Chapter Text
He’s… gone.
I can’t believe it..
He’s actually, completely, finally fucking gone. Holy shit! How long has it been? I’d almost forgotten how it felt to be alone in my own head. To not be sharing my brain with a biological virus. To not wake up finding entire days missing from my memory. To not be playing tug-of-war for control over my own body. To not be constantly drowning out the voice screaming at my to hunt, and plot, and kill, and-
Stop.
It’s too much. It doesn’t matter now anyway. I’m free. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, though. That kid definitely had something to do with it. Did he get rid of the virus somehow? Is Vanny really gone for good? I had no idea, but I'm just happy to be free for the moment.
I could hear some kind of commotion going on. Voices and police sirens were approaching from outside. Someone must’ve noticed that there was something going on at the Pizzaplex. Management had probably sent people to investigate, and probably the police as well. Shit.
Looking around, I realized how bad the damage really was. Metal scraps, garbage, nuts and bolts were scattered across the floors. Almost all the attractions were in shambles. The security bots were all slumped over deactivated. As for the sentient animatronics, they were practically smashed to bits. How the hell was I supposed to explain this? I picked myself up off the floor and made for the main entrance.
It was a total shitshow outside. Police cars and fire trucks were swarming the parking lot. People were yelling at each other, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. my eyes landed on a familiar head of curly brown hair. The tension in my chest eased a bit seeing that he made it out safely.
I could just leave. Sneaking away in all this chaos wouldn’t be hard. I could just jump in my car and speed off into the night. All I wanted to do was go home and forget these last two years of my life ever happened. But what about the kid? I can’t just leave him there in the Pizzaplex parking lot. I started walking before I could stop myself. God damnit.
“What were you really doing here?”
Gregory was cornered by a police officer and the Pizzaplex manager. Both of them were glaring daggers at him. The kid was clutching a duffel bag to his chest, looking nervous as hell. They probably thought he was behind all this. Which he was, technically. Just not in the way they thought.
“Well, kid?” The manager asked impatiently. “You think it’s fun, coming in here and messing with things? Were you vandalizing or stealing just to brag to your little friends?”
“N-no.” Gregory stuttered. “I wasn’t… I didn’t-”
“Lay off the kid, Joe.” I came up behind Gregory. “He’s had a hell of a night already.”
Everyone turned to look at me. Gregory seemed startled either by the fact that I was still there, or that I was coming to his rescue. The police officer was watching all of this with a tired gaze. Joe just narrowed his eyes at me.
“Vanessa! You’d better have a good explanation for all this. How’d this little delinquent break in while you were on duty?”
“He didn’t break in.” I said. A cover story started forming in my head as I went along. “You know parents drop their kids off here to go get drunk or whatever. They must’ve forgotten to pick him up. He got stuck in the building when the doors closed. It was a couple hours before I found him wandering around.”
Joe took a minute to think about what I said. It wasn’t that far-fetched of a story. I’d heard plenty of stories from the day crew about having to track down negligent parents. That was the best thing I could come up with at the moment.
“Alright then, what happened to the animatronics?”
Oh them? They were corrupted by a virus created by the digital consciousness of a dead serial killer who took over my body for two years. Yeah, that’s not gonna fly. Shit. I have to come up with something. Think Vanessa, think! Lies are more believable when they’ve got some truth in them, right? Just tweak it a little.
“I think there’s some kind of virus or something, because they all went haywire on us. They started destroying stuff all over the building. They did some pretty good damage to themselves in the process.”
“And you didn’t think to shut them down at the main computer?” Joe asked suspiciously.
Uh oh. That’s exactly what I would’ve done. It’s company protocol to power down the animatronics and call the head technician. Should I just play stupid? That might work, but it would definitely get me fired. And maybe blacklisted as a security guard considering how expensive this damage was going to be. I didn’t have any other ideas. Just before I threw in the towel, I felt a slight tug at my sleeve. Gregory titled his head up at me silently. Of course, that little genius!
“I did think of it, sir. I just didn’t have time. My priority was getting this kid out of the building safely. The safety of a child is more important than some expensive technology, isn’t it?”
Not to Fazbear Entertainment, it isn’t. Those corporate asshats prioritize money over everything else. But he can’t just yell ‘we don’t give a rat’s ass about one little brat’ in front of a police officer, now can he? Score. He also can’t legally fire me because of it. Double score.
Joe looked absolutely baffled. It only took a second before he started nodding vigorously. “Of course, of course. I’m uh… I’m just glad you’re okay, kid.” He glanced at the police officer and cleared his throat. “Well, I've got to go inspect the damage. Have a good night, Vanessa.”
And just like that, he was gone. I turned my attention to the police officer. He definitely looked tired. Being tired plus working the night shift equals not giving a fuck. He’d probably go along with anything if it meant he got to leave sooner.
“I’ll call the kid’s parents and drive him home. If anyone gives you shit for it, just tell them I’m his neighbor or something.”
He nodded gratefully and walked away. I turned in the direction of my own car and gestured for Gregory to follow me. He must still be suspicious of me or something, because he hesitated. I did just spend the whole night chasing him around in a bunny costume. Okay, ‘traumatizing the shit out of an eleven year-old’ has been added to the list of things to mentally unpack later.
“Hey, it’s okay now.” I tried my best to sound reassuring. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Gregory shook his head. “I know, it’s not that. I just…”
“Do you not want to go home?”
His eyes widened at the question, like he was scared. That’s concerning. Maybe I wasn’t too far off the mark with the shitty parent story? Getting a closer look at him now, he definitely looked too skinny for his age. His cheeks were sort of sunken and his hair was greasy. Was he being neglected or something? I’d have to ask him more about that later. For now, I just needed to get him away from this place.
“Okay, let’s put a pin in that for now. How do you feel about getting some ice cream?”
He thought about that for a second. “Sure.”
“Come on.”
The drive to the nearest convenience store was dead silent. Gregory was holding that duffel bag in his lap, fidgeting with the straps anxiously. He’d seemed pretty protective of it back in the parking lot. What was in there that was so important to him? God, I had so many questions for this child.
The 24-hour convenience store was pretty much deserted. Which made sense because it was four in the morning. Graveyard shifts really messed with your perception of time. We climbed out of my car and went inside the store. Gregory clutched that bag to his chest the whole time. I got a cone of mint chocolate chip while he chose an orange popsicle for himself. Once we got back in the car, I drove to my favorite spot in town. It was a quiet little hill overlooking a meadow area. I always liked quiet places. We sat down in the grass to eat our ice cream. Gregory put his bag down very carefully.
Curiosity got the better of me. “What’s in the bag?”
“Nothing.” he responded too quickly.
Uh-huh. “Kid, you haven’t let that bag out of your sight once since we left the Pizzaplex. It’s clearly not nothing.”
“I’m not telling you.”
I was about to say something back when I was interrupted by a loud, jarring voice. “Gregory, you do not need to worry. Officer Vanessa will not be angry with you.”
“AH!” I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Wha-what, who?” I whipped my head around frantically, but there was literally nothing around us. My eyes landed on Gregory’s bag. “Did your bag just talk?! And why does it sound like…? Freddy’s in that bag, isn’t he?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?” He offered up a sheepish slime.
“No.”
Gregory slowly unzipped the bag, and carefully pulled out Freddy’s disembodied head. A couple wires were sticking out from where his head should connect to his neck. There was a dent on one side of his face, and the lights in one eye kept flickering. Wow, those bots really did a number on him. Gregory put Freddy down on the grass between us.
“Hello, Officer Vanessa. I apologize for startling you.”
“You’re awfully polite to someone who just had you violently disassembled.” I noted.
Freddy smiled. “That was Vanny’s doing. You were not in control.”
That was surprising. “You know about that?”
“Yes. You were being controlled by a virus, just as my friends were. I do not hold their recent actions against them. That would be unfair. Likewise, I do not hold Vanny’s actions against you.”
“Huh.” How did he know about the Glitch? I’ll add that to the massive list of things to deal with later. For now, I had a better question. “Gregory, why did you take Freddy’s head from the Pizzaplex?”
He took his sweet time nibbling on his popsicle. When he was ready to talk, he started petting Freddy’s head absently. “Well, Freddy protected me tonight. Even when things got really scary, I could always count on him. He makes me feel safe. And I… I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.”
The Glamrocks aren’t just robots, I reminded myself. They’re sentient AI with actual emotions. These two must’ve gotten pretty attached to each other. Freddy would never let someone take him from the Pizzaplex otmywise. He was nothing if not a stickler for the rules.
“Freddy’s your friend, right?” I asked.
Gregory nodded. Freddy started moving his facial parts around, trying to nod without a neck. It looked very goofy. I had to admit that this bear was pretty endearing.
“I get that you didn’t want to let him go, especially after everything that happened tonight. But did you really think that through? I mean, you can’t just keep a talking robot head in your bedroom. Someone’s gonna notice that at some point.”
The kid stiffened up a little. That’s the second weird reaction to me mentioning his home. Speaking of home, I needed to get him back there soon. The sun was starting to peak up over the horizon now. Even if his parents were negligent, it wouldn’t be long before they realized their kid was missing. The last thing I needed right now was to get arrested for kidnapping.
“Okay, that’s your call.” I blew out a big sigh. “Now tell me where to drop you two off.”
Gregory got that wide-eyed look on his face again. He quickly replaced it with an obviously fake smile. “You don’t have to do that. You’ve done enough for me already.”
“Gregory.”
I tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he flinched away from it. “R-really, it’s okay! My place isn’t that far of a walk-”
“Gregory.” I said more firmly. That got him to quiet down. “Why don’t you want to go home? And why did you sneak into the Pizzaplex tonight?” I hated asking this, but I had to. All the evidence pointed to the same conclusion. “Are your parents doing something bad to you?”
He shook his head. “I… I don’t have parents.”
Oh shit.
Freddy spoke up. “What do you mean? Every child has parents.”
“Not when yours are dead.” The kid mumbled sadly.
“I do not understand. If you do not have parents, then whose home do you live in?”
Of course Freddy wouldn’t be able to grasp this concept. He’d only ever seen kids at the Pizzaplex with their families. I, however, was starting to understand. Gregory’s weird behavior started to point in a very different direction now.
“You’re homeless.”
Bingo. Gregory shrunk in on himself, ducking his head in shame. His fingers started drumming on the top of Freddy’s head. His own head nodded just slightly. “Yeah.”
I felt so bad for this poor kid. How long had he been living scared and alone like this? I couldn't just throw him back onto the streets like unwanted garbage. I could help him. “Don’t you worry, kiddo. I’ll call CPS. They’ll get you set up in a group home or something-”
“No!” He shouted suddenly. “I won’t go back to the system. Not after last time.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Last time? What happened last time?”
His little body started shaking. “I was in a foster home. It was… a bad place. I don’t want to go back.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, Gregory. But not every place is like that. Lots of foster families are very nice.” I had to reason with him.
“I don’t care! Even if they are nice, they’ll take Freddy away. If they try, I’ll run away again. I’d rather live on the street with Freddy than in a house without him!”
What the hell am I supposed to do now? I can’t send him into the system knowing he’s just going to run away again. God, this is such a mess. Why does this night hate me? I started to form an idea in my head. An absolutely ridiculous, and definitely illegal, idea. But it was the best solution I could come up with.
“Why don’t you come live with me, then? There’s an extra room in my apartment. I promise I won’t take Freddy away from you.”
He stopped his freak-out session to think that over. After a minute or two, he looked down at Freddy. The bear did that silly face-nod again. Now that he had the Fazbear seal of approval, Gregory looked back up at me. The fear and tension was slowly draining from his face.
“I’d like that.”