Out of Service

"Hello? Hello? Hey, you're still here! Great, so am I. Uh, I don't know what they did to me but I can't feel my legs. Or much of anything, really. So if you could swing by the parts room when you have a chance and, uh, kill me, that’d be swell. See ya later!"

The message still rang through Mike’s head as he walked out of his office at 6 am. He felt light, his motions stiff and forced as he made his way down the hall. He had been sloppy that morning. Too many close calls to count, and too much wastefulness with power. He was distracted. He had never met the man face to face, but the call still stirred a variety of emotions inside of Mike. Rage. Curiosity.

And fear.

Mike turned the doorknob with sweaty palms, and opened the door into a pitch black room. His fingers reached into the darkness, and fumbled for a light switch. But their probing ceased when Mike  noticed  two blue LED eyes staring at him from across the room, beacons from the dark.

“It’s you!”,  he man’s voice said. “I never thought anyone would come.”

Mike stepped closer, his mouth dry. He was unable to think, and unable to speak.

“Uh, I tried talkin’ and talkin’ during the day but nobody listened. They just kinda ignored me, as if they didn’t hear me. I think there’s something wrong with this place.”

Mike took his fingers off the wall, and stepped further into the room. They reached down to feel the table. Something sticky covered the table’s surface.

“Y’know, I did ask you to check the heads,” he continued. “But you didn’t.”

Mike pulled his fingers away once he realized what it was.

“But hey, you’re here! Let’s get me out of this thing.”

Finally, Mike was able to find his words.

“How?”

“That’s the funny part. I still don’t really know. I thought there was something weird with the suits, but I wasn’t sure. So we just kept taking them apart and throwin’ em into storage. But now I know better!”

Getting closer, Mike could see faint brown edges, in a circle around the electronic whites. The former guard let out a hearty laugh, much more human than the deep, unearthly chuckles that Freddy made.

“Watch out for the table, those edges hurt.”

“I should call the cops,” Mike said.
“Last time we called the cops, it, uh... It didn’t end so well for them.”

Mike made his way across the room, squeezing between cardboard boxes and the tables rough, sticky edges.

“Come closer, I won’t bite,” the man said.
The voice hesitated.
“Well, actually, I can’t bite. They took my jaw.”

“How did they do this to you?”, Mike asked in a low, hoarse voice.

Mike was close now. He stood in front of the helmet, and saw that part of the brown fabric on it was removed. Through the gaps in the metal structure, he could see a pale, fleshy texture with some holes in it, exposing white, shiny teeth.

“That’s the thing,” the flesh undulated. “Only they know.”

“What?”, the man asked, backing away and bumping into the table.

“Only they know how to make people like this," the helmet said.
"And here’s the kicker, Mike. Only they know how to undo it. That’s what they told me.”

 Electronic systems beeped, as they booted up, while internal fans began to whirr and metal began gnashing and grinding. Loud noises came from the cardboard box Mike slithered by earlier, followed by a ripping noise.

Something grabbed Mike’s leg in a cold, mechanical grip.

“And they told me, ‘get this guy, and we’ll see about letting you go’.”

Mike kicked at it, only for another hand to grab his standing foot. Only, this hand was softer. Still cold to the touch, but he could feel the yielding sensation of the human flesh.

“I mean, they didn’t say it like that, y’know, but I got the message.”

The shelves started rattling as more and more of the heads lit up.

Mike felt something grab his shoulders from behind, and pull him to the floor.

“I’m really sorry, pal.”

More and more parts crawled from the box and swarmed the man, tearing and pulling at him.
“But if you were in the same spot, you’d do the same thing.”