Chapter Two
Silent Night
"How am I going to get out now?" Gregory asked.
"Perhaps we can find a way in the atrium. You will need an entrance pass or a security card in order to access it."
Gregory nodded. "Okay. Well, how do I get those?"
"An entrance pass will not allow you into the pizzeria. However, you may get an upgrade for it in Customer Service."
Gregory frowned. "I guess this photo pass doesn't help?"
"I am sorry, but no. It can only open my door."
"Aw, darn it." Gregory waved his flashlight around. Upon coming up with nothing, he walked through the entrance area. He tried to open the guard stands, but they would not budge without a ticket.
At the end of the gargantuan room stood a pedestal flanked by fake plants. Dead neon lights and faded writing plastered the wall above the pedestal and the gift box sitting on top of it.
Hoping beyond hope Gregory would run into some kind of luck, he opened the gift box and stuck his hand inside. From the box, he withdrew a dark patterned card announcing its status as an entry ticket.
Yes!
Gregory, with a short hum of victory, walked straight through one of the ticket guards, which yielded to his ticket.
He immediately spotted a dead S.T.A.F.F. bot with a security cap and a dead flashlight laying on the floor in front of a stagnant fountain topped by a gargantuan, golden Freddy statue.
In the otherwise silent room, he heard loud, clunking footsteps.
Gregory knew Freddy was in the entrance area, conserving as much battery as his half dead body would allow. So, he dove behind the fountain and peeked out from the marble rim.
He recognized this newest animatronic, mostly. Glamrock Chica walked in a heavy, uneven gait. Her head lolled and her wide eyes stared blankly ahead. The dented and time-worn shell on her chest cracked and broke in places. One arm was completely warped, and half-stripped of its shell. Cracks crossed her head, going down her mold-spotted beak. More mold crept out from under her chest plate, presumably where old food had not been cleaned.
Gregory wrinkled his nose. He knew she should stink, but the food she consumed was so old, it was black and flaky and barely had any smell at all. Still, he shuffled back a little.
Chica stopped and moved her head from side to side. Her eyes sparkled in a little bit of life. "Is someone there?" she asked. Her voice, soft and clear, bounced off the tall walls and glass.
Chica was Freddy's friend. They were in a band. Maybe she was friendly?
Gregory got to his feet. "Um, hello."
Her head snapped to the side and her wide, violet-blue eyes trained on Gregory. Her head twitched. "You're a little boy," she stated.
Gregory, shrinking into himself and regretting every choice that led to this decision, nodded. "Yeah," he choked out. "I mean, n–"
"I hate little children! This is all your fault!" she screamed and charged.
Gregory bolted.
She swiped at Gregory as he went up the stairs. "Get back here!" she snarled.
Gregory turned and ran into the right shop, which he knew from a glance on the bottom floor held some sort of customer service.
She charged after him, knocking over a display case of trinkets and keychains in her haste.
Gregory flew down the stairs going down, slammed the door at the end shut behind him, and dove for the first hiding place he could find. The top of the baby stroller fell over his scrunched-up body, catching a little on his knees even as he pulled completely into himself. His flashlight turned off.
Chica burst through the door so hard it slammed against the wall. Her head whipped back and forth as she stalked further into the shop. The security gates blocked any hope of an exit save for back up into the gift shop. Behind the desk to his left sat a tall machine with a card slot in it.
Gregory pressed a button on his Fazwatch and whispered, "Chica's after me."
"Chica?" Freddy asked.
Chica froze, one yellow-toed foot off the ground. Her head turned back almost completely around so she stared in his direction.
Gregory pressed the button another few times, hoping beyond hope Freddy wouldn't speak again.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Uneven, heavy footsteps grew louder.
Chica, who had stalked toward Gregory, stopped and looked at the gate. She cocked her head. "Freddy? Is… is that you?"
Freddy made a few static-y grinding noises.
Chica's eyelids fell a little and her voice softened. "Oh, Freddy. I thought you were… gone." She opened the gate and walked out into the open space.
Gregory slipped out of the baby carrier and up to the machine. When he tried to insert his card, nothing happened. It didn't even accept the ticket.
He glanced back at Chica, who still vainly tried to get Freddy to speak, and turned to the machine. A few screws and a built-in lock kept a plate on the side in place. He searched under the desk until he found a key and inserted it into the lock. Within, he found dozens of Superstar Daycare Passes. There may have been other cards further back, but he couldn't reach them.
Not wanting to spend another second close to her, he snatched one of the passes and crept back up the stairs through the still-open door. Knowing the pass wasn't about to open the elevators, and not wanting to get into her line of vision, he approached the shutters. They opened a few feet before clicking and refusing to open further. No matter. He was able to crawl under it and continue walking through the dark hall. Stars speckled the ceiling. Deactivated soda machines and ATMs lined the walls. A few bathrooms opened to him on his right. Advertisements for Sunnydrop and Moondrop candies were painted over the bricks as well as signs pointing him to the only exit at the end of the hall.
This shutter opened more, but not all the way.
He came face-to-foot with a huge golden statue. The one immediately before him was of a tall, lanky jester with a round head lined by spokes like the sun and a huge grin and eyes without pupils. He stood up straight with his arms spread in a "ta-da!" pose. Behind him, back facing his, was the same jester except with a nightcap instead of spokes and a cord connecting him to the ceiling. His feet, neither touching the ground, were up at different heights and arms held close in a funny jig of some sort. A few toddler chairs and tables scattered about. Two giant TV screens, unpowered, hung on both ends of the room.
Gregory walked in further until he got to a wall with netting. A big white wall in the shape of a cloud immediately before him blocked his sight into the place. A round hole with "SLIDE INTO FUN!" stamped above it in colorful, blocky letters was punched into the wall near the floor. Although he tried to push through the half-gate at his left leading into a wide walkway, the gate refused to budge.
So, with one more glance down the hall, he climbed in and slid down the curly slide. In the darkness, he could barely catch the alternating colors, though he did feel the bumps where each colored segment began and ended.
Gregory flew out and immediately plunged into a ball pit.
He popped out with a gasp and looked around. Darkness clung like cobwebs to the expansive play place. He turned on his flashlight and dragged it over the castle-themed half walls around the ball pit and rainbow bridge leading from it out into the open. A tower with curtains hiding an empty doorway loomed above. Glow-in-the-dark stars peppered the ceiling. A big crescent moon on a giant metal ring stood above the tower. A big sun on the opposite end peeked out from the bottom.
His flashlight gleamed off distant metal bars.
Gregory looked down at the balls that reached up to his shoulders. Why weren't these dusty? The entire mall so far seemed to be decrepit and old and dusty. But this place was spotless. None of the balls had the slightest speck of dirt on them, and when he touched the castle half wall beside him, he just barely felt the rough texture. The colors faded somewhat, but that was probably due to time, and not whoever–or whatever–kept this place clean.
Gregory struggled forward.
He stopped upon hearing a shuffle above him. His flashlight whipped up to shine on the top of the tower. Crouching there, his glowing pupils staring directly at him, was the blue jester from the posters and that statue. The left part of his face was white and shaped like a crescent moon with a pinprick of baby blue light for a pupil while the other half was a dark navy blue with an eye that glowed a stark red. A blue nightcap with yellow stars ringed with white fur and tipped with a bell sat on his head. One yellowish spoke, crooked and bent at a weird angle, poked out from near his chin. His bright blue fingers connected to darker hands clutched the balcony base.
The jester's head cocked.
Then, he moved, held up his hand, and flew gracefully onto the half wall near Gregory. Although Gregory struggled to move forward, he was grabbed around the middle just under his arms by huge hands with five lithe fingers and was pulled up.
The jester set him down on the soft floor just outside of the pit and Gregory spun around to face him. Gregory's flashlight glowed over the jester's half-white, half navy-blue chest with a few blue buttons. Had the bot been standing up straight, Gregory would have barely managed to surpass his chest, but crouched they were about the same height. The widest part of him, ironically, was his puffy, navy-blue pants spotted with giant yellow stars.
The jester hunched over with his arms in front of himself like in the statue, but he didn't pull his feet up entirely off the ground as he shifted from side to side. The bells tied to his wrists stayed silent.
The jester said in a startlingly raspy and deep voice, "I do not recognize you. What are you doing here?"
Gregory, hardly daring to breathe, said, "Leaving."
A quiet noise like that of a chuckle escaped the thing. "Well, I believe I saw you entering. If you wish to leave, the doors leading out of the mall are on the other side of the room."
"I know that," Gregory chided. "But I can't leave. The front doors are blocked, and I don't have a pass to get into the mall and find another way out."
"Hmm. Yes, the doors were shut years ago and were never reopened. There may be exits in other parts of the building. You will not find a pass allowing you entrance in here. Have you tried looking in Customer Service? I heard there are some there."
"I tried that, but all I could find was this." Gregory showed him the Daycare pass. He put it away. "So, uh… you're not going to attack me?"
"No. I would never harm a child. It is against my programming."
"I'm not a kid. I'm fourteen."
Moon stopped moving for a moment and then resumed his shifting. "A teenager. You are too old for the Daycare. Regardless, I would not harm a teenager, either."
"Well, you're one," Gregory scoffed. "That's not what Chica said."
The jester tipped his head a little. "Chica? Is she okay? I have not seen her in quite some time."
Gregory shrugged. "She was really mad when she saw me. I mean, she was running around, and she calmed down when she saw Freddy. So, I guess? But she looked kinda banged up. Why don't you look banged up?"
"There are no hazards in the Daycare," the jester stated. "If there were, it could potentially lead to a child's injury or hamper us from doing our job."
"Us?"
"Yes, us. My name is Moon. My… brother is named Sun. We are the Daycare Attendant. You must not turn on the lights. Do you understand?"
"Don't turn on the lights," Gregory repeated. "Uh… why?"
"It is… better if the lights remain off. That is my rule. Keep the lights off. Do you understand?" His tone became a little sterner at those last words.
"Yeah. Lights off, lights off. So, you can help me out of here?"
Moon nodded. His words were again quiet and neutral. "I will try my best. There are no other passes here. Any lost items are given to staff at the end of the day. We keep this place clean, so there are no lost items."
Gregory looked past him. A desk with a computer and other tech junk sat beside a set of double doors. A giant, unpowered flatscreen TV stood above it.
Moon did not look back. "That is the security desk. Young children are not allowed to go there."
"I'm not a young child!" Gregory puffed.
"Even so, non-staff are not allowed behind the desk," Moon crossed, his voice turning a little stern before softening again. "Why are you here? You should be asleep in your bed."
"Long story," Gregory said with a short shrug. "So, uh, are you going to help me get out?"
Moon made a low noise. "Yes. I suppose that is right. You should be asleep, though. It is past your bedtime. Even teenagers must sleep."
"Can I escape and then go to sleep? This crazy lady is coming after me and I need to get out of here. Chica got mad at me for no reason, and Freddy's broken, so I should, you know, get out."
"None of the other animatronics typically come here. No staff member has been here in years. This is the safest place in the mall for a child, even a big kid."
Gregory rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't have time to argue. I need to get out, okay? I can't stay here. Look at this place! Even if none of the others came in here, does this look safe?"
"…no. You are correct. This is no place for a child. Normally, I would encourage you to wait here for a staff member to pick you up in the morning. But you will not be picked up by a staff member at any point in time here. In half an hour, I am allowed to leave this place. Perhaps I can take you with me. I am not sure where the exits lie, but we can search."
"In thirty minutes?" Gregory echoed. "Why not right now?"
"I am confined to the Daycare unless I am told by a staff member to leave, a child is in danger, or I go on patrol for a few minutes each hour between midnight and six AM."
"…that sucks."
Moon chuckled again. "That is one way to describe that. In the meantime, you should sleep. You are tired, and it is dark. It is not dangerous here, I assure you."
Gregory looked past him again. "Wait, that's a security desk, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"Then there has to be a security badge in there. Freddy said I would either need a pass or a security badge! There's my chance!"
"No! Children are not allowed behind the security desk. That is against the rules," Moon stated firmly.
"Against what rules?" Gregory puffed. "There's no one else here! This place has been abandoned for three years. Why do you still follow rules?"
Moon stated firmly, "It is part of our programming. I understand this mall has been abandoned, but rules keep things orderly. You cannot have order without rules. Unfortunately, the other animatronics here are less understanding, but it is true."
Gregory thought for a moment and said, "Okay, well, it'll just be a second. I'll be right back. You won't even know I'm gone!"
Gregory ducked and darted off toward the security desk.
He'd hardly gotten two steps before Moon grabbed him and set him back in place. "No. I cannot allow you to do that. As I said, I will be able to leave soon, and I can take you with me."
Gregory thought for a long moment. "Okay. Well, do you know where else I can get a security badge around here?"
"I am sorry, but no. I do not."
Gregory glanced at the three cans. Without giving Moon a second to think, he ran around the other side of the cans to put a barrier between them. His shoulder clipped the cans and they tumbled to the ground.
Moon snarled, "Urg! Clean up, clean up!"
Gregory bristled at the sudden change in tone but ran to the security desk all the same. He needed to slow himself down a little so he could look over the soft, colorful floor with his flashlight. Something in the back of his head made him doubt anything in this immaculate play place would be out of place enough to trip him, though.
"Gregory!" Moon called.
Gregory ran behind the security desk. Weirdly enough, his shoes left a print in the layer of dust on the ground. More of the stuff covered the monitor and the tech on top and underneath of the desk where some cobwebs formed.
Gregory looked up at Moon, who stood outside of the security desk, just inches out of reach. "Can't you come in here?"
"No, it is against the rules. Gregory, I can help you. Please, come back. Do not touch anything. You will get us in trouble." His voice became a little higher pitched. Whiny. Scared? But only a little. Still, what could scare some creepy flying jester animatronic who was taller and stronger than any adult Gregory had met?
"I won't break anything." Gregory looked down at the Freddy-head-shaped security box in front of him. He poked the nose. "I'm going to get out of here. I need this to do that."
He took the badge.
The box snapped shut.
The computer monitor flickered to life. He heard a buzz and the lights throughout the Daycare sputtered on. Bouncy music interrupted by squeaks and animal noises warbled above. The stars faded in favor of bright glowing clouds. The moon above the tower rotated down so the sun stood above it all.
A shrill noise escaped from Moon. "Gregory. I told you to keep the lights off. Lights off, lights off!" Moon choked on his voice and curled up into himself and struggled like some invisible snake coiled around him. Finally, he collapsed behind the desk.
Hardly a second passed before Moon leaped to his feet. Except, this wasn't Moon. This jester stood up straight with his arms up and his feet planted on the ground, straight up towering over Gregory. Red and yellow stripes replaced the navy blue speckled with yellow stars of his pants. Rather than extreme shades of blue and white, he was yellow and cream with red buttons on his chest. Spokes, all bent or curled in various ways mostly pointed down, ringed his face.
"Hello! New Friend!" the jester yelled, enthusiasm boosting his almost shrill voice. "What are you doing back there? Oh, you shouldn't be back there. Kids shouldn't be back there. But that's okay, I won't get you in trouble. You're new here. Why don't you come out and play? Oh, I haven't had a playmate in forever! We can tell stories and sing songs and fingerpaint and drink Fizzy Faz until our heads ex-plode and stay up all night!" Sun squealed, his voice changing pitch and volume.
"Um, ac–"
Sun went on, "Oh but we can't do that with nothing. I have some toys! Oh, and snacks! You look hungry. Come on, I'll go get snacks and toys and we can hang out and draw and eat and we'll have so much fun!"
Sun spun around and skipped off into the Daycare. His hands stayed close to his sides, and he skipped with long strides and cocked his head back and forth. Most of the spokes on his head squeaked and followed with a slight delay as if on springs.
Freddy's voice crackled out of his Fazwatch. "Gregory! I do not know what you did, but the lights are on in the Daycare! Chica has informed me that the lights should stay off were a human inside of the Daycare. There is a control panel in a room adjacent to yours that controls the lights."
Gregory nodded. "Okay." He looked to the side of the room near the door, right next to the Time-Out corner. "NAPTIME ROOM" was spelled in big letters above it. That has to be it.
Gregory looked at the play place. When nothing appeared, he made a break for the Naptime Room.
He squealed as a pair of hands grabbed him and yanked him high off the ground. "New Friend!" Sun yelled and laughed. "What are you doing over here? It's the day! You should play! You don't look tired!" His laughter stopped faster than a train wreck and his voice deepened. "The lights stay on."
…
Sun burst into hysterical laughter again. "But you don't want to go to bed! You're awake! Come on, let's go play some games! You look hungry, so I got you some snacks!" Sun chattered as he strode across the play place and ducked under a bridge. He sat Gregory down in one of the toddler seats and then sat cross-legged on the other side of the cramped table. "I didn't know what you liked, so I brought one of everything!"
Yogurt, raisins, granola bars, green and black pre-packaged sandwiches, candies of various sizes and types and flavors, a few cans of soda, and a small cup of water sat in front of him. Usually, Gregory would be excited at the thought of raisins and yogurt. However, the yogurt cup–opened by Sun–claimed to be vanilla but stared back at him with a blackish, brownish color. The candy wrappers shriveled, and cracks appeared through the candy. And, under Sun's intense stare, Gregory opened the raisins. He held the box upside down. After a couple of shakes, a sticky, moldy square of wrinkly brown stuff plopped onto the table. He could barely hold back a gag at the smell of everything combined.
"Um," Gregory started, refusing to look up into Sun's glossy eyes even though looking at the yogurt might make him sick, "–I'm not hungry."
Sun laughed. "Oh of course you are! Look at you, all skin and bones!" Sun poked Gregory in the ribs. The boy sucked in his breath as he nearly fell back and then put a hand over his now aching side.
"This looks like it went bad a while ago."
"Snacks can't go bad, silly! They're always good! Come on, snacks are good for you!"
Sun's voice darkened again. "I can't let a child starve. That would be bad."
…
The animatronic laughed again. "And I don't want to be mean!"
Well, soda can't go bad. Right? Gregory took the can of orange Fizzy Faz with Freddy stamped on the side.
It didn't make a sound when he opened it outside of the initial click when the tab broke through it.
The boy, reminding himself that he'd eaten much worse things on a dare than soda that expired two years ago, took a breath, and drank a mouthful of the stuff.
He immediately set down the flat soda. When he forced himself to swallow the vile liquid horror, his throat closed up and he spat that and some stomach acid out onto the floor.
"Oh no, no!" Sun squealed and leaped to his feet. "What a mess, oh no! You poor thing. Clean up, clean up!" He darted to the cabinet beside the inactive refrigerator.
Gregory, coughing and wiping his sleeve over his mouth, scrambled up and bolted.
He managed to make it to the Naptime Room when he heard Sun scream.
"Oh no! New Friend! Where did you go!? You got sick! Let me help you. Oh, you poor thing!"
Gregory jerked at the handle with both hands. The door clicked and shuddered but refused to open.
Gregory looked back as he saw Sun skip out into the open. He darted and hid inside the bottom level of the play structure.
"Oh, are we playing hide and seek? Okay! I'll seek and you hide! One… two… three…"
Gregory peered around the corner to see Sun with his hands over his eyes. He took a deep breath and ran as quietly as he could further into the play place. He climbed up into the second level, slipped through a few hanging bags Sun shouldn't be able to go through, and hid at the bottom of a plush staircase.
"Ten! Ready or not, here I come!" Sun announced. He hopped through the play place and made exaggerated movements as he picked up stuffed animals and looked under tables Gregory could not have fit under if he tried. "You're a really good hider! But I'll find you~!"
Gregory shut his eyes and leveled his breathing and tried to calm his fluttering heart.
Sun climbed into the play place. "New Friend, where are you~?"
He bit his tongue and curled up tighter into himself.
"There you are!"
Gregory screamed as Sun snatched him and pulled him up into a tight hug. "Found you! Oh, that was so much fun! Come on, let's play another!" Sun crawled out of the play place, Gregory held so tight to his chest the boy struggled to even breathe.
Sun ducked out of the lower floor of the play place and hopped up so he stood up straight and held Gregory out at arm's length.
"That was really fun! But I found you! What do you want to do next?" He plopped Gregory down on the floor.
The boy gulped a huge lungful of air and held a hand over his chest. Sun's poke still ached. "W-well, I mean…" Gregory struggled to stand up straight and looked up at Sun. "I'm kinda tired."
"Tired? No, you're not! Look at you!" Sun tapped him. Gregory stumbled back and hit the metal bars. Sun grabbed him again and pulled him forward so he was within a few feet of Sun. "You didn't even run around anywhere. But if you really want to sit down for a little while, we can draw! Yeah! Let's draw!" He snatched Gregory and bounced back to their table. The snacks were gone, and the table and chair, and floor were wiped clean. He set Gregory back down–who had to scrunch up again to stay near the table.
He ran up to the cabinet and pulled out a paper, coloring books, and a few boxes of coloring supplies.
Gregory leaned to the side. A generator growled within. Hmm…
Sun bounced back, plopped the art supplies down, and sat across from him. He picked out a piece of blank paper for himself. "We've got plain paper, coloring books, construction paper, and lots of art supplies! Do you want to paint? I've got paint, too!"
Gregory started to deny it, but a thought crossed his mind. "Actually, yeah. I really love finger painting."
Sun squealed. "Oh, I do, too! Finger painting is so much fun! Wait here!" Sun hopped up and skipped to the cabinet again. He pulled down another basket, this one with bottles and paint palettes or whatever they were called in it.
As soon as Sun set them down, Gregory poured some orange, green, and black paint, mixed it with a little water, and then dumped it on the ground.
Dark and violently contrasting paint made runny by water bloomed over the ground.
Sun screamed about there being a mess and needing to clean it up and immediately grabbed some already stained towels.
Gregory got up and ran over to the cabinet. It opened with a click upon being presented with his security badge. He grabbed the lever on the generator and flipped it down. The green light turned red, and the generator stopped rumbling.
Sun kept soaking up the liquid paint and desperately spraying it with some sort of cleaning chemical.
Gregory shut the door and ran off around the other side of the play place just in case Sun decided Gregory was more important than spilled paint.
The door to the Naptime Room opened as soon as he pulled the handle down.
He shut the door behind him. Although the lights glowed above them, the dark colors in the room soaked them up so the place was dipped into twilight rather than a bright day. Two doors stood at the very leftmost wall–a door on the right with a symbol of Chica and Freddy on it, and a door on the left stating "EMPLOYEES ONLY" and "DANGER".
Gregory darted into the employee's only door.
He bristled upon hearing the Naptime Room door slam open.
"New Friend!" Sun shrieked. "I have given you many chances to be nice, but you are being mean! You are a rule-breaker, and you have to go in Time-Out! Come out right now!"
Gregory whipped his head around, desperately taking in the racks of electronics and dark walls. He ran deeper into the maze of shelving units. The door to the power room slammed open.
"This room is off limits! You could get hurt! Little children are not allowed here!" His voice broke in more places the shriller it became.
Gregory swept his flashlight over the shelves of electronics. Generators growled in quite a few places. He pulled down the levers to deactivate each one he came across. Once the third generator of the night went out, Sun climbed up onto the shelves and jumped onto the ceiling and went past them that way.
After the fourth generator, Sun dropped and hit the ground inches from Gregory.
"New Friend!" he hissed. "I told you to stay put!"
Gregory turned and ran in the opposite direction. He managed to find the fifth generator and yanked it down.
The lights around them went out with a whine. The scratchy, bouncy music stopped.
Sun screeched. Gregory spotted the jester through holes in the shelving units. He grabbed at his spokes and face and pulled his spokes down so hard they whined and bent further.
Sun vanished from sight.
Gregory heard his thumping footsteps and the squeal of bending metal until suddenly it stopped.
…
The door opened and then closed.
The boy slumped against the wall and slid to the floor, a hand over his aching chest. After a few deep breaths, Gregory got to his shaky feet and left the room.
Moon waited for him outside, his arms crossed. "Naughty boy," he stated, his voice stern. "I gave you one rule, and you broke it."
"I didn't mean to!" Gregory burst out. "I didn't know that was going to turn on the lights! I wouldn't have done it if I did! How was I supposed to know Sun was crazy?!" Gregory sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Please. I just want to get out of here."
Moon relaxed. "I understand. Gregory, I cannot help you from here. If you are in danger, you may call for help. I can answer that. You have a Fazwatch. May I show you how to call me?"
Gregory held up his wrist.
Moon started to take the watch and then looked over his arm. "You are injured."
"I got hurt before, but I already got it. I'm fine."
"…I am sure you are fine. You are not in danger." Moon messed with Gregory's Fazwatch for a little bit. "Your Fazwatch is very low on battery. I estimate it will only last until the morning. Now, you may call for help or talk to me directly through this. Do you understand?"
Gregory nodded. "Yeah."
"Good. Be safe, please." Moon walked to the double doors. He hesitated and drew his hand back. "Are you sure you do not wish to stay a little longer? You do not need to sleep if you feel you are unable to do so."
Gregory shook his head. "Sorry, but I gotta get out of here as fast as I can."
"Of course. I understand." Moon opened one of the grand doors.
Gregory ducked under him and ran up to Freddy. "Bye, Moon!"
"Goodbye, Gregory, and good luck."
The doors shut.
Freddy said, "I am happy to see you alive and well! Do you have the badge?"
"Yep!"
"Good. We can enter the main atrium, now."