When super "Fazfan" Stella Astaire starts restoring the rotting robots from the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, all she expects is some engaging content for her VidTube channel. But, things get strange when the supposedly lifeless mascots begin ta...
"Here you go, sir," Stella said as she handed the two library books to the man in front of the counter. They were an odd combination of books. One of them was a recent softcover titled "Advanced Robotics for Serious Hobbyists". The other was an older hardcover titled "Remnant of the Soul: Exploring the Science of Post-Death Spirituality".
The tall, pale man looked at Stella with cold, bluish-gray eyes. He stared for a moment, something churning in his mind. After noticing Stella getting slightly uncomfortable, he broke eye contact, took his books, and smiled a wide, crooked smile.
"Thank you," he said in a smooth tone as he left. Stella shivered, even though she wasn't cold. She had meet some oddballs throughout her career as a librarian. But, something about this guy just felt ... off. However, before she could dwell on those thoughts, she received some unexpected visitors.
Kyle and two police officers walked through the library doors and stopped by the counter. Normally, she would feel relaxed when her lover was around. But, her stomach tightened at the sight of the uniformed officers.
"Kyle, what's happening here?" Stella asked sheepishly. Kyle fiddled with his thumbs.
"I knew I couldn't contact you at work, so I had to leave early to come here," he said, slightly pleased with getting out of work early. One of the officers stepped forward.
"This is Stella Astaire, owner of the storage pod, right?" he asked Stella. She nodded hesitantly.
"Y-yeah. Why?" she asked nervously. The officer pulled out a notepad and flipped it open.
"Well, we came here to tell you that there was a break-in at your storage unit."
Stella did a double take. "What?" she yelped loudly, prompting a "Shh!" from an irate reader nearby.
* * *
2:32 pm
Kyle and Stella followed the police cruiser to the storage facility. The whole parking lot was filled with cars of all shapes and sizes. A whole crowd was blocked from the entrance by police tape.
"The news got a hold of the situation," Police Chief Clay Burke explained to Stella and Kyle. "Now, everybody's worried about if their stuff got stolen." They made their way through the upset crowd. By the entrance, an older Latina woman was yelling at an officer and angrily pointing inside.
"What do you mean, 'I'll contaminate the crime scene'? This is my place! Let me see the damage!" Mrs. Martinez, the owner of the storage unit shouted. The officer tried to console her.
"Ma'am, we assure you that only one of the pods have been tampered with. We'll only allow those pod owners to enter," the officer responded dutifully. He looked over and saw the senior officer approaching with the couple. "Speak of the devil."
The crime scene guard took out a notepad and wrote down the names of Chief Burke, Stella and Kyle. Then, they were allowed entrance to the crime scene.
They walked past the other storage pods, which were untouched by whatever horrible crime had happened. When they made it to Stella's pod, she almost cried.
The pod's door had been extensively damaged and thrown to the floor. A younger officer was crouched down, inspecting it carefully. He looked up as his senior approached.
"Any leads, Officer Dunn?" Chief Burke asked. The younger officer shook his head.
"None, sir," Dunn replied. He stood and threw up his hands in defeat. "Nothing adds up! The door's been busted from the inside, rather than out. These valuable tools were left here, so I don't think this was just some petty crook."
Stella peered inside her pod. Two other officers were examining every inch of the place. Both the table and the tools on it were all in perfect order. Everything was accounted for ... that was, except for four very large things.
"We've searched every nook and cranny of this place," Dunn continued. "But, we can't see any way somebody could've come in through the walls." The young officer sighed as he tipped his cap. "It's almost like Miss Astaire's robots got up and ran away on their own."
Stella got hit with the officer's rhetorical but accurate deduction. "They got impatient," she accidentally said out loud. Officer Dunn turned to her.
"Wait, they? Who are they?" Dunn asked. Stella pursed her lips as she was confronted. Just like a few days ago, it came spilling out before her rational mind could catch up.
"You're right! The animatronics did it!" Stella blurted out. Everyone turned to her with various reactions. Chief Burke raised a skeptical eyebrow, Kyle cringed internally, and Officer Dunn had a face that said 'Wait, really?'. Stella forced herself to continue:
"Listen, I know it's hard to believe. I-I mean, they're robots from the eighties! They shouldn't be that advanced. But, they were! I saw them moving around! Foxy ran after me! Bonnie destroyed the circuit breaker! A-and Freddy's arms are really strong-" she was interrupted by Officer Dunn trying to hold back an incredulous chuckle.
"Wait, you're talking about the Freddy Fazbear robots, right?" he snickered. "You're telling us that some cheapo pizza robots did all this damage, then-" Burke placed his hand firmly on the young officer's shoulder before he could grill Stella further.
"Lay off her, Dunn," he said softly. "She's clearly emotionally compromised." Dunn looked down at his feet in shame.
"Yes, chief," he responded in a small voice. Burke approached Stella while giving her a reassuring smile.
"Y'know, I remember going to Freddy Fazbear's as a kid," he reminisced. "The pizza sucked, but the games were fun." He raised his hand forward. Stella shook it. "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll keep a lookout for anything about your animatronics."
"T-thank you," Stella quivered. She gave Chief Burke her phone number, so that he could contact her in case they saw something.
* * *
3:02 pm
"Who would steal animatronics, anyway?" Officer Dunn muttered to himself as he drove back to the police station. He drove past a certain alley without noticing what was hiding in plain sight ...
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