get into the community, right?” Madrigal nodded. “Yeah, and since I have a job interview myself – trying to get into the City Hall records department – that makes sense. What about Ari and Soni?” Adagio turned her head to look upstairs at the bedroom she shared with her fellow triplets. The two were still asleep in their beds, getting used to “civilian life”. Adagio, on the other hand, got up at reveille – that is, dawn to just about everyone who wasn’t used to a military life – and did her six-mile run for the morning. Now, with plenty of time on her hands, there was nothing else to do except read the Equestria Daily, the local newspaper…and she was never really one for reading the news. Picking up the classifieds – she saw once in a movie that jobs were advertised in that part of the paper – she searched around the Employment section until she found something of note: HELP WANTED Night-time Security needed to watch over historic restaurant in downtown Sunnytown No experience necessary, $25/hr with benefits Contact jobs@freddyspizza.us or Shim at (232) 555-PIZZA Hey, I like pizza, Adagio thought to herself, and how hard could a security guard’s job be? With that, she made her pitch to Madrigal, who agreed, and because it was in Sunnytown – a supposedly run-down suburb, though they’d been through worse – and a security guard job, she even allowed Adagio to carry a small sidearm. Going through her collection, Adagio selected her Mateba Unica 6 revolver as well as a backup .38 Special, just in case. With that, she looked up the directions on her phone and drove off towards what she was sure was her new job. She looked up at the sign on the roof: FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA. “Freddy Fazbear”? Think I’ve heard of this place, she thought, before heading over to the door and knocking. Two young women with long red-and-white tresses poked their heads out, affixing their apple-green eyes on her; they were identical twins and had it not been for the fact that one wore eyeglasses – apparently blanks; they seemed to be just for looks – she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart. Not at first guess, anyway. As they stepped out of the restaurant, Adagio noticed they both wore white-and-blue striped polos and tan slacks. “Hi!” the glassless one said, a smile on her face. “Are you here for the job?” “Uh, yeah,” Adagio said, trying to relax as she saw the creepily wide grins on the two women’s faces. “Well, don’t just stand there,” the one with the glasses said, “C’mon in and welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!” “I’m Shim,” the first one said. “I’m Sham,” the second one called out, just before both sisters said in a near-singing tone, “We’re the up-and-comin’ Shim-Sham Sisters, Excellent Businesswomen, Nonpareil!” Adagio blinked and looked at them both. “Uh….” Shim blushed, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “Sorry, ingrained family habit.” Sham adjusted her glasses. “Yeah…our grandfather was Flim. Y’know, of Flim-Flam Manufacturing Co. fame? Anyway, when Grandpa passed away last year, he left us an inheritance, as well as a drive to go into business, just like he and his brother did.” “Yeah, and since I can cook, and Sham can design,” Shim explained, “We bought this old pizza place and the IP from the company that owned it. Figured if we made enough money off it, we could restart the chain—” “That’s where I’ve heard of the place before!” Adagio said with a snap of her fingers. “There used to be one in the strip mall just down the road from the base…that…my…uh…Dad was assigned to, yeah,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. “Oh, so you have heard of it,” Sham commented, nodding with a smile. “Most people your age really haven’t, since the company had a problem in one of their franchises in Colorado back in the 80s that caused the company’s fortunes to decline.” “According to our business class,” Shim piped in, “by the time corporate got wind of that issue, Chuck E. Cheese’s had bought Showtime Pizza and had way too much of a lead, and around 1992, Fazbear Entertainment was bought by some Malaysian investor who merged most of them with Pepperoni Pizzaz’s Pizza Palace. By the time we were teenagers, the chain was completely gone.” “But I remember going to the one in San Palomino fondly as a kid,” Sham sighed. “There was this Ms. Pac-Man machine in the game room that I used to play for hours on. Those were the times.” “Yeah,” Shim agreed with a smile. “Oh, so anyway, you’re here for the job, right? The biggest question is, can you protect yourself? Sunnytown’s a little weird place to start, I admit, but it was the last of the restaurants that was still standing and in good condition. Plus, they moved some of the animatronics here, and we’re going to get some techs to come out and work on them tomorrow morning.” “The job’s really not too hard,” Sham explained. “Just sit in the restaurant during the off-hours and make sure that nobody tries to break in. We’ve heard reports of people getting hurt in the area – Sunnytown doesn’t have the best of reputations, unfortunately – and we think it’s a gang. We’ve sunk a lot of money into this venture, so we have to make sure that we protect our investment.” “No problem,” Adagio replied. “I’m armed, and nobody’s going to break in, I assure you.” “You’re armed?” Shim gasped. “Oh wow,” Sham said with some surprise. “I don’t think I could ever be brave enough to carry a gun.” “Yeah…uh…Dad taught me when I was little. You know, parents, right?” When the twins nodded. The golden-haired girl added, “I’m Adagio Dazzle, by the way, and if you’re hiring, I’ll take the job.” Shim nodded. “Well, that works for me. Sis?” “Yeah, yeah,” Sham agreed. “Well, Ms. Dazzle, c’mon in and fill out the paperwork, and we’ll get you started. There’s something that your parents’ll have to sign, but since the job starts tonight, if you can get it to us in the next few days, that should be fine.” As Adagio went in, she wasn’t sure, but something set her off. Maybe it was the rundown look of the dining room, or maybe it was the arcade with the dusty machines that looked like they hadn’t been turned on in ages, or maybe it was the hulking, damaged animatronic machines on stage that set her on edge. “Oh, those things?” Shim said, pointing out the figures on stage. “Oh, those are the Mark I animatronic models; when we bought the company, the previous owner sent us the last existing copies they had; apparently they were kept in storage somewhere in Utah.” “They look pretty beat,” the teen admitted. “They’re just there temporarily,” Sham told her. “Apparently the problem was originally with the Mark I models, but that the Mark II ones, which were supposed to be an upgrade, didn’t work as planned, so the Mark Is got kept around far longer than they should’ve been. Only reason we kept them is because we needed the software suites inside to have them compared with new ones we’re ordering.” Shim nodded excitedly. “Yeah. We had a designer from Korea come in three weeks ago to look at the old ones, so that we could have upgraded Mark III models made. You know, voice print analysis, biometric detection in case of sexual predators, all that stuff that was in the Mark IIs, but with the latest and greatest tech!” “Plus, they’ll be kawaii! All the kids love kawaii!” Sham swooned. “You’ll have to excuse my sister; she’s an otaku,” Shim explained. Sham mock-pouted and as Adagio watched the twins, she felt as though she were being watched. She turned around to see Pirate Cove’s curtains rustle. “What was that?” she asked. “Oh, the animatronic for Foxy malfunctions a lot,” Sham told the teen, “and for some reason it almost always refuses to come out of the ‘Pirate Cove.’ Just another reason why we want to get the Mark IIIs as soon as possible, I guess.” “They walk around?” Adagio asked. “Yeah, that’s what made the place so cool,” Shim replied. “Much better than Chuck E. Cheese’s; robots walking around and not just some guy in a costume,” Sham piped in. “I agree, sis,” Shim told her. “Well, here we are: the office.” As Adagio looked around, she noted that the office looked like the admin office of the underground base she once worked at, filled with furniture that had seen better days, an aging metal desk, rusty fan that was already on and running, and various other things; about the newest thing to the whole collection was a brand new laptop that the sisters explained controlled the security camera and the power settings, since the climate control systems were so old they hadn’t been completely computerized yet. If anything, to her this was probably the most comfortable and homey place in the building. The trio filled out various paperwork, and when Adagio noted that “Fazbear Entertainment, Inc. was not responsible for accidental death, dismemberment, etc.” Sham looked at it, tore up the paper and said, “That’s a little…too specific. Tell you what: these probably aren’t up to current code anyway, so let me order up new contracts – ones that aren’t as weird sounding and bizarre. You can start tonight and tomorrow before you leave I’ll come early and you can fill out the revised paperwork. And just to sweeten the pot, we’ll pay you time-and-a-half for tonight, okay?” “Really?” Adagio said with a smile. She didn’t know how much that stacked up against normal pay for people her age, but that couldn’t be all bad, right?
June 22, Evening: Jumping the Gun“Be careful, okay?” Sonata said, hugging her sister. Adagio smiled; theoretically the youngest, Sonata was always the most emotional of the three. “I will, Soni,” Adagio promised. “Besides, you don’t see Ari or Maddie worried, do you?” “Maddie’s grocery shopping right now,” the youngest teen countered, “And Ari’s playing that videogame console she bought today, so she’s a little focused. Both girls then turned to look at the middle triplet, who was playing Call of Duty and screaming into her headset, “And that’s how you get played, ya pansy-ass weakling! Bet you couldn’t even hold a real M4, much less all the gear your character’s carrying, you fat fuck!...Oh, boo hoo, I made you cry! I dare you to come over here and say it to my face!” “Yeah, she is a bit focused right now,” Adagio replied. “Well, let her know I left and….” She then looked at Ari, who got up from the game, muttering something about “stupid ass mother fuckers kicked me from the game” and approached them. “Hey, take care, sis,” Aria said, hugging Adagio. “I hear Sunnytown’s dangerous. Well, for untrained, normal civvies, but I know you can handle yourself. Thing is, you’re supposed to be one of those at the moment.” “I’ll be okay, girls, I promise. You two looking for jobs as well?” “I started yesterday,” Sonata said. “Trying to find something I like.” “I have to let my hair grow out a little more,” Aria admitted. “Still not as long as the average girl’s. Even though we’re triplets, we’re not identical triplets, so I’m kinda jealous that you two have faster-growing hair than I do.” “Don’t worry, you look good as is, sis. Anyway, I gotta get going.” Giving her sisters one more hug, Adagio made sure to doublecheck her weapons, and then slipping on her helmet, drove down the street, headed for work. About three blocks away, she saw a rainbow-haired girl and another girl jogging down the street and Adagio smiled to herself. Looks like normal girls work out as well. Maybe I’m more normal than I thought. “And so Shim-Sham Enterprises, LLC dba Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Company, agrees to these terms as outlined in the document and confirmed by the signatories below,” Shim read, setting the contract down in front of Adagio. “All you have to do is sign, and you should be good to go.” “Additionally,” Sham added, “Here’s a work authorization form. We’ve already signed it, so all you have to do is just make sure your parents do.” “Well…older sister, actually; I live with her.” A pause. “My parents are overseas, so Maddie’s keeping an eye on me.” “That’s good to know,” Shim told her. “Anyway, here’s how things work: the laptop controls both climate control and the security cameras. We’re running it on a laptop right now because the computer we ordered from Dell is running behind schedule.” “We put some games on the system,” Sham added helpfully, “and if you’ve got your own Steam account, feel free to install your own. We know how boring it can be down here.” The rest of the time was spent looking around, checking the locks on the doors and other items on the checklist. The Mark Is were inspected to make sure nothing was left active, even though the main power units had been removed; and both sisters made sure the power was ongoing – Shim had explained that one of the problems the predecessor company had in its late years was a “power budget”, while Sham clarified that they had no such issue here – before handing Adagio the keys. Finally, as the pair stood by the entrance with Adagio, Shim added, “Oh, and if you get hungry, we already have the pizza-making equipment installed, so feel free to make whatever you want, on the house.” They then went over to the kitchen and Shim explained the workings of all the equipment, as well as the refrigerators where everything was kept. “In fact, we made some pizza crusts earlier, so by all means, help yourself.” “Honestly, if you even want to take some home, it’s a great way to get the business word out,” Sham added, “so don’t be afraid to do that, either. We’ll just chalk it up to stealth advertising.” “Thanks. I’ve got it from here,” Adagio said, patting her sidearm. “Nobody’s going to break in while I’m around.” “Good. We’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Shim said, while Sham mainly waved, before closing the restaurant’s front entrance. As the two girls walked to their car, Shim asked, “You think she’ll be okay?” “Of course she’ll be!” Sham replied. “Did you see the gun on her side? She’s like, a super-secret agent or something. Like Ghost in the Shell!” Shim facepalmed. “Sis? We really gotta do something about your anime watching. You’re losing your grip on reality.” Some pushups and a quick jog around the building later, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to take off the sidearm I was wearing earlier, she admitted. Fortunately, she placed it in her backpack, which was back in the office; she could sprint there in a matter of seconds and be armed in no time flat. The thugs around here probably didn’t have her level of reflexes, so she could easily make it before they even drew on her. As she stood up, she faced the stage and the three inactive Mark I automatons standing there. Though they were depowered, they were definitely ugly and hadn’t lasted the test of time; they were definitely due (in her opinion) to be replaced by the Mark IIIs. Yeah, definitely creepy, she thought. Fortunately, they were nothing more than statues while the power modules were removed, and frankly she had bigger issues with potential gangbangers breaking in to steal something, or worse – like the FBI showing up on the doorstep to arrest her for being part of the SIRENs. She shrugged. Can’t live my life on what could happen tomorrow, she thought to herself as her stomach growled. Well, Dagi, let’s see how good of a pizza maker you are. She then decided to make some for her sisters and their guardian; she was sure that Maddie liked pizzas. Well, I know Ari does, and so does Soni, her obsession with Mexican food notwithstanding. She no sooner placed her double-pepperoni and sausage into the pizza oven, then the phone rang. Reaching for the phone on its cradle, she then answered with what she hoped was a friendly, “Hi, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria! We’re not open right now, but stay tuned for our grand opening in September!” “Hello? Hello hello?” What sounded like an older man said across the line, though the call sounded as though like there was a low signal. “If you can hear me – this is a bad connection – you’ve made a very poor career choice.” Adagio’s eyes narrowed. “If you think you’re going to threaten me, whoever you are, you’ve got another thing coming,” she hissed. “No, no, not that! I used to work at the original Freddy’s! Back in ’87! When the bite occurred! Oh, I spent a fortune trying to make sure that the company went under, and I thought when that guy in Kuala Lumpur bought it, I could rest easy! But no, now you’re in danger and you need to get out of there!” “Look, I don’t know who you are or what your game is, but if you even think you’re going to sabotage my bossladies’ new business, you’ve got another thing coming, bucko!” “Look, if you have any sense, you’ll get out of there before those monsters come alive! Listen: get into the office and lower the blast doors! There’s only enough electricity to use one at a time, so you’ll h—” Adagio hung up on the man; obviously he was completely out of his mind and had no idea what he was talking about. So what if he worked for the old company? Shim and Sham seem very nice and they wouldn’t rip me off; they don’t have that kind of personality. With that, Adagio went back to her dinner plans, never realizing the fact that if she’d just turned, she would’ve noticed the chicken automaton standing there, its eyes glowing a bloody red. Finally, after another inspection of the locks on the windows and entrance, she then went down to the security office, noticing that both entrances to the room, strangely enough, were blast doors, just as the man had said. She wondered why that was…right until she noticed the safe at the far side, over by the table with boxes of memorabilia from the original chain. Well, that explains the blast doors; betting the man either didn’t realize that or it was just some ploy. Seeing the time – seven in the evening – she set her alarm for midnight, just to make a patrol around that time. In the meanwhile, she’d study up on some of the duties of her real job – the one that involved spying on Mrs. Wintry Mix and her family. Meanwhile, on the stage, in Pirate Cove and in the maintenance area, several automatons creaked to life, shuffling to their feet as if corpses newly given life. Artificial eyes glowing red, the various robots shambled, via instructions from who knew where and a power source that seemed to not exist, towards their target, sitting in the security office. It didn’t matter to the mechanical shapes that this wasn’t the same location they’d been in earlier, nor did it matter that decades had passed since their last event. What mattered was their unnatural programming, whether by electronic malfunction or something preternatural, bid them forward, ten mechanical nightmares reuniting at the stage. At midnight, they would attack and rend bloody murder. The weathered brown bear, Freddy – the original, not the insultingly toylike one designed to replace him – looked at the Puppet and then pointed towards Pirate Cove, where Foxy dwelled. The Puppet seemed to understand what Freddy communicated and slunk off to meet with its fellow animatronic. Soon the Office would be painted with blood. Midnight came, and with that a very bored Adagio. She’d already watched the news, played more than a few rounds of Tetris and read up on the previous company history – apparently there were some legal issues involved due to unexplained injuries and a few murders at a prior location. From what she knew of civilian world, it was a sad fact of reality that lots of restaurant chains suffered this, so it must’ve been a truly heinous crime to have critically damaged the fortunes of the parent company and not just the individual restaurant. Well, it’s midnight, time to check the cameras. Maintenance Room, check; stage, check – wait, is that chicken robot moving? Have to check that out later; could be a power fluctuation even though they’re not supposed to have power running, whatever. Kitchen, check; Office Hallway, check; Dining Areas 1 – 4, check; Arcade, check; Kids Kamp, check; Pirate Cove, ch—wait, that wasn’t open earlier. Her wariness kicking in, she opened up her backpack, pulling out her main 9mm semiautomatic, as well as a backup that she’d brought with her. Slipping on her web belt, Adagio then did a quick diagnostic of everything, but couldn’t find signs of a break-in. That doesn’t mean nobody did it, she knew. Anyone could easily get into the HVAC vents; I know, because I had training on how to do that when I was eight. The gangs could easily have coerced – or even recruited – a kid into breaking in. However, the adults wouldn’t let the kid do the stealing; they’ll want the good stuff themselves. With that, Adagio went for her pistol the moment she heard footsteps rushing down the hallway towards the office. Turning off the light, the moment the figure appeared silhouetted from the light and approaching the door, she nearly pulled the trigger until she saw the silhouette of a little boy. But then she heard something behind her coming from the other door, and turning she heard a scream as a white face with dark lines launched towards her. Instinct took over and she doubletapped, the tinny sound of her pistol barking. Without wasting time, she got up, estimated where the figure’s torso was and unloaded two more, just in case, then turned on the light to see— —the Puppet automaton, laying there and leaking oil; she’d nailed both the head and the chest cleanly and likely hit two oil lines. As for the head, she’d blown off the mask completely apart, exposing part of the endoskeleton head, which had a hole that went all the way through. Strangely enough, the oil looked a little too much like blood, but it wasn’t anything Adagio hadn’t seen before. Must be a light weight of oil, Adagio observed, and that probably means I damaged this one beyond repair – good thing Shim and Sham ordered replacements. But it was clear that whoever powered up the automaton clearly meant to spook Adagio, and that wouldn’t do; furthermore, there was a kid involved, and that meant that an innocent was in danger. Rushing down the hall into the main area, she brought out her other pistol and barked, “This is Security! You have one second to disarm before I open fire! Surrender the child and come out NOW!” To her surprise, however, there was no one coming out. Moving with stealthiness and surety, she checked each room before calling out, “And you better damn well not come back!” Walking back to the Office, she was surprised to find a puddle of oil…but no Puppet. Her mouth turned into a grim line of anger. So that was their plan: sneak up on me, make me run around the building and then sneak off with one of the robots, since we have the junkers in the back room. She sighed; she was going to have to apologize to Shim and Sham on failing them, and it probably meant she would be fired. And it’s a shame, too – I really like the pizza here, she sighed. Dejected, she headed back to the Office. She had paperwork to fill out, as well as the Sunnytown Police Department to call. She could only hope that they weren’t aware of her status as a SIREN, because that could be the biggest problem she had here. On stage, three murderous animatronics looked at each other. If their eyes could express an emotion, said feeling was that of confusion. This was compounded by the sounds of the other animatronics, as they rushed back to the maintenance room as quickly as they could. In Pirate Cove, Foxy reached over, yanking the curtains shut. At first, he’d been furious that Balloon Boy and Puppet had moved in first to attack the new meat even after Freddy had clearly indicated that Foxy had dibs, and not the clown and the midget. But after seeing what said “meat” did to Puppet, he was glad he hadn’t moved first. He might’ve ended up looking worse than Mangle, his Mark II counterpart. Deep in the back of the restaurant’s maintenance room, a shattered puppet-like automaton hid for what it felt was its unnatural life, comforted by an equally-terrified Balloon Boy. The creature rubbed itself, occasionally uttering a mechanical sound somewhere between an undead child crying and a whimper.
June 23, Morning: Cleanup Required in Dining Area 3“And you say you shot them, Ms. Dazzle?” the police officer asked, looking at her with a glance of confusion. Fortunately, Adagio already had that covered. Pulling out a pistol with an orange top, she said, “Airsoft. Have to be careful nowadays and I know how strict state laws are, officer.” He chuckled. “Smart girl; wish we had ones like you a few months back, as it would’ve made life easier around here. Well, we’ve got your report. Should we be aware of anything else?” Adagio shook her head. “No officer, thank you for your time.” As she escorted him out the door, she breathed a sigh of relief, pulling the orange cap off her pistol. That was close. I’ll have to ask Maddie to have our people break into SPD’s computer systems and see what we can find out. Don’t want to run into that situation again. The first thing she did after that was to inspect the animatronics on stage; if one was malfunctioning, chances are they all were. While the company manual – from the original corporation until Shim and Sham could write new rules – stated that the bots were not to be touched, especially Freddy, but she figured that was due to people who had no idea of what they were doing. As part of her training, Adagio had to learn rudimentary electronics and wiring, so she had a much better grasp than the average person, she assumed. Walking over to Freddy, she watched as the head looked at her, following her. Definitely creepy, but probably the motion tracking suite within the system; they were circa 1980s technology, so very rudimentary at best. Opening up his back panel, a noxious smell came that was akin to a rotting carcass, but given the construction of some earlier wiring, she’d smelled that before – the wiring systems on the HVAC back at base smelled like a graveyard in comparison. “And there we go,” she said to herself, reaching into the upper part and pulling out the memory battery. The robot reacted at once, shivering before coming to a complete stop. Yeah, I was right: it’s a redundant system. She then did the same to both Chica and Bonnie, and would’ve went to the back to do so with the others, but then her phone’s alarm beeped 6AM, and the contractors working on rewiring the building for modern power systems would be here in a few minutes. Throwing away the batteries in a nearby can, she walked towards the entrance, pausing only to walk to the Office and put her gun away. If she’d looked back at the stage, she would’ve seen the enraged looks on the Mark I animatronics, a visage akin to being violated. Adagio sighed. “Look, I know I screwed up,” she told Shim and Sham when they arrived at nine, having explained the events of the prior night, “and I—” The look on Shim’s face was one of shock. “No! If anything, we’re glad you’re safe! Losing one of those old robots isn’t worth your life, Adagio!” “Shim’s right,” Sham agreed. “Especially if those guys had a kid around – they were endangering both the kid and you! You made the right call, and I’m glad you did. Heavens knows what would’ve happened to Shim or I if we’d been there. But you’re clearly very tough, and scared them off. I’m sure they won’t be back.” “So does this mean I’m not fired?” the teen asked. “Of course not! If anything, this confirms we made the right call hiring you! In fact, once school starts in the fall, we’ll promote you on the afternoon shift as a manager.” “Yeah. You’re smart, think quickly and make the right calls. We’d be foolish not to have you aboard,” Sham insisted. “Thanks!” Adagio said with a smile. She knew that if she’d been a normal girl, this would be an achievement in and of itself. As it was, however, she could use this to make friends and the like once the school year started – if she’d stayed around that long – and wheedle her way into Mrs. Mix’s grandchildren’s circle of friends. It would be a step towards accomplishing her real goal as a SIREN operative. “Well, you better go home and get some sleep. Be back again at the usual time, and stay safe – we wouldn’t want our star employee to be hurt!” “I’m home,” Adagio yawned as she walked through the door, carrying a couple of pizzas. “Morning, sis,” Aria said from the kitchen table. “Want some breakfast?” Then seeing the pizzas she joked, “Or did you eat to go?” “Actually, breakfast is fine, Ari,” Adagio said, walking over to the kitchen and putting the pizzas in the fridge. “So, where’s Maddie and Soni?” “Maddie had to go to Horseshoe Bay to pick up the rest of our false identities,” Aria explained, “and Soni’s still asleep – she was up all night working on a birthday present for Maddie, since that’s next week.” “Really? Well, Maddie is her grande sœur, so I suppose that makes sense – I’d do the same for Mezzo. Well, I’m going to go get a few hours of shuteye, and then I have to plot out some tactics.” “Tactics?” The older sister nodded, then explained the events of the night before. “Whoever they are, they’re good,” Adagio explained. “Better than I expect for the average gang member. Maybe they even have military training.” “Could it be Les Scars?” Aria asked. “I doubt it. Not even those bastards are monstrous enough to use children.” But Aria shook her head. “Sis…CSIS created the SIRENs. They would and have used children.” Adagio’s agreement was said: “Yeah, you have a point.” Later that afternoon, Adagio came down the stairs, rested and relaxed, carrying her backpack. Now to think of— “Hey, sis, ready to go?” Aria asked. She was in her riding gear, and she carried a large gym bag. “Go where?” “To your work, silly,” the younger teen said. “I’m curious about this place, and…well, I microwaved a bit of the pizza for lunch, and it was great – I’d like to try a fresh pie.” Adagio grinned. “Fortunately, they let me cook whatever I want there, so I could whip up more than just pizza. I was thinking about making a calzone tonight; found the recipe on my phone an hour ago and am really interested in trying it out.” “That sounds great,” Aria replied. “Well, shall we go?” A few hours later, and after meeting Adagio’s bosses, Aria had a chance to inspect the place. Several windows, probably have night shutters, but nothing that can really stop anything with heavy penetration power, she mused. Perfect. “Hey, you want a calzone or a stromboli?” Adagio called from the kitchen. “Surprise me!” Aria called back. “I’m going to look around for a bit, if that’s okay with you.” “Sure, but don’t touch anything!” But touch everything was what Aria did: walking around, she set up small motion sensors that ran on batteries, guaranteed to last a few days, but she’d just need them overnight. She set up all over the place, creating a small sensor net. She then went up to the robots on stage – Yeesh, they sure are creepy, she thought to herself, as she almost got the feeling she was being watched – and placed tracking discs on them; if anyone tried to walk off with them, they’d be identified and tracked in the network. Now to put a friendly transponder on Dagi, Aria thought. If Adagio discovered it, she’d know that something was up; the oldest sister had a protective sense towards her younger siblings and hated when it was the other way around. But she’s both part of the Sisterhood and my sister, Aria thought. I have to protect her. Dinner was quiet and subdued; the pair munched on calzones – Aria had to admit, freshly-baked food was superior to the already great reheated pizza she had earlier – and the two chatted. “So what’s with the gym bag?” Adagio asked. Aria told a half-truth, and blushed. “I applied for a job, an assistant at the local YMCA. They wanted someone for the self-defense class, and when I showed them my well-forged certificate for a first-degree karate black belt, they hired me, though I’m only an assistant because the teacher’s a third-degree.” “You could probably beat him,” Adagio said, between bites of her food. “Yeah, but a normal girl probably couldn’t, and we are pretending,” Aria pointed out. “Good point.” A few minutes later, and Aria made to take off, while Adagio went to go throw the used plates and cups in the industrial washer. That gave Aria the excuse to slip the IFF tracker onto the inside of one of the pockets on Adagio’s web belt. She’ll wear the thing, given what happened last night, so I can track her safely. Good. Coming back with her gym bag, Aria set it down briefly on the table, then hugged her sister. “Well, off to my new job,” she replied. “Wish me luck.” “You don’t need it, Ari. You’re the best.” “Thanks, sis.” With that, Aria walked out of the building, taking one last look back at her sister, who was wiping off the table. God, those things are creepy, she thought of the robots; she almost felt as though the bunny, in particular, was trying to bore his vision through her skull. Slipping her bag back on the bike, she headed off to her job at the YCMA… …but not before driving around the block. Good, all the buildings are easily spaced together, and I should be able to make it across the street via the power lines in a matter of minutes. She’d be back by ten, park behind the 7-11 across the street from the restaurant, and then begin her plan. She patted her bag as she gunned her bike’s engine, feeling the strength of her sniper rifle within. Stay safe, sis, and I’ll make sure you’re safe too.
June 23, Evening: Reach Out, Reach Out and Touch Someone....Aria walked into the MainSix Sporting Goods store across the street from the YMCA. “Welcome to MainSix,” the clerk at the counter said. “How can I help you?” “Yes,” she said, putting on her best “girl next door” look. “I’m buying a hunting bow set for my older brother.” “Well, we can help with that,” the man said with a smile. “What are you looking for?” A shrewd look came over her face. “I need a Sagitta HuntPro105 with hyperpolyresin fibers. I also need StrongArm shafts, and a quiver to hold them.” She paused. “Oh, and do you have the Decapitator arrowheads?” The man looked at her oddly. “We…uh, carry them, but…with a 105-pound draw, why would he need Decapitators?” “Versatility,” she replied. “Hunting both moose and goose.” And guys who would hurt my sister, the teen silently added. After selecting what she needed, she drove to the location, an easy nine in the evening. The streets were already empty, and given that the only thing open was the 7-11, that gave Aria plenty of time to set up. Opening up her gym bag, she then set her sniper rifle into position, speed bolting the rifle into position, then covering it with a tarp so it couldn’t be seen from above – all it would take would be one police helicopter and that would make life even harder than it already was. Once that was in place, she then climbed up the utility pole, tugging as hard on the wire as she could. Once she was sure it would support her weight, she then climbed, hand over hand, over to the building kitty-corner from the 7-11, an office building that was entirely abandoned. Getting up to the third floor which would give her access to the roof, she set her new bow, along with three quivers, all armed with Decapitator heads. Between a 105-pound draw and the heads, penetrating the ceiling of the roof would be perfect if she needed to. As it was, if she needed to snipe any baddies she was probably going to break a few windows in the process. Well, can’t afford for anything to happen to Dagi, the middle sister thought to herself as she climbed back over to the 7-11, and barely missed being potentially spotted by an SPD police cruiser going down the street. Getting sloppy, Aria, she chastised herself. Should’ve set up a zipline, but wanted to do this on the cheap, lazy. Plopping down to the roof, she decided to run into the 7-11 to buy a thermos, some coffee, and more than a few donuts. Her waistline would likely hate her for it, but there was nothing like caffeine and sugar to keep alert and awake while being in position. She could sleep the crash off later, once she knew Adagio was safe. Slipping on some headphones and some music, Adagio decided to take it easy tonight. The chances of the idiots being back the next night to try to steal the robots was ridiculous, she had to admit. Any smart criminal would realize that it was wiser to wait until the furor from the previous night died down and people had forgotten about the break-in. At the moment, she read about improved cameras, which she would recommend to Shim and Sham. If this place was going to succeed, it would need to do so without being broken into on a regular basis, which meant that it would need to be protected further. Of course I’d recommend an armed security guard, but I’ve seen some security guards around these sorts of places; they’re jokes! Couldn’t handle regular troops much less CANSOF or us. Then again, she realized that was probably a bit of overkill, so heavy surveillance was probably the better response for a lightly-protected non-critical asset. Well, it’s critical to Shim and Sham, she had to admit, as she continued to work, unaware that she was being stared at by Chica. The chicken animatronic shuffled, eyes glowing with an unnatural light, towards the stage, where many of the others met. Chica looked at Freddy, and though no sounds were uttered, a million words’ worth of conversation seemed to be conveyed. The weathered, aged bear robot then looked at the (inferior) toy counterparts, seeming to also pass along a missive. Several minutes passed, and with that, the Mark II automatons moved to their positions, while the Mark Is remained in their places, ready for a show. If there was any emotion to be expressed on the face of Freddy Fazbear, it was one of murderous glee. Last night was an error, a lucky favor on the part of the guard. Tonight, however, there would be blood and gore, and at last their bloodthirst would be sated. Seated at home, all alone, Sonata Dusk pouted. Both her sisters were out tonight: Adagio at her job and Aria at a post-job celebration. Maddie was still gone, and it left the youngest triplet at sorts. Sure, Sonata was used to being alone, but that was during mission parameters. During downtime, however, that wasn’t what she was used to. Sure, she’d easily admit that out of the triplets she was the most emotive and fragile of the sisters, but that was part of her nature as the youngest of the three…even if she wasn’t entirely sure she was really the youngest. So she gamed a little on Aria’s Playstation 4. The game was forgettable, and she knew her sister wouldn’t mind. She also got into her car and drove down to the local Burrito Bandito, ordered the Taco Fiesta platter to go, went home, watched a movie, ate dinner, sighed, watched another movie, then debated if she should take her carbine and go night-hunting just for practice. But a voice in her head said that Maddie would not be happy about the unauthorized use of weapons, so she let it at that. Not for the first time she wished she’d taken up Aria’s offer to teach her how to use a bow…but then again, she didn’t have one of those either. Finally, she picked up the phone and called. “Ari, when are you coming home? I’m bored.” “Soni, you’re not a child – you’re a SIREN. Act like one,” was the response. “Besides, weren’t you working on something for Maddie’s birthday?” “Yeah, but I finished it an hour ago and can’t test it during the nighttime – it’ll make too much noise,” Sonata sighed. “Sorry, Ari, I just hate slack time. I was never one for just ‘relaxing’, you know?” “Yeah, I know, sis.” There was a pause on the phone line and Aria then said, “Look, I have something going on right now, but I’ll tell you about it in the morning, okay?” Sonata knew that tone in her sister’s voice. “You need help?” “Not yet, but….” There was background noise over the phone, as though Aria was near some hardware. “Let’s just say that if it’s what I’m afraid it is, we’re going to have a very busy night tomorrow,” she replied. “Sis, whatever—” “Soni, gotta go – I gotta laser grid to set up,” was Aria’s suddenly rushed response. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, sis. Feel free to use my PS4; whatever games you like.” “Already did, Ari.” “Good; enjoy. Night, little sis.” Hanging up her phone, Aria looked at her wristwatch and noted that it was almost midnight. Based on what Dagi said, this is around the time that she was attacked. Now if I’m wrong, I’m betting I’m in for a very dull night. But if I’m not…. She leaned down, settling into the scope and her old familiar sniper position. Dagi, please be safe. Three minutes after midnight, she got the first tag from the net. She settled in, watching both positions, taking the measurement data from her phone attachment, and readied to fire if she needed to. And if it came to saving Adagio? No argument whatsoever. I am a SIREN, she mused, repeating the motto, and I give no quarter. Her favorite song playing, Adagio dozed in her seat, the music droning on. She hadn’t even realized she fell asleep, but between the flickering of the computer screen, the soft jam of her music and being bored for most of the night, she succumbed to the touch of sleep. Meanwhile, in the farthest corner of the maintenance room, an automaton stirred. To describe it would be a jumble of parts, a patchwork quilt from hell composed of various limbs and pieces. In its heyday it would’ve been called Toy Foxy. However, the heavily-damaged Mark II was known simply as “Mangle”. Moving in a shuffling, slithering motion akin to a murderous technological lamia, the animatronic started to make its way towards the exit of the room, ready to beeline it towards the Office, where its target lay. Behind Mangle, the other Mark IIs stirred, ready to commit to assisting in the bloody murder. The Puppet, on unsteady legs, walked over to a shelf, pulling off the surface a spare face mask. With gangly, twitching movements it tried to put on its new face, but to no avail. Balloon Boy walked over and picked up the mask, then placed it on the Puppet, with both giving the other a curt nod. With that, they then joined the small army walking towards its bloody objective. Walking over to the stage, the army looked at Freddy, and he nodded in agreement, his eyes seeming to glow red before taking a look much akin to more natural, living eyes. As the army moved forward, a sinister look seemed to come onto Freddy Fazbear’s face. The unnatural robot then walked over to the power junction box, reaching over and ripping it off the wall. The power snapped within the building, and the pizzeria was plunged into darkness, even as Adagio continued to sleep, unaware that death was coming for her. A silent cue was signaled, and Mangle took off like a shot, rushing down the hall. Less than a second later, that movement stopped…as Mangle’s fox head suddenly shattered into a dozen pieces. On the rooftop, Aria felt the buck of her sniper rifle, most of it absorbed by the fact that she’d bolted it to the ground. As befitting a semiautomatic, the next round slid into place, and, following the firing solution provided by her phone, she pulled the trigger again. Running down the other corridor, Toy Chica suddenly had her head explode, followed by a portion of her torso. She was thrown backwards by the shots, crashing into Toy Bonnie. With a sudden act akin to fear, Balloon Boy suddenly grabbed Mangle, pulling him back like a soldier would a wounded comrade. On the stage, the Mark I Freddy looked in utter confusion, completely unable to comprehend what was going on, save for one thing: the guard wasn’t being killed…and the animatronics were being shredded. Okay, they’ve moved too far indoors for the rifle to penetrate; so, onto Plan B. Getting off the ground and picking up her compound bow, Aria jumped up to the power line and climbed over as fast as she could. Every second counted, and every second was not in her favor right now. She hadn’t tracked her older sister as moving, and that meant that she was either drugged, or wors— No, don’t focus on that, girl, Aria said to herself as she reached her position. Quickly slipping on her quiver and making sure that everything was in place, she looked into the heat-seeking scope – surprisingly they had one at MainSix, and even more surprising was that they bought her excuse about her non-existent brother going night-hunting up in Oregon – drew back the bow and pulled. If Aria had a single hobby, it was archery. It kept her edge on her sniping skills, and it allowed her to relax. She’d gotten good enough that she could actually snipe at mid-range with a bow instead of a rifle if everything was good. That being said, she’d had years of exercise to get used to the strength of the bow, and that meant she had some serious strength in her upper arms, though it thankfully didn’t show, as she was never one for muscles. That being said, she bought a 105-pound bow, requiring a minimum of that strength to pull. Instead, she pulled 140 pounds of strength on it, then let the bow fly. With that much power, the arrow easily penetrated through the roof of the pizzeria, and as the blades of the decapitators kicked in, they sliced in, leaving a huge entry point. Within the building, Balloon Boy didn’t know what hit him. The arrow went through the back of his head, slamming him to the ground. A second later, a second shaft punctured Toy Freddy, chewing him up like he was so much plastic and wiring. The instinct to kill had somehow suddenly been routed, followed by the instinct to run. As one, Toy Bonnie and the Puppet ran for the back, trying to drag the others with them as much as they could. Aria continued to fire shot after shot into the roof, exhausting her quiver. Without a moment to spare, she grabbed the second one, with conventional heads, and jumped onto the roof. These weren’t as strong, and she’d have to aim much closer than she’d liked. The thumping on the roof awoke Adagio. Knowing something was up, she ripped off her headset and wandered into the darkness of the hallway. Continuing to hear the thumps on the roof as well as additional ones in the dining room, she wasted no time, firing a clip into the ceiling. She then switched guns, moving into the dining room, the flashlight attached to the tactical rail on her pistol cued and throwing light onto the walls. What she saw, she didn’t expect: the animatronics were in various positions on the ground, stuffed like pincushions from various arrows. A sparking came from the far wall as it was clear that the junction box had been damaged. Goddamn it, Ari was right – it is Les Scars, Adagio thought with concern. Guess we’ll have to plan to take them out. Running as fast as she could, Adagio raced for the spare junction box; the building had one installed as a strange redundancy, but right now the SIREN was not going to argue her luck. Aria climbed back up to the office building, her heart beating like a drum. Someone – likely Les Scars, had returned fire. Aria rushed back to the sniper rifle, desperate to find out if Adagio had survived, and if she was going to have to return fire…or worse, avenge her sister. A few minutes later, she breathed a sigh of relief as the lights came on in the building and she watched the dot that corresponded to Adagio’s IFF signal running around the building, double-checking the perimeter. Immediately, Aria started disassembling the rifle and throwing the parts in the bag, getting ready for the police to arrive at any second. She didn’t want to be around when that happened, though she was sure that Adagio would be able to handle herself for the rest of the evening. Hopping onto her bike, the middle triplet raced for home, her mind awhirl with plans: Les Scars had clearly tried to take out Adagio, which meant one of their teams was in the area. Madrigal wasn’t available, and while Vesper was in town, risking her cover would be unnecessary. Well, time to prove our own worth, Aria thought as she headed home. Author's Note In case you didn't care...there's no such thing as hyperpolyresin fibers. Credit to Hunter's Friend for the term.
June 24, Morning: Logistical NightmareThe SPD officer – a different one this time – looked around the semi-damaged building. “And you said that you were attacked by the gang you reported yesterday, but now they’ve brought assassins?” Adagio put on her most helpless girl look. “Uh – yeah! I mean, just look at the robots?” She pointed to the starlight coming into Dining Room 3 and the Mark II automatons that were pincushioned to the ground via a dozen arrows. The cop looked at the robots, still wiggling around as if reacting to short-circuits; she noticed the red eyes, but didn’t react further, as she’d seen more than enough weird stuff in her days. “Looks like someone removed the main circuit control to the building as well….” she mused, looking at the damage done to the wall. “This…doesn’t look casual.” “I know, that’s what I’m saying!” Adagio gasped, hoping she was putting on a good enough show. “My life could be in danger here, officer!” Of course, given all the weapons that had been at her disposal, she probably could have easily dealt with gangbangers, but the arrow strikes and the way they’d used the robots – which somehow had inexplicably had their power packs reinstalled – was a hint that it was CSIS at work. But the proof in the pudding that it had to be Les Scars was the sensor grid that she’d found around the building while waiting for the police to arrive. Only a pro would do something like that – and she hadn’t mentioned that much. “So…you think they tried to steal the robots?” the officer asked. “I don’t get it, though: Why shoot ‘em full of arrows if they’re trying to steal them?” “Officer, I’m just a cute but dumb high school student with a summer job. I couldn’t possibly fathom the ways of crime like you do.” The officer grinned. “Well, we’ll have our detectives come by in a few days and look at things.” The officer’s watch chirped, and she said, “Well, it’s six in the morning. You should get out of here and relax – and if I were you, I’d consider getting a safer job.” “I’ll think about it, officer,” Adagio lied through her teeth. Shim and Sham looked at Adagio with looks of worry on their faces. “Adagio, please – we have to think of your safety,” Shim said, tears practically coming to her green eyes. “I don’t think sis or I could bear to see you hurt,” Sham said, her tears fogging up her glasses in the warm summer morning. “I’ll be okay, I promise. I’m more worried about failing you both,” Adagio told them, and meant every word of it. The two sisters had been nothing but great bosses to her, and had she been a normal girl, she would’ve been proud to be Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Employee #1. Part of her wondered that if in another time, they would’ve made great SIREN operatives – they were certainly as nurturing as any grande sœur she’d ever met. “No, like we said – you’re the best employee we’ve ever had!” Shim said sincerely. “Aren’t I the only employee?” “Not the point,” Sham agreed. “We know talent when we see it, and we know you’ll be a legend working for the company. We’re proud of your accomplishments in such a short time.” “Thanks,” Adagio beamed. “Well, you’d better go get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow,” Shim told her. “Yeah – we have some electricians and construction crews coming anyway to do some work, so hopefully they can make some patch-ups in time,” Sham added. As Adagio drove off, Shim looked at her sister. “I’m worried for her safety, sister – these gangsters look like they mean business.” “We’ll look into a professional night guard service once we get more employees,” Sham insisted. “Adagio’s a treasure: we shouldn’t put her in a position where she could get hurt.” “Good idea.” Sham grinned. “After all, we need her to be our calendar girl! We could put her in a maid outfit, and she can be all ‘Danna-sama! Dai suki!’” Shim’s only response was to facepalm. The moment Adagio got home, she bellowed at the top of her lungs, “Fireteam, muster on station, now!” Within seconds, a pair of girls rushed down the stairs and moved into position. Both had long hair and the first one wore camouflage pajamas, while the other one wore shorts and a t-shirt. Despite the fact that both were half-asleep, as if on instinct, they both moved into an attention formation. “At ease,” Adagio said, as her sisters relaxed. “What’s up?” Aria said, while Sonata merely yawned, rubbing her eyes. Adagio looked at the middle sister grimly. “You were right, Ari. It was them – Les Scars. Either they were after me or they were looking for a place to hide out and thought the building was empty.” Aria hid her smile, looking at her sister; even though she was glad to have warded off the attack on Adagio, she couldn’t reveal that she had a hand in it, lest she mortify her older sister. “Are you sure?” “Yeah. They were good at it, and if one hadn’t botched the op and landed on the roof, I wouldn’t have known. As it was, I found a lot of evidence that they were there.” Sonata yawned again and spoke up. “If they catch us, there goes the mission. We can’t afford for that to happen.” “That’s why I think we need to take the fight to them,” Adagio replied. “With a small team, we can take out whatever forces they have and make sure that they don’t trail us.” “I think we should get a hold of Vesper,” Aria replied. “Maddie’s out of town, but Vesper’s still in the area. We should get her.” “No! She’s known to them – if she gets involved, they’ll know we’re here and that’s just as bad!” Adagio said. “No, we have to do this on our own, girls.” “Okay, what are your orders, sis?” Sonata asked. “I’m going to go get some sleep for a few hours. Can I trust you two to get a battle kit going? Urban warfare, low intensity. Don’t assume we’ll have the high ground. Expect worst case scenario – if we have to go down, I want to make sure they go with us and I want no way they can trace Maddie or the others. They have the job to do; ultimately, we’re expendable.” “I’ll do a gear check,” Aria insisted. “I can make sure we have everything ready to go,” Sonata added. “We’re going to need to make sure we have it all ready to roll anyway. We can transport it all in my car.” “We can fit all that in your car?” Adagio asked. “Tight fit, but my little Beetle can do it!” “Okay. I’m going to get some shut-eye for a few hours, so wake me up at about three so we can inspect everything, okay?” Aria smiled. “You got it!” Two hours later, Aria and Sonata were both discussing which weapons to use. “If they mean business, we’re going to need something with high lethality but low penetration power,” Aria mused. “Means that carbines aren’t going to be of much use.” “I’m just curious: why can’t we use the carbines, sis? Three burst – boom, boom, boom! – and it should be done, right?” “Yeah, but Dagi likes working there, and we don’t want to endanger her job,” Aria explained. “We should be considerate of that.” “Point. So, frangible rounds, maybe?” Sonata offered. “We don’t have much of that, but we do have enough to equip us for this op.” “Yeah, do that. Substitute grenades with flashbangs, if we’ve got them. Make sure we’ve got knives and collapsible batons as well for CQB.” “Already did,” the youngest triplet replied. “Too bad we can’t use anything with the rapid firepower that the carbines can give us,” Aria sighed. “We could really use something with crowd-clearing power.” Suddenly a wide smile came onto Sonata’s face as she hummed. Curious, Aria asked, “Something up, sis?” “I think I know what we can use….” she said in a sing-song voice. “Spill, Soni.” “Better if I show you,” Sonata said, grabbing her sister’s hand and dragging her out of the room. “Remember that present I’ve been working on for Maddie’s birthday?” “Yeah, what abou—” Aria asked as Sonata dragged her into the garage, which had been soundproofed and converted into a weapons forge. “What do you think?” Sonata asked, leaning on it. A violet eyebrow rose slightly. “Really?” Sonata nodded. “Uh-huh?” A wide, proud smile came onto Aria’s face. “Sis, you’re a genius,” the middle triplet said sincerely. “So, tell me more.” Feeling a little better, Adagio came downstairs, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, carrying a bag holding her CADPATs; she’d change while there. Seated on the couch were Aria and Sonata, watching TV. “Feeling better, Dagi?” Sonata asked. “Yeah, thanks for asking. Everything loaded in the car?” Aria nodded. “Was a kinda tight fit, but we made sure that everything was stowed away and ready to deploy,” Aria replied, handing Adagio a clipboard as she approached. “Here’s the gear we decided on.” Adagio looked it over, murmuring, “Nice choice,” before she came to the final decision. “Special Experimental Unit One?” Adagio asked with a curious tone. “It’s the thing I made for Maddie!” Sonata said with a smile. “Aria thought it was a good idea since we can’t use carbines, and that it should do the job.” “Okay, I’ll believe you then,” she replied. “Let me call my bosses, and then we can leave.” As Aria turned off the TV, Adagio pulled out her cellphone and dialed the pizzeria. “Shim? Yeah, this is Adagio. I have a favor, if you don’t mind: my younger sisters were curious about the place and they wanted to come visit me tonight. Would that be okay?”
June 25, Morning: Hat.jpgAdagio’s surroundings were nothing but white, like something out of a laundry commercial. She half expected a giggling plushie mascot to come out of the endless white talking about “silky smoothness, right out of the dryer!” or something like that. Still, she walked on through the bizarre fog. Eventually, she stumbled upon a group of crying children. Strangely, they looked greyed out, as if they weren’t even real. No reason for the crying was given, and no matter how much Adagio tried to approach them or call out to them, they seemed silent and distant, as if in a fever dream. The fever dream turned into a nightmare a second later as a vague form appeared: a man, whose face Adagio could not see for some reason, yet seemed to have a motif of the color purple, started charging towards the kids, making unnatural, unearthly sounds as he ran. There was a flash in his hand and a second later, a huge, bloody butcher knife appeared. “No!” Adagio screamed as the man approached within inches of the children. At that point, her training took over and she reached behind her for her backup gun. Pulling it with a draw, she’d barely drawn a bead on the man when she pulled the trigger, firing. The man was hit once. Twice. Thrice. Each bullet in the gun made him stumble back and…strangely, vanish, seemingly derezz as if he were a vanquished videogame character. Finally, with the last bullet from the gun piercing him where his heart would be, he fell backwards, vanishing into nothingness. The tears of the children suddenly stopped. And although Adagio couldn’t see their faces, she could somehow feel their smiles, and hear their unanimous saying: Thank you. Her vision blurred into white and— A body, dust-covered but otherwise intact, broke through the debris of the destroyed restaurant, gasping for air. Adagio could barely comprehend anything other than gulping down the dirty air of a Sunnytown morning before she heard a familiar voice call out, “There’s one!” She turned and her vision swam for a second before she felt herself being pulled up, with an oxygen mask slipped onto her face. Despite the light stabbing her eyes, Adagio reached a delicate hand to look at the face looking down at her. “It’s okay, Dagi. We’re getting you to the hospital.” Hearing those words, seeing Vesper’s face…it brought both comfort and fear to the teen’s mind. Comfort because it was someone she knew, Aria’s grande sœur, but fear at the same time, because Aria was sti— “We found another one!” a voice in the distance cried. “You’re fine, Dagi,” Vesper said in comforting tones. “We’ll talk later.” But Adagio heard the underlying meaning: Vesper, as senior SIREN in the area, wanted answers and would have them. Adagio smiled slightly before passing out. When she came to again, she saw Vesper sitting in a chair next to her, still dressed in her EMT outfit. “Boss gave me the day off so that I could watch over you,” the older woman said casually. “I called your sister and told her I’d keep an eye on you guys until she got home from her trip.” The undermessage was simple: Reported to Mezzo what happened; will keep overwatch on you three until relieved. Adagio looked to see Aria and Sonata in beds on the other side of the room. Both were asleep. “Are they…?” “They’re fine, Dagi. In fact, after the hospital runs some routine tests, you’ll be released to go home. I already told Maddie and I’m going to stay over there tonight – in fact, I’ll make dinner. I’m sure you’d like something other than pizza for a change.” “Vesper,” Adagio croaked, “I….” “We’ll talk when your sisters wake up, okay?” Aria and Sonata are fine. “Plus, your bosses are waiting outside for you to wake up – I think they want to talk to you.” The area’s not secure; we’ll debrief when you’re released from the hospital. “Sure,” Adagio said, sitting up. “I’ll go get them,” she said, getting up from the chair. But before doing so, she leaned over and whispered, “You’d better have a damn good reason for all this, Seaman Dazzle. I’m going to have to go back there tonight and make sure the place is sanitized.” Not knowing what to say, Adagio merely nodded while Vesper gave her a smile, then walked out of the room. Adagio sat there for a moment, looking at her two sisters, asleep on the other beds in the room. She was relieved to know that they were fine, and that they’d made it through their battle with Les Scars. “Adagio!” she heard two voices cry out and watched as a tear-stricken Shim and Sham rushed over to hug her. “We were worried about you!” Shim cried unashamedly, hugging her. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to lose our star employee!” Sham added, her glasses fogging up. “Don’t worry, we’re paying for yours and your sisters’ medical bills,” Shim suddenly said. “Please please please don’t sue us!” “Sue you guys? Why would I do that?” “Because of the faulty gas main,” Sham said, wiping her glasses on her shirt. When a curious look came over Adagio’s face, Vesper, who came back into the room, said, “One of my coworkers told me about it: there’s a major gas line through that part of Sunnytown that PG&E has been constantly patching for years due to constant decay. I guess the part where the restaurant was located was a ticking time bomb in the form of an undiscovered leak.” When both Shim and Sham froze in shock, Vesper said, “Ladies, I know the girls’ family; their older sister’s been my best friend for ages. They’re not the kind that would sue, so you’re fine – they understand what accidents are.” Both Shim and Sham breathed sighs of relief. Adagio sighed. “Well, this means I’m out of a job,” she groaned. Vesper looked at her oddly, while there was a curious look on the twins’ faces. And, strangely enough, Adagio’s funk was sincere: in the few days that she’d worked there, attacks aside, she’d actually enjoyed it. If she’d been a normal girl, it would’ve been the job of her life. “Not necessarily,” Shim said with a smile. “We didn’t get a chance to tell you last night but around noon yesterday we had lunch with our attorney. It seems that due to the reputation the prior company had and the gang attacks of the last two days, they strongly recommended we abandon the Freddy Fazbear’s IP for the good of the company. He said it was just too toxic an IP.” “After talking to our father for advice, we did just that,” Sham added. “And while you’ve been here, we’ve had our lawyer release the Freddy Fazbear IP into the public domain, where it should stay.” “But what about—” Adagio began. “Oh, we started work on a new IP based on the same concept!” Shim said with a grin. “We just sent the designs off so they can modify the Mark IIIs before they send them here.” “Yup, here you go!” Sham chirped, handing Adagio a folder. “Johnny Jackrabbit’s Pizza Party Palace,” she said, reading the cover of the folder. It had a picture of a smiling, happy rabbit, and truth be told it looked far friendlier than the Bonnie character from the old place. In fact, as she looked through the folder, all signs of the old characters were gone, with Johnny replacing Bonnie, Maxine Mouse taking the place of Freddy and Charlie Chicken replacing Chica. It seemed like a rebirth for the concept, leaving the old to remain in the dirt. “We’re going to donate the land where the restaurant used to be to the county; apparently they’re going to do something with it,” Shim told her. “In return,” Sham pointed out, “the County is giving us an equivalent-sized parcel of land in San Palomino, which would be the perfect spot for the first Johnny’s!” “Other than that, our offer still stands, Adagio – we’d love to have you work for us still, and we’re know you’re the best employee.” Sham adjusted her glasses. “Maybe when you’re older, we might even make you a partner in the business!” she said with a wink. “Well…how long?” Adagio inquired. “About two months to construct the building, get the permits, test the Mark IIIs – well, now the Johnny Mark Is – and all that, so…right around when school starts?” Adagio grinned. “Count me in,” she said with a smile. “Good!” both Shim and Sham cheered with huge grins. “Okay, your story pans out, and unless the gangs were using it for a cache or you three brought more weapons than necessary – which we didn’t teach you to do – it looks like there were signs of Les Scars activity,” Vesper told Adagio the following day at the girls’ home; she was seated at a table with a lot of printouts. “Thankfully Seaman Blaze was smart enough to use WP and that melted a significant amount of the metal there, the weapons included. From what it sounds like, the SPD is going on the fact that the gangs damaged the gas main on the day they went in and eventually it overloaded last night. So consider your asses covered, you three.” Adagio shifted uncomfortably in her stance before shifting back to attention; being interrogated by Aria’s grande sœur wasn’t very comforting at all. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. Behind her, Aria and Sonata stood at attention, and had Adagio looked behind her, she would’ve noticed that they’d unintentionally stood in positions not unlike the Mark I animatronics that had once graced the stage. “Okay, last thing: I want to know why. You knew I was in town, and you could’ve made a call and Lieutenants Blue and Storm would’ve come. It’s our duty to handle this sort of thing, not yours – you have a different mission and you could’ve jeopardized the whole operation. So as the fireteam leader, I want an answer from you, Seaman Dazzle.” “Yes, ma’am,” she said, looking briefly at her sisters before asking, “Permission to speak off the record, Lieutenant.” “Seaman….” “Please, Lieutenant?” Aria finally spoke up. “Granted, though I know what you’re going to say,” Vesper said. “We didn’t want to lose you three,” Aria continued. “Call it childish, immature, insubordinate, whatever – you, Maddie and Mezzo are our grande sœurs. You are more than mentors, more than older sisters, more than mothers to us! Do you know what it would be like for us to lose you?” “It would’ve been painful to never see Maddie again if we died,” Sonata spoke, “but that would’ve been minor compared to me having to attend her funeral!” “Plus, without an adult like one of you, technically we’re just normal girls,” Adagio added, playing for logic. “The SIRENs would have lost us as assets for at least a few years, possibly permanently – and then the org would be down six field operators. Better for us to go than you guys.” “I…see.” Vesper rose from the table, and walked over to the triplets. “Okay, if you’re so afraid of being treated like normal girls….” She went and slapped all three. “I’ll treat you like normal girls: you’re all grounded for two weeks.” She then went and hugged the trio individually. “Do you know that Maddie, Mezzo and I would feel the same way about you three? Did you even think that?” The looks on their faces indicated they hadn’t. “Girls, we love you three as much as you love us. And risking yourselves like that…it was appreciated, but needless. Which is why you’re grounded – a civvie punishment – rather than getting something out of the QR&Os.” She went and then held Aria, her petite sœur. “For my sake, don’t do that again, Ari? Please?” “I won’t. And I’m sorry for making you worry,” she admitted. “Good. Okay, so punishment: two weeks, can’t leave the house – except for your job, Ari – no games, no books except manuals, and I want the house spit polished and shined, got that?” When the three nodded, Vesper said, “Okay, I’m going to go do some grocery shopping. Maddie’s coming home tonight – and Mezzo’s coming with her – and you owe them apologies as well, got that?” When the three nodded, she said, “Oh, and finally…Dagi, I found your bag. Mostly torn up, but I figured you wanted it. It’s by the front door.” With that, Vesper grabbed her keys, said, “I’ll be back in thirty. There will be a uniform inspection in thirty, understood?” and then headed out the front door. Adagio went to where the bag was. Sure enough, it was mostly destroyed and covered in soot and burns; only one pocket, still zipped, remained of the backpack. Adagio found that curious and opened the pocket, allowing for the contents to be unearthed. “What’s that, Dagi?” Aria, standing right behind her, asked. “I…I don’t know,” Adagio said in a confused voice, looking at the pristine, slightly cream paper of Fazbear Entertainment corporate stationery, circa 1987. On the paper, in yellow and green crayon, was a single word: PROTECT. And at the bottom of the paper, pinned to it, were three cloisonné pins of the Puppet’s head, underneath which was a cloth banner which read: GUARDIAN. “What is this?” she murmured, looking at her sisters in confusion. US Route 287 lead out of the town of Aurora, Colorado, heading eastwards towards its eventual connection with US Route 36 towards all points east. On that lonely road, just east of the city limits, was an abandoned, forgotten building, the broken parking lot filled with weeds and a rusted light pole that had seen better days. The building was faded colors of white, green and yellow, its paint peeling off and its shattered windows long since covered with well-weathered boards. The sign that had once grace the roof was long gone, but the ghostly, faded remnants of the lettering on the sides of the buildings were almost readable: R DD FA B AR’ PI Z R A. A wooden billboard in front of the whole building said that the lot was for sale or lease, but it had been there a long, long time with no takers. On a rainy, dreary Saturday afternoon, it was as much of a forgotten relic of an earlier era as any other day before. Until now. Within the aging black and white checker floors, the faux-pizza decors on the purple, water-damaged walls and the long empty rooms, something stirred in a forgotten, long-ago boarded up room. Shuddering with an unnatural shake from a power source that should have been drained well before the building had ever closed down, the animatronic, created for the original Fredbear’s restaurant back in 1973, shook its head, coming to life with unnatural motion. Something dark stirred within Springtrap, bringing the murderer whom the news had once called “The Purple Killer”, back to unlife. The killer had been damned, for decades, to be trapped in this hell of its own making, its own grave and prison at once, revenge from tormented souls from the double-digit murders that had haunted the Denver metro area back then. But now…something was freeing its toys; that much the reanimated murderer knew somehow. And that would not be allowed. However long it took, whatever it took to prevent that, it wo— The roof of the building was suddenly torn off, exposing it to the air. A backhoe’s shovel came into view as it pulled more of the building off, and the robot remained slumped against the wall, completely confused. The confusion was immediately relieved by a man, silhouetted from where Springtrap was, who sneered at the twisted abomination of man and machine and called out, “The kids say hi, monster,” and threw something into the building. A second later, the makeshift bomb – composed of dynamite and several vials of holy water – detonated, tearing apart Springtrap and the body within. A few minutes after that, the rest of the building was torn down. Soon, as agreed, a priest from the local church would come and bless the location once more. Standing in the rain atop the backhoe, wearing a raincoat and taking a draft from a cigarette, the old man felt purified. He’d been a college student back when it had all began – the murders, the Bite of ’87, all of it – and the move had pushed a young security guard into a life as an Aurora police officer, and finally a detective. He’d delved into the mysteries of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria and while he wasn’t particularly religious when he worked with the company, decades had changed him – evil existed in more than just corporeal form, and today had finally proven that, in his mind, once and for all. But it had also proved that evil could be defeated, regardless of whoever it manifested. Between him and another former security guard – now a business magnate and also privy to what had been investigated over the years – they had worked to have a foreign business buy the company just to shutter it. He’d been dismayed that two girls over in California had recently bought the rights, because it would’ve started everything all over again. By pure fortune or grace of a higher power, the location that was being rebuilt in the metro Canterlot area had been destroyed by happenstance. Which lead to today: with the agreement of his friend and partner in this arcane war against the Purple Killer, the detective came over to the land to destroy the old pizzeria, find Springtrap and destroy him for once and for all, the location where the source of all these horrors had been hiding for all these years. It was a chancy proposition, but…one that had panned out, as indicated by the shattered remains he’d blown apart and now buried under a building that would be excavated, the rubble and trash set on trucks with the intent to ultimately dump in a volcano in Chile, where it would all be vaporized, permanently. Perhaps it was overkill compared to an incinerator, but like his friend, the detective wanted to make sure there was no chance for evil to avoid its punishment. The rain stopped, and portions of sunlight peeked through the afternoon sky, a purifying, cleansing light. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a phone and dialed, and a familiar voice answered on the first ring: “Hello, hello hello?” “It’s over,” the detective said with a wide grin, gently rubbing a pin on his raincoat – a cloisonné pin of a puppet head, from which a banner hung that said GUARDIAN. He never found out how he received it…and that had been one of the mysteries that had led him to this day. “Good,” the voice said on the other line. “I’ll be in town on Tuesday. Meet up for lunch?” “Sure thing. Talk to you later.” Pocketing his phone, the detective walked to meet the priest, who had just pulled up in his car, followed by a group of older people in a van – the now-elderly parents of the murdered children. Today was the end of Freddy Fazbear’s dark legacy. Tomorrow, a new park, dedicated in the name of those who had suffered all these decades, would be built on the site, donated to the City of Aurora, and the world would move on. In his mind, Detective Fritz, Aurora Police Department, could picture the built-in lights in the animatronic heads finally snuff out, as they deserved to. Author's Note Aaaaaaaand it's over, folks. Although I've been since told that I got the order of the animatronics wrong: Well, truthfully? This story wouldn't have come together if I wasn't in the mood to be silly and someone hadn't made an equally goofy comment. Also thanks to my 7DSJ cohorts (Blue and Flynt) for wondering what the hell I was doing and let me get away with it. We'll be back to normal 7DSJ next week, folks. Thanks for letting me run down this detour.
June 24, Evening: Say Hello to My Little FriendShim and Sham looked at Sonata, the last of the triplets they had yet to meet. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Shim said, offering her hand. Sham, on the other hand, gushed. “Oooh! Look, I know a cosplayer who can help us…just picture!” she squeed. “Urd, Skuld and Belldandy! Oh, this is going to be great!” The triplets looked at one another, confused, while Shim facepalmed, slowly shaking her head. “What’d I say?” A few minutes later, Sonata was looking over a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria application, while Aria messed around with a game on her phone. As for Adagio, she chatted breezily with the two sisters. “Feel free and show them around,” Shim said. “In fact, if you want them to stay overnight with you, I’d actually prefer that: three are better than two, and if we need to, we can pay them from petty cash.” “I’ll ask them, but I don’t know if they’ll agree to it,” Adagio replied, knowing full well they would; the pay would just make it even better. “Do they know what’s going on?” Sham asked. “They’re my sisters. I wouldn’t want to worry them, and besides, I like this job. If I tell our older sister, then she’ll make me quit and I’d rather not do that.” Both Shim and Sham sighed in worry before Adagio added, “But I’ll ask Ari and Soni. I’m sure they’d like to stick around.” “Thanks for being so understanding, Adagio.” Adagio smiled and nodded. “If anything, I should be thanking you guys for that, ladies – it’s nice to know that I have bosses who care about my safety.” An hour later, Adagio was in the kitchen working on dinner – using the new stromboli recipe that she’d been credited with “inventing” for the company, leaving Aria and Sonata to set up everything. “I’m going to go set up the IFF grid. Can you take care of the other stuff?” “Sure thing!” the youngest teen chirped, tying her hair into a bun. Since they were required now to grow their hair out for the main mission, compromises, such as tying their hairs into buns for battle dress had become a necessity. Just before midnight – the time that Les Scars had picked as the most optimal time to attack, apparently – the trio would slip on their Kevlar vests and position themselves at the three most advantageous locations there was. Meanwhile, with a great amount of care, Aria set up both the sensors and the tripwire locations. Since this had to be low-lethality, the obvious decision had been to set a few tripwire flashbangs, followed by some sneaky tricks to move them into the middle of Dining Room 3, the largest of the dining rooms, where the main stage and the ugly Mark I animatronics still sat. That, in turn, would be dealt with by Sonata’s “Special Experimental Unit One”, of which she had yet to fully explain to either of her sisters. One way or another, unless absolute disaster occurred, they had the controlling ground. However, that still lead to questions about the vents. The vents could be used to do anything to them, from gas to miniature explosives to a direct assault. Looking up at the ventilation shaft, Aria figured she’d have to do something about that. Running to the nearest janitor closet to get a ladder, Aria did, in fact, do something about that. “Okay, ladies, dinner is served!” Adagio chirped, carrying out a tray with a large buffalo chicken pizza, a stromboli and mozzarella sticks. “Have at it girls!” the eldest triplet replied, as she set the food on the table. She’d brought out pitchers of soda before, and now the trio was getting a chance to eat before they changed into their CADPATs and prepped for battle. “So, Soni,” Adagio said, pointing with the mozzarella stick in her hand, “what’s this Special Experimental Unit One?” Wiping her hands on the napkin, Sonata rose from the bench and walked over to the object, which was currently covered by a tablecloth. “Taa-daa!” the youngest girl said proudly, revealing the object beneath. While Aria had seen it before, she was looking to the reaction of their elder sister, who would be feasting her eyes on this object. Sitting on a stand of its own was a small, 1.5 meter minigun. Painted in hues of blacks and grays, it looked lethal at first, but as both Aria and Adagio got closer, they realized that the weapon wasn’t made of metal, but of a heavy plastic. It also looked loaded, but with what? “This…it looks like a rotary cannon,” Adagio stated. “Specifically like a snubbed GShG-7.62,” Aria added. “Vesper showed me her grande sœur’s once.” Sonata grinned. “It’s actually based on a mix of a GShG, a M134 Minigun and a replica rotary cannon made by Nerf.” She grinned as she petted the weapon. “I call it Rebelle.” “Rebelle?” both Adagio and Aria asked at once. Sonata nodded. “It’s made of a few polymers and ceramics, based on an idea that Soprano Burn had before she…was ‘retired’,” Sonata said with a brief downbeat note before piping up with, “but the engineering principles are sound.” “You built this?” Adagio asked, both surprised and proud of her youngest sister at once. “Yeah – just because I’m the scout on the fireteam doesn’t mean that’s my only ability: I studied engineering and military science back at the base.” “Forgot that, sorry.” “No problem,” Sonata said with a forgiving smile. “This thing doesn’t look like it fires 7.62mm rounds,” Aria said, looking at the barrels. “Plus, the barrels aren’t rifled. I’m guessing this thing doesn’t take conventional ammunition? “No,” Sonata said, reaching into a bag and pulling out what looked like a shotgun round. “It’s actually a needle gun.” Tossing the round over to Aria, the middle sister caught it and opened up the shell, revealing a dozen or so 38mm flechettes within. Continuing her explanation, Sonata continued with, “The belt feed to Rebelle makes it capable of shooting up to 6000 ‘beehive’ rounds per minute, each round containing about eighteen flechettes. That means Rebelle can deliver approximately 108,000 flechettes against targets.” She grinned. “And people think Claymores can be messy.” “Uh, Soni? The point here is to deliver high-impact but low penetration rounds to the enemy,” Adagio pointed out. “You’re talking about enough firepower to slice through the building as if it was a knife.” “I know, sis, but not only do I have to test this puppy out – I still don’t know how well the ceramics will hold up to extended heat, though my calculations panned out, but also the fact that, well, this is honestly a silent last-ditch weapon. If we have to go down, better to go down with this, which will hurt very little people outside Rebelle’s effective area.” “I don’t like the idea of either of you being hurt,” Adagio admitted, “but if I have to, I guess that’s the best way to do it – bring the building down on top of us, I mean. Still…you’re my sisters, so please be careful.” “That’s sweet!” Sonata gushed, leaning against Rebelle. Unfortunately, she was not careful where she leaned, and the gun fell off its perch, jostling the trigger. The gun roared like an industrial fan, and three rounds were dispersed, sending fifty-four one-and-a-half inch metal needles barreling straight towards Freddy’s nose. They tore through like a swarm of cadmium-steel alloy, slamming through the endoskeleton head, where they made thok-thok-thok noises as they finally impacted against the back wall. As for the Mark I animatronic, more of that weird blood-like oil started to pour through the hole where the nose had been. “Whoops….” Sonata said, blushing. Aria rolled her eyes. “How many times have I told you to be careful around live weapons, Soni?” “Sorry!” Adagio shrugged. “Well, the bosses are getting rid of those pieces of crap anyway; the Mark IIIs are on order. Those and the Mark IIs in the back aren’t compatible with modern electronics, so they’ll probably end up in the County Dump or something. Just…consider this a lesson, okay? Someone could’ve gotten hurt – and not the kind of person we want hurt!” “Hey, I said I was sorry!” “Anyway, food’s getting cold, Soni, so come and eat,” Adagio insisted, as the youngest sister joined in. Finally, as 10:30 came, the sisters got dressed, slipping on CADPATs, web belts and other gear. “Look, girls…I have to tell you something,” Adagio said, looking at them both. “Something about what I said just before dinner hit me, and…look, you two are my sisters. I love you dearly, and I would rather spare you the pain of being captured – or worse – by Les Scars. So…just in case, about an hour ago I laid a whole bunch of explosives around the pillars of the building. If I think we’re going to be overrun with no chance of survival…I’ll trigger them, bring the whole building down on us. Believe me, I wish I could spare you both that, but…you two are SIRENs as well. You deserve to be here in this battle, and just agreeing to it proves that.” “Does Vesper know?” Aria asked; the look on her face was forlorn. Little doubt Sonata felt the same way about Madrigal, who they lived with; Adagio knew she felt that way about Intermezzo, who was in Horseshoe Bay and might never see her again. That was the bond between sœurs: it wasn’t just one of master and apprentice, mentor and mentee. It was also like mother and daughter, and very much like the French words the terms were based on, big sister and little sister. Adagio loved Intermezzo as deeply as she loved Aria and Sonata and she knew they felt the same way about their grandes sœurs. It was the way of the SIRENs. “I left a note on the table for when Maddie comes back the day after tomorrow. If we make it out of this, I can get rid of the note, and no one will be the wiser. But if not….” Adagio sighed. “Sometimes, you don’t get a chance to say goodbye to the ones you love. I know that hurts, girls, but that’s just life.” Aria’s response was to merely nod, while Sonata, always the emotional one, wiped away tears from her eyes. “Okay, let’s get into the mindset and go over the order of battle one last time. We’ve got ninety minutes left and after that, it’s showtime – and I know they’ll come in force.” With that, as the three got ready, they went over placements, their plans, and other readiness for the battle against their hated foe. Meanwhile, watching with rage in his eyes and the shattered remains of a fox head, Mangle looked at the trio with unbridled hatred. He would tear them to bits, and then the others would have their turn. The hour was nigh…. As the witching hour came to pass, the leader of the animatronics, the injured and insulted Mark I Freddy Fazbear’s eyes glowed like unnatural white pinpricks, showing his level of utter rage. Around him the other animatronics, in far worse conditions of damage then they’d ever been before, looked at him with both fear and urgency. The (un)natural order here had been drastically flipped on its head: the guards were not only closer to kids than adults…but they were doing the hurting, not the animatronics. The hunters had essentially become the hunted, and the guards that once might have been prey were now becoming the most dangerous predators around. If Freddy were a living thing, he might have made a comparison to being the potential victim in a horror videogame. In the meanwhile, he placed a synthetic-fur paw in the bleeding, gaping hole that was once his nose, the ichor that continued to drip from it had a coppery smell, the red fluid splashing down onto the ground in spurts. The animatronic’s eyes flickered on and off unnaturally, and of those assembled, they did the same as if the former was sending a message that the latter received. Then all eyes glowed an unearthly shade of red before Foxy, Mangle and Puppet started crawling into the ventilation shafts, while the others started their movements to attack the guards. Freddy, if asked, might have commented on his desire to rip the head off the cyan-haired guard that shot him and tear her apart from limb to limb. Or perhaps he would’ve shoved her into a spare suit, had there been one around – neither the Springtrap nor Golden Freddy suits had been seen in years, not since the last restaurant closed. Truth be told, who knew what was in the mind of the murderous mechanical mammal? There would be answers forthcoming regardless, as the automatons began their attack. This time they would win, and this time they would wreak bloody vengeance. Unfortunately for malicious animatronics, they were still more than capable of hitting the tripwire net. Instantly, two chimes went off: in the left ventilation shaft network and in Dining Room 3. “That’s the cue!” Adagio roared. “Let ‘em have it, team!” From her position in the kitchen, Aria smiled grimly, speaking into her helmet’s microphone, “Roger that, Digamma. Poppin’ Willie Pete.” Pressing a button on her phone, a signal was sent to series of miniature incendiary grenades strewn throughout the ventilation systems. Receiving their signals, the items went off as directed, sending spikes of white-hot hellfire to burn through the area, both superheating the air in the vents and scorching anyone unlucky enough to be beneath them. They would do extensive damage to the HVAC system, unfortunately, but the girls were sure there was a way to stealthily get repair funds to Shim and Sham. Unfortunately for both Mangle and Foxy, both had the luck to be caught within the area where the WP grenades triggered, and both were immediately burned with the searing heat of white phosphorus. Both animatronics tried to move out of the way as the heat slagged their wiring and heated their endoskeletons – to say nothing about completely burning off their suits – but neither could escape the micronized inferno that they were caught in. Finally, the vent gave way to the smoldering metal and two burning robots collided onto one of the tables in Dining Room 1, setting it ablaze from the heat even as the antiquated sprinklers kicked in. In her helmet’s speakers, Sonata heard Adagio’s shout: “That’s the cue! Let ‘em have it, team!” “Roger that, Digamma,” she said soberly, “Sampi engaging.” Immediately she started to see shapes in the dark moving towards her, as if to taunt her. However, Sonata Dusk had an advantage – she was a SIREN. Powering up Rebelle from her position, she roared, “OKAY, MOTHERFUCKERS! ROCK AND ROLL!” and pressed the trigger. The minigun immediately started to roar like a jet engine, throwing dozens upon dozens of flechettes towards her targets, like merciless metal killer bees. They impacted against her opponents and threw them back as though they’d been hit with a battering ram, the next dozen rounds of shots roaring over their bodies and tearing massive chunks out of the walls. Finally, Sonata removed her hand from the trigger after having let Rebelle run for nearly a full minute, tossing about a thousand rounds at her opponents. Knowing that even an experimental unit like Rebelle had to cool down, she immediately switched to her small arms, a pair of pistols loaded with frangible bullets. As more shapes started to move in the darkness, Sonata immediately started to fire, double tap, going for headshots. Whatever armor these CSIS assassins were wearing was good, and if she didn’t end them, they would end her – and her sisters. Her own death she could deal with…but not her sisters. “Come get me!” she roared her challenge absolute. “I am a SIREN and I do not run!” By some minor miracle, the Puppet had managed to travel down the right ventilation ducts, which Aria had missed and thus was a clear shot directly into the Security Office. Unfortunately for the animatronic, as it burst through the duct, aiming straight at Adagio, murder in its unnatural eyes… …right until the point where, in one elegantly fluid move, Adagio turned, clotheslined the Puppet, slammed it into the ground, and stomped on its neck with her combat boots. With a malicious grin she seethed, “Tell the boys in Burnaby to go to hell.” With that, she emptied her entire magazine into her victim. With a shaky, stuttering movement that underlined its unnatural abilities, the endoskeleton that was once Foxy pushed itself off the charred, steaming remains of the dining table. Mangle, from what the endoskeleton could see out of its remaining good eye, was now better off being called “slag” than anything else; partially melted to the floor, the chimeric animatronic feebly moved its arms around, while what was left of its iron jaws hung loosely off the remainder of the head. If anything, the Mark II seemed to be telling its Mark I predecessor something that seemed to be inexplicable…. That is, inexplicable until the HVAC, weakened by the ancient sprinkler system’s activation and the damage already done from the incendiary grenades, collapsed right onto the unsuspecting animatronic. Aria fired again, hitting something directly in the head and pushing it down. Whatever armor these guys were using, it was tough as hell – could CSIS have somehow gotten a hold of something the Americans had recently made? “Digamma, Koppa – we’re not making a dent with frangibles. Permission to switch to standard.” “Koppa, Sampi – she’s right. They’re using some kind of improved ceramic armor. Request the same,” was Sonata’s addition. Back in the Security Office, Adagio inspected the machine she’d just shot – it was clear that she’d been spooked by the machine, but why? In order for Les Scars to catch them off-guard, was the obvious answer. Anger coursed through Adagio’s mind as she realized that their enemy wasn’t taking them seriously. Throwing broken animatronics at them as if this were some sort of stupid haunted house instead of an aged pizzeria? Adagio’s answer was swift: reaching on to her web belt, she pulled the pin on a grenade – a standard one – and threw it into the vent. A second later, a deafening blast and the tongues of fire roared through the vent. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” She heard something running down the hall and with a practiced ease, Adagio ejected the frangible magazine, loaded a standard, then popped her head into the hall and fired at whatever was at the end. The thing went down with a satisfying spray of something – likely blood – against the wall. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” “About fucking time!” Aria said, putting aside her frangible pistol and pulling one preloaded with regular rounds. “Go fuck yourselves!” she shouted, aiming for the center of the chest at the nearest target and sending him back with a spray of something. “Get your asses back to Trenton, you fucktards!” she taunted. Freddy, mostly torn to shreds by the last attack, had more than enough. This was his playground, his rules – and nobody could tell him otherwise. Rising from the ground via the unnatural strength given to the endoskeleton via whatever dark forces fueled it, it put one foot in front of the other, moving faster, running, even as a tinny, warbling lamellae and cylinder emitted the haunting sounds of “Votre Toast, Je Peux Vous le Rendre”, the famous Toreador Song. As he finally saw his hated target, he lunged at her, ready to bite her head off in one blow if it was the last thing he did. “Team, this is Digamma. Gloves are off, repeat, gloves are off!” Sonata, with the speed of someone who had trained her whole life, saw the bleak figure rushing towards her in the dark, playing the haunting musicbox melody. Ignoring it, she threw away the gun and reached behind her for something she hadn’t told her sisters that she brought along for the party: her trusty FN P90 submachine gun. As she saw the flickering of some helmet lights and the form of the attacker’s strange helmet, she brought her gun to bear and whispered a phrase: “Say hello to my little friend!” The roar of the gun tore the animatronic’s head completely off, the 5.7x28mm bullets roaring without mercy towards the air. And that’s when the problem began. One of the bullets ricocheted off one of the steel beams in the roof, then caromed straight into a nearby column, setting off the explosive. And as the whole thing was set to send signals once one detonated if the master trigger was destroyed, the others went off as well, in succession. Friend and foe alike suddenly stopped in realization that the building was exploding around them. Balloon Boy, from his shattered fallen location, uttered a fear-tinged word: “Hi.” The building imploded as if destroyed by a California earthquake down by the San Andreas faultline, falling down to the foundation and sending up a great plume of fire as the gas lines ignited. A pillar of flame erupted into the air, the sound akin to the scream of the damned for a second before a small mushroom cloud of smoke and dust fell back to earth.
