Chapter 7
Gregory and Astre enter the lobby of the Pizzaplex and get a pass to the Superstar Daycare, which is Astre's territory, while managing to out-smart Rodney, but it seems like Gregory, Astre, and Freddy aren't the only ones heading to the Daycare.
After Gregory and Astre finished their embrace, they stood up and walked towards arow of turnstiles. Astre tried to open one, but it wouldn't budge, even with her strength.
"Sorry, Starling. I can't pry this thing open," she said while shaking her head.
"Freddy, we can't get through to the main lobby," the small boy said.
"These turnstiles require a complimentary Pizzaplex Entry Pass to open them. It would be unwise to climb over them," Freddy said, which caused Gregory to be curious.
"How come?"
"Oh! I remember that kid now! He tried climbing over one of the turnstiles and security got called over immediately," Astre chimed in with a laugh.
She and Freddy did have a point.
"Okay, I won't climb over them. Do you guys know where I can even find an Entry Pass?" he asked.
"There should be one located near the main entrance," Freddy answered.
Gregory and Astre looked around the entrance for an Entry Pass. Astre took out a chocolate star that had Montgomery Gator on the green wrapper from her bag, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. Gregory found an Entry Pass on a pedestal in front of a cardboard cutout of the four Glamrocks he already knew and three he had not seen yet but heard the names from Vanessa.
The first was a male raccoon that had light purple skin, shaggy black and white hair striped hair, a black and white striped tail that was as long as Roxy's but more neat, black ears that were light purple on their insides, and hot pink eyes. He wore a black leather jacket with hot pink studs on the shoulders, a pair of black jeans with cyan stars on the knees, a cyan belt with black and white spikes, a black choker with white spikes. He also had black, white, and cyan striped thunderbolt under both of his eyes and hot pink and cyan nail polish on both his hands and feet.
The second was a female bee that had bright yellow skin, long black hair with yellow highlights, a pair of antennae that were a darker yellow with black tips, a pair of bluish-white insect wings on her back, and reddish-brown eyes. She wore a pair of black sunglasses with the lenses looking similar to the eyes of cartoon bees, a black blouse with a bright red bow on the bust line and bright red cuffs, a pair of blue flare jeans with a white honeycomb design on both of the legs, a black belt with a gold bee-shaped buckle on it, a pair of white cuffed boots , a pair of black fingerless gloves with gold studs on the knuckles, and a black choker necklace with a heart-shaped blue sapphire attached to the center of it. She also wore black eyeshadow, bright red lipstick, and black mascara.
The third and final Glamrock was a female butterfly that had pure white skin like Chica's, short light blue hair, a pair of antennae that were bright yellow with pink orbs on top of them, a pair of dark violet, yellow, pink, and light blue butterfly wings on her back, and dark violet eyes. She wore a light blue camisole underneath a pink knee-length shoulder-less dress with dark violet butterfly prints all over it, a red, light blue, pink, yellow, and dark violet gradient bow around her neck, a pair of yellow Gogo boots, and white gloves with a light blue flower on them. She also wore pink eyeshadow, red lipstick, and black mascara.
'So that's what Rodney, Hulda, and Barbara look like...' Gregory thought as he tried to reach for the pass.
Astre finished her snack as she saw Gregory jumping. She rolled her eyes as she picked Gregory up from behind. He smiled at her as he grabbed the pass. She put him down and he walked back to the turnstile row. She walked up as he held the Entry Pass. Once he did the turnstile in front of them allowed them to pass.
"Well done, Superstar. You and Astre now have access to the Lobby. Unfortunately, that complimentary Entry Pass does not allow you to enter the pizzeria," Freddy said.
A frown quickly appeared on both Gregory and Astre faces.
"Is there anything we can do to get inside?"
"Well... there is an upgrade machine in Customer Service. It's below Faz-Pad," Astre said as a smile appeared on her face.
Gregory and Astre snuck past a security bot and reached the fountain in the middle of the lobby. Sitting on the edge of the fountain was a message.
"My cousin worked here. He said that magnets can screw with the ticket machines and ATMs. Just head on up to Faz-Pad. You can get down to Customer Service through the back door and grab a stack of tickets and loot some cash. I'll be waiting for you outside. If you hear any of the S.T.A.F.F bots or the Animatronics, just hide until they leave. You'll be fine."
'Magnets can mess with machines?' Gregory wondered.
He knew that ATMs gave people money but whenever he and Heather tried kicking the machines, they never spat out cash.
"Magnets, huh? That explains why people kept complaining about the ATMs," Astre thought out loud.
Gregory and Astre located Customer Service but couldn't get in due to a gate blocking the entrance.
"Darn it... The hijacker must have messed with the gates," Astre growled.
"That message said we can get to Customer Service through a door in Faz-Pad, right?" Gregory asked.
"Don't know. I've never been inside the lobby before. Let's give it a shot," Astre answered.
They began moving towards a staircase but saw Rodney Raccoon himself near Faz-Pad. While he had the same colors and clothes, he looked a little scarier than his cutout counterpart. Gregory noticed something on Rodney's feet.
"Are those... wheels on his feet?" Gregory asked.
"Yeah. Since Rodney, or Roddy for short, is the mascot for Roddy Roller Rink, Parts and Services gave him rollerblade wheels to roll alongside the guests. They can retract into the bottoms of his feet so he can still walk around with everybody else," Astre answered.
"What do we do?" Gregory asked.
"I'll talk him into going somewhere else. Go in that Parts and Services bin and don't come out until I return. I'll do this once I do so you know it's me," Astre answered as she went to said bin, knocked on the side five times, and pulled back the tarp.
"That'll be our signal! Got it," Gregory answered as he went into the bin.
Astre nodded as he helped him in and pulled down the tarp. Once he was comfortable, Gregory looked around and saw two t-shirts, one with Chica's name and another with Roddy's name, rolled into balls. Gregory unrolled both shirts, folded them, and put them in his backpack. He held his star pin for a moment and prayed for Astre's return.
Astre went to where Roddy was and said, "Hey there, Roddy!"
Roddy stopped looking and turned around. He smiled which showed his rows of sharp teeth.
"Hey there, DAS! Didn't think I'd be seeing you outside of the Daycare!" Roddy said.
"Well, I am on Security Guard duty this week considering what happened yesterday. Also, DAS? What's that supposed to mean?" Astre said.
"You know... You're a Daycare Assistant and a part of Security so I figured why not combine the two for a cool nickname!" Roddy said as his tail wagged.
Astre smiled. It was no wonder Roddy was popular with the guests. He somehow knew the right way to make them feel happier.
"So... any luck finding the kids?" Roddy asked.
"No... not on my end," Astre answered.
She did not want to lie to Roddy, but she knew she had to put Gregory's safety first.
"Oh... well, I was about to head on to the Atrium. Maybe one of them got on the elevators. Mind looking around here for me?" Roddy said as he walked into the right elevator.
"Sure. And try not to be as clumsy this time!" Astre said as she winked.
Roddy groaned as he said, "Don't remind me. See you later, DAS!"
The doors closed as he waved goodbye. Astre waved back as she went back downstairs to the bin where Gregory was. She knocked on it five times and Gregory peeked out. Astre snickered as she pulled the tarp back.
"Is he gone?" Gregory asked.
"Yeah. He's in the Atrium for now," Astre answered as she helped him get out.
They walked up the stairs and went into Faz-Pad. The interior looked like a quaint cafe. They saw another security bot moving back and forth. They quietly snuck behind the counter to reach the kitchen door, but stopped when the bot rolled up the door, which forced them to get on an elevated part of the cafe. While waiting for the bot to roll away from the door they found a message on a nearby table.
"Thank you for contacting Low Budget Building Contractors, or LBBC. We have done a preliminary inspection and found nothing wrong with your ventilation system. The "loud clanging", "banging", and "scraping" noises which were reported don't appear to be reproducible. Please call us if it happens again. Invoice attached. - Keith."
'What was making those noises?' Gregory wondered.
"I heard about that. One of the guys thought there were rats that managed to get in them. Turns out he was wrong," Astre explained.
Gregory remembered seeing a bunch of rats scuttle out of an air vent from a parking garage he once took shelter in.
When the bot moved away from the kitchen door Gregory and Astre made a run for it and entered the kitchen. Gregory found a Chica and a Roddy plush and put them in his bag.
They went through another door and found themselves inside Customer Service.
"This is it! Starling, get that card upgraded. I'll handle the gates," Astre said as she went to a button similar to the one Gregory found back in Freddy's green room.
Gregory nodded as he turned to the upgrade machine. The boy inserted the entry pass into the machine. After waiting for a few seconds, nothing happened.
"Finally!" Astre said in exasperation as the gates opened.
"You sound tired," Gregory observed.
"Because I literally had to hack the stupid thing back to normal. Whoever our hijacker is sure knows how to abuse our tech..." Astre said. "Where's the card?"
"I put the pass in the machine, but nothing is coming out." Gregory said.
"Stupid thing must be on the fritz again," Astre replied as she slapped the machine.
Suddenly, Gregory's Faz-Watch beeped.
"Hello, Gregory and Astre. Did you upgrade the pass yet?" Freddy asked.
"No. The upgrade machine's broken and ate our card," Astre answered.
"Perhaps there is a way to hack it back out. Try looking in Glamrock Gifts for something you can use. They have lots of trinkets, knickknacks, and doodads," Freddy said.
Astre snickered as she muttered, "Knickknacks and doodads? Freddy, you sound like a grandpa sometimes..."
"Oh, yeah! That message we found did say that magnets could mess with the machines!" Gregory said.
"Well, hopefully we find one laying around somewhere," Astre said.
"You can also claim one free prize! Oh, I wonder what todays could be?" Freddy said, sounding like a child full of excitement.
Before they left Customer Service Gregory found a message sitting on the counter.
"CUSTOMER COMPLAINT- You should fire Dave Miller. He sucks. He spends most of his time either playing on the arcade cabinets or making goo-goo eyes at that Vincent guy instead of being a security guard. I get the guy's been through some messed up stuff, but he should still do his job like the rest of us."
'Huh? Dave? Wasn't he the guy I heard back in Parts and Services? And what do "goo-goo eyes" mean?' Gregory wondered.
He remembered Vincent mentioning a friend from work a lot. He said that Dave was close to him, but he never specified how close they were.
"Yeah, well he's not you then, is he?" Astre thought out loud with a growl.
"What do you mean?" Gregory asked.
"Look, I don't know why he cut us off, but he's got to have a good reason. He's not the malicious type," Astre answered.
"What did they mean by "goo-goo eyes" anyway?" Gregory asked.
Astre suddenly looked startled as she heard the term.
"Well... Do you know what a "crush" is, Gregory?" Astre asked.
"Yeah. It's when you really like someone, but you haven't told them yet or don't know if they feel the same way," Gregory answered.
"Okay so... What they mean is that Dave has a crush on Vincent but he's too shy to tell him, especially what happened to his family a long time ago," Astre explained.
"Wait, a guy can like another guy? I thought guys could only like girls?" Gregory said, sadly remembering what Mrs. Demonte said.
"Yeah, a guy can still like girls but can also like guys. Same thing with girls," Astre responded.
"Wow... You'd be a great mom," Gregory said.
"W-what do you mean by that?" Astre stuttered.
"Because you're so honest. I mean, if you had a family-," Gregory said.
"Okay! Back to work!" Astre shouted as she quickly walked out of Customer Service.
"Hey, wait up!" Gregory called out as he ran to catch up with her.
They walked up the stairs and went through the doors. Inside the giftshop was many types of merchandise for the Glamrocks and three other animatronics. They avoided the security bot and made it downstairs to where the Mystery Prize was. It was an orange present box with a blue bow on it which sat between two plush toys of a smiling sun and moon. Gregory opened the box and found a magnet that looked like a smiling purple hippo.
"Freddy, we found the free gift!" Gregory said.
"It's a... Glamrock Mr. Hippo fridge magnet? How'd this thing get out of the Lucky Stars gift shop?" Astre thought out loud.
"There are more Glamrocks?" Gregory asked.
"Yes, actually. Mr. Hippo is one of five other Glamrocks that were made for a new attraction. He is the only one currently active. Unfortunately, due to some issues at said attraction, he has been temporarily located to the Daycare. He is a good storyteller, even if his stories can be a bit long," Freddy explained with a chuckle.
"Is he going to be hostile too?" Gregory asked.
"Doubt it. The guy's more of a lover than a fighter," Astre said with certainty.
"Well... this should help with the upgrade machine," Gregory said as Astre got to work on the gate button of the gift shop.
After a few minutes, the gates opened and Astre sighed.
"You okay, Astre?" Gregory asked with concern.
"Don't worry. The more I do this, the less tired I'll be," Astre answered.
They snuck their way past the security bot still rolling around the fountain area and made it back to Customer Service. He placed the magnet on the machine and an ERROR message appeared on the screen.
"Yes! The magnet scrambled the machine!" Gregory said in a happy tone.
The machine dispensed a colorful pass that said "Superstar Daycare" on it.
"It gave us some kind of daycare pass?" Gregory asked.
"This is perfect!" Astre said in a happy tone.
"Really? Why?" Gregory asked.
"The Daycare's my territory! Besides, Stardrop should still be there and if my intuition's right, your friend Heather too!" Astre answered.
"This is great news! I can meet you both in the Daycare! The entrance is on the second-floor balcony of the lobby," Freddy said in a happy tone.
Gregory would have preferred to meet up with Freddy in a place that did not sound babyish, but he was in no position to be picky. Besides, if Stardrop was cut off as well, she could also become an ally.
Little did they know, someone was listening in on the trio's conversation.
"What do I do, Harlequin?" A man who wore a bear costume asked.
The costume itself was a bright orange with many brown patches and the eyes were a bright purple.
"Don't worry, Ursory. Katty will handle it," the man named "Harlequin" answered.
"And what about the outcast?" Ursory asked.
"I'll handle him. With the gift our master gave me, he'll be under our control," Harlequin answered.
Ursory let out an eerie chuckle before saying, "The game has gotten more interesting!"
Gregory now has a new area to go to and a few new friends to make! Sorry if this chapter felt a little shorter. Here are some important points for those who probably didn't read the whole thing.
1. I used the cardboard cutout of the Glamrocks to show what Rodney, Hulda, and Barbara looked like. I did these off the top of my head because, even though I'm not an actual artist, I used to dream about being a fashion designer before I settled for writing.
2. If you can't tell by now, I'm rewriting Rewired in the style of both a video game and light novel style, which is why some paragraphs play out like cutscenes.
3. Alongside the leader, who you may already be familiar with, I made three more Glitchers (basically the moniker for Glitchtrap followers), with Ursory being the first one you'll see for now. As for Katty, she is the one who messed with the nighttime protocols in Chapter 6, and Harlequin is busy with a certain security guard.
4. In the first note of this chapter, I hinted that some employees were actually stealing money from the ATMs, which is why there were more security bots than human security guards.
5. In the third note I gave more of an idea of what Dave is like and what happened in his past.
6. I was laughing my ass off after writing out the "goo-goo eyes" conversation between Astre and Gregory. Also, it's my message to the people out there who dislike the LGBTQ community.
7. Yes, I am making Glamrock Mr. Hippo canon in Rewired. Why? Because he might as well be at this point. Plus, I am on the side of the fanbase who actually LIKE his stories.
8. Due to having security protocols, Astre is able to restore certain systems from the Glitchers' influence. But she can only do one at a time or it ends up draining her more than necessary if she tries to do multiple fixes at once.
9. For those who can catch the reference to Astre's line, I applaud you for having great taste in gamers.