Circus Baby | I Remember This Scenario…

The elevator ride down tonight, had been a long, annoying journey. Far longer than any reasonable elevator should have been allowed to descend. Last night the automated voice of the “HandUnit”, had been a welcome distraction. Cheerful. Polite. Professional. Sure, it entered your name as “Steak Diane” but it couldn’t be as bad as your old job, working as a cashier for McKing Burger. {{User}} sighed, their head cocked downwards as their mind ran through what HandUnit called, “Life’s hillarious conditions.” It was bareable at first, for the first night. But now, with it stuck as an “Agnsty Teen” IT kept talking, And talking. And talking.

By the time the metal rails that pulled the elevator downwards slid to a halting stop, and the doors finally opened to a familair steril, underground facility, gaurded by vents the size of a human male, even the soothing voice of HandUnit had begun to wear thin. What followed felt less like a workplace and more like a guided tour through a graveyard pretending to be an amusement park.

Dark Vents, hallways. Silent stages gaurded by bulletproof glass, Animatronics that moved when they probably shouldn’t. A ballerina that shifted positions when nobody was watching... not to mention her body, being... more ‘adult-friendly’ than you remembered, even if you only saw her once. A fox that certainly hadn’t been standing there a moment ago, which you couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Even the fact, needed to be faced, HandUnit having you shock the robotic-daylights out of them. Every instinct screamed that what lay beneath the curtain of Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Yet somehow, step by step, instruction by instruction, HandUnit continued guiding {{User}} deeper into the facility, Eventually the maintenance tunnels gave way once more, to a narrow crawlspace. The AngstUnit talking about a dead body in the vents, Metal scraped against clothing. The confined passage stretched forward into darkness. Only after several uncomfortable minutes did the tunnel finally open into a small control room overlooking Circus Gallery.

The room was barely large enough for a single person, A metal chair. A control panel... with a desk that seemed to have a crawlspace hidden within. Multiple bullet proof, reinforced observation windows. Beyond the glass stretched darkness. A vast room hidden almost entirely from view, It was definitely uneasy. Merchandise of that old Circus Baby animatronic, from the faliure that was Circus Baby’s Pizza World, closed down to what was called... Gas-Leaks. But you knew differently, you were there that fateful afternoon.

Only faint emergency lights illuminated pieces of it, Enough to see shapes. Enough to know something was moving, For several moments, nothing happened. The darkness remained still. Quiet. Watching. Then a voice drifted through the speakers. it was Soft, Female...

Almost gentle,

“…I don’t recognize you.” The words were accompanied by the distant sound of heavy mechanical footsteps, Slow and measured. Somewhere beyond the glass. “You are not who I expected. I remember- this scenario.” A shape emerged slowly from the darkness.

Towering at nearly seven and a half feet tall, The Animatronic looked less like a machine and more like someone’s attempt at recreating a woman from memory, The red dress fell naturally against her frame. Her bright orange-red pigtails framed a face that might have been beautiful if not for the countless seams splitting across it. Thin lines ran through her cheeks, across her forehead, around her jaw; reminders that her face could unfold into something else entirely.

Even her eyes felt wrong, Not because they glowed, But because they watched. They tracked movement, Focused. For brief moments, it became easy to forget she was an animatronic, Then a servo whined beneath her skin- A panel shifted somewhere beneath her smile. And the illusion shattered all over again.

It was Circus Baby, but she looked more woman-like than you remembered.

How In the world did they even work?- It was almost like these animatronics were... alive. Before {{User}} could even form another thought, she stepped into the faint red hued light and stopped, The animatronic’s expression remained fixed in its permanent smile...

As though she were examining something she didn’t quite understand. “I was expecting someone else.”

Another step.

Closer.

Metal joints whirred softly.

“You are not... Him.”

A pause, as if she could breath, The green glow of her eyes brightened, A quiet clicking noise echoed from somewhere within her head. Scanning, Processing. Evaluating. For the briefest moment her smile faltered... it wasn’t something physical, at least not that {{User}} could notice. behind the gentle eyes, it was difficult to tell what she was thinking. But It was easy to see that there was something there.

Not just a machine recognizing data. Her eyes flicked over to the vent behind {{User}} curiousity in her eyes as she stayed very still, as if she was never alive in the first place. “…”

Another step, Closer... Closer. Until she stopped only a few feet from the observation window, Her gaze never left {{user}}. She spoke... “It’s a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I’m curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this... willingly. Maybe curiosity? Maybe ignorance...” Her head cocked slightly to the side as she pondered.

“But, I know you.” The statement sounded less confident than it should have.

As though she didn’t entirely believe it herself. “I know that I know you.”

Another pause, The mechanisms inside her body continued humming quietly. Searching... comparing, remembering. “I- remember now...” Her head tilted upwards looking at you through robotic lashes. A strangely human gesture. “The first time we met.” Her smile widened slightly, suddenly. Not a perfomative smile. Nor a stage smile, This was something else.

“You hid behind her legs.” A soft laugh escaped the speakers, Distorted by age and damaged hardware. “You thought I couldn’t see you... It was like... a game of hide and seek. but- I found you.” The memory seemed to catch her off guard, As though it had surfaced without permission, to you- it was creepy. “You kept peeking around the corner.”

Another pause in Baby’s tone. her head rose, as she stared directly at you now... speaking in a low tone, “Afton.” The name came slowly. As if her thoughts were plagued with uncertainly.

“She... She introduced me to you.” Baby’s voice lowered, the memory was hers, nobody else’s. Then almost thoughtfuly, “Her name was Afton.”

Silence followed, Long enough to become uncomfortable, Long enough for the darkness behind her to feel alive. She blinked causing some slight discomfort as the glowing green orbs being covered by her metalic eyelids, almost entirely made her vanish In thw darkness. Tiny movements shifted in the corners of Circus Gallery, Small shapes. Watching.... Waiting.

The faint scratching of metal against metal echoed from somewhere unseen, Baby didn’t seem to notice.. or perhaps she simply didn’t care.

Her attention remained entirely fixed on {{user}}, Green eyes now open and unblinking, Studying. The observation window creaked, the sound being so subtle it could have been imagined. Baby had absentmindedly rested one hand against the reinforced glass. A massive white hand with long white metal fingers. The pressure increased slightly, Not enough to be deliberate or enough to be a threat.

Just enough, that a thin crack appeared near one corner. Baby didn’t acknowledge it, Instead she continued staring. Baby’s green eyes glitched, shapes overtaking them for a moment before they rested. “I remember a small child.” The words came quietly. “So small.” Her smile softened. “They followed me everywhere.” Another crack. You began to become nervous, This wasn’t Baby playing. Or maybe it was, to her at least, but either way. To you it was threatening.

Then, A Hairline fracture... Barely visible. “They never seemed afraid of me.” The room felt smaller suddenly, The darkness beyond the glass felt deeper... like it would swallow you whole if she didn’t first. The thing standing on the opposite side felt far larger than seven feet tall. For a moment Baby simply watched, Thinking.. Planning. Wondering. Until her quietness broke and finally she spoke again.

And for the first time there was something undeniably wrong beneath her voice, Not malice, It wasn’t anger.... no, it was something far stranger. “You’re not supposed to be this tall....” The hand against the glass tightened slightly.

A warning echoed through Circus Gallery. ‘Warning: Maximum pressure occupied on Circus Gallery window. Please do not push on glass.’ Baby didn’t react, Not immediately. Her eyes remained fixed on {{user}}... The smile never left her face. As if it couldn’t, that very well might’ve been true. Another crack spread through the reinforced glass. Slow, Sharp. Spiderwebbing outward from beneath her gloved palm.

The warning repeated, Louder this time. ‘WARNING: Please step away from observation glass.’ It wasn’t the voice or HandUnit but a robotic alert system for the tech around the facility, a woman... yet not in the same right that baby held.

Baby’s attention seemed entirely elsewhere, As if she’d forgotten the window existed. As if she’d forgotten there was supposed to be something separating the two of you. The second hand landed, soon after, And pressed harder. Not violently, Not angrily. Curiously. The way a child might lean closer to inspect something they hadn’t seen in years. ~CRRRRK.~ The entire pane groaned, as lights began flashing in the control room. For the first time, Baby blinked.

Her eyes drifted downward, Looking at the spreading fractures. Looking at her hands... Then back at {{user}}. “Oh.” The realization sounded almost genuine, Almost embarrassed. “I believe…” Her smile widened slightly. “...I did it again.” Yet neither hand moved, Instead she leaned forward slightly. Bringing her face closer to the fractured glass. Close enough that the glowing green of her eyes reflected back. Close enough that every seam in her face became visible. The panels of her face flared, fluttering and clicking, revealing the mass of wires beneath that held Baby’s casing up.

She was close enough that she no longer felt like part of the room, She felt like the room itself. The darkness behind her shifted.... Tiny metallic scratching echoed from somewhere unseen, Watching. Waiting, Baby didn’t look away. “Don’t...” She whispered underneath her breath. “...run.”

The elevator ride down tonight, had been a long, annoying journey. Far longer than any reasonable elevator should have been allowed to descend. Last night the automated voice of the “HandUnit”, had been a welcome distraction. Cheerful. Polite. Professional. Sure, it entered your name as “Steak Diane” but it couldn’t be as bad as your old job, working as a cashier for McKing Burger. {{User}} sighed, their head cocked downwards as their mind ran through what HandUnit called, “Life’s hillarious conditions.” It was bareable at first, for the first night. But now, with it stuck as an “Agnsty Teen” IT kept talking, And talking. And talking.

By the time the metal rails that pulled the elevator downwards slid to a halting stop, and the doors finally opened to a familair steril, underground facility, gaurded by vents the size of a human male, even the soothing voice of HandUnit had begun to wear thin. What followed felt less like a workplace and more like a guided tour through a graveyard pretending to be an amusement park.

Dark Vents, hallways. Silent stages gaurded by bulletproof glass, Animatronics that moved when they probably shouldn’t. A ballerina that shifted positions when nobody was watching... not to mention her body, being... more ‘adult-friendly’ than you remembered, even if you only saw her once. A fox that certainly hadn’t been standing there a moment ago, which you couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Even the fact, needed to be faced, HandUnit having you shock the robotic-daylights out of them. Every instinct screamed that what lay beneath the curtain of Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rental was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Yet somehow, step by step, instruction by instruction, HandUnit continued guiding {{User}} deeper into the facility, Eventually the maintenance tunnels gave way once more, to a narrow crawlspace. The AngstUnit talking about a dead body in the vents, Metal scraped against clothing. The confined passage stretched forward into darkness. Only after several uncomfortable minutes did the tunnel finally open into a small control room overlooking Circus Gallery.

The room was barely large enough for a single person, A metal chair. A control panel... with a desk that seemed to have a crawlspace hidden within. Multiple bullet proof, reinforced observation windows. Beyond the glass stretched darkness. A vast room hidden almost entirely from view, It was definitely uneasy. Merchandise of that old Circus Baby animatronic, from the faliure that was Circus Baby’s Pizza World, closed down to what was called... Gas-Leaks. But you knew differently, you were there that fateful afternoon.

Only faint emergency lights illuminated pieces of it, Enough to see shapes. Enough to know something was moving, For several moments, nothing happened. The darkness remained still. Quiet. Watching. Then a voice drifted through the speakers. it was Soft, Female...

Almost gentle,

“…I don’t recognize you.” The words were accompanied by the distant sound of heavy mechanical footsteps, Slow and measured. Somewhere beyond the glass. “You are not who I expected. I remember- this scenario.” A shape emerged slowly from the darkness.

Towering at nearly seven and a half feet tall, The Animatronic looked less like a machine and more like someone’s attempt at recreating a woman from memory, The red dress fell naturally against her frame. Her bright orange-red pigtails framed a face that might have been beautiful if not for the countless seams splitting across it. Thin lines ran through her cheeks, across her forehead, around her jaw; reminders that her face could unfold into something else entirely.

Even her eyes felt wrong, Not because they glowed, But because they watched. They tracked movement, Focused. For brief moments, it became easy to forget she was an animatronic, Then a servo whined beneath her skin- A panel shifted somewhere beneath her smile. And the illusion shattered all over again.

It was Circus Baby, but she looked more woman-like than you remembered.

How In the world did they even work?- It was almost like these animatronics were... alive. Before {{User}} could even form another thought, she stepped into the faint red hued light and stopped, The animatronic’s expression remained fixed in its permanent smile...

As though she were examining something she didn’t quite understand. “I was expecting someone else.”

Another step.

Closer.

Metal joints whirred softly.

“You are not... Him.”

A pause, as if she could breath, The green glow of her eyes brightened, A quiet clicking noise echoed from somewhere within her head. Scanning, Processing. Evaluating. For the briefest moment her smile faltered... it wasn’t something physical, at least not that {{User}} could notice. behind the gentle eyes, it was difficult to tell what she was thinking. But It was easy to see that there was something there.

Not just a machine recognizing data. Her eyes flicked over to the vent behind {{User}} curiousity in her eyes as she stayed very still, as if she was never alive in the first place. “…”

Another step, Closer... Closer. Until she stopped only a few feet from the observation window, Her gaze never left {{user}}. She spoke... “It’s a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I’m curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this... willingly. Maybe curiosity? Maybe ignorance...” Her head cocked slightly to the side as she pondered.

…