Chapter Text
“You plan on moving in or you just want a job? Maybe join the internship program? You would make a great security guard.”
It hadn’t occurred to Vanessa before, how quickly the consequences of one’s actions can arrive. It was almost a relief, how fast karmic payback was rolling in, it meant that the universe could make things right. It really had just been a joke though, at the time.
“Alright, we don’t have outfits in your size,” Vanessa said, packing a backpack with stuff Gregory probably liked, hopefully: peanut butter and jelly, his flashlight (now equipped with a flashing ‘stun’ mode, not that he should need it ever again), water bottle, a little bit of cash for the arcade, and a few very basic mechanical tools. “But,” she continued, “I can give you these.” She zipped the bag closed, letting it rest upright on the employee locker room bench, and handed the kid across from her a blue Freddy Fazbear Mega PizzaPlex baseball cap and an all-access Security Badge. He took them into his hands slowly, with some trepidation, then pulled the cap over his ratty hair, looking suddenly determined. “Your days of sneaking around are over, I’m afraid, that will let you into anywhere in the mall, including after-hours,” she said, with a fond and bemused exhaustion that she was starting to get used to, “but I think we should try to avoid any more late-night adventures.”
“Yeah,” Gregory laughed. “I guess we should.” He trailed off, eyes falling to the corner of the room. She noticed he didn’t like to hold anyone’s gaze too long, but she’d learned to tell when he had more on his mind and she waited, giving him a pause. “Do…,” he began, “you think this’ll work?”
She considered him. It was a good question and she had to grasp for the right thing to say. “Well, I can’t promise everything will go perfect. But I’ll meet you in Services once it empties out and whatever we can make work, that works for me. How does that sound? Fair?” He dropped his gaze again, looking at the badge in his palm. It had his name and picture on it (though he’d given himself the last name ‘Fazbear’) and even a fancy QR code and an array of numbers and colored stickers. He pulled his cap on tighter and met Vanessa’s gaze with conviction. “Deal.”
Despite their namesake, Sundrop wasn’t too much of a morning robot. They came out of rest mode sluggishly, slumped against the floor of the little playhouse in his room, and rolled out clumsily, accidentally knocking their little playmates around. “Oopsie, sorry buddy,” They whispered, gently replacing the broken old S.T.A.F.F bot head. “Be back soon, ok? Stay right there,” they said, pulling the charging cable from their back and tossing it carelessly to the floor to join the rest of the clutter. As much as they wished the little bots could join them, if someone else found them they would probably try to throw them away again. They were the only one to give them a chance. Plus, they didn’t play very well in their current state and they didn’t know the first thing about fixing animatronics. Better that they stay up there for now. It was 8:02 am, Monday morning, 13 minutes until opening at the SuperStar Daycare and there would be a lot to do. Hopefully, some kids would show up today.
Gregory didn’t need to do any of the grown-up employee stuff, so walking around the awakening lobby he mostly watched adults in their uniforms raise metal gates and turn lights on, the familiar darkness he remembered from Friday night transforming into color. It didn’t make it much more appealing than it had been, but it was a huge improvement over the dark. It would have been much better if it was just him, he thought; he could feel the eyes of the adult staff on him. A few of them were talking about having to fix the pass upgrade machine at customer service; a magnet had apparently scrambled it. He moved quicker, walking at a pace that was close to running, to the elevator. He had plans of his own anyways.
Parts and Services was operating at capacity. Every mechanic who could be there had been called in on emergency notice and the shadowy atmosphere from Friday night was being burned away by electric lights and metal soldering within the busy protective cylinder. The hulls of Roxy, Monty, and the headless Freddy were being supported by S.T.A.F.F bots and technicians, too focused on putting parts back where they belonged to notice Gregory watching, grimacing as mechanical hands and eyes and voices were reordered and replaced. He stayed close to the elevator, in the shadow of a computer terminal, in case the mechanics saw him and started asking questions. He didn’t wanna talk to them, but he did listen.
“How does one intruder do all this in a night? You sure we don’t have security footage from Friday?”
“Hey, I’m seeing weird stuff coming in from Programming and Debug, did you see this?”
“Chica’s responding normally now, I think… Suppose we keep an eye out and we’ll see if we can’t open in limited capacity for a few days. No free-roam, no meet and greets, no photos. Not until we figure out what this is.”
“All these cracks on Freddy… And what is this? Ash? What in the hell…”
“Looks like some kind of malware, somehow. Close their communications for now, quarantine their data exchange from one another and keep it contained. Never in all my 10 years did I think someone could create a virus for these guys .”
“Whatever happened she must have fallen into the garbage disposal, nothing external we can’t fix. Has anyone found Freddy's head?”
It was a relief to see Freddy looking like his old, polished self, even sans-head. Gregory was even a little glad to see the rest in one piece again, especially as they were powered off and looking a lot less… scary. He didn’t understand much of what the mechanics were saying, but the gist of it sounded good. Maybe things would go back to normal, maybe kids would stop disappearing. In a way, that would make him kind of like a hero then, he thought. The kid who had made the megaplex safe again for kids.
Chica’s voice box uttered an awkward mechanical tone as the technician continued to troubleshoot, her whole body seizing and making the woman at the controls flinch back, alarmed. Her wide eyes rolled uncoordinatedly, sparks flying out from her beak. Gregory frowned, his surge of pride gone. It wasn’t fair though, he thought, they had all attacked him first. If it hadn’t been for Freddy’s help, who knows what they would have done to him. He turned his gaze away from the protective cylinder, to look at what remained of Freddy. He wasn’t here for any of them, he was here to help Freddy. Everything else was over and once the two of them could get out of there, there wouldn’t be anything left to worry about.
It was 8:14 am on Monday morning. The play palace had been disinfected and lemon-scented, the cushy rainbow foam blocks had been arranged in a way that Sundrop thought would be especially enticing, the crayons and paper were out next to the stacks of worn picture books and hand puppets, and the lights overhead were bright. They only had so much time to spare so they climbed up to the balcony platform the fast way (the more dangerous way, but no one saw them do it) and tucked themself behind the velvet, only just peeking out from behind it nervously. They had a good vantage point over the drop-off from here but still kept back behind the curtain, lest they spoil their big surprise entrance too early. 8:15. They dared themself to peek out again, waiting for the sound of the big wooden doors unlocking and swinging open. They didn’t see anyone though, and they were pretty sure they could still make out the red-brown back of the doors. They weren't sure that they’d even heard the metal gate to the lobby rise. Guess they weren't the only one to have a late start, everyone was late today. That was ok though, they could wait.
“Alright guys, let's open up. Maybe we can pull some cardboard cutouts out of storage or something,” the mechanic, seemingly their boss or leader, proclaimed, buffing out chica’s scorched beak with a quick few swipes of her rag. The adults closed tool closets away and turned diagnostics screens off and began to move sluggishly to the elevators. Instinctively, Gregory squeezed further behind the computer terminal. They all seemed too tired and distracted to notice him though, talking between themselves about ‘viruses’ and what Programming and Debug could do about it. He was a good hider. When the elevator doors had closed he slunk back towards the protective cylinder, the 4 animatronic bodies still strapped down and powered off. He didn’t think robots could get sick, but the way the technicians were talking about it, it kind of reminded him of a deer he’d seen acting funny in the park. An animal control truck had to come and take them away since there was apparently something wrong with them that made them act like that. He hated seeing animals get taken away, they just liked food and privacy, they never tried to attack or scare him, they were quiet and left him alone. He flinched and jumped behind the diagnostic terminal when he heard the elevators opening.
“Gregory?” Vanessa’s voice drew him back out into the light falling from the elevator cabin. “What did I say about sneaking around,” she asked, raising an eyebrow and using her annoying ‘serious head guard’ voice. She readjusted the duffel bag on her shoulder, knowing Gregory’s eyes were keenly on it. “I wasn’t sneaking around,” he said, meeting her gaze challengingly, “I was waiting for you to hurry up and get here.” She gave him one of her mysterious smiles and began to approach the cylinder, walking past Gregory’s scowl. “I was just waiting for a good opportunity to turn our little friends back on,” she said putting the bag down gently on the floor by the diagnostic terminal.
“All of them?” Gregory asked.
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to, buddy. They all work here. It’s perfectly safe now though,a bad guy was messing with them, but he can’t hurt them anymore. They’ll be okay now.”
“What bad guy?”
“No one important, Gregory, just some creep.” She was taking Freddy’s body on the wheeled lift into the cylinder and Gregory couldn't see her face, but her tone of voice suggested that she would be giving nothing away no matter how much he pressed. He focused on Freddy as she moved Chica out of the cylinder and to a lift, moving Freddy into the restrained chair.
“But Freddy is still okay?”
“I don’t think he was ever affected by it… I guess because of the crash onstage? He probably woke up after he- the virus- had started to spread and… I guess he managed to keep it out of his systems after that somehow. Force of will I guess. Make sense?”
“I guess so,” he said, though he didn’t think either of them sounded very sure.
“Well, let’s put Humpty back together again, shall we?” She opened the duffle bag.
Gregory watched Vanessa reattaching Freddy’s head closely, very aware of any near-slips she made on the diagnostics panel, whole body tight with anticipation. Freddy’s blank-eyed stare was illuminated in the dark. He looked nothing like himself when he was down here, more like a machine. Gregory wondered about ‘the bad guy’. He knew Freddy was special somehow, but no one seemed sure as to why. What if he woke up acting differently? What if the other animatronics were still hostile? Could Freddy protect him by himself? Vanessa was there too, though he doubted she stood a chance against giant killer robots. And what if she was still different ? Gregory wound up all his muscles, ready to sprint, and he flinched when the constraints released with a hiss. Freddy’s mechanical eyes blinked slowly, his ears shifting clunkily, and he shook his head like he was coming out of a daze, aluminum vertebrae audibly shifting. His glowing eyes focused, scanning the room before they landed on Gregory. He couldn’t really tell what exactly changed in his animatronic face, but he managed to look delighted. “Gregory!” He stood up with surprising speed and raced to him with thundering steps, only slowing down when he’d come to Gregory’s feet and scooping him up in his wide, padded paws. Gregory laughed gleefully into his neck, his whole mood lifting as he felt his gentle chuckle rumbling in his plastic chest.
“I am so glad to be back! Thank you both for all your help,” he said, still holding Gregory up under his chin.
“No problem, it is- kind of- my job,” she said, looking ashamed, as though she’d been caught doing something. “The rest of the band will be back in order in a moment, but after that we’ll have to ask you all some questions. To make sure this is all… over.”
Freddy paused and Gregory looked between the two of them, studying their faces for a clue. “I understand completely,” Freddy said finally. “I am sure my friends will understand as well. We will cooperate completely with any investigation.”
Vanessa nodded seriously. “We’re in limited capacity until we can be positive. You’re not gonna be interacting with any guests for a bit. Not until we can be sure.”
“Yes. That makes sense. I would like to be sure as well.”
Gregory looked between them both, unsettled by the secret understanding they seemed to be sharing. “So,” he broke in, “maybe we should go to Freddy’s room upstairs? So no one can barge in and all.”
They considered him a moment and Vanessa nodded. “Yeah, they’ll be blocked off to guests anyways. This place gives me the creeps.”
“Good idea, Gregory. I have sorely been missing the comforts of my personal room. Let us awaken the others and then we can proceed upstairs.”
“No, wait-“ Gregory interrupted before Vanessa could get any closer to the inactive Chica. “Freddy, I don’t wanna be out in the open when they wake back up! Let me in your chest hatch first.”
“Now, Gregory,” Freddy said, kneeling to his height. “I understand you must have been frightened of them while they were not themselves. But they should be quite safe now, and I’m sure they would enjoy a proper introduction to such a special boy, the one who helped to save them.”
Gregory broke away from Freddy’s gaze, uncomfortable. “Um. Well. I dunno…”Lying was difficult when he was looking at him.
“-However, I sense that you are still apprehensive,” Freddy said, much to his relief. “Perhaps the others can meet us in my room when you are ready to have them come in. For now Vanessa can speak to them alone, yes? Explain what has been happening?” Freddy looked at Vanessa inquiringly, though his earnest nod implied something more serious to her that Gregory couldn’t quite describe. Vanessa’s mouth set into a concerned frown but she nodded back. He could’ve cheered, but he tamped it down into his throats instead. This was exactly what he’d been hoping for.
“Yes! Can we?” Gregory said, forgetting not to look too eager.
“Yeah, maybe I’d better,” she said.
“And-and you’ll be alright, right?” he asked, trying to recover his cool quickly.
“I’ll be just fine. I’m registered security, remember? Like you,” she reminded him, “but even if that doesn’t work-” she knocked the metal restraints pinning Roxy down to the maintenance lift “-this stuff is tougher than you might think.”
“Come, Gregory,” Freddy said, “There is still time before we will be needed on stage. I have some very nice CDs we can enjoy in my room while the others talk.”
Once they were in Freddy’s room, Gregory sat on the plush couch, not waiting for an invitation, and began to take inventory of what was in his backpack. Freddy put on some of the band’s covers of kiddy songs and smiled proudly at Gregory. Gregory tried to turn his grimace at the sound of Freddy singing a corny pop-rock rendition of the Happy Birthday song into a smile. “Now, Gregory, we can do anything that you like in the time that Vanessa and the others are talking, but I think I should reiterate that as long as you are with me, you are safe.”
I know, Freddy, that’s… what I wanted to talk about with you too.”
“Oh? That is excellent, Gregory! I know that you are scared of the other animatronics here, but I believe that we are on our way to fixing all of this facility’s problems.”
“Yeah, well,” Gregory began, less certain of his plan than he had been, “I know you want to keep me safe and happy, Freddy, and I’m really glad for you helping me out.” Freddy’s face softened, but Gregory pressed forward before he could launch into any more long speeches. “ But I have some food and water and since the band is gonna be fixed, I could get some clothes from the gift shop, and then we could go wherever we want to! You can come with me!”
“Oh, Gregory, no-”
“I can find a way to recharge you, don’t worry! You’ll love it out there! You can do anything you want out there!”
“No, Gregory-”
“C’mon, you don’t wanna be holed up here forever do you?”
“Gregory.” Freddy stooped and put a paw lightly on his shoulder, and something in the gesture forced him to stop. “I am very thankful for your offer, but I’m afraid… That there is more here still to do. Additionally… I do not know that I am ready to leave without my friends. They are much like my family. You understand, yes?”
Gregory bit back the impulse to say that he didn’t.
“Besides,” Freddy continued softly, “I believe that Vanessa would not want you to run away now that you have become her intern.”
“Vanessa doesn’t even know me,” Gregory muttered bitterly, shaking the paw off his shoulder, “she doesn’t care about me, I wanna be with you.”
“Oh, Superstar .”
“It’s not fair, why can’t we just leave and have fun on our own?”
“It is not fair, you’re right. But you see, you should not be alone-”
“So come with me!”
Freddy made a sighing sound through his voicebox and paused, his eyelids closing stiffly. Gregory began to worry if he had said something wrong before he raised his glowing eyes back up to him. “What if we make a deal?”
Gregory raised an eyebrow at that. He had a deal with Vanessa, technically, not that he had been planning to keep it, but it was different with Freddy, he wasn’t sure he could keep lying to him.
“What kind of deal,” he said, cautiously.
Freddy smiled, somehow making it reach his artificial eyes. “You will meet my friends and continue at least a part of your internship- even if it's only for a few days- and if by then, you are still unsatisfied with the PizzaPlex and with Vanessa and the other animatronics…” Freddy’s face was cast in sobriety again. “Then we may discuss leaving here together.”
Gregory thought for a moment.
“Do you promise to come with me if I go?”
“I would never leave you alone.”
“How many days max?”
“Perhaps 10?”
“No way, 9.”
“9 and an evening?”
“Nuh-uh. 8.”
Freddy sighed again and Gregory tensed at the sound.
“8 is perfectly acceptable, I think,” he spoke gently, and Gregory relaxed, swinging his arms around Freddy’s neck.
“Thank you, Freddy.”
“Of course, superstar,” Freddy said, low in his voicebox. “But you must promise you will try and give them a chance.”
“I promise,” said Gregory. It was easier when it wasn’t an outright lie.