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“Hey Freddy, what is it like to be on the stage? Performing in front of all those kids watching you.” I asked the comically large animatronic next to me. “It is nice, the kids… give me a purpose. They give me a reason to not be scrapped, and that I am quite grateful for.” I nodded silently as we continued walking down the hall.
I don't really understand why I asked him that, maybe that was my best attempt at conversing? Glamrock Freddy is a robot who was made to perform and that's where his purpose begins and ends. Born with a purpose and will die once he is unable to fulfill that purpose, opposite of humans. We are born with no particular purpose in mind, our purposes are shaped by our environments yet we won't die because we didn't fulfill that purpose. We can change our minds and go for completely different aspirations, these animatronics can't. They have to sing, they have to perform, they have to be entertaining, their entire livelihood depends on this.
“Do you like performing?”
“Yes, I enjoy seeing the reaction of the crowd. When they are happy, I am happy… when I give it my all and they enjoy it, it's a fulfilling feeling.” I wonder if such philosophical thoughts were really necessary to give to a bot who lip syncs words, but then again the Fazbear Entertainment line is nowhere shy of making supposingly sentient bots.
“Why do you ask?”
“I don't… well I guess I do know but it's silly.” Freddy’s glowing eyes look at me, odd enough they look fairly concerned. “It’s okay if you do not want to tell me, superstar, but I have to say… if it is daunting enough to cause you to worry over it then it seems relatively serious.”
“It's just… I don't know. I feel like I really have no purpose, I work for Fazbear Entertainment for crying out loud. I don't have any friends, I don't have any goals, I don't know what makes me happy, I don't know what I want to do. Everything feels so… gray.” I started, somewhere between my rant I stopped walking.
Glamrock Freddy and I were now standing in the middle of the main area, my flashlight shining at the ground as my body basically acted as if it was being weighed down. Freddy stood across from me silently listening as I basically whined to him like one of those bratty kids he has to put on a show for.
“And you showtime animatronics, yeah maybe this is the only thing you guys can do but it's something. Something you enjoy, something that brings you joy. Not that working here and being with you all doesnt bring me joy! It's just that… this isn’t a very financially supporting job and it doesn’t really feel like my true purpose, you know?.” I slumped, god how annoying I am. Complaining to an animatronic while there's a lost little boy running around here somewhere, instead of focusing on the task at hand here I am contemplating the meaning of life. Pathetic.
“Nevermind, I'm just getting us distracted, we’ve gotta find that kid after all! Just forget it… let's check the kitchen.” I make my best attempt to divert the conversation and walk away from Freddy but my lord do they make these animatronics strong. He grabs my arm, as gently as an around 300+ lbs metal bear can, and pulls me back towards him.
“Though I might not have personally experienced that, I can understand your reasoning. It's not silly to think these thoughts, superstar, in fact I believe that's what makes you human.” His voice is stoic yet filled with comfort. He pulls me into a light hug barely touching me in fear that he would crush me, which is completely a realistic fear, as I return the hug with much more force.
I am not a hugger, I don't like being hugged or touched but at this moment there was nothing more I wanted than a bear hug from the bear himself. Freddy’s metal chest was cold and soothed my warm forehead which would no doubt pound later from the massive stress I was putting myself under. If I was a crier I would be sobbing heavily, but I wasn't so instead we stood there silently hugging. My mind was completely blank, thoughts were happening but I couldn't think at all.
What would I do without the emotionally conscious, psychologically advanced, himbo animatronic Glamrock Freddy.
"Thank you Freddy, really" I whispered into the space between us before pulling away and composing myself
“Now, to the kitchen, maybe Gregory is really there” I say with a smile
"Let's hope so, superstar."