Chapter Text
Gregory was, unsurprisingly, hiding in the vents. It’s been his favorite pastime, since exploring the Pizzaplex, crawling around in the vents ever since they got rid of the mini DJ Music Mans (well… even if they aren’t all gone, they’ve stopped trying to take a bite out of his leg at least. He knows the vents don’t belong to him), and unsurprisingly, the vents have once again led him to a rather interesting place— this time, looking out over a side room in Parts and Services.
“Alright. You think she’s ready to go?” A female voice rings out below, and Gregory settles himself next to the vent opening to watch the scene below. The nighttime mechanics were staying late today, he had found out, and he wants to know why.
“As ready as she will be, I think. Man, what a fucking rush job,” the other mechanic mumbles in a rough voice, scooting away from the table in front of him, leaving Gregory with a clear view.
On the table in the middle lies an animatronic, one he had never seen before! The two humans were connecting wires and getting the body ready for something— activation, Gregory thinks, feeling a small jolt of fear before pushing it back to look closer.
The animatronic is sky blue with a humanoid face, eyes closed peacefully, framed by dark plastic hair and bright pink markings. Her torso looks to have a sort of tie on it that devolves into a star-like pattern with matching stars on her knees, her arms adorned with a spiked bracelet and shoulder pads signature to the other Glamrocks. Is she… a performer? Gregory thinks, confused, noticing the clear plastic tailcoat. She looks too weird to be a performer. Why does her body look like Sun’s? He frowns, noting the lanky structure undeniably similar to the daycare attendant. The fuck?
“Definitely a rush job. Why does this place need a tour guide, anyway? What was wrong with the map bots?” The female mechanic muses, and the male scoffs.
“What was wrong with them? Kathy, they scared the living shit out of anything that encountered them. There were so many complaints, management couldn’t keep up!”
“Fair enough,” she laughs, gently turning over an arm to plug another cable in. “They are kinda creepy. Plus, it’ll be nice to have an animatronic to take care of all the parents' concerns and stuff. Maybe this one won’t eat trash, or destroy things, or threaten children, or make our lives a thousand times harder by getting beat up every other second.” She rolls her eyes, and Gregory laughs a little at that, shaking his head at the antics of his newfound friends.
While Vanny’s dangerous corruption on the animatronics has long since been removed, the mechanics could never really straighten out the quirks in the Galmrock’s AI’s. I guess I’m lucky, Gregory thinks, grinning. Freddy’s little ‘quirk’ gave me a new home.
“Yeah, well, hopefully this one won’t get into any trouble. Unless parents start damaging her. In that case, I fucking quit.” The guy grumbles again, and they both laugh as the woman plugs in the last cable in her hand, giving a self-satisfied nod.
“Alright! I think we’re ready,” she backs up from the table, joining the guy at the computer terminal. He sighs, frowning a little at the screen before giving a shrug.
“Eh, here goes nothing I guess.” He presses a series of keys on the keyboard, and Gregory jumps back a little from the vent as a loud humming fills the air, knowing what it meant, and honestly, not quite having time to process it.
Oh my god, he realizes, blinking. There’s! There’s a new animatronic! There’s a NEW animatronic. He swallows hard, forcing the familiar bubbling fear back down. It’s fine, Gregory! She’s not gonna try to kill me, Vanny is gone, and the Glamrocks would never let another animatronic hurt me again. It’s fine! It’s gonna be fine, he repeats to himself, watching intently, waiting breathlessly for her to activate.
It happens in a flash, and her eyes snap open, glowing blue and pink immediately focusing on the vent he’s hiding in, right in her line of sight.
Gregory scampers back, crawling away down the vent before he can help himself, suppressing the small squeak.
This is NOT FINE.
——-
Gregory finds himself panting by the time he slides to a stop in front of Freddy’s greenroom, despite what had felt like constant running since arriving in this damned Pizzaplex. I should be in shape by now, he rolls his eyes, catching his breath as the automatic door slides open.
“Hello, Gregory!” Freddy’s cheerful voice greets him as the large animatronic gives a wave from his position cross-legged on the floor. Gregory glances to the couch to spot Roxy’s head laying in Chica’s lap, both raising a hand in greeting as well, smiling. No Monty, he thinks, observing the absence of the signature destructive gator. I wonder what he’s up to. “Did you find out why the maintenance workers are staying late?”
Freddy’s question quickly reminds him of his experience as he nods rapidly.
“I did! You’re not gonna believe it, there’s a new animatronic!! They’re activating her right now, that’s why they’re still here, Freddy, she’s so weird! ” He exclaims, waving his hands as Roxy snorts from the couch.
“Goddamn, she’s here already?”
“ Roxy! ” Chica hisses, slapping the wolf lightly on the nose as Gregory’s gaze whips to her. Roxy has the sense to look a little ashamed at least as she averts her eyes from Gregory’s stare, scratching her neck.
“Whoops…”
“You knew about her?!” He exclaims, eyes narrowing, feeling the tide rise of betrayal trust I trusted you—
“Don’t blame her, Gregory,” Freddy speaks up, cautiously reaching out a hand, an invitation for him to come closer, and he feels the tide of emotions subside. I trust them. They won’t hurt me. “We all knew.” Freddy states, and Gregory turns his stare back to Freddy, accepting the hand with a frown and sitting down next to the bear.
“We… were the ones who ordered her, actually,” Chica sighs, her plastic feathers bobbing as she shakes her head. “We think it’ll be for the best.”
“No you didn’t! The mechanics were talking about complaints about map bot or something!” Gregory exclaims, crossing his arms as Roxy gives a little laugh, turning to prop her head on her arm.
“Who do you think sent in half of those complaints, kid? It’s been a process.”
“We talked about it as a group, even got the input of the Daycare Attendant,” Freddy begins, pulling the still-fuming Gregory into his lap. Which didn’t make him feel better, dammit, he’s still mad, just… now a little more comfortable. And warm. And more susceptible to reason. “and everyone agreed— after Vanny, we need another set of eyes at the Pizzaplex, one who can’t be a significant threat if they somehow become corrupted. Another set of eyes means another person who could catch any bad things before they even begin to happen.” Gregory allows himself to be folded into a hug as he nods, begrudgingly starting to see the animatronics' point.
“She’ll be the one scanning every guest who comes through! It should be incredibly useful!” Chica grins, and Gregory nods, pondering his words.
“I… get it. But why didn’t you tell me?” He mumbles, trying and failing to keep the hints of hurt from his voice as Freddy hugs him tighter.
“Oh superstar, we wanted it to be a surprise!” Freddy replies, and Gregory laughs just the smallest bit, unable to keep a smile off of his face at that.
“Of course you did.”
“Oh, oh, if she’s online, that means we should go meet her!” Chica bounces up, knocking Roxy up and earning a scowl for her efforts, but Gregory knows she could never stay mad at Chica for long, and the expression melts back into fond exasperation. I wonder if the new animatronic will be as expressive as the Glamrocks, he thinks, watching Chica’s apologetic grin.
“I think we should let her rest for tonight.” Freddy replies, laughing at Chica’s pout and shaking his head. “If she’s just been activated, she’ll have a lot to process before opening tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll have a chance to meet her soon!”
“Aw, fine, ” Chica mumbles, flopping back onto the couch, Roxy scrambling away just in time to avoid being crushed, and Gregory really couldn’t help but laugh this time.
Yeah, he thinks, settling comfortably back into Freddy and watching the antics of the two animatronics as they squabble. I’m sure it’ll be fine.