Was late on this, so I'll post something helpful later tonight, hopefully.

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A while after my flashlight was fully charged, I remained under the red light, searching through the surveillance footage. The blinding light flashing back and forth kept me alert. It was around a quarter past midnight, and I was more than thrilled to be able to know that. I had been in here for days, or weeks, and I wasn’t exactly sure how many or what the date was. But just by knowing the time, I felt a little more comfortable in this darkened arcade.

According to the bar on the top of my screen, I had already used nine percent of my overall power in only fifteen minutes. I had hoped the usage was consistent, because I had a plan tonight. I was hoping to search around the entire area until I had used about twenty percent, or less. Aside from the Arcade and the Repair Room, I hadn’t physically walked around the establishment in what felt like centuries. Everything was too dark to look at as a whole, and when you’re alone, left to defend yourself against robotic creatures who were trying to kill you, it was an asset to have your surroundings practically memorized.

Some of my work was cut out for me already; I remembered the layout of each room, particularly where the exits were. I knew for a fact that the largest room in the building was the Safari Area, where most of the kids would play, and take turns on the Fun Time Train. They all loved that ride even more than the mascots themselves. Even the adults rode it sometimes.

I cleared my throat softly, realizing how off track I was getting. I glanced up; thirteen percent gone. I selected the top left corner of the screen, which gave me a more blown up version of our second most popular room: the Prize Exchange.

The Prize Exchange was lanky and connected to the Arcade by two double door entrances. Between the doors was the main counter, made entirely of glass and stocked with the smaller and cheapest rewards, along with the register. The rest of the room was a labyrinth of shelves and cases filled slightly better prizes. The most valuable prizes were stacked along the walls, almost all of which were plushies of the arcade’s mascots. Watching over the area was a single camera positioned on the wall opposite of the counter, directly in the center. From my location I could watch over the doors, the walls on my left and right, and the counter. Even if the camera fanned to the sides, the less valuable rewards were still hidden from view, along with the wall it was attached to. To prevent thievery, an alarm was installed with scanners over the doorways. If they ever went off, security would be alerted by a loud beeping that could blow your eardrums after a while. The alarm was never deactivated, but if it needed resetting, I could do so from the tablet or by a switch on the wall behind the counter.

Peering down at the screen, I took in a small breath, letting out an even softer sigh. The Prize Exchange was a place where the kids would pick out their newly-won treasures after their long, fun-filled day. Now, they were ripped with their stuffing scattered along on the floor, and open candy sprawled about. Seeing this dreadful sight gave me the urge to fix everything.

I peeked up at the time, finding it was thirty two minutes past, almost nineteen percent of my power gone. Before I could turn off the tablet, I froze. There, standing in the Prize Exchange’s right doorway, was Davy.

The menacing crocodile was directly facing the camera with his activated, red-designed light-bulb eyes, so only his stiff tail wasn’t visible through the slight amount of night vision provided. He was the same height as Rory, around six and a half feet, and had a snout that was eighteen inches in length with two looped nostrils. It was hanging open, displaying pointed, mechanical teeth similar to a shark’s; usually when the kids were around, it was closed to prevent scaring them. Under his neck was a loosely fastened red ascot that was showing off the yellow H&Z’s Safari Funzone logo. His entire hefty body was fuzzy except for the smooth, soft individual scales that ran linear down his back to the tip of his tail. Davy’s entire lower jaw, the portion of his neck hidden beneath, and his entire front half of his torso was a light tan color, while everything else was a sickly green. His humanoid fists were clenched, and he was refusing to break eye contact.

After staring at him for a few moments I turned off my tablet and began letting it charge. I switched on my flashlight for the next source of real light, because this red dim wasn’t cutting it. I preferred white light, unless if it was coming from an animatronic.

I got up from my seat, suddenly becoming giddy. Davy was the only creature in the arcade that gave me goosebumps whenever I glanced. Rory’s expression couldn’t compare to his, neither could the others’. He had the ability to literally tear a person limb from limb, if he put his mind to it. But the blank face he wore could be just as damaging.

I began to sweat over my overactive imagination. In an attempt to distract myself, I tried to drift my mind onto something else...The Prize Exchange was the next thing that popped into my head. It was my favorite section to visit while on the job. The kids would cheer after obtaining their prizes, parents would walk out with smiles on their faces, proud of their children. I for one enjoyed seeing customers leave with armfuls of prizes, or with one of the larger plushies. But all it was now was a pigsty. There was nobody winning any prizes, taking them home. The merchandise was mostly destroyed. Maybe snatching a plushie of my own would brighten my spirits?

With a final decision, I fetched my flashlight from my pocket and traveled out of the Safe Room, into the Main Lobby. The first step echoed throughout the area, making shivers run down my spine. I had been in the enclosed space for too long, and had felt too trapped. Claustrophobia taking over is the last thing anyone would want in a situation like this.

I flipped the switch and kept my light centered on the doors that led to the Arcade. When I became close enough to reach out for the horizontal handlebar, I sprawled back, looking about frantically and all around me. There was a sudden earsplitting, repetitive beeping, that was bursting throughout the entire building. It sounded similar to the firing of cannons after cannons, and it wouldn’t end.

With my left hand over one of my ears, I slammed my body into the door and stepped into the Arcade, where the noise only seemed to grow louder. I spun frantically towards my left, finding the Janitor’s Closet closed. To my right was the rest of the room, as empty as the last time I entered. I thrust forward while dodging game machines left and right, heading towards the Prize Exchange.

Foolhardily, I sped through the nearest open doorway before taking an immediate right, and jumping over the main counter. I reached out for the switch and immediately pulled it down to reset the alarm. Once the noise had shut off, I leaned my back onto the wall beside it, sighing audibly between heavy breaths with my head facing the ceiling. I began massaging my ears, believing it would help end the ringing that was left behind, but it was useless. I then slid down to rest on the floor, with my arms falling into my lap between my straddled legs.

I couldn’t see above the counter now, but I didn’t mind. My ears felt like they were going to explode, and the sight of a disastrous room like this would only dampen my mood even further. So, I looked ahead of me, pivoting my wrist. Scanning from left to right with my light, I took in the sight of the mostly unwanted, smaller toys. Things like bouncy balls and cheap plastic rings were still in place, but had an extra coat of dust over them. The stock was scattered about, mixed in with glass jars or plastic containers.

I stopped my flashlight, which was now beginning to flicker, on my right foot. Shifting it a few inches further, I revealed a section that seemed like empty, untouched space. But what laid there, almost hidden under my formal dress shoes, was a piece of paper I had seemed to miss while I was scraping together my collection. Bending forward with a small groan, I seized it with my free hand. I fell back onto the wall, shining my light down onto it, now discovering it was actually an article cut out from a newspaper:


CHILD INJURED AT LOCAL ARCADE – REPUTATION IN TURMOIL

On October 27th, many customers at the fun-loving H&Z Safari Funzone witnessed a nine-year-old girl get trampled by the Safari’s most prized attraction, the Fun Time Train. At around noon the incident occurred, where the conductors of the train had not only ridden over her body once, but three times in total. The manager of the arcade had informed the press that the animatronics, the conductors, would ‘never have purposely harmed the child. All the robots are meant to bring joy into children’s lives, not pain.’ The parents of the child protested otherwise, while they waited for an ambulance. They declared they would file the ‘largest lawsuit the arcade could have ever received,’ in an attempt to put the place out of business, so no other family would have to experience the same kind of suffering.


I reread the article multiple times, each time slower than the rest, letting my hands fall into my lap afterwards. I stared off into space, the printed words still running through my head. A few moments of silence later, I folded it nicely and slipped it into my pocket. I then gently stood myself up, using the wall for support. Shrouded in silence, I hopped the main counter once more and began my slow walk back towards the Safe Room.