Author's Notes: Wanted to let you all know ahead of time, that I haven't established a predetermined amount of time since Gregory's adventure into the PizzaPlex until RUIN. We can say several months for the moment until I eventually (or not?) determine what a good time stamp would be. I have my reasoning for this- Just know its character-related, as I can't see Freddy not wanting to leave his friends there for so long in that the building alone characteristically. I also have other reason, but I don't feel like stating them now as I am tired as of typing this. I can explain in fuller detail later. Maybe.

Keep in mind I may end up going back over ALL my chapters and proof-reading them. I tend to miss a lot of errors the first SEVERAL passes- yes, several. But they will be all knocked out.

Present day

CASSIE

Electrified HELL roared through her leg; a continuous, endless, deafening ringing sang in her cranium and blinded her to the dusty metallic prison around her- although it would take Cassie precious time to realize that she indeed plunged into blinking blackness every so often.

The light above (and the only source of it for that matter) was some sort of flickering red emergency bulb. It gave little in terms of visibility; but it's not like visibility mattered too much to her right now- not when something akin to burnt bread soured her tongue and the horrendous sensation of nausea removed most of her faculties. She hated having vertigo, but this case couldn't have been more extreme. It didn't help that even outside of this, she knew, inherently knew, that her right leg was broken. The pain that throbbed in time with her heart beat almost seemed to further cement this reality.

She had no idea how long she'd be lying there in that elevator shaft. Time passed in in pulsing tandem with her frenetic heart beat; only creeping along whenever Cassie took breath and attempted to extricate herself from the floor of the elevator. She cried on and off; her voice weak, crackling, and wispy against the unfeeling, dank, claustrophobic atmosphere. Most of her sobs were feeble moans and whines; tears wracking trails down her no doubt dirty visage.

Eventually, she found herself curled into a ball; hands groping blindly at her lower limbs and pulling at the fabric covering her right leg. Fingers bit and nails tore into her leggings; her face burying itself in the cold floor as the pressure and temperature seemed to help ground her shakily to the present. She dry heaved, sobbed, cried out- the noises bouncing around the black and occasionally red-tinted cage.

She didn't hear that thing- that miming bot. She didn't hear it trying to claw its way to her; or bang on the doors of the shaft in general. Nay, it was a lulling silence that permeated the forlorn chamber now; one whose immense presence induced a state of utter hush and held spectral vigil in this pitch crypt. Even now, her Roxy talky was mute; the device smashed to pieces near or around her- not that she can discern the detail so well. She only knew THAT much from having felt its pieces around her whenever she moved and whatever little her blurry, tear-strained eyes could catch in the abysmally weak red light.

Something else was making itself known to her now; the feeling of welling warmth plunging down her face from areas beyond her tear tracks. Even dazed as she was, she can already assume its blood after getting whammed by the fake Gregory's severed metal arm. She heaved again, another sob escaping her as she wearily cracked an eye into the bleak crimson either.

The aforementioned arm, whose digits were thankfully blunt (small consolation THAT was) lie literally a couple feet away. Had it not been that way, she figured the bot's arm would've cut her head open from being smashed into her during that screaming descent. She hated that thing and EVERYTHING it was; even though now, the limb was an innocuous and inanimate object lying harmlessly within reach. That copy-cat bot couldn't exactly do anything as complex as remote control it.

And speaking of which... why was it so quiet here? Did that thing LEAVE? Just like that? Why was it not working its way into the elevator to get its intended quarry as it had so desperately before? It tried so hard to get to her not so long ago... what changed? She was lying right there, at the bottom of the shaft within easy reach. The door was solid, as well as the gate securing the passengers; but with enough determination, there's no doubt that animatronic monstrosity could get in- the warped studs bracing the gate were proof of that.

She couldn't ponder that for long without her leg constantly reminding her that its own problem was priority. The sharp pain that ripped into her from it had her crying again anew; even though now she was growing steadily more bereft of the tears. She just didn't have any left to give. Beyond her father dying a few months ago, deactivating Roxy and seeing the state of this place, not to mention her inability to properly process what just happened- she just felt choked up in a way that stifled the rest of her tears after the initial pain-induced ones.

What did happen? The drumming throb that rippled in time to her heart beat pounded relentlessly through her noggin kept her from remembering too clearly. But she recalled some things: The whole image was nothing but a blurry series of rushed events, nothing truly discernable beyond that chase and ... Another bot. Another intervened at that second to save her-

Roxy. Roxy had... She'd come down after her, even though she'd been shut down by Cassie's own hands just moments before. She still came, regardless of the advent betrayal Cassie herself doled out. She threw herself at the copy-cat menace with no sense of self-preservation and-

Cassie's amber-kissed eyes went round in their sockets; the girl somehow finding the ability to sob again when her mind arrested onto the wolf animatronic's no doubt timely, selfless, and godsent intervention. She rolled onto her side; carefully doing so and blearily attempted to look up despite her sluggish reaction to the emergency bulb's equally as dull blink. The elevator door remained shut, the halls beyond choked by a stifling tenebrosity that induced and demanded utter silence from anything living. A sort of reverie in the hall of ghosts that put all inhabitants under its spell-binding thrall.

No angry, thumping fake-killer-wannabe-Gregory thing stomping down to find her... no Roxy... no Chica... no anything. Nothing. Literally all the noise Cassie heard was the endless thumping of her pulse in her ears once the ringing died to a manageable level. There was no timely reactivation on Roxy's part, no thumping clump of clumsy bot feet, no whir of servos and rotating brackets, no low-toned thrum of a chest motor- nothing. There wasn't even any rodents to squeak around here. Its almost like Cassie truly was the only living thing for MILES in this underground prison. Perhaps, that really was the case.

The girl huffed again, then let her head thump against the floor once more. Another soundless sob escaped her too-tight chest; shoulders bobbing as she heaved again. She was alone here; utterly and despairingly forlorn in this silent tomb. There was no convenient rescuer beyond Roxy- who could potentially be shut down for good this time. No person BUT Gregory knew she was here- and even if that ass had some shred of decency to call anyone after what he did, nobody will come. Nobody knew of the underground sinkhole beneath the PizzPlex. And even if they did know and could track her down to this literal hole-in-the-wall in the old pizzeria... well, likely they may run into that copy-bot and run into the same issue Cassie just did. Escape wasn't realistic. Literally the stuff of most horrors Cassie's only saw on the internet and happening to other people OLDER than she was- and they survived only by the skin of their teeth.

But she? She was but a child. Young, pre-teen age, and inexperienced with the prospect of survival in any facet. Those horrifying scenarios where even adults struggle? Most DIED. And those that got by would forever be changed.

How the hell could she hope to get out of here? And with a broken LEG no less? It just wasn't happening.

She garbled; the strangled sound perhaps a wordless plea; or maybe a name she recalled from the top of her head. She muttered it over and over; a beseeching supplication that begged for the hope of intervention. Roxy had come for her before, but what were the odds she'd do so again now? She'd been beaten by that mocking imitation-Gregory- could the wolf even get back up after all this?

No. Again, not realistic. It didn't stop Cassie from hoping something would change.

Hoping.

So there she lay, her head burying itself into the dirty, now blood-splotched floor. Her hands gripped at her injured legs, body curled into a fetal position. And it would remain that way for quite a long time to come; and she knew better than to fall asleep now. She's heard somewhere (perhaps school or a book somewhere) that anyone in shock or with a concussion shouldn't sleep. Honestly, she considered it. Only sheer force of will kept her from indulging that idea. She just lay there for what felt like hours; huffing and heaving every so often with a sharp pain accompanying it. The only noise here was whatever she produced. Her leg continued to throb, her head pounded in sync, the nausea remained. Welts and bruises blossomed everywhere she couldn't reach; the leaky trail from her head being the only thing that stopped.

At some point, she cracked her eyes open. Now her gaze was on the arm again- and the object she realized lay just next to it: the V.A.N.N.I mask. It also lie within reach, its glowing eyes ignoring the constant flicker of the emergency bulb and maintaining its own steady red glow. Unblinking, the mad hatter's lost partner-in-crime stared sightlessly into the ceiling beyond; a condescending grin of the devil glued into an approximation of an unchanging, mocking sneer; smiling wickedly at whatever cruel angel sat upon its throne above in laughing rebellion. The simile was an odd thing to note; not something Cassie would've figured on her own in different circumstances. But now, in the wake of this hellish scenario, she couldn't help but feel connected with that ugly, vile, stupid looking mock-Bonnie mask.

In the choking silence that engulfed her, Cassie just then noticed it was creating its own, low, and extremely subtle thrum. Something akin to a hiss escaped it; perhaps it was damaged in its own right after being thrown around in this elevator. But even so, the noise felt unsettling after all the silence she's endured. And it persisted in its function despite the abuse its witnessed and endured. It laughed in small, whispery, secretive chortles; the hum a melodic song that beckoned Cassie's finger's towards its off-white, smudged surface.

She didn't know why. But she had to put it on again. Why?

Well, why not?

So she did- not really expecting the mask to help her right now...she lie just outside the V.A.N.N.I network anyway- which stopped when she left the PizzaPlex's perimeter-

Oh. OH.

Wait a second. She was still able to access the AR world here. The dying red light of the broken elevator was gone now; replaced by the lazy, lilac holographic smears of digital distortion. The mask sang in her ears; her pain suddenly MUCH further away-

She was able to sit up now- the girl doing just that but in a lethargic manner. She looked around, the elevator's already besmirched by... handprints? Small ones. Child-sized. They were all over the place- and Cassie knew she wasn't responsible for of them. The sight creeped her out, but as with everything else she's experienced this night, she pushed the observation aside. The door of the otherwise solid elevator was also gone now too; leaving only what appeared to be a digital skeleton of what was once the grate.

She tentatively walked- only to buckle again with an agonized yelp.

YEAH. She was still hurt bad, but the pain was more manageable now. She'd just had to hobble through this. As long as she didn't put too much weight on her right side, she can move a bit and in increments.

She breathed, waited until the pain subsided in some part, then crept to her feet again. She noticed there was nothing on the other side of the door too... it seems the fake Gregory was gone now. And even if it wasn't, Cassie visited the idea that perhaps she might be invisible to this thing as she'd been with Glamrock Freddy's headless body-

A theory she wasn't willing to test but prayed was the case regardless.

So she moved very slowly forward; breathing in time with each step. It's weird... it's like the mask was helping in another way now. It made task allocation in Cassie's brain something more surgical- precise. Automaton in nature. She was clear-headed; able to compartmentalize her desperate situation and pragmatically move on. She moved like a snail, but a patient snail. And that pace was also quiet; which no doubt lended her some meager form of cover from this mimicking terror. Not too bad, all things considered.

Once again, Cassie's mind invasively wandered over to the a question she's asked herself earlier: Who would throw this mask away? She couldn't count the number of times it's saved her life. Even now, it was somehow... somehow, helping her out of here even though it wasn't exactly tying a splint to her leg.

She almost jumped when a familiar figure popped in front of her eyes. "H-Helpi?" She choked out, her voice more whisper and groan than anything truly audible.

The image of the white teddy bear in overalls was a mixed sight; never anything good or bad singularly- as he always seemed to be 'helping; in weird, and sometimes not-so-great ways. With that said, she wondered if he'll be any real help right now with what she had to ask for.

"How can I assist you?" He said, baby blues an immaculate coolness that stood in gentle contrast to the purple hue of the underground tunnel. He paused, smile a permanent fixture on his perpetually cool visage as he seemed to identify something without her input. "-Oh. It seems you're hurt! I am detecting a major fracture in your leg, bruised ribs, and a possible concussion. Numerous lacerations are also accounted for. I am submitting a request for immediate removal from the sight to be taken to the nearest first aid station and locating the number for any immediate family-"

There was something kind of noise Cassie couldn't make out, but then Helpi continued before she can get any relief from his prior words. "Error: It seems with the PizzaPlex's Main Server offline, no contact can be made to the outside. All contact must go through verified staff and reviewed before any extraction can be made."

What?

Cassie wanted to bang her throbbing head on a wall listening to this idiot. No wonder her dad griped about getting hurt on the job. They had to go through APPROVAL in upper management for HELP? BULL. She knew the company certainly hated the possibility of lawsuits, but this was cruel and unusual punishment. She couldn't even muster the energy to groan, swear, or vocalize anything else.

"Contacting nearby staff- Error: None are nearby. Contacting any nearby bots for assistance: Error: All nearby bots are shut down and/or in safe mode and/or residual power mode. Cannot connect unless certain permissions are enabled from the host bot in question. Starting from closest proximity: It seems user Id. 47895298, Roxanne Wolf is the nearest bot, but she is currently offline and no query for extraction can be made in this condition. Submitting emergency maintenance report and extraction request. Error: Connection cannot be made-"

Great. He's broken. And on loop. Without her having to SAY anything. Amazing. Maybe HE had the concussion? Could a virtual interface get one? Well, it seemed to be so here...

Not a good time for this crap. She had to get out of here before that THING came back-

"Initiating contact attempt number 2: Error. User I.D 98423579, or Glamrock Chica is the second nearest bot, but she is currently offline and no query for extraction can be made in this condition. Submitting emergency maintenance report and extraction request. Error: Connection cannot be made-"

Cassie couldn't help it; she wanted to bang her head on the wall for real, but the severed arm back in the elevator has already done that enough. It didn't help that she wanted very much to just shut Helpi up. Maybe asking him for anything had been a bad idea.

But so distracted as she was, she almost missed-

"Initiating contact attempt number 3: Error. User I.D 01265783, or Glamrock Bonnie is the third nearest bot, but he is currently offline and no query for extraction can be made in this condition. Submitting emergency maintenance report and extraction request. Error: Connection cannot be made-"

"Wait a sec-" She stopped the A.I there, her eyes rounding in their sockets. Her mouth flopped open, breath hot and sharp as it whistled between her teeth. She placed a hand on her chest, slowly inhaled, and whispered hoarsely and slowly so to not incur any stabbing pain again, "Bonnie? You detected Bonnie?"

The program seemed to bobble its head- strange as that was despite it being a virtual interface. Perhaps this behavior trait was coded into him to make him more familiar with his users. "It seems there was several blocks on Bonnie's I.D that were removed once the main server itself shut down. Blocks were initiated by [name redacted]-" This had Cassie raising a brow. "-But recent attempts to sus them out has not been made. As it is, Bonnie had been under quarantine since his removal from the system too, upon checking his history. He is now on emergency residual power saver mode after previously being in security mode. He was previously in safe mode at some point too before he got too low in energy. It looks like he attempted several times to reactivate and send distress signals- but all have been sent to non-priority folders by [name redacted]."

Helpi paused again, as if scrolling through whatever Hud he can see on his end. Cassie didn't see it for herself. She did hear once that someone called the police to the establishment after a distress signal was sent out so many months ago- her father mentioned it. But did it come from Bonnie? She wanted to ask, but didn't have the energy for the query beyond what was required of her. Talking was painful as it is.

The other thing that got her attention was the fact he'd been in security mode- that was NOT a good sign. Glamrock Freddy's body likely had been in this volatile mode too- seeing as it attacked her despite the fact she was a child- forget that he didn't have a head in which to see her and not come out swinging. Security mode was a bit buggy; emphasis on a bit. Reminiscent of DJ's Bouncer mode, but more refined to a minimalist extent. But if any of the bots here had to use it- that was definitely bad news. Bonnie must've detected a high-priority threat before being shut down forcibly. The damage he sustained had been proof of that. He clearly had been in a fight for his life.

And the poor bastard lost.

"-He no longer exists in the PizzaPlex's main server too... Strange. This would've made any attempt to find and extract him prove problematic for staff. Add on the fact his location is in one of the established 'safe rooms' in the PizzaPlex. These rooms are never listed on the bots' internal maps in case of mall-wide animatronic malfunction. Search attempts were made by all the Glamrocks, but no one succeeded, obviously. Staff has made attempts as well, but the search was quickly dropped within a few days of his disappearance- And upper staff have discouraged the Glamrocks from further disrupting their own showtimes for this search-"

Called off after a few DAYS?

And Freddy and his friends were impeded on PURPOSE?

That couldn't be more obviously and flippantly fishy.

If Cassie didn't have more pressing matters to worry about, she'd drill the virtual bear further. However, this was information for later (and sadly, not relevant to her predicament, despite how she felt about the animatronics herself). Its weird enough she saw the electric blue rabbit earlier in the bowling alley in a room that wasn't listed in the PizzaPlex's maps but... now she can glean this was indeed sabotage. For what reason? It mystified her. Her dad hadn't been forthcoming about any details on Bonnie's disappearance back when he was around, but it may be because he simply hadn't known himself.

But still, who would do this to him? Bonnie wasn't exactly unpopular. There was literally no benefit to his removal beyond upsetting Freddy and the other Glamrocks and drawing attention to yourself.

Whatever the case, Cassie had to forcibly shelve all that. She had so many questions but they didn't matter as much as her situation right now. She slowly inhaled, making sure to keep her breath long but shallow, and said, "Just... scan again. No one else... around?"

Helpi continued to look in the background while Cassie tried to think of something else. She leaned against the wall for support, her eye on the white bear. The little virtual assistant seemed to tither about in this loop cycle of constant error messages; as if his programming had somehow MAGICALLY been jarred by the fall too and not just his lack of ability to connect to the main server. She had no idea how, but she unconsciously wondered if her fall shook up the occipital transmitter in her noggin- and by extension, Helpi.

Maybe not- seeing as suddenly, he told her in what passed as a hopeful lilt, "Connection established! Host server I.D 01485420, Daycare Attendant allowed permission! Proceed with message request?"

"What? YES ALREADY!" Now she was jarred from her sluggish thoughts. She groaned when her chest contracted painfully; aforementioned ribs creaking their protest to her every vocalization.

Eclipse- he had to be pretty nearby if he was within range of Helpi. Had he come looking for her? Its been some hours (she's lost track of how many, to be exact) since she's seen him last. Did he finally peek his head out of the daycare and notice the obvious wreck around him? Surely he's picked up that something was wrong with PizzaPlex once he realized the Main Server was offline? Had he requested assistance? Or was it his routine hourly patrol and only then did he finally notice the state of the place?

Still... he had to wonder pretty far from the daycare in order to be near enough to ping. She wagered he was somewhere between the distant daycare and the raceway- given the range. At that point, SURELY he'd been looking for her?

"Message and request for assistance sent. Eclipse is coming to find you. I am sending an emergency ping in which to help navigate him here thanks to the use of your occipital transmitter!"

...There was a GPS-like thingy in her transmitter? Why didn't she know that sooner?

She frowned at Helpi, but at least she got the help she'd been needing. There was something odd about the transmitter itself being what it is in nature (not to mention that Helpi forcibly shoved the thing into her face before verifying that she wasn't a Fazbear Entertainment employee). But right now, she didn't care. She was getting help after all! It was more than what she had a few moments ago. She could almost cry-

And then it was shot to hell and back when Helpi unhelpfully added, "Error: Signal interception from subroutine program mimic1 01003747 established. Ping has been disabled."

Cassie felt her mouth shut tight. Subroutine? Program mimic1? What the heck was THAT?

Helpi paused, as if he could almost read her thoughts, "Mimic1 established a connection to my c-c-core code. I w-will have to sh-sh-sh-shut down temporarily to prevent from f-f-f-f-further tampering until new firewalls are estash-tab-tab-tablished. Do not despair, [input username here]! I will be b-ah-ah-back online when the hacking attempt ceases momentarily-y-y-y. Eclipse has a read on your location before signal interru-up-up-up-"

And before he can say more, Helpi just... cut out. The pixeled image of his smiling face went to static, groaned, and flickered like there was bad reception. And for that brief second, Cassie thought she saw his pupils blink once more to bright orange instead of that shared shade of blue he had with Freddy.

Mimic1. What the heck was that thing anyway? Was THAT what that copycat bot was? Her only assumption to link the program with the entity was the name. Its a stretch, but it may not be so ridiculous.

Cassie prayed to whatever god above that wasn't the case though- she didn't need that thing to come back if its left in the first place. Its bad enough this maybe 'program' was adaptive, intelligent, and already apparently well-versed in hacking a Fazbear approved program like Helpi despite his own A.I. Just how resilient was this thing?

She didn't want an answer to that prior question, to be honest. Its bad enough it had premeditated its escape by using a gross lure tactic and relying on a voice of sentimental value to another person. How it could've known Gregory was a friend of hers specifically, and how it managed to emulate him to such an extent that she fell far enough in this deathtrap to be unable to escape on her own... well, all that said enough just how vile it was. And she wasn't even including what it attempted to do to her upon its freedom. It didn't even THINK about not trying to kill her-

It's been able to detect her somehow. But how? How can it have eyes on her? Was it because of the transmitter? The mask?

She didn't take it off though, despite the possible repercussions. If it came back down here, it still may be her only way past it. The mask helped more than it hindered- and it was her ONLY form of protection right now-

Especially since her leg will give her issue if she took it off now.

With that said, she sidled ever so slowly back to the room where she found that thing- pulling out the fazwrench she's kept tied to her denim belt loop. She fidgeted with the rolling scroller on it, then furrowed her brow.

Dammit. With Helpi offline... she was about to ask if he could help her with Roxy. But she supposed she can figure it out once she actually saw Roxy. She can only hope the wolf wasn't so bad off that she couldn't move again. And even if this was the case, Eclipse was coming, right? Maybe she'll a way forward after all.

She just needed to take it one step at a time.

Gregory eyed his fazwatch, still fidgeting with the buttons and mentally rolling over what just transpired.

Close by, Vanessa was watching with the same grim expectation as the boy; her complexion a ghastly, blanched mask that made her freckles stick out in jagged relief against her oval face. Her breath was held; beryl eyes rather doe-like in their appearance.

She'd heard that elevator fall- and her gut plunged with it, as well as loopty-looped with the final scream of grinding machine. She'd been the one giving Gregory the instructions about the labrynth- as she's been in that hellhole a few too many times to start with. And she'd heard that awful thing on the other side of the fazwatch- murmuring and muttering in a disgusting, crackling parody of her adopted boy's voice. Its almost as if it knew it can rub it's victory in further once the cat was out of the bag- continuing to employ Gregory's voice despite its advent freedom.

On the bed-side table nearby, Freddy's usually animate head was about as motionless as a glossy still life; watching Gregory struggle with the fazwatch. He'd been in rest mode originally- charging as he did so thanks to the wire Vanessa tied into his neck connectors to an outlet into the wall. But now, the shriek of chaos, screaming, and the grind of metal and mimed voices had awoken the orange bear and put him into Security mode DESPITE his lack of torso. His amber eyes dilated and zeroed onto the device; Roxy's borrowed eyes a piercing sheen as it added light to an otherwise already bright computer room.

All three watched Gregory's wrist like it was going to spring to life and bite his limb off. All expected- or rather, hoped- to hear anything else in the damning, pregnant silence that followed. But no, the girl didn't communicate again; nor did they get more than low toned static when Gregory tried to contact her talky again.

After moments like this (not that any of them knew how many), the boy finally gave up. His arms fell limp, his hazel eyes arrested on the floor. He looked defeated, at first- But then he was getting up and snatching Vanessa's nearby duffle like it was his missing backpack. It's filled with her computer and basic house repair tools; and despite being heavy, he also sometimes put Freddy's head in it whenever he needed to take it around with him.

Vanessa meanwhile was up and snagging his shoulder- with Gregory shaking her off with a feral clench of teeth. "What," he spat, eyes briefly wild with barely contained annoyance.

"The hell you even thinking?" She started lowly, her tone icier than liquid nitrogen making contact with brittle metal.

"I'm gonna go save 'er! That's what I'm thinking! Now gerrof!"

"Gregory, you have any idea how stupid that is?"

Freddy was oddly and uncharacteristically mute as he observed them; his eyes tick tick ticking between them both while he wracked his processor for some semblance of English. He was also spending a moment to get his mainframe brain out of the idiot hole that was the blinding fury of Security mode. He could never think clearly whenever that mode was active. He listened to them, weighed what could be done, eyes narrowing as they went off on each other.

"I don't care how stupid it is! S'not like we can just ignore what happened! We'd need to go back anyways! For Cassie, AND that THING!"

"Oh my god you idiot kid-" She started hissing like a spitting cat. "We SWORE we'd never go back there! SWORE."

"I don't care! I can't be leaving her there like that I spent all night trying to contact her- just for it end on, 'Hey, guess what? YOU CAN'T BE FOLLOWED!' She probably thinks I cut the power!"

Vanessa bristled, eye twitching at the equal amount of fire the boy shot off. Maybe they've been living together too long already, but it hadn't been long in coming that they'd rub off on each other- and in both good and bad ways. Gregory was already a flippantly disrespectful little piece of shit for an orphan even BEFORE she adopted him, but now- It couldn't be more apparent just how much of an impression the leave on the other.

Freddy hummed at something, then produced a grunting, static garbling noise that alarmed both and arrested their attention onto him. Its the only way he can intervene without having to yell; resulting to the already weird, glitchy nature of his also-borrowed voice box- curtesy of Chica, however unwilling.

"I believe Gregory's right- and heavens, Vanessa. You know you agree with him too. You're just being difficult because reasonably, you're apprehensive of going back there, and you wouldn't want to put Gregory in harm's way. I'm anxious just thinking about it myself!" His eyes ticked to Gregory. "And cub, Vanessa's not exactly wrong about her reservations about this: as this will no doubt be a risky venture. I do not want to say this- and truly, believe me, I REALLY don't want to say this-"

His eyes gently swiveled down, his ears doing the same.

"-But we must not march back there with the high hopes we'd expect to find her easily- its bad enough my friends-" He produced a groan of static there, imitating a sigh. "-They may still be under the thrall of the tampering of their security mode. Cassie meanwhile has proven resourceful already but... we cannot eliminate that something terrible has happened after what we just heard."

"Freddy-"

The bear quickly glanced back at Gregory, "I'm not saying she IS worse off- all I'm saying is that we shouldn't be going back there with the unrealistic expectation that she'll be completely alright... I for one usually am the advocate of positive thinking-" He lifted the sides of his muzzle in the best approximation of a smile he could, but the gesture looked strangely strained, "-I believe Cassie may luck out. She's shown incredible dexterity and grit so far. I don't want to believe myself that this would be the end of her. She is smart little spitfire! But I also know better than to expect it'll all be okay though. Now then-"

Another ear waggle.

"Family road trip back to the PizzaPlex? Anyone?"

Gregory was already reaching over and snapping up Freddy's head with a whip of his thin wrists. He looked the bear straight in the eyes as he said, "Road. Trip."

Then he was tucking the bear in the bag and reaching over to grab a power bank- a device with reserve energy for the bear to use (usually reserved for use of charging cell phones and smaller devices... but Vanessa retrofitted it as of lately for Freddy personally). Thankfully, not having a huge, heavy, hulking body the literal size of an actual bear left Freddy with a lot more energy to spare- he hadn't needed to charge in a WEEK until tonight. With this said, Gregory didn't think they'd need the bank, but it'd help just in case. They could still use their own devices on it too, for instance.

Vanessa huffed, Narrowing her eyes at the bag and taking it from Gregory- and she got a sharp "hey!" from him before she waved a finger at him, "Look, kiddo. If we're doing this, we're gonna play it safe. You hear me? If something goes tits-up-" She raised a hand over her head and widened her eyes. "-You. BAIL. You hear me? Dip as fast as you usually dip nachos in cheese. Run. Sprint like hell itself is biting your ankles. You check-some?"

He was already about to argue back but Freddy coughed and interrupted him from his face-up position in the bag. He told the kid in as gently but somewhat parental, sharp, scolding manner as possible, "Do what she says, Gregory. Your life matters more to us than anything else. Promise you'll listen if we tell you to run. Just don't promise her, but promise me."

"But I-"

"You promise, or you stay here and me and Freddy go find Cassie!" Vanessa spat.

"Okay! Fine! I promise. I promise I won't try any heroic stuff and will run when told to," He bit back with an albeit mutinous but resigned look.

Vanessa nodded sharply, then turned and opened the duffle a smidgen, "You go to sleep until we get there. Gregory will beep his watch whenever we need to wake you up."

"Already ahead of you," He gently affirmed. He shut his eyes, powering down until their arrival.

Vanessa turned her attention back to her kid- her kid. Something that still made her head spin sometimes. "You go pack a second bag. Fill it with the emergency first aid kits I have in the bathroom- you know where. And pack some FOOD. I'm going to help with that too. I have no idea how long we're gonna be there, but we'll likely be doing some physically strenuous trekking. We'll be hungry."

"Seriously? We're going to save a life, and we have to pack a lunch like we're going on a-"

"NOW, mister."

"Okay! I'm doing it!"

"AND NO SODAS!" She spat after him. "That shit makes you thirstier!"

"ALRIGHT!"

The former security guard went to take Freddy and her emergency tool duffle out to the car; sighing heavily as she did so. She put the bear on the seat in the front passenger side, then spent the next break-neck several minutes compiling what they'd need for their impromptu rescue mission.

Yes. They should call the authorities. Yes, they should get better help. Yes, they should be more sensible about this-

But Vanessa also knew that bringing all of the police to the derelict PizzaPlex posed a different plethora of problems. The place was falling apart- and the number of rescuers, the noise they made- it would piss off whatever remaining bots were still active in there and it will get more people KILLED- not to mention potentially endanger Cassie more. If they displaced the wrong thing, parts of the PizzaPlex could also collapse. She knew its structural integrity was already shoddy to begin with- but bringing more heavy vehicles and moving some of the debris WILL make some areas cave in entirely. And then there was this other thing-

She's seen it before.

This... thing.

Not the mimic monster, but the other thing-

The amalgamation abomination; the Frankenstein'd remains of older bots that'd stare from holes in the lower pizzeria's walls at her whenever she went about her work AS Vanny. She knew it was the reason why there'd been, not so long ago, the deaths of many innocent construction workers just trying to move things around in the PizzaPlex above its lair. A mass disappearance of workers had occurred there- and her two charges knew why. Its bad enough the PizzaPlex grew something of an even nastier reputation despite it closing its doors supposedly forever.

She knew better.

There was still old demons in this closet to sift through. Guess it was time for some spring cleaning. It had to be done EVENTUALLY- as Vanessa intended on talking to Freddy about his friends and maybe revisiting at some point for THEIR expense (as well as his, bless his nonexistent heart)- to maybe do them the justice of shutting them down or remotely hacking them and rewriting their security protocol and initiate the emergency override for that annoying mode. Yes, she swore not to go back, but if she HAD too, she would. At least for Freddy- who'd been her biggest cheerleader in the months she'd spent trying to clean her life up.

What a great way to start her week- a rescue mission. Its bad enough Gregory had school the next day... but she supposed she'd have to call in sick for him and do the same for work. This couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Oh well. That's the price of putting off their final foray into the dead mall. Guess they had to pay the toll eventually. And if a little missed work and school was (hopefully) the price, then she can swing with just that.

She prayed that was it. JUST that. Prayed even though she wasn't religious. She prayed regardless they'd find Cassie okay- prayed that one of Gregory's only friends can learn to forgive him for something he didn't do-

Indeed. As Vanessa got into the Freddy and friends themed van (hideous thing that it was), she struggled with the fact that she had face down their final demons with an unstable child in tow.

Whoopee.