Present Day-

CASSIE

She had to be fast.

She'd been doing her best with the impromptu repair- it looks like this miming menace favored ripping limbs off. Thankfully, Roxy hadn't made it easy for it; she still had all her limbs, but the bot had certainly made attempts to pull them out of her sockets. The frame was disconnected, but a lot of the wires were still fixed in place in some areas (others had naturally snapped and frayed from the force). Pretty much like being dislocated for a human.

Sadly, most of the damage was in Roxy's head- it looked like the mimic bot grabbed it at some point and rammed her skull into the wall numerous times. In the dreary darkness of the room, Cassie was able to make out the indentations in the wall thanks to the weird hue lighting by her mask. The rest of Roxy's body thankfully seemed solid- but her hands were further damaged from the scuffle now- let alone her left foot being bent a ways. Her left arm already was missing fingers, but now her right one was missing its pinky and the index looked loose. The paint was more chipped than before as well.

While she'd been bent over her project, Cassie was also able to see something even creepier in here- something that had her take pause at several intervals under the belief someone else was in here with her: It looked like the Mimic hadn't being entirely alone, but damn if the company still wasn't very lively.

There was some old, antique mascot suits in here- one of an elephant and another of some kind of blackbird (penguin?) creature. Their outfits didn't seem to fit with the era or gimmick of the business- based more or less on classic carnival clowns than anything. And with the manner in which they've been left here to rot, its as if they were intentionally left to be forgotten like some bad nightmare. Cassie didn't keep her eyes on them though, not wishing to look them into their dead, glassy eyes and mold-blanketed, rat-chewed clothing. Honestly, clowns and jesters don't freak her out- but these guys did.

It was strange how they looked creepier with most of their parts and pieces than Roxy did herself while missing her shell, hair, and some fingers. She was literally 'bare bones' in appearance; beyond her endoskeleton, not much was left of her superficially. And even then, she was a blessed and familiar sight that didn't have Cassie feeling so weirded out all-in-all.

As for the task at hand, Cassie did her best to try and reattach the disconnected arm. It was ridiculously and expectedly heavy; but she knew she can mange it if she was patient. She thanked her dad being a tech wizard being the reason why she was even able to attempt this. She pushed the limb into the socket and shoved the Fazwrench into some port in her chest; putting her into repair mode. She braced the limb, removed the wrench, and listened for the click and snap of something in Roxy's internals indicating it connected. She also listened for the mimic all the while- she knew it was coming back shortly. She had to be FASTER.

"Come on, come on come on..." She sputtered; turning Roxy just enough onto her side- but just BARELY, to get access to the emergency switch there to reactivate her. She flipped it, and was given a heart attack when Roxy didn't immediately move- But she needn't worry.

Her holographic AR virtual shell materialized fast (seeing as Cassie was still wearing the mask); but it was nothing compared to the wolf's speed itself: Roxy jumped up like she was expecting the thing to be attacking her still; snarling and snapping her endo's pathetic short muzzle and seizing Cassie with a vice that bruised. Cassie yelped, which thankfully forced the wolf to relinquish her hold just as fast. She sat back, ears craning forward and catching the girl's machine-gun heartbeat.

"C-Cassie? I- I'm so sorry! I can't believe I just did that AGAIN-" She started rather shakily before the girl recovered her sense and shushed her.

Despite the painful pressure on her arms (and maybe a new puncture from one of the claws), Cassie didn't mind it too terribly- it wasn't anything compared to her leg. "Its f-fine. I just- I think its coming back," She said, ignoring Roxy's comment. "We need to hide o-or something!"

"What? WHAT thing? What WAS that? I mean- wait, I thought I told you to run-!"

"I am NOT leaving without you," She affirmed with a steel that matched the material her friend was made of. "I made that mistake once and all it did is get me into MORE trouble. I'm not doing it again. And its not like I CAN run right now anyways! Now come on! Can't you get up?" She shoved Roxy's body a little, in indication to do so.

It was an educated query, seeing as Roxy's foot was indeed not sitting right on its joint (hadn't been since the forklift fell on her). Roxy seemed to notice it and fixed it back herself- Moving to stand with a slight jarring motion that suggested her sensors were in need of some calibrating. Didn't help that she was still blind despite the fact the mask made it appear she still had a face. Cassie couldn't help her get up- as she'd collapse herself trying to do so.

Roxy's ears strained backward, then she faced Cassie, "I don't hear it too near us, yet. So if we bail now, we should be able to get out before we're jammed into a space we can't crawl out of..." She trailed off, then, "You said you can't run?"

Now seemed a good (or bad...) time to mention her impending issue. Cassie sighed forlornly, prompting another twitch of Roxy's ear panels towards her. "My leg..." she started, unable to rise from her position on the floor. "I... I fractured it. And before you ask, that wasn't because of that thing-" She inhaled a little too fast, wincing when her ribs reminded her that they too still existed as an issue.

Roxy flapped her mandible as if to say something, but didn't follow up. Her holographic eyes arrested on her but remained unseeing and useless. There was a sympathetic squint there, her green, pixelated, see-through muzzle pursing as she reached over without prompt. She scooped Cassie up with ease; pulling the girl to her chest but retained a certain amount of inches between the girl's body and her motor. It was running a bit warm, but nothing that indicated stress.

The girl didn't fight the grip either; moving as best she could and leaning her head on Roxy's remaining pauldron on her right side. The lack of shell on her paws were admittedly uncomfortable as they supported her, but Cassie knew she'd just have to deal. She wanted to say something in regards to her deactivating her earlier, but now wasn't the time.

Instead, she focused again on the task at hand. "I can be your eyes, and you can be my legs," She told the wolf. Roxy bobbed her head, the motion confident. It made Cassie smile for some reason. And while the motion was tentative, her voice was far stronger, "I know where we can go."

They ended up retracing Cassie's earlier path in; leading out of the room with the M.X.E.S machine and into the weird room with burners. They navigated around the wreck of the old Pizzeria; Cassie actually taking the time to look while they could-

But it was short-lived: As indeed, the mimic returned not so long after they set out. It seemed to have gotten pretty far in the time Cassie had been in the elevator crying to herself; processing the shit she had to endure. She must've been in that room longer than she thought- as her sense of time was all wrong too. The mimic also proved to be, well... slow. That's SOME consolation. Its legs, while it was sure-footed and solid in its gait, couldn't seem to exceed a certain speed. It remained at a brisk walk that bordered running. It looks like the animatronic menace was in dire need of maintenance in order to pose a greater physical threat in an out-right chase. With Roxy acting as her legs though, they can out-run it easily.

Why was Gregory so worried about it? Its practically falling apart! There had to be more to it than its killing intent- although, when she thought about like that, the latter part alone was reason enough.

Still, they wanted to avoid it entirely instead of testing that; so when it lumbered back into the pizzeria, Cassie instructed Roxy to hide amongst some slabs of displaced stone, concrete, and broken roofing. The Mimic seemed almost reluctant to return to which it had been trapped for so long, but it returned to apparently finish the job. The thought of that had Cassie shaking- and Roxy reciprocated with a gentle pat on her charge's back.

Gregory cut power to the elevator... and he knew a bit about that thing apparently... and it showed clear hostility. Perhaps he had a good reason for the dramatic decision, but the idea that her only remaining friend (besides Roxy) would do such a thing so liberally had Cassie wondering, and not for the first time in her life sadly, what kind of friends she makes. But again, that was for another time. She wished she could ask Gregory about it, but with her Roxy Talky broken, its not like she could. Guess she was on her own for real now- minus the obvious companion carrying her.

As it is, the Mimic sidled by in its usual semi-hasty shuffle; leaving Cassie and Roxy in the clear. Cassie let Roxy know, and they hastily and quietly meandered on by. Getting back up the old shaft wasn't super hard- at least the elevator there appeared to be working-

OH.

"I have an idea," She murmured to the wolf. "Once we get to the top, we cut power to this old shaft too. That'll keep the Mimic from pursuing us for a while since its looking for me down there."

"The... Mimic," She said aloud, as if to parse it out. There was a frown on her virtual face, the green hologram projecting her eyes reflecting some sort of narrowing of her optics. "It mimicked Gregory, and fooled both of us, huh?"

"Yeah. I'll explain that shortly," Cassie supplied.

Perhaps the beast returning to 'finish the job' was a blessing in disguise; as when they got to the elevator and started going back up to the raceway proper, Cassie couldn't help but breathe. Maybe she can turn the tables on that thing- and while she didn't want to admit it, Gregory had given her the nasty idea. How ironic.

Once they left it, Cassie instructed Roxy to put her down; then she said, "Can you punch that button panel? Maybe short it out somehow?"

"Let me try," She said, emulating the cracking of knuckles.

Roxy stopped in front of the panel, felt it immediately, then proceeded to smash it in with no effort. The elevator shorted with a nasty, angry hiss; with sparks suddenly surging from now dented area. But it wasn't enough- Roxy sank her claws into it's circuit board and RIPPED the wiring with a feral abandon and an almighty "Rah!". After which, she stepped back once the elevator sputtered again-

It still didn't move- prompting for a scowl on Cassie's end and a snarl from Roxy.

"Let me try something else..." Roxy told the girl. Then she felt around- Some rebar was thankfully within reach; seeing as the area around the elevator was nothing but disgusting rubble. The rebar had some concrete on it too- nice.

Using it like a sledge hammer, the wolf proceeded to -and with what Cassie KNEW was a smirk on her holographic face- WAIL on the elevator's doors, panel, everything. Honestly, it looked both ridiculously funny and obscene in the fact that it DID look funny at all- the show of violence would've had any decent person cringing from the sheer FORCE exerted. Cassie would've laughed regardless had the circumstances been different.

But thankfully, the ancient elevator caved in; a little bit literally. Its doors where smashed in; and its panel now beyond repair, the thing had to forcibly yeild to the disruption of power. How it even had power in the first place? Well, Cassie never knew. But it went SCREAMING back down the way it came; with the wolf backing off and dusting her hands off with some apparent gratification.

"You pretended that was Gregory, didn't you," Cassie dead-panned.

"...I will neither confirm nor deny that," the she-wolf replied somewhat cryptically. Her frown was back again though, "And speaking of which... you know Gregory? I didn't know he actually HAD friends... Let alone be friends with someone as cool as you."

The compliment was so out of the blue that had Cassie darting a glance back at the wolf in shock; her amber gaze fixed on the wolf's pixelated visage. She didn't feel like she deserved it, in all actuality; especially after what she's done not so long ago. With that said, even though Cassie knew Roxy couldn't see her, she was already darting her gaze away in shame of the recollection.

"I... don't know," she responded noncommittally. "I thought we were-"

"Is that why you came here? To find him?"

Cassie nodded, realized Roxy couldn't see it, then murmured "yes" dolefully. She looked at her leg again, touching it gently. "I... I thought he... you know what? Maybe we should get away from here first, then I can tell you everything."

I really don't want to talk about it now.

Roxy meandered over, knelt over, and lightly touched Cassie's shoulder. Her expression was now sympathetic, but she didn't press. Instead, she gently coaxed Cassie wordlessly back into her arms; holding the small girl like she was a baby. Cassie felt too old to be held like this, but she can't complain right now.

"So... any ideas on where you want to go?" Roxy gently went on to ask. She was walking really slowly now; not that she had any particular direction in which to meander to yet. "Cuz frankly, I still dunno what's good and what isn't, even after being here so long. Haven't been able to see anything in... well, I can't tell how long since the main server is shut down. My sense of time is screwed. All that tells me is that the PizzaPlex is still closed despite it being a while... I thought it was supposed to be temporarily but-"

Cassie shook her head against Roxy's shoulder rather lethargically; feeling really sluggish after all the excitement she endured. Her eyes watered, but no tears emerged yet. She didn't want to damage the wiring inside the mask. She wondered about taking it off, but it was helping keep her leg pain at a manageable level. She was afraid of taking it off- as doing so would make her pain shoot RIGHT back to a throbbing 100 instead of the dull 40 or 50 she was sitting at.

She knew she couldn't wear it forever though... as the AR world was hard and disorienting on her eyes after a while and leaving her with nasty headaches. But, she kept it on for the moment, eyeing the path and lightly correcting Roxy when the wolf almost stubbed her feet on debris. She kept one arm around Roxy' neck, the other tucked to her chest as if to stop the dull ache in her fragile heart. She watched the path ahead of them rather absently, unsure herself of where to go. She wanted to go home but...

But...

She closed her eyes; finding herself whimpering again without prompt. She couldn't stop it, couldn't force herself to gulp it back down. Roxy paused there, taking the moment to settle herself down on the ground and quietly wait for Cassie to cry it out. She patted the girl, shushed, but all that did was make the girl cry harder.

Cassie couldn't help it; she SWORE she had no tears left- and yet now, Roxy's presence was already bringing them back out. The girl had to actually take the mask off despite what she just told herself to keep from messing with its wiring-

And the instant she did, that PAIN, as expected, soared right back to a RAGING, nerve-frying fury that had her whimpering now for another reason beyond her family situation. She wiped her face fast with her sleeves, then shoved it back on and huffed like she just ran a marathon.

She didn't want to think about her injuries. Of Gregory. Her deceased father, her current family arrangement, or the fact her only friend in the world that's left she betrayed. Or the fact that the same friend was holding her now; patting and rubbing in circles and holding Cassie closer despite the danger the girl posed to her exposed wiring.

Why were these bots so frustratingly gentle? How come people weren't like that? No, how come nobody Cassie knew that was ORGANIC (and alive) was like that?

She hugged Roxy's absent neck; not that there was shell keeping her from touching the wires and metal vertebra. She sobbed on the wolf's only bit of shoulder left; shoulders jumping and heaving as everything she's been through not just tonight, but all of the last few months finally caught up to her.

She truly was alone in this world- and Roxy was the only thing she had left in it- and yet she betrayed her not so long ago. And yet Roxy was still here. Roxy saved her life. Called her cool, even when she didn't deserve it-

No. She didn't want to leave her friend here alone. No, she didn't want to return to her foster family. No, she didn't want to be near Gregory again. No, she didn't want to taken to the surface if it meant never seeing Roxy again when she'd been the only (somewhat) stable thing she's had since coming here.

No. Cassie refused to leave her again. And that was an absolute.

The proclamation came with a vehemence she didn't expect; but it was a promise that she had every intention of keeping. Roxy didn't deserve to rot away in this place anymore- didn't deserve to be left alone to deride herself into a broken mirror. She didn't deserve to slowly wait until the last recharge station finally died out, and she accepted a painfully inevitable and permanent shut-down after slowly rotting away both outside as well as in. After having seen the state of the animatronics, both physical and emotional, Cassie refused to leave them alone here. She came to rescue Gregory originally, but now it seems she should be directing her efforts to them. Maybe, her coming here wasn't a mistake after all.

Cassie had much to cry about now- and it wasn't only about her own situation. She cried for the wolf too. She cried for them all. She cried for them, since they couldn't do so.

She cried for the fact they too had no one to come back to save them. No one to help give them the dignity of a peaceful and swift shut-down inside of consciously rotting away in a hellhole. The fact that the entire world knew about them, and yet no one had the graces to return and give them the same human touch they give Cassie, even right now- that incensed her.

Roxy was here coaxing her, even though Cassie knew she was just as lost as she was. She hadn't forgotten how harshly the wolf had been reprimanding herself back at the salon; how terribly and furiously she went after Gregory-

Gregory. He took her eyes. He left her in darkness- the same way he left Cassie.

This will not do.

Cassie cried until she couldn't; hiccupped, ugly sobbed all over the wolf's shoulder and gripped as tightly as she was allowed. She breathlessly muttered apologies into her pauldron; fought with her bruised ribs for that blessed freedom of tears. She swore aloud something about helping her- not that she'd remember how she put it.

She would never let Roxy go again.

ECLIPSE

And that would be how Eclipse found them.

The jester bot hurried over as soon as he heard the wailing. He'd already been hurrying- but this PLACE. THE MESS! THE CHAOS! The lack of staff, lights, and order! No main server, no active cleaning bots, no personnel to contact-

Sure, he's a jester bot, but it didn't mean he needed to BE the fool too. But one he'd been- letting that poor girl out of his sight to wander the derelict PizzaPlex by her lonesome. He let a CHILD wander around a tetanus-riddled DEATHTRAP. Why'd he DO THAT?

WHY?

He berated himself- and he knew he didn't need to hear it from his other sides. He sincerely knew he messed up. He let that poor girl walk into trouble with no parental supervision. Yes, he tended to trust that kids after a certain age were independent, and valued their growing capacity to be independent. He knew Cassie was a girl that was the right age to think for herself and recognize stranger danger when she saw it- it was the only reason why he let her go- because he figured her family would be near and she'd be able to find them herself...

But this.

This was by far, the grossest, most negligent thing he's ever done in all his time as the Daycare Attendant. To let a child wander around in complete darkness and surrounded by unseen dangers in every corner. To let her meander a wreck! He'd been a fool to think the PizzaPlex would be open, come morning! The main server was OFFLINE for a reason! And if that hadn't been hint enough, he didn't know what was!

STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID.

He'd been looking for her even before he got the emergency ping. When 6 am came and no child had come into the daycare, and he got the hourly timer to leave the daycare for the patrol for the last time (that was a part of his programming for all sides), he went out into the PizzaPlex and noticed the deplorable state its in. And as to what it suggested, he knew he done FUCKED UP.

Yeah. He won't say those words aloud, but those were the proper terms to describe his hideous and horrifying miscalculation.

He knew he had to find that girl even then; and her ping now brings him to the raceway. He panicked when it disappeared as fast as it appeared- and worse yet, he'd nearly had a MELTDOWN when he realized he got the ping from the sectioned-off part of the raceway no one's been in in an eternity. The TABOO area. At least now, he perked up when he found Cassie in the raceway itself and NOT in that awful hole a few minutes later! He thought for a moment there he'd have to venture into the hole in order to locate her. What's better, she was with Roxy!

Well... what he THOUGHT was Roxy.

Oh dear... Roxy looked... Wow. Yeah. He'd been Moon a little too long... This place, as well as girl and bot, needed some TLC.

He didn't comment on that however; swinging in on some rope hanging nearer to the ceiling. Being a light-weight animatronic, he was able to tuck and roll to a stop near them, bells tinkling tellingly-

But now Roxy was snarling. She snapped her nonexistent jaw; the motion jarring Cassie to look up. The sound of her tears already crushed the jester's spirit alone, but he couldn't exactly see them through that weird... oh. Yeah. She wore that mask earlier to help him, huh?

Cassie thankfully tapped Roxy, muttered something, but the eyeless bot only kept her tense posture- likely confused. The girl seemed to clarify something else (while still hurriedly wiping away her tears under her mask)- to which Roxy finally let her go and settled.

"E-Eclipse," She garbled.

"Oh! Oh oh oh oh oh- No no. Don't do that, noooo-" He cooed as he rushed over. He gingerly grazed shell-less digits beneath her mask. She was wearing it for a reason, he assumed. He didn't remove it; just moved bare-endo fingertips beneath it and across tear-streaked skin to wipe them away.

She seemed to press the mask closer to her visage, hiccupping but not pushing him away. Roxy's ears were violently swiveling at him, as if she still hadn't the foggiest what was going on. Right... she's never met this side of him before. She knew Sun and Moon, but not Eclipse.

"I apologize," he told both humbly- more at Cassie then anything though. He glanced at one, then the other, then bowed onto one knee like the knights he told in his many stories to the toddlers. His bells jingled, likely a familiar noise to Roxy at least. The sounds were useful for blind kids (not that he's had many in his history)- so in this instance, he supposed they were a blessing to her right now. "I am Eclipse, Roxanne. The third personality to the one you know as the Daycare Attendant. So please, relax."

"...How can I relax when you flip around like that? Its so hard to tell with you," She spat. "And how come none of us have ever met Eclipse before?"

"That is... a somewhat long explanation that we have no time for," he supplied, turning instead back to Cassie. He frowned when he scanned her- and almost PANICKED when he saw her wounds and scrapes. "OH DEAR! OH NO. Oh no oh oh oh NO-!" He opened his narrow hatch plate; pulling out the emergency kit he had- and violently wishing he could've brought more. He always kept one on his person in case of accidents, but the kit wasn't heavy-duty- nor did it have enough supplies in it to properly help the girl. "I am SO sorry, Cassie! I couldn't be more sorry for this-"

He almost sobbed- blame Sun's more eccentric side there. But he forcibly toned himself down and coaxed Cassie to remain seated on Roxanne's remaining thigh plate. It'd have to do for an impromptu seat. He very gently tended the girl's leg first; wondering what he's going to use for a splint. His kit simply didn't have anything like that in it.

Not for the first time... he wished he could swear at his managers for the gross oversight. How come there's no emergency splints? He'd have to improvise.

Muttering in static (for once), he glanced around for something solid- and hated everything around him. It all looked so unhygienic! Alas, he'd have to use a board or something. Towels could do, but the laundry room was too far away. And while he'd love to have a sanitized stick, he wasn't sure if that was possible right now. So, he resulted to running around the area around them; finding any board or stick that'll do.

The next panicked few minutes were of him applying the padding, isopropyl alcohol along the stick to try and remove any bacteria on it, and then eventually tying it in place. He was as absolutely meticulous with it as he could be; wishing desperately that he could do more. Cassie was a good girl and was still and quiet the whole time; more so than expected. He was glad she was so brave for it- and she barely even winced! At least he can let her have some ibuprofen- he had that on hand, at least.

"Very good," he was sure to encourage. "You were super good about this too! I just wish..." His face fell. "I shouldn't have let you leave. I have no idea why I did that. There's no excuse for it."

Cassie reached over; one hand touching the side of his face and prompting for a sun ray to sink into his face plate. She had her turn to gently encourage him to look up. "I don't blame you," She said quietly, her voice barely above whispering level. "I was stupid to not ask you to help me find my friend. We both messed up."

"You have a FRIEND LOST HERE-?"

"NO! No no no no no!" She removed her hand from his face and waved both arms frantically around. "No! I THOUGHT I did... but that's besides the point- it just goes back to me messing up. All I've done was mess up..." She huffed again, head sagging. The rabbit mask was somewhat creepy for her to keep wearing when she spoke like that, but Eclipse kept that comment to himself. "-I shouldn't have tried to do this myself. That was stupidest thing I coulda ever done!"

Roxy twitched both ears, then gently, ever-so gently tipped her head and let it rest on Cassie's shoulder. Cassie slumped against her, shoulders jumping again. She also grabbed Eclipse's bony hand; clenching so tightly that even he could feel it despite the lack of tactile sensors on his fingertips. They've been gone a while now; the chassis having been responsible for the enabling of said touch; but the sensors that travelled along the insides of his endo could detect pressure or certain stressors when some force is applied- like the grip of a single hand forcing his fingers together.

He gripped it back, leaned forward, and settled next to them. If he could cry, he would join her in doing so. He wished he could, not for the first time in his life. He produced something like a sigh; then did as Roxy did before and applied pressure to Cassie's other shoulder with his face plate. The girl settled comfortably between them; hiccupping endlessly and using her free hand to wipe away whatever tears flowed beneath the vile rabbit's mad visage. Eclipse hated the sight of it, but this wasn't the time to comment.

They stayed like that for quite some time. Eclipse didn't know how long exactly- not until he realized his next hour was up and he should see a recharge station soon. Roxy no doubt needed one. For that matter, she needed eyes. She'd still want to keep helping Cassie, but she cannot do so in this state. Eclipse himself can only do so much- and both he and Roxanne had their strengths and weaknesses. Both would be needed to watch over the girl.

As it were, someone HAD to speak up. So he might as well question the girl on what she wanted to do for now- with guidance, of course. "If I may?" He slowly began, in a voice so slow that Cassie would miss it, had she not been so close to him already. "I can offer you some rest at the daycare... but it IS far away... and Roxanne and I cannot help you adequately until we both charge. And she needs a spare set of eyes..."

He pulled away, then brandished both hands as he gesticulated, "So here's my idea: We can go to Parts and Service, camp there, and set up a room for you while we charge and work on ourselves a bit. Just enough to get us by and until someone comes for you-" He lowered his hands, extending one to gently take a hand of hers again and run a thumb digit on the top of it. "I have no intention of leaving you alone, not by any means. But we cannot do our job if we cannot even maintain ourselves. Is that okay? I can grab some blankets or clothes from one of the Security offices- sometimes, the clothes and stuff are held there temporarily before being carted all the way to Lost and Found at the front of the building... its a long walk, understandably," He shrugged. "Anyways, maybe the stuff in the offices we can use as bedding for you? For now... I mean."

Roxy hummed at something, then 'looked' up. "That could work... Weren't there some 'soft' rooms in Parts and Service too?"

"The colorful padded ones... yes," he recalled those with some manner of mixed feeling- mostly negative for some reason. For a human child, it shouldn't be bad. But for the bots themselves? He had no idea why, but the rooms made him feel irritated and unwell. At least the floors were soft and there was toys in there. "And there's no endos. They all migrated to the daycare for some reason... I passed them as I left it."

"Why are they all there?" Cassie asked.

"That's also a long story. Or short-? I guess?" He shrugged. "I'll have to tell you when we're, preferably, in a better place. Do you not agree, Cassie?"

The girl pondered that for a moment, then nodded. "I don't mind Parts and Service. My dad showed me the padded rooms once... so I think I know what you're saying."

"Yes."

Another nod, "Okay. We can go there. And then, we can ALL explain what happened- OH!" Cassie almost jumped to her feet, only to yelp and stumble back. Roxy and Eclipse both seized her. After a minute recovering from it, she suddenly hissed, "What about Chica? And BONNIE?" We can't just leave them!"

"...What."

"Huh-?"

Roxy and Eclipse's reactions had been similar there- to be expected. Cassie plowed forward though- surprising both when she said, "If we're camping out in Parts and Service... do you think maybe we can help Chica out as well? She's nearby! I think..." She glanced around, "Last time I checked, she was at the salon's bathrooms. Maybe we can get her down there too?"

"Maybe- but only after we deal with you first," Roxy asserted. She cocked her head next, "And what's this about Bonnie-?"

"I- I saw him," she told the Glamrock. Eclipse himself was finding himself puzzled beyond measure as she pressed on, "Even Helpi detected him! Bonnie's still... at least, I think he's kinda active? I dunno. He was... how'd my dad put it-" She lifted up her fingers and air-quoted, "-'Lights were on, but nobody's home'?"

"You FOUND HIM?" Roxy blurted with what Eclipse could parse out as nothing but straight surprise and... something else. No doubt something sentimental.

"Yeah! He's STILL in the Bowling Alley- in some sorta room off your internal maps," she reasoned. "There's... a lot to unpack there. I think he was sabotaged by some staff because he was a mess... and he... didn't react to me even though his eyes were active. I think Helpi said he was in emergency power mode?"

"-'Sabotaged?'" Roxy spat with venom.

"None of us can react when we're in that mode. Its like... our sense of awareness completely shuts down." Eclipse informed her. "I'm... wow. He's been gone for so long... and he's STILL has power? That's resilient..."

"...And impossible," Roxy dead-panned. She shook her skull casing from side-to-side, "You'll have to show us where later on. For now, we'll stick to the original plan and get you to Parts and Service, make you comfortable, and get me a pair of eyes! Given there are any left... THEN we go find carrot-breath and pizza-face!"

"Couldn't you have gone down there yourself?" Cassie asked.

"Not with my lack of sight... see, the only way we knew how to get down there was from the Main Stage. But because there's no power in the atrium anymore, I couldn't activate the lift... And for some reason, the staff wouldn't tell us other ways we could go... beyond the back of our rooms from Rockstar Row. But once we leave Parts of Services and go to our rooms directly... its a way one trip. They don't want us back in there until its necessary for some reason."

"Upgrading ourselves, maybe," Eclipse figured. "I suppose they didn't want us doing something we shouldn't. I'm still remembering that one incident-"

"What one?"

"Also a story for another time," he quickly told her. "This was a LONG time ago though. Very long. For now, let's get out of here. I don't know about you two, but I'd love to have a foot in the right direction. Eh? Eh? " He lifted his nonexistent limb, waving it near Cassie. She actually chortled- a sound Eclipse had been hoping to get.

Roxy meanwhile said, "I don't get it."

"He's missing his... never mind. Let's just go and get all of you fixed," Cassie explained.

"And we'll grab Chica if we pass her," Roxy said. "Which reminds me... You uh, by chance, know how we can get into Parts and Service, Cassie?"

"I do! My dad showed me a couple ways. So that's no sweat," She assured with a growing confidence that betrayed the growth of her mood. Good. Giving a child confidence in a situation like this was the best case scenario, he figured.

And with that, the trio left- With Eclipse carrying Cassie this time and the pair gently directed Roxy to follow. She'd stumble here and there, but no falling. It was indeed the best thing they can do for the moment- although Eclipse would prefer to get a hold of Cassie's family.

Sadly, Cassie had no cell phone... and her family wouldn't be able to find her here. And he knew that even if they could take Cassie to the exit, he and Roxy would have trouble finding her family if they lived far enough. They both only had so much battery life in them. If they left the PizzaPlex to take Cassie to her family, they'd shut down most likely before they can even get close to them. Worse, its not like Cassie could walk it... no, this was the best outcome. They hold on to her, hope someone comes to the main entrance (preferably some authorities), and check the main entrance on occasion for any new vehicles.

Indeed, for that time, they're stuck with each other- not that any of them saw that as a bad thing. It's perhaps the only blessing they had for that one moment.