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Everyone assumed this day was coming. Bonnie’s repair had been.. complicated, to say the least. He still didn’t operate right. But the thing that had troubled him the most was his voice box. It constantly glitched and made strangled static-y noises that were absolutely disturbing to hear. Not to mention that he could hardly speak without that happening and it could be quite uncomfortable when it occurred.
So nobody was surprised when he was completely unable to talk. They just assumed that he could stay quiet until they found a solution and not try to talk, but the static noises never went away. He was constantly making deranged wailing noises, and everyone had begun to assume he wasn’t doing it on purpose. They had to hide him in a discrete part of the Pizzaplex where nobody could possibly hear him because of how godawful it was. Freddy tried to sit with him and comfort him but nothing ever worked. It was just a bad situation overall because he couldn’t communicate to tell them what was really wrong. He just spat out garbled glitching noises and sat on the ground.
Chica was the one that decided she’d help. She had her voice box completely removed one time, she offered to inspect the problem and see if she could relate to any of her issues. Freddy would stay close by in case of emergency.
“He really is miserable,” Chica murmured as soon as she saw the screeching rabbit. His mouth was slightly ajar but completely unmoving. She approached him, getting down on her knees so she could look directly at his face. She winced back as the static noises got slightly louder.
“Okay. We’re gonna communicate through blinking. Blink twice if you can hear what I’m saying,” Chica ordered. Bonnie followed her directions, blinking rapidly twice.
“Good. Now, I want you to blink twice if you are trying to talk and that’s why it’s making these noises. Blink three times if you’re trying to be silent,” she directed again. Three blinks.
“That’s... not so good. I don’t wanna say this, but we may have to remove it entirely until we can—“
The screeching got louder and Bonnie pulled away from her, his mouth more open now. That was definitely him trying to talk.
“We’re gonna fix it, dummy. Or try to. You’re gonna completely break it if we don’t,” she warned, sliding back towards the rabbit. The choked screeching went quiet again and his eyes drifted towards the floor sadly.
“I’m sure we can fix it, Bon. You just need to trust us,” Freddy chimed from his spot in the corner. Bonnie still didn’t look up and his ears had begun to droop. It was hard to focus on his stance with the awful buzzing. She wished he’d stop trying to talk. She could tell because the shrieking got louder and more prominent.
But then she remembered what it was like to have to be completely silent against your will. To have the uncomfortable buzzing and ghastly noises leave you without you wanting them to, to have everything out of your control. He was probably just scared and confused. He didn’t need a lecture, he needed someone to help calm him down. It must be so loud for him. Every time he stopped trying to talk he’d lay his hands on his head and squeeze his eyes shut. The buzzing, she thought. It’s bothering him. They needed to get it out of there before it drove him crazy.
“Hey, Bonnie. Just calm down. We’ll get you fixed and then you don’t even have to glitch when you talk,” she consoled, slowly getting closer and closer to her bunny friend. “I know you’re freaked out. I of all people would know what it feels like. You’ll feel so much better if you just try to relax.”
Bonnie lowered his hands back to his sides and opened his eyes. Chica outstretched her arms and Bonnie joined in her embrace. She could feel the violent whirring and twitching underneath her hands when she set them near his neck. It made her upset, sure, but she also felt outraged. What could’ve done this to him? All she wanted to do was take whatever hurt him far far away. What terrible creature could make someone who’d always been so strong so very miserable? It was only a matter of time before something else failed and they went further down the repair hole.
“Is he okay?” Freddy’s concerned voice called in once more, slicing right through Chica’s panicked thoughts.
“I don’t think we can fix it unless we just take it out. It’s just gonna have to be done very carefully and it shouldn’t bother him other than not being able to talk,” she informed. She shuddered as she remember having her voice box crushed out of her by Gregory. Not that she had any resentment for the kid, but damn was it miserable.
She finally released Bonnie, turning to face Freddy to give him the full amount of information. He was frowning as he crouched down beside Chica and Bonnie, glancing back and forth.
“Can we fix it and give it back? Will he just have to be mute?”
“It’s just a gamble,” she shrugged. “Maybe we can fix it, maybe we can’t. Either way, it’s making him miserable. We have to do something.”
Bonnie’s ears dropped again at the mention of removing his voice box. Then he clasped his hands back on his head, gripping loosely at the lack of material to hold onto. Freddy frowned visibly, setting a hand on his partner’s shoulder and softly squeezing it.
“Oh, Bon. You’ll be alright. I’m sure we can fix it. When are we gonna get it out?” Freddy asked again, starting to rub his hand in a circle on Bonnie’s back. Chica saw him pause for a moment and take in the sensation of Bonnie’s systems overrunning themselves. “Your body’s trying so hard to keep it all running smoothly. Maybe that’s why it’s breaking?”
“Possibly,” Chica responded with another shrug, “I’m not engineer. I’m just talking from my experiences. I had a team put me back together.”
The static got louder again and made Freddy and Chica both jump a bit.
“You’ve got to stop trying to talk. We’re trying to keep your voice box settled,” Chica scolded. Bonnie probably would’ve rolled his eyes if he wasn’t focused on the million other things happening.
“Please, Bon. Just try to relax. Everything will be okay,” Freddy soothed once more. “I’ll try and get Gregory to stay with you tomorrow. He does get spooked by this kind of stuff though so.. maybe not.”
Bonnie frowned at that, turning to face Freddy and scowling. He didn’t need his words to show his emotions about what Freddy had said.
“What if we get the voice box out tonight? Then it won’t be an issue,” Chica offered. Bonnie looked even more upset at that statement. She wished she could’ve missed the way he flinched back. Luckily Freddy was there to keep him grounded before he tried to open his mouth and let the unholy noises back out.
“It’s either that or be alone until closing. I’m not pressuring you though,” Freddy instructed. “Errr, blink twice to get it taken out tonight and three times for some time in the future.”
Bonnie looked around the room as if it’d give him the answer. He was clearly considering, which was a good sign. Maybe he’d get it done tonight and be happier tomorrow. Or maybe he’d just wait until he was ready. Chica would’ve personally got it out the second it started messing up, but maybe Bonnie was scared there would be no chance of it getting fixed. Perhaps to him, it just sounded like a lot less of risk.
Finally, he blinked twice.
“I’ll see if everyone can be there. You won’t be alone during it,” Chica stated bluntly. Bonnie looked up at her with a ‘You promise?’ type of look. She just slowly nodded and he looked a bit hopeful.
“I promise.”