The week before, p.1
The Week Before, page 1
Special thanks to DJSterf
Title Page
Dedication
Intro
Night 1–12:00 a.m.
Night 2–12:00 a.m.
Night 3–12:00 a.m.
Night 4–12:00 a.m.
Night 5–12:00 a.m.
Night 6–12:00 a.m.
About the Authors
Series Ad
Copyright
You are Ralph, and working security at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is your dream job—at least that’s what you told them in the interview. You’ve been there so long, the relentlessly cheerful animatronic characters feel like old friends. You love how their antics bring saccharine smiles to kids’ faces. This place creates happy family memories, and you help make that possible.
But all good things must come to an end—it’s time to move on while you still can. This is your last week. You’ve always worked the day shift, but after a sudden staff vacancy and temporary closure, Management asked you to take the night shift for a change. Letting them down is never an option!
Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy are Fazbear Entertainment’s biggest assets. Your duty is to protect them and the restaurant’s reputation. Your contract calls it “a matter of life and death.”
You’ve heard rumors that the animatronics get somewhat lively after hours, but no one’s better equipped to handle them than you, twenty-two-time Employee of the Month!
As night watchman, you’ll face many choices that lead to various outcomes. If you find an item that might help you do your job, write it down for later. Now for your first big decision …
IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ON EASY DIFFICULTY, ADD PAPERCLIP, SCREWDRIVER, AND FLASHLIGHT TO YOUR INVENTORY AND tap/touch here
IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ON NORMAL DIFFICULTY, START OUT WITH ONLY YOUR WITS AND tap/touch here
The Security Office at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is practically a second home, you’ve spent so much of your time here over your career. Probably too much time cooped up in a glorified closet, staring at a buzzing, flickering monitor until your eyes dry out. But everyone’s gotta make a living—and you have an eleven-year-old daughter, Coppelia, to provide for.
You often feel like the only thing you’re good at is protecting others, even at your own expense.
The office is always dark since there aren’t any outside windows, but somehow at night it still manages to give you the creeps. You’re probably just spooked because you’re all alone in the restaurant, aside from Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. Animatronics aren’t fantastic conversationalists, but boy, can they sing and dance!
Of course they’ve also been known to do … other things. Rumor is, they’ve become strangely aggressive lately. But surely those glitches were ironed out or they wouldn’t have reopened this place. Not that customers have exactly been flocking back just yet.
After the restaurant closes and everyone is gone, the animatronics enter roaming mode and walk around to prevent their servos from locking up. You hear heavy footsteps echoing out there now. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
If animatronics encounter you in the restaurant at night, they should ignore you, but your safest bet is to stay in the office until 6:00 a.m. when they return to the stage, enter sleep mode, and recharge. Then you can go home!
Management cares about their employees, and it’s time-consuming and expensive to hire and train new ones—not to mention the occasional legal fees and the hassle of covering up “accidents”—so they installed reinforced doors on either side of the office. In the unlikely event that an animatronic visits you here, you can open and shut the east and west doors by pressing the big red buttons in the doorways. The light switches below them illuminate the East and West Halls outside your office so you can see whether anything is out there.
Surviving the night probably seems like a low bar for a job, but this isn’t just about collecting a check. You may have to venture out of the office from time to time.
The animatronics are clumsy. And mindless, naturally. If they break something out there, you have to go fix it and clean up the mess right away so the restaurant is ready to open (just in case any customers show up). Think of the children!
Of course your number one concern is making sure nothing happens to Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. Oh, and don’t forget Foxy.
Do not forget about Foxy.
There are three security monitors on the desk, but two of them are always on the fritz. Replacing them would let you see more, but you guess Management spent the money on those doors instead. You use the control panel in front of you to switch the one working display to feeds from various cameras around the restaurant.
You check the stage first. Your heart pounds when you see Bonnie and Chica are gone—so that’s who you heard walking around the restaurant. Freddy’s just hanging out up there on his own.
The brown bear is dapper as always in his black top hat and bow tie. You’re glad they restored the vintage animatronic with his classic look. Freddy doesn’t wander much, as if he’s above all that just because he’s the star of the show. Or maybe he’s saving his energy for something.
I’m the star of this show, you tell yourself as you switch over to the Pirate Cove camera. Foxy is shy; the curtains are drawn, so he must still be back there.
Before you locate Bonnie and Chica, you discover a situation that demands immediate attention: The lights in the men’s Restroom are out. You must replace the light bulbs before your shift ends. And it’s better to do it sooner than later.
IF YOU INSPECT THE DESK, tap/touch here
IF YOU EXIT THROUGH THE DOOR ON YOUR LEFT, tap/touch here
IF YOU EXIT THROUGH THE DOOR ON YOUR RIGHT, tap/touch here
IF YOU CHECK THE CAMERAS AGAIN, tap/touch here
The new day-shift security guard left quite a mess! Scrunched up food wrappers and empty soda cups everywhere. You know it can be hard to stay awake while watching cameras for six hours, but there’s an unspoken rule in this office: Keep it clean for the next person. You’re going to have to leave a passive-aggressive note before you finish tonight. They’ll never make Employee of the Month with an attitude like that!
Just because we don’t often meet our fellow employees doesn’t mean we aren’t part of the same Friendly Fazbear Family™. It’s important to have some pride and consideration. This is one of the reasons you agreed to record those training videos for new hires and leave phone messages as part of orientation—it helps you feel a connection to the other guards.
You hope hearing a calm voice helps them keep a level head when things get tense. And it’s nice to know that even after you leave this job, part of you will always remain here.
You yank open the top metal drawer and yup, more trash. You pluck out the crumpled balls of paper and soda cups and spot something small and shiny at the bottom of the desk: a paperclip. Those always come in handy! You slip it into your pocket and finish tidying up the office.
All those soda cups remind you about the Restroom and those broken lights you have to take care of.
ADD PAPERCLIP TO YOUR INVENTORY AND TURN BACK tap/touch here
Eager to fix the Restroom lights and get back to keep watch, you head out of the office through the west door. It’s pretty dark in the hallway, but you have the layout memorized, even after the recent renovations. (They like to move things around here a lot, maybe to confuse the animatronics?) The Supply Closet is just ahead on your left. You want to stop there to pick up some fresh light bulbs, since the bathrooms aren’t always stocked. You’d hate to have to make a second trip.
You yank the door open and try to step inside the closet, but you bump into something big. Solid. Furry.
And wearing a bloodred bow tie. Bonnie!
You recoil, raising your hands in a futile defensive gesture. An ear-splitting shriek cuts through the night as the six-foot-plus rabbit lunges from the shadows!
The last thing you see before everything goes black is his massive jaw snapping open and shut.
Tap/touch here to try again
The Restrooms are located on the east side of the restaurant, so you head through the door on your right. You glance at the Rules for Safety poster as you exit the Security Office. You don’t know why they’re posted in this corner where kids shouldn’t be, anyway. The rules certainly don’t apply to you, especially number 8: “Leave before dark.”
You laugh nervously.
The hallway is decorated with cheerful stars and a checkerboard stripe matching the floor tiles, but the dim light from the lone fixture overhead makes the fading decor seem almost sinister, especially the vintage character posters for Chica, Freddy, and Bonnie.
What was that?
You thought you heard something, but it was far off. A clanking sound, maybe from the Kitchen? The kind of sound a six-foot-tall animatronic chicken might make if it knocked a metal pot off a counter. You pause and strain your ears to listen, but you hear nothing more.
You reach the Dining Area. An overhead light illuminates six long tables already prepped for a party with confetti tablecloths and party hats lined up. You start to make your way to the Restrooms, but you freeze at the sound of slow, heavy footsteps.
IF YOU HIDE UNDER A TABLE, tap/touch here
IF YOU HURRY TOWARD THE BATHROOM, tap/touch here
IF YOU KNOCK OVER A TABLE AS A DISTRACTION, tap/touch here
It’s always a good idea to check the monitors to see where the animatronics are at any given time, especially if you’re thinking about leaving the office. You quickly click through the camer a feed. Freddy is on the stage, but he’s moved since the last time you looked in on him. He’s facing the camera now, his eyes seemingly gazing into your soul as if to say, “I know that you’re watching.”
You shudder. Who watches the watcher?
White eyes peer from behind the curtain in Pirate Cove and then blink out. Not so fast, Foxy!
You can’t find Chica anywhere, but the camera in the Kitchen has been broken for a while. It only picks up audio, no video. Something is in there, rattling pots and pans and banging cabinet doors. The giant yellow chicken has a voracious appetite. Sounds like she’s a bit peckish and looking for a midnight snack.
Bonnie … Where’s Bonnie? There!
In the West Hall, heading toward the Security Office.
TURN BACK tap/touch here
You scramble under a table and lie on your stomach, peering out from under the tablecloth. Now you feel the vibration of footsteps as well as hear them. They plod toward the Dining Area. The animatronic would be moving faster if it knew your location.
If you make a break for it and stay low behind the tables, you might be able to reach the Restrooms without being spotted. Or you can cower here silently and hope whoever it is moves on soon.
IF YOU KEEP WAITING, tap/touch here
IF YOU HURRY TOWARD THE BATHROOM, tap/touch here
IF YOU HAVE THE BONUS ITEM, YOU MAY USE IT tap/touch here
You don’t like being out in the open here. If you can make it to the Restroom, you can try to block the door to keep the animatronics out while you replace the light bulbs.
You race toward the Restroom, the rubber soles of your shoes squeaking on the red-and-blue vinyl tiles. But remember, the animatronics are surprisingly fast when they want to be.
You only make it halfway across the Dining Area before powerful yellow arms grab you from behind. Your bloodcurdling scream drowns out the whir of animatronic servos and cracking bones.
Tap/touch here to try again
A loud noise might distract the animatronic long enough for you to slip by. Tipping over a table will make another mess for you to clean up later, but the important thing is to make sure there is a later.
You grab one side of the table and heave, flipping it. It falls with a crash, knocking over a row of plastic chairs and sending shiny paper hats flying. That should do it.
You’re about to dart toward the Restrooms when you spot both Bonnie and Chica in your way. They see you at the same time and dash toward you.
You spin around and run away—right into Freddy Fazbear’s crushing embrace.
Tap/touch here to try again
They say discretion is the better part of valor, so you keep hiding and waiting. Definitely not because you’re too scared to budge.
The footsteps cease, and you wonder if the animatronic is waiting for you. You clamp a hand over your mouth and count the dried, pale wads of gum stuck to the bottom of the table.
Seven. Gross!
After several minutes, which seem more like an hour, you’re pretty sure the coast is clear. From your vantage point on the floor, you don’t see any oversize animal feet in your immediate vicinity.
It’s time to make your move.
IF YOU HEAD STRAIGHT TO THE RESTROOM, tap/touch here
IF YOU CHECK THE TABLETOP FIRST, tap/touch here
You step into the men’s Restroom and shut the door. The antiseptic scent of bleach still pervades the air, which is far from the worst thing you’ve whiffed in there.
You try to look around, but it’s too dark with both lights out. That’s why you’re here!
What are the odds that two bulbs would burn out at the same time? Maybe there was some kind of power surge; after all, the wiring in the building is ancient. That’s probably why the cameras always glitch and monitors in the Security Office keep overloading.
That might even explain some of the strange behavior exhibited by the animatronics. Unless …
You shake your head. You’re in the dark when it comes to that stuff. In this case, literally. Just focus on your job, you think. Focus on getting home to Coppelia. Everything else is way above your pay grade.
IF YOU REPLACE THE FIRST LIGHT BULB, tap/touch here
IF YOU LISTEN AT THE DOOR, tap/touch here
IF YOU INSPECT THE SINK, tap/touch here
You crawl out from under the table and grab it to pull yourself up. Your legs are a bit shaky.
There isn’t a lot on the table. The flimsy white vinyl tablecloth is decorated with colorful confetti. It’s disposable so after a party the staff can just scoop up all the plates, food scraps, and other detritus and toss it all into a garbage bag. It’s wasteful, but faster and cheaper than having to launder dozens of fabric tablecloths post–children’s birthday parties every single day.
Five pointed party hats with different-colored stripes are lined up in the middle of the table. Something shiny catches your eye: a foil Gum Wrapper.
You sigh and slip it into a pocket to discard later. People just leave their trash wherever they feel like it. This wouldn’t have happened in the old days, when working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza was a badge of honor. The franchise has truly fallen on hard times, thanks to those pernicious rumors about missing kids—and the lingering bad press from “the Bite of ’87.”
If only the victim could tell what he did to provoke that attack, but he doesn’t talk anymore. Or do much else. So the press completely blew the incident out of proportion, and the place hasn’t been the same since. That makes it a little easier for you to be moving on.
But you’re going to be a model employee right up to the end.
ADD GUM WRAPPER TO YOUR INVENTORY AND tap/touch here
How many night watchmen does it take to change a light bulb?
None. They refuse to do it, because if they chase away the night, they’re out of a job.
You smile to yourself as you take a detour to retrieve a step stool and new bulb from the maintenance closet. You often make up jokes in your head while you’re working, and you can’t wait to get home to inflict your latest creations on Coppelia.
She’ll groan loudly and say affectionately, “Bad joke, Dad.”
You’ll remind her that telling dad jokes is a mandatory requirement of all fathers. And you never shirk on your duty.
The boring, real answer to the question is, of course, “one.” You finish twisting the new bulb inside the socket and say, “Let there be light” as it flickers on, casting the bathroom in its warm glow.
You blink as your eyes adjust from the darkness. The white porcelain urinals and sinks are gleaming. This is the cleanest the bathroom will be all day. Once the restaurant opens and kids are unleashed to eat and play, this will quickly become one of the most disgusting rooms in the facility.
One light down, one to go.
IF YOU REPLACE THE SECOND LIGHT BULB, tap/touch here
IF YOU LISTEN AT THE DOOR AGAIN, tap/touch here
IF YOU INSPECT THE SINK, tap/touch here
Maybe the darkness is making you paranoid, but you press your ear against the door and listen. If an animatronic follows you into the Restroom, it won’t be great for you. There’s only one way out.
At least I’m in the best place for a person to lose control of their bladder. You chuckle and wince as the sound echoes around you.
The restaurant sounds quiet, which oddly makes you feel even more nervous. The darkness seems to be pressing in on you, making it hard to breathe, even harder to think. Your imagination is running wild without any sensory inputs.
All you want to do is replace the light bulbs and get back to the Security Office as quickly and safely as possible.
IF YOU REPLACE THE FIRST LIGHT BULB, tap/touch here
IF YOU INSPECT THE SINK, tap/touch here
Plink. Plink. Plink.
That dripping faucet is so annoying, you can’t concentrate on anything else. You turn to your right and feel for the sinks as you edge along the wall. When you reach them, you tighten the hot and cold water taps until the drip stops.
The sink is filled with water. It appears that something is clogging the drain. You probe it and feel something soft and slimy. You pry it loose and squish it in your fingers. It’s slightly sticky. You raise it to your nose and sniff tentatively.
