Michael loosely twirled the keys to the pizzeria around his finger, feet resting on the security office desk. Ever since last night, he had been running through possible options on what to do with Charlie and Henry in his head. It was obvious that his first order of business had to be getting Charlie on his side, but she seemed so set in her ways. It was like trying to convince a child. If he had some sort of choice in the matter, then he would skip to the freeing of the souls himself, but at this point he was losing confidence in his ability to do so. Charlie would be key to setting them free, and if not necessary, then at the very least she would speed up the process greatly.
He instinctively flicked through the security cameras. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing, as per usual. As this was happening, Freddy appeared in the door.
"Hello Michael," he greeted.
"Hi Fred."
"How was your night off?"
"I would hardly call it a night off. It was a bit more nerve wracking than I expected. I'll be going back next week though."
Freddy raised an eyebrow, "If you did not enjoy it, then why go back?"
"It's a little something called responsibility."
"I see."
"How did things go with the replacement security guard by the way? What was her name, Vanny was it?"
"Vanessa," Freddy corrected, "Everything here was uneventful. I do think the others were a bit disappointed by your absence though."
"Huh," Michael never would have admitted it, but he felt a small pang of happiness at the news that he had actually been missed by someone. All his life he had never envisioned anyone missing him, and now there was not only Henry, but the glamrocks as well. Still, he did not have time to linger on it. There was one unfortunate piece of business he needed to bring up. "Speaking of Vanessa, she left a few notes behind."
Freddy immediately stiffened, his body going from a partial slouch to fully upright, "You don't say?"
Michael rolled his eyes. How was it that these animatronics were such bad liars? Maybe they were just programmed a little too well.
"Listen Freddy, I'm gonna give you a chance to come clean here. Now just tell me the truth. Vanessa said in her notes that there was what appeared to be a young boy on the loose inside the pizzeria. Was it Gregory?"
Freddy glanced away, avoiding eye contact, "Yes."
"Were you helping him?"
"How did you know that?"
"I guessed based on the fact that you didn't bring it up… also, you kinda just admitted to it."
Freddy gave the security guard his best guilty look, "I am very sorry about this Michael. Please, do not reset my AI for breeching orders. It will not happen again, I promise."
Michael stood up, shaking his head, "Freddy, even if I wanted to, I don't know how to perform an AI reset. I'd need to look it up in your manual. Anyway, I wasn't planning on doing it anyway, just take me to Gregory and we can get this all sorted out."
"Michael, please understand, the boy has nowhere else to go. You can't just kick him out."
"I know. We're going with the orphanage option this time."
"Isn't that a bit cruel?"
"Freddy, the kid is living in a pizzeria. Almost anywhere is better than this place."
The animatronic nodded, reluctantly, "All I ask is that you not tell him that I told you. He would be sorely disappointed in me if he knew."
Michael raised what was once an eyebrow, "You really are advanced, aren't you? I'll go by myself, that way I can pretend I was just investigating independently. Just tell me where to look."
Freddy nodded, "He's carved out a small space in the-" his line of sight suddenly moved past Michael, to the door on the other side of the office. The guard turned around to see the fringe of a small boy peeking around the corner before disappearing. "Gregory, wait!"
Michael bolted after him, Freddy not far behind. Gregory weaved under and over tables, making a b-line for the front doors. He slammed into them, only to discover they were locked. The boy turned around, looking between the two of them as they slowly approached.
"Gregory, please, we've been through all of this before. You know we don't want to hurt you," Michael said calmly.
"No!" Gregory spat, dashing off into the stage area and behind the closed curtains.
"He's really not taking this well," Michael noted.
"I believe he is emotionally distraught from my betrayal," Freddy said.
"I kinda got the feeling."
They both approach the stage, pulling the curtains aside to see an empty area. Michael glanced around, eventually looking up to see the boy hanging from the beams above the stage. Fortunately, the beams were not all that high, but were still high enough to where injury was possible should he fall.
"Gregory, please come down from there. It is not a safe play area," Freddy requested.
"You shut up!" the boy yelled, "Why should I trust you when you ratted me out?"
"Look, I don't care if you trust the bear or not," Michael said authoritatively, "you're going to get hurt being up there, now come down."
"I already told you," the boy began to fumble, having to readjust his hand hold, "I'm not coming down!"
"Then I guess we're coming up," Michael took a step forward, trying to figure out where he had climbed up from. In a panic, Gregory quickly began to move, carefully climbing along the beam with some very sweaty hands. This was not a very speedy, or particularly easy process, and as predicted, he soon fell to the ground. Fortunately, he managed to land on his feet. Unfortunately, as soon as he hit the ground, a sharp pain spread through his ankle. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move. Both Michael and Freddy rushed over to him. He soon found himself being carried back to the security office and a medical kit being pulled out of the desk. Gregory wanted to run, to say some witty comeback or insult, but all he found the strength to do was hold his ankle in an attempt to quell the pain.
"I don't think this med kit has ever been used, and if it has then it's been a very long time," Michael opened it up, looking through what was inside, "I've never really had any proper training for this, just a quick run through of the basics. I suppose the first thing we should do is to find out whether or not it's broken."
"Roxy can help with that," Freddy said, "She has special eyes which can see through things."
Michael nodded, going over to the mic on the desk, "Hey, uh, Roxy, can you come to the security office please? It's an emergency so be quick."
"It's not…agh… an emergency," Gregory winced, "I'm f-f-f-fffine."
"Yeah, no," Michael said as Roxanne appeared in the doorway. Gregory was not particularly fond of another animatronic being there, but he had little choice in what to do. Michael explained the situation, and she quickly knelt down beside the boy.
"I'm going to need you to move your hand so I can get a proper look," she said. After a moment of pause, Gregory complied. Roxy glanced down at the ankle, then stood up. "It's not broken, just sprained."
"Thanks Roxy. If I had lungs then I'd breath a sigh of relief," he turned back to the mic, "Chica, I know you're in the kitchen, eating in spite of my objections. Can you grab an ice pack out of the freezer and bring it to the security office? Thanks." He turned back to Gregory.
"I don't need your help you know. I've had plenty of sprained ankles before."
"Acting tough isn't going to make the pain go away you know," Michael crossed his arms, "believe me, I would know. Why don't you just try to relax while you're here."
Gregory huffed, turning away. Chica soon arrived with the ice pack, and helped to prop up the boy's leg as the other animatronics watched on concerned. They could not help but to do so when an injured child was nearby, it was a part of their programming. Soon enough, Monty also arrived, not because he was called, but because he wanted to see what all the commotion was about. With this, the security office had grown quite crowded, accommodating more animatronics than was perhaps anticipated by its designer. Gregory could not stand being the source of so much attention. He always thought of himself as the mysterious independent type, and all this doting was flying directly in the face of that image. Still, it was nice to be looked after for once.
"How did this kid get here?" Monty asked, "Didn't we catch him recently?"
"People can sneak back in, Monty," Roxy said.
"Oh gee, pardon me for asking," the gator rolled his eyes.
"I had help from him," Gregory pointed towards a rather guilty Freddy. The other animatronics all looked toward him.
"I… I can explain."
"You've been helping him in secret? You know that's against programming," Roxy said.
"You're not broken, are you? I'd just hate it if you were suffering from some kind of malfunction!"
"Chica, I'm fine. I made the choice to do so."
"You sure the little scamp didn't get in yer brain 'n mess around?"
"Monty, honestly, I said I'm fine."
"I don't mean to cut in," Michael said, all eyes turning to him, "but I think it would be best if we continue this conversation after the authorities come and pick up our little guest here."
"What? No!" Gregory was about to stand up in protest, when Roxy's animatronic hand forced him to stay in his seat, "You can't just throw me to the cops after all this!"
"That's exactly what I said I would do should you return. You returned. I honestly don't know what else you expected," the guard turned, about to pick up the phone.
"Michael, surely there's some other way to go about this," Freddy said pleadingly.
"Look, I don't like this solution any more than you guys, but there's nothing else I can do. I mean, what am I suppose to do, take the kid home?"
There was a pause, as if the question needed a moment to stir in their minds.
"That doesn't sound so bad actually," they all turned to look at Gregory, a bit stunned that he was entertaining it as a possibility.
"You can't be serious," said Michael.
"Well… I mean, it's not my first choice, but any where's better than the orphanage. And besides, I can't stay here now that I know a certain someone is willing to betray me at a moment's notice."
Freddy looked down guiltily, "I am sorry for breaking you're trust Gregory. I only did so because I believed it was what was best for you."
"That's what all adults say!"
"If you two are going to have an argument, then I'm going to begin dialing the police station," Michael picked up the phone.
"Wait!" Gregory begged.
"Michael, could you not at least entertain the idea?"
"I'm surprised any of you are! I am not equipped to look after a child, let alone do I have the time, resources or desire to do so."
"Hey, I'm right here you know!" Gregory folded his arms indignantly.
"Why are you even considering this? You screamed in horror the first time we met."
"I… I've adjusted… somewhat," the boy said.
"I think he's beginning to take a liking to you," Freddy explained.
"I am not!" Gregory interrupted.
Freddy continued, "I don't think the adults in his life have treated him very well. It's possible that you're the first which has really shown him any level of respect."
"Respect?" Michael asked.
"You do have a rather blunt way of dealing with people," Monty said, "whether they be child or adult.
"Or animatronic," Chica added.
Michael pinched the rim of what was once his nose, "I don't even know why we're discussing this. As much as all of you want to act like it is, this is not something that is under consideration. End of story." He turned back to the phone, about to dial.
"Please."
He stopped, turning back to look at the boy, "What was that?"
"Don't make me say it again," he was truly vulnerable in that instant. No more walls. He was just a kid. A kid with a sprained ankle and no where else to go. Michael hadn't noticed it before, but a scant few tears were running down the boy's face. It reminded him of… no, now that had to be his brain making connections where there were none. He glanced back to the phone.
"Michael, I know it is a big task to ask of you, but would you at least consider it?" Freddy asked, "Haven't you ever known a child in need of help?"
Slowly, he placed the phone back on the receiver, "Yeah… I knew a kid like that once."
