Summer, July 5th 2035, Thursday – PizzaPlex – Rockstar Row

9:30 AM

Chica made her way out into Rockstar Row, leaving her bags ready in her green room for now. She figured she would stop by FazPad since it should be open by now, to grab a cubcake and a coffee. Caffeine doesn't really do anything for her since she is a robot but with her taste sensors, she enjoys the taste of coffee and her food processing unit will break it down to provide a charge to her.

The casually dressed chicken woman noticed the quiet halls, it was still the early hours of opening, business wouldn't pick up until around the time Gregory would just be arriving with Vanessa. There was maybe a handful of customers in the mall checking out the shops and cafes, no attractions were open for the moment, no shows were scheduled in the atrium today. But the West Arcade was already open and Bonnie was already opening up the arcade with staff coming in for their shifts.

Mangle said she would cover for Roxy in her raceway while she was gone, and Cassidy said she would fill in for Chica, since Cassidy was a chicken animatronic like her now and Chica has been teaching her some of her guitar skills.

Chica was quite proud of how far Cassidy has come since she was taken in by them, after she was transferred to a 1 to 1 copy of Chica's body as an AI thanks to Jason Tyler, former FazBear CEO and William Afton before he was defeated for the last time during the PizzaPlex incident a few months ago. Cassidy after being turned into an AI, started to see the error of her ways and helped the Glamrocks and Vanessa stop William once and for all. She left behind her dedication of making him endlessly suffer, which allowed him to keep coming back. Now she had a new life, and could focus on herself and moving on from the past. Chica was like a sister figure to her, helping her to adjust to life as another glamrock animatronic. And Cassidy often got along well with Gregory, both coming from a similar experience of not having their parents around anymore. They both talked with each other a lot about their experiences.

Chica made her way back to the atrium then went up the escalators to take an elevator back down to the main foyer where FazPad is.

She closed her eyes and happily hummed the PizzaPlex theme the elevator played, that she and the band have played many times before. Chica loved performing with her friends. In terms of her favorite songs to perform, it was a toss up between her home's theme and the classic Queen song, We Are The Champions. Which Freddy had amazing vocals for that cover.

After getting Bonnie and Foxy back, the band started doing special concerts to honor all the victims of Afton. Although Bonnie and Foxy were not regular members like they used to be due to their new commitments in their new roles, they still made guest appearances. They performed at a local park a few weeks ago, she never will forget that night. She, Freddy, Roxanne, Monty with Foxy and Bonnie performed that song together. The crowd went wild.

The elevator opened up she was at the top of the main foyer. She walked over to FazPad, there were two regular customers that recognized her and she always recognized them. It was a middle aged woman and her 30 year old son, the FazPad was their usual morning stop to start the day. Because their regulars and see her all the time they didn't hound her for autographs just because she's famous, and often, when she didn't have a packed schedule, she would sit down with them for a few minutes to chat when things were slow in the morning on her working days.

"Morning Chica!" The duo said from their table near the window, as she walked in.

"Morning Kim! Morning John!" Chica said right back as she walked over to the counter. She saw the new barista that recently got hired Chad, a young 19 year old man, working part-time while in college.

"Hey Chi Chi, your regular?" Chad asked.

"You know it my guy." Chica said.

Chad made her medium iced coffee with extra whip cream, and threw red dyed chocolate wafers on top to make it look like some kind of sweet pizza. He then grabbed a cupcake off the shelf that resembled the metal cupcake prop that Chica's original incarnation would hold back in the day, Mr. Cupcake. The cupcake even has candy eyes on it to resemble it even more.

"Okay Chi Chi, here's your usual." Chad said handing her, her coffee and her cupcake in a box.

"Thanks Chad, honey you're the best." Chica said walking over to stop by and see the regulars Kim and John. She took a sip of her iced coffee.

"Mmmm." She said as she tasted it.

It's even better then usual today. Chad really nailed it.

Chica sat down at their table for a moment.

"So any excitement for the day ahead?" Kim asked.

"Actually I'm off today. One of the others is going to fill in for me. I've got my understudy Cassidy filling in for me." Chica said unboxing her cupcake.

"Oh that must be nice dear. It's always good to get a day for yourself." Kim said.

"Actually it's several, I'm going on a trip this weekend with Roxy and our little brother." Chica said with a smile thinking of Gregory.

"Wait? You have a little brother Chica? Like was he built recently? What kind of animal is he? Is he a fox model or a wolf model? Or a chicken model like you?" John said assuming it was a new animatronic she was talking about.

Chica giggled.

"Oh? No, no, he's not a new animatronic, he's a real child. His name is Gregory. He's the kid that helped fix us up after the hacking incident and saved the PizzaPlex. You remember Vanessa the girl that works in our security department? Gregory is her adopted son. Legally he can't be our brother on paper of course, since we're ya know we're robots, but he is to us. While were originally programmed to treat all kids equally, Gregory is a more personal case for us. He really is like family to us, he and Vanessa. We've all become really close since the incident." Chica said.

"Oh my I forgot about that awful incident, I remember when it made national news. That awful CEO you once had, the way he treated you all. It must have been so tragic." Kim said.

"Yeah..we don't really like to talk about it too much anymore these days. It was a painful night for everyone, including Gregory and Vanessa. I've mostly been putting it behind me, and the good news is I gained something positive from it, the boy that is our superstar." Chica said taking a bite out of her cupcake.

"Wow, that's incredible that you all have developed a close relationship with this child. 20 years ago if someone told me a robot could develop emotions and feelings for others and humans that seem genuine, I would have told you, you were crazy, but technology has really come far." Kim said.

"Don't forget mom, they can drive like us now too, and some even now own their own apartments. Their AI is highly advanced now and sentient. It's the reason the federal government came up with a program to register every robot that meets the requirements to be classified as sentient, and define laws and rules just for them." John said.

"Kim, John is right, more and more we are becoming a lot like you both. We're just not made of flesh and organic material like you that's all and we don't age haha. I'll never forget the day the robots rights activists got congress to sign a bill in support of letting us have some more freedoms." Chica said taking another bite out of her cupcake.

I mean…Fazbear did lobby for that one a bit while Jason was running the show, but it actually worked out in the end…so…

"Well in any case, I'm happy that your getting to spend time with Gregory. He sounds like a lovely child." Kim said.

"He can be a little gremlin sometimes, but he's our gremlin. He's very smart for his age." Chica said.

"How old is he?" John asked.

"He just turned 13." Chica said finishing her cupcake.

Wow…that tasted amazing!

"Well, I hope you and Roxanne have a wonderful time this weekend." Kim said.

"Thanks! I'm sure it will be a blast." Chica said with a smile.

Roxanne walked into FazPad.

"Oh there you are Chickpea!" Roxanne said walking over to the table to sit next to her.

"Oh sorry Rox! I just wanted to grab something to start the day before Gregory and Vanessa get here." Chica said.

"No big Chickpea, I already loaded up the car, I swung by your room and grabbed your bags for you too. It's all set, I even brought the WRX around and parked it up front in like the 1st open spot, since we barely have any other customers or guests yet. " Roxanne said.

Chica and Roxanne got a group text message from Vanessa on their iPhones.

"Hello gals I'm here! I brought Greggy! Come meet me in my office downstairs!" Vanessa said.

"Kim, John, you both have a wonderful day. If you want anything else while you're here, it's on us." Chica said.

She then told Chad to put any other items they order on her company card.

"Thanks Chica! Have fun!" John said as she and Roxanne headed out of FazPad and went downstairs.