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 a device 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 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. "So, according to you, you completely understand what it's like? To have a terrible family, your appearance completely changed, and your future taken from you?"
"Yes," Mike replied flatly.
"Then why don't you tell me exactly how similar we are?" Angel asked.
"No. It's still too early to share my origin story." Mike leaned back. "Anyway, since you're going to officially live here forever, you should probably get familiar with your roommates while I head to my room. So, good luck."
"Wait, aren't you supposed to introduce them to me?" Angel demanded.
Mike paused halfway to the hall. Turning around, he said, "Yenndo can do that," and continued down the hall to his room.
"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 rumors I heard about?"
"No," Bonnet replied flatly. "We aren't."
A few uneventful months passed. Things between Angel and the others were developing, but it was still work in progress.
"Seriously, Lolbit, this is why I prefer Bonnet over you," Angel said.
Lolbit's pixelated eyes narrowed. "The only reason you prefer her is that you two unreasonably agree with each other—like that time you got that riddle wrong."
Bonnet sat up straighter on the armrest. "We didn't get it wrong. The riddle was poorly worded."
"'What has eighty-eight keys but can't open a single door.' It was not poorly worded."
"We said keyboard," Angel said. "That's basically the same thing."
"Piano," Lolbit said. "The answer was piano."
Bonnet waved a paw. "A keyboard has keys too."
"Does a keyboard have eighty-eight keys?" Lolbit asked.
"Some do," Bonnet said.
"Name one."
Bonnet paused. "The... big ones?"
Yenndo turned his head with a soft mechanical click. "A standard electronic keyboard often has eighty-eight keys."
"Mike, you can't possibly be as dense as they are, so please explain to them how many keys a standard electronic keyboard has," Lolbit said, screen flickering expectantly.
"Alright, Google," Mike said flatly from the couch. "I admire your intelligence, but not everyone can just crawl through the internet on the spot to prove a point."
Lolbit's screen flickered, cutting off the argument. "Hey, Mike. You might wanna check this out."
Mike pushed himself off the couch and crossed to the computer. Lolbit had pulled up the security feed from the pizzeria.
The screen showed an isolated corner in the staff-only area. A young child stood just out of direct camera sight, one small hand reaching up toward Spring Bonnie's. The suit was bright and clean, nothing like the decayed version Mike had seen in the safe room. It looked the same as it did at Fredbear's Family Diner.