Chapter 8:

Pessimistic Hope

"Wait, no! I'm still here!"

"Security alert! Security alert! Woo! Wooo!"

"That is a fountain! A fountain is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water."

"Good news!? Five hours!? I'm not going to last five minutes!"

Things happened too fast for Gregory to fully grasp what the heck was going on; troubles wouldn't stop chasing after him. And when he managed to take one down, two or more popped up instantly.

Apparently, despite the bear's help, he didn't make it to the entrance in time, as the night-time protocol had just been executed. He was trapped, stuck in this cursed place, where he swore to never return. Freddy calmed him down and advised him to keep moving to find somewhere safe while he was charging at the moment. The lobby was huge and enormous, in which a golden Freddy Fazbear statue was firmly situated in the middle, radiating a prideful stance while lustrously reflecting any light it touched. He used the complimentary ticket which he had found in a random and oddly placed gift box nearby. Who put this here anyway? Did anyone even pay attention to its presence?

Anyhow, he carefully listened to the bear's instruction to upgrade the pass, so that he could gain entrance to other places. He minded his way through the lobby while desperately trying to hide for his life from the roaming chicken. Chica was her name, and he did not fond of her disturbing movement and her low-effort attempt to lure him out with the stupid childish candy trick. Saying that his parents were looking for him had already been agitating him more than enough. They knew nothing of him, he suspected that they wouldn't even bother were they happened to know that he came from an orphanage. Nobody cared, anyways.

Well, at least she tried to be nice, unlike the others…

Later, he used the ticket pass to the machine to upgrade it, only for it to eat the pass in the end. As if everything in this mall had an aversion to him, but wasn't he the one who snuck into the building in the first place? After what seemed to be an endless hide and seek game with the chicken, he finally managed to find a way to hack the machine. But, instead of an upgraded pass, he received the Daycare Pass.

He was moments from exploding into emotional distress, which would surely give away his location. Fortunately, Freddy quickly reassured him, the bear then told him to enter the daycare section and get the security badge so that he could open the door for Freddy to come and pick him up when he finished charging. It might sound uplifting at first, that was until he met the daycare attendant.

The animatronic, later known as Sun, was designed to take care of the children. When Gregory first met him, he was terrified, wasn't everyone when a robot unexpectedly emerged from the ball pit out of nowhere and started holding you easily like a lost puppy? Soon, he became frustrated as to how the sun kept locking him in one place, thinking that he was having a slumber party. Sun had a strong habit of keeping the playground clean and tidy, that he had learnt when he accidentally knocked the toy tower over, forcing the sun to panickily arranged them. Knowing the opportunity, he used it to scramble the entire place up, distracting the sun when he went to get the security badge.

Much to his surprise, just right after taking the badge, the lights immediately went off. He remembered hearing Sun insisting on keeping the lights on, now he knew what happened after that the hard way. The sun disappeared or transformed to be precise, only for the moon to rise from the dark. His sinister aura was a million times scarier and more frightening than the happy and energetic Sun. And thus, another hell waiting to be experienced, he might even have nightmares after this. Oh, how much he really wanted to burn this place down. After what seemed to be another endless hide and seek game with Moon, he managed to muddle through the playground and turned on all of the generators, bringing back the light that he loved so much.

What greatly baffled him was the way Sun "thanked" him for saving his life by throwing him out of the daycare and alerting the other animatronics. Thankfully, Freddy was right behind him, so he climbed into the bear's chest without hesitation. They then hurriedly went to a nearby charging station the escape the moon's grip before the end of the hour. After that, they saw… no, he saw a lady wearing a white rabbit costume casually skipping past when they were hiding in the charging booth. For some technical reason, Freddy claimed to not have seen anything which was as clear as in broad daylight. What the heck?

And now, here he was, taking a short break at the fountain. Either bewildered by the fact that it was five hours left until the main entrance opened again, or he was still able to hold himself together instead of being dead by now.

"Are you alright, Gregory?", asked Freddy. "If you are tired at the moment, we can rest here for now."

"Oh, yes. I really am needing a rest right now.", replied the boy, sounding sarcastic. "But guess what? The entire place is trying to kill me! I can't even have the time to catch a single breath!"

"Calm down, will you?", reassured the bear. "You are safe with me. Nothing can hurt you when you stay inside my stomach hatch."

"Freddy, I almost got crushed into a meat pretzel last time, thanks to you!", he retorted. "How can I be so sure that you won't jump around crazily like that again?"

"I promise I will not do it again.", declared the bear, somewhat feeling guilty for having hurt the boy. "You have my word now. Would it be convincing enough for you? It is very important for us to gain trust from each other."

Gregory stared at Freddy, speechless. Sure, he trusted the bear, for he had been doing his best to keep him safe up until now. But would a promise be enough? Not everyone kept their promise, he knew that the hard way, thanks to the bullies in the orphanage, especially his caretakers. Freddy, on the other hand, was just a robot. Robots had no intention of lying, right? Why would they?

"I… I don't really know.", he said exhaustedly. "I hate promises. People make promises, but they never keep them."

The bear raised a brow, head slightly tilted. He expected this, luckily, he had formed an explanation just in case someone probed for it, though he didn't like to say it. Even if he did tell, the bear would just activate his "child therapy" protocol or something like that. People listened, but never cared to sympathize with his tragic condition. Some cared enough to give him fake comforting lines, he felt somewhat grateful, but not really, for he knew how artificial they sounded. Yet, thanks to them, he was able to distinguish between an honest and a dishonest promise. It had made his life somewhat easier.

Meanwhile, Freddy was an animatronic, not a human. Therefore, he couldn't know for sure if the bear was actually being sincere, not to mention, he had just met the bear for only an hour or two.

"Is something wrong?", asked the bear nervously. "Although I detected no injuries, I can sense that you are not feeling well. Are you hurt somewhere? Could you show me where is it? I am no doctor, but I will do my best to help you."

Gregory cringed, either from being pitied at or the fact that an animatronic bear sounded more sincere than an average person despite having a monotonous voice. He wouldn't feel any better were he to tell the bear his thoughts. They'd still be lingering inside his head.

Trembling legs, teeth biting the fingernails. He recalled being barely inches away from the moon's death grips, it sent him waves of chilly goosebumps, from the skin up to the spine. Who in their right mind decided to build this abomination, anyways? This was too much for a child to handle! The company should scrap Moon, or maybe all the animatronics here for the sake of everyone.

"You are shaking. Did you catch a cold?", said the bear, as he crouched down, eyes scanning the boy's forehead. "The Pizzaplex can sometimes become very low in temperature. It is a mall, after all."

"I'm fine.", he replied, then abruptly stood up, impeding the scanning as he dusted off his shorts. "Come on, let's go."

"No, you need to rest first.", the bear sounded firm, his deep and robotic voice gave off an aura like that of a caring figure – thoughtful and kind-hearted. "You have been running for a while, it's high time you took a break. And do not worry, for I am here by your side."

"There's nowhere safe in this building!", he yelled. "How many times do you want me to say it again? You are a robot. Can't you just listen to me for once and not get yourself in trouble? I have read the news about this place. Children got lost and went missing in here! Obviously, there has to be a kidnapper living in here, or maybe it's the robots that causing those disappearances! This is why I don't trust any of your friends! What would happen if they found out that you were helping me? What would they do to you? Destroy you? Scrap you? Or turn you against me?"

The bear was selfless but too naïve. And he hated it. He hated how the bear kept risking himself for the sake of his safety. It exasperated him, for how helpless he was. He dryly chuckled in silence; the moon must have driven him crazy. After getting out of here, an asylum was where he should be heading for, voluntarily. Head ached in sharp migraines, perhaps the bear was right, he wouldn't last for another hour with a terrible body shape like this.

"No, Gregory...", the bear spoke dryly, making him jump a bit. "I would never let that happen to both of us. From now on, I will be careful, I will be there to protect you, no matter what."

A cold, metallic hand was placed upon his shaggy hair. Along with it, uttered the most composed and heartfelt tone of voice he had ever heard. Yet, it delivered a stab to his already broken heart. He would rather deafen both of his ears than listen to what might come next. Pain, grief, agony – the trio of hurt, the enemy and friend of his whenever tears began rolling down his cheeks. They danced in negative harmony, encircling his heart, throwing tiny sharp pins that deeply punctured the emotional bringer. It was insufferable, yet he never got used to it.

"We will come back for you, we promise."

"We will take care of you, we promise."

"We will never leave you behind, we promise."

"We promise…"

But it was merely just his imagination, for what he had expected did not really happen at all. Instead:

"I… I will try my best."

Did he pick up it wrong? Was something wrong with his hearing? Had he been dreaming? Why hadn't he woken up?

It wasn't a promise, nor a vow, nor an oath, but rather… something reassuring.

He pinched himself on the arm, double-checking reality. He still hoped all of this was just a dream, and that he was peacefully sleeping on his soft and squishy bed. Thought it seemed that what he had been experiencing was indeed very realistic and true-to-life. Now, he was fully convinced, it wasn't a dream since the beginning. He began to feel sorry for not trusting the bear.

It was dumb, it was stupid, it was idiotic. Robots don't lie.

Finally, someone who understood. Finally, someone.

He raised his gaze at the bear. Along with it, tears were concealed by a wide and genuine smile.

"Thank you."

Silence accompanied him like an old friend.

Before every great idea there was a silence of the soul, of the self, so welcome it and listen well. Whatever could silence be? For was there not always the sound of your own heart? Just as with whiteness there was light, and blackness was a canvass for dreams; if there was a soul present, there was always something. And so as the quietness grew deeper and he heard his own steady rhythm from within, he called this silence.

Gregory had been watching the flame engulfing the dead fish for fifteen minutes straight while insipidly sketching doodles on the sand using a small stick he had fetched. Occasionally, he would turn up to look at the bear, who hadn't moved an inch from the spot. Did Freddy get mad at him? Surely not, the bear didn't fight back when he went too far criticizing. But wasn't it obvious? The bear could not hurt him no matter how infuriated and provoked he was. Perhaps, the bear was moments from an emotional burst. He remembered seeing the bear's trembling hands, he could feel the pain and anger behind it: Pain because the boy did not open-minded enough to understand your friend's condition; Anger because knowing you were unable to do anything, you realized the only thing made it impossible was yourself all this time.

He was lucky to not witness an animatronic bear turn into a crazy machine. Then again, all of this was his fault.

He shouldn't have said those hurtful words. Sure, it was justifiable for him to go against the idea since how hard and seemingly impossible it was for both him and Freddy to do it, let alone the other animatronics bearing a killing intent and having a grudge against him. The bear sounded so desperate in convincing him that his friends weren't killing machines, it made him feel guilty for having shouted at him. If what the bear had spoken was true, wouldn't it mean his friends were in fact nice and not evil at all? Possibly. But he couldn't buy the thought that easily, for he was sure that the feeling of being chased around and hunted down by them was brutally real and not just some random nightmare.

The bear could be wrong, and he could be right…

Contrarily, the bear could be right, and he could be wrong.

The second probability made him wonder: What happened to the other animatronics after he and the bear had escaped the Pizzaplex? Did they get scrapped as a punishment for not being able to find him and let Freddy wander out of the building? Very unlikely, for the company wasn't that idiotic to pay another mountain of cash to build another set of robots. How would they react to their friend's disappearance? Grief? Sorrow? Agony? Or did not even care at all? The bear said that they were like his family, so he could safely assume that they did somewhat feel sad and misses him dearly. Although, he had a feeling that at least one of them was discretely happy about it. Someone with an uncontrollable temper and a menacing nature would do that, someone with an intimidating appearance like an alligator, perhaps.

Murderous robots asides, at the moment, he had to find a way to make up with Freddy. Despite knowing the bear wouldn't be mad at him or do such thing as abandoning him in the middle of the forest or straight up… mauling him if everything went out of control, he feared that the harsh and inconsiderate words of his would leave some sort of emotional impact on the bear, which was definitely unhealthy for his kid-friendly programming. Also, it had been twenty minutes already and the bear still kept his gaze at the brook, not moving like a statue. With tension slowly building up, he started to feel butterflies flying inside his stomach, creating an unbearable itchy sensation, one that he could not scratch and could only endure in silence.

Damn it, why are you so stupid? The boy scolded himself in whispers. He tightly clenched his fist, snapping the stick in halves in doing so, but he cared not. He then stood up, using his shoes to erase the terrible-looking sketch, it didn't look good anyway, he wasn't an artist.

As he carefully approached Freddy, he noticed the bear's stress-free mood, his ears were perking up and down, his body was still and motionless. Eventually, he stopped just a few steps away from the bear. He wanted to get close but also keep his distance at the same time. He wanted to comfort and say sorry to the bear, but his guilty side wanted him to leave the bear alone with his personal space. Ultimately, started a psychological war where both of his mental sides fought for their choices. This had happened before despite not being often. There would be times when he would take a considerable amount of time to make choices, albeit important or not.

Choices were rarely a fork of two pathways, yet many pathways appeared with eyes a little wider opened. The right path for one person could be different from another and only the inner compass of love and passion could illuminate it for that soul to walk upon. As his inner conscience once said, it was not what he did, it was the way that he did it - that his intentions and thoughts were infused with love and the determination to get things right – that got results.

So, he decided to sit next to the bear using all his might.

They both contemplated the sight of the brook in front. One found it trivial and trifling for how many times it had appeared in their life, one found it noteworthy and expressive for this being one of their first moments in life seeing such marvellous and calming beauty. White water weaved, flowing threads within the brook, amid rocks crowned in verdant moss. The brook was the poster child for the art of positive chaos, for the golden boats of autumn time adorned its sweet harbour. No master of old could have made a picture as pretty as this. It chattered in the hills, mini-rivers creating mini-gorges without the concept of scale. Around them the greenery drank, leaves became boats and their sound upon the rocks sang with a steady confidence, the percussion to the chorus of the birds.

The boy might not understand it without the concept of noise music, but the bear could.

Freddy stared at the moving brook, seemingly fallen into a state of transition between tranquillity and equanimity. He wondered: What sort of enchantment and attraction did the brook contain that he knew not? What sort of witchcraft and sorcery did the brook possess that he grasped not? What sort of familiarity and closeness did the brook emit that he felt not? For he could hear a lullaby, a lullaby that once drove him to slumber without knowing. For he could hear a melody, the melody he had heard before when he used to rest under the constant light of the humming melody of the fluorescent lamps. What was it? What was it called? He remembered it being called a type of noise when he had asked people about it. Not all were familiar with the term, yet it was something that happened everywhere, every time, we just did not know what it was.

"I do not know why nor how, but… having listened to the sound of the flowing brook seemed relaxing to me.", the bear finally spoke up, his voice was deep and robotic, a typical monotonous accent for a machine characteristic. Yet, for some reason, one could find it meaningful and alive. "It faintly reminded me of the buzzing sound of the neon and fluorescent lights in the Pizzaplex, where the were times when I would lie under the floor and listen to it attentively. Then again, I was a machine built for performing rock music, yet I prefer calm and quiet spaces to turbulent and tumultuous crowds. Ironic, was it not?"

Gregory turned to look at the bear, whose responsive eyes were paying deep concentration to the brook in front, whose mighty lower jaws was gaping in relaxation. Freddy wasn't mad, he was just resting, well, while in a depressing mood. He wasn't sure if he should reply to the bear or not despite not even knowing what to say. The bear had talked to him first, he ought to say something back, right? He couldn't just let the bear talk to himself, that would be even worse.

"Y-Yeah, sounds pretty ironic.", he stuttered at the first word, before regaining composure. "Has anyone found out your… uh, odd habit?"

The bear looked down for a while, eyes kept open. "Only my friends know about it. Chica would occasionally join in with me. Sometimes, we would talk about how our day had gone out and what happened during those times; sometimes, we would give compliments to each other's performance after every show and plan on what to do next for the upcoming ones. She is my closest friend; we always do everything together. Well… those memories are in the past now, for I am no longer in the Pizzaplex."

Wait… Freddy couldn't be lying, right? He thought so, but he sensed nothing sounded similar to that of a lie. The animatronics, especially Chica, was good-natured as the bear had spoken. But that's impossible, for he had seen it with his very own eyes – the killing intent, the maliciousness, the dreadful growls of the murderous robots. They were all real and authentic to the eyes of his. What was going on? If what the bear spoke was true, wouldn't it heavily contradict his perception?

Now that he thought about it, he remembered Chica being actually sincere and worried about him, except the wolf and the alligator because they seemed to be too impatient and would likely tear him without mercy. But when she spotted him, as if some kind of protocol was activated, her entire personality flipped one hundred and eighty degrees and turned into a threatening predator, she would chase after him like there was no tomorrow, hunting for a lone prey in the middle of her territory. He used to think it was all just pre-programmed lines for finding lost children in order to lure him out. Having taken by fear and panic, he was given no time to process the idea of the chicken being controlled by a virus of some sort. Well, it was a bit too late to realize now.

"I… I miss her…", continued the bear, who sounded desperate in uttering every word. "I miss my friends. I want to help them; I want to free them from that confining chamber. But I cannot go back, not right now, not this time, not this moment. I need to fix myself first before I can return."

"I-I'm not sure, Freddy.", he nervously remarked. "Even if you have your battery fixed and came back to that place and successfully sneaked inside. Do you think they would listen to you? You know, mainly because I don't think none of your friends had the same idea as you did."

The bear blinked in realisation as he leaned his head towards the boy. "T-They would! The children disappearances, the greedy intent of the company… As one could easily be spotted, they must have realised it as well! I-If not, I would convince them. They would understand… r-right?"

They would understand, right?

Desperation was a gateway to newness and a different path, so always be willing in these moments to embrace the light and turn down anything else. In every moment of desperation, a pathway had opened up, and though it felt so painful to walk, because he was always seeking the light, eventually he caught its glimpse. In every moment of desperation, if he could take a backward step and view the scene with a loving and wise eye, there would be a way to turn things around. These difficult emotions, he saw them as a river flowing by him. He sat here upon the grass and onward they went. In a few days the water was calm again and so was he. There was nothing to be done about them, he only had to stay calm, do healthy things and then everything would be okay again.

His friends, who were all so innocent and naïve, did not know nor care about what was, what is, and what will be revolving around them. For the future was unpredictable, even as a robot, he could not absolutely be sure about the continuative flow of the time itself. Who knew what lied ahead of him in this vast and unending world? Who knew what lied ahead of his friends in those days of living in solitary confinement? These questions were meant to be asked, but were not meant to be answered, for the answers themselves were something out of reach, something akin to an imaginary concept, something he obtained not at the moment.

It was something the bear did not calculate.

He was the first to be enlightened, the first to see the true cruel face of the company, the first to escape and into the outside world. He learnt things that his friends knew not, achieved things that his friend could not. He was taught about the charming forest and its pacific wildlife, the radiant night sky and its enigmatic nature… All of it thanks to the boy, whom he so dearly cared and was grateful of. His friends were yet to realize everything, for they were yet to be enlightened. And he couldn't blame them so. Perhaps, the requirement in order to become fully open-minded wasn't as cheap as he had thought, after all.

"I… I hope so.", replied the boy.

Silence came as it greeted the two, before departing again.

"Gregory,", he faintly called out. "do you think it is possible for my friends to be enlightened, just like how I was enlightened by you? I was wondering if you repeated the same thing you had said to me for them to hear, maybe they would somewhat get it?"

"I'm not really sure.", responded the boy. "I still think that they're evil…"

"O-Oh,", he said, feeling a bit upset. "I can understand-"

"But,", the boy cut him off. "hearing you talking nice things about your friends, especially Chica, I guess not all of them are evil. Hehe…"

Sighing in relief, Freddy smiled as he gave Gregory an encouraging grin. At least he was able to convince the boy that his friend, Chica, had actually been a kind-hearted and compassionate chicken and not a "killing machine" as mentioned before.

"A-And I'm sorry for yelling at you…", the boy shamefully apologized to him, eyes facing the damp ground. "I-I didn't think straight before speaking and went a bit too far. I, um… hope you can forgive me."

Eyes widened; he couldn't help but smile at the boy. "No, Gregory,", he calmly said as he patted the boy's head. "Thanks to you, I was able to see the flaw and illogical details within the idea. Had you not told me about it, well, things might have gone a little out of control then. Heh…"

His weak robotic laugh with the boy's energized giggles merged into one happy big joy. In the quiet moment, when all the world was put on pause, when he was so very lucky to see right into his eyes, he had a wordless definition for joy. Perhaps, joy was a way of feeling that came from within as weaved into nature, into creation, that was gentle and soft. It was thus a gift he learnt how to give to himself. Joy was in the moment, the more focused the more intense, like a beam of light to the soul. And just as with well-focused light, it was then he found better resolution.

"Oh! I almost forgot!", exclaimed the boy as he took out a handful of photos within his pocket and gave them to the bear. "Here."

"What are these?", he asked amusingly while taking a scan with each picture,

"These are the photos of the forest I have taken using the Fazcam when you were sleeping. With this, I can help you illustrate easier-"

"You went into the forest alone!?"

Well, that escalated quickly.

"Enlightenment – the close kin of realisation."

A/N:

The flashback part was actually written long before (like 2 weeks ago), so the writing tone was a bit different.
Also, thank you all for your kindhearted comments 3