Prologue: The Aftermath
In a middle of the night, when all the guests had left, there was an adventurer, a little boy.
During that time, the boy risked his fragile life, embarking on one the most challenging, thrilling and somewhat deadly quest in order to escape the world's possibly biggest closed-structure that humanity had ever built – The Mega Pizzaplex.
But escaping wasn't as easy as he thought, there were bots and animatronics looking for him with malicious intention that he dared not to imagine the consequences of being caught by them. As luck would have it, with the help of his new robotic friend, Glamrock Freddy, he managed to get through the bots easily.
A gigantic place like this having dark mysteries was no surprise. Who was that lady bunny? Could she be the one responsible for those recent children disappearances?
Unsolved mysteries aside, right now, he had an escape to make.
Far from the building, a dirt road could be seen. There, beheld a speedy car whose driver you'd never think of.
"Gregory, a-are you sure you can drive?" Said a robotic voice. Although being monotonous, you could feel the concern behind it.
"Don't worry, Freddy, I can handle this myself, I think." Gregory calmed the bear, he had already seen enough car chasing scenes in movies and a little bit of self-taught to drive one.
The last part genuinely worried Freddy.
"Besides, I don't think you can drive, not to mention your oversized metalic body." The boy added, eyes occasionally glaring at the chair being slowly and painfully crushed by the oppressive weight of the bear.
"As much as I wanted to be able to operate, unfortunately, I was not programmed to drive any vehicle.", said Freddy. "That being said, I cannot stand watching you risk your life driving a car at such a young age!"
Gregory giggled, it's been a while since his last genuine laugh. Running and hiding around the building wasn't what his body built for.
"Maybe you can learn how to drive a car without having to be programmed.", he suggested.
"That... is plausible, to say the least.", the bear contemplated.
The two continued on talking, in front of them remained the dirt road, above them remained the half-lit sky. Both could sense that a dawn was about to take place.
The chattering had died down for a while. Just when the boy thought everything was done for good, something unanticipated, yet expected, happened. And he was not ready for it, yet.
"I forgot to ask you this," said Gregory. "why did you leave-"
He was cut off with a glitchy voice, a sign that he should be worried about.
"G-Gregory... M-m-my b-battery...", his glitched voice pitched in chaos, effort was spent spelling out a word.
"No... F-Freddy!", the boy widened his eyes. In horror, his hearted pounded harder than being chased by an animatronic, his voice trembled, overwhelmed by the fear of solitude.
He could not let Freddy "die" like this, he had no family, no known relatives beisdes him, his only friend! Without Freddy, how would he be able to stand against the cruel world outside? He might be able to endure the cold, and find edibles if lucky enough. But loneliness would be the life lasting thing he can cope with.
"Please! Please, stay with me! I-I will think of a plan to replace that damn battery!", he winced while frantically keeping his eyes at the front and glancing at the motionless bear next to him.
"G-Gregory... I-I am s-so sorry.", Freddy took all of his remaining power trying to think of a a final sentence, one that would heavily impact the boy so that he would listen to him.
"B-Be good, w-will you?", in the end, there wasn't much he could say, for time was limited. Truthfully, there was nothing he could think of.
Regrettable? – Yes.
Satisfied? – Surprisingly, yes as well. It was the most appropriate for him to say so.
In the final moment, he speculated where he would end up after being shut down for... forever. Maybe nothing, maybe an afterlife like what people had talked about, though he doubt that an A.I was to be considered "alive" to achieve an afterlife. Nonetheless, he was very pleased, contented and relieved as he had fulfilled his mission... no, desire.
The animatronic bear caught a final glimpse of his superstar and the world around him before entering his eternal slumber.
"No no no!", Gregory screamed as hard as he could. He then forcefully stomped the brake, causing the car to suddenly stop and Freddy's body to fall over due to inertia.
This was his fault, wasn't it? He should have known, shouldn't him? Unlike his animatronic friends, Freddy's design was simply for precautions, due to the occured glitch while performing last night. He shouldn't have brought Freddy with him, for the bear would only make him feel more guilty and sorrowful.
Though, the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Didn't Freddy followed him willingly? The bear must have known for sure that without the charging stations, a lifeless piece of junk was going to be expected. Yet, remained the reflective, shiny body decked with a handful of smears lying next to him.
Why would Freddy gamble his life, and possibly his reputation as an "idol" animatronic, to save a homeless child like him? What made the bear so special, to be the only one that didn't go after him back in the building?
Gregory lied his head onto the steering wheel, numerous questions dancing around his head, making him experience a headache he had never had before.
What do I do now?, the boy thought in desperation. Think, think!
He started digging through his memory, the only thing that could help him in this dreadful situation. He shoved and shoved, desperately scrambling them in a specific order as to create a full picture of that moment. But the feeling of loneliness would always prevent him from doing so, as he was in a state of emotional distress.
Yet again, the boy stayed determined, for he would never forgive himself were he to let go of his friend like this. So, he kept searching... and found something.
"Gregory, what happened to your leg?" Freddy exclaimed in shock, pointing his fingers at the boy's bleeding leg.
"What?", Gregory was a little surprised, he then looked down, and noticed the wound he had gotten. Not until he was informed about it than the pain began to throb.
Freddy escorted him to a nearby bench and fetch himself a first aid kit. He then opened the supplies, took out a small antiseptic bottle and some bandages.
"This will only hurt a little.", the bear forewarned. Slow but steady, he carefully squish the bottle, letting out a few droplets as they come in contact with the wound.
"Ouch! It burns!", Gregory jerked in reflex, he didn't know the pain would be this sharp.
After applying the alcohol, Freddy began wrapping the bandages around the disinfected area.
"Be honest, what have you gotten yourself into?", he calmly demanded.
"I... uh", the boy stumbled, soon, he came up with an explanation. "I may have injured myself while exploring without knowing."
Relieved, the bear sighed just when he had finished patching up before putting them back into the kit. Gregory curiously inspected the strap, it was almost perfectly executed, though he expected it since it was done by a robot.
"Listen carefully, Gregory, for you have known that my battery does not last long like it used to be, after... that incident during onstage performance.", he said, eyes darting to the left when he mentioned the stage part.
Gregory was definitely certain that the bear was uncomfortable when talking about it.
"As a result, I must not miss any hourly recharge. While I am recharging, do not wander yourself into the unknown. Stay away from any potential threats, there has been incidents involving electricity lately. The amount of voltage is enough to power me for a few hours! You should keep an eye out for any leaked electrical wires.", he added.
Gregory rolled his eyes, denoted in discontent, he did not like being lectured over simple issues. Yet, knowing that Freddy actually concerned about him, he couldn't help but smiled at the bear. He didn't care if his friend was a robot, the animatronic itself had already better than any real person.
"You should have used those wires as a power emergency when you were at the construction site." , he said.
"While it is possible, I do not recommend doing so more than once. For it leaves permanent damage, such as long-term battery impairment due to the sudden changes while absorbing a very high amount of voltage in such a short amount of time.", Freddy explained, then added, "But, it would be the final resolve were I happened to be in a dilemma."
Gregory contemplated, should he even remember the advice? Surely, Freddy knew how to get around the Pizzaplex, memorize every single charging station like the back of his paws. Therefore, he didn't have to be worried about it. Yet, something told him that this would be needed in order to save someone's life.
What does it feel, to not feel at all?
How does it feel, to be non-existent, to be not a part of reality anymore?
Would a machine like him has a place to go after departing the world he used to know?
Those were the questions remained lingering inside his core after the shut down. There were so many things he regretted for not having the chance to fulfill them. His friends, how would they react upon his disappearance, let alone the fact that he wouldn't be able to wake up anymore? What about officer Vanessa? She was his friend, too. Her last memories of him were nothing special, except disappointment and frustration.
Not very pleasant, was it not?
Most contrite of all, was leaving Gregory behind, letting him face to face with the dangerous and cruel outside world, alone. Had it not been for that malfunction while performing, his battery would have lasted longer, maybe as long as he wanted to be. Then, he and Gregory would still be talking, gossiping about interesting things.
Frankly, he had been wondering about being able to explore the world outside, behind those walls which he used to call "home". Being trapped inside his room, spending every single day singing, signing autographs, taking pictures with the children, ect... all of which were repetitive and seemed to be neverending.
And no day off! What an absolute nonsensical! Though his friends didn't mind being always active: Monty desired to become the leader of the band, Roxanne was determined to become the best of all, while Chica remained her fanatic crave for pizzas; the bear had been keeping the thought until now.
Of course, such thoughts like this were beyond his grasp in the past. He had not yet open-minded enough to think about it, let alone the constant business of work he had to do.
Just when the dreams had finally come true, so was his inevitable "death". Although, technically, using the word "death" seemed to be too exaggerated. Since draining up the battery only cause him to shut down and rendered useless, he would be functional again as long as there was a power source.
While being unconscious, as if the bear had neglected the basic concept of time, everything seemed to move forward in an instant. It had the same sensation as his charging cycle: at the exact moment he entered rest mode, he was greeted by the alarm, informing him that a new day had started. Despite the instantaneity, the electricity had smoothly flowed his endoskeleton as "refreshed" as ever.
Moment by moment, he began to feel the humming of power quietly rumbling across his components. It reached his legs, arms, fingers, all of which twitched as a sign of revival. After that, sound started flushing through his ears, vibrating the sensors that creating the noises for him to listen. He expected to wake up in the charging station, hoped that all of this was just a dream.
He didn't want to leave his home anymore. He didn't want to abandoned his friends anymore.
For a split of a second, he had forgotten that robots don't dream.
Realization hit, hard as an ultimate truth, white noises turned into wailing sadness.
Freddy opened his eyes, and was greeted with the colour of a dawned sky decked with a handful of tiny dots act as the stars so very far from his reach. He gazed to the left, and saw the green fields extended continuously into the horizon. He recalled having come from that direction, meaning that the Pizzaplex was long gone out of sigh. He gazed to the right, more fields of grass, and trees had begun to "rise up" at the border of earth and sky.
Supposed that both directions led to even more empty fields, he concluded that he was currently in a middle of nowhere, surrounded by the lush land of grass.
And he felt... peaceful, despite not being able to feel the cool of the windy breeze, the noise had made it up.
Blinded by the tranquility, he had forgotten about the boy, who was gluing both of his eyes at him.
"Gregory?", said the calm and gentle voice of his.
Gregory couldn't believe his eyes, it actually worked! He listened to Freddy's advice, and it had spectacularly succeeded! Emotionally uncontrollable, his watering eyes nearly blocked his sight, wiping them wouldn't stop the water from pouring out. His lips almost bled as he had bit them so hard while panicking, yet he could still taste the iron flavour of blood.
As much as he wanted hug the bear, he would never dare to touch him, for acceptable reasons.
"H-Hey, Freddy,", the boy shakily asked, "H-How are you feeling?"
Freddy blinked, then slowly rise up, his vision was a bit glitchy, probably due to not having enough power. "Standard, I think.", he replied. "The amount of energy was sufficient enough for me to execute safe mode. Tell me, Gregory, how were you able to power me up?"
"I...I used...", Gregory remained stuttered due to emotional overflow. He wiped his eyes again, took a deep breath, and then recited everything he had done in order to accomplish such feat.
"Y-You had told me that with enough power to divert into you, like a leaked wire, you could be powered for hours, that your battery would last longer.", he said. "S-So I used the van's battery and the jumper cables to charge you."
Freddy blinked, once again. He stared at the boy, either surprised at the fact that he could both drive a car and use the accumulator as an emergency or the unpredictable potential that the child had. He felt the urge of saying something that would please the boy, or straight up charged at him with an embraced hug. Still, there was something he couldn't figure.
"I... Gregory," the bear said, struggle to hold back the sensation, "How were you able to know that my ears can be used to absorb energy input? I am sure, for this is not common knowledge, especially to those who are not a technician nor a mechanic. Yet, you, Gregory, successfully managed to achieve it. How?"
"Well, I accidentally found a magazine...", Gregory replied, then slowly trailed of as he tried to come up with an appropriate word, "no, wait, it was a handbook, I think. Normally, if I found any notes or magazines of sort, I usually have a quick glance at them or choose not to touch them at all. So, when I took a quick look at it, I saw... the animatronic sketches?"
Freddy tilted his head, this sounded interesting. "Sketches?", he rephrased.
Gregory nodded. "Yes, they're sketches of you and the others. There are scribbles as well, though I couldn't make out much of it, I was able to read the part about your ears being able to absorb power without having to use the charging stations."
"Do you know who wrote it?", Freddy probed.
"No, I didn't.", he frowned.
"Did you bring the handbook with you?"
"N-No... I was in a hurry. Sorry.", he responded, his head bent down, regretfully.
"No matter.", the bear reassured. "I have already troubled you too much, after what you have done in order to help me."
Gregory sat there, as still as a statue, as if waiting for the robot's next sentence.
A few seconds later, the bear finally decided to speak up.
"Gregory, I am very proud of you."
Gregory startled, he looked up, face to face with the animatronic bear. His round, robotic eyes, gazed upon him. The gratitude, the proudness, he rarely see Freddy fully expressed himself. Despite bearing an impassive face, he knew, that deep down, that he really cared about him, that he would risk his life protecting him. For he might never realized why, yet, having acknowledged it, he couldn't help but have to let it all out.
The boy started shaking, his eyes began watering again. Fortunately, he managed to ask one final question, before bursting into tears. "H-hey, is it safe... t-to touch you while you're charging?"
He waited. If Freddy said no, then he would excuse himself and had a good cry in a car later. Contrarily, if the answer was yes, then...
"Yes, you can. Why do you ask-", just before the bear could finish, he was embraced by the tightest squeeze ever.
Gregory, without delay, immediately exploded into tears. So much tears that they formed a stream rolling down his bruised cheeks which he got from occasional missteps. It had been a long time since he last had a mental breakdown like this. It felt good to cry, though.
"Freddy, I'm so sorry for letting you become like this.", he sobbed. "I should have known. I shouldn't have brought you with me. I was dumb. I was an idiot. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
The bear was shocked, having his power just barely enough to stay functional, he had less than a second to fully comprehend what had just happened. He blinked a few times, then conclusively realize the situation.
"G-Gregory, I..."
But he was at a lost for words, yet, the feeling was unbearable, for he did not wish for the boy to cry under his protective arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...", Gregory went on repeating, he was trully uncontrollable of his emotion now.
"Gregory!", Freddy yelled, but not too harsh. He pulled the boy out of his embrace, paws firmly held onto his arms, eyes contentiously stared at him.
"Calm down, will you?", he asked.
Gregory stopped crying, and started to have hiccups for having cried too much. Though he tried as hard as he could to hold it, it seemed that the hiccups were inevitable.
Freddy had a final inspection of the boy's face, before speaking, "I know you are trying to blame yourself, but the choice... it was I who made it."
"T-Then, I should have stopped you!", Gregory retorted. "But I didn't..."
"Gregory, please, this is not your fault. I chose to come with you, else I would not have been here right now.", the bear thoughtfully explained.
"But why?"
Simple, yet hardest to respond. Why, though? He should have no difficulty answering it, yet, remain the puzzled look of his. No, it wasn't possible for him to make choices unawarely. He was a robot, a machine that made choices with accordance, no mistakes. The fact that he couldn't come up with an answer greatly perplexed his mainframe, which were sizzling inside due to the inexplicable contradiction.
"I... I do not know."
Gregory blinked. "W-What?", he muttered. His head was spinning right now.
"I do not know why I chose to come with you, Gregory.", he repeated. "I could not come up with an applicable explanation. Though, I wish that I could. Perhaps, seeing you having to manage yourself after leaving the Pizzaplex had been worrying me to a great extent. I have had... unenjoyable speculations about you, and I knew, that I would never let such thing to ever happen to you."
This was the second time Freddy had no idea what he was doing, and as far as Gregory knew, he wasn't like the others, who were constantly chasing after him back then. Freddy had also told him how it was against his friends' programming for being capable of hurting guests. What happened to them? Was there some kind of malfunction that caused them to act abnormally?
"It's okay, Freddy.", said Gregory, as he proceeded to hug the bear again. "I'm just glad that you safe."
The sky dawned, beams of light began to glimmer at the horizon, spreading across the sky. A strong gust of wind whirried along the fields, creating an invisible wave that shivered the boy when it flew past him.
It was finally over, he had made it out of that horrible place and swore to himself to never come back there ever again. Now, he just wanted to have a good sleep, for he had been running around the place for more than six hours unrested.
"You look tired.", said the bear nervously.
"Of course I'm tired.", the boy yawned. "I couldn't even have a single rest back then."
"How unfortunate, I suggest you taking a rest while waiting for me to be fully charged.", insisted Freddy.
Gregory yawned, attentively stared at the bear, before stretching his arms and lying down. The bear remained his gaze locked at the bright shining ball of light at the distance. He seemed to be mesmerized by its beauty.
"You... have never seen a sunrise before?", asked Gregory.
"My life has always been involving in singing, performing, celebrating children's birthday, and... just those things.", reflected Freddy, who was still observing the rising sun. "Never had I been able to step outside the Pizzaplex, the world outside was non other than a wishing dream. But now, seeing such a spectacular and marvelous sight, it made me feel a sensation that I have never feel before."
He then turned at Gregory, who was currently staring at his amusing reaction. "Tell me, Gregory, what is this... feeling?"
"H-How am I supposed to know?", the boy replied.
Freddy Fazbear as people know it had always been a curious and naive robot, capable of imaginating and critical thinking. There were so many things the bear didn't know, and Gregory would be very pleased to be his tutor. He would be able to learn about the world outside, the people's cultural diversity, science and space, and much, much more.
And maybe asking him philosophical questions revolving around his awareness and consciousness.
Firstly first, he needed a rest. Then, they would continue their journey.
"An ending of a story, is a beginning of another."