Epilogue: Sensitivity Training

Nathan dusted his hands off on his work shirt, wiping a bit of oil onto his front. It had been three days since Freddy Fazbear's opened for business, and already word had spread fast of the amazing animatronics. People would arrive to marvel at their intelligence, and their ability to notice individual guests, as well as hold an intelligent conversation. Mr. Fazbach was proud of his creations, but wanted something more than machines that talked back. He wanted robots that could hug, take pictures, dance around with children, and other delightful things. But that required training for the robots, so that they could interact with their smallest audience members safely, which is why Nathan now found himself staying after hours. Mr. Fazbach had dubbed it "Sensitivity Training."

After the usual tune up, Nathan began the animatronics first lesson: the hug. Simple as the idea sounds, it was critical that the animatronics learned how to limit how much they squeezed during a hug, to avoid hurting the child. Or worse. Nathan brought several watermelons to serve as analogues to actual children. It was crude, but would provide the foundation.

"Alright guys, Mr. Fazbach is impressed with you so far, and wants to take your act a step further," Nathan began, "He wants to get you guys trained to be able to interact with the kids physically, you know, hugs and stuff. For that, we have these." Nathan gestured to the watermelons.

"Watermelons? How does that help?" Chica asked.

"I'm glad you asked. If you can 'hug' a watermelon without damaging it, then we can work towards humans," Nathan explained. The four nodded, though seemed confused at the use of fruit.

"Who wants to try first?" Nathan asked, and Bonnie stepped forward. The mechanic handed her a melon, which she turned around in her paws.

"Now hug it," Nathan said, struggling to keep a straight face. Bonnie awkwardly wrapped her arms around the melon and squeezed. The fruit popped, flinging watermelon chunks everywhere.

"A little bit too hard…" Nathan said, wiping melon slime off of his face.

"Gee, you think?" Chica quipped. Bonnie turned and shot a glare, and Chica shrugged.

"It's fine, that's why we started with fruit," Nathan said, picking up another watermelon, "Try again, but be as gentle as possible." Bonnie this time gave just a tiny squeeze, before looking down at the perfectly intact watermelon-child.

"See? Gentle is the word of the day here, children aren't all that durable. Who's next?" Nathan asked, and Chica stepped forward.

"Can't be all that hard," she said, grabbing a melon and "hugging" it. The fruit squished, and Chica groaned, wiping melon off her front. Nathan opened his mouth, but Chica cut him off.

"I know, I know, gentle," she said, and grabbed another melon, giving it a successful hug. After that, both Foxy and Freddy tried. Freddy had no difficulty, but Foxy kept spearing it with his hook. Nathan frowned.

"Maybe you should just hug with your good hand," he suggested, and Foxy agreed.

"Me crew don' need new holes in 'em," the fox said.

"Alright, so the next thing was being 'photogenic' according to the Boss's instructions," Nathan continued, looking at his clipboard.

"What's that?" Freddy asked.

"Pictures, taking good photos. It says he wants you guys to come up with a… signature pose, or something… huh, okay," Nathan read, "Well, guess that's on you. Ideas?" Freddy decided to grab the brim of his hat, as if he was about to bow, while smiling warmly at the camera. Foxy gave a grin, raising his hook up to head height. Chica didn't really do anything, and Bonnie just beamed.

"Alright, that was easy. Let's see here… Injuries, okay, that's a biggie. Kids are gonna get hurt," Nathan told the four, "And you need to know what to do."

"Are we going to treat these injuries?" Freddy asked, concerned. None of them knew how.

"No, no, you just need to recognize stuff like who you need to tell, what to do with the kid, stuff like that. No one's gonna die or anything in this place," Nathan explained.

"Die? What's that mean?" Bonnie asked. Nathan scratched his head.

"Um… I… Gosh, going to have that talk. Ho boy, um… So… People die, they basically go to sleep and never wake up… Yeah… It's sad, but it happens to everyone," Nathan awkwardly explained.

"Will we die?" Chica asked.

"No, you guys aren't human, you'll be fine," Nathan told her, not really committed to explaining mortality to machines.

"How do people die?" Freddy asked.

"Jeez, give me a break. Look, just know that if you hurt someone real bad, or they're sick, or old, they'll die, okay? Let's… let's just drop it, you guys don't have to worry about it, okay?" Nathan said, and began flicking through the papers on his clipboard. The animatronics stood in silence, mulling over Nathan's words. The whole idea confused them. People sleeping forever? How did that work? What happens next? The four just decided to let the matter drop. Nathan looked up from his notes.

"Ah, okay, here's the injury stuff. So, basically, if a kid gets hurt and it's not all that bad, just let their parents know. If it's worse than a scrape or a bruise, then we'll get our nurse to treat it, bandages and stuff. Keep the kid from getting scared and freaking out, and let staff know. We can take it from there. Got it?" Nathan asked. The robots nodded, and Nathan kept reading.

"'Provide examples.' Okay, um, a kid falls and scrapes his knee. Pretty common. What do you do?" Nathan asked, "Foxy?"

"Tell the lad's parents," he answered simply.

"Yup. Okay, um, a kid gets a real nasty cut, pretty deep, doesn't look that great. Chica?"

"Find one of you guys, and keep the kid from makin' it worse," Chica answered, bored.

"Pretty much. Alright, well, Mr. Fazbach wants you guys to learn games and stuff, but we can do that later. Hell, have some kids teach you things. Everyone grab a watermelon, we're making sure this hug's done right," Nathan ordered, and the robots each picked up a fruit.

"Alright, hug those melons!" Nathan said, giggling despite himself. The four did so, not getting the joke, and the fruit remained unharmed.

"Good enough for me. Good luck tomorrow, guys," Nathan said, and packed up his stuff, heading for the door.

"G'night, lad," Foxy called after, waving his hook in farewell.

"Bye, Nathan!" Bonnie said, waving as well. When they heard the door lock, Freddy and the gang realized they hadn't been locked up in their spots.

"Looks like Nathan forgot to lock us up," Chica observed, "So… What now?"

"I don't know. We've never had free reign before. Explore?" Freddy suggested.

"Tha's startin' to sound like an adventure, mate!" Foxy said enthusiastically, lowering his eye patch in anticipation.

"That sounds like fun!" Bonnie agreed, and the four robots began wandering around the darkened restaurant.

A/N: I do enjoy a good bit of flashback, showing you how things were. Unfortunately, Night Two is over. With a cliffhanger. I know I said this story would continue on the "fourth night" last chapter, but that's because I can't count. I'll fix that typo eventually, but I'm pretty lazy. Once again, gonna take a short break to compile the first two chapters, much like this story. Just means more for you people to read. I haven't left advice for you guys in a while, so here's a little bit of my wisdom to leave you thinking: When life gives you lemons, make some apple juice. Think about it, it could save your life someday. Ruin your lemonade business, though. Never stop questioning what exactly that smell is, and I'll see you on the next night. –DeltaV, a.k.a. "That Guy That Won't Leave" (Yeah, I'm a dude.)