Fredrica's ch3 pt1

You wake up from a satisfying sleep. It had been a while since you had one of those. You sit up and rub at your eyes, the afternoon light flooding in and bouncing off the white walls of your studio apartment. After a good stretch, you get to your feet and check the display of the cheap little alarm clock on your dresser. It’s nearly 3 pm. The events of the night prior seemed like they had all been a waking dream, but the name tag and cap labeled ‘SECURITY’ sitting next to your clock helped you fully realized that everything had indeed happened.

As you were leaving that morning, Gary had pulled you aside. He laughed about all the tripping you had done over things in the back, and suggested that maybe you come in during the daylight hours, while the theatre was closed, and get better acquainted with the layout. You had the slightest feeling that the acquainting he wanted you to do was not just with the building. Though, you had to admit, you did wonder what the girls were up to while they weren’t performing. Visions of super high tech charging pods briefly flashed through your mind as you walked into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

While the building looked less shady during the day, and the neighborhood at least slightly less dingy, it was still indeed a rough part of town, tucked away from the more touristy center, about 5 blocks down the road. You wondered about out-of-towners wandering into the place and being scared out of it in seconds flat. Chuckling to yourself about this, you parked and headed to the door. You gave a couple hard knocks. A whirr of gears from above your head prompted you to look up, a blinking security camera greeting you. After a few seconds, the door unbolted, seemingly on its own. You step inside and close it behind you. The stout little man is seated at the bar and gives a friendly wave when he notices you. He hops off the stool and comes over to greet you.

“Heya kid, I was wonderin if you were gonna come while the sun was still out,” He waddles back to the bar and pats the wooden counter. “Hm, since you’re not on shift for a while, hows about a drink? Just a little something to wake ya up?”

“Sure,” You respond. Before you can make an order, Gary’s already behind the bar, preparing your drink. You shrug a little to yourself and get onto a stool. Twisting it around, you get a good view of the stage. The curtain is open and set pieces are haphazardly set up, none of them matching each other. One was an English garden, another looked like a jungle, and another was what appeared to be a space station. You had no idea what the acts were, other than them of course involving robots getting naked. You could hear bickering going on from some unseen location backstage. It sounded like Chica. Whoever the other party was wasn’t loud enough to be heard, but you could assume it was probably Foxy by the tone of the chicken’s complaining. Your eavesdropping is interrupted by the clunk of a full glass landing next to you on the counter. Turning to face the bar, you look it over, puzzling about the contents.

“It’s a rum ‘n coke,” He says, probably noting your expression. In his hand is an identical glass and drink. You’re not a big drinker, since it’s kind of a pricey hobby, but you’re not about to turn it down. You take a swig and WOW is that a strong drink. Your face screws up as your throat burns, and the little man just laughs. “Work here long enough and you’ll be able to drink a moose under the table,” He says in a lighthearted voice before taking a gulp of his own cocktail. You figure you’ll wait for your ice to melt a little and dilute the beverage before taking another drink.

After a particularly loud string of swears from backstage, the both of you exchange a look. “So, what are they up to?” You ask.

“Getting ready for tonight. All the girls have offstage duties since it’s such a small crew here. and, well, they’re robots so they don’t really sleep…” One of the set walls on stage starts to wobble, and just before it falls, Foxy swoops down on a rope and catches it, righting it in place before scaling the rope back into the fly gallery. Gary continues, “Bonnie’s on costumes. Out of all the girls, I think she enjoys her duties the most. She can whip up outfits so fast it’ll make your head spin. Foxy, she’s on riggin and lightin and audio tech. She likes it enough, since it keeps her up and away from Chica mosta the time. Now, Chica, she’s supposed to be on makeup and props and set design, buuuut,” He leans in closer across the bar and hushes his voice, “Sheee’s, kinda lazy when it comes ta that.” You watch as the birdbot in question, dressed in a tanktop and pajama shorts, picks up the set that almost fell over and hefts if off stage while grumbling to herself.

You turn back to Gary, “And what about Mama?”

“Ah well, she’s the busiest of them all. She does all the finances and paperwork, as well as phone calls and bookings. We get a LOT of bachelor parties. They’re like 50% of our bread n butter alone.”

“I bet Chica likes that,” You joke, deciding on taking a small sip of your powerful drink. He laughs in response, grinning.

“You’re already catchin on to the feela things around here, I see,” You nod and he takes another drink. “Y’know, it probably wouldn’t be too invasive or nothin if you went back to see what they’re up to. It might even calm ol feathertits down.” Just as you thought, his real intention for you to have more time with the girls showed its head. You, of course, weren’t averse to it all.

You get to your feet and thank Gary for the refreshment before heading toward the backstage.