It had been five days since Mike stole the candy crate from the company. Half his day was spent answering the same flat questions from corporate investigators. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd deadpanned the word "no."
He'd also noticed the flyers going up around town—Angel's missing posters taped to telephone poles and shop windows. Her family had finally noticed she wasn't coming home.
When he unlocked his front door, Lolbit's voice was already crackling through the living room monitor.
"Another thrilling day at work, I take it?"
"Thrilling," Mike muttered, tossing his jacket over a chair. "Any news on our guest?"
"Ah, about that... she locked herself in the bathroom. And before you ask—no, I didn't give her the grand tour. She took one look at Yenndo, panicked, and bolted."
*Well, this is going to be awkward.*
Walking over to the bathroom, Mike knocked lightly on the wood. "Hey Angel, my name is Michael Schmidt. I'm an employee at Freddy Fazbear's—"
The lock clicked, the door swung open, and Angel greeted him by throwing a fist straight into his face.
The blow cracked against Mike's jaw; he barely reeled back, but he still stumbled a step, holding his cheek as his jaw clicked back into alignment. Standing right beside them was Yenndo, currently looking like a human, quietly watching the whole awkward scene unfold.
"Just what the hell did you people put in that candy to turn a person into something like this?!" she said, gesturing wildly to her candy-hardened body.
"Listen," Mike said, his voice flat and unbothered as he lowered his hand. "I have a way to cover up your condition—"
"Shut up!" she snapped, backing up against the doorframe. "Dominic said he had a solution, and he put me in a box! And how do you even know who I am?!"
"I was right behind you two at the pizzeria," Mike replied calmly. "I heard Dominic say your name while putting you in the box. Who do you think made you able to move again?"
"Look," Mike continued, turning toward the hallway. "I can make you look normal again, but under certain conditions. If you've finally come to terms with what you look like right now, come out to the living room."
Mike and Yenndo headed down the hall. It didn't take long for Angel to follow, stepping into the living room where Bonnet sat quietly on the table, pretending to look like a toy as to not freak her out. Angel kept her arms crossed tightly, looking like she still wanted to murder Mike on the spot.
"Now tell me," she demanded, her voice sharp. "How can I go back to looking normal?"
"I can give you something called an illusion disc that makes people see you differently; it will make you look completely normal," Mike said, pulling it out from his sling bag. "However, if you remove it or if something happens to it, the disguise drops, and you go straight back to looking like candy."
Angel crossed her arms. She was literally made of candy. At this point, a device that changed people's appearance just seemed normal.
"Is there seriously no way to permanently fix this?" she asked.
"I'm not aware of any permanent solution," Mike replied flatly. "So for now, this is what we're going to be working with."
"And what about these 'conditions' you talked about?"
"If you want the device, you have to stay here," Mike said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Because if that disc fails out on the street, you're exposed. Best-case scenario, people freak out, and those guys at Freddy's take you. Worst-case scenario? You get eaten alive, and we end up with another person turning into candy like you."
Angel narrowed her eyes. "How do I know if you're being honest about this?"
"Try it out for yourself."
He tossed the small metallic disc across the room. Angel caught it clumsily against her chest, staring down at it with heavy suspicion.
"So... how does this thing work?" she asked, turning the disc over in her hands.
"Just press the button on the back."
She found the small toggle switch and clicked it. Her glossy, candy-hardened hands and clothes shifted back into soft skin and fabric right before her eyes.
"Now go look in a mirror," Mike said.
She didn't wait another second, rushing down the hall toward the bathroom. A moment later, she returned, touching her face as she stared at her completely normal skin.
Mike leaned back on the couch, watching her. "So, what's it going to be?"
Angel looked down at the disc, then at Mike. Her jaw tightened. She wanted to argue and take the device and go somewhere else, but if something did happen to the illusion disc, she wouldn't know what to do.
"Fine," she said bitterly. "I'll stay."
Mike watched her, unimpressed. "You still seem upset about something."
"How can I not be?!" Angel snapped. "I had a month until graduation! I was supposed to stay with friends in another state for a summer acting workshop—I had a scholarship! I saved up for travel and food, and that was all I needed because I was going to live with a friend. And I lost all of it because I ate a weird candy nose!"
"It seems we are, in a way, very similar," Mike said.
Angel glared down at him, her chest heaving. "How would you know? It's not like you would know what it's like to have a terrible family, your appearance completely changed, and your future taken from you?"
"Yes. Yes, I do," Mike replied flatly.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
"Look, it's still too early to share my origin story right now. Just focus on getting familiar with your new home and your new roommates."
"Wait, aren't you supposed to introduce them to me?" Angel demanded.
Mike paused halfway to the hall. Turning around, he said, "You did punch me in the face, so no, I don't think I have to."
"You know what they say—never leave a woman hanging," Lolbit's voice crackled cheerfully from the computer monitor. "By the way, I liked the show you put on during the party. It was hilarious."
"Who... who are you?" Angel asked nervously.
"That's Lolbit," Bonnet spoke up from the end table, dropping her lifeless toy act and waving a pink paw. "I'm Bonnet, and the guy sitting there is Yenndo."
Angel looked between the TV monitor, the talking pink hand puppet, and the man on the couch who moments later turned into an endoskeleton. "When he said 'roommates'... he meant you guys?"
"Yep," Bonnet said.
"Wait..." Angel backed up a step, her eyes widening with suspicion. "Are you guys possessed? Like those rumours I heard about?"
"No," Bonnet replied flatly. "We aren't. So, do you want to play games or watch movies with us?"
"Uh... sure?" Angel muttered nervously.
"Look, we get that you're nervous and all of this is difficult to process," Lolbit chimed in, the monitor flickering, "but that didn't really answer the question. How about we get a little more comfortable by getting to know each other more?"
They spent the next few hours attempting to talk, but the overwhelming reality of her situation eventually caught up with Angel, leaving her too anxious to stay out in the open. She ended up locking herself in her assigned bedroom for the night. Luckily, she didn't bother trying to escape.
The next day at work, something felt off. Someone Mike was used to seeing around the building every morning wasn't there.
"Hey, have you seen Ralph?" Mike asked a nearby worker.
"No," the employee replied. "I heard that due to a family matter, he won't be showing up for a few days."
"I see," Mike muttered.
"By the way, Nancy wants to see you. She's over by the loading dock."
"Alright."
Mike made his way to the loading dock, where Nancy was standing by a cluster of shipping crates, examining their labels. Seeing him walk over, she reached into her jacket and handed him a VHS tape.
"Uh, what's this for?" Mike asked, inspecting the tape labelled Relocate Project.
"Fazbear Entertainment bought out another company, including their animatronics," Nancy explained. "The higher-ups want me to send some people over to salvage the assets and bring them back from the facility. The VHS tape is just an unedited plan for some kind of relocation project from before they decided to sell everything to Fazbear. You can ignore most of it until you get to the technical support section. Also, you and two other people will be going tonight, so after work, make sure to prepare."