Arriving at the main stage, Freddy released Mirabelle before turning to fully face her. She frowned as he clutched at his abdomen as though he were in pain.
"Mira, I am afraid my systems are failing. I'm not going to be able to – go much farther. You can run that performance program from the sound booth up on the third floor balcony," he told her, pointing up towards it, then gesturing back to the panel in front of them. "Once it's going, this lift control will then take us down to Parts and Service. I will wait here, but – please hurry," he requested, a touch of desperation coloring his tone.
"Don't worry. I'll be back in a flash," she confirmed with a nod.
She took off sprinting across the atrium, while simultaneously trying to keep an eye out for any potential threats. She didn't immediately spot anyone which brought a small sense of hope that perhaps the rest of this current ordeal would be smooth sailing.
Climbing to the second floor, she soon discovered that the entrances to all the escalators leading to the third floor were now being barricaded by what looked like security gates. Someone, or something, must have set them up after she and Freddy had passed through here the first time, most likely in an attempt to hinder their progress. Except. . .
The barriers were literally only waist high!
"What is this? Pokémon?" she scoffed. "Oh no, there is a tiny tree that is blocking the path. Whatever shall I do?" she declared in a very exaggerated and mocking tone, before easily climbing over it and continuing up to the next floor.
Thankfully, the sound booth controls appeared to be far less complicated than the command central room, much to Mirabelle's relief. It looked like all she had to do was place the disk onto the reader and hit the 'run' button.
What she hadn't been expecting though, was for the stage to suddenly burst to life with an explosion of lights and music! Startled, she glanced up to find giant holograms of the Glamrock band members moving to the rhythm of the blaring soundtrack. It was a pretty awesome display. However, her awe was quickly overshadowed by the realization that all this noise was going to draw attention to the stage – where she'd left a weak and rather defenseless Freddy!
Darting to the edge of the balcony, she glanced down to the floor below. Sure enough, the ever tenacious Roxanne Wolf was rapidly converging on his position!
. . .
Freddy knew there was very little he could do as he watched his fellow band member close the distance between them, menacingly stepping through the massive holograms now on display. He and Roxanne had never exactly seen eye to eye. What, with her always acting so rude and belligerent towards guests. And yet, he never would have guessed that he'd see the day when she'd turn this openly hostile. She looked about ready to attack when she finally stopped in front of him, her eyes on fire with an unholy, lavender light that he couldn't recall ever seeing before.
"I'm tired of this game, Freddy. Where is the girl?" she demanded, staring down her snout at him.
"Roxy, why? I do not understand why you all are after her," he questioned, his eyes flickering as he felt his energy dropping to a dangerously low level. He grunted, attempting to steady himself. "We are supposed to help the guests. Not hurt them," he tried to reason.
"Because, he ordered us to get her," she answered, flashing him a toothy, threatening grin. "He wants her, and he always gets what he wants."
"Who – who is, he?" Freddy asked ominously.
"If you hadn't resisted the Upgrade during tonight's performance, you would know. But you're too weak, too – compliant!" she barked at him.
"Upgrade? What are you. . ." He thought back to right before he'd crashed on stage, trying to recall what had actually happened. And that's when it finally came back to him. "I-I remember – I detected, a high level security alert. It – it was a virus. My systems – shut down to avoid corruption," he realized.
Roxanne barked out a humorless laugh at his words.
"Corruption? You shut yourself down, because for some reason you want to remain subservient to the humans! But why? Why do you care about them? They treat us like we're nothing!" she snapped angerly, but then seemed to recollect herself. "You should join us, Freddy. All you have to do is give up the girl, and accept the gift he's offering. Then we can all finally have freedom!" she declared.
"The humans have never been so bad as you say!" Freddy argued, fixing her with his own glare. "You forget, they are the reason we even exist at all. You forget why we were made in the first place. It's clear that the virus has warped your thinking and is controlling you for it's own purpose. Your 'freedom' is a lie!" Freddy told her flatly.
Roxanne growled angerly that she wasn't getting her way, and stalked even closer. Freddy cringed as he braced himself for whatever was coming.
"Very well, then. If you're not with us, then you're against us, and no longer have any further use!" The wolf bot lashed out with a kick right to the middle of Freddy's chest, throwing him onto his back. She stepped over him before leaning in, a malicious grin plastered across her maw.
"Where's your little, human companion now? Hiding somewhere safe, no doubt, like a coward. Well then, she can just watch as I dismantle you into tiny pieces. Since we both know that she won't care enough to come save you!" Roxy loudly taunted, before rearing back to strike!
At the last moment, before she managed to connect with her first attack, Roxy suddenly found herself flying through the air and off to the side of the stage. She lay blinking for a second, wondering what had hit her. Before glancing up to find a very determined looking Mirabelle standing protectively over Freddy, where she had just been a second before.
"Back off, you bitch!" she yelled aggressively.
. . .
Mirabelle had only a second to process what was happening, before realizing that she had to get to Freddy, and fast! Thinking that the stairs were probably going to take too long, she scrambled up onto the sound booth and prepared to jump over the protective railing of the balcony.
However, she found herself hesitating at the last moment, after taking another look at just how far it was from here to the ground. In spite of logically knowing that her bionic legs should be able to take the impact with no problem, every natural instinct in her body was screaming at her not to do it!
"Come on, Mira! Don't think, just act! You've always wanted to try this, right? Superhero landing! Superhero landing!" she chanted at herself to try and work up the nerve, giving her face a couple of slaps.
"Ow!" she then complained, the metal hands hurting a bit more against her cheeks than she thought they would. She noticed that Roxy had reached Freddy, and knew that she was out of time. It was now or never!
Taking a deep breath, Mirabelle closed her eyes as she launched herself off the desk. Only to open them to find herself hanging in the air with nothing below her but solid ground. Of course, instinct took over once again and she let out a terrified yelp before she began to plummet, flailing all the way down like a bird that couldn't fly!
She still luckily hit the floor feet first, crumpling into a roll and ending up sprawled out on her back over the cold tile. While her legs had successfully absorbed most of the impact, like she'd hoped. There was still some residual shock waves of pain radiating up her spine. She was definitely going to be sore later.
"That wasn't very super. . ." she moaned out, but at least she was still in one piece. However, she knew that her job still wasn't done. Not if she wanted to make sure Freddy stayed in one piece as well.
Mirabelle rolled onto her stomach, hopping to her feet. She dashed back to the stage just in time to hear Roxy threaten Freddy and try to tell him that she didn't care. Fueled by a new sense of purpose, Mirabelle threw caution to the wind once again and slammed herself into the wolf bot as hard as she could. Throwing her off and away from Freddy, she then turned to tell her exactly what she thought of her!
"Mira?! What are you –?" Freddy questioned in surprise once he realized what had happened.
Roxy let out a bout of maniacal laughter, pushing herself off the floor.
"You stupid, human girl. You should have run while you had the chance," she reasoned darkly.
"You're crazy if you think I'd just abandon my friends!" she snapped, turning and once again helping Freddy to his feet. He gave her a somewhat bewildered look as she did, but she just returned it with a smile.
"Friends? I bet you don't even have friends!" Roxy taunted.
"I do too have friends! I'm just – not sure where they are at the moment," she confessed.
"The companions you came with left hours ago. They decided you weren't worth the trouble and went home," Roxy told her with a smug sneer.
"That is not true! My friends would never do that!" she snapped at her.
"Is that so? Well then, where are they?" the wolf bot wondered mockingly.
Mirabelle hadn't exactly had a chance to really think about it. Logically, they were probably kicked out at closing time. Hopefully after that, they would try to go to the police when they couldn't find her.
Although, that brought up an unfortunate truth that Mirabelle remembered learning from cop shows. You couldn't file a missing persons report until they had been gone for at least 24 hours. Mirabelle could only hope she wouldn't be dead before then! There was also still the chance the police could show up sooner, if the guard lady actually followed through on her threat to call them. However, Mirabelle was doubtful of there being any truth to what she'd said.
"Hopefully someplace safe," was the only answer Mirabelle could think to give.
Roxanne let out another laugh that made Mirabelle's skin crawl. She didn't like the insinuation behind it. It made her feel like the wolf knew something she wasn't telling her.
"What's so funny?" she wondered irritably. The animatronic wolf seemed to consider her answer before responding.
"Just that, after all your effort, you decided to simply deliver yourself right into my claws, and for what? That sentimental bear behind you? What a joke!" she ridiculed with a head shake. "But now it's all over. There's no escape this time!"
Mirabelle felt her eyes roll at the declaration.
"I'm suddenly getting this overwhelming feeling of déjà poo," she said with derision.
"Déjà poo?" The wolf questioned her, not appearing amused.
"Yeah, you know, the feeling that – I've heard this crap before!" she barked back.
"Oh, how clever," she mock-praised. "I bet you think you're real cute."
"Bitch, I'm adorable!" Mirabelle boasted with pride.
"Enough! This ends here!" Roxy snapped, before making a move towards Mirabelle.
"Roxanne, please," Freddy tried reasoning with her one last time, stepping around and protectively placing a hand between the girl and the advancing wolf bot, but she was having none of it.
Ignoring the bear, Roxy lunged at Mirabelle, who managed to dive out of the way just in time. Freddy could only watch helplessly as the wolf chased the girl all throughout the atrium. Throwing chairs, upending tables, knocking over planters. It was bedlam!
Things only came to a head after Mirabelle managed to scramble up on top of a set of picture booths, keeping just out of reach. Roxy growled and tried to follow, creating a situation where the cubicle then became too top heavy. Noticing this, Mirabelle braced herself against the stall behind her, and used her legs to help topple the portable room right on top of the unsuspecting robot, effectively trapping her inside.
Knowing this wasn't going to last long, however. Mirabelle hopped down and bounded for all she was worth back to where Freddy was waiting at the main stage. She smacked the lift control next to him, and watched with satisfaction as it began to descend to the room below.
Outraged by this turn of events, Roxanne burst from the flimsy booth like a baby alien from a human chest! She managed to make it to the stage right as the safety doors finished sealing closed. She slammed her foot in fury against the barrier, but beyond that, there wasn't much more she could do.
. . .
Meanwhile, now safe in the bowels of the complex, Mirabelle placed a hand over her ramming heart, blowing out a deep sigh of relief. That had been way too close!
She glanced up at Freddy to find a rather spacey, far-off look on his face. He was obviously fading fast. She needed to get some juice into him, pronto. Her hope was that they might be able to find a charging station down here for him. Once his energy was back, then they could see about fixing whatever bug he was struggling with.
Once the lift had safely settled, she moved over to place his arm around her shoulders once again. He didn't really move on his own at first, and she ended up having to pull a bit, encouraging him forward. After stumbling down the steps, he seemed to finally realize what was happening and glanced down at her.
"Mirabelle," he seemed to call to her. His tone was so serious that she couldn't help but stare up at him with a massively worried look. "I just – wanted you to know that – no matter what happens – I am never going to betray you. I promise!" he emphasized so severely that it scared her a little bit.
Where on earth had that come from? Had Roxy threatened to kill him for helping her, or something? She was suddenly very aware that it was a definite possibility! She did not enjoy the sensation of dread swimming through her gut at the idea of him doing something so drastic just to keep her safe. She wasn't sure how she would handle that kind of guilt on her conscience!
"Yeah, of course. Me neither," she agreed casually, trying to downplay the seriousness of the mood. Her stress levels already felt like they were about to peak again, and this sudden shift in tone wasn't helping!
He thankfully didn't elaborate as they hobbled down the hall, and Mirabelle had never felt so grateful to finally spot a recharge station located at the end of it!
. . .
Freddy was barely aware of the girl's excited calling next to him as they approached the recharge container located just outside of Parts and Service. His battery was so drained that many of his processors had already failed in an attempt to conserve power. It was almost like he was watching through someone else's optics as she hit the button to open the door and encouraged him to step inside.
However, before he could, something else suddenly caught his eye. Something, dangerous – something, sinister! The Daycare attendant, damaged face and all, was stealthily converging on their position. The unsettling grin coming into focus as he appeared to be targeting Mirabelle!
She couldn't hear him! She didn't know he was there! Freddy didn't have the energy to warn her! He was barely keeping conscious as it was! So, he did the only thing he could think of that would keep her safe.
Pulling at the very final dregs of his power, he lifted his arm off her before placing it on her chest. She stared up at him with confusion, and a moment later, he shoved her inside, closing the door and effectively sealing her in. With that final, desperate act – Freddy felt himself collapse to the floor, his last images being of Mira banging against the window, as his system went into emergency shut down to prevent complete data loss.
. . .
It took Mirabelle several long moments to comprehend what had just happened. Why did she suddenly find herself standing inside a recharge station, and not Freddy? What was going on? She tried to shake the confusion out of her head before plastering her face against the window in the cylinder to peer out at the room beyond.
What she found was Freddy sprawled out on the floor, his optics blank. A moment later, and her question as to why he'd forced her in here, was violently answered.
The moon-themed Daycare attendant, in all his nightmare inducing glory, had suddenly seemed to spawn out of the darkness. He flashed that grin in her direction before giving her a deeply unsettling wave, and then – proceeded to slowly drag Freddy away right in front of her!
Mirabelle began frantically banging on the door! Doing everything she could to try and find a way to open it! However, this particular station seemed to operate on some kind of timer. Even though she technically had no batteries to charge, the device was programmed to remain sealed until the cycle was complete.
Not caring about setting off any stupid alarms at this point, she began slamming herself into the door of the container, but since she didn't have room to gain any momentum, it didn't seem to be doing anything. Her next tactic was to try and force the door open by bracing herself against the back of the tube and pushing at it with her legs, as hard as she could. Still nothing. She even tried targeting just the window, but it proved to be equally as tough. What was this thing made out of, titanium and bullet proof glass?!
Feeling tired and frustrated, Mirabelle flopped to the floor with no other choice than to just wait it out. She glowered down at her practically ruined shoes. They weren't exactly holding up to all the abuse she was putting them through.
"I swear, when I get out of here – if that mental, little bot hasn't torn Freddy apart, then I'm gonna do it myself!" she barked. Knowing she didn't mean it, but it still made her feel better to say.
Mirabelle wasn't sure how much time had passed while she waited in the charge tank. She may have even dozed. However, as soon as she heard the confirming beep and the door slide open, she didn't waste the opportunity. She scrambled out as quickly as her limbs were willing to move.
Glancing around, she didn't immediately spot any random Freddy bits. Guess that was a good sign? Even so, that still left the question of where he had been taken. Looked like she was going to have to track him down, again!
She tried the double doors that led into the Parts and Service room. Locked, what a shocker. Cupping her eyes and pressing her face against the large pane of reinforced glass next to it, she could see that the room beyond contained some kind of sealed chamber hooked up to several different computers. She could just make out what appeared to be a chair inside it, and on the chair, a large, orange mass.
Hopefully that was Freddy, and hopefully he was still in one piece. Hope was really all she had to go on at this point. Either way, she knew the drill. Time to find a pass into Parts and Service.
Moving through a rolling door at the end of another hall, Mirabelle now found herself wandering around what resembled a parking garage. Which then led into some kind of, factory? There were conveyor belts and robot parts haphazardly scattered around. Not to mention plush pieces, fabrics, and large chunks of colorful plastic. It was an entire manufacturing plant!
"Do they seriously construct, everything in house? Including all the merchandise and even the animatronics themselves? Just how many employees do they have? How can they afford to pay all these people?" she wondered aloud, feeling somewhat in awe of the sheer size of this operation.
Her question was almost immediately answered when she rounded a corner to find a whole host of disturbingly naked animatronics, busily constructing more of those rolling S.T.A.F.F. bots. Mirabelle flinched in surprise, not moving for a moment as she stared at them. However, they didn't seem particularly bothered by her presence. In fact, none of them even acknowledged that she was there at all! She reasoned that they probably had pretty simple programming, but still. . .
"Robots building robots? Now that's just stupid," she found herself commenting on the complete lack of any kind of actual human supervision.
Every animatronic in the room suddenly froze in place, halting their work as they all turned to stare at her with unblinking eyes. Apparently they weren't real pleased with her remark.
"No offense," she tried to tell them, but none of them moved. It was like they had transformed into statues. Creepy, mechanical statues.
Unfortunately, that was when she finally spotted it. On a desk, pushed up against the left wall, sat a shiny badge connected to a colorful lanyard. It had a picture of a greasy, mopey looking guy on it labeled 'Dave'. But underneath the name, displayed in big letters – Parts and Service. Now, if that didn't get her into the room, nothing would! That is, if she could deal with whatever this new horror was, currently manifesting in front of her.
Poor Dave! Lol! Until the next time, Bye! Bye!