Gregory curled up as tight as he could inside of Freddy's chest, feeling the bumps and the awkward footsteps the animatronic took down each staircase. It troubled Gregory as to why Freddy would be the only robot out of the entertaining bunch that would not harm him or turn him into Vanessa, but he was done asking questions that he would not get answers to. Right now, the blood escaping from his check was bothering him, the metallic scent wafting in the small alcove, making him feel weezy.
"Freddy?"
He answered. "Yes Gregory?"
"Could you tell me a little bit about your friends?" Gregory asked. "For if… You know… When I have to fend myself against them."
Freddy didn't reply immediately, which made Gregory's heart skip a beat. But the bear sighed, resisting the urge to stay silent for the rest of the adventure. "Roxanne Wolf resides in the room next to mine. She's very non secretive about trying to make herself the children's favorite, attending Roxy Raceway and being the winner every single time. She was programmed to have a competitive attitude, which tires Monty a lot." Freddy chuckled, causing his body to shiver. Gregory placed his hands on top of the cavity's ceiling to keep himself from being jostled around.
"I heard about her!" Gregory said. "She likes to tell herself that she's the best. And that her… Maine is beautiful?"
"Yes, that sounds like Roxy indeed." Another staircase, and then Freddy continued to speak. "Chica is very food oriented. She loves food, and sometimes even eats out of the garbage… Which I don't think was a purposeful flaw given her rather kind personality. Well, I think she's kind. Monty tends to think otherwise. Speaking of Monty-"
Freddy stopped talking, suddenly going silent. Gregory tilted his head up. "What's wrong with Monty?"
"Nothing's wrong with Monty," Freddy said defensively and reassuringly. Then his voice grew hesitant. "He's just… Well… He's…"
Gregory tapped his chest. It opened, revealing a completely different environment that was equally unknown to him. A first aid area with a red curtain. For some reason, that gave Gregory the shivers.
Footsteps.
"Quick Gregory! Hide!"
He stumbled, then ran into the curtains, crouching in the booth. He found a stash full of alcohol wipes and bandages. He shoved a few in his pocket hastily, not caring to clean his wound just yet despite it stinging to high hell.
"Freddy! What are you doing here! You're supposed to be on lockdown."
It was that security lady Vanessa again. Gregory peeked out of the curtain, seeing the back of Vanessa's head. She had long blond hair tied up back into a ponytail, a hat covering her head. From what he could tell she had a lovely figure, slender in her arms and legs. She was rather beautiful, but also there was something about her voice that Gregory got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"I-I'm sorry Vanessa," Freddy mustered out. He looked genuinely confused, glowing eyes darting all over the place. "I don't know how I got here."
Vanessa sighed. "Your memory disk must be malfunctioning," she said, scratching her head with her flashlight. "Anyways, do you have any sight of the child that we've been looking for?
"We?"
"Your friends and I, Freddy. We've been looking for this kid everywhere ever since this afternoon. Apparently his profile isn't in the Guest Interface but… But you already know that, don't you?"
Gregory shivered, pulling the curtain towards his body.
"I did not know that Vanessa. I have not seen this missing child anywhere."
"Hm, well, tell me when you do find him. Apparently he answers to the name Gregory… At least that's what we heard."
"Interesting," Freddy said. He was trying his best to not look at Gregory's hiding spot, averting his eyes to stay on Vanessa. "I'll be sure to remember that."
"Good!" Then she went away without a second glance.
At the sound of her footsteps disappearing past the corner, Gregory jumped out of the hiding spot he was previously occupying. He looked over his shoulder, down the hall Vanessa disappeared down.
He exhaled. "I can't believe everyone's looking for me. What did I do?"
Freddy put his hand gently on Gregory's mess of brown hair. Well, as gently as a giant robotic bear could. "Nothing. You did absolutely nothing. It is just the basic protocol of the Pizzaplex; and that's saying something since this has never happened before."
"Never?"
"Never," Freddy confirmed.
"But that doesn't explain why everyone is after me." He looked at Freddy. "Well, everyone except for you."
"Perhaps we should get Vanessa to help-"
"No! She's after me too!" Gregory ran a hand through his hair. "You don't get it, do you? Nobody can find me. I'm screwed if I don't get out of this place."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I'm just going to disappear," Gregory said, "just like all the other children did."
Freddy looked at the ground. He knew what Gregory meant. Children were disappearing from the Pizzaplex, and even despite its advanced technology, the missing children were still that. Missing. It scared Gregory that he might end up in the same fate that those children were in, but he wasn't entirely sure that would happen to him. Perhaps his fate would be worse. He didn't know.
Gregory groaned with frustration. He was so sick of not knowing what would happen! Confusion and uncertainty racked his system so much that he could barely logically think. Emotions are hard, and thinking without strategy was also difficult. It was so irrational. Irrationality confused him even further.
"What are we going to do?" Gregory asked, shoving his face into his tiny palms. Blood got on his fingers, but he barely cared.
"The first thing we're going to do is clean you up," Freddy said. He gently tugged on Gregory's arm, which made the child reveal a tearful brown eye. The robot wiped off the trickling trail of scarlet that ran down Gregory's cheek with an endearing finger. "Then we're going to head to the main entrance. It's not even twelve yet, so we have plenty of time before the doors close."
Gregory nodded, wiping his eyes. He pulled out a bandage and unwrapped it, folding it on his cheek. He felt better, and somehow, stronger and more protected than before.
"Let's head out," he said confidently.
Freddy smiled. His chest cavity opened for Gregory. "Hop in Superstar."
