"Digital Future" Concept Ramblings and Backstory

NOTE: Not all of this will be in order, this is mainly just me infodumping lmao. But! As I make more stuff, things will become clearer (hopefully).

Introduction.

The Human-Animatronic relationship started long before our society. As an invention of man, animatronics developed alongside humans for years. What started as an invention of Disney officially used commercially in 1964, expanding to companies like Fazbear Entertainment in the early 1970’s. The race was cutthroat in the entertainment industry, each company rushing to create the most comprehensive animatronic ever conceptualized.

This period is often referred to as The Great Mistake. It is also around this time that Ether became more widely known of; Ether is the “blood” that permits animatronics to live, and its versatile use as a coolant, lubricant and fuel for animatronic systems, and its unique regenerative properties, made the Big Three (Disney, Fazbear, and CEC Entertainment) jump on the opportunity for further innovation.

Ether’s chemical composition was never so much as considered during its use. Human scientists would often describe it as a warm, sweet smelling fluid that “crackled with energy of its own”. While first discovered in relation to animatronic development, innovators in the entertainment industry noted its unique and almost lifelike qualities, and sought to incorporate it on a larger scale.

The First to Go.

Ether became the standard fluid for animatronic systems in 1983, becoming legally required not long after in 1984. Its efficiency was undeniable, and its ability to regenerate made it a practically infinite resource. This eagerness came hand and hand with carelessness and lax regulation that led to initial discoveries related to Ether.

On March 10th, 1984, a Fazbear Entertainment animatronic named Circus Baby, created for upcoming restaurant Circus Baby’s Pizza World, went missing from her designated stage in a Fazbear Warehouse in Cedar City, UT while awaiting transport to the official location in Hurricane. It took approximately 8 hours to locate her attempting to hide in a parts warehouse, approximately 12 meters from a frequently opened loading door.

Apprehending Baby was a challenge, her superior size and unmanageable strength made it unrealistic for technicians to transport her back to her stage using traditional means, and the space she'd forced herself into was too small for a jack to be inserted to remove her. Inevitably, they were forced to deactivate her and dismantle her, rebuilding her on her stage. Circus Baby remained inactive for 5 whole days before being returned to operation to prepare for her move to Hurricane.

But this wouldn't be the first incident with Baby, as on March 27th that same year, she would go missing again, this time from the Circus Baby’s Pizza World location she was moved to. This time, however, she could not be found in any part of the establishment, and how she would have gotten out of the establishment was unclear; with her size, standing at 7’2” with a shoulder width of almost 3 feet, she wouldn't be able to fit through any of the doors. The establishment was locked down at night, so that wasn't an option either.

However, recovery staff would find the loading door in the back unlocked and partially forced off its track; it turned out it was left unlocked by an unnamed staff member by mistake, and security camera footage later confirmed that Circus Baby had forced the door open and exited the establishment.

A search of the broader area yielded nothing; it seemed Baby had vanished without a trace. Days of searching turned up nothing. The outlook was grim for Fazbear, their newest mascot likely stolen or destroyed and thousands of dollars down the drain. Circus Baby had disappeared.

This resulted in the delay of Circus Baby’s Pizza World’s grand opening by almost 6 months, in which some rebranding occurred. The establishment went with less red, more blue, and updated all debuting animatronics with new tech. And during this period, a replacement for Circus Baby was created, using mostly the same design, simply exchanging her reds for blues. Due to the controversy 6 months prior, she was adorned with a new name; Circus Cindy.

To Design Autonomy.

Ether’s unique properties, something that went unresearched for a long time, comes from the fact that Ether is living; its functions are incredibly similar to blood in the bodies of warm blooded creatures. It is a naturally occurring substance that can’t be traced to a specific origin. Research on it is limited to this day, most deciding to consider it a marvel of nature.

However, Ether has a property unlike anything of its kind; it can give consciousness.

As Ether circulates through an animatronic’s systems, it softens their metal into something more organic. Their suit becomes attached to them, filling out, becoming more fleshy. Alive. They develop organs and digestive tracts, and develop external genitals. Due to animatronics being dressed in real costumes, this often wasn’t discovered by technicians, and when it was, it was usually covered with clothes of some kind. This transformation takes little more than 7 days to finalize.

Ether fuelled animatronics, known as Bio-robotic Etherwalkers, never needed maintenance, which resulted in Ether’s uses being expanded greatly. However, in doing this, they were simply creating more Etherwalkers to eventually develop and gain consciousness.

Animatronics spoke naturally, they emoted authentically, their realism was so eye-catching that it left humans mesmerized. They began to see them as beautiful and superior to human life naturally, even if they didn’t think of it that way. This bias made it easier for the push towards Etherwalker-dominated society.

Manufacturing Consent.

The way human society developed made it easy to manufacture consent for the subversion of humanity, an event referred to as “The Crowntaking”; where Etherwalkers established control over most world governments (AUTHORS NOTE: Digital Future will take place in a western society, mainly in the USA and Canada. However, if you’d like to try out the setting in your cultures, feel free and tag me! I’d love to see it.).

As animatronics became mainstream, they started being used for different tasks in the entertainment industry; management, direction, modeling and more. When the 2010s rolled around, executive positions across 89% of entertainment companies used animatronics to do the work while the humans collected a check. At this point, Disney and CEC were out of the race, and Fazbear had emerged as a titan, the companies contracting them for animatronics and paying them handsome royalties.. As the humans disconnected, the animatronics took more creative control, and started putting out media that subtly aligned with their goals; animatronics played authoritative roles, they were presented as more beautiful, more skilled, more intelligent than humans. Animatronics, and soon after the greater population of Etherwalkers, were presented as radiant, powerful, and superior.

Digital Future LLC.

Digital Future popped up in the late 2010s, focusing its content on animatronic and Etherwalker superiority. It outwardly presented Etherwalkers as better than humans, encouraging humans to serve them and focus more on them than their peers. Publicly, Digital Future was owned by a human named Edward Mills, but most of their work was done by Lady Baby; the long forgotten Circus Baby who had taken shelter with Edward’s parents all those years ago. Now going by Lady Baby, or simply Baby, her role at Digital Future was a pivotal step towards The Crowntaking.

Types of Etherwalkers.

Bio-robotic Etherwalkers (Animatronics): Animatronics fuelled by Ether that have fully undergone transformation. First known Bio-robotic Etherwalker: Fredbear (the first fully Ether-fuelled animatronic, prior to him animatronics didn’t use enough to begin transforming), created by Fazbear Entertainment in 1980, who was destroyed in 1990 after Fredbear’s Family Diner closed its doors. He and his partner animatronic Springbonnie are the first recorded Etherwalker deaths.

Inkborn Etherwalkers (Toons): Etherwalkers that formed after large quantities of ink were mixed with Ether by mistake. They are primarily shades of black, blue and red, but can be found in more vibrant hues, depending on what colour ink was used to make them. First known Inkborn Etherwalker: Betty, a feminine humanoid who emerged from an ink production plant in 1993. She is currently still alive.

Inanimate Etherwalkers (Anthros): Etherwalkers created through infusing an inanimate object with Ether. This is done predominantly using toys, but it has also been done with objects like bottles, lamps, and other such accessories. First known Inanimate Etherwalker: Huggy, created by Playtime Company in 1990 as a mascot for their company, who quickly became responsible for a number of company activities, before being moved from the public eye and made the manager of the labs that created anthros like him. He is currently still alive.

Conversion Etherwalkers (Splits): Etherwalkers created through submerging a human in Ether and allowing them to mutate for up to 3 days. This has only been done with humans allied with Digital Future’s cause, as a way to respect them and induct them into Etherwalker society. Their appearance is usually predetermined and selected by the human being converted. First known Conversion Etherwalker: US3R, formerly Edward Mills, who owns Digital Future LLC, and was converted into a split as a reward for housing and aiding Lady Baby in her plans. They are currently still alive.

Additional Information.

This is just for stuff I couldn’t/didn’t remember to add up there;

All Etherwalkers are of adult faculties. Why? Because this is fetish content, and I’m quite the big fan of adults. If you make loli/shota/whatever using this universe I will find you and rip out your liver (not actually but i will block you).

Yes, this is a weird patchwork crossover of FNaF, Bendy and the Ink Machine, and Poppy Playtime. Yes, you can put your OC in here (anthros are a good catch-all for this, as they’re not what you see in PPT with stitches and whatnot! They’re fully anthro). Yes, you should send it to me, I will put it in my mouth and love you forever.

This is subject to change somewhat? But if it is changed, I’ll edit this and post about it so everyone knows. It’s conceptual, so forgive me if it’s rough around the edges. I’m workin’ on it!

Thank you for reading this 10,000+ character ramble i love you sososososo much mwah

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Pub: 08 Jul 2025 00:15 UTC

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