Monty had yet to meet an employee who shared similar interests. Every employee he has encountered over the last several years were terrified of him, not looking past their fears or being bothered enough to get to know him. Everyone always preferred Freddy due to his 'good nature'.
Dale was different. He didn't seem to like the animatronic bear, ruling the latter as "annoying". He was ok with Chica and still a bit weirded out by Roxy. But he got along with Monty, already bonding with the alligator within two days of being there.
Every night, Dale will arrive either 30 minutes or an hour early to his shift, ushering every employee out for the night. Then he would spend time rendering protocols and security updates. Sometime around 1 am, at the peak where things were slow, he would come to Monty Golf to hang with the gator.
"You ready, Monty?" Dale positioned himself over a course with the latter beaming excitedly.
"Recording and analyzing." The gator grins. Just when Monty thought he had every move analyzed, he discovered that the night guard was mentored by the legendary Tiger Woods. Dale had promised to show Monty the secret moves and techniques that the animatronic couldn't access anywhere.
Back arched at a 55 degree angle, feet inches apart and his game face active, Dale makes the swing.
"Are you joking? That was it? He made it seem so difficult." Monty was annoyed, yet impressed.
"Yeah, to wear off anyone who tried to copy him. The trick is to utilize your surroundings and add velocity. You can calculate that way faster than I."
"Eh, not with my limited mainframe."
"Bullshit. Follow me." Monty follows the guard down to Parts and Services where Dale asks the gator to lie down in the protective cylinder.
"Well there's the problem. Y'all got limitations on everything. Guess corporate has things locked away to keep your personalities distinct." A few typing of the keys and then he appears before Monty and programs the controls into his mainframe.
"There," Dale dusts his hands with a smile after 15 minutes. "Now you have the knowledge to analyze, calculate and make predictions and decisions."
And indeed he does. Monty sees multiple opportunities as he pictures play after play on the golf court. "This is awesome! I feel a bit smarter."
"Way smarter than Fazbear. I don't get why they have to make him the best in everything. It's not right. You're the mascot of Monty Golf! You shouldn't be downgraded to a robot that should be the mascot for Build-A-Bear.
Monty roars in laughter, elated and impressed by the response. "Don't make me too impressive, Dale. I don't want to have the same personality as Fazbear."
"And you won't. Don't worry, I'll have more programs installed in your system Friday. I've got a few programs at home that I've been dying to test, and it has your name on it. You'll still be Monty, just a newly upgraded one."
Monty was touched. "Thanks Dale. I appreciate it."
"What are friends for?"
The entrance door opens. Gregory walks in, intuned with his own thoughts. "Hey Gregory." Dale says and immediately the boy freezes in his tracks, dropping a piece of hardware he was carrying. "Came by to hang out with the cool crowd?"
"What? No. What –" The ghostly expression made its reappearance. "What are you doing down here?"
"Unlike you, brat, Dale is authorized to make any and every decision regarding our performance." Monty retorts, seeing Gregory's face redden in embarrassment or maybe it was the annoyance at the animatronic's nit picking.
"It's cool Monty. Gregory, pull up a chair and stay awhile, I got a couple of programs I want to try out on Monty."
"No."
"Come on, don't be like that, Greggie –"
"Do NOT call me that!" Gregory screamed, dashing out of the area. Monty snickers. Another reason for Dale being his favorite. His presence alone can keep the child away from Monty.
Still Monty wanted to ask. "Good golly, what is his problem?"
"He's always like that, kid's got a problem with authority. Gregory always resisted whenever I told him what to do. There were times where he would try to fight me and I had to rough him up to protect myself."
"Least you didn't get hit with a thousand balls and split in half, in the name of 'self defense'. That's what that runt did to me."
"Whoa, really?"
"Vanessa had all of us search high and low for 'em. I had him in my sight and he unleashed a huge bucket that knocked me off the platform. I 'on't remember everything. There's various fragments that aren't aligning. But I do remember crawling around, and getting beamed with a Fazer Blaster or a Faz Cam, cause the runt wanted to toy with me. He ran Roxy over with a go-kart and smashed Chica in the trash compactor. The little bastard's a menace."
"Yup, that sounds like the Gregory I used to babysit."
"Vanessa's been searching for his parents for weeks now. Since you know 'em, why don't you call them up and tell 'em to get their brat?"
Dale shook his head. "His mom died months ago. A really bad car accident caused by faulty mechanics. It was bad, really bad, the body was meshed with the engine..."
Damn. Talk about a way to depart from life. "What 'bout his father?"
"Unknown, but yeah, after the accident, my parents took him in. He was this angry and disrespectful nuisance. He would often run away and cause my poor Ma grief. "
"That sounds horrible and all, but he ain't staying here. Take him with ya at the end of your shift. I had enough remembering my demise just at the sight of him." Monty persisted, keeping his anger in check to avoid snapping at his newfound friend.
Dale seemed deep in thought, considering the offer before he smiled. "I guess I can bring him back if it makes you have peace. May be hard to convince my folks. Mom and Pops are currently away on a well-deserved vacation in Europe. Their days of fostering children are over, and rightfully so."
"It don't hurt to try."
"True." He presses a few buttons. "Come out of there and let's play a real game of golf."
"You're on Norton!" The gator shifts to land on his feet when an array of codes dances across his vision. He thumbed his head a couple of times to make them go away. That's weird. Maybe it'll be a while for my systems to adjust to the new coding. He'll ask Dale to troubleshoot if the problem persists.
In the meantime, he has a game of golf to beat the guard in, with his newfound tactics.
