Past Present Party pt2

It was almost lucky that the school group was late, since it gave everyone a little more time to prep. The smell of pizza wafted from the kitchen. It was a very different aroma than that of modern day pizza, so much so that Birdie Lu went on a personal mission to double check the recipe when she had first been hired. Freddi had been insistent from the start that red sauce, cheese, and strange cured sausage was indeed the toppings of a pizza. After searching historic archives for a day, the chicken had given up. Freddi had indeed been correct. It was a human invention, so perhaps that’s why it seemed so weird to her. In the years she had been employed, she grew to love the stuff, and it confused her when modern day pallets would turn their nose up at it.

When the children arrived, it was no surprise. Their shouts and laughter from the parking lot made the whole staff quickly tighten up into a more professional persona. She had done a little bit of acting in school, but it was nothing like putting on a show every single day. A rush of small humans poured into the restaurant, at least 60 head. As was customary, the four robot girls got in formation and recited their welcome, “Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, Where Fantasy and Imagination come to life!”

Freddi broke off and continued in a short monolog while the other three started to hand out paper party hats. “We’re all getting ready for a huuuuge birthday party, so we’re happy you made it just in time! My great great great great grandfather, Fredbear Fazbear, founded this restaurant in the year 1975, and we’ve been offering great food and family fun ever since! Let’s travel back in time together, 100 years in the past to see what pizza and fun was like for all those folks so long ago!”

That was the cue to start the song. As the music kicked in from the old speakers on the wall, the girls began the official Fazbear Welcome/Birthday song. The kids, being kids ate it up. If there was one thing human children were universally into, it was the promise of food and jaunty singing. Of course, the focus was always education. When they finished, the group clapped enthusiastically. The applause was always worth it. Bonita ate up the attention like it was some sort of life-giving nourishment, and even Mae seemed to have her eyelids open more than 75%.


The kitchen staff then came to take over and show everyone how to make pizzas. They were two human men, with large thick mustaches. They were all about the historic accuracy. As the children filed into the next room, Birdie Lu took a brief lean against the wall. That many strangers… It took a lot out of her to keep it together. However Freddi did it was something truly magical and mysterious to the plastic poultry. She watched as the small rabbit started cleaning the floor where the kids had been standing. It was certainly excessive, but Birdie Lu could only figure that that was how the bunny de-stressed herself. The blue robot kept looking up, to make sure the manager was watching. Fearing the poor thing would get whiplash, the chicken gave her an indicative thumbs up.

Over the next two hours, the kids indulged in historic games like ‘pacman’ and ‘asteroids’, and a real old fashioned ball pit. Then after working off some of their energy, the kids would sit down to eat the pizza they made, and then be entertained by a real old time animatronic band, which was just the waitstaff in funny costumes on stage, pretending to play instruments while lipsyncing ancient rock and roll covers. She was thankful they had at least altered the costumes to be a little more… appropriate. This was, after all, a time before robots had rights, and flouncing around in panties and a bib was appropriate. While part of her didn’t like re-writing history, her own modesty was more than happy to do so.

It was a draining job, but these school groups paid well. They certainly made more money off of them, as well as renting the restaurant out to people wanting ‘rustic weddings’ than they did with usual food/museum service. It was fine though. While the pay was peanuts, it was something impactful on patrons. At least that was how Birdie Lu liked to see it.

Finally, the kids were on their way out, many of them dragging on their teachers and parent chaperons, pleading for them not to take them back to school just yet. As the last child was removed by an adult, Freddi gave one last goodbye, then locked the doors. Mae had started then promptly stopped cleaning a table, as she had passed out flat onto it in a narcoleptic episode. Bonita was cleaning circles around her, double-fisting bottles of cleaner and rags. Freddi watched this for a moment, then turned to Birdie Lu.

“I’m gonna go take my break,” She said, heading down the hall to the back of the building. It was practically code for “I’m going to go sleep for as long as it takes for you to get fed up and come and wake me up.” But Birdie Lu knew the deal. It was fine. She had some paperwork to get done anyways, and Bonita’s cyclone of productivity pretty much had the cleaning covered. She followed Freddi, then took a detour down another short hall, into her private office. She hadn’t been in all morning, and more than likely, the boss had left something for her to do. It would be a nice, mindless task to relax her.

She flipped on the light, and sure enough, on the old oak desk was a pile of folders, a sticky note affixed to the top one. In beautiful handwriting was a message, “Please update and refile. Thank you Birdie.” He never was able to get that her name had a Lu on it, but it was fine. Everything was fine she thought, as she sunk down into her chair and started to work, enjoying the moment of peace.